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"One other word, my Little Dorrit. A hard one to me, but it is a necessary one. The time when you and this prison had any thing in common has long gone by. Do you understand ?" “Oh, you will never say to me," she cried, weeping bitterly, and holding up her clasped hands in entreaty, "that I am not to come back any more! You will surely not desert me so!" "I would say it if I could; but I have not the courage quite to shut out this dear face, and abandon all hope of its return. But do not

come soon, do not come often! This is now a tainted place, and I well know the taint of it clings to me. You belong to much brighter and better scenes. You are not to look back here, my Little Dorrit; you are to look away to very different and much happier paths. Again, God bless you in them! God reward you!"

you was always honorable, and if you'll promise me that you will take care of him, and never let him want for help and comfort when I am not there, my mind will be at rest so far.' I promised her. And I'll stand by you," said | John Chivery, “forever!"

Clennam, much affected, stretched out his hand to this honest spirit.

"Before I take it," said John, looking at it, without coming from the door, "guess what message Miss Dorrit gave me.”

Clennam shook his head.

"Tell him,'" repeated John, in a distinct, though quavering voice, "that his Little Dorrit sent him her undying love.' Now it's delivered. Have I been honorable, Sir?" "Very, very!"

"Will you tell Miss Dorrit I've been honorable, Sir?"

"I will, indeed."

"There's my hand, Sir," said John, "and I'll stand by you forever!"

After a hearty squeeze, he disappeared with the same cautious creak upon the stair, crept

Maggy, who had fallen into very low spirits, here cried, "Oh, get him into a hospital; do get him into a hospital, Mother! He'll never look like his self again if he an't got into a hospital. And then the little woman as was always a spinning at her wheel, she can go to the cup-shoeless over the pavement of the yard, and board with the Princess and say, What do you keep the Chicking there for? and then they can take it out and give it to him, and then all be happy!"

The interruption was seasonable, for the bell had nearly rung itself out. Again tenderly wrapping her mantle about her, and taking her on his arm (though but for her visit he was almost too weak to walk), Arthur led Little Dor

rit down stairs. She was the last visitor to pass out at the Lodge, and the gate jarred heavily and hopelessly upon her.

With the funeral clang that it sounded into Arthur's heart, his sense of weakness returned. It was a toilsome journey up stairs to his room, and he re-entered its dark, solitary precincts in unutterable misery.

When it was almost midnight, and the prison had long been quiet, a cautious creak came up the stairs, and a cautious tap of a key was given at his door. It was Young John. He glided in in his stockings, and held the door closed, while he spoke in a whisper.

I

"It's against all rules, but I don't mind. was determined to come through, and come to you."

"What is the matter?"

locking the gates behind him, passed out into the front, where he had left his shoes. If the same way had been paved with burning plowshares, it is not at all improbable that John would have traversed it with the same devotion, for the same purpose.

ALL ALIKE.

THE likeness of two peas gives but a faint idea of the sameness of Americans. They are rather one homogeneous mass, into which all the separate elements have been melted down, forming a combination of uniform consistency and quality. The American mixture is fluid; but though it may be poured here and there with facility, it is of such coherent tenacity that it always flows together. The people of the United States live in mass, think in mass, and act in mass. This uniformity of conduct, which is characteristic of the nation, is hardly disturbed by the ever-recurring addition of foreign material.

Such is the marvelous rapidity with which our equalizing institutions reduce, or elevate if we please, all varieties of race and character to the same standard, that it matters not whence they come, they are no sooner landed than the process of Americanization begins. Paddy, only a few weeks absent from his potato-patch, has already cast his ragged frieze, buttoned himself in civilized broadcloth, and dropping his shilla"Thank you, thank you! You took her | lah, walks a passably decent and orderly citizen. home, John?"

"Nothing's the matter, Sir. I was waiting in the court-yard for Miss Dorrit when she came out. I thought you'd like some one to see that she was safe."

Hans, too, flings away his low-browed cap at once, and, oblivious of the paternal bayonets of Faderland, so lately threatening his rear, lifts his soul, and raises his newly acquired beaver to the shout of liberty. Though occasionally, under the provocation of whisky, bad beer, and worse counsel, the unruly instincts of the newly"To talk about you. She said to me, 'John, imported Celt or Saxon may be aroused, it is

"I saw her to her hotel. The same that Mr. Dorrit was at. Miss Dorrit walked all the way, and was just the same. Talked to me so kind, it quite knocked me over. Why do you think she walked instead of riding ?"

"I don't know, John."

Do

not long before they fall into the American | houses for ourselves or our neighbors? ranks as tolerably well-disciplined regulars. we furnish them for our family or our visDickens, in his "American Notes," confessed his difficulty in recognizing the Irishman here -of whom he was only conscious at home in the spectral shape of a famished skeleton hung with rags-in consequence of his American disguise of a whole coat, a full belly, and a happy face. It will be agreed, no doubt, that Celt, Saxon, or whatever stranger, honoring us with his presence, should be transformed, as soon as possible, into the American, though there may be differences of opinion in regard to the exact method of metamorphosis.

There are political and national advantages which result unquestionably from the remarkable uniformity of character of the American people. There are, however, evils, and serious ones, too. The facility with which public opinion is formed is not the least dangerous of these. No sooner does some audacious political or social bell-wether start for a race or a leap than the whole flock is after him. There is many a fatal step taken which might have been avoided if our strength of wind had been measured and the danger surveyed before running the headlong course. It would require no great research in history to find examples of American precipitancy from the facility of popular movement. What fluctuations in public policy! What haste to-day, to be repented at leisure to-morrow!

What we Americans want is more individuality, and consequent personal independence. We combine too readily, forming a mixture in which the qualities of the separate constituents, as in a chemical compound, are lost in the newly-acquired properties of the general composition. The conduct of a people in mass is seldom the same or as judicious as the average individual action. Feeling often controls the one, while judgment guides the other. When the connection between man and man, in a multitude, is joined, the electric force of emotional sympathy has free current, and each becomes only a passive medium, through which some powerful agent distributes its influence. Man, however, is a power within himself, and, when isolated from the general mass, will think and act independently. The show of hands in a crowd will often indicate a very different vote from a suffrage canvassed individually. A combination is strong in feeling and action, but weak in thought; and, of course, proportionately dangerous, since it exercises power without the control of judgment. Personal independence is the great check which is required to diminish the risks of irrational popular movement. How much of this personal independence can we Americans justly claim?

itors? Do we spend our money in accordance with the dictates of prudence or of fashion? The very uniformity of our lives and habits settles the question against our independence. Mr. A. builds a four-story, brown stone-front house, because Mr. B. lives in one, and he is resolved to appear as rich as his neighbor in the world's eye, notwithstanding his ledger under his arm tells a very different story. So Mrs. B. turns her house into something not very unlike a London saloon, or a French Valentino; and banishing her husband, who loves retirement, to the basement or club, lets in a throng of miscellaneous strangers, who, however intimate friends of fashion, are not even speaking acquaintances with the host in whose house they make themselves so much at home. Mrs. B. thus lets out to Fashion Mr. B.'s house, night after night, to his and her own manifest discomfort, for no better reason than because the distinguished Mrs. C. does so, and the B.'s are not to be outshone by the C.'s; for "Pray," asks Mrs. B., "who are the C.'s?"

Nowhere has conventionalism such universal sway as in these United States. Travel from east to west, you find the same people with the same houses, the same dress, the same social habits, and if with the same virtues, also with the same vices. Go to the newest settlement in the most remote distance, and you will find it but a piece, as it were, cut out of New York or Boston. Formal brick houses stare at you from the opposite sides of a Broadway in the wilderness, with the prairie grass hardly trodden under foot. Dress coats and fashionable skirts move stiffly about under the very shade of the primeval forest, and the tingle of the ubiquitous piano is heard long before the howl of the savage has died away. These are, of course, harmless in themselves, and even satisfactory, if merely indications of the rapid advance of civilization. They, however, none the less prove the uniformity of American life-the excessive tendency to which, so far as they may indicate a want of individual independence, should be deprecated.

So universal and sensitive is the sympathy of the American people that the slightest caprice of fashion, or the least fluctuation of opinion, diffuses itself from the centre to the remotest extremities with the rapidity of the electric fluid. The nation is but one great nervous system, the parts of which, however numerous, have no separate sensibility of their own, and receive no impression which does not become a general sensation. The country is thus at the mercy of plausible schemers. Charlatans of all kinds, whether political or social, moral or religious, have only to get up a show, put in motion their cunning jugglery, and give the signal to their hired claqueurs, when the whole country joins in the shout of applause.

Leaving others to settle the question politically, let us ask how far socially we have lost our individuality in the general mass. How many persons, for example, in New York, have There are only two correctives of this danthe courage to live in accordance with their own gerous proclivity of our people to hasty opintastes or sense of comfort? Do we build our ion-independence of thought on the part of

themselves, or wisdom, combined with honesty, | vate the habit of individual thought, which, leadon the part of their leaders. The former, how-ing to independence of action, will prove the best ever, is the surest reliance; and it is the duty, security against tyranny, whether it be that of as it is the interest of every American, to culti- a caprice or an opinion, a despot or a mob.

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Monthly Record of Current Events.

UNITED STATES.

ordered to be made to our naval force at Panama and Aspinwall.

Serious disturbances are threatened in Utah, where the disaffection to the Government has assumed a very marked character. Schools have been organized for drilling the militia, and Mormon preachers are urging the saints to gird on their arms. The Deseret News, which is in a manner the organ of the hierarchy, denies the right of the Federal Government to appoint territorial officers, and affirms that polygamy is a purely local institution, concerning nobody out of Utah. Hon. W. W. Drummond, late Chief Justice of the Ter

[OTWITHSTANDING the urgent request of the British Government, it is understood that our Government has decided to take no immediate part in the Chinese war. The Administration, however, has determined to adopt strong measures to protect American interests in that quarter, for which purpose our squadron in the Chinese waters is to be largely augmented. Honorable William B. Reed, of Philadelphia, has been appointed Minister to China.-The United States have agreed to pay the apportioned sum, amounting to $380,000, to Denmark, in lieu of the Sound Duties.-The British Government decline agreeing to the amend-ritory, has resigned his post, and publishes a long ments made to the treaty respecting Central America. It is understood that this is not a definite rejection of the amended treaty, but merely a postponement until matters have been adjusted with the Republic of Honduras.-The propositions made by our Government to New Granada were essentially as stated in our last Record. The Granadan Plenipotentiaries replied that these propositions implied a gratuitous, unconstitutional, and disgraceful cession of territory; that the measures proposed to insure the safety and equality to all nations of the transit across the Isthmus were wholly inadequate for that purpose, since the overwhelming influence of the United States would constitute a virtual privilege in favor of the Union, its citizens, and mercantile interests. But they say that they are empowered to enter into negotiations having for their object to give to all nations equal rights and facilities, while the sovereignty of New Granada shall not be impaired; and add that the new Administration, which comes into power on the 1st of April, will find ready prepared the elements of a just and proper arrangement, one feature of which is the friendly interposition of all nations interested in the freedom of transit across the Isthmus. In respect to the massacre at Panama, they deny that New Granada is justly responsible, and affirm that this outbreak is proved to have originated in the brutal conduct of a citizen of the United States toward a native of the country, who was supported by other citizens of the United States. The United States Commissioners thereupon replied, that as all attempts even to settle upon a basis for negotiation had failed, they were instructed to demand the sum of $400,000 as indemnity for property lost and stolen at the time of the massacre, adding that this was much less than the actual amount of damage. Señor Pombo, the Granadan Secretary of State, replies, reiterating that his Government is not responsible for this damage; and makes a counter demand of $150,000 from the United States, by way of indemnity for losses sustained by natives of the country and peaceable foreigners; besides which, reparation is claimed for other wrongs. The Congress of New Granada has passed resolutions fully indorsing the action of its Plenipotentiaries in this matter. Mr. Morse, our special Commissioner, has returned to this country, and a considerable addition has been

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letter addressed to the Attorney-General, assigning his reasons. He says that the Mormons look to Brigham Young as the sole source of law, and consider no enactments of Congress binding upon them; that there is a secret organization among them, embracing all the male members of the church, who are bound by oath to acknowledge no laws except those emanating from Young; that there is a body of men, whose names he can disclose, set apart by the Church to destroy the lives and property of those who question the decrees of the hierarchy; that the records of the court have been destroyed at the instigation of the rulers of the Mormons, and the Federal officers have been insulted for questioning the outrage; that the Government of the United States is openly abused, and its officers in the Territory insulted and annoyed, without redress; that Young constantly interferes with the Grand Jurors, directing who shall and who shall not be indicted, and that his directions are invariably complied with; that Mormons convicted of aggravated crime, have been summarily pardoned, while those not belonging to the Church, though guilty of no crime, have been wantonly imprisoned. He also affirms that the murder by the Indians, in 1853, of Captain Gunnison and his party, was really committed at the instigation of the Mormon leaders; that his own predecessor, Hon. L. Shafer, was poisoned by them; and that Mr. Babbitt, late Secretary of the Territory, was killed by them, and not, as reported, by the Indians. He says that if a Governor were sent out, who is not a Mormon, and if he were supported by a sufficient military force, something might be effected; but as matters now stand, it would be madness to attempt to administer the laws in the Territory, and that no man who has once tried the experiment would be willing to risk life and property by accepting an appointment there.

The new United States steamer Niagara, the largest man-of-war afloat, has been ordered to assist in laying the cable of the oceanic submarine telegraph. She sailed from New York, April 20, and will proceed to London, where she will take on board one-half of the cable. The other half will be taken by the British steamer Agamemnon, lately the flag ship in the Black Sea. Both vessels will proceed together to a point midway between the two continents, where the two portions of the cable

will be joined, and the Niagara will proceed to the American coast, while the Agamemnon returns to Great Britain, each paying out the cable as she advances. These steamers will be accompanied by other vessels to afford assistance if needed. The distance between Valentia Bay, in Ireland, and St. Johns, Newfoundland, the termini of the telegraph, is 1650 miles; but 2500 miles of cable are to be taken on board the vessels, to provide against any deviations from a direct line occasioned by currents or other causes.

The Legislature of New York adjourned on the 18th of April, having passed during the session more than eight hundred bills. Among those of general interest are a new charter for the city of New York, and a bill consolidating the cities of New York and Brooklyn, together with Staten Island and the County of Westchester, into one police district, the police of which is to be under the direction of a board of seven commissioners, of which the Mayors of New York and Brooklyn are to be members ex officio. The legality of this bill has been contested by Mayor Wood and others, and the question is still before the courts.-A new Excise Law has been passed, repealing the Prohibitory Act of 1855. It provides for the appointment by the courts of three Commissioners of Excise in each county; the fees for licenses are to be from $30 to $100 in towns and villages, and from $50 to $300 in cities; no license is to be granted except at the discretion of the Board, and to persons of good moral character, on the petition of thirty respectable freeholders of the district, the licensed party to give bonds to allow no gambling on his premises; hotel-keepers, who must provide certain specified accommodations for travelers, only to sell liquors to be drunk on the premises under a penalty of $50; giving liquor to apprentices or minors without the consent of their guardians is punished by a fine of $10; giving to Indians by a fine of $25; selling to intoxicated persons by a fine of $10 to $25; a complaint by a wife that her husband is a drunkard obliges magistrates to issue notices to dealers not to sell him liquors for a space of six months, under a penalty of $50 for each offense; a similar provision applies to complaints by husbands and children; railroad, steamboat, and other incorporated companies engaged in the transportation of passengers, must refuse employment to those known to be in the habit of the intemperate use of intoxicating drinks. Resolutions were passed respecting the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the Dred Scott case, declaring that "this State will not allow Slavery within her borders in any form, or under any pretense, or for any time, however short," and that "the Supreme Court of the United States, by reason of the majority thereof having identified itself with a sectional and aggressive party, has impaired the confidence and respect of the people of this State." A bill was also passed entitled "An Act to secure Freedom to all persons within this State." It provides that no descent from an African and no color of skin shall prevent any person from becoming a citizen of this State, or deprive him of the rights and privileges thereof; that every slave brought involuntarily into this State, or coming here with the consent of his master or mistress, shall be free; and that any person who shall hold, or attempt to hold, in this State, in slavery or as a slave, any person so coming or brought, shall be guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall

be confined in the State Prison at hard labor for a term not less than two, or more than ten years.The Legislature of Ohio has also passed a bill of similar character. It provides that any person who attempts to hold another as a slave shall be fined and imprisoned; that if any person shall seize or arrest, or use force or fraud for the purpose of detaining any other person, on pretense that he is a fugitive from service, he shall be punished by fine or imprisonment; and that any attempt to kidnap, with the intent of removing any person from the State for the purpose of enslaving, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary. Resolutions were also passed denouncing the decision of the Supreme Court; complaining that the Slave States had an undue proportion of the judges; and instructing the congressional delegation to endeavor to obtain such a modification of the laws as shall secure to the Free States their proper proportion of judges.-The Legislature of Maine has passed a "Personal Liberty Bill," declaring all slaves brought into that State to be free, and making it the duty of county attorneys to defend persons claimed as fugitive slaves.-The Legislature of Massachusetts has adopted amendments to the Constitution of that State, providing that no person shall be a voter who is not able to read the English language and to write his own name. The House of Representatives is to be reduced to two hundred and forty members, elected by districts; and the Senate, of forty members, is to be chosen by districts, instead of by counties, as at present.

SOUTHERN AMERICA.

The reported victories gained by Walker on the 16th of March appear to have been fabrications. We have now the allied accounts of these and subsequent transactions. According to these, Walker, on the day in question, sallied from Rivas with his whole disposable force, and taking a position near San Jorge, opened a brisk fire upon the Allies, which was vigorously returned. At four o'clock he commenced his retreat to Rivas, leaving behind him 125 men killed. On his return he was harassed by a detachment sent to cut off his retreat; and at the cross-roads, about half a mile from Rivas, the attack was so spirited that the filibusters broke, and fled into the city in disorder, having suffered great loss. The allied loss was 22 killed, and 60 wounded. General Mora thereupon advanced upon Rivas, which he closely invested. Under date of April 1, he reports that Walker's forces, greatly reduced, are hemmed in upon the Plaza, with no supplies except the flesh of mules and dogs, with sugar instead of salt; that all attempts at foraging are unavailing; that desertions to his camp average five daily, while those who take the road to Costa Rica are three times as many; and that he is making preparations for a final assault upon the position at Rivas, being in daily expectation of large re-enforcements from Salvador. This account, like those from the other side already given, may be exaggerated; but it is certain that Walker has sustained an irreparable loss by the failure of the attempts made to relieve him by way of the San Juan River. On the 25th of March, Colonel Lockridge, with 400 men, set off from Greytown with the design of taking Castillo, but found the Allies to be in such force that a council of war was held, at which it was decided not to make the attempt. He then asked for volunteers to join him in an attempt to cut his

way through by land.

About 100 men answered negotiate, he is to endeavor to obtain the following
concessions: The old treaties to be renewed and ex-
tended to eight ports instead of five, besides that
English vessels may put into any port from stress
of weather or for repairs; England, like Russia, is
to have a college at Pekin, the head of which is to
be charged with all official relations with the Chi-
nese Government; they are to have military posts
in all towns where they shall have consuls or
agents; and at Canton and Pekin they are to be
allowed to maintain forts and military establish-
ments.-Lady Franklin has determined to fit out
another Arctic Expedition, the command of which
is proposed to be given to Dr. Rae. The Times
suggests that the Resolute should be presented for
this purpose to Lady Franklin. Dr. Rae's qualifi-
cations for such a charge are not unlike those of our
own Kane. Born in the Orkney Islands, he early
learned the management of a boat; he studied med-
icine, passed as a surgeon when less than twenty
years old, and immediately entered the service of
the Hudson's Bay Company, where he had abund-
ant opportunity of learning the mysteries of Arc-
tic life; he could accomplish forty-five or fifty
miles a day on snow-shoes, and on several occa-
sions performed more than sixty miles. During
his first Arctic expedition, in 1846-'47, he wintered
with twelve men at Repulse Bay, killing their own
food, and for twelve months never warming them-
selves at a fire. After having headed several Arc-
tic expeditions, with the most brilliant results, in
1853 he obtained the first undoubted traces of the
fate of Sir John Franklin, for which he and his
party of seven men have received the reward of
$50,000 offered by the British Government. On
this expedition they lived all winter without fire,
in snow-houses; made their own clothing from the
skins of the reindeers which they killed for food;
traveled more than 1100 miles, without dogs, and
without encumbering themselves with tents.
has sailed more than 6000 miles along the Arctic
coasts; has walked on snow-shoes nearly the same
distance; and has surveyed nearly 2000 miles of
unexplored coast. In all these expeditions he has
usually been the sole officer in command, and has
himself shot nearly two-fifths of the food consumed
by his party.

to this call. These were embarked upon the
steamer Scott, and descended the river with the
design of landing at Serapiqui, while the remain-
der of the men were placed on board the Rescue,
to return to Greytown. Just before reaching Ser-
apiqui the boiler of the Scott exploded, destroying
the boat, and killing and wounding some 60 of
those on board. This took place on the 1st of
April, and on the 6th the remnant of the force
reached the mouth of the river. Here, being al-
most destitute of provisions, they seized what mu-
nitions were there, including the steamer Rescue,
and applied for relief to the commander of the Brit-
ish force in the harbor of Greytown, who finally
agreed to send them to Aspinwall, retaining all
their arms and munitions as payment for the pas-
sage. The men, to the number of 374, were then
received on board the British vessels and trans-
ported to Aspinwall. The Allies, in the mean
while, came down the river and took possession of
its mouth, so that they now hold the entire transit
line from ocean to ocean.-General Belloso, who
commanded the allied forces at Granada at the
time when Walker and Henningsen made their
escape from that city, has been tried by a court-
martial, condemned, and executed upon charges
of dereliction of duty in failing to annihilate the
enemy upon that occasion.

GREAT BRITAIN.

and

THE CONTINENT.

He

The elections for members of Parliament have resulted very decidedly in favor of the Palmerston administration. The contest was conducted mainly with regard to the conduct of the Chinese affair. Lord Palmerston, in his address to the electors of Tiverton, thus states the issue: An insolent barbarian wielding authority at Canton had violated the British flag, broken the engagements of treaties, offered rewards for the heads of British subjects, and planned their destruction by murder, assassination, and poison. The British officers had taken measures to obtain satisfaction and redress; which measures had been approved by her Majesty's Government. A combination of political parties had carried a resolution declaring these measures unjustifiable, and consequently censuring the Government for approving them. If those measures were unjustifiable, the British Government, instead of demanding an apology, ought to make one; Letter-writers affirm that the devotion of the instead of expecting satisfaction, ought to offer French Emperor has been transferred from Eucompensation to the Chinese Commissioner. And génie to the Countess Castiglione.-Renewed plots if the combined Opposition should succeed in gain- to assassinate Napoleon are said to have been deing office, this was the course which, in consistency, tected.The King of Naples has rewarded with they ought to be prepared to pursue. Mr. Cobden, a cross of honor a police agent named Baiona, who in a speech in London, made the same issue. The has invented a new implement of torture. It is question, he said, was whether the country would called the "Cap of Silence," and consists of a band indorse the violent acts committed in China. En- of steel passing around the head, just above the eye, gland was at war with a feeble nation. Would with a semicircular band passing over the top of the British people, with America, France, Ger- the head. This last is attached to a flexible strap many, and Austria looking on, show a less sense going under the chin; by tightening this the lower of justice than the majority of the House of Com- jaw is closely confined, and the victim is rendered mons? for just in proportion as they showed them-incapable of uttering a cry.———A fearful famine is selves unjust toward the weak, would be their difficulties in dealing with the strong. Among the Opposition members who have lost their seats are Messrs. Bright, Gibson, Cobden, and Layard. -The Queen gave birth to a princess-her ninth child-on the 14th of April.-Extensive preparations are making for the war in China. Lord Elgin, it is said, is to be clothed with unusual powers. He is to decide upon the time and fitness of all warlike operations, and in case the Chinese should wish to

raging in Finland, Lapland, and portions of Northern Sweden.

THE EAST.

There is nothing new of special importance from China. Allum, the Chinese baker charged with poisoning the foreign residents at Hong Kong, has been tried and acquitted, it having been found impossible to show that the arsenic which was undoubtedly mixed with his bread was placed there with his knowledge.

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