The New York Herald Newspaper, December 3, 1853, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES (4ORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR AND EDITOR, OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. TERMS cc@h in advance THE DALY HERALD 2 cents per copy-$7 per annum. THE WEEKLY HERALD soory Satmrday at 04 conte copy, or annum pean Editi mon 0 rf of Great lian and $6 10 any part of the Continent i to toe VOLUNTARY CORRESPONDENCE containing émpor swat news solicited from any quarter of the world; if used will Er eee tg: Sen Fousion ConursronDEnrs (= PARTICULARLY REQUESTED TO SEAL ALL LerTEns 43D ME TETTERS by mail for Subscri;tions, or with Adver- Hsements to be post paid, or the postage will be deducted from remitted. estes MUO NOTICE taken of anonymous communications, IMO RINTING czecuted with neatness, cheapness, and VERTISEMENTS renewed everw day. ‘stume XVUT eat AMUSEMENTS THIS SVENING. BOWERY [THEATEE, Bowory—Hawier—Acyes pe ‘Vere. BROAPWAY THEATHS, Brondway--Mar oy MaRizn- porpr—Pook Prnuicoppy BURTON'S THEATRE, Chambers street—Fox Huxt— My Uncxe’s Caxp. NATIONAL THEATR*, Byening Uxcis Toms Crary. Nan streot— Afternoon and WALLACK’S THEATRE Brosdwar--A Cure vor THE Heartache Per ov riz Perricoars. AMERICAN KUSEUM—Afternoon and Evonivg —Uncue Tom's Canim, FROADWAY MENAGEKIE—Siauese Twins axv Witp Brass. BOWERY AMPHIYHBATRE, 87 Bowery—Equrrraian ?uavoRmaxczs. CHRISTY'S A¥ERI —Brmrorias Mxiovies KA HOUSER, t7] Broadway sTy's MiInsTRELS. WOOD'S HINSTEEL'S, Woed’s Minsire) Mall, 444 Broad- way—Erwmiorian Minsre BUCKLEYIS OPFAA FO Mrw0r1am CPEna TROL BANVARD'S GRORAHA. wee Houy Lan. BHENISH CALLIRY, Gy MGNOK BLITZ—Srvvvesanr Iverirurs, 69 Broadway. ACADEKY BALL, 13 way—Perna’s Crer Bou SFriON OF THE SEVEN MILE MIRROR, POWSLL'S GREAT NATIONAL PAINTING ror TRE OVERNMENT 19 NOW OPEN AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF Weeiox, 663 Boosdwsy @OPE CHAPAL, 718 Sroudway—Jones’s Panroscors. %, 580 Broad way-—Buoxier’s Broadway—Pavonawa oF adway—Day and Bvoning. £HE WORLD IN MINIATURS—Brondway, corner of White street, Sty METROPOLITAN HALL~ Granp Concerr. ———————————— New York, Saturday, December 3, 1853. One Week’s History. Tee Werety Herarp, contsicing a complete epitome of one week's intelligence from all quarters of the world, will be published at nice o'clock this morning. wixperce. To be bad at the counter in wrappers aot veady for mailing. Price ‘The caucus to be held to-night in Washington by the democratic members of tle House of Representa- tives will be one of unusual political importance. On reference to our telegraphic despatches it will be seon that a series of national resolations are to be intro- daced, which will bring out the sentiments of the members, and constrain them to avow themselves for er against the present Cabinet. It is difficult tosee how this platform can be evaded. It will call the attention of the members and the country to the great issue which will be thus opened in the Thirty- third Congress. These resolutions and their fate will therefore give the proceedings of to-night’s cau- cus a peculiar significancy. The ball rolls onward. In addition to the matter above mentioned, we publish various despatches, letters and extracts, from ‘Washington, as well as a letter from our Harrisburg correspondent, ail bearing apon the leading topic of the day, national politics, and to which the particu- lar attention of the reader is directed for a graphic illustration of passing events. The selection by Mr Benton of the seat formerly occupied by John Quinsy Acams, on the whig side of the House, is considered som what ominous. The ten days later intelligence from Mexico given in another page shows pretty conclusively that Santa Anna is gradually arranging his plans to place his countrymen once more under the bonds of des potim. His re-establishment of the Order of Gaa dalupe and interchange of peculiar courtesies with several of the crowned heads of Europe, are looked ‘upon as mere stepping stones to imperialism. How- ever, his ambi‘ion may yet be checked, and he again compelled to seek refuge in foreign countries, in . Consequence of the great dissatisfaction of the Mexi- can people, who, in addition to being crushed with taxes, debts and stringent decrees, are sorely har- ragsed by the Indians, who, we regret to leara, con- tinue their depredations and murders with perfect impunity. Asin New Orlears and other parts of our Southern States, the cholera has taken the place vacated by the yellow fever in Mexico. We give to-day a complete and interesting resumé of the latect inteliigence from the South American States, including Brazil, Ecuador, Chili and Pern The disputed question between Brazil and Peru, as to the navigation of the Amszon, was not yet ar- ranged, end correspondences were still being carried on on the subject between the two governments. The intelligence is of a more favorable kind in re spect to the peace ard prosperity of these countries than we have often had to chronicle. In Pera alone there were some slight manifestations of dis- turbance. By reference to our commercial reports it will be seen that the operations at the stock board continue extreme'y limiled. Taose who have moaey on hand generally prefer investing it in something more relia- ble than fancy stocks; and as to other descriptions, there is so much uncertainty that they are touched with the utmost caution. Flour and cotton were both steady in this market yesterday, but at New Orleans, we'observe, the former artic’e slightly ad- vanced in price, and cotton was in brisk demand. The value of the merchandise, specie, &c., imported into this city during last month amounted to $9,720- 577, and the exports to $12,133,672—being an excess of experts of neariy two and a half millions of dl lars. For the same time last year the imports ex- ceeded the exports by $3 141,809. Twenty-three thousand and seventeen persons came paszengers ia the three hundred and thirteen veesels which arrived here from foreign ports during the month of November. In addition, we learn that four thousand four hnndred and fifteen persons have arrived within the last three days. It has been accertained that only seven lives were lost by the explosion of the boiler of the steamer In- dependence, at Sault Ste. Marie. The vessel was crowded with people at the time of the accident, and it seems almost a miracle that more of them were not killed. fome of the survivors afterwards ran ano- ther great risk of losing their lives by being on board the steamer Albany, which was wrecked on Lake Huron in a gale last Saturday. Despite the statements that in many places where the Maine Liquor law has been most strictly en- forced—for instance, Portland, Maine, where the measure originated, and several cities and towas in Massachusetts—large numbers of the inhabitants are satisfied that it tends to accelerate instead of di- minish the pernicious evil of intemperance, the peo- ple in other sections of the country are determined to test the merits of the law by actual experiment themselves. The act went into operation in the tate of Michizan yesterday; and it is believed by a great many that before a grest while we shall we called upon to give the meamre a trial in New York. The poverty, crime and misery, prodaced by the intoxicating and poisonons d@riiks vow vended in such wholesale quantities to the almost utter exclusion of pure and wholesome liquor, calls alond for reformation ; wn? those who profess to have the welfare of the tuaswen of the people at heart can devise no other means for the abolishment of the social affliction ‘oan the enactment of a woet stringent law by the Legisiaiore, |t le anenstood that a strenuous move ‘im bebalf of this object will be made at the coming session. What will be the result time alone will make manifest. This temperance qnestion is not by any means confined to the United States, bat has ex- tended to many of the leading places in the British provinces. In St. John, N. B., where they have a very strict anti-liquor statute, there was considerable rejoicing on the 29th ult. over the seizure of sixteen puncheons of alcoho! and a hogshead of brandy on board a vessel from Boston. No business could be transacted in the Board of Aldermen yesterday for want of a quorum. The body stands adjourned till this evening. We elsewhere publish a very fall report of the trial at Newport of the brothers Morgan, for the assault upon the venerable Mr. Hone, for having interfered in a difficulty between one of the assailants and his wife, a daughter of the late Dudley Selden, Esq. As this affair has caused a great deal of excitement, the testi- mony in the case, which is quite curious, and par- ticularly the letter from Mr. Selden, will undoubtedly be perused with a great deal of interest and atten- tion by the inhabitants of this city, where all the parties are well known. The Morgans, as stated yester !ay, were convicted upon the criminal suit, aud sentenced toten days confinement in the county jail. The civil suit, claiming damages in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, has been withdrawn by Mr Hone. Dr. Oliver Wendall Holmes delivered the last of his course of six lectures on the English poets last evening, at Hope Chapel. His subject was ‘‘Tenny- son and Browning.’’ The niilitary and civic societies and fire depart- ment of Brooklyn held a meeting last evening, and resolved to tender a public reception to Johan Mitchel Great anxiety is felt in all quarters to perase the three days Jater news to be brought by the Europa. The E. will most likely arrive to-day, and thus enable us to spread before our readers full details of the pro gress of the war betweea Turkey and Rassia to-mor- row morning. Renewal of the Agitation of the Slavery Question by the Seward Organs. For some time past William H. Seward has been comparatively quiet. Appalled, perhaps, by the almost unanimous verdict of the people in 1852, he allowed many months to elapse without renewing the agitation which has brought him into notoriety, and sanguine peo- ple began to hope that he had at last awaken- ed toa true sense of a citizen’s duty, and would refrain from further attempts to spread discord through the land. It was a mistake. Dema- goguism, like drunkenness, can hardly ever be cured; once an agitator, the character is only relinquished with life. Seward’s silence was but temporary. No sooner had the last elec- tion placed the power of the State in his hands than he issued instructions to his organs to reopen the campaiga. With his usual versatility, he devised a new method of attack. Slavery and slaveholders were no longer to be assailed with coarse epi- thets and loud vituperation; this system had been tried long enough without any percepti- ble advantage to the cause. His new scheme was to cull from Southern journals accounts of crimes and acts of violence, and to publish them together, with a view to persuade people that they were the natural fruits of slavery. lis faithiul editors are now performing this task. The Tribune has already published seve- ral columns of this description of matter, and the Times has done the best it could, consider- ing the industry of its editors and its small ex- change list. Both have labored to clothe South- ern narratives of bloodshed, vice and suffer- ing, with a romantic air, and have insinuated that such deeds and such scenes were peculiar to the South, and the consequences of Southera institutions. We do not know that the invention evinces sufficient ingenuity to make it worth one’s while to trace it to ils source. We may observe, however, en passant. that Seward has borrowed it from Mrs. Stowe, whose “Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is, perhaps, the finest example we have seen of this sort of misrepresentation. The fate of that work ought to have warned Seward against adopting it as a model; but it seems that the arch-agitator is determined to force people to read, in the newspapers, what they declined to peruse in a book. Everybody has heard of the monomaniac who was possessed with the idea that an invisible comet of enormous size was approaching the earth, and was (imperceptibly to all but him- self,) causing every disaster which afflicted this planet. The comet caused the rain and the drought; spread disease and disturbed men’s minds; prompted evil passions, and fostered vicious propensities in the human race; and even went so far as to spoil the temper of the philosopher’s wife, and to persuade his cook to overdo his dinner. Mad as this poor fellow seems, we have men among us scarcely less extravagant in their notions of cause and effect. Merchants are constantly imputing the results of their own folly to the effect of the tariff; and, with equal justice, Mrs. Stowe and the Seward organs would hold slavery responsible for all the evi- dences of human infirmity that come to light at the Soutb. What is there, in honest truth, in these facts about slavery?—a master flogging his slave to death? Why. we publish almost daily accounts of similar acts of cruelty and barbarity, which occur in free New York, in free England, and all over the world. A mother torn from her children?—brother and sister ruthlessly sepa- rated? Where shall we find an instance in these Northern States, or anywhere else, o families dwelling together throughout a long life of labor and dying side by side? It is an inexorable condition of our free existence that the sons of labor shall be trans planted from their homes as soon as boyhood commences; and seldom, very seldom, dces it happen that all the members of any ene family are again assembled round the same hearth. It is, in fact, highly probable, con- sidering the quasi-teudal character of a large portion of the Southern estates, that separa tions oceur less frequently in slave than in free families. A horrible murder by a slave. steep- ed in ignorance, brutality and rum? Our court calendar furnishes many scores of similar cases. Fiendish acts of cruelty or savage lust? Can any New Yorker have the boldness to cast the stone at the South for uch crimes while the murder agd rape of Ann McElroy, are una- venged? We see no good that can arise from fostering aspirit of jealousy and spite between the va- rious sections of the country, and we should be sorry to see the example of the Seward organs followed by the Southern journals. But it it were what an array of “Facts on Freedom” would they not compile! Our police reports for a week would furnish more ample and more horrible materials than all the journals of the South for a year. Wives murdered in cold blood by their husbands—children’s throats cnt by brutal fathers—women seduced and aban- doned to starve—dwellings assailed at dead of night and robbed--peaceable citizens attacked in the streets and stabbed--sane men converted into fends by the use of ram—besides a whole bud- get of minor crimes, such as larceny, swindling, and every species of dishonesty—these could be heaped together by the column and the page, and would compose an aggregate of crime com- pared to which the “Facts on Slavery” would pale into utter insignificance. According to the best authority the proportion of crime in the North is to that in the South—due allowance made for the difference of population—as six to one. What should we say if the slavery men of the South were gravely to impute the fact to the free system of labor established here? Such an assumption would be less paradoxi- cal than the deduction of the Seward organs from their calendar of Southern crime. Men of enlarged views do not require to be told that systems of labor have not been found, in gene- ral, to exercise much influence on the develope- ment of crime. Peculiarities of natioual char- acter, perjods of general prosperity or the reverse, climate, and such causes, do operate to increase or diminish the usual quota of human wickedness ; but it remains yet to be shown that any variation in its amount is due to the bond which attaches labor to capital. Judging from our present statistical returns, it would seem that crime is more common in those States where free labor is established than in those which have adopted slave labor. Reasoners like the Seward writers, were they employed on the other side, might possibly connect these fucts together, and deduce conclusions not par- ticularly flattering to lovers of freedom, just as a learned Jesuit has recently traced the increase of illegitimate births in Sweden to the influence of the Protestant religion. We do not boast of such skill in analysis and ratio- cination. We see enough in the vast tide of emigration which breaks upon our shores—in the destitute condition of the bulk of these foreiguers—in the steady spread of intempe- rance, and, finally, in the lax manner In which justice is administered, to account for the dis- graceful fact. In like manner, we can discover nothing in the occasional outbreaks of violence and crime in the South beyond a fresh confirma- tion of the weakness and sin which are inherent in human nature. If ever a time should come when instances of crueJty on the part of the master, and of savage brutality on the part of the slave, should cease to occur in the Southern States, the sooner we abandoned the North and betook ourselves to the Southern paradise the better it would be for us. Reform in the Navy. Now that Congress is about to meet, we trust that the present neglected inefficient state of the navy will be madea subject of-iaquiry, and that measures will be adopted to place it ona footing more in keeping with the position occupied by the United States in the scale of nations, and, above all, her position as the first maritime power of the carth. We do not want a very large navy, for our commercial marine is so extensive that, in the event of war, it could be made available with terrible ef- fect; but what we require is an efficient one—superior as to sailing model, supe- rior in equipment, and superior as to officers and men. Though the quantity is greatly defi- cient, it is the quality that is of most import- ance. In fact, the reduced quantity is the very reason why it is absolutely necessary that the quality chould approach as near as possible to perfection. But what is the actual condition of our navy in this respect ? It is well known to every officer in the navy who has eeen the ships of other Powers—it is an incontrovertible, indisputable fact, known to all who possess any information on naval affairs— that, with the exception, perhaps, of one frigate, five or six sloops constructed within afew years, and three of our sixteen steamers, the materiel of our navy will not bear comparison with the modern ships of foreign navies, There has becn very little progress made in the improvement of the sailing qualities of ships of war in any country for the last forty years. But whatever improvement has been made, the United States government cannot boast much in that respect, which is the more remarkable, as she has out- outstripped the world in the speed of her com- mercial marine. Speed is far more essential in a sailing man-of-war than in a merchant vessel. It is obvious that either in giving chase or in retreating from a superior force, rapid sailing is of the highest importance. Even as a convoy or cruiser a slow craft cannot be employed without detriment to the public eervice. Should this country be again called to maintain her rights upon the high seas, her ships will un- doubtedly be compelled to cope with the best of the improved models of the present day, aud unless we keep pace with other Powers we shall be taken at great disadvantage. Now, as to the armament of our war steamers. what are the facts? The Princeton has four eight-inch Paixhan guns, and six thirty-two pounders, all of reduced weight, and not ser- viceable at long range. The pivot guns of the Powhatan and Susquehanna are like their broadside guns of eight-inch calibre, but of nearly double the weight, and they may answer pretty well for vessels of their size. Suppos- ing that steamers should not be furnished with batteries numbering many broadside guns— which is as yet a mooted point—the Missis- tippi, though the has behaved nobly dur- ing a number of years, and seen more active and arduous service than any man of war steamer of her size, is singular- ly deficient in point of armament. She mounts. itis true, two ten-inch, and eight eightinch shell guns; but as they are light in metal, they cannot give accuracy to shot at distant ranges. Neither has she the means, like the Saranac, Powhatan, and Susquehanna, of bringing a stern chase gun to bear upon aa enemy under circumstances favorable to herself Most of the smaller steamers are decidedly defective or ut- terly useless. Though the names of sixteen are found upon the register,not one half of them are available as eficient cruising vessels in time of war. So much for hulls and arma- ment. With regard to the machiner$ of our war steamers, the present system of providing it by contract is all wrong. A national workshop ought to be established at Washington or New York for supplying machinery and boilers to our national vessels; and without regard to ex- pence (for economy in such cases is prodigali- ty) the work ought to be the best that could be made by human skill. When done by contract it is done in the very worst manner that will pags, and the money expended is, to a great ex- tent, thrown away. Next, as to officers, we believe that the junior officers can compare favorably with auy men of the same standing in any service in the world. But we cannot say so much of the cap- tains, who may have been excellent in their day and generation. but whose time for such ac- tive rervice as that of the duties of a captain baving long sirce gone by, they must be now classed among the “ old fogies,” and regarded, both as to their ideas and physical capacity, unfit for this go-ahead progressive age. We are not insensible to the merits of these old gentlemen, and we would have them provided for with honorable pen- sions. But we certainly would not entrust to them the arduous command of our battle ships. By reference to the Navy Register it will be found that with few exceptions our commanders are fifty years of age and upwards, while the youngest upon the list of captains are, hard upon sixty. The evil lies in the system of pro- motion by seniority without regard to merit and qualifications, and the imperfect organiza- tion arising therefrom. The old captains are so notoriously inefficient, that they are deemed unfit to command a frigate, and frigates are accordingly placed under the command of com- modores, who are generally much younger men, The proper duty of a commodore is not to com- mand a ship, but to direct and govern a fleet, and to discharge such diplomatic duties as may be intrusted to him. Yet, from this high posi- tion he is compelled to descend to the adminis- trative duties of a single ship, owing to the fact that the captains are found incompetent, from old age and infirmity, while the younger and more vigorous officers are debarred pro- motion till it comes to their turn, and then they, too, if they are not dead, are superannuated and unfit for the command. In the English navy, the most efficient in the world, men who have risen to the high posi- tion of admirals have been placed as captains incommand of frigates at thirty or thirty-five years of age, which is certainly not too young. In our system, it is just when a man is in his dots ge, and tottering on the brink of the grave, that he becomes a captain—not only in the * sixth age,” which shifts “ Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon ;”” but even in the seventh, “the last scene of all’ — “ His second childisbneas, and mere oblivion— Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, cans everything.” It is true that some men possess more vigor, both of body and mind, at seventy than others do at thirty ; but these are exceptions to the general law of humanity, and do not in the slightest degree affect the question. There are some of these captains, moreover, who have never seen more than three years sea service during a lifetime spent in the navy. These old captains constitute an oligarchy who are seldom or Never known to condemn any of their own rank when tried by court martial; but woe to the junior that is brought betore them. Of the list of sixty-eight captains, the youngest, whose commission only dates in 1852, is fifty-six years of age; the commission of the senior dates from 1806, and his age is seventy-seven years ; 80 that fifty-six is the age of the most youthful and dashing captain of that navy, in the days of whose glory Decatur died at forty-two, Law- rence at thirty-two, whilst McDonough won his battles at thirty-four, and Perry at twenty-six. In conclusion, we maintain that the seamen are not, and cannot be, of the best class, for the very conclusive reason that their pay is not nearly equal to what good men can get in mer- chant vessels. In these. in New York, seamen obtain eighteen dollars per month. Their pay in the navy remains twelve dollars, or just what it was in 1800, since which time money has diminished one-half in value. What wonder was it. therefore, that when the Mississippi was here last she could not put to sea from the difficulty of getting men? Hence, there bas been an inferior class of seamen, and so much insub- ordination in the navy, which the old fogies thought nothing could repress but barbarous flogging. What, therefore, is wanted to make our navy equal, if not superior in quality, to any other that floats, is an improvement in the models of the bulls for the purposes of fast sailing ; guns of larger calibre and heavier metal, one of these being worth ten, in consequence of the application of steam, enabling a steamer to keep out of range and sink or damage the enemy’s ships while they cannot touch her; a better class of captains, by means of a retired list for the old fogies, and promotion by merit instead of seniority ; and a superior class of seamen, by the simple process of giving better wages. These reforms are demanied by the spirit of the age, and it is to be hoped that Con- gress will give them an early consideration, and frame a judicious code of laws for the strength and regulation of this great arm of the public service. Prospects of Union among the Protestant Churches. Nothing has ever done more harm to the lead- ing sects of the Protestant Church than the trial of Bishop Andrews, in 1844 It led, as our read- ers are well aware, to the division of the Methodist Church into a Northern and a South- ern section, and laid the seeds of an enmity be- tween the two parties which contributed not a little to discredit both in the eyes of the world. What business the preachers of the Word of God had to interfere with social institutions or sys- tems of labor it is not now our purpose to in- quire. We have not the slightest desire to re- open a controversy which we trust has worn itself out by this time. It will suffice to say, that the interference of the Northern Metho- dists with the rights of Southern preachers of their body to hold slaves led to asplit, which was imitated by several other Protestant de- nominations, and exists to the. present day. This split was not one of doctrine only. It in- volved temporal as welt as spiritual considera- ticns—a division of cash as well as a division of principle. The Methodist Church owned, in fact, large bookstores in this city, in Cincinnati, and in Charleston; the first of which represented a capital of some six or eeven hundred thousand dollars. A divi- sion of this property, adjusted according to the rights of each section, was proposed and par- tially agreed to at the time of the split ; but, as usual in such cases, it was found impossible to carry out the dissolution of partnership amica- bly, and both Southern and Northern Churches soon found themselves in the law courts. The case was argued and re-argucd; learned barris- ters expended their ingenuity on its merits; and profound judges differed, as they always do, on the right and the wrong of the dispute. Finally, after a protracted contest, the Confer- ence decided to pursue the course which it ought to have adopted in the first instance. Commissioners were appointed by both partics to arbitrate on the points in dispute; and, aided by the friendly counsels of Judge McLean, who appears to have acted a most worthy part in the matter, they were enabled to agree upon a verdict without callinginan umpire. This long- standing litigation was thus happily terminated. and the Commissioners parted, we are told, with the most kindly expressions of mutual regard. We should be sorry to think that the spirit of conciliation, which appears to have been roused at this late period, would be content with these fruits. It is not enough that the money dispute should be settled—cannot the hatchet be buried altogether, and the disjointed fragments of the old Methodist body be reunited? The Metho- dists are peculiarly distinguished for their prac- tical common sense; they do not usually em- bark in undertakings whieh cannot possibly bring forth tangible, useful results. What re- sult is likely to flow from a maintenance of the present division between North and South the experience of the last nine years shows pretty plainly; and nothing is now more certain than that a continuance of the slavery controversy will only tend to widen the breach—to confirm the Southern men in their views and em- bitter the tone of the Northern party. It is utterly out ofthe power of the latter to effect any change in Southern institutions by holding their Southern brethren at arms’ length; and the Southern faction will assuredly not enhance their reputation for Christianity if they allow rancour for past injuries to stand in the way of a reconciliation. United, the Methodist Episco- pal Church will again assume the commanding position she occupied before the split; divided, her cause is weakened, her influence impaired, and her character sensibly injured. A recon- ciliation and reunion among the Methodists would probably be followed by a similar step on the part of the Presbyterians, Baptists, and other sects which have allowed themselves to be divided by the slavery question; and any one can see how largely the interests of the Protestant Church would be gainers by such an event. In plain truth, the Church has no concern with temporal institutions.- It is the first and paramount duty of God’s ministers, of what ever calling, to evince themselves, and to in- culcate on their flock, obedience to established authority, and loyalty to the constitution under which they live. Without such a rule as this it would be necesgary for all governments to re- alo. gard ecclesiastical bodies as dangerous ments in the State, too likely to become conspi- rators to escape close watching. It has been usually followed with scrupulous fidelity by most European churches—by none more closely than by the Church of Rome, which owes not a little of its preponderance to its careful We commend its example to the Methodists. If the preach- ers of that communion desire to perform their spiritual labors in an effective manner, they must oppose a united front to their rivals and the world. They must not allow it to be said that a few degrees further north or south can Methodism must be a unit or nothing. Atthe present pe- riod, especially when the prospect of fresh treasonable outbreaks is alarming all patriotic minds, it is absolutely essential to the reputa- tion of the sect that all its preachers should be found ranged on the side of loyalty and of avoidance of political troubles. alter the doctrines of their faith, “the powers that are ordained of God.” Unitep SraTes SENATE—CLASSIFICATION OF THE Memsers.—The following Senators are understood to be supporters of the present administration under the Cabinet as now orgapized:— Fitzpatrick and Clay, of Alabama. Johnson and Sebastian, of Arkansas, Toucey, of Connecticut, Mallory, of Florida. Petit, of Indiana, Jones, of Iowa. Shields, «f Diinots. Slicell, of Louisiana, Hamlin, of Maine. Stuart, ‘of Michigan. Norris and Williams, of New Hampshire. Chae, of Odio. Butler ané Evans, of South Carolina, Mason and Hunter, of Virginia. e Dodge and Walker, of Wissonsin, —Total, 21. Senators opposed to the coalition Cabinet, includ- ing national democrats and whigs:— Weler and Gwin, of California. Smith, of Conrecticat. Bayard and Clayton, of Delaware. Morton, ef Florida Daweon and Toombs, of Georgia. Bright, of In¢iana. Douglas, of itn. ‘A. C. Dodge, of Iowa. Dixon and Thompson, of Kentucky. Benjamin, of Louiriana. Everett and Sumner, of Maarachusetts Pearce aud Pra‘t, of Maryland Cass, of Michigan. Ti¢mpson and Wright, of New Jersey. Aéans, of Mississippi. Atchison and Geyer, of Missouri. Seward and Firh, of New York. Badger, of North Carolina. Wade, of Ohio. Cooper and Brodhead. of Pennsylvania. James and Allen, of Rhode Island. Jones and Bell. of Tennersee, Houston and Rusk, of Texas, Foote, of Vermont. —Total. 37. There are four vacancies, viz.:—From Vermon}, Maine, North Carolina, and Mississippi. Of the whig Senators, Messrs. Seward and Fizh, of New York, Foote, of Vermont, and Wade, of Ohio, are well known to have free soil tendencies; but they are known also to be opposed to the present Cabinet. Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, also, who was elected by a coalition of democrats, abolitionists and free soilers, was originally a whig, and is under- Stood to be opposed to the Cabinet. — Lanen yrom Hayti—Dawaprct. RAVAGES oF THE Fuvan,— By the arrival of the British brig Pilgrim, Capt. Kenne, we have advices from Aux Cayes to Nov 2. The fever was prevailing to an alarming extent at that place, and was very fatal, erpecially among the shipping, the above vessel having lost five of her crew :—Charles Wal- ler, of New York; Willism Abrams, of St. Johns ; James Porter, first officer, native of Yarmouth, N. 8.; Angus McDonald, (left in » dying condition,) and James Smith, of Yarmoutb, N.S. Capt. K. reports having left in port a French brig, of and for Marseilles, which had loaded and got under way, but soon after retarned with the Captain sick with fever, of which he sied, also his mate and six seamen, leaving only two of the crew alive. A number of other vessels in port nad lost portions of their crews. Firxs rv Novastuer.—During the prst month the follow. ing series of dirastrous fires have occurred, attended with the destruction of property to the amount indicated. Thy table includes no fire where the amouut of property dg. stroyed was less than twenty thousand dollars Nov. 1—Green Bay, Win.. Boston .. 11—Couneil Biuffs, Mo, 12—Toronto, Canada, 17—New York.. M~Cinoinrati.. The Turf. CENTREVILLE COURSE, L.J—RUNNING AND TROTTING, On Thursday afterncog # running race, half mile out, for $100 & wide, came off between @ bay stallion named May Fly and a chestnut mare called Jersey Maid. The stallion won very easily, the mare having run herself out on the frat quarter. The time was not taken. Sav Day.—Trotting purse $25, mile heats, best three in five, to wagons, wagon and driver to weigh 396 Ibs, J. 8. Suydam entered b. g. Rat Catcher ©. Watts entered b. m. Key Darling C, Carll ontereich g. John....... Joel Conklin entered b. g. Fravk Forrester ‘Wm. Powell entered g m. Bell Kate. Time, 3:1014—3:08 34, UNION COURSE, L. I-—TROTTING. Fupay, Deo. 2—Matoh $600, mile heats, best three in five, to 250 pound wagons, Issac Woodruff named H, Woodruff named or. Foneran or a Sistmr or Caartty.—On Satar- day last the funeral of Sister Rosalia, late Superior of St. Joreph’s Orphan Asylum of this city, took place at the Catholic Church. A assemblage wan attracted by the occasion, and the funeral cortege was one of the longeat we have bad im this city for some moaths,—Kichmond Enquirer, Now. 29, Obituary. CAPT. JOHN W. GUNNISON, UNITED STATES ARMY. ‘The untimely and tragic fate of this gallant and ablo- officer, while engaged in the arduous duties of the govern- ment, has caused » profound impression throughout the country. Capt. Gunrison was placea by the War Department, in April last, in command of the party charged with the sur- vey and exploration of the Central Pacific Railroad route. He left St, Louis, after receiving his instructions from tho government, early in June last, with high hopes, and pos} sessing the confidence of the country that amore faithful, energetic, and efficient officer could not have been selected): for the important post assigned him. The appropriation. of Congress providing for the survey was extremely limit- 4, but the utmost power was given to Capt, Gumnison, by the Secretary of War, consistent with the act under which, the survey was required to be made. It was not unti}) May that Capt. Gunnison received # notification that he ‘was required to assume the command of the expedition, He immediately set out for Washington to arcange the necessary matters for the difficult work before him; the organization of his party, the selection of bis assistants, the purchase of commissary and msterial for the works The Secretary of War, having the most unbounded confl~ dence in the judgment and fidelity of Capt. Guanison, al~ lowed him to write his own instructions, and to organise the whole plan and material of the expedition. This workg was accomplished in less than a week, and the gallan@ officer was on his way to the mountains. Captain Gunnison was a native of New Hampshire. HO graduated at West Point in the year 1835. After his gradustion he assumed his place in the artillery. On tho organization of the Topographical Department of the army, consisting of thirty-six persons, he was transferred to that branch of the service. He was selected for that selentific corps because of his peculiar qualifications, and his active and efficient labors in the Topographical corpa has won for him a name among the firat in the country, For many year: previous to 1849 he had been engaged ia the Coast Survey of the Lakes, and his labora in tha: im portant work have been second to none in his corps. Ho was remarkable for energy, accuracy and perssverance in whatever he undertook for the Topographical bureau; and it is believed that Col. Abert, his chief, regarded him as one of the most competent, faithful ard upright officers in the service of the War Departmext. He was an hon- est man. He served his government with all the energy and power of his cultivated mind. In 1849 he was attached to thesparty under Capt. Stam bury, which was ordered to make a Topographical Survey of the basin of the Great Salt Lake. Capt. Gunnison wag charged with the astronomical duties of that survey; 0 the manner in which he acquitted himself fs well know:> tothe country. The detention of the party at the Mormosy city of Utah enabled Capt. G., in the interval of time, to make important observations upon the theocracy of the Mormon government, which, in the following year after he returned, were given to the public, This work is ono of the most interesting records of the interior growth off this country, and cf the peculiarities of the Mormon church, which has ever been written. It was extensively republished in this country and in England, Capt. Gunnison married Miss Delony, of Goorgis, in 1841, and he now leaves his wife and three children, who it is believed are in the latter State, to mourn his um timely and most melancholy fate. As nearly as can be ascertained he was killed by a band of Utah Indians, who had mistaken his party for Mormons. His body was piereed by twenty-six arrows; one of his arms had been, cut off, and he was otherwise mutilated. This must have occurred about the 26th October last. Capt. G. had determined to go into winter quarters, and waa making arrangements accordingly. His death in the service of the government, many hun- dreds of miles in the interior of the country, is an in- structive leseon to the War Department, in reference to the rafety of scientific officers thus detached from the haunts of civilization and safety. He was one of thé ablest and bravest men in the scientific corp: d, ale though young had won a position as an officer, and @ character as a gentleran, which gave promise of the highest usefulness to his country. Peace to the gallant dead. William H. Greenough, a broker of this city, died at hi» residence in Rochenteroa the 0th wits” Or Waar 4 Smr Loan or Ewicrants Compose t— Captain Thomas J. Bird, of the ship Universe, who arrived with his ship yesterday from Liverpool, with 631 passon~ gers, has furnished us with the following statistics, by the perusel of which a gvod idea may be formed of the descrip- tion ef people who daily lani from the emigrant ships ta seek their fortunes on our shores :— Number of males arrived, Number of females, Infants, (one born on the ae PLACES: al NATIVITY, The remaining Among the single females were twenty-four milliners, The balance were servants. The following were the intended places of location of the whole:— Most of the balance contemplated settling in New York, while others had not determined upon any farticular point, but wovld doubtless direct their steps to whatever spot they may consider best suited for thelr various callings. No deaths occurred on board the Universe, and all tho 631 passengers were landed in good health. Coroner’ Inquests. A SINGULAR CERTIFICATE OF DEATIC GIVEN BY A PAYSICIAN— A LeGaL InvesniGATion To RE INSTITUTED IN THR MATTER.—Mt- chael Donovan, & Jaborer in Stuart's sugar house, in Green- wich street, on the Ist day of September last, became in- volved in & cifficulty with suother man, and a conilict took. place between thom and in the affrey Donovan was knocked Sgainst a barrel and then jumped upon, theraby injuring his tack and supposed to have rnp'ured the spine. {he injured man was taken home to hts residence, No. 37 Goerok street, when, after beiog kept in ths house for some nine days, he again attended his work; but; not feeling able to continue his employinent, he returned home and was confined to his bed for upwards of nine weekr. During a part of that time he was attended by Dr. Gallagher. Donovan died on the 6th day of No- vember, and Dr. Gallagher refused to give certificate of burial, on the ground that 1e was rot fully ratiafied ao to the cause of death. Another physician was then ap. plied to, and, notwithstanding that he knew little or nothing about the case from any actual knowledge, he, however, gave a certificate, retting forth in nuid certif: cate that death resulted from injury to the back caused yy foul abuses. In accordance with this certificate, . Hart, Sexton of 8: Patrick’s cathedral, granted ® burial certificate and the body was buried in Calvery Cemetery, Long Islard. The ceceared left a wife avd two children, and the widow yesterday applied to Coroner O'Donnell to know what steps to pursue for damages sustained by her in tho lors of her husband. Mr. Blunt, District Attorney, happening to be in the coroner's office at the time, om hearing the circumstances, of the case, advise! that proper legal proceedings be taken, and the witnerses be cent before Justice Osborn. ’ or any other police magistrate, and there have the whole matter thoroughly investiga'ed, Such steps will, in all probabi ity, be taken. Sheriffs’ Court. Dro 2—Charles Bichel, a German architect,of this olty, was brought before tho Commissioners de lunatico in- quirendo, ané a jury. He bas been contined in the Bloom. ingdale Asylum for the last six months, It appears that the alleged lunatic is posresred of property to the amount of about $6,000, in real estate, Dr. Beowa, ono of the assistant physicians at the asylum, deposed that the alleged lunatic I neglected his’ business and oleregarded the proprietion of life, He occupied humzelf incollecticg ald boots and shoer, pins, bits of atring, and things of no value whatever, lis habits were also said to be bad. The physician had no doabt as to hia insanity. Mir. Heidlicke, the partner of Bichel, also testiGed to tli general insanity. ‘the jury returned & verdict of iosan- ity, and Bichel was taken back to the asylum, Board of Assistant Aldermen. OFFICIAL. Frupay, Dec. 2, 1868.—i’resent—Assistant Alderman Woodward, fa the Chair, assistant Aldermen Mabbatt, O’Brien, Breaden, Ring, McG. wo, 8, MyGonkey. goers not being f oiwiets the Board adjourned to Ratut. jay afternoon, at 5 o'clock. From the minutes, G. T, MOOLUNASHAN, Clerk, |