The New York Herald Newspaper, January 21, 1857, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HER“sLD. JAMES GORDON BEN Nur, + DITOR AND PROPMET’ gp. mcaccanneeentannle tas OFrVKR BW CORNER OF FASSAU | ayy FULTON STS nee” als TERMS, cosh in adooaee P DALY HERALD. 2 conts pe $1 per omnen. THE aK HERALD, ever: Forts ah ON conte per wy, oF Roper ann: Baro gm edition, um, ee pn Ce) areas Britain, or 89! 9 amy part of de posiaue. TCE taken of anon grows communications, Wedo # OPER TISEMENTS row send wery day. JIS PRINTING cxccstod with meatness, cheapness and des- won AMUSBALNTS THIS EVEKING. BROS.DWAY TIIKATRE Broadwey—ilsmcet—Tue Day arr. ra WEre.nG. WIB LS GARDER, Moowrax Sar. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery—Sr. Mano—GumMaxen or Moscow. BUR PON'S SEW THEATRE. Broadway, oppesite Boud a, ‘Voom amo Vertos—Ws npeuise MrneTRR.. brosdway—Baeusa Oraza—Tae WAL. ACK'S THEAPAL Brondway—Misewiar Mikine Bowes ap Worcs or Woaar. La0Kkas KEENER TERATAR, 04 Broad’ — RE eh, way—Cawtiie: AOABEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth st.—Irauian Orena— Wronnza BORKG.A. SABRNEN'S ALMRICAN MUSEUM, Broad Afier- gees Camore Tame. Rvening—Caanworre Texrix— Leuwasox Boy. #80. CHRIATY AND WOOD'S MINSTRELS, 444 Brond- wey —Hraiorias PRaroRMancre—New Year Caius, BUCKLEY'S SERENADEKRS, 585 Broadway—Ergiorax moseers — Bokuesous on THE ITatia® Orena, de. —<$<$<—$—————————————ee— Bow York, Wednesday, January 21, 1857. Matis for Kurope. ¥RE NEW YORK EBRALD—EDINON FOR SUROPE. The Cunard mail sicamsbip Aria, Capt. Lang, will fave this port to-day, for Liver »0l. ‘Me European mails will close | this city at balf-past tem o'clock in the morning. ‘he Keropean edition of the Hexacy, priuted in Frenob and Baglisd, will be pubitsbed a4 nino o’clook in tbe mora- amg. Binz e copics, in wrappers, sixponos. Wabsoripiions and e¢voriizements for any edition of the See Yors Hsin will bo received at the following piases @ Europe — {aupos— Ax & European Express Oo , 61 Kiag William st, Pome De. do. 8 Pee 2 eae Sree jabn ister, 13 Reskongeueca, leak Saves—Aw A Suropeen Exprees Co., 21 Rue Corneille. ‘Tes coniwrts of the Huropean edition of the Hemsup (@B eomdive tho news received by mail and telegraph ai fee OMice curing tho previous week, and up to the hour @ pediication. Ma for the Puc! Wew YORE NERALD—CALIFORNIA EDITION, Fie United Sates mail steamship toorge Law, Capt, Berpien will leave this port this afternoon, at two @'o.00K, for Asyinwall The mails fer California and other parts of the Paolific (WH oles at one o'ci0ck me New Yous Warxty Henain—Oalifornia edition— gentaining the Istess intelligence from all parts of the (world, will be publieded at ten o’clock in the morning. Biagie copice, in wrappers, reacy for mailing, six- pence. Agents will please send in their orders as carly 98 possibie. do. 12 The News. Elsewhere will be found a complete résumé of the effects of the late great snow storm. Al! the mails Mroughout the Northern country are more or less @eranged, and all the usual mails at this city are overdue two days. The Erie road was opened yes- terdey and one train arrived at Jersey City, waile two trains were sent out. It seems probable thas ‘the Albany express train which left this city at noon yesterday got through last night. Neither the New Haven nor Harlem trains which left yes‘erday morn- img succeeded in reaching their destinatioa, but may succeed in opening the road to-day. There wil] be no trains running to or fromthe city with anything like regularity for three days to come, as ‘the roads are all in a bad state. Travel by city rail- poad was resumed yesterday, and ferry trave) was mo worse than it has been for a week past, which is not saying much for it, It recommeuced snowing last evening, & circumstance that will add to the hilarity of the sleighing caraival which commeaced im the city yeeterdas Tt has been ascertained that the vessel which @rove on shore near the Ocean Louse oa Sunday fore- noon was the brig Emeline. She went to pieces, and al) her crew perished. No further particulars are giv- en. The ship Java, incorrectly reported ashore at the east end of Staten Island, was safely at an! or at last accounts. Tae propellor Petumka, foom \« ¥ Be iford for this pert, is fast in the ice off Sands Point. There have been several shipwrecks on the eastern coast, attended with the logs of many lives. Onr correspondent at Washington sates that Mr. Mace, of Indiana, has prepared an important amend- ment to the tariff bill. It proposes that all importa. tions, except coin and bullion, sha'l pay a duty of fifteen per cent ad valorem. The amendment meets with great favor from the Soutiern members. Several interesting executive communications ‘were sent to the Senate yesterday, includiag the cor respondence between the Secretary of State and the government of Venezuela, relative to the possessory rights claimed by the latter over the Aves guano islands, in the Cariboean sea. Mr Marcy, in aletver dated 2d inst., urges our Minister at Caraccas to press asettiement of the envject, saying that there are facta, abundantly enstained by evidence, of gross outrage upon the persons and property of our citi- wens, and many losses consequent thereupon. He concludes with the signidcant remark, that farther delay will not be regarded with indifference, and that Wf Venezuela refuse redress she will be expected to five some sat ‘tory reason for such course. The Committee on Foraign Relations presented a favora- bie report upon the Central American treaty. It will be considered at an early day. The Senate wai a bill engaged yesterday in discussing ntreduced by Mr. Clay, of Alabama, repeal- 8 to voesels engaged have been be ars, and repeated but unsuccessful efforts have been made periodically to withhold them. Taey amount to about three hundred thousand dollars per annum, which eum is a «| among 1,288 vessels engaged in the basineas of fishing. The bill was finaliv referred to the Com. mittee on Commerce. A bill establishing a naval Gepot at Brunswick, Georgia, was debated till the The House was occupied with Terri f importance trauspired in the Legisla- ture yester 5 The steamship Washington, from Liverpeol Sst ult., arrived at this port y day. She brought Captain Hartstein and the officers and crew of the Resolate. They were welcomed home with great enthusiasm. The letters of our correspondents and extracts from our European files, received by this artival, and published elsewhere, will be found very interesting to al! classes of readers. The Exempt Firemen’s Association elected their officers last evening for the eneuing year. The an nual report shows that the society isin a highly prosperons condition, with a good balance of funds in the savings bank. Dot two deaths of members have oconrred during the year. The advicee from Liverpool by the America im. treater activity and firmness to the cotton The sales embraced about 4,000 pon middling uplands at 13:., and middling Orleans at 13)c.—closing with a tendency to higher pri Flour was in good demand, wit) fair sales, considering the condition of the weather, at the advance previously noticed. The state of the harbor, from the ice embargo, still pre- vented the delivery of both wheat and com fe purchasers, and 1o sales of moment transpired, while hcNers continued quite firm » their views, Pork was firm, wit) sales NEW YORK HERALD, "WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1857. at $21, old at $19 87 a $20, and a Sugars firm, but sales were limited, ae it was in a measure impracticable to deliver the goods. Coffee was quiet, while prices for Rio were steady; Java gold at ldjc. a lajc. Freights were firm, but engagements were light in consequence gr the prevailing difficulty in deliveriny produce on ship board, Holders of teas have become firmer in their views since the receipt of the late news from China, About 1,500 chesta Oolong (new crop), ex ship Vancouver, were sold yesterday at a slight ad- vance over previous prices. Gen. Camexon’s Eleetion—Its Scarings wpon Mr. Buchanan’s Administcation and the Politics of 1860. The election of Gen. Cameron, a supporter of Fremont, to the United States Senate by a Penn- sylvania democratic Legislature, and in opposi- tion to the particular candidate of Mr. Buchanan, is am event of no ordinary character. The in- tense disappointment and mortification of the Pennsylvania democratic leaders, as expressed through their local organs, amount to a confes- sion on the other hand, of a deep, significant and ominous meaning in this unexpected turn of the wheel. Bribery and corruption afford no satisfactory explanation, for an event of this sort can only be the result of greater underlying causes and influences than the alleged treachery of two or three members of the Legislature. We think it has been demonstrated by this Senatorial election that notwithstanding the success of Mr. Buchanan in Pennsylvania, the demoralizations brought upon the demoeratic party by the wretched and wicked administration of Pierce, bave utterly destroyed the Jacksonian prestige of the party and the power of the king’s name over the rank and file. Secondly, we ap- prehend that this triumph of Gen. Cameron goes far to establish this important point, to wit: that Mr. Buchanan's election is not the work of the demoralized democracy, either in or out of Pennsylvania, but of that Union sentiment which pervades the great body of the American people. North and South; and that the success of the incoming administration will depend, not upon mock auction platforms and par- ty caucus-mongers, as under poor Pierce, but upon a consistent, constant and fearless ad- hesion in everything to the Lancaster declara- tion of a war of destruction against “all sec- tional parties,’ and the restoration of the gov- erpment to that broad Union and conservative foundation upon which it stood fifty years ago. Such are among the teachings of this election of General Cameron to the United States Senate over Colonel Forney. It was a great mistake on the part of the Colonel and his friends to sup- poze that the election of Mr. Buchanan instantly secured another term of State and federal supre- macy to the democratic party managers. It sbould be remembered that in this late contest it was Mr. Buchanan that triumphed, and not the Cincinnati politicians or platform. No other candidate could have carried Penasylvania for the democracy in Ocwober, and Pennsylvania, lost in Octover, would have been eqvivalent to a sweeping democratic defeat in November. Nor thould it be forgotten that, notwithstanding the fidelity of Pennsylvania to the party for twenty- five years past may be set Gown to the hope that the party, sooner or later, would reward the old Keystone with the nomination and election of her “favorite son,” the last October State elec- tion, upon which everything depended, would have been lost by a chauge of fitteen hundred votes. We know that never did the alarmed de- mocracy fight with sueh desperate energy as they did to carry the Pennsylvania October election; we know that the opposition were di- vided, unorganized and inharmonious—yet a change of fifteen hundred votes would have given them Pennsylvania in October, and the inevitable defeat of Mr. Buchanatl in November. Mr. Buchanan and the democracy havé beca admonished of these interesting facts in this eled- tion of General Cameron—admonished that the prestige of the democratic party, utterly destroyed by poor Pierce, has to be reconstructed again, from bottom to top, by the new administration— admonished that mere names and reminiscences will no longer av hat the American people have become alarmingly independent of adminis- trations, parties and politicians; and that nothing but a steady adhesion to the general wishes aud expectations of the people will secure success. With these lights before him, Mr. Buchanan will proceed to Washington to enter upon the duties of his great office. He will also have the advan- tages in his favor of the one term principle, fixed and sure; of a comprehensive knowledge of the politics of the country, and of a deliberate and well-adjusted resolution to discountenance and destroy, as far as possible, all sectional parties. Starting out upon these cardinal principles, thou .: widely differing from the boisterous clap trap of the Cincinnati platform, Mr. Buchanan will tet out upon the high road to a glorious career as our chief magistrate, and among the first deve- Jopements of this successe he will most probably recognise the support of General Cameron and thousands upon thousands of others occupying the same independent but conservative ground upon national aflairs. Our Southern ultra cotemporaries appear to regard Gen. Cameron's election as a damaging blow to Mr. Buchanan; but instead of this, the President elect may tind in the Semator elect an active and useful advocate. Gen. Cameron i independent politician. He is a representativ + upon the Union question and the constitution of the great bulk of that immense opposition ma- jority, between the divisions of which Mr. Bu hanan bas been «lipped into the Presidency Acct gly, should Mr. Buchanan vely adop' and cary out the leading Union and constitu nal wntiments thus represented by Gea, ( th w administration—for whatever from the sectional and spoils factions democracy-— will be more than tenfold re- paid in the acquisitions of solid Union and con stitutional men, of both the Fremont aud the Fillmore partics “uch are the com cles and probable con osive c vases, contingen- juences of Gen, Cameron's election, according to our reading of the horo: Instead of foreboding mischief to Mr. uchanan’s administration, it may reeult in much ood, Mr, Buchanan may be eminently success- ful—be may retire in a blaze of glory, as the faithful exponent of the Union, the constitution, the civilization, the enterprise, the spirit and the progress of this great people. We hope he will, and our hope is strong. But it does not follow that such independent supporters of his adminis- tration as Gen. Cameron, for instance, will sup: port the democratic candidate for the succession. We feel aseured, however, that Gen. Cameron will be only one of many hundred thousands of good Union men, of the late Fremont opposition forces, that will refuse to pay tribute to W. H. Seward in 1860, In fact, this election of Cameron is rather a damaging blow to Seward than a mis fortane to Mr. Buchanan. ‘The Movement in“ The United States war ve" San Jacinto have out tr als Portamouth snd -¢ Gordian knot to which we allnded 1 °°" ast article on the Chinese question, -y have opened the channel into a Chinets "ar, There was some danger that the Englia would contrive to rob the rest of us of the ‘Aonor and of the profit of a forcible settle- Ment of the Ohinese question; that danger is now averted. We are in for the war, and God be thankful for it! The circumstances under which the United States frigate Portsmouth bombarded and de- stroyed a Chinese fort near Macao are of no par- ticular consequence. From the telegraphic ac- count it appears that the Chinese molested our countrymen, But the unexplained tragedy, which cost us so valuable a life as Mc. Cunning- ham’s, is quite reason enough for the bombard- ment of any number of Chinese forts, Indeed we are surprised, considering the cireumstances, that our officers should have evinced such Chris- ‘ian forbearance, and evangelical long-suffering, while the English naval men were proceeding to work with the more practical though less biblical weapons invented by Congreve, Paixhan and Colonel Minie. Our representatives in the Chi- nese seas are probably afraid of being sneered at for Yankee go-ahead-ism. But the breach is now made; the can- non have been used, and practically we are at war with the great empire of China. The rest devolves, not upon this or that navy captain or Commissioner who may be in the Chinese seas, but upon the government at Washington; and to that government accordingly do we ad- dress ourselves in commenting on the subject. Many years have elapsed since the necessity of insisting upon the opening of the Yeang-Tse- Keang was urged in the columns of the Hera.p. The idea appeared chimerical when it was first suggested; no one contests its propriety now. That the Yeang-Tse-Keang, the Hoang-Ho, and also the other great rivers of China may and ought to be opened to the world, is the intimate conviction of every one who has thought upon the subject; the only question in the mind of Chinese merchants and statesmen has been about the time at which t! empt should be made. Some have advc siting for a settlement of the dynastic wa rs have proposed to wait till the present d. y was overthrown. Others have suggested tat uatil the Chinese made a forward step, we should be patient. The fossil whigs—the men with broken skulls, who groan and whine over the Americanization of Central America, the prize blockheads of the United States, who tear their hair whenever young Joua- than shows his pluck and his blood—say that we must wait until the Chinese agree to open their rivers—that is to say, that we must give up the idea altogether. We say—Now is the time. This is the oppor- tunity. Here is the chance. If you let slip the present opportunity of breaking into China, and establishing Christian forts at the head of navigable water on each of the great rivers, you lose the very noblest chance that Las been offered to us during the present ge- neration. These rivers are the highway of a traffic quite unexampled in the world. Millions upon millions of boats travel them every month. With proper facilities for transit that trattic might be increased tenfold; and merchandise might be prepared for exit such as no Eastern country has ever rent abroad. Of all Christian nations we are most interested in the question, for China is, by the sea, the nearest great neighbor of our Pa- cific possessions. China produces precisely what they lack ; in all probability they will supply the deficiencies of the Chinese. England will benefit, certainly, as the seignior of East India, by the consolidation of China, and the opening of its an- bounded resources to Christian enterprise; but her interest will be far less than ours. Duder these circumstances, we desire strongly to urge upon the government the duty of co-operating energetically with the govermments of France and England, and inaugurating a general Christian policy of civili- zation against the Chinese. We do not desire to exterminate these poor people. We do not even wish to deprive them of liberty or independence. Ali that we desire is that they will let us sail our steamers up their rivers and peddle our wares in their big towns, without having our throats cut: and thie we want to do, paying our pay, and be vaving fairly to all men. If the Chinese refuse, why, then, we want the three great governmen‘« of the world, France, England and the Unite: States, to force them into our views. It will come to this, sooner or later; it is only a ques tion whether Mr. Pierce has the sagacity to anticipate events, or will leave the glory to his successor. Movements or Grorngr Pranopy.—This di tinguished financier at the last accounts was lec- turing the Pennsylvanians on the text tha “honesty is the best policy,” his subject bein certain unpaid balances of interest due on th State debt to creditors in England, and which th Pennsylvanians have thus far put off from year t year, with an evident inclination to repudiate «l- together. We are gratified, in this view, to rm cognize Mr. Peabody in his proper clemeat, and actively at work in the good cause of the payment of debts, We care not for the fact that Mr. Pea- body bas a fiaancial interest in these unpaid ba lances of interest. He is doing the public a good service in enforcing the doctrine of public as wel) as private honesty. In this vocation he shine while as a London American lion, dining and wining and feasting and boasting, he cut a very sorry figure indeed with his mock heroics and oe tentatious donations to learning and charity. W trust that Mr. Peabody's mission to Pennsytvanta will remind those people of the wholesome lectures of Sidney Smith, and persuade them to pay what they owe, and make « clean breast of it. Rich as they are they ought to be ashamed of themselves. Tue Swiss Questiox.-It would appear from the speech of the President of the Swiss Federa- tion that the Minister of the United States in Switzerland has been taking a far more active part in the Swiss quarrel than is generally known here. This gentleman, whose name is Fay, is eaid to have actually ranged the United States on the side of Switzerland, and the lan- guage of the Swise President really looks as though he had. We should like to know how this is and whether Mr. Fay has acted of his | own mere motion or under instructions from | home. Possibly the Pierce administration may have done a sensible thing in their old age, by helping Switzerland. What member of Congress will move for the papers in this question’ | a Tue Lorsy Commirter.—From all that we learn the lobby committee at Washington are making some very interesting discoveries, with | the aid of the Henato’s list of witnesses, Let them go on with the good work, and they will defeat the expected carnival of the epoilemen, ‘he Central Park—The Plan as .cveloped by the Engineer's Report, The report of Mr. Viele, the Engineer of the Central Park, which we yesterday laid before our readers, has called forth general commendation from all who have perused it. It not only em- braces the leading points of information which we should expect to find in such a document, but it supplies us with a vast mass of scientific data which, though intimately connected with, are not necessarily called for in a report of this kind. Ia giving us the topographical and geological fea- tures of the park, it discloses some curious facts in reference to our city sewerage, which, although they have been suspected, have never before been substantiated by investigation. In stating it as his opinion that before any improvement of the site of the park can be attempted, its whole area must be thoroughly drained, Mr. Viele proceeds to show that the planon which the sewerage of the city has been constructed has been an entire mistake. The Commissioners who laid it out seemed not to have been aware that drainage was an indispensable preliminary to a proper system of seweragé, and the consequence is that our sewers fail to carry off a large amount of stag- nant water which is continually breedinginfection in our midst. The rectangular plan of the city he explains has no reference either to the topo- graphy or geology of the ground, and proper drain- age being dependent upon both, the existing sewers which are based upon that plan are incompatible with perfect drainage. How satisfactory to fiad that in this, as in other matters connected with the city administration, we have been working in the dark and expending vast sums of the public money on a system that a little preliminary in- quiry would have shown to be erroneous. On the geological data furnished by the report it is not necessary for us to make any comment, However useful they may prove in the different engineering operations connected with the laying out of the grounds, the information which they convey is of too general a character to call for observation. Not so with the details given uader the botanical head. From a survey made of the park to ascertain how far the existiag vegetation can be made available for the projected improve- ments, it appears that of trees, shrubs and pura- sites of this character there have been found forty- two different kinds, comprising in all about 150,000 specimens. The remainder of the plante are either unfit to remain or are so few in number as to render any reference to them un- necessary. The kinds of which the largest num- ber of specimens have been found are the silver leafed maple, the common alder, the water birch, the wild filbert, the beech, the sassafras, the sweet gum, the bay berry, the red oak, the com- men locust tree, the maple leafed arrow wood, the choke cherry and the buttonwood sycamore. These are all trees to which the soil seems admi- rably suited, and which can be employed to the greatest advantage in laying out the grouads. The most interesting part of the report is, of course, that which relates to the details of the plan. We have already had occasion to express our approval of the leading idea on which the latter is based. It is intended that it shall fol- low strictly the natural configuration of the ground. This is the only true principle of art as applied to landscape gardening, and the only one likely to give permanent satisfaction. Those who desire to introduce amongst us the geome- trical systems of the French and Dutch would soon turn in disgust from the realization of their pet ideas. Rectangular alleys and boxwood monsters may do very well for the gardens of Versailles or Rotterdam, bat they are unsuited to the simple and natural tastes of our people. It is therefore with satisfaction that we watch the developement of the ideas which indaced us to give to Mr. Viele’s first plan our warm approval. He appears to appreciate thoroughly the artistic requirements which are necessary to give it com- pleteness and to view its details with the eye of « man schooled to the creation of efficts upon a large and picturesque scale. Such being (ie cnse we have no fear that the Central Park w.tl fulfil the expectations of those who first con- ceived and struggled to carry out this magnificent project. Unless corruption and mismanagement should step in to distort and spoil the conce- tions of Mr. Viele, we are not going too far to say that they promise to give us one of the noblest and most beautifully laid out gardens in the world. Tue Crry Govennmext axp THe Board or Epvcation.—The annual expenses of our city government have increased during the past five orsix years from two millions and a half to seven millions of dollars, and they are still in- creasing at such a fearful rate that by the year 1860 they will amount to twelve or thirteen mil- lions. With such an immense outlay, it might naturally be expected that New York would be the best governed, the cleanest—in a word, the model city of the United States; but so far is this from being the case that ebe has acquired a noto- riety for filthy streets, for unchecked lawless rowdyism, and for the uoscrapulous character of her public officials, which give her a most uaea- viable distinction among American cities A" this is attributable to the fact that there is no re sponsibility in the heads of the different depar. ments of the city government, and that no mat- ter to what extent official dishonesty is car: 1 the offender generally escapes uupunished. No one imagines that the seven millions which come out of the pockets of the taxpayers o” New York ix expended for the support of the city government, or that at least one-third of it is not appropriated by our officeholders, con tractors and others. Who believes, for instance. that it is possible for an official who bas paid tea thousand dollars to secure his election, aud whose salary for the whole term of his service does uot exceed seven thousand five hundred—who be- lieves that the two or three hundred thousand which he has amassed in three years has been ob- tained by honest means? Who believes that the clerk whose salary is two thousand dollars a year, and who in the course of seven or eight years could retire with a fortune of fifty or sixty thousand, has acquired it in an honest way? In fact so little faith have the people in the men they have elected to places of official trast that they could with difficulty be persuaded that one out of every ten is honest. And while our mani- cipal government is constituted as it is it would be absurd to expect a change io the character of our officehelders. The dishonesty which has marked the adminis tration of the city government has made its ap pearanee in the Board of Education; and the unscrupalousness with which contracts for school buildings, books and stationery are entered into shows how necessary it is that public attention should becalled to that body. From the published reports it is impossible to form any idea of the way in which the money raised for educational purposes is expended. Booke which are utterly qworthloge for the inetruction of child-en are par chased by thousands, and at a price sometimes more than twice their actual value, in considera- tion for the per centage paid by the publisher to the purchasing partles,or the person through whose agency they have been'purchased. Now, the only way to stop this system of swindling is to ap- point an investigating committee, to in- quire into the truth of the charges which have been made against these parties, with fall power to call for documents, &. Let the people know who have profited by these contracts, and the actual value of the work done or the books furnished. Let competent, honest men be engaged for the purpose, and let the public be informed what a schoolhouse that cost twenty, thirty or forty thousand dollars, could be put up for if built by a private citizen. We, the taxpayers, ought to know the price paid for every nail, if necessary, every foot of timber, every brick—and the amount expended for the labor employed in the erection of our school buildings. The public demand this investiga- tion, and a committee should be appointed for the purpose. Tae Fam Depurante at tHE AcADEMY—Mar- TER FOR THE Law.—Our readers will remember that a lady of the name of McMahon, resident in this city, was recently inspired with a passion for the stage. After some preliminary instruc- tion, she made her début at the Buffalo theatre and acted there during one week. She was very severely reviewed in the Buffalo newspapers, be- cause, as she alleged, she refused to subsidize the editors. She resolved to make an effort before a metropolitan audience and played for the first time in this city at the Academy of Music, on last Saturday evening. Since that time half a dozen of the city papers, great and small, have, to use their own expressions, “rowed her up” in the most decided manner. She is declared alto gether incompetent for the role—her “time has been wasted and study thrown away;” her first twelve lines “were a dozen too many;” she was “indignantly hissed;” her death agonies were “funny;” “she went on from bad to worse, until she attained a climax of pitiable bathos;” “she utterly, miserably, hopelessly failed; she made a “humiliating exhibition of herself; her read- ing had not “even an ordinary appreciation of the points of the character;” her “tragic efforts were openly laughed at and ridiculed by four-fifths of the entire audience;” “the début was an utter fasco;” “she has nothing in voice, figure, action or delivery to warrant her in attempting to play Shakspere or anything else;” the balcony scene ‘was played with “maudlin tenderness and extra- ordinary contortions of countenance;” it was “a failure without dignity or excuse;” she made a “moet mischievous mietake in coming before the public at all;” “her person is far from attrac- tive, her voice is harsh and husky, her enuncia- tion and pronunciation disagreeable and in- correct, her gait and gesture destitute of dignity, propriety and grace; “her best point was in the tomb scene, where she has only to lie still and say nothing,” she was “audacious,” “cool,” “reckless; “in the bal- cony scene Mrs. McMahon's absolute incapacity as an actress broke fully on the house ; several of her tenderest touches were saluted with bursts of laughter;”’ “ never was an artist more unequi- vocally damned ;” “ the débutante has entirely mistaken her yocation;” “she has not one parti- cle of either feeling or taste;” “ outrageous faults of execution and conception;” “ reads with utter disregard of taste, feeling, and sometimes sense;”’ “ridiculous failure;”’ speaks “through her nose ;”’ her “intonation is school-girlish;” the perform- ance was “ flat, stale and wearisome, lacking ali the points of art,” and finally, she’s “an amateur on the lowest step of the ladder.”” There's a bouquet for the matutinal meal of an ambitious débutante who rides in ber own car- riage, with her own servants in her own livery, lives in her own splendid establishment within a biscuit toes of the Fifth avenue, and acts in her own theatre. It is not our purpose nor eur duty to inquire whether or not all these severe criticisms upon Mrs. McMahon's personal cha- racter and theatrical efforts are true. It is sufficient for argument that they have been written, printed, published and circulated, and we wish to call the attention of the parties aggrieved to the brilliant example given them in our own case, About eight years ago, Mr. E. P. Fry under- took the management of the Italian Opera in this city. Asan initial proceeding in commencing his season, he confined his advertisements to news- papers having the smallest circulation, and as the Opera was then only a matter of interest to a very small number of people, we lost sight of Mr. Fry and his affairs altogether. Success did not crown his efforts, however; with failare came bickerings and quarrelling with his artists, two of whom, Signorina Truffi and Signor Benedetti, ap- pealed to the public by carde over their owa signatures, through the columas of the Hera. which columns have always been open to parties seeking fair play at the hands of the public Other matters grew out of this imbroglio, and we published all the facts in the case, with such criticisms as were naturally suggested by the documents before us. For so doing we have been twice held to auswer in a civil sait for damages. On the first trial of this great libel case the jury decided that we must pay ten thousand dollars; on the second trial the damages were assessed at six thousand dollars, and a third trial of the cause is now pending. We have before us a copy of the evidence submitted at the last trial, and it will shortly be given to the public. It will then be seen that we made no personal at tacks upon Mr. Fry. The first publication in re lation to hisseason was the card of Signori Tru‘, who believed that she had been attacked by some journals in the interest of Mr. Fry, and d sired to defend herself. We afterwards gave some extracts from Mr. Fry's journals, and an account of a fracas between the empreserio and the tenor, with the tenor’s account of the matter and the manager's version. They certainly did ay some severe things about each other, but that was distinctly not our affair, We simply performed our duty to the public, by giving the statements of all parties. In the appended re- marks we criticised Mr. Fry's course as a mana ger, and gave the reasons of his failare—for he had failed, and the reasons were patent to every man who had the elightest knowledge of the sub ject. It has sinee been admitted that all our statements, and the deductions drawn from them, were strictly trae. But the jury has twice decided against us, and the precedent stands on the record of the court Tf it is good for us it is good for every other * journalist, and we submit that the case of Mrs. MeMahon is much worse than that of Mr. Fry. She has been bitterly assailed by nearly all the newspapers in the city. She is a woman, and therefore entitled to tender consideration ; but all her efforte to become “ America’s brightest ste_which we believe ehe states te be her ine teon—have been received with ridicule ané Content, ‘The busigess in which abe bas just tumely ‘{ebeen btoken up, and a stream of con- 7 0 been showered upon her maiden ~~ ™ to. CPPonent is @ man—we never de- of Mex, S-ontroversy with a woman. The gape is dggidedly matter for the lawyers; and if ig \@glishat we should pay Mr. Fry six oF t0 sousind dollars, she oan oer tainly make her dés ot the Academy worth fifty or sixty thowsand.touier We think we have demonstrated that ve, clearly. Some of the same NeWSP%rg which have 80 severely used Mrs. McMahon yo pronounced the verdicts against us to be Jot They an. now in a worse position than they yer charged us withal, and we simply call attenton to the fact. At the same time, we support, as we al- ways have done, the doctrine that the jrege should be allowed to express its opinioa on al subjects of public interest without restraint. We must have perfect freedom of criticism upon art, music and the drama. It is the only safeguard of the public against pretenders, charlatans, humbugs and imposters. But if the stupidity of our law-givers is to interfere with this right, and if every unfavorable criticism is to be held and considered as a malicious libel, then we advise Mra. McMahon to enter the lists and take her share. She will find it much more profitable than acting during the sleighing carnival. THE LATEST NEWS. BY PRINTING AND MAGNETIC TELEGRAPHS, Interesting from W: THE FISHING BOUNTIES—EXECUTIVE COMMUNICA: ‘TIONS—THE TROUBLE WITH V&NEZUELA—IMPOR- TANT AMENDMENT TO TRE TARIFF BILL—REFRAC- TORY WITNESSES BEFORE THE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE, ETC. Wasnincton, Jan. 20, 186%. Mr. Clay introduced a bill this morning, in the Senate, Proposing a repeal of the fishing bounties, which he de- Bounced in severe terms, and referred to the fact that in 1702, when the first act was passed authorizing these bounties, Mr. Jeflerson made a report against them, and Pronounced the bill unconstitutional. The Dill of Mr. Clay will be vio.ently opposed by Eastern men. Several messages were received from the President, one transmitting a communication from the Governor of Tennessee, tendering 10 the federal government the Her- mitage and five hundred acres of land attached, on con- dition that It be made a branch of the Military Academy ‘at West Point. The President makes no recommendation on the subject. Another message communicated the cor- respondence touching the stip Resolute, and her acceptance by the British government in proper terms. The message, however, concerning the Aves guano islands, and communicating the correspondence with the Venezoelian government was the most interesting. Mr. Marcy in « letter dated the 2d inst., to our Minister, sume up the whole matter. He expresses his surprise that so. long a time had been permitted to elapse—two years—- without some intimation from Venezueia in regard to the claim of our citizens on acoowst of our expulsion from. those islands, Our government has aecortained fally that Venezuela has no claim to the tramds; and if othar mations: have, it only aggravates the wrong perpetrated. He closes by saying that further delay will not be regarded with indifference. If she refuse redress, she will be ex- pected to offer such reasons for that course as will be ‘satisfactory to the government, or the terms of the treaty of 1836 will be resorted to. ‘The House wes oocupied al! day on territorial business. of no general importance, ‘Mr. Giddings was present at the House yesterday, and apparently well. ‘The Sergeant-at-Arms of the House bas sent a tele- graphic despatch from Philadelphia that be has arrested Mr. Cheater, who refused to appear before the Corraption. Investigating Committee, but both were detained there in Consequence of the effects of the enow storm. Mr. Chage, an ex member of Congress, was before the Corruption Investigating Committee this morning. He ‘was asked whether he, as agent or in any other capacity of any company, ever executed auy bond or obligation to convey any land, or any other valuable consideration, to any person or persons, on condition thet aay railroad bill passed or pending in this Congress, enouid pass. Mr. Chase respectfully denied the right of the committee to inquire into his private dealings with persons other than members of Congross, and declined to answer the ques- tion, as he was advised by bis counse! be bad the right to do. The House Committee on Post Officce met to day and disposed of = large quantity of current business, They Came to no determination upon the General Ocean Steam- abip bill. Various propositions have been before them, but the Committee thus far have been unable to agree. Dr. Raipy’s proposition to estab ish a line steamers [rom New York to Para will undoubtedly pass the Committee, six out of nine having decided to go for it, ‘Mr. Mace haa prepared an amendment whieh be will Offer to to the Tarif! bill, which will receive the ontire ‘vote of the South. 1) le as follows:—'' That a doty of ft. teen’per cent bo levied, ad valorum, on ail imported ar- ticles whatever, except coin and bal'ion.”” ‘Mr. Simonton was recalled to-day, and informed by the Committee that they had come to the unanimous determi- ation to insist on bis answering the questicn in substance, “You bave admitted that members of Congress have ap- proached you confidentially with » request to you to pro- cure them a pecuniary interest in measures pendieg be- fore the Bouse. We ask you togive the names of such members’ After some suggestions by the Commtitee to the witness as to the extent of ifs duty and powers in such cases, Mr. Simonton answered substantially as follows: — “1 do not here dispute the powers of the Com- mites, I bave mot declined to answer the question on that ground. I have all dao re- spect for the House and the Committee, My refcsal is not based upon a desire to screen individual members, nor can it be supposed that an answer to the question would reflect diseredit upon me. I bave read, in deference to the wishes of the committee, the case of Anderson egainst Dann, and afier fall deliperation as to what I ought to do im view of that case, aod from other considerations, have come to the determination that I must persist in decliaing to answer, no matier what tho penalty I may incur, because to do 80 would involve & dishonorable breack of confidence. In Executive ression to day, the Sonate’s Committee on Foreign Relations made a favorable report on the Central American Treaty. The Sonate assigned some day next) week for \'\® consideration. THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. BRCOND SESSION. Semate. Wasnscrow, Jaw. 20, 1867, REPEAL OF THE FIEHING ROUNTIRE, Mr. Chay, (dem) of Als., introduced @ bil! repsaling fil inwe or parte ot inwe allowing boun! 0 vesevis om- ployed on the Banks or other cod Asheries, Mir, Clay said that during the Inst sixty years about ‘en millions of ¢ollers bad been drawn from the treasury payment of puch Dounties, and ood fishermen of two or ree New Eogiand States were now receiving eommhing jike three hutared thousand dollars manually, Tnie sam. in divided betwen shipowners and captains of 1,288 vee- cela engaged in the cod ani was drawn from the treasury i violation of ost every provision ef Inw by which the privileged clase was created. It wae the intention Of toe act to divide thie bounty ai the fish. cermen, yet It it monopolized by the owners and cAptaine’ of thore voenels, Twenty-five States are mare to pay’ tribute to the cod ‘led aristocracy of fix States, In conse. quence of the habitual vioiation of t , Collectors of ‘natome, Af be was advined at the Ti were asking for an increase in the cutters, involving a corresponding increase in expend) tures, for repairs, &>, in order vw watch fisher prevent them from perpetrati those frauds on the treasury. Hence it would be seen thay re tult of this bounty was, tbat the farmers, mechanics and miners of the country wore tated in order to raine three hundred thousand dollars per annum to dimribute among wealthy shipowners, principaliy of Maine and Maerachusctts. ae to their own business, and were then taxed twonty or thirty por cont, Qo provide proper guard® to koep ti men (rom rob: bing the goveroment. This wee question no: morely of polities! morality—it wae a quostion whether shall longer continas to oiler a premium for fi perjury. He woud prove by the friends of tho moatu-o { that thore men Wont out not sO much to Cato Codiish ay to catch bounty. Ho urged the repeal of the bount as to be woarceiy felt. Again, at that time was only & Orb. of vot any very creat commercial ran, bet cow mackere! ring and whale were far more veluable, and the poreuit ef the letter wer tar wy re