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TBE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBENE PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY A t T!1B TmBONE BCiLOlliCS, comer of Nas w u a n i Spruce atreets, oo- P r ica^S p e r a r m n ^ r TeuforS:^. THE NEW-XOKK WEEKEY TEFBENE J« pflhliahed once per Eight copies fo TH E NEW -YORK HAIEY TR IllU N E I k pmUmted every moroinff, Sunday excepted. Price Soper annum. T B E NEW -YORK TRIBITNE FO R EUJROPE 3» puhKshed on the departure of each Mail Steamer for Liverpool. Pricedlrcents per copy, or $3 per year, to any p a rt of Great Britain, or S i to the Continent; . THE NEW-YORK. TRIBUNE A FATHER’S LAMENT FOR H IS YOUNG DAUGHTER. BY P4.RK BENJAMIN. t ? blossom, thy fragrance is no In vain I look^n other fovrers—no rose so fmr*I^ee^°^^’ For Ada was the sweetest bud in aU the world to me! Oh, thou wast nnrhired tenderly and watered with the dew Of all Life’s best affections unchangeable and true, But Suminer breezes wafted thee where Summer daisies He— Alas, my beautiful! that thou should’st fade away and die. My ch?d! my child! my darling child! I sit and weep alone, To think that thou, my gentle dove, so far away hast flown— So fw away; for that bright Heaven, to which thy soul was Is very tar from this dim Earth, where I am left to mourn. Oh, when the music, of thy voice fell on my listening ear, Unconscious as a robin’s chirp, and a h ! more soft and clear— 1 dreamed when years had passed away I still should hear thy words, More welcome than the harmonies of all the singing birds. B at thou art gone, and those bright eyes are darkened from the snn, TherG is no freshness in the cheeks I loved to look upon, The red has vanisln-d from the lips, so often pressed to mine, And nothing but the clay-cold form remains of what was Bure Innocent.' thy home is avior's bosom at SttifrttiiL VIII ........ N° 831. NEW-TORK, FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1853. t h r e e d o l l a r s a y e a r . the holy and the blest, dove, thy h ippy ark of vest— ' ’ '’.owers my little Adafied, g r o u n d \her h e a d ! NEW PUBLICATIONS. L i f e o f P r o f e s s o r B . B . E d w a r d s . ja E E OT T R O F ^ S ^ R B.^B. EDWARDS. W ITH Sold by Charles Scribner. Professor Edwards was a strongly marked speeimea there are signs of i t in some o f his most qaiet and pco- saie paragraphs. While in the Education Rooms, or the IfeTchaati’ Eeading Room, or the Atheaseum of Boston, h e wonld pernse the more important newspa pers, magazines, and quarterly periodicals of the world, and then, during his walk homeward through the streets of the city, would classify the information which he had thus acquired. To those who m et him walking solitary on the pavement, he seemed to b e lost in thought; for he was arranging the materials for a paragraph in the Register. Page after page o f his reviews h e prepared on Boston Common, or on a stage-coach or steamboat. He had a rare faculty, as well as fondness, for gathering together the results of his previous investigatious, while he was walking or journeying from place to place.” In 1833, h e established the American Quarterly Ob server, a periodical intended to foster the interest of ; the clergy in good learning by opening an avenue j through which they might communicate their thoughts I to the world. H e published three volumes of the Ob- ; server, when he united i t with the Biblical Repository, which had been conducted for four years by Professor Robineon. H e remained sole editor of these combined periodicals from January 1835 to January 1833. Six years after he withdrew from it he became the princi pal editor of the Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Re views, of which work he had the chief care, with the ex ception o f two years from 1844 to 1852. For twenty- Ihtee years lie was employed in condaeting important works in our periodical liceratnre, and with the aid of several associates, he has left thirty-ono octavo vol umes as the fruits of his diligence and zeal. “ H e com bined facility of execution with great painstaking and carefulness. H e often compressed into a few brief seu- tences, the results of an extended and prolonged re search. In order to prepare himself for writing two or three paragraphs on geology, he has been known to read an entire and elaborate treatise on that science. His industry surprised m en; for while he had two periodic als under bis editorial care, he was often engaged in de livering lectures before the Athenieum o r soma Lyce um in Boston or its suburbs, and in superintending the and whose sympathies were ever with his Redeemer end odmen. Then therewaia classic purity in of a certain phase of New-England character. The iu- Serest of the present volumes is derived from this cir cumstance, rather than from any extraordinary mani- iestations of intellectual power in their contents. Be yond the immediate circle of his profession, he was not i uiu lu v^ ivo euuuiu:<, auu lu Bu.ponu(,ouuiug tuo known to any considerable extent. He has left no i American reprints of English works. Besides atteud- jorominent mark on the public mind. His name is not ing to the proof-sheets of his own Quarterlies, he wonld sometimes correct more than a hundred pages, every week, of the proof-sheets of other volumes, and would often compose for them prefat-ory o r explanatory notes. That he was immaculate in his supervision of the press, he would he the last to pretend. The volumes which he edited contain unnumbered proper names, dates, numerals, references to initial letters, etc., etc. The labor of revising them was discouraging; their number increased the difficulty, and suggests a palliation for any errors which escaped him. H e was pained by the smallest mistake which he made, yet deemed it his duty to suffer the pain, rather than remit his efforts for the elevation of our periodical literature. Amid all the drudgery and perplexities of his editorial life, his rule was, never to let a day pass by, without refreshing his taste with the perusal of some lines from a favorite poet, such as Virgil or S penser.” Mr. Edwards wished to raise his more eradite jour nals above merely sectarian influences, and concentrate the choicest talent of different parties in one literary brotherhood. Some of his reviews were published amid the din of ecclesiastical warfare, b u t it was not permitted to disturb the serene spirit of Christian science which beams from their pages. H e shrank from the truculent disposition which often contaminates the periodical press, and which in his view was fostered by the habit of anonymous authorship. In his wish to preserve his journals from a morose and fault-finding spirit, he sometimes erred, as we think, on the other side. His critical lenity was exercised a t the expense of literary justice. Thus he refused to publish an ar ticle exposing the blunders of a divine whose faith he disapproved, for the purpose of checking the tendency of opposing the doctrines of misbelievers by an assault on their character. On another occasion he was urged to expose the plagiarisms which had been detected in a theological opponent, b u t he declined the appeal through sensitiveness to the evils of personal strife. But this was certainly an excessive indulgence of an amiable temper. The exposure of literary humbug is one of the first duties of the critic, and he who hesitates to draw blood when necessary, gratifies an effeminate disposition at the expense of the public. A reviewer need n o t be an executioner, but as invested with judicial functions he is boimd to tell the truth, cut where i t may. Throughout his public life, Mr. Edwards took a deep interest in the cause of the African race. His first printed pamphlet was a plea for the slave. His first ad dress from the pulpit was on the evils of slavery. He thought at one time of devoting his entire life to the benefit of the oppressed African. The subject took hold o f him with such power, that it was almost impos sible to banish it from his remembrance, and images of suffering haunted him like spectres. \While he was •‘puisuiug his theological studies, he heard that acol-^ ored youth had come to Andover to enjoy'the privileges of the Seminary, Some o f his fellow-students had an instinctive reluctance to be in company with the stran ger, b u t Mr. Edwards, sensitive as he was to the ridicule of men, shrinking from all appearances of eccentricity, scrupnlouB in his regard to all the rules of neatness and refinement and seemliness, invited the sable youth to reside in the same room with him. F o r several weeks this man, so dignified, so delicate in Ms sensibilities, studied a t the same table with the poor African. This was the m a n ! H e was preparing himself to he a minis- Ur of reconciliation. He was the servant of all for Jesus’ sake. Like his great Examplar, he chose to suffer for and with the publican, rather than sit in the halls of kings. F o r twenty-six years he was an unwavering friend of the Colonization Society, in its reverses as well as in its triumphs. ***»*!{; is an interesting coincidence, that a daughter of the chief founder of the American Colonization Society performed some of the last rites for Mr. Edwards at his death, and immediately afterward, and that some of his last physical wants were supplied by the African race identified wish any of the great movements of the day. H e has thrown no new light on questions of practical «r speculative interest, by the force of original thought. \With a sensitive modesty, whirfi would seem out of place in these rough-and-tumble days, he shrunk from notoriety. Ho feared to give out tSe whole force that was in Mm lest it should expose him too conspicuously to the public gaze. An ordinary degree of ambition to give vitality to his talents and cultivation, would have made him superior both in position and influence, to many inferior persons by whom he was eclipsed. His kadhigchaTacteristics were love o f learning, truthfulness ef thought and action, simplicity of purpose, stern coBEcientionsness, and an absorbing sense of religion. H e was a genuine Puritan, with a vein of softness and refinement, that blended in heautifol harmony with the graver elements of his nature. The birth-place of B. B. Edw’ards was Southampton, in Hampshire couniy, Mass., where he was bom July 4, 18G2. Thislittletowninthe valley of the Connecticut has ' become famous for the number o f young men whom it has furnished for the ministry of the Gospel. In the year 1840, with a population o f b ut little more than one thou sand souls, and not quite one hundred years old, it had sent forty-seven students to the various colleges of the country, of whom thirty-two were ministers. Mr. Ed wards was descended from a long line of Puritanic an' eestors. His father and mother were both devoted Cal vinists, with whom religion formed not only the predom inant, b u t almost the exclusive interest of their lives. H e w’as cradled in New England piety. His passion for hooks was shown at an early age. H e would read when other children played. Poring over a volume of history, he would often forget the summons to his field-work and to his meals. While his companions amused themselves with a sleigh ride in the evening, he would read by the kitchen-fire. In his earlier, as in Ms later years, his fa vorite studies were histoiy and poetry. A t the age of fourteen, h e began to prepare for col lege. The last summer of Ms preparatory course, was epent under the care of Rev. Mr. Hallock, of Plain- field, Mass., whose obscure parsonage among the moxmtains was a favorite place of resort for young men intended for the ministry. In 1820, Mr. Edwards entered Williams College, and at the expiration of his freshman year, followed President Moore to Amherst, where he graduated in 1824. Nine months of the year after he left college, he had charge of the acade my in Ashfield., Mass, and in 1835, at the age of twenty-three, he entered the Theological Seminary a t Andover. H e re he enjoyed the Elysium of his life, devoting M b hours to the study o f the Scriptures in the oiiginal, and deriving a perpetual feast from their simple and artless idioms, and their mysterious and exhaust- lesB suggestions. At the close of the first year iuthe seminary, he received an appointment to a tutorship in Amherst College, and for the next two years discharged the duties of that office with characteristic self-devotion. H e re, he cherished a deep interest in the religions wel- fere of the students, and several ministers of the Gos pel ascrihe their conversion to his counsels. H e was fihe tutor alluded to in Abbott’s Corner Stone,” as making an effective address to a circle of in-eligious students, who h ad invited him to meet them, ostensibly ibr their improvement, but really for their sport. In the twenty-sixth year of Ms age, he had become so well known to the religious community by Ms active Christian sympathies, that he was invited to several stations of high responsibility. In May, 1828, he was elected Assistant Secretary o f the American Education Society. The duties of this office were to edit the Quarterly Journal of the Society, to conduct the more important correspondence, and to visit the beneficiaries in literary institutions. H e accepted the appointment, declining a proposal to become an Assistant Secretary of the Ametioan Board of Commissioners, and another to prepare himself for a Professorship in Amherst Col lege. Returning to Andover, h e again became a mem- with all goo( ii» style, which fascinated the hearers who were trained toi discern it. Then there were the terse, sententious, apothegmatical utterances, which startled and delighted the men who were able to imderstand them. H e did not care so much about the logical form of Ms discour ses, as about their inmost heart. They were free from commonplaces; and had a luxuriance of thought and feeling, which reminded one of trees with their branches bending and breaking under their fruit. They were not so remarkable for an obvious unity, as for a pathos that swelled through them, or a vein of sentiment original, delicate, graceful, intangible, enchanting. They would have retained more semblance of logical order, had there not been so great an effort to avoid aU trite and dry sayings. For the sake o f avoiding the tedious repetition of connective clauses, Mr. Edwards failed sometimes to le principle which bound his various thoughts together. H e had, in no small degree, the artlessness of Gieorge Herbert, whom he loved so tenderly. His sim- plle-hesrted suggestions reminded one o f the ‘meek Wal ton,’to whom he had a rare likeness.” In the autumn of 1837, Mr. Edwards was ap pointed Professor of Hebrew in the Andover Sem inary, and on the resignation of Mr. Stuart in 1848, he was elected to the Chair of Biblical Literature. H e thus devoted the last filteen years of his life to the office of Biblical teacher H e was well prepared for the duties, which i t involved. His ear liest studies were Biblical. Before he was eleven years old he had read the Bible through seven times and all of Scott’s Notes twice. Commencing the study of the H e brew language at the age of twesty-two, he pursued it regularly as long as h e lived. H e had studied the Old Saxon tongue as an aid to the full appreciation of the English Bible. In order to gain a more thorough knowledge of the Hebrew idions, he carefully studied the Arabic and other cognate languages. H e was fami liar with the German tongue, which as Professor Park observes “is the key to the Biblical literature of tbe world, the instrumental tongue without wMcbno one at the present day will be an adept in sacred learning.” All his studies were with reference to his own comprehensive aim ofbecoming a masterly expounder of the sacred page. “ When he made the tour of Europe for his health, he did not forget his one idea. He revelled amid the trea sures of tbe Bodleian Library, and the Royal Library at P a ris; he sat as a learner at the feet of Montgomery, Wordsworth, Chalmers, Mezzofanti, Neander, the Geo logical Society of London, and the Oriental Society of Germany, and he bore away from all these scenes new helps for his own comprehensive science. He had trans lated a Biography of Meiancthon, for the sake, in part, of qualifying himself to look upon the towers of f Wittem- he ■■ :nned in the old Bible, gazed intently on the spot where intrepid man had preached, and thus by the minutest ,4.:—s ^Q imbue his mind with the hearty her of the Theological Seminary, and a t the same time, j for whom he had toiled and prayed.’\ performed the duties of his office as Secretary. In j As apreacher,Mr. Edwarde was destitute of the pnpu- 1830, he took up Ms residence in Boston, having seri- Jar gifts, which are usually more successful in captivating - ---------- 4. „ Iabor. o L av {ipromiEcuous audience, than soundness of thought or ously injured Ms health by too great a variety of l H e remained five years in his Secretaryship and re signed the principal part of its duties in May, 1833. During this period, he devoted himself assiduously to th e editorial charge of the American Quarterly Regis ter, wMch he retained until 1842. H e brought to this work a remarkable fulness of knowledge, excelleuee of taste, and skill in historical investigation. It was his wish to make it a great storehouse of facts for the pres ent and future generations. It in fact gave a new im- ] ^ s e to statistical inquiries, and embodies indispensei- K e material* for American ecclesiastical histoiy. “ In some paxticulars,” says Professor P ark, “ the Quarterly Eegister gives an exact representation of Mr. Edward’s mmd and heart. I t discloses his active benevolence, t o statisticid knowledge, his vast misceUaneous read- ing, hi* retentive memory, Ms fondness of genoraliza- Ittons,hi*delicate, almost evanescent,wit. la t h e se verely historical style of the Register, wo cannot ex. jpect to find very broad mdicationg of the humorous vein which ran through his fireside conversation, yet accuracy of reasoning. His voice was not commandlu\ nerwere his gestures graceful, nor his attitude easy. Still in a small houEc, or before a learned audience, Ms manner, if wanting in some of the graces, was peculiarly winning. “ Few men in the Andover Chapel have ever equaled him, in holding their auditory spellbound. Ho spoke with a cautious accent and a guarded emphasis, which betokened the selectness ofhis thoughts. Ho re cited passages from the Bible with such a glowing coun tenance and marked inflection, as gave a living commen tary on the text, There was frequently a plaintiveness in his tones, that harmonized well with the sentiment breathed forth in them. Some of his attitudes in the pulpit would furnish a sculptor with a good model of self distrust and self-abasement. In his lowly way, he ex pressed a reverence and an awe of God, which musthave come from a heart broken under a sense of guilt. When he raised Ms frame from its inclined position over Ms manuscript, and when for a moment he stood erect and gazed 80 honestly and earnestly at his hearers, he drew them to him as to a friend in whom they might confide, a Biography of Melancthon, for th e sake, in part, :so Wittf berg; and he could scarcely keep his seat in the raU-car, when he approached the city consecrated by the gentle Philip. He measured with his umbrella the cell of Luther at Erfurt, TOote his own name v,1th ink from Luther’s ink stand, read some of the notes which the monk had observation he strov< faith of the Reformer, so that he might become the more profound and genial as a teacher. This was a ruling pas sion with him. H e gleaned illustrations of divine truth, like Alpine flowers, along the borders of the Mer de Glace, and by the banks of “ tbe troubled Arvo,” and at the foot of the Jungfrau. He drew pencil sketches of the battle-field of Waterloo, of Niebuhr’s monument at Bonn, and of the cemetery where he surmised for a mo ment, that perhaps he had found the buiaal-place o f John Calvin.” But the best fruits of these devoted studies were not given to the world, by reason of the unexpected pro gress of disease of wMcb the seeds had been lurking iu Ms constitution for many years. H e was just ready to finish for the press his exposition o f Habakuk, Job, the Psalms, and the First Epistle to the Corinthians. H e had prepared the substance of an Introduction to the Old and New Testament, to which work h e had given the labors of fifteen years. The time had come to bring them before the public eye, when he was informed that, the puhnonary complaint u nder which he had long suffered was supposed to he incurable. Unwffiing to yield his hold on life, without an effort to complete his cherished scheme, he sought relief in a Southern clime. In tbe autumn of 1851, he repaired to Athens, in Georgia, b u t the grasp of death was upon him. “ H e was accompanied in his Southern retreat by his family. Yet he learned, what so many have learned before, that in a man’s extreme weakness there is no place equal to his own home. He would probably have suffered less in Ms study chamber at Andover, than he actually en dured amid the exposures ot a Southern dwelling. A winter of almost unparalleled severity deprived Mm of Ms needed recreations. H e became too feeble for study. H e was compelled to shut his hooks. This was a new rebuff to Ms enterprising mind. H e seemed like a man deprived of his children. H e looked like one who was soon to die of a broken h eart. His loftiest ideals, the most comprehensive scheme of his life, waved before him in his last honrs. His frame was attenuated; it was almost a shadow; but Ms mind continued, as it had been want, to engross itself with great themes. Socrates would have referred to Mm as a sign and pledge of the soul’s immortal life and youth.” * if « * «H is poetic sensibilities remained healthful until he died. On one of his last days he called for the reading of Bryant’s Hymn to the Even ing \Wind. On several of his last Sabbaths he ex claimed, ‘ How I should love to hear ‘ Thine eartMy Sabbaths’ sung to the great congregation!’ On the veryLord’s day preceding his death, h e asked that the doors of Ms room might be thrown wide open, so that Le might see the fields glistening in the sunlight, and might inhale the fresh breeze of spring. H e was en chanted with the vernal scene, with the boughs putting forth their tender leaves. His soul was alive with happy thoughts, all the happier because i t was the Sabbath morning. H e recited the words: “ As -when to them who sail Beyood the cape o f JSTope, sod now are paat Mozamhic, off at sea northeast winds Mow Sahean odors from the spicy shore Of Arahie tho West ------- ” * Take out Milton,’ he added, ‘ and read that figure.’ It was read. ‘ I t is one of the grandest in the language,’ he remarked, ‘ and another like i t is in those lines: ' Sweet fields, heyond the iwelliBg flood, Stand dressed in living green.’ At one season of tho year, the hills of J u d ea may be distinctly noticed, clothed in green, beyond the river.’ ” H e lingered until Tuesday, April 20th, 1852, when he died, in the fiftieth year o f his ago.\ The memoir of Frolessor P arkis an interesting tribute to the memory of his colleague, though it labors under the disadvantage of a defective arrangement, impressJ ing tho reader as a collection of fragments, rather than as afiniBhed symmetrical composition. The style is sin^ gularly terse; the mode of handling the subject betrays an originalmind; the flow o f the narrative is frequently diversified by the expression of pregnant and suggest ive thoughts. A more sparing indulgence in the use, of short sentences, we think, would have added to the vigor finly poRsesse* a rare mastery. The productions of Professor Edwards in these volumes comprise a selection from Ms pulpit discourses, essays on a variety of subjects in literature, and occasional ad dresses and lectures. They are uniformly marked by nnpreteodfr^'gobdaenae, cleainessand simplicity of dic tion, and'an admirable spirit of doTotion and benevolence. As illustrations of his character, they vrill he cherished by tie. wide circle Ms pupils and friends; they are . Mglfly honorable to Jus cultivation and taste; but, in our opinion, they will not add much to the permanent treas ures o f American literature. IU FrodncUon and M anufactiire-Fast, P resent and Hesre is the article on F lax of I7te Connecticut VaUeg Farmer and Mechanic, elsewhere noticed. Though the view it ^ves o f the progress and present state o f F lax Enterprise in tMs country is far from complete, it will richly repay a perusal; While unnumbered produets of the earth and the ocean are food for man. nature has given xis but three substances which human skill has made available for cheap and ser viceable clothing. The necessities of polar life and the dic tates of fashion and taste make use of silk and furs, but the millions of our race will ever by clad in iahrics of wool, cotton and flax. Of these products the last is grown on the widest range of soil and climate. The sheep, when reared in hot d i mates, is no longer a wool-bf armg animal, and cotton, of any peculiar excellence, is limited to districts in warm lati tudes, which afford tbe requisite conditions of soil and cli mate. But the flax plant, more cosmopoh'taa in its nature, flourishes from the equator to the outmost limits of field sulture, and in any soil favorable to the common native growth of,each region. The cidtivatiqiji and manufacture of flax were known in ancient times, and especially attained great perfection in ypt. In the absence of labor-saving machinery, it is pro- t from complete abandonmer cheaper rival, cotton. More recently, improved machinery for its preparation and manufacture has revived its use, but still, sustained by the wonderful inventions of Ai-kwright andWhil ’ ’s - - ------------------------- , cotton lead unrivaled as the cheaj fcOH ln m rU oL ) W IU C U u a .u u u iy u o o u o ia in c u ujr luo oaiuc j mib'’ tive advantages which so suddenly secm’ed its ascenden cy, tbe comparative extent to which new labor-saving agen cies may be applied to the two substances, is well worth our attention. fibei process of eleanii in the tow resuMi hile cotfon must be planted, and dming its growth demands the repeated use ot the plow and hoe, flax is raised as cheaply as oats. The labor of picking the seed cotton on an acre, is greater than the aggregate re quired to puU a like breadth of flax, bind it, remove the seed, handle it in rotting, and complete all the processes until it is ready for dressing tho fiber. A careful esti- relation is reversed. With tbi cotton gin, one hand two horcescan clean one thousand pounds of cotton day; while, to dress a like quantity of flax in the same time, four horses and thirteen _men are required, with the use of the best common machinery. At this point only, in the processes of production, cotton secures the ascendancy, but it is here complete and trium phant. While a single cotton gin performs the labor of a hundred hands, the rotary breaker and scutching wheel, in comparison with the old hand break and swingling knife, save'but two-thirds of the manual labor required in dress ing flax; and, if the greater waste in tow and the cost of motive power be taken into the accoimt, the absolute sav ing is no more than one-half. We thus have the economical aspects of flax and cotton, as they are now produced. The comparative excellence of the two materials is sufiiciently determined by the univer sal prefeT&eoe-for linen fabrics, when not overruled by re gard for expense. But so long as cheapness is a paramount consideration, the future of flax, and especially the hope for its geieraland speedy adoption as an agricultural staple by ourfa/mers, depend upon the possibility of reducing the present cost of its production. Of tbis we have the most confident expectation. And our hopes are based primarily upon improvements lately perfected and nowready for gen eral infroduction. To recur to our comparison—since tho question is one of economical rivalry—^we think the labor of producing Cot ton cannot further he materially lessened. The possible contrivance of a drill planter, adapted to meetadifiiculty existing in the downy coating of the Cotton seed, and the production of a Cotton gin wMch shall act less injuricusly upon the fiber than that in common use. with perhaps better modes of putting up the staple for transportation to market, arethe only piacticable improvements. WMn all this is done the cost of production will not be essentially dimin ished so long as the field culture is indispensable, and, from the nature of the plant. Cotton pickuigis hopelessly a man ual operation. In respect to flax, we believe that labor-saving agencies, now at command and in course of development, are sure to ameliorate its production to an extraordinary degree. The labor of pulling the flax crop is always regarded by the former as severe and tedious, and, coming, as it does, at the busiest season of the year, is really one of the greatest hin drances to the cultivation of the plant for its fiber. \When the flax stands with a rival growth of weeds, hand pulling is indispensable to separate one from tbe other. But. when the crop is without these signs of bad husbandry, it can be cut 0410 a Mowing machine of the lately improved con struction. \With this machine, on a smooth surface, ahoy and two horses can cut an acre of flax in an hour. The loss of an inch or two of the stalk left on the root is of no com parative account, as the fiber is there light and coarse. The Bax as it is cut falls prostrate behind the cutter of the ma chine, and is immediately taken up by the workmen who follow, and laid one side in handfuls to receive the sun, or made into small bundles at once,- care being taken to keep the stalks parallel and their butt ends even. The labor of taking up the cut flax is somewhat greater than when it is spread after pulling in the usual way, but the comparative saving in time and expense is twenty fold, and for all subse- quenthandling, the flax is better writhout the root. On the different modes of removing the seed and rotting the flax straw, we do not propose to enlarge. We are wil ling to suppose them not susceptible of material improve ment. Either may he emMoyei to best advantage ac cording to circumstances. Dew rotting requires the least labor and outlay, and though the quality and quantity of fiber are inferior to that produced by either water-rotting or steeping, the farmer -will find a partial compensation in the increased productiveness of the grass fields upon which the fo^subsequent operation of dressing -or separating the fibers from the woody portion of the plant, which has been the chief item of expense in tbe preparation of flax, we find ground for the largest expectations. Hitherto, not only has the best machinery used for this purpose proved of small comparative benefit in the diminution of manual labor, but tbe mecbanicalaction employed, strains and tears the fiber, which results in the production of a large propor tion of tow SO mingled With the woody fragments as tobeof IttUe value Besides this waste in dressing the fiber, which ordinarily equals one-third of the whole, the flax is sent to ana nttukui equivalent flax b y the leM ^injures tbe quality of the cotton fibe new machine was designed for working rotted flax, such is the efficiency of its action that unrotted flax straw can be broken and cleaned with nearly the rapidity and perfeelioa of the other. What effect the extraordinary result of dressing'raw flax by power will have in the development of the flax interest cannot yet be determined. If the ne cessity of rotting in the straw can be removed, another important reduction in the cost of flax will he secured. Doubtless the resinous substance which adheres to the raw flax fiber may be dissolved by steeping J n water, m w ^ afterit is dress ' ’ • - ^ - water, as well But there is lemic terial cm be converted into pure flax fiber of both long and short staple. We have hetore ns long flax of great Esq., the able Editor of The Armual of Scientific Discov- •M il;totmt tai^for the ^ oy «1 of tapuntlosfehoot impairing its lengffi, m dwtinction from the celebrated Claussen process, by which this cMef excellence of the fiber is discarded. In estim ating the future of Max as a cheap material for cloth, tbeadaptation of machinery to its manufacture must not be forgotten. The invention ol the Cotton Gin was not the sole agentin tbe development of the Cotton interest. The cotem porary discoveriesandinvention of Arkwright,Cramptonahcl others, contributed notless to the vast result. Until within a few years, while England, aided by powerful machinery, was clotMng the world in Cotton, Flax was spun and woven by hand. Now, by foreign improvement Linen yarns of similar numbers are' spun by a power at a cost only of 30 per cent, greater than Cotton. Yet up to this hour not a single set of Linen machinery has been made in America. We look with confident interest to the time when the in ventive genius of our countrymen shall be dfrected to this new field. With the contribution of one-half of the im provements to Linen which they have made on the Cotton machinery the two interests will be on equal ground in re je c t to economy of manufactoe. The greater density of Flax requires about 30 per cent, more material in yarns of given fineness, but the superior beauty and durabiHty of Linen cloth makes it of at least double value. In gT’\’—; ' ' ' ' --------- -I... - tion of tbe manufactoers of our counfry ^Tth'emechLteM skill which they influence, will secure still greater economy m working it by power machinery. As a material for cheap cloths, flax and cotton will then be on the same footing. In this result, both the North and the South are alike In terested. The plant is cultivated with equal success in both sections, and tbe diversion to flax of a-part of the pro ductive industry now so exclusively employed in gi-owihg cotton, will be a benefit. To the whole eounfry it opens, with new aspects, an important field of enterprise. Farmers, mechanics and manufactures are equally concerned in its development. In Great Britain the flax interest is of great and increasing importance. Although the home production is large, yet is there yearly imported to the value of 825,000,000. Further West it is largely cultivated f alone. With the introduction of improved machinery, we are confident that this plant will bo widely grown for both of its valuable products. That flax is not comparatively an exhausting crop, is now settled by tbe judgement of the he.st agriculturists. Indeed, with the exception of two per cent, of organic matter, the fiber of tbe plant is wholly derived from the atmosphere. In the outset of the business, the ordinary qualities may be chiefly pro duced, and will be proved sufficiently profitaWe. After ward, with the acquibition of skill in cultivation and hand ling, a better article will be furnished, and tho remunera;- tion will he in proportion as this point is attained. Half tbe attention bestowed upon the etdture and selection of choice varieties of cotton in its section, would here enable our farmers to lival the best flax-growing districts of Europe. We have seen American flax equal m fineness to a choice article of Belgi.an growth worth twenty cents the pound. And crops have been raised in an adjoining State, which averaged eleven hundred pounds of dressed flax to theaore. A once popular notion, that flax of a superior quality can\ only be produced by gathering the unripe plant and sacri ficing the seed, is now exploded. Fineness of fiber is se cured by proper cultivation, and thick sowing, with the careful selection and frequent change of seed. And, to ob tain strength of staple, it is important that the plant stand until it is matured. No other farm product better repays skillful attention. A distinguished agricultural writer, on a tour in Belgium, saw flax, the straw from a an acre of -OToa 4,1- + 1.0 voluG of S125. Flux crops, of such wor there gi-own upon soils naturally ii U n til r< ducted — ___. — ^ -------- , — , __ ________ choice seed and the Belgian improvements, much flax now grown in that country is equal in quality t in tho world. In conch „. land w a s ___ 1 in a slovenly fanne r, but, by the introduction of ' ‘ ■ Y of the ig American For The N. Y. Trilrane, The Eighth Annual Session of the National Industrial Congress will assemble in the City of Wilmington, State of Delaware, on the first Wednesday of June, 1853 . , to contin ue for seven days or longer, (according to the Constitu- mually of men or wo- les; That all men are •om Society.” Friends! Let us take counsel together. The Public Lands must be free. The laboring community must be ed ucated up into the knowledge of duty and the harmonial powers of associated action. By order of the National Executive Committee. E . W . CAPRON, CHARLES 6 0 E P P , A. H. DUGANNE, JOHN SHEDDEN, Y g McDON EL HULLY. JORDON, National Sec’y. N ote .—Wilmington, where the Congreis ia to be hald, i« about two houiB’ ride by railroad from Philadelphia. CITY IT E MS. 1^^ The Vanderbilt Steam Yacht “North Star,\’ will be open for inspection by the citizens of New-York on Mon day and Tuesday next, at tbe Allaire Works, foot of Cherry- st., East River. ___ _ ___ E ighth -AY. R ailroad . —^The Company commenced yes terday extending their rails beyond Fifty-faurth-st, and they will reach, in about two weeks, to the junction of Eighth- av. and Broadway (Fifty-ninth-st.) It is expected, the track will be completed the present summer to Eighty- second -st., an d, probably, the ensuing year to Harlem. The fare for the whole line will be but 5 ceits. A merican M edical A ssociation — Special Meeiinp .— their feelings respectii resulted ii Church, for tbe purpose of expres.sing Cling the late disaster at Norwalk, which valued members of the resulted in the death of so many valued members of the association. Dr. Joseph M. Smith, D. D., presided, and Edw. L. Beadle, Secretary of the Society, ofliciated as See- ted to re- _. iwieYfee—J. H. Griscom, N. Y ; S. Hawbury Smith, Ohio; P. Claiborne, Gooch, Va.; L. A. Smith, N. .J.; Theo. Goodioe, Ala.; R. LaRoohe, Pa., and John Watson, ef New-Tork. Thi! “ id that' a i®ective7aniihes. . ' ” A motion to publish these proceedings was passed, and the meeting adjourned. A m e r ica n I n s t it u t e .— The annual election of oflicers and committees of this Institution took place yesterday, with the following results: Fresident —James Tallmadge. V i ^ Preside7its—Roheit Lovett, Robert L. Pell, D. Me redith Reese. Recording Secretary—Bem y Meigs. ^^reep o n d in g Secretary and Agent—Adoniram Chan- Tb-easni-er—Edward T. Backhouse. Finance Commitieer-doha Campbell,. John A. Buuting, George Bacon, N. G. Bradford, George Dickey. Managers of tfie m h Annual F a ir—John A. Bunting, Joseph Torrey, James R. Smith, Isaac V. Brower, William Ehbtt, F. W. Geisaenbainer, Jr., Peter B. Mead, Benedict 7imit(ee o ' James de Feyster, xnos. ____ jiiee on Commerce —^Nicholas Can , ___ Ransom, John Distuimell, W. W. Dibblee, Abraham Tor- ^^Committce on Manufactures, Science and Arts—Junes Eenwick, Thomas B. Stillman, Henry R. Dunham, Edwin Smith, James J. Mapes. ^ ^ ^ Committee on the Admission of George F. Bar nard, Hkam Dixon, James F. Hall, John W. Chambers, Henry Meigs. Oovimittee on Correspond^nc — Janies H. Titus, JF. P. Sehoais, Linus W. Stevens, William H. Browne, S. R Com- Cmnmittee on the Library—Ralph Lockwood, Alexand® Knox, William A. Whitbeck, WiUiam. Hibbard, Edwin \Williams. _ ___ two uicu, wu« uiou uriim injury received by the recent collision on the New-Jersey Railroad, and after a thorough investigation, the Jury censured Henry A. Green, the Railroad Agent, and recommended that the au- ffiorities of New-Jorsey take cognizance of the occurence. Ine following testimony was eheted: FarnisS^ka came in collision at Bergen Cut on the ath insfe; I h a d receire^sp^id ordeiB from the Superintendent on the 7tb, that as a new time table ■would he issued, I should take care that no person having charge of the train on the Monday following should leave without knowing that each had been fuinishea with a new time-table; if the above time-table ’ ’ ^ so furnished, and if, being so fumisbed, the said ~ and read^ for the employes, Ileft the depot, 1 consideredlhaddischmg- Conductor 5 the Conductor was not present when*! left the we feel it our duty to recommend to the authorities of Nei Jersey to take cognizance of this matter.” Van Kleeck wi a native of Orangeige County,unty, New-York,York, 266 yearsars off agige; lan-ow was a Co New- 2 ye o a native of Ireland, 29 years of age. _ evening, at a house in One Himdred’and Twenty-fi.r_. St., near Second av., upon the body of an infant five months old, named George W. Taylor, who died that day from the effects of an overdose of laudanum administered • by mistake. The evidence adduced showed that on Tues day the child was very restless, and at 6 o’clock in the evening its mother, Mrs. Margaret Ann Taylor, sent her son, a child years of age, to the drug store of Mr. James Woods for some paregoric. On his return she gave tbe child half a teaspoonful of the contents of the vial, when it soon after became stupid, and though medical attendance was procured, it died at 9 o’clock on the following morning. Previous to the death of tho child. The contents of the vial were examined by a physician, who pronounced it laudanum. Mr. Woods, the proprietor of the store where it. was pur chased, also examined it, and likewlsa - nnm. It was put up by Iiis clerk, Wm. Edgar Pabor, by mistake. The evidence showed that Pabor had been in the employ of Mr. W. for about ten months, and was consid ered an efficient clerk. He himself could not account for his making the mistake, as he stated that the hoy asked distinctly for paregoric, and the bottle containing it was placed a considerable distance from the laudanum bottlo. The Jmy rendered the following verdict; “That George Washington Taylor came to his death by an over-dose of laudanum, administered to him through mistake.” became quite confused and made some excuse, but a mo ment after rushed out of the door and ran up Nassan-st. to- John-st, and through John to Peari-st., where he was cap tured by Air. Hallett and several others who had pursued very large crowd soon collected about the pri b^C h ief.. .. . f the U. S. Marshall and there c tainieg S2,000 or more I llegal P uulicatioks or L ottekies —Arrest of Par ties Concerned. —^'fhrough the instrumentality of the District Attorney and Justice Welsh, several parties connected with a weekly journal, known as The Reporter and. Bank ing CfrcaZa/-, published at No. 141 Nassau-st., have been complained of and arrested, charged with publishing in the columns of that paper, and circulating the same, schemes and advertisements of various lotteries, contrary to the lainants in the ease are Chi named, for a long time past; and freqi R acing in B roadway —S erious A ssault .— On Wednes day evening the driver of stage N o .l 28 Mnrplw’sline, while racing in Broadway near Fourth-st. with i t . Hayden, a carman, the two men quarreled, when Hayden seized a cart rung and hurled it at his adversary: it missed Mm, howev er, hut struck Bernard Kelly, keeper of a porter house at the corner of Avenue B and Sixteenth-st., who was sitting beside the driver, and knocked Mm senseless to tbe pavfr ment. He was picked up by some of the Fifteenth Ward Police and taken to his residence, where be noiv lies seri ously injured. The carman made his escape at the tin^j but was yesterday arrested by officer Masterson of Sie'’ Chief’s office and committed to pris‘“ ’ \ -r — to await the result of the injuries inf witnessed by Mr. A. L. McMahan, c ____ who will give his evidence in the matter. CENTRAL AMERICA. We have The Gaceta de Costa R ica to April 23. .All is • quiet in that State. From Nicaragua there had b'sen re ports of revolutionary disturbance, but they had. proved unfounded. Don Fruto Chamorro, Supreme Dir/eetorelect, had assumed the reins of government amid ^perfect tran quility. Mr. Squier, who is now in Central America, had bean received ■with great enthusiasm by the. people of Nic-- aragua. A large number of the citizens of Leon had dressed to Mm a public letter of congrat'alsfion on his sit?-' val, bailing him as “thegenerous »Lid ardent friend of ‘ Nicaragua, the zealous and iadefatkgable defender of this ' country Of Ms friends, who owe Mm gratitude and ac- «knowledgments equal to the disinterested and efficientser- ‘ vices he L s rendered to the vitel mtereste of Central A ^ seat of what i r'as there is nothing new. ■ ^^\'1
