The New York Herald Newspaper, December 31, 1852, Page 6

( NEW YORK HERALD.|;: Fe parte tha tho ‘teamer Georgie left Aspinwall for ° | | die port om the 20th inet., with the mails, and two millions and a half in dust. PROPRIETOS AND BDITOR mere nnnnn nena GQFPWUS B. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND HASSAU OY 4. mannancnnntnte nee vee, Ne, 3638 AMUSEMENTS THIS BVENING. ts af THEATRA, Bowery.—Hxsaew Sen—Bonz- al - way THEATER, Broadway.—CanshenroLa— ‘(WEBLO'S, Broadway. —Mazrrra. | BURTON'S ‘TRE, Chambers streot.—Panis amp Lencer—Ove Inovusann Mutinens Warren. Ea. Chatham street.—La vnswanus ~Waaioce or tx Giens—Mvsre Lay. Ran vn THRATRE, Brosdway.—Mvsreniove Rar- Pt) THEATRE VARIRTIES, 17 and 19 Bowe- a Gextieman—Forry Tutsves, ee. MUSEUM.—Afverncon— Forrunn's Frouic ‘Taums. Bvening—Gex. Tom Taume—Forry ‘BELLER'S SALOON, 539 Brosdway.—Necnomanoy. —_— MA, 586 Broadway.—Bamvanp'’s Panorama oF omg ie M8 BROADWAY.—Mercuanicat Exntsrrr0n. CHRISTY'S OPERA HOUSE, 472 Broadway.—Brmioriax Semorneiey sy Cunisry's Minera eis. ‘WOOD'S MINSTRELS, Wood's Musical Hi Broad- way.—Armerius SS cay GIRCUS, 87 Bowery.— Equestrian Eurenrainuenre, DOUBLE SHEET. Slew Yerk, Friday, December 31, 1852. TARE WEEKLY HERALD. ‘The Weex.y Heap will be published to day instead of to morrow—New Year's Day, which, we are happy to ‘tag, is ome of the two days in the year we take for reore- ation. Single copies sixpence. The News, Our special correspondents at Concord and Wash- ington again have something to say concerning the imooming administration. The former positively asserts that no despatch stating that a cabinet had ~~ ‘Peon Gevided upon has been sent from the telegraph efiice at that place to Senator Soulé, or anybody else, and consequently that all the rumors with re- gard to the same are mere humbugs. The foreign poliey of General Pierce, it is generally admitted, ‘was foreshadowed in the recent speeches ef Senators (Cass and Mason, which so completely took by sur- prise Senator Soulé and others, who were evidently not inthe secret of the movement, if sceret there ‘was, and were therefore unprepered to take the ficld, and follow in the wake of their better pro- | pared coadjutors. It seems to be well understood, that while General Pierce will strenuously exert himself to repress everything appertaining to filibus- terism, he will firmly maintain the dignity of the na- — tional character, and fearlessly demand reparation Beany insult to the American fiag, or injury to whom it waves, be the aggressors whom they may. Our Washington correspondent remarks that the rumor respecting the calling of Hon. John A. Diz into the cabinet has been productive of con- siderable excitement among some of the South- erners. How's this? Are the old lines, which formerly divided the democracy into sectivnal fas- tions and cliques, to be again brought into play by the fow who are entirely too ultra to be satisfied with anything that docs not correspond with their notions in every particular? For the sake of the _ eauptey, it is hoped that this will not be the case. Instead of becoming excited about chimeras, would it not be as well for all to wait and ascertain who Gen. Pierce will himself call upon to assist in the administration of affairs? Apropos—we understand that Gen. Wool called upon the President elect yes- terday. What will the cabinet makers say now ? Yesterday was another decidedly dull day in Congress. Those members who had not gone home ; te pecsthe holidays were doubtless so busily oocu- pied inthe lobbies, forming cabinets for Gen. Pierce, and otherwire settling the affairs of the nation, that it was with difficulty a quorum could be Drought to a vote in either house. The only impor- tant feature in the proceedings of the Senate, was the adoption of the resolution offered some days ago by General Cass, calling for information respecting the movements of the British government to form @ new Colony in Central America. By tuis it would appear that, although the present administration hss silently acquiesced in the encroachments of the ter, in direct violation of the Clayton aud Bulwer treaty, the party now in power in Congress, and shortly to be so in the executive ‘branch of the government, are indisposed to wink et these serious aggressions. This rezolution, com- ing as it does from the leader of the old school— commonly known as the “old fogy”—wing of the democracy, indicates that the whole party have fally determined upon the enforcement of the Mon- Tee doctrine to the letter. ‘The Benate pasred the Houge bills providing for ‘the construction of certain roads in Minnesota, and allowing the Secretary ef Oregon to select new Schoo! lands ; also, five relief bills, and a resolu- tion calling for a report of the Board of Army Offi- cers at the head of which was Gen. Scott, respect- fing the selection of a site for a military asylam at Biue Lick, Ky. Considerable time was spent in endeavoring to secure a quorum, beforethe House could proceed ge “Oobusiness. Mr. Edward P. Little, a Qasker demo- "erat, elected trom the Ninth district of Massachu- sotta, in place of the late Mr. Fowler, appeared, and, | without removing his broad brimmed hat, was duly > qualified, and took his seat. Without doing any- * & thing worthy of note, the House, in imitation of the Benate, revolved to adjourn till Monday. Thus ends all national legislation in this country for 1952. Among other interesting items from Washington, we are informed that the report of Mr. King’s re- lapse was exaggerated, and that he expects to be able to mect the next Havana steamer at Norfolk Oar special correspondent gives a brief account of the controversy between certain past and present @ustom house weighers and measarers and the ‘Treasury Department, which will be read with great finterest by the politicians generally, and particular- Ay by thote in this vicinity. | The Convention of Spiritualists, at Boston, ad- | journed simediclast evening. Notwithstanding tho mvowed presence of numerous influential delegates n the spirit land, the procecdings of these meno- maniacs amounted to nothing, and appear to have very unsatisfactory, even to themselves. Like Milleriem, and the Maine Liquor Law, this new @pecies of fanaticiem bids fair to soon die ont for ‘want of fuel to keep up the flame. We learn from our Providence correspondent, Phat Judges Curtis and Pittman, of the United Btates Circuit Court, in Rhode Island, have given es their domsion that the Maine Liquor law is un- @onstitutional in every particular. We also per- sive that the same law has met with another de- @isive defeat in the New Hampshire Logislaturo— the bill having been indefinitely postponed, by a majority. despatch from New Orleans announces the ar- there of the steamer Faleon, with one hundred dollars in California gold dust. The F. “The” G. Gaght to" along by this time. "Ry tolegregh from Helifar, we hove » epsopsls ot; one Gay's later intelligence from Europe. The bre- vity of the despatch is probably accounted for by the fact that Sunday in ervened between the sailing of the Canads and the Frenklin. The opposition to the Derby ministry was increasing, and the probs- bility was that it would be defeated and compelled ‘to resign. Gold was still pouring in from Australia; but it is not probable that the flow of the precious metal will begin to compare with that continually nental news is said to be of no importance. We four days’ later advices by the Pacific, which is now greatly over due. It may be, however, that she did not sail on ber regular day. . According to the latest returns, it is probable that the democrats were successful in the resent Btate election in Louisiana. The Board of Supervisors met last evening, but did not transact avy business of public importance The next meeting will be held on Monday, January 10th, when the new Mayor will have been sworn in, and will be elected chairman of the Board There was an amusing and instructive debate again ast nigbt in the Board of Aldermen, on the subject of increasing the Corporation Counsel’s salary. The other transactions were of little gene- ral interest, and will be found elsewhere. The en- tire expense of the Webster obsequice was $6,447 35, which was not formally appropriated till Wednesday evening, and alluded to as an additional sum. The Board was adjourned till this day. Yesterday evening the Board of Assistant Alder- men confirmed the resolution of the Board of Alder- men in relation to the Broadway Railway, in spite of the veto of the Mayor, by a vote of 13to 3. See our official report elsewhere. Owing to the excessively crowded state of our columns, we have noroom to refer to much inter- orting reading contained in this issue. However, the headings ‘of the different articles will be suf- ficient to direct the reader’s attention. he Great Metropolis for 1852. It has, heretofore, been our custom to publish & number of documents on the first day of January, giving a history of the leading events of the past year, in all parts of the world, and more particu- larly{in this country and its great Empire City. Our New Yoar’sday sheet has always, therefore, been regarded asa most valuable and interesting map of busy life, presenting at one view the civilized world and its multifarious objects and operations for a whole year. These documents have so crowded upon us this year, and such is the growth and pro- gress of the United States and its commercial capi- tal—such the number and importance of the events of the last twelre months in other nations—that it is impossible for us to find room for all, even in our double sheet, on New Year’s day; and we therefore ‘take time by the forelock,” and pub- lish as many as porsible of them this day—the last of the year, 1852. The remainder we shall publish to-morrow. Those we have given to-day are aa follows :— 1—History of Ship Building in New York. 2—Mortality of the City im 1852 8—Statieties of Emigration. & 4—DNames of City and County Officers. 5—Btatistics of Law Courts. 6—The Celery ey tea aoe Boutes, &e. i—Btausticn of the iaieis of Oolored Orphaxs, 9—BStatlstics of the Asylum of Lying in Women. 10—Btatistios of the House for Aged t Females, 11—Btatistics of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. 12—New York State Government. In the early part of the present month we anti- cipated all our contemporaries in the publication of the Census Reports— the most valuable, important, and complece ever given to the public in this or any other country. These documents presented a per- feot picture of the whole country in bold outline, and standing in contrast with the great nations of the Old World, they showed our amazing pro- gress, and the superiority of the physiosl, moral, and intellectual condition of the population of “the model republic” over the inhabitaats of all the countries of the Old World, whether gaverned by absolute despotism, constitutional monarehy, or by the appliances of priestoraft. Engiand, the most free of these, at least in theory, presents a sad speo- tacle ef ignorance, poverty, misery, and crime, when compared with the United States, where no man is destitute if it is not hisjown fault, and crime is diminished by the teeming plenty of a free land, and by the universal diffusion of education and in- telligence from Maine to Texas, and from the At- lantic to the Pacific. The statistical tables and other documents we publish today ox- hibit a» panoramic view of the great metropolis ot the country—the mighty heart whose every pulsa- tion is felt to the remotest extremities, alternately sending forth and receiving back the current of national life, through every vein and artery of the body politic. The mass of information conveyed in these popers unfolds the character of our local inati- tutions, the rapid but steady gromth of the city, foreshadowing its future progress from its past career, and pointing to the time, not very distant, when it shall be eecond to no city on the face of the earth in magnificence and extent, in population and commerce. Among the most interesting of the articles we publish, is that on ship building, extending to a period of halfacentury. It cannot be expected to be quite perfect ; but it is as nearly #0 as possible, and accurate enough to mark the progress of New York in this great branch of the useful arts, and the progress of its commercial enterprise, of which its naval architecture is one of the surest indications. A short time ago we published a statement of the buildings erected in every ward ofthis city during the year,from which it appeared that the sum of fourteen millions of dollars had been expended in the erection of stores, warehouses, hotels, palaces, and hwmbler dwellings; and we bave no doubt that, taking into account some that were necessarily omitted, in the uppermost wards of the city, and those that have since been built, the sum total would be found nearer te twenty millions. We also recently pub- lished complete tabular statements of the military defences of the city of New York, and its citizen soldiery, both Of native and foreign birth, together with the numerous target companies, which, though not enrolled under the State law, would be found, if their services should be required, as brave and offective as the best disciplined corps in the land. It is o fact, as interesting as it is important, that im twelve hours notice this city alone can bring wito the field, ready for action, fifty thousand men and one hundred and sixty one pieces of camnon. It will be seen, from the bill of mortality for the year 1852, that 21,183, including 1,378, have boen numbered with the dead, out of a population of be- tween 500,000 and 600,000. There is but a slight increase over the mortality of the year 1851, when the number wae 20,868. This increase is about in the ratio of the increase of population. The deaths aro about one in twonty-eoven of the inhabitan's, while in London, with a denser population, and less healthy climate, and many thousands perishing from starvation, the deaths are only one in forty. When London was kept as filthy as New York, ite mortality was greater than that of New York at present, as may be seon from Macaulay’s History of England. In this city the mortality is swelled by the deaths of the foreign population, many of whom come here sick and ina destitute condition, while others are carried off by the effects ef impradence in a climate te which they are not sccustomed. The mortality is particularly severe upon children, more than half dying under ten years of age. Con- sumption stands at the head of the list for fatality, and bowel complaint is next in order. But if al- lowance be made for the deaths of a transient foreign population—for the reckless mode of living that prevails in New York, and for its abominable filth—it will be found to be one of the healthiest cities on the face of the globe. By reference to tho emigration tables which we Trelend sre 117,587, from Germany together make a total of 235,663, seven-cighths of the whole tide The eause of the excessive emigration of is ascertained to proceed from the fact communes in some parts of Germany are sending out the pauper population, paying their passages to the United States. We also learn that a con- siderable number of pauper cmigrants have been sent by the authorities of Switzerland. Let them all come. They will no longer be paupers, unless they are too lazy or too feeble to work. There is room enough and to spare for ten times the number. Our vast prairies, our untrodden forests, our rail- roads and eanals, and various departments of labor in city and country, invite their toil and skill, holding out such remuneration as thoy never could expect in the worn out, enslaved nations of the Old World. While they relieve the land they have left of a burthen, they contribute to develope the resources of this country, and to swell its glory, at the same time that they advance their ewn interests and promote the happiness of their offepring for the present generation, and for generations yet un- born. The United States isthe hope of opprossed humanity in every clime. The Railroad to the Pacific- Mr, Gwin’s Bill. If any one who is neither a railroad contractor ner an editor has taken the trouble to read the bill re- cently introduced into the Senate by Mr. Gwin, of California, which we published on Tuesday, they will doubtless begin to think that, despite the ridicule thrown on poor Mr. Benton’s favorite projest, a railroad to the Pacific is not such a utopian scheme as many of us have been led to believe. Here we have serious provisions for the construction of two or more lines of road, with branches and sections enough to open up the whole heart of the continent One ia to start from the south-western corner of the State of Arkansas, on Red river, and thence te pur sue “the most direct and feasible route” to the eastward frontier of California. With this a branch line from the Red river to the Gulf of Mexico, through Texas, will be constructed. Other branch lines, (ifwe are correct in interpreting the very con- fused and embarrassing larguage of the preamble to the bill,) will connect the Arkansas and California line with the western boundaries of Iowa and Mis souri; while another, starting from “some point weetward of the Sierra Nevada or the Rocky moun- tains,” will ran fora ‘‘eafo and commodious harbor in tho Territory of Oregon,” which must at all sea- sons of the year be open to the largest sea going ships. Such portions of these various roads as aro within the limits of any State, are tobe constructed by that State, and a large portion of the United States publio lands therein situate are to be granted to the State for the purpose; the remainder, i. ¢., the great bulk of the road from the borders of Towa, Missouri, and Arkansas, to California and Oregon, is to be constructed by contractors with the United States. The roads in the Western States— Towa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana—are to be finished in five years; those in California and across the territories in ten yoars. Tho contractors are in no case to have the use and profit of the lines for more than thirty years, at the expiration of which time they are to revert to the United States. This, it must be confessed, is'a magnificent pro- ject. Tho bare idea of a train of cars crossing the gorges of the Rocky Mountains is one which scoms, et first sight, to partake of the marvellous. Fancy @ railroad station at Santa Fé or James’ Peak—as terminus in the silent dépths of the primeval forest, or close by the wigwam of the Choctaw chiefs! Realize, if you can, the opening of thousands of aquare miles of fertile land, where none save the Indian has ever trod, and the planting of sleepers and sixty-four pound iron rails where nothing has ever bloomed but the unbidden herb of the soil! Conceive the departure of a train from New Orleans, by the Louisiana branch, for San Francisco direct, and reaching its destination, aiter a journey of two ¢housand miles, in three dsys! The conception seems to belong more properly to dreamland than to this practical country. And yet, if we look back on what wo have done and are doing, it will not seem too mush to expect thet the next ten years will bring forth works of equal msgnitude to the Pacific Railroad. Judging by the fruits of tho Inst ten years, the year 1863 will witness a state of material advancement compared to which our present advantages are but the feeble attempts of infancy. Our progrese is as the square of the time : each succesful lustrum far outstrips its predecessor in the value and importance of the great works it leaves as its legacy. The increase of our trade, our shipping, our manufactures, our steamers, our rail- roads, our telegraphs, our cultivated lands, since 1843, is probably, in the aggregate, equal to the whole increase of the thirty years previous. Nor is there any reason for expecting a dimunition of this rate of progress. On the contrary, everything betokens an unexampled fever of enterprise and energy. Money is pouring in upon us on every side. Railroads are being planned and built in every State, with unparralieled vigor. Factories are springing up around us as though we had no Great Britain to import from. Wall street teoms with companies of al) kinds—some with a real tangible purpose and capital, others mere traps for gulls; but all affording undeniable symptomsof the freedom of the money market and the vast amount of unocou- pied enterprise in the country. Starting under such auspices, we have every ground for believing that the next ten years are destined to accomplish greater things than have been dreamed of, even in Senator Gwin’s philorophy—monuments of human skill and energy, compared to which ths Pacific railroad is & more trifle. And, indeed, when we reflect on the value of time in this country, ten years seem a vory long 1 period for the construction of any single enterprise, of whatever magnitude. Ten yoars henos, the Pacific States will almost balance those on the Atlantic. Oregon will teem with inhabitante, and California will be as thriving, and probably more populous, than New York. A large and profitable trade with the countries of Asia, China and Japan will havo opened the harbors of our Pacific coast, and a de- mand for our manufactures, both for exportation and home consumption, will have sprang up, which the steamers from Panama will be inadequate to supply. Long before 1863, some enterprising firms in San Francisco will have found means of commu- picating with New Orleans and New York, by somo more ready channel than the Isthmus, and thus se- curing a monopoly of the market. Tho nocessity for a railroad once admitted, time is a matter which need not be taken into consideration. That which can be done in ten years can be done in two, if the number of men employed is quintupled. The com- mercial necessities of California and Oregon, and the enterprise of our morchents, will require a rail- road before five years have elapsed; and the moment its absolute necessity is discovered, men will be found to build it, to furrow the mountain top, to grade the snowy slopes and level the trackless prairie in as short a time as if the work were to be undertaken in the heart of New England. Before ten years have elepsed, a third community, whose interest in the undertaking is at least equal to that of New York or San Francisco—Utah—will have found railroad indispensable to its pros- | perity. Norwill the men who have made n paradise of the desert borders of Salt Lake be slower than be a Mie Loar“ 30' Chay pid eomtinaenin with California on the one side, and New York on the other, will rightly seem the foundation of a boundless wealth and greatness; and with that ener- gy Which has over characterized them, they will at once set their shoulder to the wheel, and builds railroad. This is no dream, but.a very plain reality. The railroad we eball have, and ten years to build it, Mr. Senator Gwin, is too long by half. Tae Broapway RalLgoaD AND THE CoMMON Covncrt —It will be seen, by reference to another part of this day’s Henan, asaleo from the proceed- ings of the Common Council published in yester- day’s paper, that the members of that body, by their precipitancy, have got themselves into a very serious predicament. They have been cited for a contempt of court, in disobeying the injunction against their proceeding further with the grant to ley down rails in Broadway. They set the court at defianee, and they have to answer for the con- tempt which they were warned they were committing. It will be seen that they have the opinion of some of the most emizent lawyers in the city that they bad a right to make the grant. But thisis not the question. Itmatters not whether they were right orwrong. They were Bound to obey. the injunction till it was decided in a court of law whether they were right or not; and the city fathors have set a very bad example to the citizens—their children—in resisting the laws of the land and the orders of the judges of our courts. If they were right, there was no necessity for haste; if they were wrong, it was but justiee to the city, who have to pay the legal costs, to pause before they finally committed themselves. Hasty LEGisLavion 1x THE Comwon Councin— Mounrorrat Teiecrarns, &0—We regret to see the railroad speed with which the sum of $12,000 was appropriated by the Common Council, in the way ofa contract to Miller & Robinson, to enable them to construct a sort of city telegraph, which is a kind of revolving alphabet, or visual telegraph, intended to be read off by a letter at a time, and by those watching it; and should a letter be missed or wrongly placed, the whole communication would be deranged ; and, at least, it can only falfil one em- ployment in municipal purposes—that of a police station signal. A single wire, with the use of such instruments, of twelve to fifteen miles in length, and the line carried over house-tops, or on posts already erected by the Corporation, would, every- thing included, not cost, at the outside, over $3,000, thus leaving a net profit of at least $9,000. For the sum of $12,000, the most perfect and complete system of municipal telegraphs, used in other cities, could be erected. For ever a year past, a most complete and perfect system of municipal telegraphs has beem in operation in Boston, which has worked to the admiration of everybedy. It isextremely simple in its arrangements. Merely by turning a crank, every fire bell in the city can be set to ringing the required number of strokes. A small box contains the apparatus, and these boxes are, distributed over the city, the keys to which are in the hands of proper persons. Whistles can also be sounded at police stations, as signals or alarms. Mossages can also be sent from « central station to and from every part of the city, and re- corded in such a simple form as to be understood and practised by the slightest instruction. A muni- cipal telegraph has also been erected in Berlin, which is welljspoken of. In a great city like New York the best possible system should be intreduced, especially when it isto cost no more than an inferior or imperfect one. Had # committee of the Corpora- tion taken time to have investigated this subject, we are sure that they would have delayed astion until they were in possession of all the facts on the tubject. We trust the Mayor will interpose his veto in this case, and add another good act to his term of service. ut Tae Common Councit or NEw York anv Louis Kossut.—We have received a large octavo volume, of between seven and eight hundred pages, elegantly bound and beautifully illustrated, containing a fall and particular account of the sayings, doings, after- dinner speeches, and addresses of the Hungarian orator while in this country and elsewhere, publish- ed by order of the Gommon Council. The public, fo far as we can ascertain, are not even aware of the existenee of such a work; and therefore we may fairly assume that it wa- compiled and printed for the exclusive benefit of the members of the Corpo- ration and their particular friends. This is decidedly cool. After the enormous sum drawn from the purses of unfortunate tax-payers for the hotel expenses of Kossuth and his suite, forsooth the Common Council must indulge their own ecspe- cial literary taste at the public expense! Civil cor- porations are generally not over famous for their love of literature; but we do respectfully suggest to our Common Council, if they wish to gratify their love for the belles lettres, that they in future bear the expense themselves, and not throw the burthen upon our citizens, who are at present heavily op pressed by thé taxes so liberally showered upon them. More Orenatic Entenrnizs 1x New York.—The pub- lie will learm with satisfaction that Max Maretzek, the distinguished manager of Italian opera, is now on his return to thir city, from prosperous professional tour in Mexice. He is accompanied by most of the eminent ertistes—Bteffanone, Salvi, &o.—who formed his company at the Astor place opera house last winter. Their arrival may be expected about the first of February, and as soon after as practicable arrangements will be made for the presentation of Italian opera by them. We understand that is the intention of Maretzek to stecr clear of the es- tablishment at Astor place, which has been se inauepicious to himself and his predecessors, and to negotiate either for the Broadway theatre or Niblo’s. ‘Tue Tueataes,—The programmes of entertainment at the rerpective theatres, and other places of amusement i= this city, are very attractive. For particulars, we refer the reader to advertisements and small bills, John Seftom, the comedian, is anmouneed to play Jemmy Twitcher, in Baltimore, on Monday. Broapway Tneatas.—There was & mbsgnificent audi- ence at the Broadway, last evening to seeand hear Albo- ni in “ Le Cenerentola.” It was the largest, the most fashionable, and the most enthusiastic of the season. We do not recollect ever having seen at any theatre in this city such a splendid appearance as the house presented. As fcr Albon!. she was, as usual grand throughout. No- thing ever heard in this country can exceed the beauty and effect of the finale of “Cenerentola.” Each night it has been vooiferously encored and repeated. It is the gem of the opera, and every one leaves fully impressed with the matchless powers of the great prima donna. We have “La Cenerentola” for the last time this evening, and all who wish to see Alboniin this opera must not lone the only opportunity left. On Monday she appears as Marie in “La Fille du Regiment.’ This is her great- est character, and there is no doubt it will astonish those whose expectations are already carried to the highest point. It will be brought out in good style, and, we pre- dict, with immense succes! : Brooklyn City Intelligence. Ite brewae, betvomn Vo Decat. ema Oonceen oleeets occupied as a store by John Cunningham, and asa mar: ble establ ent by Griffing, Dansford The contents were aad the & Gi . destroyed, Poildlen until resently owned oy Werten Beman, entire- ly demolished. The total 10.000; $6,000 of which falls upom Mr. 1,000 upon the firm of Griffing & Oo., the rem: Sere Mr. Cunningham is understood to be in- sured. iff; for gives him no int som ie veteenee of the so that he can plaintiff to | THB LECTURE SBASOR, woven ‘atthe Tabermacle ous as it ought to have been ' Steam.” Having been introduced to the said Tt was an old fable that the ove taunted the land for fling high Yernment. Some of our New vernors of the Western States teluintit aESEE t There he is ‘his attention, and over that country he would spirit of go. , He looks upon Japan ld Munkor, and believes it tobe rather too ‘will have to annex it, and throw Africa int car. Jonathan is more moral than : EeEE houres a clean as anybody; and for these sons their complaints were listened to by him. {hus he found out that they were a useful and ple. while England could not do so. There was a great Teligious epoch in this country at present. He then alluded to the Mormons, whove history he related from. the death of Joe Smith to the present fe compared them to the Mshomedans. on account of the persecution that they have undergone, andthe rosperity which has followed. A Mopar wind could see that this move- ment is something more than mere Quakerism. The manner in which they have conducted themselves, by leaving the civilized world, crossirg the pleins, and there establishing a city on the orders of an faland nea, evinces @ movement of tam grandeur. The Progress of this age is wonderful. New E: soenes, where the minister was ruler over villege, are now all past ; for us to look upon in a future of civilization. The children of this see are bapi in steam. end handie the lightning with perfect safety. The literary aspect of affairs is also improved by steam. ‘The success of Uncle Com’s Oabia, is owing greaily to steam ; by its aid, hundredsof thuu- sends of copies bave been distributed over the earth aud in less than a year. that book will be known better any book except Bible. The Yankees are in favor of superficial knowledge, and are fonder of @ 1eap, 50 48 to be in the power of every man to . They buy books in England which are not deemed worth publishing, and bring them out to this them to great advante; Our artists meod vot be ashamed of themselves, \w days ago. a = sold at auction, for $1,300, which was peinted a young American It is said by some that steam ruins the fine arts; but it is not so—it rather serves to im. prove their condition Every country is celebrated for excelling each other in some particular branch of busi. ness, snd not knowing much about the others , but the onperity. let. faith, hoffe. and charit Juetore ; and if we take them fur guides, we will have morearon to fear any heavy misfortune. Soom then, the broad-brimmed hat would join us in this the age of Whe Brooklyn Institute, PARK BENJAMIN, ESQ., ON “* THE RIDICULOUS ” ‘The fourth of the eourse of Institute lectures was, om Thuredsy evening, delivered before one of the largest audiences ever assembled in that hall, by Park Benja- min, Esq. The subject chosen for the occasion was “The Ridiculous” In introducing his subject, Mr. Ben. jamin remarked that he should perhaps occupy the at- tention of the audience for an hour in unprofitable— though not so imtentionally—observations upon the ridi- culous, which hq would make interesting by illustrations, Taking heort frem the favors granted to him heretofore, he felt that he was not talking to a jury of eritios, bat to an assemblage of friends. Commencing with « quota- tion from Wordsworth, he described the visit of man to Nisgara, who went to see it beceure it afforded such splendid mil! privileges. Solemn absurdities often caused a keen sense of the ridiculous, and was apt to confer as much pain as pleasure upon those against whom its shafts were dizected—that which excited admiration and re- ‘verence of most men. caured a smile in others. Going into @ church, for instance, and seeing a congroga- tion of long faces; which you had scen all smiling but a short time before, caused you to smile, and the whole congregation would laugh immoderately at the falling of s hat or the nodding of somnolent per- ton. Children in echool would langh at a fly on a peda- jogue’s Bore, While out deors no notice would be taken of it. It often occurred that on the most solemn occasion a ridiculous circumstance caures mirth even in the most pine vim his papi ca bid minister, ion prea from his pr obecrved a! fin- jer to the head of a rea haised pay ry Le mn and imitation of a blacksmith, comm: hammering it on hisknee. It was Rochefaucault who said that there Was something in the misfortunes of friends, which inva- ong J made one laugh; the woman would laugh because her husband bumped his nose against the door, and chil- dren would laugh themselves into fits because father fell off the chair. as I did just mow. (U; laughter.) [The lecturer alluded to a circumstance at the oommence- ment of his remarks;—the chair upom which he sat hav: ing broken down, and he was precipitated upon the floor.) But you didn’t . ter vial misfortunes our friends misfortunes of our neighbors! ing @ .business in the oyster line in New Fork * to go upon an excursion, #0 oars a po some time inj wa, he Ly one, wad areas il be ‘absence, simple low thing?” The reply was, Thingy it fue Sis wonoe? sequent’y in no hurry to return, and protracted his jour- than he intended Arriving home, he found that bis er had fled, and took with him not his goods, but his wife also. In cities the sense of the ridiculous is in @ manner, worn off by constant nen Mg Bet eee falk on Nag ew ‘¢ will be found, ID most cacer, e persons who laugh are strangors— citizens had’ seen such things ‘before. “ When swine hed the freedom of the city, they always created mirth—they are always performing perverse actions, going contrary in every’ . Once, in Broadway, a lady, fashionably drersed. hoa BP ices og herself of some conse- uence. was railing along, when suddenly a porker ie m & by-street, who struck the lady with such force and im such @ manner as ¢0 place her on his back. So fine! was she seated, that she was treated to a ride for a whole bloek, Whether injured or not by the slight fell, could the be pitied? No; the sense of the ridiculous was too strong for that. Even a Methodist minister, who witnens- ed the oe ag laughed immoderately. Two police at ved ney come time It officers carried junate to a drug store, while the animal waiked along about his business withan indifference peculiar to his race. Sir Walter Ra- leigh when in this country had acquired the habit of ag he continued after arrival in Eng- land. , While bet ne Be | smoke, @ servant, toextingulsh it Helslga was raspeland, but i extinguis! a was si iy it ‘was too felonious a circumstance to be angry about. Pitiable sights not unfrequently excite theridleulous fom i hn LJ Svan pubes 85 bel how ney it appears th adruaken man in the \tter and in answer to the question how he there. ene hain’ tated to see @ friend here.’ - ward police, Wedi the ‘ey, rendering i$ at times quite hot. fhe thermo- moter at the Herald Buildin, ed: wt noom, 453¢ deg.y. Be Mee aie, cat cee Is Bi fiom pear Harlem bridge, upon the Z ‘The officers took them to the station house, and notified |” the Coroner. Deap Inraxt Fourn —Officer Fulmor, ef the Nine- © teenth ward, found the body of a dead infant lying upon | the sidewalk in Fifts street, between Second ang Third avenues, on Wednesday evening. [he body had ¥€ been placed in a box, which the officer conveyed to the ", station house, gn Supper DratH.—A woman named Mary 0: wie had been ill for the past week at the houre No 51 k- lip etreet, and had no medical fee sing Ae fount dead in her bed on Wednesday evening. x was nctified by her som, under advice ‘of Oaptain Pierty, a of the Sixth ward. Beniovs Acpiprent.—At sbeut three o'clock on Wed- evening, @ mam named William it acl deni fell from acert, near the Catharine and} sustained a fracture of hisarm. Sergeant Lyons,of the © Beventh ward, took him to his residence, at No. 183. Al~ Jen street. Rescurp rrom Drownixc.—At one o'clook Thomas forty. third snd Forty-feurth streets, .) ‘fp the Eleventh avenue. She took it to the Nineteenth ward station houre and kindly contented to take care of it for the night, at the request of Capt. Maynard. Pine in Fuuton Sraret.—The fire in Fulton street thia morning. occurred at No. 188—not No 186—in the cloth- ing store of Mr. W H. Gooday It originated im the cen- tre of the store, but the direct cause is not accurately as- certained. Mr Gooday sustains = very Beery kort fire and . It is estimated at some thousands of and is covered by insurance. At about ome o’clock yesterday morning a fire broke out in the basement of the house No. 316 Henry street. It waa caused by the coveriet of a bed tuking fire from contact with a lamp which was toeautiously Brought too. neer to it. The flames were extinguished with trifling damegs. Miitary Paraprs.—The Rome Blues, composed of the employés of the Manhattan Gas Ligh: Company, went on. their annual excursion last Wednesday accompanied by Bhelton’s Cornet Band. They contended for five fine prizes, and returned to ‘muoh delighted with the day’s eport. Prorosry Batt. to Proresson Yares.—The pupils of him by «grand eompliaentary bull upon Mosday the yy a grand com: . upon Moi 17th January. The entertainmedt will take place in the Chinese ae Rooms, Broadway, and the festirities ‘will be well worthy of the occasion. Police Intelligence. Arrest of Two Female Shep-Lifiers.—On T! lug. two decently dreesed German women, = Sehemit and Hester Tomey. were doxoted im s Young x) Pretence of looking over the articles shown. Elizabeth Schemit was observed to conceal the ear rings in her far cuff, and was about leaving the store, when and the property taken from her They were both taken before felomously entered by a Johp and William Da: robbers in the the scription ef the rcbbers was given, and the officers succeeded in o fied by Mr. Beisel as the oa tr it hae cog bane Lad disturbed, had packed up in a batket a quantity of wearing appa valued at $300. A silver watch and chain. valued at Fits th+y carried off. The Cp es the basket they were compelled to leave bebind them. The accused parties were taken before Justice McGrath who oommitt to prison for trial. “Arrest of Another One of the Gamblers —Officer Galla- gher, cf the Sixth ward on Tuerday evening, arrested: James Mead, one of the gamblers recentiy sccused of con- - spiring, together with several others, in fieecing young Learock out of reveral hundred doltare. The complainant, it seems, was passing along Chambers street, and. faw the accured in a public house, and recognizin as one of the parties concerned in the gambling. for whose arrest Justice Stuart had issued his warrant, his attorney, Mr. A. A. Phillips. who forthwith procured the sid cf the above named officer, and Mead was con veyed to the station house and detained Yesterday, the prisoner was conveyed before Justice Stuart, who com- mitted him to prison to await a farther hearing « Stealing a Case of Needles ~Offloer Martin. of the Sixth named Frederick saepitend avenue. on a charge of ing ® cese, containing rome 10,000 needles, silver pencil cases, pens. ond other fancy articles, valued in all at $268, the property of Mr. John Reed, Ko, 14 Broadway. It seems that o short time ince. the above package was sent from No. 48: Maiden lane, for the purpose of shipment; the carmen left the case at the , and soon after it was stolen away. The noedlos were of a peculiar chi ands large quantity of them were found at the store ef Mr, Graham, No. 386 Grand street. On the officer ing of Mr. Graham avout the property, he i the that he bought them of a man uemed Gridle, reaic at No. 211 Stanton street. The officer called om them from the man Funk, conveyed to the station house, who, in explanation of Sie pomemice, of the them man ata lager boat shop in William street, whom he did not know, magistrate, however, before whom the pi brought, did not believe bis representations, snd accord. ingly held him to anewer the charge of the larceny, was upon committed to prieon for trial. A Dishonest Boy.—Oficer Martin, of the Sixth wi Wednesday arrested a boy, fifteen years of age, mam Jobn Hanton. on a charge of stealing articles of jewelry, valued at $115, the Property of Mrs Sallivan, residin, No, 208 Canal street The boy had taken some of stolen articles an4 sold them to Mr. Matthews, No. 61 Chatham street. im whose possession they were found. The balance of the articles was fount with Denkas & . Rantenburg. suger dealers, No. 162 Nassau street. Th boy was in the employ ef Mrs. Sullivan at the timo he stole the property. Justice Osborn, before whom the young rogue was taken, committed him to prison to an- Bwer the obarge. A Lover and BSwinpLer Cavont.—A young men, formerly from Georgis. was taken up asa 81 jor, i Es says had deposited with the oler! Z tain $600, which he was requested to deposit in his safe for tafe ing. Tuesday morning he went to clot! house of Sproule & Mandeville and bo worth of clothing, requesting the articles to be the hotel with am order for the clerk to pay the charge it to him. The clerk refused to cash the clothing was retained, and Mr. Sherman then requested an advance on his deposite My the Lg lenge and preferred to js peckage, but he raid he didn’t want to break the . Officer Eyeseet stheee 33 z i pesie z 3 F i 3 3 eh