The New York Herald Newspaper, April 24, 1875, Page 3

TH, CENTENNTAL SEASON, a , North Carolina to the Front with the Story of Mecklenburg. AN IMMORTAL TWENTIETH OF MAY. “No Power Other than God and the General Congress.” SKETCH OF AN ANCIENT CAPTAIN JACK, LEE What the Tar Heels Did in the Days that Tried Men’s Souls. UBARLOTTE, Mecklenbarg County, N. C., ‘April 19, 1879, } All honor to onr American centennials and cente- nartans. The twenty centuries of which Napoleon reminded bis intantry squares, a8 they met the sock O1 Mameluke battle, beheld them from the Pyramids, were as biank avd meaningless as the stolid stone itself whereupon said centuries were supposed toperch, But an American century ts Of some account, It has an import, in its relations to human progress, Wiiich no similar period, in either the primeval foretime or the later ages of the Eastern Hemisphere can matcb, Our centen- niums are few, but significant, There are barely four of them since Columbus. Our whole history, Bince the Angio-Saxon came to the New World to stay, Covers but little mure than two and @ haif of them, If Tennyson Wrote well and wisely when he suld:— Better a day of England than a cycle of Cathay, how muco more truly iight tbe compar- isop be applied tn favor of the United States, A nandred years, whetior of our patioual or in- dividual life, coustitates an historic won, ever, twelvemonth and almost every hour of which is an upward siep in we giani’s stulrway of the human race, ‘To-Cay the thoughtfl patriotism of tne country turns to the memory of tue heroes of Lexington una Concord, Hardly will (he echoes of the church bells and cannon which are now giving volce to the glad applause of their descendants bave died away ere the posterity of tiie men of Mecklenburg ‘will answer With a similar commemoration of the part taken by their own ancestors In inaugurating the great struggie which made usa nation. it ws he first step thatcosts. When Pitcairn popped tus pistol @ hundred years ago to-day, he showed more pluck than all the artillerists of the whole Continental army in the seven years’ war whic! foliowed, Courage no less hig und admirabie char- acterized the conduct of the heroic twenty-six who, at Charlotte, N. C., one month and one day later, put their pens to the first American Declaration of Independence. It is well that we render reverent hovors to the sublime shades of both the Massachusetts and the North Carolina buliders of our freedom. They were altke ft representatives of that dominant race which no other race sball ever supplant or succeed, and to the sound of whose steadily advancing 1ootsteps the deep echves of eternity shull never cease to respond. Josiah Martin was the last of the royal Gover- mors of North Carolina, Shoruy alter ais arbi- trary dissolution of the Assembly on tue 6th of April, 1775, he became @ tugitive, and ine govero- ment of the prgvince was thereafter entirely ad- ininistered by the patriots. The highest actual power io North Carolina bad, in fact, been exer- cised by the people from the 25th of August, 1774, the date of the first Provincial Congress, which was held at Newoern, Tue purpose of this as- semblage was, however, mainly one of protest and resistance. The 2060 of May, 1774, marked the epoca ior North Carolina and all ber sister colonies of @ formal and orgauized reounciation of allegiance to Great Britain. For wany months previous a republican seutiment had been growing and gathering strength, and not a few of the wiser aud builder spirits had become convinced that democratic principles were, for them at least, tae only joundation of sound and prosperous government. Several detache! meee ings were held during the spring of 1775, in which the leading characters of Mecklenburg resoived, among other things, “that the cause of Boston ‘Was the cause Of ali; that their desiiuics were tn- dissoluviy connected with those of thew Eastern low cluzens, and that they must either submit to all Lhe Impositions whicn an unprincipled, and to them an unrepresented, Variiament might tm- pose, or support their brethren who were doomed to sustain the first stock of that power, which, if successiul then, could ultimately overwuelrn aliin the common calamity.” confereuces Colone! Thomas Polk, an ancestor of Fresideut James Polk, was requested to tvsue An order to each captatn’s company in the county of Meckieoburg (then including the present county of Cabarrus), directing each militia company to elect two persons aud delegate to them ample power “\o devise Ways and means to ala and as- sist their suffering brethren in Boston, and also generally to adopt measures to extricate them- selves from the impending storm, and to secure unimpaired their inalienavie rights, privileges and liberties trom tue grasp of British tyranny.” Agrecably to Coronet Polk's oraer, this delega- tion, invested with plenary powers, met in Cha: lotte, the capital of Mecklenburg county, on May 19, 1775, when and where oficial news by courier arrived Oo! che battle of Lexington on the same day Of the preceding montn. an aw/al and solemn crisis had at length come, what the supreme hour of American destiny was now at hand, and that the loug impending Revolu- tion was not only born but baptized in blood, | Abraham Alexanaer was chosen chairman and Joun McKnitt Alexander clerk. After a free ana Juli deliberation upon the various objects for wnicn ‘the delegation had been convened the subjoined | Tesolutions were offered, and, after thorougn dis- cussion Of every paragraph, they were all passed, sanctioned and decreed unanimously about two o'clock A. M, May 20:— Resolved, That whosoever, directiy or indirectly, abers, or in any Way, form or manner cou +nances the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rignss, a3 claimed by ureat Britain, is an evemy to tis country—to America—and to tue nberent and inalienable rights of man, Kesolvea, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands ‘Waich Dave connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves trom ail allegtance to the British Crown, and abjure al! politica: con- ection, Contract of association with that mation, who e wantonly trampled on our rights aud Nberties, and inaumanily shed the blood of Ameri- can patriots at Lexiugton, Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves @ free and independent peopic; are, and of rignt ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing asso- ciation, under the control o! no power other than that of our God andthe general government of ‘the Congress; to the maintenance of witch inde- pendence we solemnly pleage to each other our Mutual co-operation, our lives, our /ortunes and our most sacred honor, Resolved, That as we now acknowledge the ex- tetence and control of no jaw or legal office, civil or military, within this county, do hereby ordain and adopt as @ rule of life all, each and every of our jormer laws—wherein, nevertheless, ‘the crown of Great Britain never can be considered oiding rights, privileges, imimuaities or author. therein, ach and every military at, ‘esoived That all, officer this county i hereby rein- stated his former command and au thority, acting coniormabiy to these Beguiations. And t ‘this delegation shall Humely, @ justice of the cominitte: every memoer present of acelorth be a civil ace, in the char: process, hear and opted jaws, and to preserve peat rmony in said county; and to u: the love of country roughont America anti a more general d organized government be estabiished in this province. Rs AA Bu od rig of the deiegation a a e was appointed to draw up & more full and definit tat i Tha which some modern quibbiers at the authenticity Oi the Meckeuourg declaration buye popsiugred a Kf In one of these patriotic | Every delegate felt that | keparate and eonfilcting fabrication, and there- jore have rejected botn. ‘The above five resolations are transcribed from the Revised Code of North Caroiina, enacted by the General Assembly in 1854, Wheeler's “His- ‘of North Carolina,” published in 1861, omits @ second resolution, without remark, bas gives the otuer four iu the same words with the version of the Revised Code, There is a discrepancy also as to the exact time of the adoption of the reso- tutions, ‘The carefully written sketch of the Mecklenburg Convention, prepared by Hon. B. F. Morse and Judge Asa Biggs, tn 1854, states, in two laces, “that the resolves were adopted at two o’clock A, M., May 20, at the conclusion of a ses- sion commencing the day before and continuing without recess into the nigut.” Another account alleges that ‘the convention reassembled at noon on the 20il, When tie resolutions were read amid an anrxtous throug of auditors and unani- mously passed, and then read aloud from the Court House steps to the concourse of people,’ ‘fnis discrepancy, however much it has been harped upon by the doupt- ers of the genuin of the whole story, seems tome more apparent than real. If we sup- pose that the adoption at noon on the 20th was merely @ public ratification, in the presence of the masses, of the action taken ten hours before in the night session, the seeming inconsistency dis- appears entirely. And if we apply Bishop Butler's ruie efevidence, indorsed by Greenleaf, in treat- ing of the contradictions of the evangelists, vhis very difference of detail a» to time isa proof of intrinsic and essential truthfulness, as tencing to show the absence of preconcert in @ fabrication, But l wil return to this matter of authenticity Iurtber on, aud give the Thomases a fair show. Acopy of these immortai resolutions was for- warded by hand of Captain James Jack to the Con- tinental Congress at Philadelphia, Captain Jack appears to have peen an entousiastic gentleman, with a good deal of the propagandist in bim. He | Magnified nis mission by reading the resolutions to every crowd he could gather along the entire route o/ his loug and otherwise tedious journey, They were read im open court at Salls- bury as he passed through that town, anid the plaudits of judges, lawyers an citizens. Their sentiments were 80 congenial to the popular taste and temper that they everywhere found Willing listeners, and by this frequent and persevering reading their spirit and language be- came uulversally diffused. When the Capiain got to Priladeiplia the metbers of the Congress, le individaally approving the resolves, deemed 1/premature to take action upon them as a boay, nd they (tae resolves) went into a pigeon-nole, ‘thomas Jefferson, however, seems to have ap- ropriated a portion of their plraseology in the Declaration of July 4, 1776, As I have already intimated, the authenticity of the Mecklenburg revolutions 18 serioasly contro- | verted, and that, too, by North Carolina’s pative | sons, Dantel R. Goodioe ts one of the latest and mest elaborate of these adverse critics; but | 1 bawe not at hand his ingenious contrivu- | top to tne vexed debate. A letter of Dr. | Charies Phillips of Davidson College, North Care- lina, hitherto unpublished, supplies me with some of the points relied on by the iconoclastic | party. Dr. Phillips, in reterring to the biscorical | papers Of ex-Governor Swain, of North Carolina, | now deceased, so lar as they have @ bearing upon the Mecklenburg controversy, alleges that an ex- | aimioation of them, even if permitted by his ex- | ecntors and relatives, would not be worth the ius, a9 all that they contain worthy of publica- jon is aiready in vrint. No one of the documents atedates the year 1800—a date entirely too recent Jor 4 contemporaneous authority. The attention of the public was called to the Mecklenburg docu- | ments for the first time in 1819 The truth and hothing bat the truth was told about them then, bat, unfortunately, not the whole truth. Had the certificate of Jonn McKnitt Alexander, the alleged Secretary of the Charlotte Convention, which Dr. Paoillips published jor the first time tn | the North Carolina University Magazine for | May, 1354, been published along with the rest or the paper to which it was attached, when the heckleavurg resolves, rewritten by Mr, Alexan- der from recollection atter the desiruction ol tue | original by the burning of his house, were originaily put in type in 1819, the present contro- | versy could never have begun, lo tie publica- tion, however, of this transcript ‘rom memory, Mr. Alexander's certificate to that effect was, pur- cod or inadvertently, it inatters not, omitted by isson. Since 1847, When Dr. Joonson, 1n Charles- ton, S. C., aud George Bancro't, in London, discov- eret the paper ol May 31, 1775, Governor Swain entertained no faith in the paper ascribed to May | 20eb, 1774, holding it to be moraily impossibie that | | tae paper of the 3istever Jollowed that of the 20th. | Dr. Poulips also calls attention to the tact | that Mr. Baocrott, who wis in close correspon. | | dence with Governor Swain, omits ai notice | | of the paper of May 20, and that Mr. Lossing, who | ne presuines saw the original in Goveruor Swain’s | hands, has merely anote avour it. The paper of | May 41, 1776." is Lo be found in Timothy's Carolina Gazette tor Jane 13, 1775, preserved in whe city ey te Sherleston, S.C. Again, the records of | tne Court in Uaariotte, N. ©, for 1775, are stil, in | | good preservation. if the paper of May, 1775, | | produced any impression on tue pubic sowe trace | of 18 ougnt vo appear in those records. But Dr. | Philips onderstands that these books contain no Telereuce to either paper. Tne Dor ¥ | nowever, suggests that it may have | been that which the youthful heaas and | warm hears of 1775 ° did actually de- clare inaependence, anid were for fighting it out on that line theaceforward to a victorious consummation, The cool-oeaded graybeards were incimed to “watch aud wuit.’”” Another source of | information which Dr. Puilips conceives to be entirely unexplored, 1s the collection of docu- | ments made by Andrew Stevenson while Ameri- | | ean Minister in London, and now in tue posses- | sion of his son, lately a member of Cougress from | Kentucky. It 18 agreed by both parties to the | controversy that we ge med of May, 1775, what. | ever they Were, were-lorwarded by tbe royal Governor, Josiah Martin, 1o his master in | London in hot naste, There 18 wiso evi | dence that whatever Governor Martin sent | was in the Colonial OMce in London until Mr. | Stevenson’s time, and it is suid there is a record that pe borrowed these documents trom that | office. These papers may be among Mr. Steven- son's collection, Which, Dr. Pnillips learns, have never been opened since their arrival in this country. Dr. Poiliips says vnat the ‘origina! Waica ne used in 1856 were a mutilated sheet | which contaimed two or three of the resolutions of | May 20, 1 @ page preserved from entire de- straction by the executor of Wiliam W. R, Davie, and a list Of the persons said to be present ; at the convention of May 20. Tne eidest | of these papers bore as its date of composition | “September, 18907 ana was on its face, an mm suppressed, and when | attempt to recall what had been ourned This fact wi the paper then rea they of course said they heard it read then and there. fhe Doctor cou- | cludes witn « remark that tt is almost high | treason up iis way to doubt the genuineness of | | the declaration of May 20, 1775, As 1 propose to | | thoroughly imvestigaie tuis question | hasten | therefore to state toat, notwithstanding all that | Dr. Philips and bis coadjutors say to toe cou- | | trary, 1 am » steadiast believer tu the authentic of the Mecklenburg resoives. ikes me that this whole debate is one | Walle 16 peeve possi- | that eKaitt Alexander did not | succeed in reproducing, in jure verba, hue line and word for word, the exact raseoiozgy of the resolves of May 20, 1775; is still equally possible that he did. There are | very 1ew men of ordinarily retentive memory wno | conid not readily learo the whole thing by heart. | The custodian of sach a document, whose wisdom | had been vindicated by the successful issue o1 the Revolution, must have telt a giad pride iu its pos- session and have valued it as ® most precious | treasure, is more jikely than that he read and reread it again and again until it became in- | eelibly imprinted in nts mind? ts it incredibie that he should have been abie to recall, even with actitude, in September, 1800, what was ily bei his eyes ap to tne preceding April, when it Was burned? Is it not, rather, tn- credible t ¢ should have been unable to recail | the doc@ment, at least substantially? And is it not, jn fact, absurd to conceive that there could | bave been uny dificuity in identitying the date, only twen! e years alter ward, of @ transaction 80 memorable. so widely notsed abroad and ia which there Were $0 many actors? The proceedings of the Mecklenburg meeting Were at once published in tie Cape Fear Mercury, and this attracted the ativention of the royal Gov- ernors of both North Carolina and Georgia. Gov- ernor Wright, of the latter province, wrote as fol- lows to the Earl of Dartmouth, then Secretary of State. This letter is authentic, having veen pro- curea by Geol Bancroft trom the tate Paper Office in London :— Savanwan, in Georgia, the 2th June, 1775. By the enclosed paper Your Lordship will see the ex- traoraandry resolves by the people in Chariottetown, in 3 Mecklenburg county, and I shonid not be surprised if tae same should be done everywhere else, I have the or to be, with perfect est and obedi m, my lord, Your Lord- servant, i JAMES WRIGT. The following {# anextract from a mournful letter by Governor Martin to the Secretary of State, dated at Fort Johnson, North Carolina, Jotun 6, The original can be sound, or ought to somevocy bas “borrowed’’ it, in the ‘aper Onli Lonaon (America and West ub, 204) these resolves was sent of, formed, by express to the Congress at Philadel soon as they were passed in tie committee, Away with that maliga iconoclasm which wonld tear down the statue: teat departed great ones! eon | Let the soldiers re Historic Dicues where t pio of their posterity hi: Diaced them. is tuere no Wort) in our traditio: Shall we be tol that our legead@ are put es, and our heroes only myths? Shame upon hypocrites ~*Nore.—I775 is the correct date, See “Wheeler's His. fory.” vol i. pase 266, in whieh the resolves of May Ji, Ai1b, weg PORLED 160mm Hag SeHIA Crown Gases | 1775, the Essex Gaztie of April 25 » 1775. They all con- | who wonld play the Fluxiley and Tyndall with the Niebubr people’s patriotic faith! We need no With his chilling disencbantments. If the sevea kings of Rome were but creations of the iancy, Jeave us our Patrick Henry and our Washin ton, ven an apoerypha better than no sacred books at all. No healthy heart and brain can sympathize with that fell spirit of douot whica seeks not only Lo aemolish the altars of religion, but to rob the annuals of our race of those events and personages which constitute its truest great. ness, Rather do we need, in this woo sordid and utilitarian age of ours, to recur to those tlus- trious examples of self-denying patriotism which embellisn our ly history and to find in them the Impuises of @ new love of country aua the lyspira- ons Of & lasting epocn of iraternity. THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. PERSONNEL OF THE BELGIAN COMMISSION-— PROPOSALS TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS. PHILADELPBIA, April 23, 1875, ‘The oMcers of the Centennial Commission from Belgium have just been appointed. They are as Jollows:—President, Baron Gustave de Woelmont, Senator; Vice Presidents, Alexander Robert, bis- torical painter and member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Literature and Sciences of Belgium, and Charles De Smet de Smet, manufacturer, Presi- dent of tne Circle of Industry and Commerce; Secretary, J. Clerfeyt, Chief of the Bureau of tue Minisver of the Interior. CIRCULAR TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS, ‘The Centennial Commission has issued @ cirea- lar to the photographers of the country inviting proposals for the privilege of taking and selling photographs within the Exhibition of 1876, Pro- posals will be received for the privilege of taking general views of the Exhibition grounds and of the interior and exterior of the buildings, with the right to sei! the photographs at such places ag may be chosen by the Commission, The privilege will include the right to take portraits within the liinits of the ground: ‘The privilege of taking photographs of subjects on exaibition will be per- mitred oniy on the consent of the exnibitor, ap- proved by the Director General of the commis- sion. All baildings (ihe plans and location of which must be approved by the Director General; furnitare and apparatus necessary for taking pli tograpUs shall be supplied at the cost of the co tractors. Proposals will state the terms and con- ditions for First—The exclusive privilege for taking general views and portraits, Second—The priviiege for taking general views and ew if not granted to more than three parties. Third—For general views only. (a) —Exciusive privtiege. (o)—Lt granted to not more than three parties. Fourth—Por portraits oniy, (a) —Exclusive privilege. (b)—Ii granted to not more th ) three parties, Tn each case the proposal will include the right | to sell the photographs taken, Sixth—The party or parties to whom the privi- lege is granted will be required to observe the rules and reguiations established (rom time to tune for the government of the Exhibition, Seventh—The Centennial Board of Finance ex- pressly reserves tne right to reject any or ali prop- oaitions that may be made im answer to this cir- cular. Eighth—Proposal should be indorsed ‘Proposals for taking and selling Photograpns.”’ JOHN WELSH, President Centennial Board of Finance, A, T, GOSHORN, Director General. Hie niheats sata THE “REVOLUTIONARY” HERALD, ers An unparalleled achievement in journalism ts | that of the New York Herp in tseatng its “Rev- olutionary Extra.’’—Boston Glove, The enterprise of the HERALD 18 magnificent. As appropriate to the day of the Concord and Lexington Centennial celebrations it reproduces in fac-simile of type, beading, head lines, illustra- tion ani everything the Essex Gazette, the Massa- | chusetts Spy, the New York Gazelleer and an extra issue of the Salem Gazette, containing original re- ports of the first battles witn the british, as pub- ished immediately aiter their occurrence. Tuts 19 Dot merely sensational enterprise ;1t Is inteiligent and liberal journalism, which reflects the highest credit on the HERALD.—Pelersburg (Fa.) Indes, The New Yor« Henan issued a douple shect on Monday containing fac-siniles of the Massachusetts Spy, May 3, 1175; Essex Gazelle, April 25, 1775, and Rivington’s New York Gazetteer of May, with accounts of “late hostilities in the province of | Massacthusetis Bay.” fhe testitaony of anumoer | of those engaged in the fight on the American side | is given im the Gezetteer.—Hinygham'on Republi- can, : A specia) bit of journalistic enterprise deverves Tecouznition, aud we therefore mention the fuct tat the New York Heravp esting and remarkable paper on Monday In honor of the Concord-Lexington Centennial. It issued a doubie sheet, with fac-simtles of the Massachusetts Spy of May 3, 1775; Essex Gazette, April 25, 1775, and Rivington’s New York Gazeticer of May, 1775, containing accounts of the exciting events in Massachusetts that fairly signalized tne opening of the Revolution.— Buffalo Lrpress. The New York Heratp of Monday was truly a Centennial number, it contained fac-similes of parts of several newspapers publisned in 1775, giv- ng vivid accounts of the a@airs at Lexington and Concord, The HERALD also contained much other interesting matter on the subject, the Issue being @ Gouble numper.—ovid (N. ¥.) Independent. The New York HeRacp well iiustrates its own enterprise, and the Vast strides Made im American jJourna)iem during & bundred years, by publisuing fac-similes of the Massachuselts Spy o1 May 3, and Rivington’s New York Gazetteer of May tain intelligence of the “Concord fight,” respec- tively six, thirteen and thirty-six days old. Riv- ingtou's paper also contains uews from Puiladel- phia of May i3, only twelve days old—remarnably fresh news and commendable enterprise for those days, Vermont then (ad no newspaper, bat one bundred years thereaiter the Rutland Daily Globe had a representative present at the Centennial celepration of that “fgat,” aud our columns, the next morning, contained a report thereof, We mark progress by contrasis.—uiland (VL) Globe. No fitter thing bas been dome in connection with the commemorating of the Centeantal anni- versary of Lexington aud Ooncord than the re- production in fac-simile by the Naw Yorx Hrazatp of the stirrimg news of a hundred years ago, as it appeared first printed im the primitive news- papers of that day. The /lkaaLo gives us a no | doubt faithful portratt of the olarred and dingy title page of the Massachusetts Spy or American Oracle of Liberty. beating dave Wednesday, May another of the £ssx Gazetie, printed at Salem, on Tuesday, April 1775; sull another of Rivington’s New York Gazetirer, Connecti- out, Huagon's River, New Jersey and Que- beo Weekly Advertiser, printed at) fis open and ugiofuenced press, fronting “Hanover square,” on Toursday, May 25, 1775; and fnaliy it prodaces in like manger @ curious Gazetteer and Weekly Adbvertiser, the Mas- sachusetts Spy and the £sser (Salem) Ga- zee a8 they appeared a hundred years ago, Also @ facsimile account of the battles aforesaid, published at tne time, in four very solid columns, headed with forty coffins, on each one of which ts the name of him who fell in these Orst struggles for American liberty. They revive the past with iresh interest and renew events which, though 100 years ond, should forever remain undimmed upon the hearts of our people tor all generations, They impress us with the vastness of the achievement as well as with the vigilance with which we should ever watch over the liber- ties we enjoy.—Reading (Pa.) Times, The New York Hekaup 18 doin; lendid work for the Centennial. Its columns contain more about the coming exhibition in one issue than can ve found in all of the Puiladelphia newspapers combined in aweek, The HERALD Is ‘writing it up” with great effectiveness and ability.—salenm (N. J.) Standard, ‘The New YORK HeRap gives a fac-simile of the Reyolution—newspapers containing the news in relation to the@glts at Lexington and Concord.— Overlin vows The Heratp prints a fac-simile of @ curious broadsheet of the times, issued a8 an extra sheet by the Salem Gazette, grimly embellished with # row of coffins at its head, forty in number, in- scribed severally with the names of the patriots ‘who were slain oa the 19th of April, and bearing underneath this caption in great type:—‘The Bloody Butchery by the Britisb, or the Ranaway Fight of tne Regulars.”—Bufalo Express, ‘The New York HERALD of Monday, 19tn Inst., prints tac-simile pages of the New York Gazetteer of May 25,1775, of tne Massachusetts Spy of May 3, 1775, and of the Essex Gazette of April 25, 1775, con- taining news of the battles of Concord and Lex- Maton, {[t is already evident that during the next year the reading public will have its recollection of early historical reading re- freshed in regard to those cpaptere reciting the opening of the Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, It is much to be regretied that we have not a@ President like Horace Greeley, who could deliver an address at each centennial meeting that would do honor to the occasion and reflect credit upon the country. ‘The present incambentis only qualified to serve in au ornameutal capacity, and cannot be re- garded as a striking success even at that, The committee might about as weil substitute one of the wooden indians usually found in front of to- bacco stores, with a buneh of cigars in band, The remarkable oratorical fights of General Grant at Portland, Newark and Philadelphia discourage the hope that he will be equal to the occasion on the Fourth of July, 1876, But he will have tne sat- isfavtion of knowing that #1ace 1775 no public | oMctal has originated as big a salary grav as bim- | self; nor have any of the desvendants of the noble men of 1776 made much money at Washing- ton,—Catsiilt Recorder, THE AMERICAN CARDINAL, PREPARATIONS FOR THE GRAND CEREMONIES NEXT TUESDAY—WHAT IS BEING DONE AT ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. ‘The special preparauons for the church festivi- ties tooccur on next Tuesday morning in St, Patrick’s Catuedral are now goimg ou tn the Cathedral and among the people, In the Cathedral the carpenter and the painter ure already at work, They are arranging new places in the choir for singers aud Jor some inactive spectators of the ceremonies, and in the galleries for the ac- commodation of more people than can now be crowded into them, in fact, every endeavor will be made, short of breaking through its walls, to | muctease THE CAPACITY OF THE OLD CHURCH, It is desired to satisfy, so far as possible, the widespread wish to behold the ceremonies of Tuesday morviug. Not only Catholics but thou- sands of Protestants desire to be present at the ceremontes, and it seems more than likely that if only the latter were aumitted to witness the in- Yevtiture of Carainal MeCioskey With tae insignia | OFias new dignity the Carhedral would be crowded aed a most inter- | toits doors. Swill, very few Protestants, if any, Will be present, for the good reasop that every ticket for admission to the Cathedral on Tuesday was bespoken by Catholics weeks ago, Indeed the edifice will not noid one-twentieth of the Catholics who desire to witness the cere- monies. Father Kearney, who ts to act a# the Master of Ceremonies on Tuesday, is pestered continuatly by applicants for tickets. It would be relief to Father Kearney if people would now understand that about all the tickets which were meant to de distributed among the Catuolic con- gregations of the city have been en out, Those tickets Which now remain the her intends to give tothe people of St. Patrick's pi upon whom most of the expense of the grand ceremo- nies will tall, THE CEREMONIES. The fact that tne inv With the insignia of the cardinalate will mark the | beginning of a new period in the history of the , Which the Archbishop w Catholic Churcn in this country explains tne to be present in the ‘Tuesday. ‘Ihe grandeur, the solemnity, the glory of Oashivg lights and of pulsing colors, whica will accompany that tavesti- ture, attracts the curious desire of many otner people. Persons the ceremonies, during be formally made a memoer of the College of Cardinals will have but little regions signiGcance. The word religious is here used tm Its highest sense—its meaning in re- jation to God. In the minds of most devout Catholics the event of Taesgay mext will be likely tv arouse such feelings as were awakened tn the breasts of Gevout patriots by the ceptenniai ceie- brations of the past week. It will bind them anew to their faitm and their Courcl. in doing this it will be religions, and tw effect this i was intended py the Pope. AS been said, preparations are goiog on in | the Cathedrat for the approaching ceremonies. Aire side of the altar, which ts to be occupied by Arch- | bisuop Bayley, wno 1 to 1) se | upon the brow of the new Cardinal. THR SCARLET BERERTTA It ts now be- ing painted and gilded. It is overiung by a pyramidal canopy vl wood, which is surmonuted by @ Cross, and 18 approached by the tree cauon- ical steps, Wileh express in @ dull form, but | according to the estadlisned conceptions of the broadsheet of the times, issued as an eXtra sheet | by the Salem Gazevle, grimiy etiibellisnea with a row of coMnas at tts head, forty in number, in- seribed severally witu the mames of the patriots Who were slain on the 19:h of Apri, and bearing underneath this caption in great type, ‘A Bloody Butchery vy the British, or the Rupaway Fight of the Regulars.” The Massachusetts Spy survives to this day in the Worcester Spy. whict claims t proud distinction of being the oldest existing newspaper im the United States. Its publisher transferred himself from Boston to Worcester on the very day of the Britisn expedition to Concord—“the memorable 19th of April,” as he prophetically describes it in bis nowce to the public, “which will be remembered iu future as the anniversary of the battie of Lexing- tov.” The Spy gives quite a lengthy account of the day’s fighting and of the events preceding and following !t, ailembraced in @ singie artic! These old newspapers are like voices from the dead and carry us back in a wonder/uliy real way into the midst of the excitements of @ handred years ago, when our great-grandiathers we nerving themselves for @ struggle of known duration with tne armies of King George. —Bugaulo Courter. We had aimost neglected to note another of tne New York HeraLp’s great feats in iis issue of Monday last, but we are so accustomed to aston- ising things irom that quarter thatit is no won- der we almost failed to say something about enterprise on that day. [n connection with a graphic account of the celebration of the batties of Lexington and Concord, the Hgrato repro- J duced & fagpimile of Aivingion’s New York) there will be p orickes, Catholic Church, the three graces—Faita, Hope cardinal McUloskey’s torone, which and Charity is on the NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. | greater part of the people are gathered. \ a fair ture of the Archbishop | | consists in part of democrats who are naturally | and is, thereiore, au “honest men’ | was called “‘conservativ Jy 4 new throne has deen built at ihe gospel | jatle side of the aitar, was regilded | yesterday, and to-day it wili de lined and panelled | | driven off the radical thieves and robbers who Wito scarlet velvet. The decorations of the sauc- tuary bave not yet been iully decided upon. it is itkely, Nowever, that palis of scar- let veivet will be hung around it and that many new gas jets will be made to gleam and glint on the ruddy back- ground thas prepared. The altar itseif will, ua- donbtedly, be lett 1 now is, except that nand- some floral decorations will be laid upon it. During the ceremonies the numerous lighis avout it, caching the tones of many colors from THR VESTMENTS OF THE PRIESTS and the garb of the sanctuary, will fleck its lustrous white with various and rest- less pues, There ts still one diMeuliy about fixing the sanctuary, which no means has as yet been devised to overcome. Bebind aud above tt isa handsome stained gias: ndow, through hen the ceremonies is desired to window and thorough tt. W remains to be yisiving archbishops, bishops and priests, te is to be enlarged. the communion rails and It ta expected that ther about twenty. din thetr full vestments they will make » grand feature in the Cathedral, ~~ GRIOKET. OPENING OF THE CRICKET SEASON AT PHILA- DELPHIA YESTRRDAT—ABBANGEMENTS OF THE PRINCIPAL CLUBS, PHILaDerPatA, April 23, 1875, The cricket season of 1875 wili open at the Ger- mantown Cricket Grounds, on Saturday, May 1, 0 & practice game will be played by bers of the Philadeipvia, Germantown and Young America clubs, The silver cup won by the Phila- ps sg ut tthe Halifax tournament will be as mpion cup, to be piayed for tn a series of ches between the principal clubs of Philadelphia, It i wale a: tome the officers of the Halt ison and & jan tweive will visit Philadelphia in September mext to ta rt in & grand cricket tournament, to be held in that month, It bas not yet decided whether Reid 10 Jung, | Ting of the radicals, among whose leaders were LOUISIANA. a Charles Nordhoff on the Condition of Affairs in the Pelican State. LE SE as WORKINGS OF THE WIBELER COMPROMISE. pe ae Tet The Color Line the Result of Radical Corruption. CONSERVATIVES VS. DEMOCRATS The Cohesive Power of Opposi- tion to Thieves. HATRED OF RADICAL OFFICIALS. Cessation of Federal Interference the Only Hope of the State. New ORLEANS, April 19, 1875. The long talked of “compromise” or adjust. ment, determined on by the Congressional com- mittee, was completed on Saturday by the instal. ment of @ conservative in place of @ republican State Senator, Its terms did not entirely please the leaders of either The conservative leaders conceived them: political strength than the election of 1874 ac- tuaily gave them, and the radical leaders, or at least some of them, declare that it is for thema surrender of political power in the State. Meantime, however, a wing of the conservatives very strongly favored the compromise, and were able to bring most of their side into it; while a Governor Kellogg and ex-Vongressman Sheldvun, accepted the compromise, and General Sheridan's advice silenced Pinchback, Senator West and other radical opponents who were at first deter, mined to deleat the measures of peace. Thus Matters stood on Tharsday, when tae House for- mally accepted the adjustment and anseatea the Tadical members whom the Committee of Congress declared to have bdcen wrongly seated by the Returning Board. But when the resolution of acceptance was pro- posed a number of conservative members voted “No,” among them Mr. Wiltz, whom some of the conservatives desired to make Speaker. This at- Utnde of Wiltz encouraged those im his own party | who did pot want him to be Speaker, and on Fri- day these succeeded, with the help of a copsidera- bie radical vote, in deieuting Wiltz and electing Estillete as Speaker, ‘This was the really important and dec-sive re- #nit of the adjustment, jor it declared woich of the two branches of the conservative party should control its organization, THE COLOR LINE, The State of Loutstana had, according to the cepsus in 1870, 87,076 whites and 86,913 black males over twenty-one years of age. It has since been proved by undeniable evidence that the census understated considerably the number of whites. it was taken inthe summer, when many white people always leave the State, and the census takers did not thoroughly record that part of the White population whica is scattered over the pine bills back of the bottom lands, on whicb the | 1 sup- | pose the trath to be that Louisiana has to-day at | least 10,000 more white than black voters. The conservatives claim at least 15,000 more, Now, in tue election Of 1874 partics were divided, wnhappily, almost entirely on the color line, Mr. Packard, who unites in his person the two im- portant, and, I should think, incongruous offices of United States Marshal snd Obatrman of the Re- publican State Central Committee, tola me some days ago that only 6,000 whites voted the republi- can ticket and that the same number of blacks | voted witn the conservatives, It is, I think, | statement that, with the excep. | tion of the oMce-holders, State and fed- eral, and their relations, there were no White republicans in the State in 1874, or at the | furthest, but an inappreciable number, The rea- son for this condition of things 1 shall explain to you In detail In other letters, It must sutice now to tell you generally that the ineMciency and cor- ruption of the State government in ali its parcs— leaving lawlessness unpunished, countenancing the most monstrous and shameful frauds, aud | continued thus for six disgrace/ul years, at last united ail the whites in one party, whose aim was simply and only to ofist the thieves. Opposed to them in 1874 stood those rulers with almost, but not quite, the whole negro population at their backs. NOW THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY 18 COMPOSED. The situation was one not diferent tm kind from that in New York city In 1871, The rank and Mie of the party which calls itself conservative opposed to republican rule, bat Im part, also, of old whigs, Kaow Nothings, and the mass of oltizens not interested in polities, These entered the conservative party only to save the Siate from sarther misgovernment and spotiation, it was party, and "and the name dem- ocrat dropped, because there are in Louisiana a large number of good citizens who are so strongly opposed to the democratic party that they will not actively, if at all, work with mea bearing that name, Many of its most substantial citizens Were opposed to secession, and to-day think that act was ‘“blundering democratic states- mauship,” as one said to me the other day. Here a Northern m may very commoniy hear men who bave deen active and foremost in the conservatuve | movement declare that “as soon as we have have so long spoiled us wo shall quickly show these democrats that they cannot hold the State. There is not @ shadow of doubt that whenever federal interference in the State definitely ceases and honest men have been put into power the “conservative” party—tbe white man’s party— will incontinentiy split into two nearly equai halves, and each will try, with the heip of tue negroes, to beat the other, But it ts toleraviy certain that anti! this is accomplished the white men will stick togetuer, for they cannot aford to do otherwise. THE MEANING OP THE WILTZ STRUGGLE. The republican politicians stigmatize one wing of the conservatives as “last diichers,” and it | Was these who desired Wiliz to be Speaker, and thus the bead of the party. Now, they are not “last ditehers,” or impracticabie atalt, but | they are democrats, and wish, as is but natural for them, to make the State democratic. To this end they would like to keep the present conser- vative party together permanentiy and use its strength for the democratic party. I cannot see anything wrongabont tha They cannot do it, but itis their navaral course to attemptit. Bat u other wing of the conservatives, which, in } ul strug: over the Speakersbip, was, | cortonsly enough, led by Leonard—tnat | editor of the Shreveport Times, who: xtreme utterances last year were so widely quotea as proving the dangerons condition of Louistana— | this other wing determined to deat Wiltz, and in doing so had the sympathy, 1 think I may salely say, of the greater part of the bu nity of New Orleans, Leonard, who tictan, did not besitate to accept the help of the | Kellogg wing of the republicans, and the Wiltz | men, om their part, tried to secure the heip of | Pinchback. On Friday moraing it was understood that Kellogg, Sueidon, Gene! Steele and the bet- ter class of the republicans haa given assurances to ¥ Estillete men that they would co operate for thorough reforms with that wing of the con: ‘vatives, while | staMiog, 3 precise number given) for Wiltz; and with this help 1 Was then beliéved Wiltz would be chosen, At the last momen', however, Pinchback aban- doned Wiltz, and thus be received but 37 votes, in a House of 108 members, in which his own party had 68 men. As it is very common to charge cor- raption where party lines are thas broken, I will add my belief, ‘ounded upon pretty intim: knowledge o1 the negotiations on both sides, thaw there was nothing Of the kind here, Mr. Wiltz isa person ofa high sense of honor, and his adhere ents made no promise for him or themselves! to Pinchback, except that Wilts, if elected Speaker, would, in appointing officers of the House, give @ fair share of tha offices to colored men. Pinchback probably de- serted Wiltz at the instance of General Sheridan, who is known to have conversed with him on Fri- day morning. On the other side, Estiliete’s aa- herents insisted oniy on a solema engagemeng trom Kellogg that be would aid tnem in all reforur measuree, The disappointment of the Wiltz men is very: great, and that of the corrupt republicans ix even greater, and with reason; for, uuless Governor Kellogg should be weak and wicked enough to falsify his pledges and fing nimseif once more into the hands of the corrupt part of bis party—which means, | do not hesitate to say, the very great mujority of tts white and black leaders—tuese are left out in thecold, Those re-~ pubilcan leaders, meantime, who sincerely desire honest {government—and whey are not very nu- merous—bope that they have split the white man’s party in the State, and that the resuit ofthe Speaker’s election will be a final breaking down of the color line. If they can achieve this they will, of course, have done the people of Louisiana an inestimable benedt; for good government is Not possible until this 1s accomplisned. Buteven if they fall im this movement is is sure to bo done, if only che federal government will! atop its Interference in the internal politics of the State ana leave the people to manage their own affairs. THE WEAK POINT IN THE SITUATION. The weak point in the situation, so fur as the reform republicans are concerned, 1s that they bave to deal with two men, both of whom aro Weak and both have corrupt alles, Estillete, the Speaker, is too deaf to carry on baosiness tn tho House, has little strength of character or personal presence, and is said to have for friends one or two men known as corrupt. Governor Kellogg 1s generally acknowledged, even by his bitterest op- ponents, to be a man of amiable intentions, but he Is constitutionally a trimmer. He seems to me almost incapable of a dircet course, and jor such & movement as he now heads he lacks courage and determination, If Marshal Packard were Gov- ernor he would succeed, but Packard’s interest ie not that Kellogg shali succeed, for he is Kellogg's rival for the United States Senate, Meantime, so sore are the whi‘e people of tne State over the tov long continued misgovernment, that they view every movement and every man with suspicion; and only the most unswerving, bold and determined course, the most vigorous punishment of corrupt men, could satisfy the State sufficiently to gain the new combination prolonged iufe. You cannot travel far in Louisiana without discovering that the politicians who, in the Dame Ol the republican party, rule it, aud have done so for the last seven years, in all the depart- ments of its government, State and local, are venemently and unanimously detested by the wht people. I have been amazed 10 see how all white men, and many Dicks, to my own knowledge—whether rich or poor; whether merchants, mechanics or profes- sional men; whether Americans, French, Irish, German or italian by birth; absolutely alt except the oMce-holders and their relatives—unite im this feeling of detestation of their rulers. It expresses itself so vividly at the polis that ast noticed before, only 6,000 whites out oO! over 90,000 supported the republicam ticket at the last election, and it is a fact that most of tnese 5,000 are oMice-holders; the greater part are strangers im the State, and very many Of them may justly be called adventurers, It 18 80 Universal a KenL ment that 1 nave found scarcely a colored man, wut of office, Who did not Complain vo me that the repub ican whites are as jaithiess to their duiy as they believe the other side would be. Now, this small band of white men have for more than six years monopoilzed all political power and preferment in the State. They have laid, collected and spent (or rather misspent or Stolen) all the taxes, local as well as Siate; they have not ouly made all tue laws, but they have arbitrarily changed them, and have miserably fatled vo enforce any which were for the peopie’s good; they have openly ana scandaiously cor- rupted the colored men whom they have brought into political fe; they have used unjus: laws to perpetuate and extend their own power, ana they bave practised all the basest arts of baliot- false registration and repeating at election after election. in the last election it was proved before @ commities of Cougress that the republican leaders bad, in the city of New Orleans aloue, made not less than 5,200 jaise registrations. A jew days agol wentaown the river to attend court, inorder to see the working of apegro jury, The court bad to adjoura for lack ofajury, and no panel had been drawn, because, the names being taken from the registration itets of the parish, thirty-six ous of forty-egut were found to be fictitious—and this in a couatry | parish, The republican Returning Board was con- demped as a transparent fraud by two Congres- sional committees, And bas, so far asl kaow, no | defender in Louisiaua or in the country, except the President, who bas just given a federal oMco in New Orleans to Mr. Weiis, who was chief of the Board, I know of one case in the last election where, the conservative tickes being elected, the records of the election were carried by the Supervisor from the parish to New Orieans and concealed in a bouse of prostitution, one of whose inmates was seut to drive & bargain with the conservatives for their return, So common is corruption and go unblusning still that the Grand Jury of New Orleans, only the other day. began an investigation to discover Who had ajtored, aiter ite passage, an important appropriation oti, passed by the Hahn (repub.tcan) Legisiature, and the discovery of so gross and daring « fracd | ecarcely excited attention in New Oricans, where I have myself seen coloured members of (ne Zi h= jature—men who were slaves but tea years ago and vegan life with nothing at that time—now driving maguificent horses, seated ip stylist equi- pages and wearing diamond pins. Whatever we im the North may think of the White people of the South, we cannot torzet the fact that Louisiana bas a long established and weaithy community, witn large and complicated business aod soctal interests, and @ great accumu- Jated eapital, invesied not merely in iands, but also machinery and important public works. New Urieans js one of the largest commercial ports in the United States; lt das 4 numerous body of intelligent aud wealthy merchants, th equal of any of their class in New York, Pailadet- pwla or Boston, The sugar planters of Louisiane are in fact manufacturers; they bave large sums invested in machinery, and their business requires muca technical skill, aud wey are, as a class, the equals in intelligence and character of Northern maaufacturers. Now, then, ali these men, the cream of the population, wilh scarcely an exception, are united in opposition to the present rulers @f Louisiana, whom they not oniy aevest, but droad. It is mot only the cotton planter of the remote districts, therefore, but the country traders, lawyers and politicians who op- pose the republican rule. How, in spite of so united an opposition, @ handful of puiiticians, most of them strangers in the State, bave main- tained themseives in power I will try vo explaia in another letter. CHARLES NURVLGOFY. THE WEATHER YESTERDAY. The following record will show the changes in the temperature for the past twenty-four nours, Im comparison with the corresponding dite of last year, as indicated by the thermometer at Hud- nus Pharmacy, HerAtp Building : Mis, 1875, 6o 12 ML Average temperatnre yesterday. Pinchback, it Was said, was reaay to throw a considerable colored republican vote (23 was the] last year....- Average (euperature for corresponding uare ‘ai