Reasons assigned for the Mexican

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War.

1st. According to the Executive Message of the 11th May, 1846, the war was merely defensive,' was forced upon us by Mexico's crossing the Rio Bravo into our territory, and there slaying our people-in a word, according to the Message, "the shedding of American blood upon American soil"-while, on our part the object of the war was to repel invasion!'

2d. The proclamation furnished to Gen. Taylor, and promulgated on the 4th June, 1846, stated the justifying cause of the war to be, 'the refusal of Mexico to pay the indemnities due for spoliation of our citizens,' and the object to be to reestablish a free government in Mexico, instead of that of Paredes!-(This latter was a modern Democratic' reason-the 'people did not know what they wanted.")

3d. In his Annual Message of December, 1846, the President stated to Congress that he directed Gen. Taylor to advance to the Rio Bravo 'in consequence of the refusal of the Mexican Government to receive Mr. Slidell as our Minister'-when in truth the final rupture between Mr. S and the Mexican Government did not happen until about two months after this cause and act of war had transpired (the issuing of the order to Gen. T.)

4th. In the proclamation sent to Gen. T. from Washington, the further object of the war was said to be--To overthrow the then existing Government of Mexico, to re-establish the freedom of the Press, and to set up a Republican Government in Mexico which designed "republican government" was avowed in the Annual Message to have been the rule and government of Santa Anna!!

5th. The object of continuing the war (as the President assured the country in his Message) is, to secure a peace!' Quarrelling for the pleasure of making up. Without war there would be no necessity of making peace. But to 'make' war to secure' peace, is not only witty, but wise, according to Mr. Polk and his cabinet.

6th. The President in his Annual Message promises thus: "The war will be vigorously prosecuted there (in Mexico) with a view to obtain an honourable peace, and thereby secure ample indem

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nity for the expenses of the war. be seen, and should be remembered, that no peace with Mexico can be "honorable" that does not secure "ample indem nity for the expenses of the war."

7th. Conquest. The Congressional or gan of the Administration, the Chairman. of the Committee of Foreign Relations, in his Report on the President's Message, avowed for the President the acquisition of California as the object of the war. The Report said: "Complaints of the resort to territorial conquest from Mexico, are disarmed of reproach by the facts that Mexico, by war, constrains the United States to take by conquest' what, ever since Mexican independence, 'every American Administration has been striving to get by purchase; and that 'the Executive orders, and military and naval execution of them, for the achievment of conquest, have conformed not merely to long established policy of our own Government, but wise principles of self preservation, indispensable to all provident government."

8th. That Conquest,' and not the former assigned objects, moved the administration, is evident, because, before he could have received orders from Washington based on the commencement of hostilities at Resaca de la Palma and Palo Alto (which took place on the 8th and 9th of May, known at Washington on the 23d,) Com. Sloat, on the 6th July, '46, as “Commander in chief of the U. Š. naval forces in the Pacific Ocean," issued a Proclamation "To the inhabitants of California," declaring that he was about to take possession of that entire department,--that "henceforth it will be a portion of the United States"--and that its peaceable inhabitants will enjoy the same rights and privileges as the citizens of any portion of that Union," &c.

9th. In the proclamation issued by Gen. Kearney, (224 August, 1846,) putting aside all pretence of title up to the Bravo, he announces his "intention to hold the Department with its original boundaries (on both sides the Del Norte) as a part of the United States, and under the name of the Territory of New Mexico." This announcement was rendered necessary, because here the impotent act of Texas Legislation, claiming boundary to the east bank of the Del Norte, (under which claim Gen. Taylor was ordered to advance before Matamoras,) would

not answer. The state of the Santa Fe Expedition, with its disastrous issue, made it impossible to advance this ficti tious claim, in the face of so recent defeat in attempting to enforce it.

10th. The Government Organ at Wash ington, in assigning the sequestration of the Church property of Mexico as a policy which the Government might adopt, makes one of the main objects, and clearly indicates as a reason for the war the existence of the Catholic Religion in Mexico,' and the bringing about popular enlightenment by introducing there more elevating forms of faith.

11th. Gen. Scott, in promulging under instructions the latest causes of the war in his Proclamation issued at Jalapa on the 11th of May, '47, sets all the former avowals aside. He says: "Whatever the origin of the war, the United States were forced to undertake it, [a phrase admissive of who did commence it] by causes unknown to the greater part of Mexico." This is a curious admission. There is no recital of old declared grievances. But what is this hidden cause? Mark it:

"Considerations of high policy and of 'Continental American interest' precipitated events, in spite of the circumspection of the Cabinet at Washington. This cabinet ardently desiring to terminate all differences with Mexico, spared no efforts compatible with honor and dignity. It cherishes the most flattering hopes of attaining this end by frank explanations and reasonings, addressed to the judgment and prudence of the virtuous and patriotic Government of Gen. Herrera. An unexpected misfortune dispelled these hopes and closed every avenue to an honorable adjustment. Your new Governnent disregarded your National interests, as well as those of Continental America, and yielded, moreover, to foreign influences the most opposed to those interests -the most fatal to the future of Mexican liberty, and of that republican system which the United States hold it a duty to preserve and protect. Duty, honor and dignity placed us under the necessity of not losing a season of which the monarchical party was fast taking advantage. As not a moment was to be lost, we acted with a promptness and decision suited to the urgency of the case, in order to avoid a complication of interests which

might render our relations more difficult and involved."

Here is a total change. A new front. All the reasons before given are cast aside. Our "Continental Policy" must be maintained! "Mexican Liberties" must be preserved! When was this policy so far elevated as a principle or recognized as a constitutional requirement, as to require war at the hands of the President for its maintenance and execution? Then the failure of peace negotiations with Herrera, so prominently put forth as a necessity for war, it is known that they were urged in a form which insured their failure, claiming to carry them on by an extraordinary Minister, instead of a Commissioner, when the virtuous and patriotic' Herrera asserted (and our Goverument admitted) that such persistence would defeat the negotiation and overturn the administration on which peace depended, bringing in one (that of Paredes) already pledged to war!--Western Paper.

MAMMOTH CAVE.-A gentleman lately discovered a 66 Mammoth Cave," in the county of Maury, Tennessee. He in company with another, entered the cave, which they supposed a small one, in search of fugitive slaves; and after proceeding a considerable distance they endeavoured ineffectually to retrace their steps. "In this dilemma," says the account, "to remain inactive was sure destruction, for no one knew of their designs or situation, and the only deter mination was to proceed, if happily they might find some outlet. While wandering on in this most singular adventure, sometimes stumbling over rocks, and at other times on their hands and knees, crawling through narrow entrances into large and spacious rooms, beautifully decorated with stalactites of glittering ap pearances, hanging in various forms and shapes, with walls of rock on either side, their steps and voices echoing through the grottoes and deep recesses, passing streams of thirty and forty yards in width, and some three or four feet in depth, they at length became greatly encouraged, from the circumstance of their lights burning more freely; and renewing their efforts, they soon discovered an outlet, and found themselves on terra firma, and above ground.

They entered the cave between nine

and ten o'clock in the evening, and came out about three o'clock in the morning, having been six hours in this subterranean region, travelling with all the speed their strength would admit of, until they found an egress. It was sometime before they could make out their position, and when they did so, they found themselves about six miles from the place of entrance."-Sel.

The Appian Way.

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In this age of road-making, it cannot be uninteresting to refer to the excellence of those paved highways, which connec ted the provinces of the Roman Empire with the capital. The most celebrated of these was the Appian Way,' near which was Apii Forum, along which the Apos tle Paul once travelled. This road was commenced by the celebrated Sabine Noble, Appius Claudius Cæcus. It was the first scientifically constructed, and well did it deserve the name given it by Statius, "the Queen of Roman ways," (regina viarum.) It was at first completed as far as Capua, a distance of 125 miles; afterwards it was continued to Brundusium. The way in which it was structed was as follows:-A trench was dug about 15 feet broad, until a solid foundation was reached. Where this could not be found, as in marshy ground, piles were driven in. Above this were four layers of materials. First of all a course of small stones was formed, then broken stone cemented with mortar was laid to the thickness of nine inches; above this was a compost of bricks, pottery, and mortar, six inches thick. On the top of these, large blocks of very hard stone, joined with admirable skill, formed the upper surface. Each of these stones measured four or five feet. causeway was strewed with gravel, and furnished with stones for mounting on horseback, and for indicating distance. Even in the time of Procopius, the middle of the 6th century, and more than 800 years after its formation, this road was in excellent preservation. He says, "An expeditious traveller might very well perform the journey from Rome to Capua in five days. Its breadth is such as to admit of two carriagos passing each other. Above all others, this is worthy of notice, for the stones which were em ployed on it are of a very hard nature, and were certainly conveyed by Appius

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from some distant place, as none of the kind are to be found in the neighborhood. These having been cut smooth and square, were fitted closely together, without using iron or any other substance; and they adhere firmly.-SEL.

POISONED ARROWs.-The poison for arrows differs almost with every tribe; and very mysterious ceremonies are observed at its preparation. On this account, the art of preparing it and the ingredients employed, are only very partially known to Europeans. Their elements are obtained from several plants not yet defined botanically, among which the Apihuasca' and poisoned capsicum are much rosorted to. Infusions of the leaves of a very strong kind of tobacco, and of the Sanano (Tabernamontana Sanano, R. P.) and of Euphorbiaceæ, are also taken. Some modern travelers, contrary to the testimony of the oldest writers on Peru, have asserted that no animal substance is employed in the poison for arrows. I am, however, enabled to state, on the authority of an Indian, who had himself often made poison that not only the black 'Cryptaceand very poisonous emmet. reo atrato affin), but also the teeth of the formidable serpent known to the Indians by the name of Miuamaru, or Jergon, (Lachesis picta. Tsch.), are used for that purpose. The wound of the poisoned arrow is fatal and rapid. Men and large mammalia die in about four or five minutes after receiving the wound: the smaller mammiferous animals and birds in two minutes. The blow-reed sends these deadly arrows with great certainty, to the distance of thirty-two or thirtysix paces. Hunting with the blow-reed must be long practised in order to acquire dexterity in its use; and great cau tion is requisite to avoid being wounded by the small sharp arrows. An example came to my own knowledge in the case of an Indian, who let an arrow fall unobserved from his quiver. He trod upon it, and it penetrated the sole of his foot. In a very short time he was a corpse.Tschudi's Travels in Peru.

We say there is no beauty in this or that, when in truth there is beauty in all that comes from the hand of God; and were our eyes not dimmed by looking on the grosser things of this world, we should see it.-Ellen Pickering.

BOTANICAL.

Geographical distribution of the Cactacea. The cacti display curious evidence that their position has not been altered since the creation of organic beings on the surface which they inhabit: a most striking circumstance of interest both to the student and the geologist. They are wholly confined to the meridional parts of America, from 30 deg. S. to 40 deg. N. latitude; and they there occupy the same position as the succulent euphorbias in Africa and Asia; and they negatively seem to prove, that ever since their production, the Atlantic Ocean was a barrier between them. We have said that they are wholly confined to America, but there are some exceptions, as four or five species are found in the Canaries and Valdive islands, on the coasts of Africa, and the opuntia is also found on the shores of the south of Europe. It is cultivated in the island of Sicily, where it is the first that is planted in the fields of lava: for wherever a fissure or breakage is seen in the rocks, there they plant one; and the roots pushing break it further open, and this mechanically aids in the formation of future soil. Although these bave been considered by some as natives of the south of Europe, growing upon a sandy soil, it is yet far more probable that, as they are exclusively natives of the West Indian islands and the continent of Africa, seeds of these have been accidentally wafted to these positions from the opposite shores, the same as the seeds seen by Columbus drifting from the coast of America, and which confirmed him in the existence of that continent, which his fondest hopes so soon after were realised in the discovery of.-Prof. Johnston.

Paulownia Imperialis.-This is a highly ornamental tree, which has not been fully estimated in this country. It appears that for the first year or two, when planted in congenial soil, it grows most vigorously, and continues its growth late in autumn. The shoots, from their extraordinary grossness, are not properly ripened, and consequently get killed back to the harder parts in winter. I have plants at this moment with leaves 20 in. across, and shoots of the current year's growth 6 ft. long. I was informed that when first planted in the Garden of Plants at Paris, it grew away in the same robust

manner.

This is not, however, now the case; the original tree which first flowered there is 30 feet high, the branches are about 20 feet in diameter, with a clean stem 3 feet in circumference. The leaves now upon this tree are about the size of those of the Catalpa, and the shoots scarcely exceeding a foot in length, which of course ripen perfectly. This is (October) covered with a complete mass of incipient blossoms, which do not expand until next spring, when the tree exhibits an inconceivable picture of beauty. It is a remarkable fact that this tree only flowers in alternate years, when it ripens an abundance of seed. What an admirable subject this is for shrubberies and general ornamental planting, both as regards its foliage and flowers, and may well be pointed out as an object deserving the attention of planters.-Gardeners' Chronicle.

[This splendid tree is perfectly hardy in the neighborhood of New York, and it is said that there is a specimen somewhere on the Hudson that has made shoots the present year eighteen f et in length!! This species was first introduced into the United States in 1842, by Messrs. Parsons & Co., of Flushing, who have a tree containing flower-buds in an incipient state, which may be expected to put forth some time next May.]—Ameri. Agriculturist.

Flemish Husbandry.-The Flemings, or inhabitants of Flanders, in the kingdom of the Netherlands, are celebrated for frugality and economy in farming, and for judicious modes of culture. A late traveller says: "The country is a positive garden, and presents a most luxuriant appearance; the fields are streaked with all the colors of the rainbow. You will see, belonging to the same proprie. tor, fine green pastures, new-mown hay, bright yellow coleseed, pink and white clover, light blue flax, rye, wheat, barley, oats, and large plots of crimson poppies.'

Coleseed, or rapeseed, is extensively cultivated in Flanders, France, England, &c., for the propuction of oil, and some agriculturists consider it one of the most profitable crops in husbandry. The produce on good land, in favorable seasons, is from forty to fifty bushels per acre. The seed is sold for crushing, or is crushed by the farmer himself; an oil mill being a common appendage to a farmery in

some districts. Four gallons of seed yield one gallon of oil. The straw is eaten by cattle. We believe that much of the oil imported into the United States from Europe, and sold here as linseed oil, is the produce of the rape or coleseed.

The poppy is cultivated on the continent of Europe as an oil plant, and the oil is esteemed in domestic economy, next to that of the olive, being used for sallad oil. The seed is sown at the rate of one gallon to the acre, and the average produce on rich soil, is about thirty bushels per acre. Five gallons of seed yield one gallon of oil. The poppy is harvested by shaking out the seed upon sheets laid along the rows.-SEL.

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT.

A True Story about a little Girl. Mary was about five years old, but so sedate and careful, that her mother of ten sent her on errands down the hill. A wild, ill-tempered girl, larger than herself, lived in a house which she had to pass; and sometimes she would follow her, call rudely after her, and even strike at her. Mary at length became so much afraid of her, that she told her mother, who, therefore, sent her no more alone in that direction.

One day her father called her to take a walk with him early in the morning; and after he had showed her some men building houses, and answered her questions about the stones, mortar and boards, he took her into a baker's shop, and held her up in his arms, to let her see how he made bread and biscuits.

The baker was pleased, and put two cakes up neatly in a piece of paper, and her father let her take them in her little round, white hand, to carry home. They took the street which led by the naughty girl's house; and, when they were near it, Mary said, "There is the girl who used to chase me. I should like to give her one of my cakes."

Very well," said he, "I will go with you; and you may give it to her." "Father," said she, "I should like to have you." So he took her with one hand, and a cake in the other, and went across the street. The girl saw them coming, and looked as if she was afraid; but he spoke to her with a mild voice and said:

"My little girl says that you sometimes chase her in the street, and you have frightened her so much that she has been afraid to pass by your house. She thought that if she should give you this piece of cake, and ask you not to frighten her again, you would not do it any more; and she wished me to come and give it to you."

The girl seemed to wonder at these words for people are apt to think others feel as they do. She looked ashamed, and then looked kind, and then said, "Well, I will not do so any more." So she took the cake, and Mary and her father went home.

When the table was ready, her father and mother sat down to eat; and, as Mary was asleep and not there to hear, they began to talk about their little children. The father told about the cake; and then said, "O, I wish men and women would always do as right as Mary did. How few disputes and troubles there would be in streets and houses, in towns and countries! How many wars between nations would have been saved!

Now let my little readers ask themselves, can I not do as well as Mary did, and love my enemies, bless them that hate me, and do good to those who illtreat me? That is what the kind Jesus said we ought to do. Perhaps you are angry with some one now. Perhaps you love to teaze, and pull, or pinch, or make faces at smaller children. If you do so, you are not like one of God's dear little children.

RECEIPTS.

Superior Corn Bread is made in a southern negro cabin, with meal and wa ter only, thoroughly worked into stiff dough and palatably salted, then laid between two cabbage leaves and buried like a potato to roast in the hot embers of a wood fire. Such corn bread is goodcheap-easily made-'but never grind the meal fine.' This is where the English will fail; they talk of "flour of Indian corn" that spoils it most surely.Ameri. Agricul.

TO PREVENT THE SMOKING OF A LAMP.Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it well before you use it; it will then burn sweet and pleasant, and give much satisfaction for the trifling trouble.