factories longer hours, drive their machinery at a higher speed, from which they produce a much greater quantity of work, at the same time they can purchase their cotton at least one penny a pound cheaper, and their water power does not cost above one-fourth of the same in Great Britain.* "In passing through the streets of Constantinople," says Mr. Jas. Lawrence, in a letter to the late Secretary of the Treasury, "during a stay of several weeks in that city, in the year 1848, I was attracted by the cry of Americanas!' 'Americanas!' from pedlers carrying packs of cotton goods upon their backs. On examining the goods I found they were of British manufacture, which led me to inquire the cause of their being hawked about as American fabrics. My informant told me that a few years before, some American cottons found their way from Smyrna to Constantinople, and were there sold. Their superiority was so appreciated by the consumers, that since then the pedlers, in order to obtain a higher price for inferior fabrics, whether of British or foreign manufacture, are obliged to give them the American name." The same state of things, Mr. Lawrence continues, exists in the markets of Alexandria and Cairo. In Asia Minor genuine American goods are sold. The home consumption of cotton for manufactures has increased from 149,516 bales in 1826, to 487,769 bales in 1849-50. But these are not favorable years for comparison, as the following figures will show, though we must add to them the consumption in the southern and western states to have the whole amount. COTTON CONSUMED BY AND IN THE HANDS OF HOME MANUFACTURERS. In the southern and western states, where the manufacture has only lately been introduced, the increase has been from 75,000 bales in 1848 to 107,500 in 1850. The whole number of mills now reported in these states is 153, working 242,830 spindles. The figures are below the facts, and we may expect in a few years to see this profitable branch of industry monopolized by them. The present consumption of cotton in the United States, said Gen. Talmadge, at the last fair of the American Institute in New-York, is estimated at 500,000 bales per annum, which is more than the entire crop in 1824. This does not include a vast quantity, which goes up the Mississippi, Ohio, and also out from the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, for the supply of the mills in Indiana, Ohio, Western Virginia, and Pennsylvania. There are said to be upwards of two * Montgomery, 126, 138. hundred and fifty COTTON mills south of Mason & Dixon's line: in these points and sources of consumption, it is believed 150,000 bales are used, making a total, not less than 650,000 bales worked up, at home. The quantity of cotton goods made in the United States is estimated at 720,000,000 of yards, of which about 80,000,000 are exported, leaving 640,000,000 for home consumption." We conclude with a few remarks from the address of Dr. Antisell, at the same fair, regretting that we have been unable to examine the other manufactures of the country with the same minuteness as cotton, and referring the reader to our published volumes for a vast variety of information upon the subject of cotton and its manufacture in the south, the Union, or abroad. The vastness of the cotton trade, and the suddenness of its growth, naturally astonishes us. It is the agricultural wealth of the southern states. It would be well to recollect that it is England's manufacturing wealth. We export nearly five-sixths of all we grow, in exact numbers, in the year 1848: The total cotton crop was.. which with a small stock on hand, left 2,726,596 bales. 2,227,844 518,039 bales for England is the chief buyer of the raw cotton, and the chief manufacturer of cotton prints, and this country is at present dependent on that island for the chief supply of cotton piece goods. The British export of cotton goods of all kinds, in the six months ending June, 1849, was 596,370,322 yards, of which the greater quantity came to this country. There is, however, some comfort exhibited by the returns of the last twenty years from these it appears that the imports now of plain calicoes are one-half what they were in 1830, and in printed calicoes between one-half and one-third; so that our cotton manufactures are gradually increasing, and at the present time represent one-fifth the value of all manufactured goods. The exports of cotton manufacture are small, not having increased of late years, standing nearly at the same figure as in 1829; so that our increased supply has been for home consumption, an increasing population demanding it. ART. II.-LITTLE RED-HEAD.-A TALE OF TEXAS BORDER LIFE. The following sketch is from the pen of a gentleman who has acquired a large reputation for many thrilling stories of border life, and its thousand perilous adventures. By birth a Kentuckian, he repaired at an early age to Texas, and took part in many of the exciting dramas enacted there. It is our intention to diversify the character of the Review, by introducing an occasional paper of the sort, under our literary head, whenever any are offered possessing sufficient interest and attraction. We shall thus enliven the pages which have hitherto been too exclusively confined to the dry details of facts and statistics.-[ED. CHAPTER I. THE time of Secret Societies is not yet passed-at all events, we believe that many of them still continue to exert a wide and powerful influence, little realized in our common-place world. It is too much the outward manner of the times to sneer at the power of confederacies, though they are feared-nay, dreaded—with a peculiar sort of vehemence, and, frequently, even with superstition. We mean to assert nothing disrespectful of such institutions in general, and of their results in particular-for we do believe that, in spite of the Inquisition, they have been the most important agents and means of progress. The deepest truths must come out of the heart of the world, whence they are worked up by the pale and begrimed miners of thought, towards the surface, until the ruddy children of the sun can grasp them, and they become, in their robust hands, REALITIES! So with the principle of these Societies generally. The object to be attained is most usually a romantic one, and, of course, not strictly orthodox-therefore, secrecy may be required to prevent controversy. In a word, we do not undertake to defend such organizations, but simply to assert their existence in much greater numbers and power than men are generally disposed to believe; and, whether for evil or for good, their tremendous influence upon the times. Most of the pretended revelations with regard to them have been proven to be false, and, of course, from the very principle of theory we can only really know of them by their effects. It is only from such a point of view that we would presume to speak. Such Societies have existed, and do exist among us, and, as elsewhere, have exerted, and do exert a most extended influence. The distance and division between north and south has been more felt than expressed through such organizations than otherwise—therefore, it is with effects that we propose to deal in this narrative, rather than causes, which we must beg leave to be inferred! Years ago, before Texas was known as more than a wild province of Mexico, there existed an extensive and powerful association within the limits of our own territory, the operations of which were extended to a greater distance than was dreamed of by many of the most powerful and shrewd men of the day. It is unnecessary to particularize farther upon the motives and methods of such an institution, than to say that it was founded in a grasping, stern, but deep intelligence, and had for its objects what, at that time, would have been considered the most vague and wildly impossible schemes of territorial acquisition, which, having been suggested by the most bold and unprincipled man our country has produced, has been perpetuated by some of its most able, since, to a dazzling consummation. We cannot reveal more than glimpses of the methods pursued, and that rather by implication than by explanation. It suffices to say, that young men were in some demand by them— but that they were young men of peculiar character. Agents, everywhere in the principal cities, such as New-York and New-Orleans particularly, kept their treacherous eyes secretly upon the movements of such young men as made themselves conspicuous for spirit, and were known to be of good families and education. The more dissolute the better, so they were truly courageous. There was use for such men towards the south, and many such were redeemed from gambling hells or dragged from the stews, by a power, of which they knew nothing but its munificence and its imperious dictation. Mark Catesby was a man capable of much that was both good and evil, as are all those who are capable of anything worth mentioning. His family was good; his father, a wealthy Englishman, had brought over his property to this country, along with his prejudices and habits. He had settled in New-York, as metropolitan, and lived in lordly style. He was munificent as he was haughty, and had one vice which soon told upon a large estate. He gambled desperately, and died with the reputation of great wealth, leaving his son to inherit both his vices and his insolvency. The son inherited both his vices and his virtues, but a poor sister was all that was left now to love. He became more reckless than before, after the last blow that took from the two their only surviving relation on the continent, and, in the heat of wine, made a heavy bet, that ruined him utterly. His sister was an accomplished artist, and surveyed with comparative calmness the wreck of everything, and bravely struggled to uphold the brother who was so dear to her. He was a reckless young man, haughty to excess, and filled with a blind family pride. When the great misfortune had been fully realized by them both, it was finally determined, amidst his despair, through the advice of their old family lawyer, that the young man should commence the practice of a profession he had studied with effect the law. The brave young sister persuaded him too, after a long struggle, to permit her to trust her own support to her pencil. Such were the determinations on all sides, when a mysterious intervention came to give a new direction to events. A duel, attended with shocking and fatal results, occurred. It had grown out of the gambling debts of Mark, and of course left the already gloomy condition of things involved in still greater gloom. He was not a party, but the cause, and as the survivor had taken himself out of the way, he alone was left to bear the blame. To take the most reasonable view of the case, as Mark was the only party left, accessory to the fact, all the public indignation and regrets were visited upon his devoted head. He was denounced in every way, and shamefully persecuted by the press, until his frank and sagacious friend, the old family lawyer, advised him, by all means, to go from the city, and commence a career somewhere else, under more favorable auspices. Although the good old man was willing to do anything in his power, or within the limit of his means, to assist the son of his formerly munificent patron, yet the truth was. that his own benevolent habits had so straitened his resources, that he could do little more than advise. It was under these circumstances, that Mark one day received, to his great astonishment, a letter containing a draft for a considerable sum. The letter bore the city post mark, and gave no explanation, further than the words: "Go to New-Orleans; a good practice awaits you. Be silent, and you shall hear again.' The sum was sufficient to rescue him from his embarrassments, and to leave his sister in comfort; but yet this mysterious donation both shocked his pride and roused his anger. What could it mean? Who should dare insult a Catesby by the offer of such a gift? He was not yet so poor as that! and he threw down the letter in a burst of rage and rushed out of the house. His sister heard his hurried exit, and, entering his room, picked up the letter and draft from the floor. The moment she saw the signature, which was only "Regulus," her face blanched, her eyes shot fire, and she sank upon an ottoman. A shudder ran through her frame-her lids drooped, and for several hours she sat motionless, with her hands clasped before her, while tear after tear coursed each other down her cheeks. But now the silent struggle was over. She rose with a deep sigh, as her brother's hurried ring was heard, and, taking up the papers, met him in the parlor. He was much flushed, and deeply excited, She took his hand calmly, and led him to the sofa, still holding the papers in her hand. What was the purport of the long and earnest conversation of these two young persons, we are not prepared at present to reveal. The result was, that the draft was cashed-the sister established as an artist in neat rooms on Broadway, and one week from that time the brother was on his way to New Orleans. It was the early spring of this year, but one of those rare days when the sun, tired of his icy bondage, bursts upon the earth with a sudden warmth of glory that startles all nature out of her chill repose into a soft, dreamy state, half waking and half sleeping. Bird, insect, the open blossom, air, cloud and water, responded loving to the call of their mother, thus awakened, and for her sang in chorus songs of sweetest harmony. Filled with the exquisite loveliness of the day, Catesby lingered upon his accustomed evening ride, falling unconsciously into a sympathy with the hazy dreaminess around him. Lost in the one delightful sense of living, of breathing the fresh, luxurious air, he wandered along the river's bank, utterly unheeding the danger by his side. He rode along the crumbling levee, and although a tremendous flood was rising, hurled down from an icy home far back on the mountains of the West, so much was he absorbed as not to notice that the slight embankment along which he rode was trembling beneath his horse's feet. Living and being were enough for him, for Mark had been fortunate lately! and rode with the consciousness of a man well to do in the world. Business had been urged upon him in such an astonishing way, that he could not but regard New-Orleans as a real El Dorado to spirited young lawyers. Although it had usually taken the old-fashioned men of his profession more than half a lifetime to get into a good practice, Mark had found his youthful talent appreciated in so extraordinary a degree, that he had almost come to regard the talent of these "old fogies" of the bar with sov |