know more of his companions at table; tell me, therefore, your name, captain, if you please."

"Let us dine," replied the captain, "and you will then be able, perhaps, to name me yourself."

As he spoke, he pointed out to his guest some oysters of Ostende, as fresh as they were fat and inviting. The dinner was faultless. The cook of the Rocher du Cancale had surpassed himself, and at the second course, a pheasant, a la saintealliance, was served up, according to a method recommended by Brillat-Savarin himself. At last came the dessert. After two sumptuous courses, it seemed reasonable to expect that it would be worthy of so excellent a dinner. It consisted, however, merely of a small, white, round cheese, which the waiter, with a grave air, placed in the centre of the table. At the same moment an old dog made his way into the dining-room, and rushed between the legs of the guests.

66

Down, Bryan! down, Bryan!" said the captain.

"Mon Dieu!" cried Brillat-Savarin, struck by a sudden remembrance, "the cheese of Vif! Bryan, who devoured my roast chicken ten years ago! You are Julienne, madam ?"

"And I am Philippe Jazel, the husband of a wife, and the father of children, whom you, sir, saved from poverty."

The kind and worthy magistrate was again clasped in the arms of this grateful family; and when the general emotion had somewhat subsided, and to the solitary cheese of Vif were added champagne and the fruits of the season, Brillat-Savarin said:

"It seems that the departments have a better taste than the capital," said BrillatSavarin.

"From that moment good fortune seemed to attend my wife," said the captain; "she paid her debts, and educated her children; a rich uncle died not long after, and left her all his wealth; she then purchased back the land which she had sold, and planted it with mulberry trees. Yes, sir, it is even better to raise silkworms than to sell cheeses. Julienne is, to-day, at the head of the most lucrative establishment in the department. As for myself, at the time when Julienne had the good fortune to provide you with so wretched a dinner at Vif, I was ill at Paris. I quickly recovered, however, and rejoined my regiment. I have fought in many battles, sir, and you see how I have been recompensed; I have the cross, and am a captain. My poor captain, M. Robert, who had been promoted to the rank of colonel, fell at my side, upon the field of honor. Ah, sir," continued Jazel, again clasping the magistrate's hand, "your benefits were not bestowed upon ingrates; what can we do for you?"

This poor family could do nothing for a councillor of the Court of Cassation; the latter, on the contrary, continued to protect them; obtained places for each of the sons; through his patronage, and thanks to the brilliant condition of the service, the captain was soon appointed a commandant.

Brillat-Savarin, who has enriched his work with many personal anecdotes, has neglected to insert this, and many others which do him no less honor; a good citizen, an irreproachable magistrate, and a gour

lar."

proached Napoleon with but one fault: "His majesty, emperor, and king," he often said, "always ate too fast."

CESSION OF THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA.

In our summary for February we were compelled from want of space to break off from this subject.

On Friday, 22d December, the debate on the above bill was continued. On motion of Mr. Yulee, the condition requiring the State to commence the work in two and complete it in ten years, was stricken out.

Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, moved to amend the bill so as to appropriate a certain sum of money to enable the Secretary of War to have the everglades explored, and a report made to Congress, as soon as may be practicable, with a view of ascertaining what action is necessary in regard to them. He did this, he said, for the purpose of testing the principle involved in the bill, and to ascertain how far they were to depart from the usual legislation of Congress on this subject. They had had propositions from Arkansas, and might have, should this bill pass, from every State in the Union where there are public lands, for grants of all swamp lands within their respective limits. He was willing, as a member of the Committee on Public Lands, to have all this land explored by the topographical engineers of the United States, and reports made by them, stating the nature of the improvements which ought to be made, the quantity of land which would thereby be rendered saleable, its value, and the expense attendant upon these improvements. He then proceeded to remark upon the vagueness of the information submitted to the Senate as to the nature and expense of the work to be performed; but, he continued, his objection to the whole bill lay a little beyond this. He wished, if it could be done, to allow the General Government to retain its jurisdiction and control over the public lands, not only in Florida and Arkansas, but in every other State construct all necessary drains, and then sell the lands and allow every State in the Union to participate in the distribution of the proceeds in an equal interest. But, as he would not play the policy of the dog in the manger, if the Government will not do this, then rather than that the country should remain in its present unproductive condition, he would be in favor of the States draining these lands, and appropriating them to some useful purpose. But he believed the General Government would do it better than the States, and ought to do it. He did not know but that

after they had sent out competent engineers to explore, to level, and to estimate the cost of such a proceeding, and had received from them a full report of what they had done, they might ultimately adopt the course now proposed, and give these lands to the States in which they lie. By obtaining this knowledge, they could determine whether to do so or not; and the information thus acquired would be of great value to the States to whom such lands might be given. The estimate of the maximum cost of this work is $500,000. Could the work be accomplished for that sum, it would take the General Government one, two or three years at the farthest, to do it; whereas, if it was to be commenced by the State within two years, especially under the present condition of its finances, its completion need not be expected for some ten or fifteen years at the least.

Mr. Westcott contended that a topographical survey of these lands would be perfectly useless to Congress. They had already authentic information from various most respectable sources, all of them agreeing that these lands were perfectly worthless, and would not pay the cost of surveying. The question propounded by the Senator, if he mistook not, was, whether Congress was prepared to enter upon the business of improvement with regard to these lands, as well as to those overflowed by the Mississippi and its tributaries? There were some who entertained constitutional objections as to the power of Congress to enhance the value of either public or private lands by making public improvements within the States. But he (Mr. Westcott) had other objections. Of all public improvements, those devised, carried on, and completed by the Federal Government were the worst. It takes a year to prepare to enter upon the work; another year to make the necessary reconnoissances and surveys; another year to put the results in proper form, in printed statements and maps; another year to bring the matter before Congress; another year or two to have it criticised and canvassed; and some three or four years after that to get an act passed authorizing the commencement of the work. Except works of a peculiarly scientific character, the army officers were the worst persons to be employed on them. They are gallant in warfare, but they know very little of other matters. He would rather trust the execution of a work to a practical civil engineer than to the whole corps of topographical engineers, as high a respect as he

had for most of them. It would be executed | infinitely better by officers appointed by the State, who would be interested in having it done effectually.

Mr. Downs, of Louisiana, contended for the general principle embraced in this bill. All admit, he said, that it is an interference with the authority and resources of a State, to hold large bodies of public land within it which are not available either for the purposes of the General Government or for the use of the State. Here was not less than one-eighth of the State of Florida totally worthless both to that State and the General Government. The State thinks that, instead of permitting these lands to remain a desert, where a human being can scarcely penetrate either by land or water, she can make them available. This fact being satisfactorily ascertained, there ought to be no hesitation in ceding them even without conditions.

In reply to the supposition of Mr. Downs, that Mr. Underwood's amendment embraced the principle of the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands, the latter stated that his amendment did not touch that question. He had only referred to that policy for the purpose of showing that he wished to get rid of the system which now prevails in regard to those lands. The simple question upon the amendment was, whether they should, by a little delay, get more information, or give away at once seven million eight hundred thousand acres of land? His friend from Florida must excuse him if he had more confidence in the officers of the topographical corps than in any gentlemen who might be selected for the occa

sion.

Mr. Johnson, of Louisiana, considered it utterly out of the question for the General Government to attempt improving those lands. There had not been a single instance of such a measure being adopted since the formation of the Government. Mr. Underwood replied, that in all applications heretofore for the cession of lands to aid in the construction of public works, the principle upon which they had been sought to be justified was, that it would render the land still retained by the Government so much the more valuable. Why may not the Government, he asked, accomplish the same object by opening a canal or otherwise draining the land, for the purpose of making the whole so much the more valuable ?

Mr. Benton thought the officers of the General Land Office were the proper persons to look to for such information as they might need in relation to these matters. In an official report from this source they were told that the everglades could not be surveyed without first being drained. So, then, they had all the information they needed in order to act definitively upon this bill. There is an axiom that when any property passes from hands that

cannot use it into hands that can use it, there is a public gain, and it was in that point of view that he regarded all these inundated lands in the United States. He had no idea of the Federal Government making money by any operation it engages in. He did not think it could do so, and it ought not if it could. Upon national considerations, as well as upon those which apply to the State, he thought it important that they should pass this bill.

The further consideration of the bill was here postponed; and the attention of the Senate was mainly occupied, until after the holydays, with private and other bills of little general interest. The only question bearing upon this subject, which has since occupied the attention of Congress, was the Bill for the

DRAINAGE OF SWAMP LANDS.

On the 2d of February, Mr. Vinton moved. to lay the bill on the table, giving to Louisiana the overflowed and swamp lands in that State, now unfit for cultivation, but his motion did not prevail; yeas, 45; nays, 100.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.

Mr. Vinton moved to reconsider the vote first taken. He said that he would be glad to give his support to the bill, if he could believe that it could be done without setting a precedent which would involve the Government in very great difficulty in disposing of the public lands hereafter. This bill proposed to do what never has been done before. It does not undertake to tell the amount of lands in Louisiana unfit for cultivation. Pass this bill, and you cannot sell lands there until it be decided what lands are unfit for cultivation. The effect is to take every foot of land out of the market, until the fact is settled by somebody.

Mr. Hall, of Missouri, said that Congress had last session passed a law authorizing those who had selected lands unfit for cultivation, to select other lands in lieu thereof. Mr. Vinton replied, that that subject bore no relation to this. The greatest objection to the measure was this. Many years ago, under a resolution which was passed, the land officers and receivers were directed to report to the Government what lands were unfit for cultivation. They reported three fourths in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and even in Illinois, one of the richest countries in the world. If this bill pass, these States will come in on Congress for similar favors, and with just as much reason. swamp lands cost twice as much for the surveys as the other lands.

The

Mr. Thibodeaux said, that to his personal knowledge, surveyors, in order to draw money from the Treasury, surveyed the marshes which have not been sold, and never will be. Mr. Vinton replied, that the bill grants all the lands which have not been surveyed. Mr. Harmanson said, that the number of acres of swamp

The amendment was agreed to and the Bill passed.-New York Herald.

ARMS FOR CALIFORNIA ADVENTURERS.

After some remarks from Mr. Brodhead in favor of the bill, Mr. Boydon moved to lay the bill on the table, which was negatived, and it was then passed; yeas, 101; nays, 61.

CASE OF A NEW YORK SANTA FE TRADER.

On the 22d of February, the Bill for the relief of Peter X. Harmony, of New York, was taken up in the Senate on motion of Mr. Yulee. It appears that in the spring of 1846, Mr. Harmony left St. Louis with a large caravan of merchandise for Santa Fe and Chihuahua; near Santa Fe he was stopped by the advanced corps of General Kearny's army, and ordered into the rear with his train, and was informed that war existed between the United States and Mexico, he being ignorant of it up to that time. Subsequently, however, Mr. Harmony was permitted to leave Santa Fe and to move on with his caravan toward Chihuahua, in pursuance of his original intention, under information that he would be allowed by the Mexican authorities to trade with the Mexican people. On his way he was intercepted by Col. Doniphan on his march to Chihuahua; his mules and wagons were pressed into the public service, and employed as part of the army train till their arrival at Chihuahua. The fatigues of the march broke down the animals of the caravan. The goods were declared to be contraband of war by the Mexican authorities, and all Mexicans were declared to be traitors who should trade for them. After remaining in Chihauhua some two months, Colonel Doniphan moved on to Saltillo, and offered his army as an escort to Mr. Harmony's train, if he should think fit to accompany the troops. Mr. Harmony could not go from the crippled condition of his mules; and thus the animals, the wagons, and the goods were lost. The Bill as it passed the House provides for compensation for the mules and wagons. The committee of the Senate report an amendment, providing an indemnity for the other property-that is, the goods of the caravan. The whole bill will amount to $80,000 or $100,000.

Mr. Mason, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Rusk, Mr. Walker, Mr. Hale, and Mr. Upham advocated the passage of the bill as amended.

Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Miles, and Mr. Bradbury

On the 22d February, the Senate by unanijoint resolution in favor of furnishing emigrants mous consent took up for consideration the to California, New Mexico, and Oregon with arms and ammunition from the public stores, at the government price.

The Bill was passed after a few explanatory remarks.

A NEW DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT.

A report of a Bill to establish a department of the interior was presented to the House of Representatives on the 12th of February, by Mr. Vinton of the Committee of Ways and Means. This Bill was opposed by several of the members on the ground that it was brought forward too late in the session. The Bill was however read. It enacts that from and after this act there shall be created a new executive department of the government, to be called the Department of the Interior; the head of which is to be called the Secretary of the Interior, to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and to receive the same salary as the other secretaries, $6000. The Bill defines the duties of the new office and provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Customs, and for an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. The Bill was then ordered to be printed to enable the members to look into it.

On the 15th February, the House resumed the consideration of the Bill, and after some debate the question on the passage of the Bill was taken, by yeas and nays, and decided in the affirmative. Yeas 112. Nays 78. The title of the Bill was altered to an Act to Establish the Home Department. The Bill was the next day transmitted to the Senate, duly signed by the Speaker, by the hands of the Clerk of the House.

On the 17th of February, this Bill was read in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Finance.

On the 3d of March, the Home Department Bill was taken up in the Senate. The Department was to include the Bureau of Pensions, Indian Affairs, and Patent Office. The debate was animated, and was conducted by Messrs. King, Cameron, Bright, Jefferson Davis, Calhoun, and Foote. It was continued in the evening session, when the Bill was warmly opposed by Mr. Mason, Mr. Allen, and Mr. Dickinson, and supported by Mr. Webster, Mr. Jefferson Davis, Mr. Berrien, and Mr. Downs.

The Home Department Bill then passedthirty-one to twenty-five.

RELIEF TO SUFFERERS BY THE WAR.

A bill was reported in the House on the 12th February, making provisions for the families of those who have died since the war of wounds received, or diseases contracted in Mexican service. The bill was considered, read, and passed.-New York Herald.

CIVIL AND DIPLOMATIC APPROPRIATION BILL.

The chief battle-ground of the contending parties of the North and South has, since our last summary, been an amendment, backed by Mr. Walker, the Senator from Wisconsin, to the bill for making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of Government. The amendment provided, "under the direction of the President, to extend the revenue laws, the navigation laws, the Indian laws, with all other general laws of the United States, as far as applicable, over the territory of California and the territory of New Mexico.

On the 12th February the Senate took up the bill making APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE CIVIL AND DIPLOMATIC EXPENSES of the Government for the ensuing fiscal year.

Several amendments were recommended by the Committee, and Mr. Atherton, of New Hampshire, gave a detailed explanation of them. All the amendments proposed, except one, were then adopted collectively, without opposi

tion.

The bill contains a provision for the
ABOLITION OF FLOGGING IN THE NAVY,

which the Finance Committee recommended should be stricken out.

Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, was opposed to this recommendation, and made an eloquent speech against the whole system of flogging.

Mr. Badger, of North Carolina, spoke at some length in favor of the recommendation of the

Committee.

Mr. Yulee, of Florida, made a few remarks in favor of striking out this provision, chiefly on the ground that it did not appropriately belong to this bill. It would be better to let the Committee on Naval Affairs look into the subject of flogging; and if they should find it proper and convenient to do so, they might then recommend a suitable law for abolishing it.

Mr. Niles spoke against the recommendation of the Committee, and Messrs. Butler, Breese, Clayton, Phelps, in favor of striking out the clause. The question was taken, and the motion to strike out carried.

On the 20th Feb. Mr. Walker, of Wisconsin, submitted an amendment for the extension of the revenue laws of the United States over California and New Mexico; also to extend the Constitution of the United States, and all general laws which are applicable, over the same; likewise, that the President appoint the officers and make the necessary regulations to carry these provisions into effect-the object being to preserve order and administer justice in these territories.

Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, offered an amendment to the amendment providing for a State Government in California, and striking out of inconsistent with Mr. Bell's proposition. Mr. Walker's amendment everything which is

A discussion ensued as to the propriety of Mr. Bell's amendment, which was sustained by the Chair and by a vote of the Senate.

Mr. Bell, in reply to the remarks of the Senators, said, that he was much embarrassed by the disapprobation evinced by several of the Senators to his proposition; but a sense of duty prompted him to persist, however unpleasant it might be. He saw that it was the only chance for getting a vote on this most important subject. Without concluding his remarks, at the suggestion of several Senators, Mr. Bell gave way.

On the 21st, Mr. Bell resumed his remarks in support of the amendment he had submitted. He contended, that the creation of a State Government, as provided for in his amendment, was strictly constitutional, and proceeded to show that such an amendment could be properly engrafted upon the bill which was under consideration.

Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, rose and addressed the Senate, in an able and eloquent speech, denouncing in warm terms the proposition of the honorable Senator from Tennessee. The mode which the gentleman had taken to introduce it was a departure from all parliamentary precedent, and contrary to every rule of propriety. He replied to the arguments of the Senator, and took exception to some of the positions which were assumed in the report of the Judiciary Committee on the subject.