In Virginia the Convention is laboriously engaged in framing the new Constitution. In our last Record, by a clerical error, we reversed the terms of the compromise on the suffrage question. In the House the West are to have 82 members and the East 68. In the Senate 30 members are to be chosen from the East and 20 from the West, giving the West a majority of four on joint ballot. This settlement has been adopted by the Convention, who have stricken out the clause reported by the committee prohibiting the Legislature from passing laws for the emancipation of slaves, and inserted a provision that an emancipated slave remaining in the State more than twelve months shall be sold. A public dinner was given to Mr. Webster on the 28th of June, at Capon Springs, in Western Virginia, at which he made a speech, which was most enthusiastically received. In the course of it he said: "I make no argument against resolutions, conventions, secession speeches, or proclamations. Let these things go on. The whole matter, it is to be hoped, will blow over, and men will return to a sounder mode of thinking. But one thing, gentlemen, be assured of—the first step taken in the programme of secession, which shall be an actual infringement of the Constitution or the laws, will be promptly met. And I would not remain an hour in any administration that should not immediately meet any such violation of the Constitution and the law effectually and at once; and I can assure you, gentlemen, that all with whom I am at present associated in the government, entertain the same decided purpose." He concluded with the following sentiment: "The Union of the States—May those ancient friends, Virginia and Massachusetts, continue to uphold it as long as the waves of the Atlantic shall beat on the shores of the one, or the Alleghanies remain firm on their basis in the territories of the other." The British Embassador, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, made an eloquent speech, which was received with warm cheers, and elicited the following toast: "England and the United States—One language—one creed—one mission."
From California our dates are to May 31. On the night of the 3d of May, the anniversary of a great fire of last year, a destructive conflagration took place in San Francisco, by which a large portion of the business part of the city was destroyed. The number of buildings burned is set down at 1500; the loss was at first stated at from ten to twelve millions, which is probably three or four times the actual amount. A number of lives were also lost. In one case six persons undertook the care of a store supposed to be fire-proof; the iron doors and window-shutters became expanded by the heat to such a degree that it was impossible to open them, and the inmates were all burned to death. The work of rebuilding was commenced and carried forward with such characteristic rapidity, that within ten days after the fire 357 buildings were in process of erection, of which the greater part were already occupied. At the close of the month it is stated on reliable authority, that the number of buildings actually tenantable was greater than before the conflagration. The city of Stockton suffered severely by a fire on the 12th of May. The amount of gold produced continues to be very great. The gold bluffs of the Trinity River, the reported discovery of which caused such an excitement a few months since, prove to be
of little or no value; but the extraction of gold from the auriferous quartz is rapidly developing itself as experience points out new and improved methods of procedure. This promises to become the most productive of all the mining operations in California. It is evident that the market is altogether overglutted with goods, the large amount destroyed at the fires, apparently producing no effect upon prices in general. Political excitement runs high: party lines beginning to be strictly drawn. The nominations for State officers of both parties have been made. The depredations and outrages of the Indians have not altogether ceased. The severe code of Lynch law still continues in practical force, though instances of its execution are somewhat less frequently given. Large numbers of emigrants from China are arriving; a British vessel from Hong Kong lately brought 381 Celestials to San Francisco. They promise to out-number the emigrants from any other foreign people, and manifest a most unexpected facility in acquiring the language, manners, and modes of thought and life of their new homes. An expedition raised in the southern part of the State, for the purpose of invading the Mexican province of Lower California, appears to have miscarried.
In Oregon a treaty has recently been concluded with portions of the Callapooya and Twallaty tribes of Indians, who cede to the United States a large tract of the most valuable lands in the valley of the Willamette. These Indians refuse to leave that portion of the country, and will probably continue to reside within the limits of the reservations. Unlike the tribes to the east of the Rocky Mountains, they are desirous of adopting the habits of civilized life, many of them being now in the service of the whites as laborers.
In Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and along the whole course of the Upper Mississippi, great damage has been done by an unusual and long-continued flood of that river. Many towns of considerable size have been quite overflowed. At St. Louis, during the greater part of the month of June, the levee was entirely submerged, and all the stores upon Front-street filled with water to the depth of several feet. For a vast extent along the Mississippi, Missouri, and their tributaries the bottom lands have been submerged for so long a time as to destroy the growing crops. It is the most disastrous inundation which has occurred for several years. Three distinct shocks of an earthquake were felt at St. Louis on the 2d of July. The morning was somewhat cool and cloudy, followed not long after by a slight rain, with thunder. In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and so remained for the remainder of the day. The cholera has appeared at several places in the West, more especially on the line of the Mississippi. It does not appear, however, to have assumed a decidedly epidemic character. The troops under the command of Col. Sumner, on their way to New Mexico, have suffered severely; as well as the trains of traders. The small pox has committed terrible ravages among the Sioux and other Indian tribes on the plains of the Northwest. In January the weather was extremely cold, and some 40 or 50 of the Indians in exposed situations were frozen to death. Affrays have taken place among various tribes of Indians in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A steamer has recently set out from St. Louis, with about 100 voyagers bound for the Rocky Mountains. The steamer is destined for the mouth of the Yellowstone, about two thousand miles up the Missouri, the head of steamboat navigation. From this point the passengers will proceed in Mackinaw boats to the falls of the Missouri. Most
of the passengers are employees of the American Fur Company. Dr. Evans, U. S. Geologist, is of the number; and two Jesuit missionaries, Fathers De Smedt and Hæken, take the opportunity to visit the wild tribes of Indians near the Mountains, among whom they intend to remain for two or three years.
Brevet General George Talcott, of the Ordnance Department has been tried by a Court Martial for violation of the regulations of the Department, for disobedience of orders and instructions; and for conduct unbecoming a gentleman. He was found guilty of all the charges, and upon all the specifications with two exceptions, and by sentence of the court, with the approval of the President of the United States, has been dismissed from the service.
Mr. Charles L. Brace, the "Pedestrian Correspondent" of the Independent newspaper has been arrested at Grosswardein, in Transylvania, upon a charge of complicity in some democratic plots. The only evidence against him seems to be his having letters of introduction which were thought suspicious, and being in possession of a copy of Pulzky's "Rights of Hungary." Mr. Brace is a young man of decided literary talent, who has been for many months performing a pedestrian tour through Europe for the purpose of learning by personal inspection the condition of the people. His letters from Europe are among the most valuable that have been published in this country. He is the writer of an appreciative and thoughtful critique upon Emerson which appeared some months since in the Knickerbocker Magazine.
The London Economist, in noticing the translation of the "History of the Colonization of America" by Talvi (Mrs. Robinson), gives some information in respect to the author which will be new upon this side of the Atlantic. It says that "Mr. Talvi gives a succinct and carefully compiled history of the event, which will be acceptable to many readers. He is a German, probably settled in the States, and his book displays the pains-taking character of his countrymen."
Mr. B. A. Gould, of Cambridge, Mass., has received a tender of the appointment of Professor of Astronomy at the University of Göttingen, vacated by the recent death of Dr. Goldschmidt.