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24 T H E L I B E R A T O R . FEBRUARY 8.
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POETRY
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From the London Punch.
THE SONG OF HIAWATHA.
([[italics]]Author's 'Protective Edition.'[[/italics]])

You, who hold in grace and honor,
Hold, as one who did you kindness
When he publish'd former poems,
Sang Evangeline the noble,
Sang the golden Golden Legend,
Sang the songs the Voices utter,
Crying in the night and darkness;
Sang how unto the Red Planet
Mars, he gave the Night's First Watches,
Henry Wadsworth, whose [[italics]] adnomen [[/italics]]
(Coming awkward, for the accents,
Into this his latest rhythm,)
Write we as Protracted Fellow,
Or in Latin, [[italics]] Longus Comes[[/italics]], --
Buy the Song of Hiawatha.

Should you ask me, 'Is the poem
Worthy of its predecessors,
Worthy of the sweet conceptions,
Of the manly, nervous diction,
Of the phrase, concise or pliant,
Of the songs that sped the pulses,
Of the songs that gemm'd the eyelash,
Of the other works of Henry?
I should answer, I should tell you,
You may wish that you may get it--
Don't you wish that you may get it?

Should you ask me, 'Is it worthless,
Is it bosh, and is it bumkum,
Merely facile flowing nonsense,
Easy to a practised rhythmist,
Fit to charm a private circle,
But not worth the print and paper
David Bogue hath here expended?
I should answer, I should tell you,
You're a fool, and most presumptuous.
Hath not Henry Wadsworth writ it?
Hath not [[italics]]Punch [[/italics]] commanded -- 'Buy it'?

Should you ask me, 'What's its nature?
Ask me, 'What's the kind of poem?'
Ask me in respectful language,
Touching your respectful beaver,
Kicking back your manly hind-leg,
Like to one who sees his betters;
I should answer, I should tell you,
'Tis a poem in this metre,
And embalming the traditions,
Fables, rites, and superstitions,
Legends, charms, and ceremonials
Of the various tribes of Indians,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs,
From the mountains, moors, and fenlands,
Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gar,
Finds its sugar in the rushes:
From the fast-decaying nations,
Which our gentle Uncle Samuel
Is improving, very smartly,
From the face of all creation,
Off the face of all creation.

Should you ask me, By what story,
By what action, plot or fiction,
All these matters are connected?
I should answer, I should tell you,
Go to Bogue and buy the poem,
Published, neatly, at one shilling,
Published, sweetly, at five shillings.

Should you ask me, Is there music
In the structure of the verses,
In the names and in the phrases?
Pleading, that, like weaver Bottom,
You prefer your ears well tickled;
I should answer, I should tell you,
Henry's verse is very charming:
And for names, there's Hiawatha,
Who's the hero of the poem,
Mudjeekeewis, that's the West Wind,
Hiawatha's graceless father.
There's Nokomis, there's Wenonah,
Ladies both, of various merit,
Puggawangun, that's a war-club,
Pau-puk-keewis, he's a dandy,
'Barr'd with streaks of red and yellow,
And the women and the maidens
Love the handsome Pau-puk-keewis,'
Tracing in him [[italics]]Punch's [[/italics]] likeness.
Then there's lovely Minnehaha,--
Pretty name with pretty meaning,
It implies the Laughing-Water,--
And the darling Minnehaha
Married noble Hiawatha;
And her story's far too touching
To be sport for you, you donkey,
With your ears like weaver Bottom's,
Ears like booby Bully Bottom's.

Once upon a time in London,
In the days of the Lyceum,
Ages ere keen Arnold let it
To the dreadful Northern Wizard,
Ages ere the buoyant Matthews
Tripp'd upon its boards in briskness,--
I remember, I remember
How a scribe, with pen chivalrous,
Tried to save these Indian stories
From the fate of chill oblivion,
Out came sundry comic Indians
Of the tribe of Kut-an-hack-um,
With their chief, the clean Efmatthews,
With the growling Downy Beaver,
With the valiant Monkey's Uncle,
Came the gracious Mari-Kee-lee,
Firing off a pocket-pistol,
Singing too, that Mudjee-keewis
(Shorten'd in the song to 'Wild Wind,')
Was a spirit very kindly.
Came her sire, the joyous Kee-lee,
By the waning tribe adopted,
Named the Buffalo, and wedded
To the fairest of the maidens,
But repented of his bargain,
And his brother Kut-an-hack-um
Very nearly chopp'd his toes off.
Serv'd him right, the fickle Kee-lee!

If you ask me, What this memory
Hath to do with Hiawatha,
And the poem which I speak of,
I should answer, I should tell you,
You're a fool, the most presumptuous;
'Tis not for such humble cattle
To inquire what links and unions
Join the thoughts and mystic meanings
Of their betters, mighty poets,
Mighty writers--[[italics]] Punch [[/italics]] the mightiest.
I should answer, I should tell you,
Shut your mouth, and go to David,
David, Mr. [[italics]] Punch's [[/italics]] neighbor,
Buy the Song of Hiawatha,
Read, and learn and them be thankful
Unto [[italics]] Punch [[/italics]] and Henry Wadsworth,
[[italics]] Punch [[/italics]] and noble Henry Wadsworth,
Truer poet, better fellow,
Than to be annoyed at jesting
From his friend, great [[italics]] Punch [[/italics]], who loves him.

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WINTER.

So Zembla's rocks (the beauteous works of frost)
Rise white in air, and glitter o'er the coast;
Pale suns, unfelt, at distance roll away,
And on the impassive ice the lightnings play;
External snows the growing mass supply,
Till the bright mountains prop the incumbent sky:
As Atlas fixed each hoary pile appears,
The gathered winter of a thousand yoars.--POPE.
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PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL MESSAGE.
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To the Senate and House of Representatives:

Circumstances have occurred to disturb the course of governmental organisation in the territory of Kansas, and produce there a condition of things which renders it incumbent on me to call your attention to the subject, and urgently to recommend the adoption by you of such measures of legislation as the grave exigencies of the case appear to require.

A brief exposition of the circumstances referred to, and of their causes, will be necessary to the full understanding of the recommendations which it is proposed to submit.

The act to organise the territories of Nebraska and Kansas was a manifestation of the legislative opinion of Congress on the two great points of constitutional construction; one, that the designation of the boundaries of a new territory, and provision for its political organisation and administration as a territory, are measures which of right fall within the powers of the general government; and the other, that the inhabitants of any such territory considered as an inchoate state are entitled in the exercise of self-government, to determine for themselves what shall be their own domestic institutions, subject only to the constitution and laws duly enacted by Congress under it, and to the power of the existing states to decide according to the provisions and principles of the constitution at what time the territory shall be received as a state into the Union. Such are the great political rights which are solemnly declared and affirmed by that act.

Based upon this theory, the act of Congress defined for each territory the outlines of republican government, distributing public authority among lawfully created agents--executive, judicial, and legislative--to be appointed either by the general government or by the territory. The legislative functions were intrusted to a council and a house of representatives duly elected and empowered to enact all the local laws which they might deem essential to their prosperity, happiness and good government. Acting in the same spirit, Congress also defined the persons who were in the first instance to be considered as the people of each territory; enacting that every free white male inhabitant of the same, above the age of twenty-one years, being an actual resident thereof, and possessing the qualifications hereafter described, should be entitled to vote at the first election, and be eligible to any office within the territory; but that the qualifications of voters and holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as might be prescribed by the legislative assembly. Provided, however, that the right of suffrage and holding office should be exercised only by citizens of the United States, and those who should have declared on oath their intention to become such, and have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the provisions of the act: And provided, further, that no officer, soldier, seaman or marine, or other person in the army or navy of the United States, or attached to troops in their service, should be allowed to vote or hold office in either territory, by reason of being on service therein.

Such of the public officers of the territories as, by the provisions of the act, were to be appointed by the general government, including the governors, were appointed and commissioned in due season; the law having been enacted on the 30th of May, 1854, and the commission of the Governor of the Territory of Nebraska being dated on the 2d day of August, 1854, and of the Territory of Kansas on the 29th day of June, 1854. Among the duties imposed by the act on the governors was that of directing and superintending the political organization of the respective territories. The Governor of Kansas was required to cause a census or enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts of the territory to be taken by such persons and in such mode as he might designate and appoint; to appoint and direct the time and places of holding the first elections, and the manner of conducting them, both as to the persons to superintend such elections and the returns thereof; to declare the number of the members of the council and House of representatives for each county or district; to declare what persons might appear to be duly elected; and to appoint the time and place of the first meeting of the legislative assembly. In substance, the same duties were devolved on the Governor of Nebraska.

While, by this act, the principle of constitution for each of the territories was one and the same, and the details of organic legislation regarding both were as nearly as could be identical, and while the territory of Nebraska was tranquilly and successfully organized in the due course of law, and its first legislative assembly met on the 16th of January, 1855, the organisation of Kansas was long delayed and has been attended with serious difficulties and embarrassments, partly the consequence of local mal-administration, and partly of the unjustifiable interference of the inhabitants of some of the States, foreign by residence, interests, and rights to the territory.

The Governor of the Territory of Kansas, commissioned, as before stated, on the 29th of June, 1854, did not reach the designated seat of his government until the 7th of the ensuing October; and even then failed to make the first step in its legal organisation--that of ordering the census or enumeration of inhabitants--until so late a day that the election of the members of the legislative assembly did not take place until the 30th of March, 1855, nor its meeting until the 2d of July, 1855. So that, for a year after the territory was constituted by the act of Congress, and the officers to be appointed by the executive had been commissioned it was without a complete government, without any legislative authority, without local law, and of course without the ordinary guarantees of peace and public order

In other respects, the Governor, instead of exercising constant vigilance and putting forth all his energies to prevent or counteract the tendencies to illegality, which are prone to exist in all imperfectly organised and newly associated communities, allowed his attention to be diverted from official obligation by other objects, and himself set an example of the violation of law in the performance of acts which rendered it my duty, in the sequel, to remove him from the office of chief executive magistrate of the territory.

Before the requisite preparation was accomplished for election of a territorial legislature, an election of delegate to Congress had been held in the territory on the 29th day of November, 1854, and the delegate took his seat in the House of Representatives without challenge. If arrangements had been perfected by the Governor so that the election for members of the legislative assembly might be held in the several precincts at the same time as for delegates to Congress, any question appertaining to the qualification of the persons voting as people of the territory would have passed necessarily and at once under the supervision of Congress, as the judge of the validity of the return of the delegate, and would have been determined before conflicting passions had become inflamed by time, and before opportunity could have afforded for systematic interference of the people of individual States.

This interference, in so far as concerns its primary causes and its immediate commencement, was one of the incidents of that pernicious agitation on the subject of the condition of the colored persons held to service in some of the States, which has so long disturbed the repose of our country, and excited individuals, otherwise patriotic and law-abiding, to toil with mis-directed zeal in the attempt to propagate their social theories by the perversion and abuse of the powers of Congress. The persons and the parties whom the tenor of the act to organise the territories of Nebraska and Kansas thwarted in the endeavor to impose, through the agency of Congress, their particular views of social organisation on the people of the future new States, now perceiving that the policy of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge for themselves in this respect was ineradicably rooted in the convictions of the people of the Union, then had recourse, in the pursuit of their general object, to the extraordinary measure of propagandist colonisation of the territory of Kansas, to prevent the free and natural action of its inhabitants in its internal organisation, and thus to anticipate or to force the determination of that question in this inchoate state.

With such views, associations were organised in some of the States, and their purposes were proclaimed through the press in language extremely irritating and offensive to those of whom the colonists were to become the neighbors. Those designs and acts had the necessary consequence to awaken emotions of intense indignation in States near to the territory of Kansas, and especially in the adjoining State of Missouri, whose domestic peace was thus the most directly endangered; but they are far from justifying the illegal and reprehensible counter-movements which ensued. Under these inauspicious circumstances the primary elections for members of the legislative assembly were held in most, if not all, of the precincts at the time and places and by the persons designated and appointed by the Governor according to law.

Angry accusations that illegal votes had been polled abounded on all sides, and imputations were made both of fraud and violence. But the Governor, in the exercise of the power and the discharge of the duty conferred and imposed by law on him alone, officially received and considered the returns; declared a large majority of the members of the council and the House of Representatives "duly elected;" withheld certificates from others because of alleged illegality of votes; appointed a new election to supply the place of the persons not certified; and thus at length, in all the forms of statute, and with his own official authentication, complete legality was given to the first legislative assembly of the territory.

Those decisions of the returning officers and of the Governor are final, except that, by the parliamentary usage of the country, applied to the organic law, it may be conceded that each House of the Assembly must have been competent to determine, in the last resort, the qualifications and the election of its members. The subject was, by its nature, one appertaining exclusively to the jurisdiction of the local authorities of the territory. Whatever irregularities may have occurred in the elections, it seems too late now to raise that question. At all events, it is a question as to which, neither now nor at any previous time, has the least possible legal authority been possessed by the

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President of the United States. For all present purposes the legislative body thus constituted and elected, was the legitimate assembly of the territory.

Accordingly, the Governor, by proclamation, convened the assembly thus elected to meet at a place called Pawnee City; the two houses met and were duly organised in the ordinary parliamentary form; each sent to and received from the Governor the official communications usual on such occasions; an elaborate message opening the session was communicated by the Governor; and the general business of legislation was entered upon the legislative assembly. But after a few days the assembly resolved to adjourn to another place in the territory. A law was accordingly passed, against the consent of the Governor, but in due form otherwise, to remove the seat of government temporarily to the "Shawnee Manual-Labor School," (or Mission,) and thither the assembly proceeded.

After this, receiving a bill for the establishment of a ferry at the town of Kickapoo, the Governor refused to sign it, and assigned for reason of refusal, not anything objectionable in the bill itself, nor any pretence of the illegality or incompetency of the assembly as such, but only the fact that the assembly had by its act transferred the seat of government temporarily from Pawnee City to Shawnee Mission. For the same reason he continued to refuse to sign other bills, until, in the course of a few days, he, by official message, communicated to the assembly the fact that he had received notification of the termination of his functions as Governor, and that the duties of the office were legally devolved on the Secretary of the Territory; thus to the last recognising the body as a duly elected and constituted legislative assembly.

It will be perceived that, if any constitutional defect attached to the legislative acts of the assembly, it is not pretended to consist in irregularity of election, or want of qualification of the members, but only in the change of its place of session. However trivial this objection may seem to be, it requires to be considered, because upon it is founded all that superstructure of acts, plainly against law, which now threatens the peace, not only of the territory of Kansas, but of the Union.

Such an objection to the proceedings of the legislative assembly was of exceptionable origin, for the reason that, by the express terms of the organic law, the seat of government of the territory was "located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth," and yet the Governor himself remained there less than two month, and of his own discretion transferred the seat of government to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact was at the time the assembly were called to meet at Pawnee City. If the Governor had any such right to change temporarily the seat of government, still more had the legislative assembly. The objection is of exceptionable origin, for the further reason that the place indicated by the Governor, without having any exclusive claim of preference in itself, was a proposed town site only, which he and others were attempting to locate unlawfully upon land within a military reservation, and for participation in which illegal act the commandant of the post -- a superior officer of the army -- has been dismissed by sentence of court-martial.

Nor is it easy to see why the legislative assembly might not with propriety pass the territorial act transferring its sittings to the Shawnee Mission. If it could not, that must be on account of some prohibitory or incompatible provision of act of Congress. But no such provision exists. The organic act, as already quoted, says "the seat of government is hereby located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth;" and it then provides that certain of the public buildings there "may be occupied and used under the direction of the Governor and legislative assembly" These expressions might possibly be construed to imply that when in a previous section of the act it was enacted that the "first legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the Governor shall appoint," the word "place" means place at Fort Leavenworth, not place anywhere in the territory. If so, the Governor would have been the first to err in this matter, not only in himself having removed the seat of government to the Shawnee Mission, but in again removing it to Pawnee City. If there was any departure from the letter of the law, therefore, it was his in both instances.

But, however this may be, it is most unreasonable to suppose that by the/terms of the organic act Congress intended to do impliedly what it has not done expressly—that is, to forbid to the legislative assembly the power to choose any place it might see ﬁt as the temporary seat of its deliberations. That is proved by the signiﬁcant language of one of the subsequent acts of Congress on the subject, that of March 3, 1855, which, in making appropriation for public buildings of the territory, enacts that the same shall not be expended "until the legislature of said territory shall have ﬁxed by law the permanent seat of government.”

Congress, in these expressions, does not profess to be granting the power to ﬁx the permanent seat of government, but recognises the power as one already granted, But how? Undoubtedly by the comprehensive provision of the organic act itself, which declares that “the legislative power of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the Constitution of the united States and the provisions of this act.” If, in view of this act, the legislative assembly had the large power to ﬁx the permanent seat of government at any place in its discretion, of course, by the same enactment, it had the less and the included power to ﬁx it temporarily.

Nevertheless, the allegation that the acts of the legislative assembly were illegal, by reason of this removal of its place of session, was brought forward to justify the ﬁrst great movement in disregard of law within the territory. One of the acts of the legislative assembly provided for the election of a delegate to the present Congress, and a delegate was elected under that law. But subsequently to this, a portion of the people of the territory proceeded without authority of law to elect another delegate. Following upon this movement was another and more important one of the same general character. Persons confessedly not constituting the body politic, or all the inhabitants, but merely a party of the inhabitants, and without law, have undertaken to summon a convention for the purpose of transforming the territory into a State, and have framed a Constitution, adopted it, and underit elected a Governor and other ofﬁcers, and a representative to Congress.

In extenuation of these illegal acts, it is alleged that the States of California, Michigan, and others, were self-organised, and, as such, were admitted into the Union, without a previous enabling act of Congress. It is true that, while, in a majority of cases, a previous act of Congress, has been passed to authorise the territory to present itself as a State, and that this is deemed the most liberal course, yet such an act has not been held to be indispensable, and, in some cases, the territory has proceeded without it, and has nevertheless been anmitted into the Union as a State.

It lies with Congress to authorise beforehand, or to confirm afterwards, in its discretion. But in no instance has a State been admitted upon the application of persons acting against authorities duly constituted by act of Congress. In every case it is the people of a territory, not a party among them, who have the power to form a constitution, and ask for admission as a State. No principle of public law, no practise or precedent under the constitution of the United States, no rule of reason, right or common sense, confers any such power as that now claimed by a mere party in the territory. In fact, what has been done is of revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in motive and in aim, as respects the local law of the territory. It will become treasonable insurrection, if it reach the length of organised resistance by force, to the fundamental or any other federal law, and to the authority of the general government.

In such an event, the path of duty for the Executive is plain. The constitution requiring him to take care that the laws of the United States he faithfully executed, if they be opposed in the territory of Kansas, he may,and should place at the disposal of the marshal any public force of the United States which happens to be Within the jurisdiction, to be used as a portion of the posse eomitatus; and, if that do not sufﬁce to maintain ordor, that he may call forth the militia of one or more States for that object, or employ for the same object any part of the land or naval force of the United States.

So, also, if the obstruction be to the laws of the territory, and it be duly presented to him as a case of insurrection, he may employ for its suppression the militia of any State, or the land or naval force of the United States. And if the territory be invaded by the citizens of other States, whether for the purpose of deciding elections or for any other, and the local authorities find themselves unable to repel or withstand it, they will'be entitled to, and upon the fact being fully ascertained, they shall most certainly receive, the aid of the
general government.

But it is not the duty of the President of the United States to volunteer interposition by force to preserve the purity of elections either in a State or territory: To do so would be subversive of public freedom. And whether a law be wise or unwise, just or unjust, is not a question for him to judge. If it be constitutional-that is, if it be the law of the land- it is his duty to cause it to be executed, or to sustain the authorities of any State or territory in executing it, in opposition to all insurrectionary movements. Our system affords no justiﬁcation of revolutionary acts; for the constitutional means of relieving the people of unjust administration and laws, by a change of public agents and by repeal, are ample, and more prompt and effective than illegal violence. The constitutional means must be scrupulously guarded—this great prerogative of popular sovereignty sacredly respected.

It is the undoubted right of the peaceable and orderly people of the territory of Kansas to elect their own legislative body, make their own laws, and regulate their own social institutions, without foreign or domestic molestation. Interference, on the one hand, to procure the abolition or prohibition of slave labor in the territory, has produced mischievous interference, on the other, for its maintenance or introduction. One wrong begets another. Statements entirely unfounded, or gross1y exaggerated, concerning events within the territory, are sedulously diffused through remote States to feed the ﬂames of sectional animosity there; and the agitators there exert themselves indefatigably in return to encourage and stimulate strife Within the territory.
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The inﬂammatory agitation, of which the present is but a part, has for twenty years produced nothing save unmitigated evil, North and South Bnt for it, the character of the domestic institutions of the future new state would have been a matter of too little interest to the inhabitants of the contiguous states, personally or collectively, to produce among them any political emotion. Climate, soil, production, hopes of rapid advancement and the pursuit of happiness on the par of the settlers tnemselves, with good wishes, but with no interference from without, would have quietly determined the question, which is at this time of such disturbing character.

But we are constrained to turn our attention to the circumstances of embarrassment as they now exist. It is the duty of the people of Kansas to discoantenance every act or purpose of resistance to its laws. Above all, the emergency appeals to the citizens of the states, and especially of those contiguous to the territory, neither by intervention of non-residents in elections, nor by unauthorized military force,to attempt to encroach upon or usurp the authority of the inhabitants of the territory. No citizen of our country should permit himself to forget that he is a part of its government, and entitled to be heard in the determination of its policy and its measures, and, that, therefore, the highest considerations of personal honor and patriotism require him to maintain, by whatever of power or inﬂuence he may possess, the integrity of the laws of the public. Entertaining those views, it will be my imperative duty to exert the whole power of the federal Executive to support public order in the territory; to vindicate its laws, whether federal or local, against all attempts of organised resistance ; and so to protect its people in the establishment of their own institutions, undisturbed by encroachment from without, and in the full enjoyment of the rights of self-government assured them by the constitution and the organic act of Congress.

Although serious and threatening disturbances in the territory of Kansas, announced to me by the Governor in December last, were speedily quieted without the effusion of blood, and in a satisfactory manner, there is, I regret to say, reason to apprehend that disorders will continue to occur there, with increasing tendency to violence, until some decisive measure be taken to dispose of the question itself, which constitutes the inducement or occasion of internal agitation and of external interference. This, it seems to me, can be best accomplished by providing that, when the inhabitants of Kansas may desire it, and shall be of sufﬁcient numbers to constitute a state, a convention of delegates, duly elected by the qualified voters, shall assemble to frame a constitution, and thus to prepare, through regular and lawful means, for its admission into the Union as a State.

I respectfully recommend the enactment of a law to that effect. I recommend, also, that a special appropriation be made to defray any expense which may become requisite in the execution of the laws or the maintenance of public order in the territory of Kansas. FRANKLIN PIERCE.
Washington, Jan. 24, 1856.
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GOV. REEDER ON THE MESSAGE.
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WASHINGTON CITY, Jan. 28, 1856.
Gentlemen :——The Special Message of the President of the United States, communicated yesterday to Congress, assails not only myself personally, but also my constituents, whom inclination as well as duty, imperiously demands of me to justify and protect. Entirely satisfied as I am with the course adopted, up to this time, by the people of Kansas — convinced that it has been dictated by a desire to preserve the peace, the reputation and glory of our country — knowing that it has, at every stage, been characterised by the most conservative moderation and laudable regard for the rights of others — having seen at every step the plainest manifestation of an anxious desire to avoid even the semblance of encroachment or aggression, I should be false to every manly impulse and every sense of duty, if I aliowed the aspersions of the Message to pass unnoticed.

Unless the Message shall incite and stimulate to new invasions of our Territorg and fresh outrage upon our citizens, it will produce to us no regret, as it has caused no surprise. After having seen our people trampled on, oppressed and robbed, on the one hand by the invaders of their soil, and on the other by the inﬂuence, the authority and the ofﬁcers of the present Administration after having witnessed the coldblooded murder of an unarmed and unoffending citizen by an ofﬁcer of the Administration, who is not only unmolested by the laws and unrebuked by the President who appointed him, but who has, perhaps, strengthened his ofﬁcial tenant and enhanced his chances of promotion by the act ; it is not at all surprising that we should, by the head of that Administration, be misrepresented and perverted. After having seen the Chief Magistrate, during five organised invasions of our Territory, unmoved by a single sympathy in favor of an unoffending people, innocent of all wrong, and laboring only to carry out faithfully for themselves the doctrine of self—government, and to build up and extend the greatness of our country—after having seen our invaders coming upon us armed (without reproof if not with official permission) from the contents of the arsenals of the United States, establishing a system of martial law over life and property, regulated only by the uncontroled will of vindictive and irresponsible men ; a system under which life was taken and property destroyed ; the highways obstructed; travelers seized, searched and detained; all the pursuits of life paralysed, and the destrurtion and extermination of whole settlements threatened and evidently intended—backed up by the sanction and authority of the Federal officers, who pledge publicly the cooperation of the President, and all based upon the fact that a man encouraged, perhaps aided, by his friends, had made his escape from an arrest on a constable’s peace warrant—after having thus seen our natural and legal protectors joining in the most atrocious measures of oppression and wrong, it is no matter of surprise to see misrepresentation of our position and our objects emanating from the
some source.

This is not the mode nor the time in which to discuss the themes of this message. Expecting, as I have a right to expect from the clearness of the exclusive title I am prepared to show, that I shall enjoy a seat and a voice on the floor of the House, I am willing patiently ‘ to abide my time.’ At the proper time and place, however, I pledge myself to meet and expose the mis-statements of facts
and the errors of law and logic which it contains. I will show that there is nothing but cold eruelty and insult in the request of an appropriation to pay an army or a posse to prevent the people of Kansas from the commission of outrage and treason. I will show that the movement for a State government is miss-stated as to the facts of its origin and progress, and that all we have done in this direction has been under the sanction of the precepts and examples of all the great men of the country for the last fifty years—of the legislation
of Congress and the action of the Executive in repeated and well considered cases, and of a deliberate opinion of a high and distinguished Attorney General of the United States, and which, as it is a part of the archives of the Executive Department, it is to be regretted the President did not consult before the delivery of the Message.

If it is illegality and incipient treason for a new State to be formed without an enabling act of Congress, I will show that fourteen Senators of the U. S. hold their seats, and seven States stand in this Union by virtue of illegal and treasonable proceedings—that Congress has sanctioned revolution, illegality and treason, again and again ; and that the rank and noxious weed has even ﬂourished in the White House and the Executive Department ; and, having vindicated my people, I will also with the utmost conﬁdence of success, proceed to the minor and secondary task of vindicating myself in such a manner, I trust, as to show the attack to have been ill advised and unfortunate.

As to the discussion in the message of the points involved in the contested seat, I shall meet them when the case is heard, and as the House is the sole constitutional judge of the qualifications of its own members, I trust that the minds of members may be kept open and unprejudiced until they shall bear the law and the facts of the case, and that whether the-discussion by the Executive of some of the points involved, has been made because they were incidental to another subject, or aimed and intended to prejudge my claim, I hope in either case that both sides may be heard before a decision.

This hasty note has swelled to an unpremeditated length. Its object is only to solicit from the House and the public a suspension of judgment, as to the position and action of our people—as to my right to a seat, and as to the charges against me in the message, until I can be heard.
Very respectfully yours, A. H. REEDER.

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THE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS, in Brooklyn,
over which the Rev. Dr. Storrs is the settled pastor, is one of the oldest, largest and most inﬂuential churches of the Congregational denomination in this vicinity. It has also, as a whole, hitherto been considered as occupying middle ground on the subject of Slavery. On Thursday evening last, at the annual meeting for the election of officers, and other business, the question came up of arranging for the monthly collections of the Church for various benevolent objects, ameng which was the American Tract Society. After a somewhat protracted discussion in which the pastor and some of the principai laymen of the church participated, it was decided by vote to take up no collection for the American Tract Society the present year. Dr. Storrs embraced the opportunity to say that he would not by word or deed endorse the management of that Institution until it changed its policy on the Slavery question. He showed its inconsistency in publishing Tracts on Dancing, Horse-racing, Gambling, Drinking, Tobacco-chewing and Smoking, while it not only refused to speak out plainly on the subject of the great sin of Slavery, but actually mutilated some of the best publication in the English language in order to please the
South. The discussion was interesting and instructive, and the result of the vote gave satisfaction to a majority of the members present. The step taken by this church will doubtless be followed by hundreds of others, and the time, it is to be hoped, is not far distant when the public sentiment of every Christian denomination in the Free States will be as plainly expressedias in the Church of the Pilgrims at Brooklyn.—[N. Y. Tribune.
[[/column 4]]

[[column 5]]

THE LEADERS OF SCIENCE.

The following graphic letter from a correspondent of the [[italic]]Edgefield Advertiser[[/italic]], gives an interesting view of the British Scientific Association.

GLASGOW, Sept. 16, 1855.

On Wednesday, the 'British Association for the Advancement of Science' was convened in the City Hall, at eight o'clock, P. M. The room, which was capable of holding 3,000 persons, was two-thirds filled; the galleries and benches being filled by the associates, of whom a large number were females, comprising the beauty and fashion of Glasgow and the surrounding country. On the stage sat the distinguished foreigners, and the life members of the Association. These are the noble amateurs and the really scientific members. The associates are the commoners, amateurs who pay £1 for the privilege of attending the discussions, &c., of the meeting. Having gone early, I had a good seat in the gallery just over the stage, and a few minutes after eight, the distinguished body of science and noble blood came in from the Lord Provost's (where they had been dining) pell mell upon the stage. I did not know one of them, but when they were seated, I recognized in the tall ungainly figure that occupied the chair, the former President, the Earl of Harrowby. He rose to make his valedictory, and though I felt till then a certain awe, I was forced to hold my hat over my face to hide the laughter which the singular appearance of this individual rendered it impossible for me to restrain. He stood at first erect, with his hands crossed before him, where he held them closely together all the time; but no sooner had he said 'Ladies,' than he flung his body backwards, his feet remaining firm, till his form represented an arc of 90 degrees. His large nose tapered to a point, rose from his cadaverous face, and was directed to the ceiling in his rear, while his long stiff coat tail, equally sharp, stood at the antipodes, and looked towards the audience. Singular as was his attitude, conceive my surprise when, by a rapid movement, he entirely reversed his position, brought his pointed nose to the table in front of him, and sent his coat tail out horizontally behind, while, not as if it had been spoken, but as though it had been ejected by this violent effort, the word 'Gentlemen' broke from his lips. This was his only gesture; his hands and feet remained firm, but at every sentence he performed one or more of these rapid, violent and exaggerated antero-posterior contortions. He spoke only a few minutes, and his ideas were destitute of point, and his expressions of all elegance. He concluded by introducing his Grace the Duke of Argyle, the President of the Association for this year.

His Grace is a young man, about thirty-two, who has been much petted, and has a reputation for cleverness, and his election as President is esteemed a high expression of the value which the scientific talent of the United Kingdom place upon his learning and abilities. He is of good figure, short, neat hand and foot, a certain freedom of carriage rarely possessed, I believe, by people here, with a find head and eye, delicate features, and an exuberant growth of pale red hair. He stood upon a narrow platform, where it was scarcely possible for him to move his feet, without falling off. The table, a very common one, before which he stood, was so low that he was obliged to hold his speech in his hand. It was printed, however, which was well, for he could not have held the manuscript for such a length of time. His voice was free and clear, and his manner easy. There was no gesticulation, except turning his face from one side to the other. He gave a resume of the principal discoveries in science since 1840, when the meeting was held in Glasgow last. There were no striking thoughts, and though he spoke of friends who had recently died, the celebrated Edward Forbes was one, (a young man,) there was no attempt at pathos--only a genteel tribute. His speech was two hours long, and nothing more than a catalogue, with little comment, of the most commonly known results and achievements of science; and I am compelled to say, that merely as such it was strikingly deficient in many important points. The language was good, however, and except in a few words, the pronunciation the same as our own. When he finished, Dr. Macfarlane, the aged principal of the Glasgow University, rose, and rolling his tongue in his toothless mouth, spluttered forth the most astonishing concatenation of fulsome compliments to the noble Duke, for 'his very able and learning, and enlightened, and liberal address,' that could be imagined, and closed by moving that the 'thanks of this meeting be returned to his Grace, the most noble Duke of Argyle.' Sir Roderic Murchison, of geological celebrity, rose to second the motion. He is rather handsome, resembles B--, but is not near so good-looking. He hemmed and hawed, repeated and bungled, could not say what he wanted to say, affected bashfulness when he was evidently brazen enough, and finally took his seat after what, with us, would have been considered a flat failure, as would everything that passed on the occasion, except the Duke's speech. Mr. Phillips, author of 'Mineralogy, Geology, etc.,' rose, and at least deserved the credit of saying, without stammering, what he wished. He read over the list of distinguished strangers. Prince Lucien Bonaparte, the ornithologist, was named. The audience applauded, and the Prince rose and bowed. Good heavens! is there any of the great Napoleonic blood in that little, squat, obese Frenchman? He loosk as if he had been stuffed with frogs till he could scarcely draw his breath. He is the very realization of the notion of a frog-eating Frenchman, and a few touches of the pencil of the caricaturist would make an excellent likeness of him in the shape of a bull-frog of the first rank. Baron Liebig came next. The Baron rose--a slender, good-looking man of fifty, with hair just turning gray, and except for a large nose and erect carriage, nothing to distinguish him; not a mark of profound thought. In a word, I would be glad to report differently, but the truth is, take that body all in all, the nobles and learned doctors, they were as common looking and as unintellectual a display of men as could be easily collected. Thursday I attended the various sections, where many interesting papers were read, and was and heard the celebrated Hugh Miller. He has a fine head--the best of any here--but looks and speaks like a Scottish laborer; yet he has genius. That night I went to a conversazione, where, knowing no one, I had the gratification of pressing my hat for an hour or two through the crowd. Friday I went to the mathematical section, to see Prof. N--, of this place, for whom I had left my card and letter of introduction at the Glasgow Observatory. Mr. Whitehouse read a paper which was though, by celebrated physicists, etc., present, to demonstrate the practicability of a telegraphic communication between this country and America. Afterwards there was a paper on the material that occupies the interplanetary spaces. This was followed by Prof. N--, in a most ingenious article on the geological formations in the moon. Think of it! No longer are men desirous of becoming State Geologists, but they aspire to be Geologists to the moon. When he took his seat, Sir John Ross, an old gray-headed, sturdy sailor, wearing several medals, a white vest and a deep scarlet neckcloth, rose to say, that as for those beautiful diagrams on which the Professor founded his opinions, they were the result of the observations of his telescope, and that he had been accustomed to produce them for the amusement of ladies. This was a terrible revelation, and Sir David Brewster, a handsome old gentlemen, rose to smooth it over. That night I heard Dr. Carpenter lecture, and saw the great Whewell. He is the very incarnation of the ideal of an English clergyman. I have not heard him speak. Carpenter has a fine head. In the face he resembles H--; is tall, slender and ungainly in his figure, looking like a school-boy; immense hands and feet; his pantaloons were too short, and he wore leather straps as long as Major Jones.

I was introduced to Sir William Jardine, who promised that to-morrow I should hear the whole subject of artificial fish-breeding discussed. Last night I went to an evening party at Prof. N--'s. I had not been personally introduced to him. This I did myself as soon as I entered; he spoke a few words to me, and begged me to walk around. I thanked him, and sauntered off. Three or four rooms were thrown open to the guests; there was no such thing as introductions, and as most of them were strangers like myself, there were the most ludicrous scenes of awkward, gaping people, that could be imagined. I made myself perfectly at home, and though no one spoke to me, I addressed several who seemed obliged to me.

After awhile, I was Dr. Carpenter standing alone; he was the only person there whose name even I knew, and I hastily made my way up to him; found him very affable, and enjoyed half an hour's conversation with him, which I shall re-

[[/column 5]]

[[column 6]]

remember for a long time. I staid about an hour and a half, and as soon as I saw the first man retire, I went home. There was a mulatto there talking French, who did not look a bit more awkward than the rest of the company, and whom some of the ladies seemed to find particularly interesting. He was not even a good specimen of a negro, and as I turned from him, my eye fell on the two books of Clarkson, on the abolition of the slave trade. I have seen all the great men of science in England, except Faraday and Herschel, whom I know of. I believe I have not made the best of my opportunities, and that I should have talked right and left to all to whom I had any thing to say. Indeed, I am surprised at English affability, after the reserve I had anticipated. I have seldom been addressed first, but I have uniformly received the most polite reply to any remark which I made. Everything is, 'If you please,' 'I thank you,' 'I beg pardon,' 'I am much obliged,' etc., etc.,--sentences which they repeat till you are sick of hearing them, from the waiters at hotels, up. There is also an affectation of timidity among all classes, which makes them stammer and hesitate whenever they speak. Vulgar as this is, the very best of them, such as Jardine, Murchison, even the Duke of Argyle, are guilty of it to a most abominable extent. H.

[[double line]]

KNOW THYSELF.

SELF-KNOWLEDGE promotes health, virtue, happiness.

R. P. WILSON, Psychometric Delineator of Character and Clairvoyant Physician, 285 Seventh street, Cincinnati, Ohio.

TERMS: For Chart, according to Buchanan's New System of Phrenology, and a written Delineation of Character, $2 00. For Chart as above and Conjugal adaptations, $3 00. For Clairvoyant Examinations and Prescriptions, including Mental Delineations, $5 00.

PYSCHOMETRY. Psychometry is an established science. It is the true method of measuring the [[italic]]power[[/italic]] of the mental faculties, and the manifestations of [[italic]]character[[/italic]]. By this process, a knowledge of a person's physical power and endurance may be obtained--the intellectual strength and capacity delineated--the spiritual or moral qualities unfolded--the social virtues clearly defined, and the [[italic]]proper sphere[[/italic]] of action for which each one is adapted, so presented as to ensure [[italic]]success in life[[/italic]], if proper directions are carried out. No object can be of more [[italic]]practical[[/italic]] importance than Psychometry to the parent--the teacher--the student--the physician--the lawyer, or the reformer, for by its wonderful power the secret impulses of action may be discerned, and the [[italic]]true[[/italic]] methods of directing effort may be clearly made known.

Jan. 4. 4t

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For THREE DOLLARS all three of these Papers will be sent a year.
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Dec 21. 4t

[[line]]

An Appropriate Bridal Present.
-
THE TRUE WAY TO SECURE A HAPPY HOME AND HEALTHY CHILDREN.
-
MARRIAGE AND PARENTAGE,
OR.
THE REPRODUCTIVE ELEMENT IN MAN, AS A MEANS TO HIS ELEVATION AND HAPPINESS.

BY HENRY C. WRIGHT.

SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED.

Just published and for sale by BELA MARSH, 15 Franklin street. Price,$1.00.
July 20. 3m
[[line]]
BOSTON
Champooing and Hair.Dyeing
SALOON.
MADAME CARTEAUX would respectfully inform the ladies of Boston and vicinity, that her establishment, removed from No. 284 to
365, WASHINGTON STREET,
is now in successful operation.
She will attend to Cutting and Dressing Ladies’ and Children’s Hair, Dyeing and Champooing, in the most approved style, and warranting to give satisfaction.
She has also a Hair Restorative, which cannot be excelled, as it produces new hair where baldness has taken place.
N. B. All kinds of Hair Work made to order.
Madame C. has opened a Branch of her Saloon at No. 2, Lonsdale Block, Providence, R. I.
Nov. 16. tf
[[line]]
DR. H. W. MASON,
DENTIST,
49 TREKMONT STREET,
(OVER LEONARD & co’s AUCTION ROOM,)
BOSTON .
DR. M. is a regular graduate in dental medicine and Surgery, and operates on the most reasonable terms.
Boston, Sept. 28, 1855 6m
[[line]]
REMOVAL.
THAXTER 8:. BROTHER, Opticians, (successors to John Pierce,) have removed to
139 WASHINGTON STREET,
Two doors south of School st.
October 19. tf
[[line]]
JOHN OLIVER,
CARPENTER,
No. 43 GOUCH STREET,
(Corner of Merrimac street,) BOSTON.
N30 3mos
[[line]]
Worcester Hydropathic Institution,
On Arch and Fountain Streets,
WORCESTER, MASS.
THE Proprietors of this Institution aim to make it a comfortable home for invalids at all seasons. The location is elevated and healthy, and easy of access from all parts of the city.
The medical department is conducted by Dr. S. ROGERS, and has never been limited to the exclusive use of water in those cases which seemed to require other treatment.
There has recently been erected a ﬁrst-class Gymnasium upon the grounds belonging to this institution, which is under the charge of an experienced teacher.
For term, &c., address
E. F. ROGERS, Superintendent.
Out-door practice attended to. Office hours, 2 to 4 P.M.
Worcester, Jan. 25.
[[line]]
COLORED PATRIOTS
OF THE
American Revolution,
WITH SKETCHES OF SEVERAL
DISTINGUISHED COLORED PERSONS;
To which is added a brief survey of the Condition and Prospects of Colored Americans.

BY WM. C. NELL.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY H. B. STOWE.
Just published, and for sale at the Anti-Slavery 0
Cfice,21ornhill Price, $1.25.
Boston, Jan. 1, 1856.
[[/column 6]]

Transcription Notes:
In column 5: "Sir Roderic Murchison" should be "Roderick" with a final K, but transcribed as written. "Prince Lucien Bonaparte" is probably Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, whose Wikipedia entry mentioned ornithology.