The New York Herald Newspaper, January 29, 1854, Page 6

ee ARE A TT TT P&r4 with that among sdalte clearly Mustrates “ne want of proper care and attention on the part of parents. Much of this # no doubt owing to impure milk and other unwholesome food, evils that really all aloud for reform, and which it ishoped the Com- mon Council will inquire into, as proposed ina re- cest resolution with regard to poisonous milk; but at the same time parents can do much towards en- hancing the health ot their offspring by clothing them with flannel, giving them healthful exercise, and shielding them fram inclement weather. Let parents, particularly those who are in the habit of leaving their children almost totally in charge of servants, think of these things ere it may be too late. NEW YORK HERALD. | SAMNEBS GORDON BENNETT PROPRIETOR AND EDITOR. ny OPYICE H.W. CORNER OF FULFON AND WAsSAU Ors, a te adoame Th GERALD 3 conte - ed La pe Ah Ge = to-any, nipa @f Great Britain. vad * te ‘omy park of the ALE LETTERS by txt or Subscrt tions, or with Adver- weit for tions, or Ep fobe pty or the vostoye will be tuducted rom ir ownsited USP ZNO. a impor OLUNT ERY CORRESPONDENCE containing, Soest, nT Cs. NOTICE taken of anen mous communication We de MOOD PRINTING cxocwied with neatners, sheapmens, and T'S renewed every days BOWERY THNATRE, Sowery—Uncux Tom's Gani. BROADWAY THEATR&, Brosdway—Horr or rhe Fa- wrny—CArAnAcT OF THE GaNGEs. —— BURTON'S THEATRE, Ohambere street--Own Brsr So- *emrr How 70 wake Home Harry—Poast Naot. NATIONAL THEAT Chatham street—Afternoon — Aerie Kary. Byeving—Uncus Tox's Caney. WALLACK’S THEATRE vo ngee Home Barey- Wu away— Love Cxase—Bow aks Finest? AMBRICAN MUSEUM-—Afvecnoon— Tom Twums- CooL ASA; VOUMBER. tyening-Apor Hassas—Tom Tuctis— ‘Tue Purvonenom BROADWAY MENAGERIE-Stamxon Twins ane Win Bwacrs. OMRISYY’S AMBRICAN OPERA HOUSE, 472 wey—Armioriar MeLopies pt CWRieTY's Miner R mi. WOOD'S MINSTRELS, Wood's M’metzol Hall, 4c Broad MIOPIAN MINSTRILOT. BUCKLEY'S OPERA EOUSE, 6 Brosdwe7—Bvex- Bar's Grnotian Ovens TROUPE. BANVARBD’S GEORAMA, 696 Breadway—Panonama oF ‘Pes Hoty Lap. SHENISD GALLERY, 63 Broe€way-—Day and Byoning. MGNOR BLITZ—Srvrvesaxt Inerirere, 659 Broad- AOGADEMY HALL, 663 Bros¢way—Peaneu's Gut Bx Suert0na OF THE Seven Mrz Mignon. OPE CHAPEL, 718 Broatway—Jonus’ Tanroscorm MBYAN GALLERY OF OMTIBTIAN ART—H3 Brosd- New York, Sunday. January 29, 1854 0 a Whe News. Ia another mart of today’s paper we publish the particulars oi one of the most sad catastrophes it‘has been our lot to record. The patem cartridge mana- factory of Mr. French, ia Ravenswood, Long Island, blew up yesterday, destroying -several lives, and wtrewing many acres around with arms, legs, and pieces of Inman flesh. A perfect shower of bullets was sent in all directions, ané many were driven ito private dwellings. Our Washington correspondent writes that the Gadsden treaty will be transmitted to the Senate to- morrow, without the recommendation of any special alterations. 1s is alaw asserted that the Mexican Minister bas received no instructions from his gov- ernment, and therefore has no authority to nego- tiate upon, amend, or modify the stipulations in any particular. Should the Senate conclude to ratify this treaty as it stands—notwithstauding the provi- sion requiring us to suppress filibustering against Banta Anua’s empire, on which clause some of the members of the Cabinet are understood to have based their chief objection—it is probable the special committee of the House on Mr. McCormick’s Pacific Railroad bill will immodiately report in favor ef Col. Cooke’s wagon route, which runs directly through the barren deserts acquired by this new contraet, thus leaving Mr. Seward’s northern, Col. Benton’s cen- tral or buffalo, and Gen. Rusk’s Albuquerque routes stillin possession of the wild Indians, animals and tcappers. But let us await the action of the Senate. With the exception of the report in the Assembly ‘on the bill to incorporate the United States Inebriate Asylum for tke reformation of poorand iestitute imebriates in this city, nothing transpired with re- gard to temperance in either branch of our State Legislature yesterday. We give a report of the debate last Friday evening on this exciting topic. During yesterday a considerable amount of business, some of it of particular importance to our citizens, was dis- posed of. Bills were introduced requiring ferry com. panies to erect gates at their docks, for the more ef- fectual preservation of life; for the more complete organjzation of the police department; for a per- manent Board of Street Assessment Commis- sioners, aud lor the more thorongh clean- ing and keeping clean of the streets. Let us.hope that the latter measure wil become a law and be carried into effest as soon as possible. Ac- cording to a resolution yesterday adopted by the Benate, bills to the amount of sixty thousand dollars have lately been, and others to the amount of about two hundred -housand dollars are s20n to be. presented agaiost the State prisons, on which suits have been commenced and judgments have or will be rendered against the agent in the name of the @tate. For much curious political and other infor- mation, the reader is referred to the despatch from @ar special correspondent. Despite various threatening demonstrations, all remains quict at Erie, as will be seen by the letter and teleg:aphic despatches given on an inside page. A meeting of those who sympathize with the sioters was held in Philadelphia last evening at which speeches were made denouncing the action of the government authorities, and a resolution was adopted declaring that the law: breakers were legal- ly and morally justified in destroying the railroad track. A bill annulling the charter of the Franklin Cara] Company has been passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature, and sent to the Governor. The latter functionary was to leave for Erie last evening. The Ohio democracy are in trouble about the successorship of Mr. Chase, whose term in the Senate will expire with the present Congress. A eaucus of the members of the Legislature balloted till one o'clock yesterday mvrning, and then ad- journed sine aie. In addition to a variety of interesting religious in- telligence we to-day publish letters from Bishops Wainwright and Brownell, illustrative of the manner im which a bishop is excommunicated from the Epis- eepal Church. ‘The Turko-Russian war being a matter of great interest in this country, we today publish an unusu- ally well written and instructive letter from our Paris correspondent, delineating the French opinions on ‘the war question and the military and other prepa- rations to meet any emergency that may arise; also ‘a correct translation of Neville Soulé’s letter relative to his duel with the Duke de Alba. The Central Railroad Company have offered five thousand dollars reward for the diseovery of the mis- creants who placed obstructions on their track, near Buffalo, last Friday, thus causing a train to be thrown off. it is gratifying to state that there was an immense falling off in the mortality of the last as compared with the previous week. According to the official report of the City Inspector the total number of Geaths was four hundred and forty-two, being a de- crease of eighty-seven. The chief causes of death were—consumption onvulsions, infantile, 33 ; eroup, 14 ; congestions, 16 ; dropsical diseases, 33 ; various fevers, 35; inflammations, 58, of which 28 were of the lungs; marasmus, 14, only 2 adulta; measles, 11; premature births and stillborn, 96; smallpox, 26, being decrease in the latter of 16. On referring to the nativity of the deceased we fied that 310 were born in the United States, being only 30 more than the number of children who died. From Ireland there were 76; Hog land, 16; Germany, 25; France, 3; Scotland and Switzerland, 2 each; and Wales, Holland Italy, Prussia, and British North America, 1 each One hundred and fifty seven were children uader one jcarofage, and one hundred and fifteen were bei ween the ages of one acd ten. This extraordina- sy mortality among the juvenile community ag com We would direct the attention of the reader to ® ‘communication in another column, from Dr. Geo, 0. Jarvis, of Portland, Ct.,on the necessity of organ- izing a charity for the Surgical Treatment of Dis’ eases of Women. The high respectability of the author, together with his earnestness, will doubtless secare for it a careful perusal. It seems to be a well timed suggestion, ana it is presumed will be taken up in the proper spirit by our bemevolent citizens. Henry F. Jackson, a fireman, fell through the scuttle of a third story building, and was instantly killed, during a fire in Buffalo, on Friday night. The letter elsewhere given from our Austrelian correspon dent is replete with curious and instractive information relative to the hardships endured by miners, the appearance of the country, the habits of the natives, the animal and vegetable kingdem, &c. It is @ most romantic narrative of incidents in real life. ‘We have to thank Messrs. Arkell & Elliott, of . 146 Pearl street, for files of the Melbourne Argus Our advices-from that portion of Australia received by the European steam- eva and previously published were to the 20th of the same month, bett we are the no less’ indebted to our friends for a prompt furwarding of the papers to N to the Ist of October last. hand. “The man who nominsted Frank Pierce” has ‘written us another letter in his pecetiar style, de- scriptive of politics and society in Washington. Those fond of fan, spiced with morality and plain common sense, will not fail to read it. . We publish in another column a decision of Ju Ingraham on a motion % be discharged from arrest where the defendant was imprisoned on a prima focie case of fraud. The case altogether presents several points of interest. Want of space precludes particular reference to a large portion of the entertaining reading with which our columns are to-day overflowing. We annex a summary of a few of the more interesting articles: — Account of the terrible tornado in Ohio; horrible tale of love, murder and suicide in New Hampshire; news from New Mexico, Nicaragua and Sumatra; late from the La Plata Surveying Expedition under Lieut. Page; details of the fire, explosion and loss of life at Savannah; the new law to secure the en- largement and completion of ‘the New York canals; political and comuercial inteKigence, &c. The Missour? Compromtse--The Question of the Day. The Legislatures and the party press of the North are mustering strong to oppose the ve- peal of the Missouri compromise. Rhode Island has spoken out, and New York has Dickinson’s protest under consideration. The Courier and Enquirer has followed the lead of the other party journals, and joined the army which al- ready counts the Tribune, Times, Post, Com- mercial, Express, Mirror, and Albany Atias, among its leaders. ‘The Courier does not op- pose Senator Douglas’ project from a convie- tion that the law of 1821 was constitutional and sound; but because it was a law, a com- pact,a compromise; and.as such, to the Courier’s mind, it is like the laws of the Medes and Per- sians and cannot be altered. Our cotempora ry’s argument must go for what it is worth. A larger and more philosophical view of the ques- tion might have been expected from a jouraal of the Courier’s standing: but Senator Doug- las’ opponents seem by common consent to have restricted themselves to shallow logic and flimsy reasoning. Not one of the host of newspapers which have reviewed his project has handled it broadly. Not one has probed the matter to the bottom. or had the candor to lay before the people of the United States this slavery quarrel as it really stands. Had any done so, it would not have been left to us to say that the proposal now laid before the Congress of the United States is merely another step towards the consolidation of the constitution under which we live: nothing more than a necessary vindieation of one of the great fundamental principles on which the Union is based. It introduces no new doctrine, attempts no deviation from the original conditions of the confederacy, violates no pledge. sacrifices no trust. It is, we venture to hope, a premonitory symptom of a return to that sound system which, first partially abandoned in 1787. has since been infringed from time to time by pariy politicians for selfish purposes, and on the restor- ation and permanent recognition of which the stability and peace of this Union new seem largely to depend. More than this we cannot discover in the repeal of the Missouri compro- mise. Nor does a retrospective glance at the history of the slavery agitation reveal it in any other light. , The discussion of slavery is coeval with our national existence. It devolved upon the con- vention which framed our constitution to adju- dicate between the rival claims of the free and the slave States. They did so by distinctly re- serving to the States or the people all powers not specifically delegated to Congress, by ex- cluding all mention of slavery trom the consti- tution and by granting to the slave States a representation based as well on the number of slaves as on that of tree citizens they contained. These sagacious propositions were adopted as the framework of the confederacy; they were the only basis on which a permanent structure could have been reared. Any deviation from them would have involved a sacrifice of inde- pendence on the part 6f the States, and could hardly have failed to lead to secession, disunion and strife. They beeame part of the constitu- tion, and are now the Magna Charta of the rights of this republic. If we would find what isthe nature of the compact by which we are bound to each other. and what are the relative obligations and rights of the several members of this confederacy, we must turn to them, and seek light in @ careful study of their tenor All the error and all the prejudice which the present discussion has evolved arise from ne- glecting them, and devoting attention to laws or compacts invested with less authority than the solemn dictates of the constitution. One fruitful source of misapprehension took its rise at the very time the convention was sitting. into consideration the terms on which the terri- tory ceded to the United States, in 1784, by Virginia, should be thereafter admitted into the Union. That territory lay to the northwest of the Ohio. Its climate and geographical char- acter peculiarly adapted it for free labor. Its neighbors were fully convinced of the unsuita- In July 1787, the old Congress took bility of slave labor to their meridian. There wai wreover, at that time, a very high wrought feeling throughout the country in favor of uni- versal liberty, a sentiment engendered by the successful issue of the war, Under these cir- confederacy~-pagsed an ordinance in the territory acquired unconstitatienal, and that the old Congress had no power to pass it, there can hardly be adoubt- Still, the South being actuated by a strong de- sire to wyoid bickerings or quarrels with the North, and the reasons above mentioned exer- cising a general influence on the public mind, Virginia silently acquiesced, the ordinance was unenimouely adopted by the new Congress, and under its provisions Ohio, Indiana and Iinois, were successively admitted to the Union as free States. How far this ordinance established a prece- dent for congressional interference in the do- mestic institutions ef new States the history of the next few years shows pretty plainly. In 1791, Vermont was admitted without a word about slavery in the act. Im the following year Kentucky was edmitted as a clave State, also without*the smallest condition or protest. To wake the point stillelearer, and to show how thoroughly the constitution was understood by both North and South, in 1796 Tennessee was admitted-on the express condition that slavery shorid exist within its borders. North Caroli- na, which ceded that territory te the United States in 2787, formally stipulated that Tennes- sec should be received on the basis of the ordi- pance of 1787 in all respects except as regarded slavery, and no objection whatever was made by Congress. At a later period Mississippi and Alabama were both aémitted on precisely simi- | Their condition was declared to be governed by the ordinance of 1787, but the sixth article, relating to slavery, was not toapply Thus it will be seen that, from the formation of the constitution down to 1818, ao doubt whatever of the right of new States to determine, independently of the federal govern- «ment and Congress, whether or no they would employ slave labor, was ever urged, or indeed lar terms. to either. entertained by any one. A little speck of trouble was, however, visi- ble in the horizon. The federalists, as early as 1805 or 1806, were looking about for oa issue op which to oppose the administration of Jeffer- son; they began, very timidly and cautiously, to agitate against slavery at Boston and in the The seed was sown by the Boston Cen- The war crashed it for awhile, but the buds appeared in the Hartford Convention of 1814. Exception was then first taken to the representation of slave Then first Northerners began fo think ot the moral questions involved in slavery, and, having abolished it them- as more expensive than free labor, pronounced its perpetuation in the South to be iniquitous and wicked. No tangible results, however, flowed from the fermentation until 1818 and 1820, when Missouri—a part of Louisiana—applied for admission into the Her case was remarkably clear. By the treaty of 1803 the United States were bound to admit her as soon as she hed a certain num- North tinel, and its editor, Russell. property in Congress. eelves, Union. ber of inbabitants, provided, only, that her State constitution-were “republican.” Both of these requirements were notoriously fulfilled. Uanfor- tunately. a clause prohibiting the admission of free persons of color within her borders had been inserted in her constitution, and this gave a loophole tothe Nortbern anti-slavery men. They protested against the exclusion of any citizens of the United States from the new Strate; and, under cover of this protest, the members from Pennsylvania, New York, and the Eastern States. advanced the unheard of pretension that Missouri must renounce slavery altogether to obtain admission. The only ground on which so unfounded s claim could be supported for a moment was the unfortunate ordinance of 1787. Constra- ing the conciliatory spirit which had dictated its ratification by the delegations from the South az a concession to Congress of the power to reg- ulate the domestic institutions of new States, the North insisted on Missouri being placed ca the same footing as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, The later precedents afforded by Vermont, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama,were entirely disregarded ; and the lame performance of the tail of the old Congress, which nothing but an exaggerated desire to promote harmony and union had induced its successor to ratify, was declared to be the only sound rale fur Congress to follow. Resolutions framed in this sense were adopted by most of the Northern Legislatures, and public meetings were held in the large cities, at which slavery was denounced, and attempts made to coerce Congress into @ usurpation of’ powers not granted to it by the eonstitution. In the Senate and the House of Representatives the Northern members were very active; and though their oratory was more courteous and refined than we often hear to-day, their argu- ments were very similar to those now daily ut- tered by our city cotemporaries, The contest wore on. Resolution after reso. lution was lost—scheme after scheme failed Right was clearly with the South; but the North made up for its deficiency of logic by its supe- rior perseverance and obstinacy. Ultimately the former would probably have prevailed, as recently in 1850, had not a fresh element been introduced to the ‘scene. A young democrat. full of talent and ambition, saw in the Gordian knot a means of advancing his own fame and placing himself in the front rank among the as- pirants to the succession. Henry Clay devised a scheme by which each party was to gain something at the expense of the constitution. Peculiar circumstances aided him in the task. Five candidates for the sue- cession were then in the field; four from the South—Clay, Calhoun. Crawford, and Jackson— one from the North, Mr. Adams. The North being aimost unanimously opposed to the ex- tension of slavery, it became a great object with the Southern candidates not to wound its sus- ceptibilities by a too rigid adherence to the con- stitution in this respect. Hence Mr. Clay’s pro- ject; and hence the support it received from the other Southern aspirants to the Presidency. Private ambition was at the bottom of the whole, The compromise passed. The South gained Missouri as a slave State; the North @ promise that in the remainder of the territory ceded by France slavery should not extend north of 36 degrees 30 minutes. How Mr. Clay reconciled this compromise to his conscience is a secret now buried in the grave. He must have known as well as any that the constitution afforded no warrant for euch an enactment; that Congress had no more right to establish freedom in one State than to create slavery in another; that oll the practice of the government since the constitution bad been based on a conuary prin ciple; that it was an illegal act, passed with a view to pacify the North temporarily, and obviously pregnant with future discord and strife. All these must have of conseience to make themselves heard. Prompted by the secret; motives we have men- tioned, and pressed with the‘influence and ta- lent of all the Southern leaders on a House al- ready weary of strife, and earing little about strict constitutional principle so long as the battle were drawn, the Missouri compromise, in an evil hour, became a law of the land. It bought us twenty-six years of comparative peace. Not a solid, beneficial peace, but a hollow truce, resting on a rotten basis, and only serving to foment a desire for further war. Soon enough the South discovered their fatal error and the dangerous departure from the constitution involved in the pledge they had given. Too soon the North awoke to the im- portance of the advantage they had gained, and resolved to follow up their encroach- ments on the rights of the South with renewed vigor. Hence angry altercations— aboltionism seething on the one side and seces- sign lowering on the other. Still neither party openly declared the truce at an end. The me- mory of the past contest inculeated caution, Arkansas and Florida on the South, Michigan: Wisconsin and Towa, in the North, entered the Union without stirring the smouldering embers. Texas roused an incipient glow, but it faded. So long as the question of principle could be vaded both parties were content to let the Missouri compromise rest in peace, preserving the practical balance of power as it was. At length, after repeated menaces, the two rival sections were brought face to tace by the treaties which secured us Oregon and New Mexico, and the sudden settlement ot California. The North again took the field. as it did in 1820, with a proviso claiming for Con- gress the right to forbid slavery in newly acquired territory. A long amd successfal agitation of abolition theories, and a large accession of numerical strength, had given the anti-slavery party a power and a boldness they did not possess thirty years before. Fortunately, this advantage was more than counterbalanced by the enlarged experience of our leading statesmen and the sharpened perceptions of the South. In spite of clamor and popular outery in.the North, a majority of both Houses, after a three years struggle, nobly resolved to adhere to the constitution, and to renounce on behalf of Congress any right, title or authority to con- trol or designate the domestic institutions of new States. This resolution, miscalled the compromise of 1850, was in plain terms a re- iteration and practical application of the doc- trines embodied in the constitution; and as such, of course, was a virtual disavowal of the pledge of 1821. It-reaffirmed the independence of the States, and yielded to them full and un- controlled power to regulate all such of their concerns as were not expressly surrendered to Congress by the act of confederacy. Viewed in this {ght by the people, it was hailed with joy, as a wholesome return towards sound princi- ples ; and—the absurd assertions of the present administration to the contrary notwithstand- ing—served to elect Gen. Pierce by a majority little short of being unanimous. These acts of 1850 were, as we said, an at- tempt .to retrace the falee step we made in 1821. They went a certain way towards attain- ng that end, inasmuch as they established a prin- ciple contrary to that of the Missouri compro- mise. But still the latter was left unshaken, Thus, trom ‘the day California was lett to say whether she would employ slave labor or not, the statute book presented the anomaly of two acts, diametrically antagonistic in spirit and principle, both clothed with equal vigor and au- thority. This contradiction could not last long. The slightest pretext was sure to bring into col- lision the rival principles of the Missouri com- promise and the laws of 1850; and in that col- lision one of the two could not help but yielu. The collision has come. Nebraska, a ter- ritory without inhabitants, is sought to be introduced to the Union. Gitizens in some of the Western States intend to populate it; whether they will or not does not matter. The particular case which happens to bring up the question is unimportant. If Nebraska were a barren rock the principle would be the same, and the controversy would not be altered. Whatever regret may flow from the prospect of ‘an angry commotion throughout the country on the subject of a territory whose material value msy yet be small. we find ample consolation in looking forward to the final settlement of a de- bate which, had the stake been greater, might have plunged the Union into actual war. It is fortunate, moreover, that so formidable a question should have arisen at a time when no distracting causes are operating to divert men’s minds from ite study—when peace with foreign powers and prosperity at home enable us to give it all the attention it deserves. It is now fairly before us, Without glaring dishonesty it cannot be shirked or evaded. The problem must be solved one way or the other, finally, definitely, for all time. It is not a question of slavery or om. It is not a question of breaking or keeping past pledges. It is not a question of advancing one section of the country at the expense of the other. It is simply a question of interpretation and plain common sense. Did the constitu tion authorize Congress to regulate the.kind of labor new States were to employ? That is the whole problem, and any schoolboy of ordinary intellect can solve it. We mugt dismiss from our minds during the inquiry all thought o past laws, and confine ourselves solely to the constitution itself. We must forget the ordi- nance of 1787, the compromise of 1821, and the laws of 1850. If our fathers violated the con- stitution we must repair the wrong, not foll6w their example; and, taking the letter of our sacred charter by itself, must grapple with it, apd by the light of reason and the help of God read what it teaches. If it be found to delegate to Congres the power of proecribing slavery in Nebraska, then it obviously confers likewise the power of or- daining slavery in the West, anda Southern majority in some future Congress may do it. If it does not delegate to Congress any right to interfere in the domestic institutions of new States, then the Missouri eompromise was ille- gal and unconstitutional, and should be forth- with erased from the statute book. We believe it doesnot. We hold that Missouri had as good wright to admission with s!avery as Ohio with- out, And we think that to say that because the North, thirty years ago, exturted an unconsti- tutional concession from Congress, therefore we to-day are bound to abide by it, is an at- tempt to justify a wrong by @ wilfa) persever- ance in perpetuating and repeating it preciselly force of habit as an excuse for at jing, At all events the problem must now be solved. Should our opinion “aii to command a majority, the right of Cov‘gress must be clearly defined, so that new St’,tes applying for admis- sion to the Union may know what awaits them, and that Congresa may plant slaves or prohibit them within their borders asit chooses. Should the constitution be read by our representa- tives at Washington as we have read it, we shall regard the event as one of the greatest blessings that could befal this coun- try. It would, in one word, terminate for ever, we trust, this hatetul slavery contro- versy, which has bred nought but evils ef every shape since its birth, and which is now the only wound in our side—the only living danger in our path. Peace would beam upon the whole broad Union—not a fallacious trace, but a solid, lasting, honorable peace, such as we en- joyed during the first quarter of a century of our national existence; and all the ominous warnings, all the gloomy forebodings, all the dark threats which have been uttered in our ears and whispered in our conscience when the future rose before us, would vanish like vapor in the eummer sunshine. Taz Common Counci—Tue Unpver Cur- RENTS.—Although there are some sincerely well-meaning members in both boards of the Common Council, yet it is too evident that their ignorance of the routine of legislation, or their mental weakness, will render them power- legs for good, and that the whole force, power and patronage of the legislative branch of the city government are, at this very moment, be- | ing used for the advancing of political ends and the pushing of private interests. Already cliques of all sorts are forming and laying plans to press forward their various measures. One particularly active member of the upper board, who is appointed the active man on several of the most important committees, has already struck out boldly for the sheriffalty, and by the lavishness of his promises to would-be deputies, and the adroitness with which he knews how to hold out hopes of lucrative contracts, he has created a large number of active and untiring friends. He may be considered to have fairly taken the field; and it will be a hard matter to drive him off. He is an old school whig, and will drive a strong team. ; As to the various schemes in in petto for dip- ping into the public treasury, they undoubted- ly exist; but the stringent watch kept upon them by the press, and the astounding developements of the Hzratp in regard to the present spoils Congress, have frightened our conscientious spoils seekers in the Common Qouneil for a time, and they are keep- ing especially shady. They are, meanwhile, amusing Buncombe with debates on temperance and sparmodic allusions (over the left) to re- form. Not a single positive measure, how- ever, has yet been taken for the cleansing and good order of the city, and, with a “re- form” Common Couneil in session every night, we are still doomed to plough our way through seas of mud, and to run the risk of being knocked down and robbed if we venture out at night ; while our wharves and public places are left in pitch darkness, furnishing safe re- treats for gangs of thieves, robbers, and bur- glars to issue forth and carry on their depre- dations in every quarter of the city. It is per- fectly abominable to see a set of pretended legislators meet vight after vight, squabble aad twaddle in bad English for three hours, and then separate and go home without having ac- Complished a single measure for the public good. Why don’t they look the subject fully in the face, kick away the present rotten plat- form of city government, and erect a plain, sim- ple, efficient, rational system, tha¢ shall vest responsibility in a tangible head, and clothe that central head with the power of enforcing upon the subordinate departments the strict performance of their duties? No further patch- ing or mending will do—we must have a revo- lution and a complete change in the form of government. AvorHerR Dexaprut ExPLosion anp Loss or Lire.—In our paper to-day will be found the details of another of those frightful catastrophes; which, from the wholesale destruction of life with which they are attended, fall upon the community with the effect of a sickening shock. By the explosion of a ball cartridge manufac- tory at the village of Ravenswood, about four miles from Williamsburg, nearly twenty human beings were yesterday hurried into eternity, and their bodies literally blownto atoms. The building where the accident occurred was situ- ated about thirty rods from the village; but the force of the explosion was 80 great that every pane of glassin the place was shattered to pieces, and some of the balls were carried toa distance of nearly an eighth of a mile. Had the manufactory been surrounded by houses, it is fearful to reflect on the loss of human life that the accident might have occasioned. As it is, the results are disastrous and lamentable in the extreme. It is little more than twelve months since an explosion of nearly a similar nature took place in the centre of Williamsburg; and the fre- quency of their occurrence in the different localities in which works of this kind are car- ried on, suggests reflections as to the propriety of placing them under such restrictions as will ensure, if not entire immunity from them, at least as little loss of life and damage to property as is consistent with a legalized and carefully regulated manufacture. We are not as yet fully in possession of the facts relative to the disaster ot yesterday, but we recollect that on the occasion of the inquiry into the causes of the Williamsburg accident, it was stated in evidence that the manufacture of fire works had been secretly carried on. Now, the only way to meet the evil in this occult form is to subject the offending parties to the heaviest penalties that the policy of our laws will recognise. The extent of the devasta- tion and loss of life to which such accidents give rise, call for the most stringent and effectal measures of protection. Founp, orn Turwep Ur.—One of the great leaders at Tammany Hall, Captain Rynders, has just been discovered. We have received a communication from his Excellency, describing his position on the Nebraska question, which we shall publish with the same alacrity as we did that of John Cochrane. The other great leader, John Van Buren, is still undiscovered, as even Rynders confesses that he does not know where he is to be found. But he mayyet turn up, or turn round, or turn in some way, ashe has had great experience inturning. The Captain’s letter will appear in our colamns morrow. Atown meetinr ts to be held in Fell River husetta, to consider the of petitioning for a a _— expediency 3 cumstances the rump of the old“ Congress— consisting of some seventeoa or eighteen mem- bers, representing abaut half the States of the in which involuatury servitude was for- ever probibited from Virginia, ‘That this ordinance, ironically called the “immortal ordinance of 1787,” was ‘Gen. Pieree’s Free Soll Letter Again—Another Bad Memery-- the President on the Stand. If Gen. Pierce’s administration fails of every other distinction it may well be characterized as the era ot bad memories. In the great Salem murder case, which was- condueted by Daniel Webster on the part of the prosecution, the prisoner attempted to prove an alibi by his aged father. “He strives to re- member,” said Mr. Webster, in commenting upon the old man’s testimony, “perhaps per- suades himself that he does remember, that om the evening of the murder he was himself at home at ten o’elock. He thinks, or seems to think, that his son came in at about five min- utes past ten. He fancies that he remembers his conversation ; he thinks he spoke of bolting the door ; he thinks he asked the time of night ; he seems to remember his then going to his bed. Alas! these are but the swimming fancies of an agitated and distressed mind. Alas! they are but the dreams of hope, its uncertain lights, flicker- ing on the thick darkness of parental distress, Alas! the miserable father knows nothing, in reality, of all these things.” No more did John Cochrane remember any- thing, in reality, of all the things which he strove to remember, and perhaps persuaded himself that he did remember—for John Coch™ rane is naturally an honest sort of a man—as contained in General Pierce’s letter, for the very good reason that General Pierce’s letter never contained them. And we were very na- turally reminded of the extract which we have quoted from Mr. Webster’s argument by Mr. Cochrane’s desperate effort to save the Presi- dent by remembering things which never existed. But when Cochrane and Waterbury united to drag the President out of the ditch they proved a bad match—they reminded us of a pair of oxen which we once saw yoked together by an Irishman, one heading each way. The position of these two gentlemen, one giving his impression that the letter was full of blood and thunder towards the free soil movement, and the other that it contained nothing at all— though both of them read it, both of them had had it—their position, we say, was already ludicrous enough, when lo! a third party ap- pears in the field! This is no less a personage than General Pierce himself, who, with a touch at the absolutely sublime in impudence, main- tains that he wrote no letter at all to the free soil committee. The old story runs that the King, travelling in disguise, accosted a peasant with the in- quiry what he thought of his Sovereign. “He is a villain, a robber, a murderer, a mat covered with every crime,” was the reply. “But.” continued the inquirer, “I am the king.” The peasant, raising himself to his full stature, exclaimed : “ Your Majesty, I swear I never said it!” He has never had a more faithful imitator than General Pierce shows himself to be in his denial of his free soil letter. We find the following in the Washington Evening Star, (generally known as the White House Scavenger,) of Thursday :-— Taz Auticsp Pierce Lerree ro THE Fees Sosrs.—It is understood it Now, for this there could be no other au- thority than the President himself. Inn’t this a pretty piece of business? Cochrane is confident that the letter of Gen. Pierce to the free soit committee was one thing; Waterbury is “quite positive” that it was another; while Pierce himself has forgotten all about it, and most earnestly wishes that everybody else would follow his example. It is the era of bad me- mories. What a comfort to the President if they could become universal! The fact clearly and fully ‘established by the testimony of Cochrane and Waterbury —for on this point their testimeny agrees, and is full and plump, while the Presi- dent’s deniat goes for nothing—is that Gen. Pierce did write a letter to the free soil committee in this city in 1848 There ig: also, we think, ample evidence to establish that. the character of the letter was anti-slavery. The Evening Post of July 19, 1848—the day after the ratification meeting which Gen. Pierce was invited to address was held—published anonymously a letter from Concord, N. H— Gen. Pierce’s place of residence—in which the- writer says :— In answer to the charge brought against him. Gen. Pierce had already attempted to prove an alibi by two witnesses, who attempted to show that he was in two other and entirely different places when the offence is alleged to have beom committed, when he himself, through one of hig organs, comes out with the avowal that instead of being in either of those places he was just “no whar” at all! Nobedy doubts that the letter was written. Does any one doubt that it went for the Wilmot proviro? Ifit did not, let the letter be pro-- duced. The letter—the letter—the letter Tar Broapway Rattroap—Insunorion Maps Parrratcal.—Judge Ira Harris, of Albany, has given his opinion in the case of Milhan against Sharpe, which was argued before him in the October term of the Supreme Coart of this city, and decides that the injunction restraining the grantees from laying down the line be made perpetual. The Judge eays that the resolution of the Common Council ex- ceeded their powers, and is therefore void; that from the evidence, it appears there sre many persons im favor of the prcject, and many others opposed to it as a nuisance not to be endured; but he does not feek justified in deslaring that the construction of the road would be a public nuisance, though. it would prove injurious to property on the lower parts of the propored line He does not think that the members of the Common Council who voted for the resolution were governed by corrupt motives, or actedjin bad faith; but whatever may have beon the motives which induced them to sapport the resolation, they transcended their power, and, therefore, even though, unintentional, were guilty of 9 grant contemplated by the resplation, and, having attempted it, they were chargeable with of offical trust. The injunction should be made pers petual. ‘The decision, which is an important one, will be published in tomorrow's Hmnap. Superior Court. * Betcre Ju? ge Campbell. Jam 28 —Onderhilles McC. & Stone. —Ia tois once, an action sgainst ‘he master and owner of the Francia the cont a “tid eiceday vecieg ouput ‘) anh 7 On ie @veniag Pro ine ventiot for plefatittof 2 ms hes In simtlar care ad the same defendants, tried Yast week. the jary could mot agree. Lather Crocker wan conveyed ‘rom Nantacket to the Worcester Invave Asylum, having beam bere’) o' reasom by the spiritual rappings.