The New York Herald Newspaper, February 16, 1858, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GOKDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRitTOR. @Prick N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU 81S TERMS coh in atrance THE DAILY ABRALD 7? WEEALY HERALD. TES per unnwm. he Rw 14 of @rent Britain, or 8 et en any pe PENILE HERALD on 7 al ALL LETTERS AND PACKAGES BROADWAY THEATRE, Srosdway—Cikovs ano Mewa- GvAIE—GULLIVRR AND THE LAtLdr OTT ANS. BOWERY THRATRE Bowery—Onanow Girne of Vawice Eswrkatpa—OUr Saline et 4° THEATRE. Broadway, opposite Bond strect— Wivis oF WiNDson—COLu Mads. WALUACK’S THEATRE, Broadway—Tou Tiwes—Ronat Feucity. LAURA KEENE'S THEATRE, Broadway—Moper or 4 ‘Wire -Au THar Gucreas 1s Not GoLp-Myr Neicusor's Wire. BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway—Afternoon —Deata ov Eva—Tux Terurm’s 4 Lik, Eveaing—Pionege Parsior. WOOD'S BUILDINGS, S61 and 664 Broudway—Gronor Curisty & Woon's Minsrexis—lux Foopirs, with Cavoie Lrctenes. BUCKLEY'S SERENADERS, No. 444 Broadway—Nxcro Mrvovies any Burxsquxs—Krn Honn's MExacEnts. MECHANTO® BALL, 472 Broadway—Brvant’s MinstR eis *s DRkAM OF Sit ——— | New York, Tacsday, February 16, 1855. @ne New York Herald—Edition for Kurepe The Cunard mail steamship Arabia, Capt. Stone, will Jeave this port to-morrow for Liverpool The European mails will close in this city at eight t'clock to morrow morning ‘The Buropean edition of the Hwnax, printed tn French and English, will be published at coven o'clock in tae mor- wing. Single coplos, in wrappers, six cents. Bubdecriptions and advertisements for any edition of the ew Yorx Hxnsis will be received af the following piaces im Surope:— Lexson.. ..damson Low, Bor & Oo., 47 Lodgate hill, ‘Am.-Kuropean Express Co.,61 King William st Pans .....Am.-European ExpresaCo. ,8 Ptace de la Bourss. Lavemreos. Am. -Ruropean Express Co., 0 Chapel atreet. R. Stuart, 10 Exchange street, Fast Harne.....Am. European Express Co., 21 Rue Corneille, The contents of the European edition of the Herato will ®ombine the news received by mail and telegraph as the Oice during the previous week and up to tho hour of pub baton. ‘The News. In the Senate yesterday a memorial of the New York Commissioners of Emigration, relative to the treatment of female passengers by the officers of emigrant vessels, was presented. Mr. Seward gave notice of # bill to remedy the abuses complained of. The address of Minister Meade to the Emperor of Brezil has stirred up the black republicans, and Mr. ‘Wilson introduced « resolution calling on the Presi- dent for Mr. Meade's instructions, to ascertain whether they agree with the sentiments expressed | fin the address. The case ef the Indiana contested seats was then debated till the adjournment. In executive seasion yesterday a number of ap- pointments was received from the President, among them the promotion of Colonel Johnston, the com- mander of the Utah expedition, to a Brigadier | Generalship. The appointment of Mr. Birdsall as | NEW ‘YORK HERALD, TUESMAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1858. was committed to prison to await his trial, while the | negro was detained in custody as @ witness agalast | A motion for a new trial of James Rodgers, the | convicted tnurderer of Mr. Swanston, was argued | yesterday in the Supreme Court. Intoxication of | the accused at the time of the commission of the | crime is the ground npon which the application for | 4 new trial is baved. The Coroner's investigation of the cireumstances attending the death of Mr. Simonson, at Brooklyn, on Saturday, the particulars of which have been fully reported, commenced yesterday. A report of the testimony is given in another column. By the arrival of the steamship Philadelphia at this port yesterday, we have details of news from Havana to the 8th inet. Advices to the 10th, received by way of Charleston, have, however, been already published. Marked official attention had been paid to Commodore Paulding, of the Wabash, daring his have the power to make good for the future the work of their present Legislature. From the details of this splendid apocula tion, we furnished by our correspondent, it is very clear that the members concerned in both branches of the Legielature acted as their own Jobbymen, and that the share or shares of each | in the twenty acre lots of this new State capi- tal of Minneola promptly settled the question. Thus it appears that O. B. Matteson and his lobby jobbers of Congress are very small pota- tocs compared with the wholesale anti-slavery legislative operators of Kansas. And what a flood of light is here thrown upon the revola- tionary opposition in Kansas to the Lecompton constitution! The real game there on both sides, throughout, has been for the spoils of of- fice, town sites, city lote, &c., and the nigger stay at Havana. The Wabash sailed for New York | question has been nothing more than the flimsy on the Sth. Maretzek’s Opera troupe had agreed to remain in Havana for another season. We have files of Turks Islands papers to the 15th inst. The Standard says:—The demand for salt since our last has been unusually small, and as every body appears determined to undersell his neighbor, the price has fallen on each cargo shipped during the week. We have still a lange quantity on hand, which can be purchased at 2 law figure. Last cargosold at eight cents. Accounts from St. Thémas to the 26th ult. state disguise under which the scheming border ruf- fians of both parties have been endeavoring, through their numerous devices, to circumvent each other. With such evidences before us, corroborated by each succeeding day’s intelligence from Kensas, is it not the first duty of Congress to dismiss as quickly as possible these turbulent factions of that troublesome Territory to take Reform in Congress Mz. To anota © columa will be found @ communl- cation from t°¢ Hon. George Taylor, the author of the bilf now Vefore the House of Representa- tives for the sme. dment of the Patent Inws. Mr. Taylor counpiniae of the opinion expreseed by us, that the real object of the proposed mea- sure was to extend, revive or emiarge several of the old patents. It tv noé our fautt if the cor. rupt and unscrupulous efforts makisg by the great patent monopolista, and their agents in the lobby to push their extension schemes through Congress should lead us to view with suspicion and jealously any attempt to remodel the existing laws. To justify fresh legislation on this subject, it should first be shown that the present system works badly for the interests of the inventor and the public. No testimony of this sort has been brought forward by the advocates of the proposed measure. Against all such allega- tions we have the evidence of the fact that the appeals made from the decisions of the Com- missioner are very rare indeed, and that when relief is sought from Congress by patentees, at is in the shape of extensions confessedly op- posed to. public policy and to the interests of the general body of inventors. There can, Patent Law care of themselves, and to settle among them- that business was very: dull there, and no freights | selves all their factious and never-ending were offering. The port was healthy. The vessels disabled in the gale of the 25th of December were refitting. The brig Globe, bound from Georgetown, 8. C., to Montevideo, arrived at St. Thomas on the 22d ult., having in a gale sprung a leak. By an arrival at Boston we have news from Omoa equabbles over the spoils and plunder? Admit the people of Kansasas a State under the Le- compton constitutiém, and the necessities of their position and superior strength of the dominant party will very soon solve the and Truxillo, Honduras, to the 18th ult, ‘The peo- | Problem of “popular syyereignty” in a peace- ple of Honduras wire greatly alarmed upon hearing able way. If we wait of the second attempt of the filibuster Walker in Nica- a State constitution adopted without frauds and without trickery, ragua. They will doubtless be equally rejoiced to | from such a set of graceless vagabends as the hear of his arrest by the United States naval au- | squatter politicians of Kansas, we may wait for thorities. A number of the engineers of the Hon- duras Interoceanic Railroad had left for tho United twenty years to come, The best policy is to act, as in the case of California. Accept the States, but the survey o: the route was still pro- } fret constitution offered, and leave the people gressing. The country was quiet, but business was dull and produce scarce and high. ‘The sales of cotton yesterday embracei about 2,000 bales, without change in prices. ‘The Ningara’s news, however, being some less encouraging than was ex- pected, the marke! closed with some less spirit, there being @ disposition to sweit the receipt of private letters Flour was without animation, while sales were toa mo Gerate extent, without change in prices. Wheat was firm. Chicago spring sold at $1, red winter at $1 05, and Cana- dian white at $1 18. Corn was steady, with limited asles at 67. @ 68c, # 70c. for all grades. Pork was again more active and firmer, with sales of mess at $16 25 a $16 50, and prime at $13 254 $13 50. Lard was firm, and sold at 3c. #16c, Other provisions were also firm. Sugars concerned to settle their frauds, rascalities and “popular sovereignty” among themselves. Tue Insecurity or FrENcH A¥¥atrs.—Though, in considering the addresses to the Emperor Napoleon, of which the telegraph gives us the substance, we are bound not to lose sight of the fondness of the French for high sounding lan- guage and rhetorical flourish, still it is impossi- ble to reflect for a moment on the tenor of these addresses without feeling the most lively appre- hensions for the stability of the imperial sys- tem and the peace of Europe. The French were inactive, and eales confined to about 200 a 300 hhds. army, in round numbers half a million of men, New Orieans, at prices given in another column. Coffee was firm, with sales of 2,000 bags at full prices. Freights were steady, with moderate engagementa. The Kansas Border RufMflans—The Latest Rascalities of Both Partics—The Manifest Daty of Congicss. From the letters of our special Kansas cor- respondent, published in yesterday's Henatp, our readers will have been informed of the in the highest state of discipline and flushed with the memory of recent successes, cannot long be kept quiet by parades, reviews and ribbauds; especially while each successive mail from the East brings news of the glorious achievements of their late allies the English. Nor can the reckless avd turbulent spirit of the soldiery which manifests itself -in aggressive allusions to | latest rascalities of the border ruffians of both | Great Britain be contemplated without grave partics of that embryo State. The fucts and | uneasiness. The French army is France. If the testimony thus communicated corroborate the worst that has been said of the reckless cha- racter of the vagabond politicians and spoils and plunder jobbers of both the pro-slavery and Naval Officer at this port was confirmed. The effort of Mr. Seward to have the injunction of moved from the debates in the case of, of John McKeon and the appoint Attorney Sedgwick was def In the House yesterday appro- the various transpired in either branch of the Legislature yesterday. The Attorney General has given an opinion as to the eligibility of the members of the old police force to reappointment. He finds nothing in the Me- tropolitan Police law to prevent the re-appointment by the Police Commissioners of such members of the old force as were in good +tanding at the time that law went into operation. The Witter Democratic General Committee met last night at Tammany Hall, and after denouncing the Sweeney Committee, proceeded to endorse the Kansas policy of President Buchanan, and appointed the 23d of May as atime to hold a public meeting on the subject, The Board of Aldermen met last evening. munications were received from the Mayor, mending the erection of a fire proof buildi Park for « court house, and vetoing the prc pay the members of the Common Cuuncil. last named document may be found in our report of the proceedings of the Board, and is worth an attentive ‘perusal. A resolution was adopted authorizing the Mayor to negotiate with the federal government for th jon of a new Post Office in the Park Chambers street, in the rear of the City Hall. A report from the was adopted referring to the 0 Com- nance Committee of Supervisors th of the Police Comm or $11,350 pense of litigating the Police law. The ¢ consider that the expense should be defrayed, not by the city, but by the Metropolitan district. The re port relative to the n laid on the table to await the jadici eet Co sioner question. T referred to the Street Cc The Standing ( dag occupied in investi trated in connection with Beventy-ninth street improvements. of the testimony is given elsewhere ‘was offered in the Board of Alderme: appropriating $1,000 to defray the exp: investigations. The committee of the Board of Councilmen in re ference to the consideration of the bids of the dif ferent parties desirous of obtaining the contract for the construction of the new Croton reservoir hel& theif final meeting last evening. At the preceding meeting of the committee, counsel on behalf of Mesars. Fairchild & Co. requested that the meeting of yesterday might be held, in order that he could have an opportunity of producing documents to ‘which it would be necessary to refer, and plenty of ime to do justice to the arguments in favor of his Clients. By some means or other, however, the doca iments were not in his possession when he appeared before the that euch was the ¢ ners yminittee amis: contract wa mit se of thes: mmittee yesterday, and having stated e, he requested that he alone #hould speak befc se committee. One of the firm of Dinsmore & Co. requested that he should be al lowed a short time to say something when the coun #el had concluded, and to this the committee gave their assent; whereupon Messrs, Fairchild & Co.'s @ounse! declined to speak altogether , under the cir. cumstances. After waiting a few minutes, and find fing that it was imposible to proceed with business the committee announced their final adjournment Sergeant Croft and officer McArthur arrived in this city yesterday morning from Richmond, Va having in custody Mason Thomas, the alleged kid napper of the negro Anderson, and the negro him elf. A writ of habeas corpus was granted to de ‘tain the parties at Richmond, but the officer took ‘Thomas from the jail at eleven o'clock at night, and, with the negro, left for New York in the four o'clock train on Saturday morning, before the writ could be served. Thomas was sent to the Court of Bes gious yesterday, and in default of bail ia $10,000 no-slavery parties. Their plots, tricks, frauds, and high handed outrages, corruptions and usurpations, all the way through, have, in the language of Gen. Cass, been “a disgrace to the on vf the age.” ‘the artful dodges and corrupt appliances of both these border ruffian parties of Kansas, we find that a Mr. D. B. Johnson, of Little Osage, gives a dreadful report of the filibustering ope- rations of the pro-slavery border ruffians at Fort Scott. One valiant Captain Oliver P. Commander-in-Chief of the Territorial militia, Gen. Jim Lane, endorsing its correctness, and says further, that “the Marmion citizens have called on me for pro- tection, They are threatened to be extermi- nated. They must be protected. Tam deter- mined to protect them. I want one company and one cannon from Lawrence. Have them the army insists on war, war will be declared. France may be ruined, but the Pretorian Guards will have their way. These events seem the more grave when they are examined by the light of the policy which the Emperor is developing. Within a day or two of the reception of the addresses from the troops the government of the Empe- ror suppressed two journals for offences 'o recur to the latest disclosures concerning | which it needs the eye of an imperial shirro todetect. A couple of years ago, the articles for which these journals were suppressed might have been published without hindrance. They were certainly neither calculated to disturb the public peace nor to injure the supreme govern. ment. They might have been passed over with- Vayne encloses this statement to the free State | out the least danger. They were not half as provocative as the recent articles in the Courrier Francaise, which were written, as is now known, by Emile deGirardin at the suggestion and re- quest of the Emperor. Yet the two journals in question were ruthlessly suppressed, and their owners, editors, printers, and general staff thrown upon the world. This is only one of several recent acts which here by the first of February.” In response to | justify the assertion that, so far from growing this appeal, it was supposed that General Jim lighter, the Emperor’s yoke grows every day Lane, like “the King of France, with his twenty | more heavy to bear, The people of France are thousand men,” would “march up the bill, and | being punished asa body for the sins of those then march down again.” Secondly, it appears that the Board of Com- miseioners appointed by the Territorial Legis- lature on the 22d January, to investigate all election frauds, have been actively engaged since that time. In pursuance of their labors it appears that, upon a complaint of Henry J. Adams and others of the commission, addressed to Hon. Josiah Miller, Judge of Probate of Douglas county, a search warrant was issued by said Judge, authorizing a regular search of the official premises of John Calhoun, in Le- | compton, for certain election returns alleged to have been concealed somewhere about said pre- mises. Armed with this writ, Sheriff Douglas, aitatus, et out for Lecompton, and in due season returned with a box dug up from the ground where it had been buried under a wood pile, on the premises of the aforesaid John Cal- houn, the said box being filled with the very election returns which were erpecially wanted With bis posse co viz. ; those doubtful returns in reference to the | new State’ Legislature elected under the Le- compton programme. The box was opened, (said to be an old candle box,) and the Commissioners then called Gov. Denver and the presiding officer of each branch of the Territorial Legislature to prove that they were election retarns; and they were so identified, including the missing returns from | the decisive Delaware Crossing, of 379 votes. sented as evidently fraudulent; that the man in whose handwriting they are said to be is under arrest; and that “a rec isition for John Cal- | villanous Italians who have tried to murder him. How far they will bear the yoke and the punidhment remains to be seen. If the army insists upon war—as it appears to be preparing to do—there is very little doubt but it can be accommodated. In spite of all that has been eaid about the enfente cordiale with England, the old anti-Gallic feeling remains as strong as ever in the common British heart; no- tions of expense apart—than a good fight with the French. In the elder Napoleon's time, | were constaMly appearing in England. With fugees and others who libelled Napoleon; but little or nothing came of them, unless they are answerable for a part of the bitter feeling which soon caused the war to break out afresh. The pre- cnt Emperor seems bent on following in the steps of bis uncle. He, too, desires to strike his ene- mies on British soil; and he, too, if he tries it, may find that he had better have let it alone. W. H. Sewanv’s Postrion axp Prosrrcrs.— | The late speech of Mr. Seward in the Senate, | in eupport of the Army Dill, is a coinplete puzzler to Northern and Southern poli- | ticians. The black republican journals of the | Our correspondent ays these last are repre- | ultra school of Greeley denounce him as aban- | | doning the cause of the North, and as playing | into the hands of a pro-slavery administration. Some of the fire-eating journals of the South, houn upon Mr Buchanan” had heen presented | on the other hand, amell a rat, and say that in to Gov. Denver for bis signature, and that it was euppored he had signed it. This will do as the latest disclosure against the pro-slavery managers of “popular sove reignty’ in Kansas; but there is an account equally interesting against the yascrupulous epoils and plunder jobbers on the other side. The Territorial Legislature (free State party) have passed an act locating the State capital at & new paper town ¢alled Minncola, in Franklin county. The site (1,400 acres) was first pur chased at a nominal price by the company concerned, including many members of the Legislature as stockholders, and some influential onteiders. When the bill was introduced the were held at $500 per share of twenty acres; when the bill pawed the shares this peculiar position of Mr. Seward he exhibits the eagacity of a statesman who can see that the battle is fought and won; and that his advo- cacy of a great federal army is evidently in view of a Northern qqministration, which will require a strong military foree to keop the South in subjection. Perhape, however, Mr. Seward may take a different view of the subject. It is quite possible that he has discovered that this Kansas agitation is substantially played out, and that other qnestions and greater frees will oceupy the foreground in 1860. He may thus be casting about for a broader platform than the narrow plank of “bleeding Kansas.” At all events, there ie nothing positively fore- shadowed in Mr. Seward’s speech on the Army bill, except a disposition to fall back from the House the shares could not be had at $800; | ura black republican opposition to the adminis- and it is supposed that within six months they | will command five thousand dollars a share. Should Gov. Denver veto the bill it is believed that itean be passed over his head by a two thirds vote ud that the free State party will | | shucking” in Virginia, and he tration. Before we can tell exactly what he is driving at he will have to make another speech or two. He was recently at a negro “corn round. Who knows? thing would please the English better—ques- | after the peace of Amiens, an attempt was | made by the French government to put a stop | to the libels_on Napoleon's character which | | the approval of the British government prose- | cutions were instituted in England against re- | may be coming | we think, be no stronger proof of the soundness and efficiency of the present system; and un- leas we can see sufficient reasons for modifying it, we will steadily resist giving to individuals, under cover of an alleged desire to promote the public good, an opportunity of advancing their own particular interests. Whilst we are disposed to accord to Mr. Tay- lor, individually, the fullest credit for an honest desire to improve the present laws relating to patents, we are bound to say that on a careful comparison of his bill with the existing statutes we see no changes introduced by the former which are likely to compensate for the risk of fresh tinkering at the present system. With the exception of the clause rendering the appeal from a new Board of Examiners to the chief Commissioner final, and giving the latter power to grant extensions, and also of that equalizing the fees to be paid by native born and foreign inventors, we see no really fmportant modifications effected by the new bill. The policy of the first of these clauses is more than questionable. It is a recog- nition of the one man power in an office in which the judgment of a single individual re- quires to be more strongly fortified than in per- haps any other position. The questions that come before him for decision are frequently of 80 difficult and technical a nature that with all the qualifications that he can bring to the task he cannot be sure of the correctness of his opinion. To render his decision final is, there- fore, to abut out the protection which the exist- ing laws afford the applicant against an erro- neous view of the merits of his invention. Were the process to be reversed and an appeal to be taken from the chief commissioner to a properly qualified board of examiners, as was the case previous to the act of 1839, there would be more sense in the alteration. As it is, under the present law an appeal lies from the decision of the Chief Commissioner to the Chief Justice of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, so that not only does it provide all that this clause enforces in the way of impartial examination, but it sup- plies additional safeguards against error. The | benefit accruing from the proposed alteration is | therefore entirely apocryphal, so far as the | public are concerned, though in the case of a | corrupt understanding between the applicant and the Commissioner there can be no mistake | asto the effect. Combined with the power of extension proposed to be conferred upon the latter, the latitude of discretion that he would enjoy under this clause would enable him to sell patent rights to the highest bidder. When we see the enormous sums that are expended to force extensions through Congress, it is but natural that we should view with alarm any measure which proposes to intrust a single offi- cer with such irresponsible powers, exposed as he must constantly be to temptations of the most irresistible kind. The only feature in Mr. Taylor's bill which has any recommendation in our eyes is ren- dered objectionable by a double alteration in the law. It is proposed to equalize the deposits paid by native and foreign applicants, in which there is such a shameful disparity; at present a Britieh subject being taxed $500, a foreigner of any other nation $300, and a citizen of the United States only $30. Mr. Taylor's bill fixes $50 as the amount to be paid by all on the first application. Now, while we admit the injustice of imposing a heavy tax upon foreigners, we | see no reason why the expenses of our own in- ventors should be increased. We would reduce them, instead of augmenting them, and if we cannot perform an act of justice without intlict- ing this injary on our own citizens, then we say it would be betier to let matters remain as they are. Against these doubtful reforms we have to balance certain other unmistakeable disadvan- tages and dangers, which, we think, are in themselves sufficient to condemn this measure. In the firet place, the bill creates a multitade of new offices and salaries not called for by the exigencies of the department. There are to be three examiners in chief, with a salary of $3,000 | each; twenty-four assistant examiners, with sala- ries of $2,500; a disbursing clerk, at $1,600; a draughtsman, librarian and machinist, at $1,600; six clerks, at $1,600, one at $1,080, and @ messenger at the same. Considering the com- | paratively inexpensive, but at the same time efficient manner in which the Patent Office is at present worked, it will be conceded that a trong case should be made out before we are induced to alter it at such a cost, But, as we have stated on a former occasion, the chief objection we have to this or any simi- lar measure being agitated just now, is the overwhelming influence which the lobby exercises over the deliberations snd mea- eures of the present Congress. With patent interests before it involving millions of dollars, and which are known to be squander- ing enormous sums in the effort to secure an ex- tension of their monopolies, it is certain that any experimental measure of this kind would, in ite passage through Congress, be made the instrument of there corrupt echemes. When, therefore, we see a bill introduced which exposes ne to great risks without leading to any certain benefita, we feel it our duty at once to place the public on their guard. Mr, Taylor's measure may have been conceived in all honesty, but he will excuse us for repeating that it looks very much as if there is a enake concealed in the grace. Tue Secantet Perricoat.-The miserable at- tempt at a snow storm on Sunday left the streets ina very nasty condition, and made a eel favorable opening for the Balmoral > which wae extensively eported in Brove., 7 The effect was neat, warm, cheerful, blustiias | and brilliant. Tue Hox. Gxoxer Bancrorr—The Rev. and Hon. George Bancroft hae been unwilling that the decision of, the directors of the Academy of Music should deprive an attentive world of the mighty words which he would have spoken hed the Academy doors been opened on Friday night, or the air outside a trifle warmer. He has fired off his epeech in the daily papers, as many another galant homme has done before him. It reads very weil; as emoothly as ‘a nicely finished essay: but it strikes us that the author of it has made a blunder. Mr. George Bancroft began life as a clergy- man, and officiated as pastor of some New England church. He left, however, no clerical memory. No one ever heard of sermon or & prayer or # hymn by Bancroft. His ecclesisas- tical career is a perfect blank. From the church he went into politics, and obtained a seat in the Cabinet as Secretary of the Navy. His occupa- tion of that post is only remembered by his in- cessant quarrels with the officers of the navy end the clerks in the department. He never did or said anything during his whole term of office which has been or deserves to be remem- bered. This, too, was a blank in his life. He went to England as Uaited States Minister ; but one may read and re-read the printed records of all our voluminous negotiations with Great Britain without once finding it neocssary to ask who or what Bancroft was, Arother blank. In onc thing only has Mr. Bancroft sus- ceeded, and that is as historian. For twenty years he bas been occupied with his history of the United States; and partly from the superfi- cial merits of the work and partly from the rank of the writer, it has obtained a remarkable success, abroad as at home, and has placed Mr. Bancroft among the chief historians of the world. This rank is conceded to him not in consequence of the ornamental part of his work, but because general reliance is placed upon its accuracy as a book of history. Of Mr, Bancroft’s accuracy and reliabilty as a historian his undelivered epeech of Friday night enables us to judge. Though Kansas af- fairs have occupied so much of public attention, he blunders at every second line; all historian as he is, he cannot draw a plain picture of the facts without the grossest distortion. If his history of the United States is written with no more regard to the facts than this speech of his on Kansas, it ought to be denounced and kicked out of our libraries at once. Tae Law or Drvorce.—We perceive that the new divorce bil) introduced in the Senate of thie State by Mr. Wadsworth, has called out considerable comment from the press. Under the present law divorces a vinculo matrimonii can only be granted on proof of the actual crimi- nality of one of the parties. Anybody can get married in five minutes, but the facilities for getting unmarried are distressingly limited. The new bill purposes to increase those facilities, and to make separation for a term of ‘years, or desertion—which is about the same thing—cause for di- vorce. It isnot probable that the Legislature will do anything particular during the session, and the chances for the passage of this bill are very small. When the bill is taken up, how- ever, we would suggest that a special proviso should be inserted for the benefit of the dra- matic artists. Some of the most prominent of them in this city have had a considerable amount of divorce business on hand lately, and have been a good deal bothered by the defec- tive condition of the law. There should be a section of the law shortening the time of sepa- ration. An artist might live apart from his wife for a week, and then take a new one, and repeat the same course ad infinitum. We ask the members of the Legislature to take this matter into serious consideration. Perhaps the Rev. Dr. Bellows will favor the community with his views upon the subject, in the shape of a lec- ture. Wartack's Tararre.— Tie Tise,!’—An original drama, in three acta, by John Daly, under the above title, was performed at this house last night for the first time in the United States. It was first played at the Olympic, London, in 1853, when Mr. Farren, Mr. W. Farren, Jr., Mr. H. Marston, Mr. 8. Cooke, Mr. N. Shalders, Mr. T. B. Jobnston, Miss Anderton and Miss Sadon played the parts performed here by Mr. Blake, Mr. Lester, Mr. A. A. Da. venport, Mr. Grosvenor, Mr. H. B. Phillips, Miss. KE. Tur- per, Mrs. Hoey and Miss Mary Gannon. The plot is too ted ious and too much involved to be interesting, and we mercifully refrain from attempting a resume of it. The play is thoroughly Euglish ia every respect, and the Story turpe upon the usual monetary idea so much af- fected by dramatists of the present dey. It in no wonder that they should unite upor the topic which attracts almost. the entire attention of the public, The Times" bas not constructed his play given us several forcible characters, an is sometimes smart. The play, bowever, bas not suilt cient intrinsic merit to become popular bere, and not to put a fine point upon it, is adull affair. It was pretty well acted; Miss Gannon, Mrs. Hoey, aad Mr. Lester and Mr. Biake made a great deal out of parts which were only faint outlines of old favorites performance of last was for the benefit of Mr. H. B. Phillips, who, ag 4 assistant stage manager, {+ always faithful and . We aro sorry to say that the house was thinly G Broanway Tararee.—“Gcitiven.”’—The second of the series of pantomimic spectacular pieces produced at this house dy Van Amburgh & Co. was brought out last night in the shape of an adaptation of Dean Swift's satire, “Gul liver among (he Ailliputians.”” The Lélliputians are the children who played “Cinderella” #0 wll, and “Gulliver” is. M. Bihiv, @ Belgian of great altitude and geierally extensive proportions. The chief events of the tale are presorved, and the play closes with a banquet sceno, in which we have the fashionable saltatory novelty, the Lancers,” by sight capital dancers, in appropriate uniforms. The whole affair was nicely gotion up and was woll received. The remainder of the pro- kremme included the usual equestrian evtortainment, in which Mr, Faton Stone was conspicuous. “Gulliver willbe Se every evening this week, and on Wednesday and turday afternoon. ‘Tax Ports oF New York asp Pat. anevema,—The foliow- ing is a comparative table of the number of [Vessels in the ports of New York and I’hiladelphia om Satirday last, ax reported in the New York Shipping List and tho W’hiladol. phia Ledger :-— New Fork. Philadelphia. M4 ph 2! Seane ee Personal Intelligence. rn ba bing es of ye pe has recognized Jorge ‘reder| iby ae en neral of c United States, 1 reside at New York bainciag buch Dr. George M. Bates, of Lahaina, S$ T., intends to sail for Hakodadi, in Japan, where he expects to establish himself as a Ee and surgeon. Dr. Bates is a pupil of Dr. Z. Pitcher, of Detroit, ana graduated at the Cotlege of Physicians and Surgeons of the New York State Uni versity ARRIVALS. nd Havana, in i the steamship. Phil die—C A Lowber, Mes Wilson, wosend, Captain RW Cabe, M Dahl, § © Ss Hmalley, W Ele- M Olver G lenacio, G Smit eman, Beehe © er, MOennis, | LGathenus, dB J Hall and eval, A Nairn, Hl Probilehy © Yoohmer, © Winsio, P Charleston, in the steamship Cotambia—0 H Jackson, Hieaidot, Mise S Jackson, Llewt Moore, USN: and son, Mins 8 BNye, tar ce childeen ‘arson, AL Lud From Hi Brady, T A bse i Hotere, We “! jackson, Mrs Blitr A. Hannaburg! nnd Hy B® Parson: Mise Tow, Ws Mie [udkhart, and 23 in steerage. oberts, Geo C >etticoat, ‘way. . THE. LATEST NEWS. “AUCUS OF THE DAMOCKATIC MAMGLRI—THE ORTH CRERD ON THY KANSAK QUESTION—PROGRA: OF Tem, ATOM ON THE LECOMPTON CONBTY pa Ag ono NOY TO BE #DMITTED THIS SESS! —THE rormo™ PowcY OF THE ADMINISTRA: —+)aiN TO BE » ever TO AN AOcUUNr OvrnseRe COMMITTED ~ TRE CASK OF WAL THE RBFRACTORY WITNR. ar oe s POINTMENTS—PROMOTION OF . : “4 Wasmiworoa’ Feb: 16, 1868 -, “dopting ‘The caucus of democratic members, after . ~ f yrs Stephens’ proyenition to appoint a iter or Ad journed to mest on Wednesday ever next, The a mittee is an importeat one, for it ia charged with the duty’ Of arranging all business before Congree, and will be an- ncunced tomorrow. The caucusetone time Did fair tol be anything but harmonious. Messrs. Barksdale, of Mis-| giasippl, Savage, of Tenuesses; and Clemens, of Vir, intimated pretty strougly that gentlomen who did pot tn- tend to be bound by the action of the caucus ought not be present, and bould stay away tp future. Taey considered the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton conati- tation the only test of a man’s democracy, and those who went against the administration on that vital question, coukt pot be considered in the democratic fold. Mr. Marshall, of Mipois, replied to these remarks at considerable length. He eaid be considered himself ae good a democrat as any gentleman on that floor, and that ‘because he chose to differ with the President upon one question, snd only one question, he was, therefore, to be read outof the party. He desired to know if that was tne de- cision of the caucus. He was not in the habit of intruding himeelf upon the presence of any gentleman. He hat bees: invited, with other democrats, for the purpose, a8 he un- derstood it, of confering together, and if porsible to com- promise their differences and arrange a platform upoe which they could all stand. He desired tho caucus should settle there and then the question whether he and those who thought with him ehould be allowed to meet with the democratic party in future. Mr. Reilly, of Ponnayt- yania, concurred with Mr. Marehall; 80 also did Mr. Mont- gomery, of Pennsytvania, Mr. Caskie, of Virginia, wae decidedly opposed to making any such test, He war anxious that these etring brothers should meet with thear et all times. He believed that they would yet eee toe error of their ways and return, like lost sheep. A motion ‘was then made by Mr. Barksdale to atjourn without day, which received only four votes. They then adjourned to mect on Wednesday, when you may expect a gay time. ‘The Senate Committce oz Territories is prepared to re- port in favor of the immediate amizsion of Kansas, under the Lecompton constitution, as soon asthe Army bul is dis. posed of—probably on Wednesday. Judge Douglas will submit minority report. As the oppooenats of the ad- ministration baye stated their determination to steve of @ vote a long as possible, thus attempting to reduce it to « question of physical endurance, it is believed the session will continue afler the report is presented, without ad- journment, until a vote is had. There is not the slightest doubt but that Kansas will be admitted into the Union be- fore the Ist of March. Those democratic members whe have been weak enough to join the opposition are daily receiving admonitions from their constituents of a start- ling character. The Dill, after passing the Senate, will speodily pass the House, under the operation of the pre- vious question. There will be a majority of vo or six, a6 least, in its favor in the House, The democratic members of the Ohio Legislature have written to Senator Pugh, withdrawing all instructions ae to how be shall voto on the Kansas question. It is understood that both of the Minnesota s¢nators— Messrs. Rice and Sbields—are opposed to Mr. Douglas’ gouree on the Kansas question, and would, had they am oppertanity, vote wilh the friends of the administration. The Senate Committee on Territories wit! report against the admiséien of Oregon at this time, on the greaud that she has not stficient population, that no urgent necessity exists for her immediate admission, and that her citizens do not desire it. ‘The Indiana contested election case occupied the Senate today. The discussion is waste of time, a3 there never was adoubt as to the rights of the incumbents of the seats, Bright and Fitch. The action of the House to-day, in ordering the impri- sopment of Wolcott, will scarcely have tho effect of open- ing that individual's mouth. Wolcott decided to take the consequences, and not answer the questions propounded to him by the committee. His friends and his counsel advised him to make'a clean breast of it, but he would not listen to them. He was immediately remanded to ibe county jail, where he will have to remain longer than he thinks for. It is his intention, I learn thia evening, to ata out a writ of habeas corpus. It is, however, doubtful whether he can procure it; and even if he does, I wmder- stand the Supreme Court will refuse to interfere with the action of Congress, they having decided to send him to Prison. Wolcott is of opinion that when Congress ad- Journs he will be released. Such is net the case. He will ve handed over to the Distriet Attorney, and tried under ‘the law passed last session, which fixes the imprisonment at one year and a fine of one thousand dollars, Tie generally believed he pocketed most of the $87,000 him- self. The Tariff bill was really carried by a log rolling arrangement with the railroad speculators, Pennsylvania iron interest, the sugar growers aud others, whe, by system of trading scarcely less corrupt than bribery with mouey, carried the amended Tariff bil! upon condition that their interests should not be touched. This accounts for the absence of any reduction in the duty oa iroa, sugar, &c, ‘The President went to the Senate to-day a large batch of appointments, which were taken up in executive session and referred to proper commitiees. Hoe bas also nomi- nated Col. A. S. Johnston, now in command of the Ut bh expedition, to the brevet of Brigacier General. Mr. Sew- ard moved to take off the injunction of secresy from the debate on the confirmation of Mnstrict Attorney Sedgwick. It was opposed on the ground that the only object gained would be the publication of some Buncombe spesches Mr. Seward had made on the subject. Mr. Birdsall waa confirmed as Naval Officer of New York, and Mr. Jewett ae Marehal of the Northern district of New York. Thin believed tho P'resident will not send in the name of George N. Sanders, All the other New York appoiutments wilt be confirmed, though there ie some talk as regards Rynders . Senator Wilvon has made a call on tho President to fur- nich the Instructions given to Mr Meade, Minister to Bra- vil. Tt appeare that the remarks made by Mr. Meade when presented to the Emperor are decidedly offensive to the republicans, and they dosire to know whether he was instructed by the President to make them. Perhaps they will find ont, and perbaps they wit! not. As soon as the Kansas question ts disposed of, it is be- Keved the President will cail the attention of Congress Particularly t the state of our relations with Spain, and the necessity for the adoption of prompt and vigorous measures for the enforcement of redroms for the out- rages committed by that Power upon upon our fag and citizens. Our foreign policy under Mr. Bachanan’s ad- ministration will be brilliant, forcible and fall of re sults. The patent lobby extonsionists arc greatly alarmed the onslaught you have made on them. Gen. Harney, who bas recently arrived from Kansas, paid his respects to the Secretary of War thie morning. ‘The Goneral appears to be tn good health, and is as One looking as ever. ‘The Secretary of War has accepted the invitation of the Committee of Arrangement to attend the ceremonies of the inauguration of the statue of Washington at Rich- mond on the 294 inst., and will be present on that ovca~ sion. The Secretary of the Navy bax received advices, dated Dee. 90, from Commander HB. Hoff, in command of the United States ship Jobn Adams, announcing the arrival of that vessel at Valparaiso om the 17th of December, after & passage of forty four days from Panama. The John Adama ‘was taking in wood and water for her homeward passage to Norfolk. Hon, Wm. Montgomery, of Pa.,and Hon. Thos. 8. Bo- cock, of Va., say that the account of the row in the House of Representatives on tho night of the Sth instant, ropre- senting that these two gentlemen came in personal collt- sion, is groetly falee, No insulting language passed be- tween them; on the contrary, they were jointly engaged in quelling the disturbance. The General Land Office has just received the following approved townebip plata, to wit—From the Surveyor General of Wisconsin and lows plata of surveys in Wie consin, viz., township thirty-one, north of ranges twelve, thirteen, fourteon, fifteen and sixteen, township thirty- two, north of ranges twelve and fifteen; township thirty- three, north of ranges fifteen and sixteen—all cast of fourth meridian; townships thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine and forty, north of range fivo, and town~ ships thirty-eight, thirty-nine and forty, north of range six—all west of fourth meridian, and con= taining upwards of three hundred and sixty four thoueand acres. From the Sarvoyor Gono- ral of Kansas and (Nebraska plats of surveys in No~ braska, viz-—Township one, north of ranges sixteen and reventecn; township two, north of range sixteen; town ship three, north of ranges fifteen and sixteen; township