Geor

ner, assuming that in styling the Message of the | upon by only one branch of the Legislature.
President a "whitewashing" one he implied that it
was "intended to cover up, by falsehood and mis-
representation, certain facts," and to charge the
President with "want of truth and want of patriot-
ism." Mr. Sumner rejoined that such was not his
meaning; he had "no reflection to make on the
patriotism or truth of the President of the United
States."

gia, which is included in the official list, ratified the
amendment on the 6th of December; and Oregon
on the 11th of November, although the official an-
nouncement has not been received.

Dec. 21. In the Senate, Messrs. Fessenden, Grimes, Harris, Howland, Johnson, and Williams were appointed as the Senatorial members of the Committee of Fifteen. Both Houses of Congress agreed to adjourn for the holidays, and to meet again on the 5th of January.

The most important event of the month is the adoption, by the requisite majority of three-fourths of all the States, of the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery. The formal announcement of the fact, in virtue of which this prohibition becomes a part of the supreme law of the land, is as follows:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State of the United States, to all to whom these Presents may come, Greeting:

Know ye, that, whereas, the Congress of the United States, on the 1st of February last, passed a resolution, which is in the words following, namely:

A resolution submitting to the Legislatures of the sev eral States a proposition to amend the Constitution of the

United States:

Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of said Constitution, namely:

ARTICLE XIII.

SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

In accordance with the policy of the President the Provisional Governors appointed for the States which have ratified the Amendment have been relieved, and the administration placed in the hands of the Governors elected by the people. These States are North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Texas and Florida are the only States now under Provisional Governors, none having ever been appointed for Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This change was officially made in the form of an official notice from the Secretary of State. These notices were essentially the same for each State. That to Provisional Governor Perry of South Carolina is as follows:

"SIR,-The time has arrived when, in the judgment of the President of the United States, the care and conduct of the proper affairs of the State of South Carolina may be remitted to the constitutional authorities chosen by the people thereof, without danger to the peace and safety of the United States. By direction of the Presi dent, therefore, you are relieved from the trust which was heretofore reposed in you as Provisional Governor of the State of South Carolina, whenever the Governor elect shall have accepted and become qualified to discharge the duties of the executive office. You will transfer the papers and property of the State now in your custody to his Excellency the Governor elect. It gives me especial pleasure to convey to you the President's acknowledgments of the fidelity, the loyalty, and the discretion which have marked your administration. You will please give me a reply, specifying the day on which this communication is

received."

The dispatch to Governor Orr reads:

"SIR,-By direction of the President I have the honor herewith to transmit to you a copy of a communication, which has been addressed to his Excellency Benjamin F. Carolina, whereby he has been relieved of the trust herePerry, late Provisional Governor of the State of South tofore reposed in him, and directed to deliver into your Excellency's possession the papers and property relating to the trust. I have the honor to tender you the co-operation of the Government of the United States, whenever it may be found necessary in effecting the early restoration and the permanent prosperity and welfare of the State over which you have been called to preside."

Governor Worth, of North Carolina, in his Message says that the people of that State ardently desire its restoration to the Union and a condition of

And, whereas, it appears from official documents on file in this department that the Amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed as aforesaid has been ratified by the Legislatures of the States of Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Maryland, New York, West Vir ginia, Maine, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connect-national amity; that they are ready to perform icut, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, in all twenty-seven States; And whereas, the whole number of States in the United States is thirty-six;

And whereas, the before specially named States, whose Legislatures have ratified the said proposed amendment, constitute three-fourths of the whole number of States in the United States;

Now, therefore, be it known that I, William II. Sew ard, Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the second section of the act of Congress approved the 20th of April, 1818, entitled "An Act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States and for other purposes," do hereby certify that the Amendment aforesaid HAS DECOME VALID TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES AS A PART OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED

STATES.

IN testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Department of State to be af fixed. Done at the City of Washington, this 18th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 90th. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. In the list of States in our last Record it was assumed that Colorado would be formally admitted into the Union, making the whole number 57 instead of 36. Iowa was also said to have ratified the Amendment, whereas the proposition was acted

He adds, that if the

their Constitutional obligations; that the animosity
at the South growing out of the war is passing
away; and that North Carolina "will grasp the
hand of conciliation, if offered with generous and
magnanimous confidence."
acts of the people, in promptly complying with all
the provisions of the President's plan, are held in-
sufficient to entitle them to confidence, they can
hardly hope to do any thing which will be held
satisfactory.-This Message was delivered before
the President had shown the desired confidence in
the people of that State, by restoring the govern-
ment to their hands.

Governor Jenkins, of Georgia, in his Message says that in remodeling their Constitution the people have acknowledged the National Constitution as their supreme law, and have promised "fidelity to the supreme law in all future legislative, executive, and judicial action, and in all future movements of the people en masse." He urges the most generous treatment of the freedmen, and argues that the courts must be opened to them, and that in the assertion and defense of their rights they must be

allowed the benefit of the testimony of witnesses | if he did not deem himself authorized to proclaim

cumference.

iron; the keyhole is on the outside, the inner side being a complete blank. The door is secured by a huge swing bar, fastened by a padlock of about eighteen inches in cir"At ten o'clock on Thursday night the keys of the cell and corridor doors, with many others, were deposited in the Governor's room. The night was wild and stormy, and the prison authorities slept on in full security till about four o'clock in the morning, when the watchman for the night, whose duty it was to patrol the outer yards and passages around the prison, startled the Deputy Governor out of his sleep with the information that he had just discovered two tables piled against the boundary wall of the prison. An alarm was instantly sounded; the whole force of turnkeys, warders, etc., were at once assembled. Headed by the Governor, a number of them rushed to Stephens's cell, and found it empty; the door was wide open, the padlock lying on the ground together with the false key to which it had yielded; the cell door leading out on the stairs stood also open. Between this point and the spot where the tables were found there are no less than twelve doors, ten of which are always kept locked at night. One of the doors which should have been open was found locked; of the ten doors which should have been locked nine were found open; the tenth, a heavy solid iron door, was found locked from the outside, and the false key which opened it was found in the keyhole.

The Spanish Government appears to be at last waking up to the necessity of making some reforms in the administration of its West Indian colonies. A royal decree has been lately published, authorizing the Minister of the Colonies to form a commission to examine into the subject, of which the Minister of the Colonies is to be the President. Besides the officials and persons of rank to be examined by the commission, twenty-two delegates, natives or residents of the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, and chosen by the various corporate bodies there existing, are to be included, the Corporation of Havana electing two delegates, and the fourteen largest towns after Havana electing one each. Porto Rico, the capital of the island, is to elect two delegates, and the next four largest cities one each. In addition to the above, the Minister of the Colonies is empowered to select twenty-two others, sixteen for the Island of Cuba, and six for that of Porto Rico, who have resided at least four years in either of the islands, or who have served as public functionaries there, to be examined before the commission. Ex-Captain- Generals, Governors, etc., etc., are also to be examined, so that before under-else could have led him through the intricate by ways, taking the reform, the preliminary business of hear ing the various opinions pro and con will be the affair of a lifetime.

Spain persists in her demands upon Chili, and maintains the blockade-which seems nominal rather than effective-of the Chilean ports. It is said that the Spanish Admiral has been ordered to treat all Chilean privateers as pirates.

"It was seen at a glance that Stephens, the only person missing, had been guided by some one thoroughly acquainted with the devious windings of the prison; no one

yards, and unfrequented passages through which he had Stephens had escaped four keys only were necessary-a key passed. In order to open all the doors through which for the cell door, two latch keys for the outer doors, and a pass key' which opens some forty doors within the prison, including the door at the head of the staircase leading from Stephens's corridor, and eight others on his route to the boundary wall."

A reward of £1000 was offered for his apprehension; but the prevalent opinion is that he has eslikely make his way to America. caped from the country; if that is the case he will

On the River Plata the allies appear to be still successful. They were at last accounts pushing after the retreating Paraguayans; but the devastaLeopold, King of the Belgians, died at Brussels tion of the abandoned country, and the violent on the 9th of December at the age of 75. He was storms, rendered the pursuit by land slow and diffi- the son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and uncle of cult. The fleet had, however, advanced some dis- Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. In tance the Parana. The latest intelligence indi- 1816 he married the Princess Charlotte, the heir-apup cates that the Paraguayans have withdrawn entirely across the Upper Parana, out of Corrientes. parent to the British Crown, when a pension of The Brazilian fleet is at the mouth of the Paraguay, him. £50,000, besides other emoluments, was settled upon and the allied army has crossed the River Cor- continued to receive his pension, which for forty The Princess died within a year, but he rientes on its march to the Parana, near Goza. It will be sent in vessels up that river to the point se-ions of dollars-more than six times the entire salyears has amounted to fully twelve and a half milllected for further operations. Great sickness prevails among the land-forces.

In Great Britain several Fenians have been tried, convicted, and sentenced to long terms of confinement. Among those arrested was James Stephens, theHead Centre" or "President of the Irish Republic." Upon his trial he denied the right of the British Government to exercise any authority in Ireland, and declared that "I defy and despise any punishment it may inflict upon me." He was committed to prison, and extraordinary precautions were taken to prevent his escape. But he managed to effect his escape. The following, with some abridgments, is an account of the circumstances, as given by a newspaper correspondent:

"The corridor in which Stephens slept was securely locked, the cell door was kept locked, except during the hour allowed for exercise. This corridor forms the upper story of one wing of an L-shaped building; it is about thirty yards long, and is divided from its continuation in the other wing by a heavy, solid iron door, which was kept securely locked. At the wrong side of this door, through which they could not even see the prisoner's cell door, the three policemen were stationed. At the other end of the corridor is a massive iron door, with a huge lock, opening directly on the lobby of a stone staircase, by descending four flights of which you reach the ground. The door of the cell in which Stephens slept is cased with

aries of all the Presidents of the United States from Washington down. In 1830 the crown of Greece was offered him, as it was, a quarter of a century declined; and a year after, when Holland was forced later, to his grand-nephew, Prince Alfred. This he to consent to a dismemberment, he was made by the Great Powers King of Belgium. In 1832 he married a daughter of Louis Philippe, King of the French. He was an able and cautious statesman, and his kingdom, almost alone of the nations of the Continent of Europe, was undisturbed by the revolutions of 1848. He is succeeded by his son, under the title of Leopold II.

THE EAST.

From China we learn that the steamer Wanatah was captured by pirates while on the way from Shanghai to Foo Chow. Piracy in Chinese waters is on the increase. The district lying southeast of Pekin has been ravaged by troops of bandit cavalry. A body of 180 mounted rancheros made a raid to within two hundred miles of the capital. A force was sent out after them, but they made good their escape. The last strong-hold of rebellion in the province of the Kiangsi is reported to be evacuated. The insurgents, it is added, retreated to Fukien.

A

FRIEND in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, many miles from the residence of the scribe hereof Pennsylvania, writes:

A man was arrested for stealing chickens, and was brought before our court. The case was given to the jury, who brought him in guilty, and the Judge sentenced him to three months' imprisonment in our county jail. Captain Halleck, the jailer, was a jovial man, fond of a smile, and feeling particularly good on that particular day, felt insulted at once when the prisoner looked around his cell and told him it was dirty, and not fit for a hog to be put in. One word brought on another, and finally Captain H. told the prisoner that if he did not behave himself he would put him out; to which the prisoner replied, "Captain Halleck, I will give you to understand I have as good a right here as you have!"

THE New Bedford Mercury tells a story of "the height of economy-bordering on meanness. A man of immense wealth in one of our large cities was sick. At length, after some weeks of illness, he died during the hours of night. A child, only heir to his vast estate, sat by the window the next morning watching the advent of the physician. As he approached the house the bereaved one lifted the sash and cried out, "It is all over, doctor; you needn't come in."

PHOTOGRAPH of fashionable music; copied from the original:

Waw-kaw, swaw daw aw raw,

Thaw saw thaw law aw waw;
Waw-kaw taw thaw raw vaw yaw braw
Aw thaw raw-jaw saw aws.

Key to the above:

Welcome, sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes.

"AH, Sam, so you've been in trouble, have you?" "Yes, Jim, yes." "Well, cheer up, man! adversity tries us, and shows us our best qualities." "Ah, but adversity didn't try me; it was an old vagabond of a Judge, and he showed up my worst qualities."

FROM a town out West comes the following specimen of the smartness of its children:

We do have some smart children here; and here is one of them. A religious society worshiping not

decided to build a new church this season, and the pastor, among others, was chosen to solicit funds. He did his work very zealously, taking not only the widow's but the child's mites. Well, he has a class of children in the Sabbath-school, and one Sunday, not long since, while instructing them, he compared himself to the Good Shepherd, and then inquired what the latter did with his flock? One bright-eyed little fellow promptly replied, "He shears them!" There was some smiling at that answer.

A CLERGYMAN, a few Sabbaths since, was preaching a sermon upon Death, in the course of which he asked the question, "Is it not a solemn thought?" His little four-year boy, who had been listening with rapt attention to his father, immediately answered, in a shrill, piping voice, so as to be heard throughout the house, greatly to the amusement of the congregation, "Yes, Sir; it is."

reply.

"Does she have a table, and a spoon, and a little rattle ?"

"She has all she wants in heaven," answered mamma.

"Do they have beds in heaven?" persisted the child, springing at the same time into her own little nest.

The mother's attention had been called to something else, and she replied absently:

"I don't know; I never was there." Little Alice sprang up, and gazing earnestly at her mother, exclaimed:

"Didn't God make you?"

"Oh yes."

"And didn't you look around you when you was made?" demanded the child in accents of astonish

ment.

REV. SIMEON PARMLEE, well known in Northern Vermont, and for many years a settled minister in the town of Westford, used to relate the following respecting one of his parishioners, who was never known to engage in any religious conversation, so strongly was he attached to things earthly. Mr. Parmlee called one day to have a talk with him. He wished to have the minister walk over his wellcultivated farm, which request was complied with. After looking at his stock and crops, he waited for an opportunity to change the subject to things of a religious nature. At last the minister thought the time had arrived, when he said:

"All these are well enough in their place; but thou lackest one thing."

"Yes, yes," said the farmer: "a good cart. And I'll have it too."

The minister gave it up.

A TENDER-HEARTED railway engineer on a certain railroad says he never runs over a man when he can help it, because "it musses up the track so."

He thought a moment and replied: "Why, Aunty, I'd tend to things down here, G, at the age of fifteen, and was very small for and let God tend to things up there."