From Leigh Hunt's Journal.
THE FIRST SHIP IN THE NIGER.
BY WILLIAM ALLAN RUSSELL.
'Tis tropic noon! and not a single sound
Breathes on the eternal stillness all around;
'Tis tropic noon! and yet the sultry time
Seems like the twilight of some fairy clime.
Spreading in lone luxuriance round is seen
The mangrove's tangled maze of sombre green;
Thro' mists that dwell those baneful fens upon
Large orbed and pale peers out the shrouded Sun,
And struggling sickly thro' the vaporous day,
Dull on the windless waters falls the pallid ray.
So slumb'ringly the glassy river goes,
The water-lily dips not as it flows;
The swallow, haunter of the charmed spot,
Skims through the silence, and awakes it not;
Perch'd as in sleep, the gray kingfisher broods,
A sentinel among the solitudes;
And faints the breeze beneath the heavy sky,
Nor bends the bulrush, as it loiters by
Thro' long green walls of forest trees, that throw
Unwavering shadows in the flood below;
And droops from topmost boughs (like garlands dight
By elfin hands) the gaudy parasite:
Crowning the wave with flow'rs; and high above,
The tall acacia moves, or seems to move
Its feathery foliage in the enamor'd air,
That seems, tho' all unheard, to linger there:
Might'st fancy all, the earth, the air, the stream,
Still unawaken'd from Creation's dream.
When, hark! there sounds along the lonely shore
A voice those wilds had never heard before;
The wild bird dipp'd—the diamond-eye'd gazelle
Started and paused,—then fled into the dell;
Stirr'd by no breeze, the tree-tops seem'd to sigh—
When, lo! again the still repeated cry;
Hark! 'tis the leadsman, chanting loud and clear
The changing fathoms, as a ship draws near,—
And all at once rings out the Briton's hearty cheer!
Historical Review of the Month.
THE UNITED STATES.
The Thirty-first American Congress, after a session of a little more than three months, closed on the 4th of March. The conclusion of the session was much more interesting and important than its commencement. Our record of the previous month closed with the passage by the Senate, on the 13th of February, of the joint resolution authorizing the President to confer the brevet rank of Lieutenant-General on General Scott. Mr. Benton, on the following day, attempted to revive his bill paying to Missouri two per cent. on her sales of public lands, but was unsuccessful. The River and Harbor Bill was taken up in the House on the 13th, and debated for several days; it finally passed on the 18th, by a vote of 114 to 75. During the debate an altercation took place between Mr. Inge of Alabama and Mr. Stanley of North Carolina, which resulted in a duel. The parties met in Maryland, beyond the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, and after an ineffectual exchange of shots, agreed to a reconciliation.
Several exciting debates arose in the Senate, in relation to the Fugitive Slave Law, growing out of the following circumstances: On Saturday, February 21st, an alleged fugitive slave, named Shadrach, was arrested in Boston by the U.S. Marshal, and taken before the U.S. Commissioner for examination. The counsel for defence asked for a postponement of the case for two days, which was granted, Shadrach remaining in the U. S. Court Room, in custody of the U. S. Deputy Marshal, since, by a law of the state, the use of the jail is forbidden for the confinement of a fugitive slave. Soon after the adjournment of the Court the doors were suddenly burst open by a mob of negroes, the officers overpowered, and the prisoner carried off. After being hurried rapidly through the streets, he was secreted in a remote part of the city, and in the evening made his escape to Canada. The announcement of this case produced much excitement in Washington. A conference of the Cabinet was immediately called, and on the following Tuesday the President issued a proclamation calling on the commanders of the U. S. military and naval forces at Boston to aid the government officers with their troops, if need be, in the discharge of their duty. In reply to a resolution offered by Mr. Clay, and unanimously adopted by the Senate, the President addressed to that body a special message on the subject. He regards the rescue of the slave as an act of sudden violence, unexpected by the authorities, and not as proceeding from or sanctioned by the general feeling of the citizens of Boston. He quotes the laws of Congress, of 1789 and 1799, in relation to the safe-keeping of prisoners committed under the authority of the United States, and the Massachusetts state law of 1843, making it a penal offence for any officer of the commonwealth to aid in the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave: considering that, though such state legislation may create embarrassment, it cannot impair the constitutional provision for the delivery of fugitives bound to labor in another state. He recommends a modification of the general law, enabling the President to call upon the militia, and place them under the control of any civil officer of the government, without requiring any previous proclamation, in cases where the civil authority is menaced.