ed by abolitionists as an omen of total emancipation-upon such sandy foundations do these emissaries of Exeter Hall and New-England agrarianism build their castles in the air. A Brazilian gentleman, not interested in agriculture, one who had travelled both in our country and in Europe, assures me that this probability is so remote as to become an impossibility so long as the present form of government lasts. The suppression of the African slave-trade, and the utter absence of natural increase, may obliterate slavery; but that a country will hasten the consummation of such disaster to the very source of her commercial existence, I am not willing to believe-a country ruled by a man who is not the mere expedient of party exigencies, but the constitutional representative of a nation of slaveholders. Unfortunately, the constitution of Brazil makes all men equal, if they be free, be they black men or white men. The levelling effects of such laws need no demonstration. Plunge Brazil into a political revolution, and destroy the present Imperial government, and her army, composed for the best part of free negroes, will soon dictate its terms of emancipation to the nation, and the empire be converted into another Venezuela. The decrease in the slave population of this country may be attributed to other causes than that of climate. The inequality of the sexes has had undoubtedly its fatal effects. Marriage, it may be presumed, is hardly an institution where there is but one woman to every three men. This, I am told, is the case among the slaves in Brazil. A race so placed can neither improve in morals or in numbers. A little foresight in the introduction of a larger proportion of females from Africa would have prevented this evil—an evil that exists to a frightful extent in Cuba, where a generation of slaves is exhausted in seven years. If the present ratio of decrease is to continue in this empire, we may expect it to assume an increased per-centage. The demand for labor in the city of Rio de Janeiro is already depopulating the plantations in its immediate vicinity. When once in town, the slave has greater opportunities of making money wherewith to buy his freedom-a right given him by the civil law of the land. Once free, he may become a Prime Minister; he generally, however, degenerates into a soldier in the Imperial army, and becomes, instead of a producer, an idle and perhaps dangerous consumer. "The Amazon region with that of its tributaries must remain undeveloped until slave labor finds its way to the banks of those mighty waters. The tendency of that labor is at present to pass from that portion of the empire to the coffeegrowing provinces of the South. Attempts to introduce other than African labor have been fruitless in their results. We, who are blessed with even a less tropical climate, need no assurances of the probability of such a failure. The rich bottom lands of the Amazon harbor, amidst their luxuriant vegetation, cause miasmas that are deadly to the white man. The sun, that scorches with untempered fervor the hill-sides of the Parahybra, is not the one the blue-eyed Teuton would prosper and labor under. Had Brazil twenty millions of slaves Amazonia might become indeed a paradise. With the AngloAmerican as the master of the soil, and with that race as his bondsman, which God has given us in earnest trust for their welfare, she might realize all that her natural fertility suggests. As Brazil is, she has not the power to wrestle with European prejudices. A race which has so large an admixture of caste has not the essential qualities of progressive development; hence ignorance, superstition, and social and political inharmoniousness; and with all of these, worst of all, licensed amalgamation, the raising up a hybrid race with titles to rule and govern -a nation who, as people, never had, or never can have either a history or a literature. "Men who have been years in Brazil deem that this is the time when she stands upon the mountain-top of her prosperity, and that in a few years more she will commence to descend into the valley of decay. Certain this is, her existence depends upon the development of her slave labor, and the increase of her wealth is to be measured by its welfare and extension. England's omnipresent navy is hard by to prevent the introduction of more slaves, and we have an occasional old frigate or truculent little brig to lend a hand. Motives of political and domestic economy may induce us to prohibit the introduction of slaves into our own country, but the soundness and constitutionality of the policy of forcing our opinions upon another nation (a weaker one, too) with shot and shell, is to be questioned. When, through the agency of her navy and her diplomacy, England may have reduced Brazil to the condition of her own Jamaica, we presume she will rest contented; but it is for us, at least of the South, to say how far we will share in the hellish work. To us who have struggled for wiser provisions, the example of the present condition of Brazil may warn us of the dangers we have escaped, amidst the storms of fanaticism which have beset us. May we, too, be taught the value of truth, unity, and boldness, in maintaining our rights in the future." 3.-SLAVE LIFE PREFERRED BY NEGROES. A few days ago, Ben. H. Baker, Esq, says the Montgomery, Alabama, Mail, visited the city, and caused to be introduced a bill, in the Legislature, by which twelve free negroes are allowed to become slaves. The bill passed both Houses, and was signed by the Governor-the speedy transaction of the affair being caused, mainly, by the entire confidence which members of both Houses (in which he has frequently served, hitherto), have in the personal integrity and fine intelligence of Mr. Baker. The facts are briefly these: these negroes, men, women, and children, have been reared by Mr. Young Edwards, of Russell county, and have always lived with him as servants. Lately, some one informed these negroes that, being free, the Sheriff would be required to expel them, under a provision of the Code, within thirty days. At this they were greatly alarmed, and protested that they were unwilling to leave their master, and were perfectly willing to remain as his slaves, and in fact preferred it. Mr. Baker visited the negroes, explained to them their position and rights fully; and the upshot was, they induced him to come and lay their case before the Legislature, asking it to allow them to become the slaves of Mr. Edwards. The bill was accordingly passed. It provides that the Probate Court of Russell shall have the negroes brought before it, and diligently take testimony to ascertain if any undue influence has been used to obtain their consent to become slaves; and upon being satisfied that they, wittingly and with full knowledge of their rights, desire to enter a state of servitude, shall decree them to be the slaves of the person they may choose to be their owner. These negroes know what their own best interest is. They will be better fed and clothed than ever Horace Greeley or Lucy Stone was, before those worthies made money by shovelling the filth of fanaticism; they will be better rewarded for their labor, than any operative in any cotton mill, in all Lawrence; and, in sickness and old age, forever, will be tended carefully, and surrounded with all necessary comforts. And so they don't choose to go into the wretchedness, privation, and squalor of free negro life in the North. 4. THE OLD TOWN OF GOLIAD, TEXAS. Those who have lived for some years in this State, are acquainted with the history of the old town of Goliad or La Bahia. It was founded at an early period after the arrival of the Spaniards in Texas. The town is on the west bank of the San Antonio river. It once contained near three thousand inhabitants. During the war between Spain and Mexico, Gutierrez was besieged in the Mission by a large Spanish force, but beat them off. The missionary priests had in charge a large number of Indians. These were controlled by overseers, and compelled to work. Many of them acquired considerable property in cattle and horses. By frequent intermarriages with Mexicans, and casualties, these tribes have almost disappeared. Goliad was at one time a place of business. The trade carried on between it and the Rio Grande towns was by no means inconsiderable. It was a sort of half-way house between different points for the transfer and barter of merchandise and various products. There was a custom-house near the old Mission fort, the ruins of which yet remain. The church proper consists of an oblong rcom, about twenty by eighty. It is now used for worship. The church fixtures and adornments are plain and unos tentatious. The officiating priest is a Frenchman. He complains of a want of interest in religious matters on the part of his parishioners, and the inadequacy of his salary. The roof of the church is arched, and composed of solid masonry. It is surrounded by a stone wall, some three huudred and fifty feet square; at each corner is a bastion out of repair. The whole commands the San Antonio river and the town. It was in this place that Fannin could have made his best defence against the Mexicans in 1836. He is said to have had an abundance of provisions, and of arms and ammunition. When he decided to retreat, he burnt his provisions in the church, beneath the choir. The marks of the flames are still visible on the walls. These works have been constructed many years. On the top of the church, and in the bastion at the northwest corner, a couple of trees are growing. The Mexicans call them Anacuas. In the northwest corner of the wall are the ruins of a large building, once occupied as quarters for troops and officers, and also used as a court-house. Col. Fannin destroyed many of the houses, and prepared for a vigorous defence. When he received General Houston's order to fall back, he delayed his departure to concentrate the Texan forces. Ward and King were thirty miles distant, at Refugio; Grant on the Agua Dulce, eighty miles distant, and Pierce at San Patricio, sixty miles. These detachments were attacked and beaten in detail by the Mexicans. Near the Fort are the points where Fannin's men were butchered. He was shot within the walls, near the guard-house, which is much dilapidated. Near where he is said to have closed his career, there lies a long iron twelve-pounder. The old town of Goliad is classic, venerated ground. It is consecrated in the heart of every Texan. Here a bloody offering was made upon the shrine of liberty by the sacrifice of men battling in the holiest of causes. Here perfidy completed a work oppression had contemplated. The funeral wail which ascended to heaven from many a woe-stricken heart, made sad and desolate by this massacre, was an overture, a prelude to the song of triumph which arose from the plains of San Jacinto, where a crimson field was piled with dead, and where the dreadful war-cry of vengeance bore back the minds of victors and vanquished to the" Alamo," and to Goliad." The "Old town" is inhabited principally by Mexicans. There are some sixty or seventy families. The houses are built in the Mexican style, presenting quite a contrast to the architecture of the new town on the west side of the river. There are four stores. There is a race-track in the edge of the town. On Sundays, the people attend mass in the morning, and in the evening, cock fights and fandangoes. The manners of the residents are essentially Mexican. Here are a couple of towns divided by a small river, displaying traits of nationality as distinct and variable as it is possible for them to exist. 5.-A CONTINUOUS RAILWAY FROM BANGOR TO NEW-ORLEANS. There has been completed this month the last two links in the great chain of railways from Maine to Louisiana-the first, the last twenty-five miles on the Mississippi Central, and the second, of sixty-one miles between Lynchburg and Charlotteville, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, popularly known as the Lynchburg extension. This route, as will be seen by the following table of distances, is within a fraction of 2,000 miles in length, from Bangor to New-Orleans, of a continuous rail track, with the exception of four short ferries, viz. the Hudson river, the Susquehanna, the Potomac and the James river, at Lynchburg, the last two of which will soon be supplied with bridges: ...... From New-Orleans to Canton, Miss., by the N. O., J. and G. N. R. R. 206 165 219 From Stephenson to Chattanooga, Tenn., by the Nashville and Chattanooga R. R. 38 From Chattanooga to Cleaveland, Tenn., by the Cleaveland and Chattanooga R. R. 29 130 204 169 6 From Cleaveland to Knoxville, Tenn., by the East Tennessee and Georgia R. R... 83 From Philadelphia to New-York, by the Philadelphia and New-York Railway... From Springfield to Worcester, by the Western Railway. From Boston to Portland, Me., by the Eastern and Portland and Saco and Portsmouth Railways... .... 39 98 87 74 62 98 45 107 From Portland to Bangor by the Penobscot and Kennebec and A. & K. R. R. 137 Total 1996 This vast chain of railways is composed of eighteen independent roads, costing in the aggregate for 2,394 miles of road, $92,784,084, or nearly one tenth of the whole railway system of the United States, of which 1,996 miles are used in this continuous line. The roads from Washington City to New-Orleans, embracing a distance of 1,249 miles, have had the contract for the great through mail to New-Orleans, once a day, since the 1st July, 1858. Now that these two links are completed, we hope to see the department, if it is ever again in a position to pay contractors, to carry out the original plan of two day mails, in 75 hours, between Washington City and New-Orleans, which is the schedule time proposed by the different companies when the contract was awarded.-American Raitway Gazette. 6. AUGUSTA A MANUFACTURING CITY. In the much writing and talking about Southern manufactures, it is to be hoped that the facilities which already exist in our midst for manufacturing articles of general utility, will not be overlooked. Many years ago a spirit was aroused in this city, which resulted in the construction of the Augusta canal, and secured, as was then supposed, power enough to drive the spindles of a second Lowell. Cotton factories, flour mills, and machine works, sprung into existence, and without dwelling on the long chain of changes and reverses through which some of them have passed, we find to-day a large first class factory, probably employing several hundred operatives, turning out a style of goods unsurpassed in any market. Arrangements are on foot for putting the other mill into full operation. We find four first class flour mills, capable of turning out over a thousand barrels of flour per day, all, we believe, paying handsome dividends. The machine works are getting up stoves of very popular patterns, and of excellent quality and finish, in every respect. There is, on the canal, ample power, unemployed, for propelling novelty works of every description and we trust the day is not distant when our tubs, buckets, brooms, axe-handles, spokes, hubs, and a thousand et ceteras, will be manufactured here. In the city we have first class foundries, car shops, cabinet works, barrel factories, and some of our merchants contemplate starting he manufacture of readymade clothing. We already have one or two large establishments for the manufacture of grain bags, and one for the manufacture of shirts. In our immediate vicinity, and owned chiefly by our citizens, is a very extensive paper mill, where news-paper, equal to any manufactured in the country, is supplied. Then the Kaolin Porcelain Works is another Augusta enterprise, which is proving a splendid success. The profits on last year's business were, we learn, very handsome, and the prospects are now brighter than ever. A New Mill.-The Richmond Factory, for the manufacture of both cotton and woollen goods-is being re-built, and will be in operation in the course of the year. 1 There are other enterprises worthy of note, which we reserve for future notice; but from what we have already enumerated, it will be seen that Augusta already has no mean claims to notice, and to the patronage of those who are manifesting such a warm and commendable interest in Southern manufactures. Who will show their faith by their works, and buy Augusta-made goods, in preference to others of like value and cost, made abroad? Let merchants answer. And while our country friends are looking around among our shops and factories, we will prepare a brief outline of the articles imported by our merchants, and present some of the claims of Augusta to patronage and favor as an importing city.Augusta Dispatch. 7.-PRODUCTION OF OTTO OF ROSE. The otto of rose with which at the present day the English market is supplied, is produced in Turkey on the plains lying south of the Balkan mountains. Otto of rose is also collected in Provence, in the South of France, by the distillers of rose water, and this otto, the production of which is very limited, realizes a high price. In the State of Tunis, in Persia, and in the northern parts of India, otto of rose is also manufactured, but none from these countries finds its way into the London market.* With regard to Turkey, the chief localities in which the rose is cultivated for the production of otto, are Kizanlik, a large town lying on the southern side of the Balkans, about seventy miles to the north of Adrianople. At Eski-Zaghra, in the valley of the Tunja, to the southeast of Kizanlik, tho rose is also cultiva ted on a large scale, and at Carlova; also on the southern side of the Balkans, and about 100 miles from Adrianople, much otto is said to be produced. The flowering season commences in May, and the roses are usually collected before sunrise every morning. Wheu the weather is dry and hot, the flowering season is short, and the roses blooming about the same time, it is impossible to collect them all. The process followed is the simple one of distilling the roses with water in copper stills, of no very considerable dimensions, and collecting the otto from the distilled product. The otto of rose is transported from the producing districts in large, flat, tin bottles, covered with thick, white felt, and bearing a calico label inscribed with Turkish characters. By the dealers at Constantinople it is transferred to cut and gilt glass bottles, imported from Germany, and in these it usually finds its way to the markets of Europe. Sometimes, however, the large tin bottles are imported into London, it being supposed (and with some reason) that the otto they contain has escaped being tampered with at Constantinople. According to the official returns prepared for the Board of Trade, the quantities of otto of rose imported into the United Kingdom upon which duty was paid, were, during four years, as under: The duty is one shilling per pound. 8. THE ISLAND OF FERNANDO PO. In the Report of the Expedition recently sent to the Spanish possessions on the coast of Africa, published by order of the Queen, a minute account is given of this remarkable and beautiful island, from which we have made out the following Ghazeepore, -on the Ganges, is famous for its manufacture of rose water and otto of rose. The latter I would willingly have examined, but have been unable to obtain a specimen, or in fact, of any Indian otto of rose in a state of purity. Tunisian otto of rose, valued at an enormous price, was sent to the great exhibitio 1851, but I had no opportunity of obtaining a sample. |