, POE TRY.
HUMAN LIFE.
How swiftly pass our years !
How soon their night. comes on ;
A train of hopes and fears,
A. And human life is gone !
See the fair summer now is past;
The foliage late that clad the trees
\ Stript by the equiiioctial blast,
Falls like dew-drops in the breeze.
Cold winter hastens on,
Fair nature feels his grasp;
\Veeps over all her beauties gone,
And sighs her glory past.
So, life, thy summei' soon will end ;
Thine, Autumn too will quick decay,
And winter come. when thou shalt bend
\Vit.liin the tanib to mould away.
But siiirinier will return,
In all her beauties dressed 1
Nature shall yet rejoice again,
And be by man caressed.
But ah 1 life’s summer passed away,
Can never, never hope return!
Cold winter comes with clieerless rav,
To beam upon its dreary urn ! I
I‘ hen may we daily seek
A mansion in the skies,
VVlicre summers never cease,
I And glory never dies :
There an eternal Sp1'll]_1 shall bloom;
\Vith joys a vast as angels’ powers .'
And thrice ten thousand liarps in tune
Shall praise the love that made it ours.
THE UNCONSCIOUS ORPI-IAN.
bifother, I have found a tear
In yoi.ir eye—-liow came it there?
More are coming-—now they chase
‘One another down your face,
How I feel your bosom heave !
\Vhat does make you sob and grieve?
Let me wipe your tears away,
Or_I cannot go to play.
\Vliy is father sleeping so ?
Put me down and let me go—
Let me go where I can stand
Near enougli to reach his hand.
\Vhy ! it feels as stiff and cold
-As a piece of ice to hold !
Lift me tip to kiss his cheek;
Then, perhaps he’ll wake and speak.
l\Iotlier! oh, it is not he,
For he will not look at me.
Father had not cheeks so white ;
See, the lips are fastened tight!
Father always spoke, and smiled,
Calling me his darling child ;
He would give and ask a kiss
\Vhen I caiiie—B ut who is this ?’
If’tis father, has he done
Speaking to his little one ?
\Vill lieiiiever, never more
Know and love me, as before ?
Could he hear what we have said?
Tell me, what. is beingdcad '1
Oh, he does n’t breathe a breath !
l\Iother, wliat‘s the cause of death ?
'lt‘H'E P.-i%.E.é_€HER.
ON THE BELIEF OF GOD.
FRt).\f GlLl’l_\'.
Vc. prove the bcirig of a God, first, from the
ation of the world.
I he world must have been produced either by
ign, or by chance. No other mode of origin
biz supposed. Let us see then with wliieh
liese characters it is impressed.
lle’Cl)aI‘aC[Cl‘lSll(: of the works of design, is a
tion of parts, in order to produce an end.—
e characteristic of the works of chance isjust
reversef \Vhen we see stones, answering
h other, laid in the form of :1 regular building,
iiniiiediat.elv say, they were put together liy
ign : but when we see them thrown about in
isorderly heap, we say as confidently, they
*e been thrown so by chance.
-’ow,iii' the wor'i:l,:iii(l all its appendagcsaliere
ilainly this appeai‘-.iiicc of design. One part
ates to 31lOll‘l(~’!", and the whole together pro-
es an end. The sun, for instance, is con-
cted with the eartli, by warming it iiit;o at
oper heat, for the productioii of its fruits; and
nishing it with raiii and dew. The earth
in is connected with all the vegetables which
roduces, by providing them with proper soils
d juices for their nourisliment. These again
connected with animals, by supplying them
tli ‘food. And the whole together produces
ugreat end ofsustaiiiing the lives ofiiiiiiinicr-
le creatures.
Nor is design shown only in the grand fabric
the world, and all its relative ap_pe_ndages ; ‘it
equally shown in everY Pam 1‘ ‘5_ 5?‘3_“ 19
ery animal, adapted in all its peculiarities to
proper mode of life. It is seen in every veg-
.able furnished with parts exactly suited to its
situation. In the least as well as in the greatest
of nature's productioiis, it is every Where appa-
rent. The little creeper upon the Wall, 6Xt0nd-
ing its tenacious fibres, draws 110ll1”iSllmCI1l fI‘0m
‘ crannies of the stones; and flourishes Where
tlicr plant could live.
‘then the world, and every P?1Ft0f it, are
marked with the cliaracter Of design, 1h<«‘F€
be no difiiculty in ackiiowlcdglflgthe author
uch dcsign—of such amazing C01WiV'8Ut'C
varictv, io be a being of infinite wisdom and
'er. \Ve call a man ingenious, who makes
it a common globe, with all the parts of the
h delineated upon it. \Vliat shall we say
of the Author of the great original itself, in
its grandeur, and furnished with all its vari-
inhabitants ?
‘he argument drawn from the preservation
1,33 jVOl‘l(.l, is indeed rather the last argument
ginced a step farther.
l'f chance could be supposed to produce a reg-
ar form, yet it is certainly beyond the highest
grec of crerlulity, to suppose it could continue
is regularity; '-r any time. But we find it has
en continued. Ive find, that near 6000 years
vr: made no clia‘_‘ge in the order and harmony
lie." world. The"'sun’s action upon the earth
"it ever been regular. The production oftrees,
:t~~,, and herbs, bath ever been uniform.-
r-‘ced produces now the same fruit it ever
livery species of animal life is still the
Could chance coiitimie this regular ar-
1' :-ment? Could any thing continue it, but
- hand of an oinnipotent God ?
Lastly, we see this great trut.li, the being ofa
id ‘»Vllllf,'S'\.'t:til by the general consent ofman-
"Kl. This general coiiseiitiiiiist arise either
ii. tradition, or it iiiust be the result ofinen’s
:: rcasoiiiiig. Upon either supposition, it is
..-3-Tglll‘llt‘tlll. equally strong. If the first suppo-
n be allowed, it will be difficult to assign
source of this tradition, but God liiiiiself.—
be second, it can scarce be supposed that all
Tllihlds in tlillbrent. parts of the world, should
rec. in the bclicfofa thing, which never ex-
d. For though doubts have arisen (-.oi‘icei.'n-
_ this general belief, yet it is now pretty well
,ertained, from the accounts of travellers, that
nat.ioii hath been yet discovered, among whom
e traces of religious worship have not hog“
rid.
Be it so, says the objector; yet still we find
igle persons, even in civilized countries, and
e of them riieii of enlarged capacities, who
vc not only had their doubts on this stibjcct,
t have proclaiined aloud their disbelief of a
’ll]t3 being.
‘vVe aiiswer, that it is more t.lia.n probable, no
n’s infidelity on this head was ever thorough-
scttlcd. Bad iiicn rather endeavor to con-
\!:"\‘
ice tliciiiselvcs, than are really convineed.——
t even on a supposition, that a few such per-
is could be found, what is their testimony
'nst so great a majority as the rest of man-
d? The light of the sun is universally ae-
wlicdged, though it happens that, now and
ii, a man may be blind.
BY WEI. G. HYER.
V93” E8.
But since, it sccius, there are dillicultics in
supposing a divine creator and preserver of the
suppose attended with fewer’! He sees the world
produced before him. He sees it hath been cre-
dlcd; and is preserved. Some account of this
matter must be given. If ours displease him;
let us have his.
The experiment hath been tried. \Ve have
had many atlieistical crecds: none of which
hath stood the test of being handed down with
any degree of credit into future times.
The atlicist’s great argument indeed against a
Deity is levelled at the apparent injustice of his
government. It was an objection of ancient
date ; and might have had its weight in heathen
times; but it is one of the blessings which at-
tends christianity, that it satisfies all our doubts
on this head; and gives us a rational and easy
solution of this poignant objection. \Vliat if we
observe an inaccurate distribution of the things
of this world ? \Vliat if we observe an inaccu-
rate distribution of the things of this world ?—
\Vliat if virtue be depressed and vice triumpli-
ant? It is nothing, says the voice of religion, to
him, who believes this life to be an inconsidera-
bl_e part of his being; a point only in the ex-
panse of eternity; who believes he is -sent into
this world, merely to prepare liiiriself for a bet-
ter. This world, he knows, is intended neither
for reward nor punishment. Happiness unques-
tionably atteiids virtue even here, and misery
vice: but it is not the happiness of a splendid
station, but of a peaceful mind; nor is it the
misery of low circumstances, but of a guilty
coriscieiice. The things of this world are not,
in their own nature, connected either with hap-
piness or misery. Attended sometimes by one
and sometimes by the other, they are merely
the means of trial. One man is tempted with
riches, another with poverty; btit God intends
neither an elevated, nor a depressed situation, as
the ultimate completion ofliis will.
Besides, if worldly prosperity even was the
iiidieatioii of Got’s favor, yet good men may
have failings and iiiiprudeiicies enough about
them to deserve iiiisfortune; and bad men vir-
tues which may deserve success. \Vliy should
iiiiprudence, though joined with virtue, partake
ofits reward .7 Or the generous purpose share in
the punisliment, though connected with vice?
1 EISCE LLANY.
‘\V.isiii.\'c'i'o.\' .~..vn BO_‘.‘APAR'1‘i-Z.
If \Vasliiiigtoii and Bonaparte are r.-oniparcd,
man with rriaii, the genius of the first will seem
to take a less lolly [light than that of the second.
\Vasliiiigtoii belongs not, like Bonaparte, to the
race Bf the Alexanders and Caesars, who siirpass
the ordinary stature of the human race. He is
not seen contending on a vast theatre for glory
with the greatest captains and most powerful
inonarclis of the earth. He traverses no seas;
he hurries not from Mem pbis to Vienna, ,l*‘rl"ll]
Cadiz to iVIos-cow. His work is the simple one
of defending liiiiiself, with a handful of citizens,
within the narrow circle of domestic hearths, in
a land without a past and without celcbrit.y.—
He gains none of those battles which renew the
'triuinplis of Arbcla and Pharsalia; he puts not
his foot upon the necks of kings; he does not say
to tliein, waiting on the vestibule of his palace,
“Attended the pleasure of Attila !”
A cei-taiu spirit of silence envelopes the ac-
tions of \Vashiiigtoii ; a slow caution marks them
all. One would say that he had ever the semi-
ment of his great mission within him, and that
he feared to comproriiise it by rashness. His
own personal destiny seems not to have entered
into the calculations of this here of a new spe-
cics. The destinies of his country alone occu-
pied him, and he did not permit himself to risk
or gamble with what did not belong to him, but
from this profound obscurity what light breaks
forth! Seek through the unknown forests where
the sword of \Vasliington glittered, and what
will you find there ?—Tombs‘! No! A world.
\Vasliington has left the United States as the
trophy ofhis field of battle.
Bonaparte possessed no single trait of this grave
American. His wars were all waged upon an
ancient continent, eiiviroiied by splendor and
stunning with noise. His object was personal
glory. His individual destiny filled all his
thoughts. He seems to have known that his
mission would be short, that the torrent which
fell from such a height would quickly expend its
force. He liurried forward to enjoy and to abtise
his glory, as if aware that it was afugitiv dream
of youth. Like the gods of Homer, four steps
must suflice him to reach the end of the world.
Every shore sees his apparition. His name is
inscribed on the records of every natiori——but
prccipitately. In his hurried career he scatters
crowns to his family and his soldiers. His mon-
uments, his laws, his victories, are all the work
of haste. Hanging as a portcnt over the world,
with one hand he overtlirows kings, and with
the other strikes the revolutionary giant to the
earth: but in crushing anarchy lie stifled liber-
ty, and in the end lost his own on his last field
of battle.
Each of these men has been recoinpensed ac-
cording to his works. \Vasliingt.on, after having
raised a nation to independence, slept peaceful-
1y. as a ret.ired magistrate, under his paternal
roof, amid the regrets of his countrymen, and the
veneratioii of all people.
Bonaparte, having robbed a nation of its in-
depeudciicc, was hurled, adetlironed emperor,
into exile, and the terrified earth haidly thought
him secure enough even under the custody of
the ocean. E vcu whilst, exhausted and chain-
ed to a rock, he was struggling with death, Eti-
rope dared not lay down her arms in her fear of
him. He died; and this event. published at the
gate of the palace before which the conqueror
had proclaimed so iriaiiy funerals, hardly arres-
ted the passer by. VVliat, indeed, had citizens
to weep for? -
\Vasliiugton and Bonaparte both arose out of
the bosom of a republic; both were born of lib-
erty; the first was faitliftil to it. Their lot will
be, according to the dillercnt parts they chose,
very diflisreiit with future generations. The
naine of Wasl'iiiigtoii will spread with liberty
from age to age, and riiark the coiiiirieucetncut
ofa new era for the human race. The name of
Boiiaparte will be pronounced also by distant
generations, but ii_o benediction will be attached
to it; it will serve, on the contrary, as an au-
thority to oppressors, great and petty, of all times.
\Vasliiiigt.on represented completely the wants,
the itleas, the state of cnligliteiiiiient, and opiii-
ions ofliis cpocli. 1-le seconded, instead ofthwart-
iiig, the advancing movement. He willed that
which he ought to have willed—the fulfilment
of the mission to which he was called. Hence
the coherence and perpetuity of his work. This
man who strikes the imagination so slightly, be-
cause he was natural, and kept within his just
proportions, has confounded his existence with
that of his country. His glory is the common
patrimony of increasing civilization. His re-
nown rises like one of those sanctuaries whence
world, what system of things does the atlieisf
.3. .
"A
'_ PRINC1'1’Ll£S AND ._7_\'t'_§-_‘1'.
$2 PER ANNUM.
_'. 7,“
l“€€}R$VAE.H£,iiE%‘Es.EltB.s.‘£Z, sins. e, raise.
a stream, pure and iiiexhaiistiblc, flows forth for
ever for the solace of i.lic peoplc..
Bonaparte might also have enriclicd the pub-
lie domain. His act.ion was on the nation the
most intelligent, the most brave, the most brill-
iant of the earth. \Vliat a rank would he have
occupied at present in the universe, if he had
joined magnanimity to his other heroic qualities ;
if, \Vashington and Bonaparte at the same time,
he had nominated liberty the iiilieritrix of his
glory!
But this disproportioned giant did not coin-
pletcly identify his destiny with that ofhis couii—
try; his geiiius belonged to the modern, his ain-
bition to ancient times. He did not perc-iive
that the miracles of his life by far surpassed the
value ofa diadem, and that this Gothic ornament
but ill became him. Sometimes one might see
him take a step with the age ; at others he would
retrograde towards the past. But whether he
rcaseciided the stream of time, or followed its
course, the prodigious force ofliis genius seemed
to command a flow or a reflux at his will. Men
were, in his eyes, only a means of power ; there
was no sympathy between their welfare and his
own. He promised to liberate, and he encliain-
ed them. He separated himself from them, and
they shrunk back from him. The kings ofEgypt
built their funeral pyramids, not amid fertile
plains, but sterile sands. On a like site has
Bonaparte constructed the monument of his re-
I10W11- Chateaubriand.
THE P.-\Ii\"1‘ER D.-xvii) AND THE DUKE or
\VELLiNG'roN.-—Tlie Cabinet de Lecture tells
the following as an authentic anecdote ofa visit
paid by the Duke of \Vellingtoii in 181-5 to the
atalicr of the painter David, in Brussels, where
he was at that time in exile. VVe find David in
his ncglige at work when the Duke entered, as
yet unannounced; the noise of the spurs of the
English party having attracted the painter’s at-
tciition, the following is said to have ensued :~—-
Turiiiiig round, David saw the red uiiiforin.
“Geiitlinen,” said he with a slight inclination of
the head, “whom have I the pleasure of addres-
sing ?” The foremost of the party replied, “I
am the Duke of \Vellingtoii.” David blushed
at the name like a child, btit immediately recov-
eijiig, r pfid with an inexpressible coldness,
“Sir, \ at an I do t.o oblin " ‘.\’hat is
there here at vs" .. . . ice .1" '1 no Duke, quite
su:‘p::i.-T;-.i at tiie icyticss of hisjnianrier, replied,
“I wished to behold an artist of so much celebri-
ty, and as you have painted Buoiiaparte”—-“You
mean the Emperor,” interrupted ‘ David with a
haughty tone, and blushing again with rage, he
took offliis old liemlet, (which he invariably
wore while painting ) “Exactly,” said the
Duke, ; “I have come, that you may take my
portrait.” David looked at him with a fixeil
gaze for some inonicnts and with an air of sur-
: run
POLITICAL.
l_iFPOB.T UPON THE POST OFFICE.
Jll ‘the Senate, yesterday, Mr. Ewing, from
the Coiiiiiiittee on the (:‘enc-ral Post Ollice,
tli_t;_f_{.~2;ate dtiriiig the late recess of Congress)
iiiarle a report.
Tlie reading of this report occupied the Son-
ate until the hour of adjotiriiinciit, and was not
contzliitlctl when the Senate adjourned.
,A-: it is doubtful wlietlici'itv:ill ever be possible
for us to publish the whole of this report, (liow-
e‘.'<-r dc.—.:ii‘able it would be to do so,) we have
ttxgggl '»:r...‘-'elves of a erisual opportunity to
, ni.,..f- such an abstract of the Report, in this and
the followiiig coluniiis, as time allows, without
liniitiiig ourselves to that part only of it which
llas been read in the Senate.
’.l"he Report, notwithstanding its large volume
and the evidence which it carries on its face,
and in its bulk, of great labour and persever-
ant e is not definitive, but rather a report of the
progress of the Committee, so far as they have
”'0ll‘J.
’.l‘lie Report, after stating the meeting of the
committee in this city on the 19th of Septeinlser
last, and the accoiniiiodatioii of a room in the
Post Oliice afforded to them for their sittings,
commences with a description of the confused
state of the Books of the Post Office, which
rendered it impracticable to ascertain with any
tiling like acuracy the true state of the liiiaiices
oftlic Post Olfice or of the accounts of individ-
uals with it. In many cases, the state of an
account, in important particulars, was only to be
gut-ht-3~ecl from pencil marks in the margin of the
books. Of the iiiacuracy of these accounts sev-
eral instances have been stated; of which, as
our analysis of the Report iriust necessarily be
very brief, a single instance, quoted from the
-I-3.4,-1.;-aI.'t. as follows, must serve as an example:
“Your Committee called for the account of
JaniesReeside, and it was shown to them on the
leger, when there appeared a balance against
him, on the 1st April, 183-'1, of :3-l-5,309 07.
The accounting otlicers, however, informed
your Committee that the ledger did not present
all the credits to which Mr. Reeside was entitled,
anti they have since exhibited an account con-
ta lug many ad tional credits, by which there
3- ’.2ll' to be a ba ance in his favor on the 1st
'o... ai"y 1834 of $7,-. 29 55, ranking a'<lill'ereiice of
about $61,000. Some of the credits bear date
between the 1st of April and 1st ofJnly, but a
large part of the amount is made up of entries
Wl1l.('l1, if entitled at all to a place in the account
belonged to a date prior to the 1st ofApril, 1834.
The correctness of those several credits will be
considered in another part oftliis report.”
In consequence of the difficulty experienced
by the committee from these causes, in arriving
prise, replied, “Sir, you must know I paint none
but historical subjects.” “I know it—yes re-,
plied the Eiiglisliiiian affectirig a smile ; “I aiir, I
not a being of romance; you have reiitlered ' — .
niaii—"liis finger pointing to the picture of Ix"
poleon, on which the painter had been engaged
when the party entered; “I will pay liberally
for a portrait from so celebrated an artist.”-
“Sir,” was David’s reply, “I have already told
you that I paint none but historical subjects .—-
And besides——I never paint Eiiglislin_ien.”—-
The painter turned round to the picture on
which he had been engaged, as if there was no
one in the room besides himself, upon which the
Duke went away as he had entered, unpainted
by David.
COMI’AR.-XTIVE EFFECTS or DIFFERENT Li-
Quons.—Professor Eaton states, that from ob-
servations he made on the effects of iiitemper-
ance, upon ditlerent persons, he thinks the fol-
lowing results clearly established. Those who
drink cider, wine, perry, brandy, and cider bran-
dy, present red, bloclied, and highly-inflamed
stirfaccs. Those who drink gin become pale
and debilitated. Those who drink rum show a
medium aspect. Hence he infers that, although
alcohol is always the same, there is something
combined with it which gives a different char-
acter to its effects; that alclioholic liquors, from
seculent fruits, such as grapes, apples, pears,
and peaches, have a tendancy towards the sur-
face; that the juice from the farinacious seeds,
as wheat, rye, corn, oats, and barley, cause a
recussion of fluid towards the heart, and that
when acoliol is derived from the herbage of
plants, as the stalk ofthe sugar-caiie, its effects
are of the medium kind.—-()racle of Health.
THE RUINS or POMPI-Zll.—-By accounts from
Naples, it appears that the excavations are still
carried on at Pompeii with activity. During
the last week the whole of the street leading
from the Temple of F ortuiie to the gate of Isis,
and which crosses the centre of the city, has
been discovered. Great progress has also been
made in the traverse streets, one of which leads
to the theatre, and one to the Temple ofAugu.<:-
tin. At the extremity of the first an alter had
been found richly decorated with the protecting
genius, represented in the form of a serpent.-
Two houses of the street of Fortune have, at
length, been entirely excavated, and a great
many very curious articles in bronze, iron, and
ivory, have been discovered.
A singular and inelancliolly incident occur-
red at \Vashington on \Vednesday :—Mr. Ben-
ton in the Senate had just reported a bill for the
relief of Col. John Hudry, of New Orleans,
when it was announced that Col. H. had that
morning committed suicide! Mr. Benton ex-
pressed his astonishment and regret at so melan-
choly an occurrence, and took the opportunity to
say thatlie was well acquainted with Col. Hudry
at New Orleans, where he behaved with great gal-
aiitiy during the late war, - and sustained great
pecuniary sacrifices. He also believed that the
claim was perfectly correct and just. Mr. Por-
ter remarked that he knew the individual well,
aiid knew him to be a most estimable man.-—
He did behave himself most gullantly at New
Orleans, both on the 23d of'Decc-inbcr and on
the 8th of January, 1815, and expended tliere’_iii
various iiiiiiiitoiis of war from ten to llll.CBllll10lI-
sand dollars from his private purse, for which he
had never been compensated.
The Senate then proceeded to consider the
bill, which was amended so as to make the al-
lowaiice (about. $1366) to the heirs and ‘legal
representatives of Col. Joliu I-Iudry. Th :’ lil‘
-was then ordered to be engrossed and, ad-
third time.—-M" ‘M _
.,,
SLEIGH Ilin1~:.-—On
ordered citizens of Merrimack honored our vil-
lage with a sleigh ride, the like of which we
never saw before. Forty—orie cotiplcs, occupy-
ing more than half a mile, are not what we of-
ten see,-—yet this we saw on Thursday. Ev-
ery thiiig appeared to be got. up in a peculiar
style of splendor. They were preceded by a
marshal, mounted on an elegantly caparisoned
horse! and accompanied by a band of music,
jiistice.
re‘ . .
0
’§':-‘? .‘;'-.»- ‘~ *-
Thursday last, theii-Vfifiififli
at true results, from the books, the committee
-I-iiipl.-iyecl two acountaiits, unanimously approv-
ed, to -‘-xaiiiiiie and audit the books. and are
L-‘*’.i_§01‘-tly engaged, the result ofwhose la-
lustrioiis with your permit the lH‘.('lLl of this grr-~ J .
:J0"s tl.o ’3Ul.'.‘in1U.0 -will report when arnvcd at
and examined.
Meanyvhile, with the uiatcrials in their pos-
S(‘~‘S$l°.‘.'l, the committee enter into an elaborate
cc'rr.parison ~e‘.'tlie reports of the present and late
Post. -‘Blaster General, and of the reports of the
prc-serit Post Master General with facts disclo-
sed by the books, 650. to which nothing but a lit-
eral transcript (which we have now no opportu-
nity ofiiiakiiig) of the whole of this part can do
i There is one paragraph of it, however,
which so forcibly attracted our attention, that we
have thought it proper, by extracting it, to make
it an exception to the rest. It is as follows :
“There is one other item introduced into the
stateiiient of the 26th December, 1831, of which
your Committee knew nothing until since their
former report, and did not even suspect its exis-
tence. It is a balance against contractors for
payments made them prior to the 1st of April,
183-1, for the current service of the quarter
which ended that day, and for prior services,
which had not yet been placed at their credit,
$284,805 38. Your Committee did not sup-
pose a fund of this character and amount exis-
ted to the credit of the Department, because they
knew, by former statements, that there were
very large sums actizally due to contractors, for
services fully and faithfully performed, in pre-
vious quarters, which the Department was bound
in good faith and justice, to pay. Those sums
actually due were not paid for want of funds.---
Large sums were also borrowed from banks on
interest, and it seemed inconceivable that, under
these circumstances, so large a sum of money
should have dcen advanced to a few contractors
before they were entitled to receive it by terms
ofthcircontraets. But the prescntinvestigation
has satisfictl your Committee that very large
sums were and still are, due from contractors
for illegal payments and advances of money,
and that this sum at least, and probably a much
larger sum, ought to be reclaimed from them,
earl pl-.v.ced to the credit of the Department."
The next topic embraced in the report is that
of the removal of Postmasters without cause, to
make way for mere partizans, in many cases
wholly unwortliy of credit and confidence, &c.
In the prosecution of their enquiry into the
cause ofthese removals the Committee were,
as the ,n-.aLlei' already knows, met by a refusal
of the Postinaster General, to furnish the coni-
mittcc with the information demanded in a let-
ter which the Postmaster Gciieral, with a disre-
spect towards the comniittcc that it merely al-
ludcd to in the report, caused to be published in
the ollicial journal here within a few days after
the date of the transaction. This branch of the
report concludes as lollows:—-
Your Committee did not think it incunibent
on them to enter into a discussion with the Post-
inaster General on the subject of their respective
rights and duties, nor do they now think It
propel‘ in this paper to examine them, or _to
blend an argument on cunstitutioiial law with
the facts which they were required to ex:iii'iinc
and report to the Sclltlle. This refusal of the
Postniaster General to prevent this iiispectioii of
these papers on alleged coiistitutioiial grotintls,
wliicli applied alike to the whole class of cases
above rel'ci'ed to, which rest on the SEIIIZI‘-. princi-
ple, of course put an end to this branch of the
itivestigatioii. Finding'_t.lie doors closed on tlictii
liere,g‘,tl'iey_turiiecl their aiteutioii to other sujects
OfiI1:('],l1l1‘y,itt)uChltlg the (:(.iiii!i_!i_tiii of the Depart-
menttg, _d“-‘the management oi its c.onceru5.”_
port then proceeds t.o the C.'\'tlllllllfll.lt)ll
“practice of the Departiiieiit. in iiiaking
,, __;'*,:;in a manner contrary to l:l\_Vs and
Z , ‘ ifighfuthrized by a regard to equity S1n(l
to the pl!l)ill_Q:Ilnl.(‘.fCSl.. The account of the im-
proved Bids,‘ which have. had such an uii_lorti1-
nate agency in the present irisolveiicy of the
Post Office, will be new to many of otir readers.
\Ve therefore copy it:
“A practice has oflate prevailed extensively in
this Department of advertising proppsals for car-
rying the niail on the principal mail routcs ma
different manner from that. in which it is in fact
to be carried-.--of receiving bids for carrying it in
playing popular airs as they l’l1al.'Cl_lC(l tlirough
our strects.—--Duristable, N. H.
a different manner from that. in which it. is ad-
(whicli, the reader will recollect, sat by order of
£80 130
accepting the bids as made all together, and en-
tering their acceptance as applicable to that part
of the bid which conforms to the advertisement,
and iniiiicdiatcly changing them to the improv-
ed bid, and so executing the contract; thus in
effect letting or iiiaking the contract without ad-
vertisement. This is aviolation of law, and has
given rise to, and is made the apology for, oth-
er violations oflaw and ollicial duty.”
The Report then goes on to show that, in re-
gard to all this class of “Iiiiproved bids," which
have been made the ground of Extra allowan-
cos, tliere are important, discrepancies between
the Reports of the Postiiiaster Genet _al and the
Blue book (the printed. list of contracts and al-
lowances) and between the Blue Book and the
acti.ial coiitracts; and that none oftliem are to be
relied upon. The practice of allowing these
"iir’,.-rovcd bids” and making these “extra allow-
ances,” the Committee say, throws the door wide
open to unfairness, favoritisni, and collusion.-—
And the Report, on the same subject, continues
thus:
“The public know nothing ofthc purposes or
the wishes of the Department as to the time and
inanncr oftransporting the mails, except through
the medium of the public advcrtiseiiiciit. And
the honest business man, who would wish to
seek a contract, through fair competion, would
naturally suppose that a bid, pursuant to the
advertisement, would be the one, and the only
one, by which he could procure such contract.
And he would further suppose that he would be
bound by such bid. XVith the public at large,
this probably has been the case: it appears to
have been so with the small contractors gener-
ally. But it has been farotlierwise with a class
of late contractors, who appear to be on terms of
intimacy and confidence with some of the offi-
cers of the General Post Office, and whose aff-
airs are intimately blended with the fiscal con-
cerns of that Department. For example—in
looking over the bids of the Fall of 1831, it will
be found that several individuals who obtained
contracts upon the great mail routes, or a great
number of the small routes united, including in
their bids, not only a proposition to carry the
mail according to the advertiseiiierit, but with
stipulations, that the bidder would bind himself
0 carry mail in a different manner, at a (filler-
cut price. Of the favored contractors, the bids
to carry mail, pursuant to the advertiscnicut, are
generally very low, so as to enable the Depart-
ment to award them the contract; while their
improved bid, in pursuance of which the con-
tract is at last executed, is very high, so as to
ensure to the contractor an enormous profit. The
acceptance is marked on the Proposal Book, op-
posite the sum which was bid for carrying the
mail, pursuant to the advertisement, and the ri-
val biddcrs will see at once, on an inspection of
this book, that they are uiiderbid. But the con-
racts are executed according to the iillproved
bid, which is often twice or three times the sum
at which it is entered on the Proposal Book laid
open to the inspection or the public.”
Of the general erI'i':ct of this mode of distribu-
ting, at pleasure, the public money to favored
contractors, the Report speaks thus:
“It were tedious to enunierate the cases in
which this difference exist between the bid iriade
pursuant to advertisement and accepted, and the
contract executed. Your committee have caus-
ed to be prepared by their Secretary, and they
exhibit herewitli, atable compiled from books
and papers in the Department, from the Blue
Book, from the letter of the Postmaster Gener-
al of the 2d of March, 1834, in reply to a call of
the Senate, and from his report of the 18th of
April, 1832, wliieh shows, in each individual
case in the contracts of 1831, the difference be-
tween the bLd, as entered on the bid book, and
the contract executed. It shows, also, the ca-
ses wlierc no difference exists. The same pa-
per shows in another column, opposite the name
of each contractor, what extra allowances have
been made him over and above his contract as
executed, from which it will be seen:
“lst. That the whole amount of the bids ac-
cepted, pursuant to the advertisements in Octo-
ber, l83l, was _
«$3-10,626 -'34
Amount ofcontracts as executed for
same division (by the Blue
Book) _ _ I ‘ _
Making a difference of «$H7,_G32 50
“And it will be seen that this whole difference,
amounting to the enormous sum above shown,
is made in favor of not more than contrac-
tors, or companies of contractors, most of whom
your committee will find it their duty to notice
hereafter in this report, as the !'CClpl.ClllS”0f other
pectiiiiary favors from the 1)€[lU.I'[l'l1eIl[.
- ll]"le case out of man ' is ( uoted to shew
S 5 ,3 l
the anomalous character of the contracts. and
the unjustifiable waste of the public money in
the practice of accepting these improved bids:
“Take, for example the route from Pliiladel-
hia to Pittsburg, which was first accepted daily
at $7000, and which, by the modified contract
pursuant to the z7niproi;cd bid, is carpcd, as is
alleged, twice daily to Pittsbu rg, $530,000. .8111]
extended to \Vlicel'ing, at -S-3’/,000—oiie of the
lines from Philadelphia to 1_ ittsburg running at _
an increassed speed. Now it can lra_rt.lly be es_-_
tablished as a matliematical ])r0p()Sll10I1a that If
a daily mail costs S7000, that a mail twice dai.
ly should, by exact proportion, cost 520,000-
iior do we think that any one who uiidcrstaiids
the nature and value of the service will be pre-
pared to say that the one bears any lair 0l’_].llSt
propoiitioii to the other. It were vain to urge as
an apology for such excessive increased allow-
ance, that tliere is ‘no ineaiisol arriviiig at the
true proportion which the original bid, and the
iucrersed allowance, bear to the service render-
ed undcr each or to each other. If such propor-
tion cauiiot he arrived at, the law forbids the in-
creased allowaiice. But in truth iiolaw applies
to this species of contract.‘ _It seems to be of :1
hybrid race—neither an original contract, whicu
the law will recognize, nor a legal extra allow-
ance for iiicrcasedserviccs. It is 2ll‘iQlll.L:qlll-(l,l,b-
taut between them, and sustained by neither. .
In a few words the Report shows how this
whole practice, and the allowances growiiigout
of it, have been oflicially screened lroiii the view
of Congress and the People, until the Sofia-19
forced a revelation of the whole system:
“Your Conimittce have shown that the Post-
master General did not report the increased al-
lowances, uiade iii coiiscquericeofllie:-:e improv-
od bids. as any part of the original contracts in
which they were eiiibodied-——iieitlier did he re-
port them as extra allowances wlicii called up-
on by rsol U tion ofthc Senate to report tlic amount
of those allowances made for extra services since
the (5th of April, 1820. ‘ They pass wholly with-
out his notice in any of his reports to Congress.
and seem in his judgment: to be _referrable to
class of cases whatever. Indeed, no one con :1
but feel that. they were wlioll witliout lega
warrant, and that they could, ierelore fall _un-
der no known legal head. Nevertheless. im-
ineiise sums of money have. through ‘hell’ means
been traiisferred from the Departinegt F0
488,259 -10
\'Ci‘tis(‘tl, which are called “im}2rorcd bids”-of
From Baltimore to Chambersburg
From New-York to Pliiladelpliia.—-
‘ accepted by
pockets of individuals; and the American C en-
gress _and_ the American people have, until this
investigation commenced, been wholly ignorant
of the existance of any such mode of appropria-
ting or disposing of the public funds.’
_ llie Report next proceeds to a further exam-
ination of the manner of making these coiitracts
and extra allowances, with especial reference
to the Report of the Postmaster General of the
18th April, 1832, which the Committee argue,
from the facts disclosed by this investigation, to
have been wholly delusive and calculated to
dCCC“'_<3- They go so far as to say that it is evi-
dent, lroin the facts, that report must have been
drawn up and presented to Congress, deceptive
as it is, purposely so and not by accident. Up-
on which they make the following severe ani-
inabversions:
“In whatever niauner this matter may have
been considered by the P-ostniaster-General, and
whatever may have been his reasons for the
presentation of a report, in its tendency so cer-
tain to mislead; whatever opinions or views un-
known to your Committee actuated him; this
feature in his report, according to their deliberate
jiidgruent, cannot be justified. It is, indeed,
unnecessary to enter into a disquisition upon the
subject; it is a question rcferrible to the forum
Ofplain common sense and common honesty.-
It is simply whether the obligations oftruth ex-
tend or do not extend to the ofiicial papers of
high public fuutioiiaries. If they do not, this
, paper may bejiistified; if they do, it is a breach
'0foflicial ditty.
“There is another circumstance ; touching the
above named report, which ought not to be en-
tirely overlooked. It was made out and presen-
ted to Congress just before the coiiimencemet
of the Presidential canvassin 183;; and it was
a paper, the tendency of which was to bear up-
on that election. It held out to the American
People a delusive view of the prosperity of an
important Departineiit oftlie Government, and
naturally induced a belicftbat it was wisely and
economically adllllnt.‘.1l(*It‘(l; while, in truth, the
public moneys were squandered without stint,
and the Departiiient was rapidly sinking to in-
solvency,”
Aftcrcontrastiug the practice of the present
with former arliiiiiiistrations of the Post Office,
the Committee revert to the Post Master Gener-
al’s Address to the People of the United States
at the close of the last. Session of Congress, and
rebuke some of its statenicnts, &c.
The coniniittee then proceed to re-examine
in detail and at very great lengtli some of the
cases of extra-allowance contracts which were
more briefly noticed in their report to Congress
at the last session; and especially the cases of
J. F. Robinson, J. and B. Bennett, VV. Tillow,
Reeside’s contracts from I-Iagerstown to McCon-
iiellsburg, from Bedford to VVasliiiigton, from
Cumberland to Blair’s Cap, from Baltimore to
Chainbcrsburg, from Philadelphia to Pittsburg,
Reeside «S: Slaymaker’s extra 810,000 per year,
R.eeside’s contract from N. York to Pliiladelphia,
&c. The allowances to Mr. Reeside are most
dwelt on by the Committee, apparently because
they are the largest, and he is the most extensive
contractor. ‘To this gentleman, in one form or
other, of contract or allowance, the Committee
say there has been paid, within two years and a
half(fro_in 1st Jan. 18:32, to 1st July, 183-1) for
carrying the Mails between Phliadclphia and
New York, 3,384,372; or 43,7118 $6 per year.-—
The Committee conclude this laborious exam-
ination of contracts with the following summary,
showing the aggregate of payiiieiits which they
aver to have been iiiilawliilly and unjustifiably
made to a single coiitractorz
“Passing over those in which a contract
on an allowance was made according to law,
but for which an equivalent service has been
rendered, and taking only those in which the
law did not warrant. an allowance was much
above the fair and just value of the services, and
then taking the excess only of the allowance
over and above that value, your Committee find
the following sums paid to James Reeside, since
1116 first of A nril. without any warrant of law or
justice—to wit :
On the contract to carry the mail from Hagers-
town to McConnellsburg $3 2,032 00
From Belford to '\Vasliington 7,733 (56
From Cumberland to Blaiifs Gap
312.559 62 less $1,500 a year for
two years 33,000
From Philadelphia to Pittsburg, ex-
cess of allowance over service «$8,-
000 for two years and six months 20,000 00
8,750 00
3,876 50
9,559 52
Same rout—carryiiig newspapers in
most rapid line, half
Allowing for expediting from Jan-
uary l, 1829 to Dcceiiilier 31, 1831
$6,000——service paid for, not per-
formed
Detention, waiting for distribution of
foreign mails—an unprecedented
allowance, and without sufiicient
evidence
Carrying mail bags from Philadel-
pliia to N. York—a charge wholly
unprecedented
For traiisporting the mail from Phil-
adelphia to New-York from the 1st
January, 1832, to the 1st July,
183-l, two years and six months,
Reeside has received $84,372 17.
His original contract was $6,000 a
year for carrying a daily mail, but,
in his improved bid, which was af-
terwards niade the contract, he
agreed for $19,000 to run twp daily
mails, and a third mail for $1,500,
making #320,500, and furnish guards
and carry all expresses. This al-
lowanee, though enormous, falls
short of the sum actually paid in
two years and six months on that
rout,by "
18,000 00
4,550 00
I,560 00
33,122 17
So that the whole sum paid to Ree-
side, which is founded on no lawy Q_
and on no apparent justice, $110,194 to
If the name of LVII. Reeside makes a thus
proiniuent figure in this sunimary, it is because
it does so in the Report,’ and not from any pref-
crciice of ours. The private pecuniary transac-
tions of the same citizen with the Postmaster
General and with the Cheif Clerk of General,
Post Office are also brought into view in con-
nection with the largeness of his extra allowanc-
es. So also also are his loan to the Chief Clerk
(0. B. Bro\vu,) and said Brown’salledged part-
nership in the contracts of E. Porter, upon which
large extrafiallowauce have been made &c. . In
relation to these passages of the Report, as it is
impracticable for us to give the whole, we for-
bear making extracts which piiglit only give a
partial and imperfect view of them.
Adverting again to the generally confused
manner in which the largest and most import-
tant accounts ofthe Pos_t.'Oliice_are kept, the R0;
port presents the following curious instance.
"In examining the account pf James Ree-
side your Committee found to his credit the fol-
lowing : _ _ Y
‘1833, April 30.—Cas_h deposited in the V» es-
tern bank of Philadelphia, £520,000
“Your committee while in Philadelphia, ex-
amined the books of the North eastern Bank, and
obtained a statement of its transactions with the
Post Office Department. by which It appear?
that this sum was raised by Reeslgle DD 11 (halt
drawn by himself in favor of C- bt0‘-'k‘.°n~ 519‘!
O. B. Brown, Chief Clerk, dated
the 29th day of April, 1834, and payable three
niomlis after date, which draft was paid by ‘he.
Department at maturity; so that. as the $115"
action stood at the the time the account of c_e-
side was made out and presented tp the commit-
tee, he was entitled to no credit arisnig from 13113
transaction. If a credit were entered on 8
books at the time the draft was negotiated, then
when the draft was paid by the Department,
there should have been a charge of ancqual sum
against Reesicle, to balance it. This was _n')t
done, and the sum stood as 11 _Cr6d1_l 1.0 B.‘-'9$,1d9i
‘J1:
Norwalk Chronicler