might drink, or would smooth the resting-place | Pray, pray, pray, I beg you and implore you of his head; then she would gently resume her with all my grieving heart, my friend-my seat by him, and bend over her work again. dear!-take all I have, and make it a Blessing to me!" The shadow moved with the sun, but she never moved from his siae, except to wait upon him. The sun went down, and she was still there. She had done her work now, and her hand, faltering on the arm of his chair since its last tending of him, was hesitating there yet. He laid his hand upon it, and it clasped him with a trembling supplication. "Dear Mr. Clennam, I must say something to you before I go. I have put it off from hour to hour, but I must say it." The star had shone on her face until now, when her face sank upon his hand and her own. It had grown darker when he raised her in his encircling arm, and softly answered her: "No, darling Little Dorrit. No, my child. I must not hear of such a sacrifice. Liberty and hope would be so dear bought at such a price that I could never support their weightnever bear the reproach of possessing them. But, with what ardent thankfulness and love I "I too, dear Little Dorrit. I have put off say this, I may call Heaven to witness!" what I must say." She nervously moved her hand toward his lips as if to stop him; then it dropped, trembling, into its former place. "I am not going abroad again. My brother is, but I am not. He was always attached to me, and he is so grateful to me now-so much too grateful, for it is only because I happened to be with him in his illness-that he says I shall be free to stay where I like best, and to do what I like best. He only wishes me to be happy, he says." There was one bright star shining in the sky. She looked up at it while she spoke, as if it were the fervent purpose of her own heart shining before her. "You will understand, I dare say, without my telling you, that my brother has come home to find my dear father's will, and to take possession of his property. He says, if there is a will, he is sure I shall be left rich; and if there is none, that he will make me so." "And yet you will not let me be faithful to you in your affliction ?" "Say, dearest Little Dorrit, and yet I will try to be faithful to you. If, in the by-gone days when this was your home and when this was your dress, I had understood myself (I speak only of myself) better, and had read the secrets of my own breast more distinctly; if, through my reserve and self-mistrust, I had discerned a light that I see brightly now when it has passed far away, and my weak footsteps can never overtake it; if I had then known, and told you that I loved and honored you, not as the poor child I used to call you, but as a woman whose true hand would raise me high above myself, and make me a far happier and better man; if I had so used the opportunity there is no recalling-as I wish I had, oh, I wish I had!—and if something had kept us apart then, when I was moderately thriving, and when you were poor; I might have met your noble offer of your fortune, dearest girl, He would have spoken; but she put up her with other words than these, and still have trembling hand again, and he stopped. "I have no use for money, I have no wish for it. It would be of no value at all to me, but for your sake. I could not be rich, and you here. I must always be much worse than poor, with you distressed. Will you let me lend you all I have? Will you let me give it you? Will you let me show you that I never have forgotten, that I never can forget, your protection of me when this was my home? Dear Mr. Clennam, make me of all the world the happiest, by saying Yes! Make me as happy as I can be in leaving you here, by saying nothing to-night, and letting me go away with the hope that you will think of it kindly; and that for my sakenot for yours, for mine, for nobody's but mine! -you will give me the greatest joy I can experience on earth, the joy of knowing that I have been serviceable to you, and that I have paid some little of the great debt of my affection and gratitude. I can't say what I wish to say. I can't visit you here where I have lived so long, I can't think of you here where I have seen so much, and be as calm and comforting as I ought. My tears will make their way. I can not keep them back. But pray, pray, pray, do not turn from your Little Dorrit, now, in your affliction! blushed to touch it. But as it is, I must never touch it-never!" She besought him more pathetically and earnestly with her little supplicatory hand than she could have done in any words. "I am disgraced enough, my Little Dorrit. I must not descend so low as that, and carry you-so dear, so generous, and so good—down with me. God bless you, God reward you! It is past." He took her in his arms, as if she had been his daughter. "Always so much older, so much rougher, and so much less worthy, even what I was must be dismissed by both of us, and you must see me only as I am. I put this parting kiss upon your cheek, my child-who might have been more near to me, who never could have been more dear-a ruined man, far removed from you, forever separated from you, whose course is run, while yours is but beginning. I have not the courage to ask to be forgotten by you in my humiliation, but I ask to be remembered only as I am." The bell began to ring, warning visitors to depart. He took her mantle from the wall, and tenderly wrapped it round her. "One other word, my Little Dorrit. A hard | you was always honorable, and if you'll promise one to me, but it is a necessary one. The time me that you will take care of him, and never when you and this prison had any thing in let him want for help and comfort when I am common has long gone by. Do you under- not there, my mind will be at rest so far.' I stand ?" promised her. And I'll stand by you," said John Chivery, "forever!" "Oh, you will never say to me," she cried, weeping bitterly, and holding up her clasped hands in entreaty," that I am not to come back any more! You will surely not desert me so!" "I would say it if I could; but I have not the courage quite to shut out this dear face, and abandon all hope of its return. But do not come soon, do not come often! This is now a tainted place, and I well know the taint of it clings to me. You belong to much brighter and better scenes. You are not to look back here, my Little Dorrit; you are to look away to very different and much happier paths. Again, God bless you in them! God reward you !" "I will, indeed." "There's my hand, Sir," said John, "and I'll stand by you forever!" Maggy, who had fallen into very low spirits, here cried, "Oh, get him into a hospital; do get him into a hospital, Mother! He'll never look like his self again if he an't got into a hos- After a hearty squeeze, he disappeared with pital. And then the little woman as was always the same cautious creak upon the stair, crept a spinning at her wheel, she can go to the cup-shoeless over the pavement of the yard, and board with the Princess and say, What do you keep the Chicking there for? and then they can take it out and give it to him, and then all be happy!" The interruption was seasonable, for the bell had nearly rung itself out. Again tenderly wrapping her mantle about her, and taking her on his arm (though but for her visit he was almost too weak to walk), Arthur led Little Dorrit down stairs. She was the last visitor to pass out at the Lodge, and the gate jarred heavily and hopelessly upon her. With the funeral clang that it sounded into Arthur's heart, his sense of weakness returned. It was a toilsome journey up stairs to his room, and he re-entered its dark, solitary precincts in unutterable misery. When it was almost midnight, and the prison had long been quiet, a cautious creak came up the stairs, and a cautious tap of a key was given at his door. It was Young John. He glided in in his stockings, and held the door closed, while he spoke in a whisper. "It's against all rules, but I don't mind. I was determined to come through, and come to you." "What is the matter?" "Nothing's the matter, Sir. I was waiting in the court-yard for Miss Dorrit when she came out. I thought you'd like some one to see that she was safe." locking the gates behind him, passed out into the front, where he had left his shoes. If the same way had been paved with burning plowshares, it is not at all improbable that John would have traversed it with the same devotion, for the same purpose. ALL ALIKE. THE Such is the marvelous rapidity with which our equalizing institutions reduce, or elevate if we please, all varieties of race and character to the same standard, that it matters not whence they come, they are no sooner landed than the process of Americanization begins. Paddy, only a few weeks absent from his potato-patch, has already cast his ragged frieze, buttoned himself in civilized broadcloth, and dropping his shillalah, walks a passably decent and orderly citizen. Hans, too, flings away his low-browed cap at once, and, oblivious of the paternal bayonets of Faderland, so lately threatening his rear, lifts his soul, and raises his newly acquired beaver to the shout of liberty. Though occasionally, under the provocation of whisky, bad beer, and worse counsel, the unruly instincts of the newly"To talk about you. She said to me, 'John, imported Celt or Saxon may be aroused, it is "Thank you, thank you! You took her home, John?" "I saw her to her hotel. The same that Mr. Dorrit was at. Miss Dorrit walked all the way, and was just the same. Talked to me so kind, it quite knocked me over. Why do you think she walked instead of riding?" "I don't know, John." Do not long before they fall into the American | houses for ourselves or our neighbors? ranks as tolerably well-disciplined regulars. we furnish them for our family or our visDickens, in his "American Notes," confessed his difficulty in recognizing the Irishman here -of whom he was only conscious at home. in the spectral shape of a famished skeleton hung with rags-in consequence of his American disguise of a whole coat, a full belly, and a happy face. It will be agreed, no doubt, that Celt, Saxon, or whatever stranger, honoring us with his presence, should be transformed, as soon as possible, into the American, though there may be differences of opinion in regard to the exact method of metamorphosis. There are political and national advantages which result unquestionably from the remarkable uniformity of character of the American people. There are, however, evils, and serious ones, too. The facility with which public opinion is formed is not the least dangerous of these. No sooner does some audacious political or social bell-wether start for a race or a leap than the whole flock is after him. There is many a fatal step taken which might have been avoided if our strength of wind had been measured and the danger surveyed before running the headlong course. It would require no great research in history to find examples of American precipitancy from the facility of popular movement. What fluctuations in public policy! What haste to-day, to be repented at leisure to-morrow! What we Americans want is more individuality, and consequent personal independence. We combine too readily, forming a mixture in which the qualities of the separate constituents, as in a chemical compound, are lost in the newly-acquired properties of the general composition. The conduct of a people in mass is seldom the same or as judicious as the average individual action. Feeling often controls the one, while judgment guides the other. When the connection between man and man, in a multitude, is joined, the electric force of emotional sympathy has free current, and each becomes only a passive medium, through which some powerful agent distributes its influence. Man, however, is a power within himself, and, when isolated from the general mass, will think and act independently. The show of hands in a crowd will often indicate a very different vote from a suffrage canvassed individually. A combination is strong in feeling and action, but weak in thought; and, of course, proportionately dangerous, since it exercises power without the control of judgment. Personal independence is the great check which is required to diminish the risks of irrational popular movement. How much of this personal independence can we Americans justly claim? Leaving others to settle the question politically, let us ask how far socially we have lost our individuality in the general mass. How many persons, for example, in New York, have the courage to live in accordance with their own tastes or sense of comfort? Do we build our itors? Do we spend our money in accordance with the dictates of prudence or of fashion? The very uniformity of our lives and habits settles the question against our independence. Mr. A. builds a four-story, brown stone-front house, because Mr. B. lives in one, and he is resolved to appear as rich as his neighbor in the world's' eye, notwithstanding his ledger under his arm tells a very different story. So Mrs. B. turns her house into something not very unlike a London saloon, or a French Valentino; and banishing her husband, who loves retirement, to the basement or club, lets in a throng of miscellaneous strangers, who, however intimate friends of fashion, are not even speaking acquaintances with the host in whose house they make themselves so much at home. Mrs. B. thus lets out to Fashion Mr. B.'s house, night after night, to his and her own manifest discomfort, for no better reason than because the distinguished Mrs. C. does so, and the B.'s are not to be outshone by the C.'s; for "Pray," asks Mrs. B., "who are the C.'s ?" Nowhere has conventionalism such universal sway as in these United States. Travel from east to west, you find the same people with the same houses, the same dress, the same social habits, and if with the same virtues, also with the same vices. Go to the newest settlement in the most remote distance, and you will find it but a piece, as it were, cut out of New York or Boston. Formal brick houses stare at you from the opposite sides of a Broadway in the wilderness, with the prairie grass hardly trodden under foot. Dress coats and fashionable skirts move stiffly about under the very shade of the primeval forest, and the tingle of the ubiquitous piano is heard long before the howl of the savage has died away. These are, of course, harmless in themselves, and even satisfactory, if merely indications of the rapid advance of civilization. They, however, none the less prove the uniformity of American life-the excessive tendency to which, so far as they may indicate a want of individual independence, should be deprecated. So universal and sensitive is the sympathy of the American people that the slightest caprice of fashion, or the least fluctuation of opinion, diffuses itself from the centre to the remotest extremities with the rapidity of the electric fluid. The nation is but one great nervous system, the parts of which, however numerous, have no separate sensibility of their own, and receive no impression which does not become a general sensation. The country is thus at the mercy of plausible schemers. Charlatans of all kinds, whether political or social, moral or religious, have only to get up a show, put in motion their cunning jugglery, and give the signal to their hired claqueurs, when the whole country joins in the shout of applause. There are only two correctives of this dangerous proclivity of our people to hasty opinion-independence of thought on the part of themselves, or wisdom, combined with honesty, | vate the habit of individual thought, which, leadon the part of their leaders. The former, how-ing to independence of action, will prove the best ever, is the surest reliance; and it is the duty, security against tyranny, whether it be that of as it is the interest of every American, to culti-a caprice or an opinion, a despot or a mob. Monthly Record of Current Events. UNITED STATES. ordered to be made to our naval force at Panama NOTWITHSTANDING t, it hat OTWITHSTANDING the urgent request of and Aspinwall. Serious disturbances are threatened in Utah, our Government has decided to take no immediate where the disaffection to the Government has aspart in the Chinese war. The Administration, sumed a very marked character. Schools have however, has determined to adopt strong measures been organized for drilling the militia, and Morto protect American interests in that quarter, for mon preachers are urging the saints to gird on which purpose our squadron in the Chinese waters their arms. The Deseret News, which is in a manis to be largely augmented. Honorable William ner the organ of the hierarchy, denies the right of B. Reed, of Philadelphia, has been appointed Min- the Federal Government to appoint territorial offiister to China.-The United States have agreed to cers, and affirms that polygamy is a purely local pay the apportioned sum, amounting to $380,000, institution, concerning nobody out of Utah. Hon. to Denmark, in lieu of the Sound Duties.-The W. W. Drummond, late Chief Justice of the TerBritish Government decline agreeing to the amend-ritory, has resigned his post, and publishes a long ments made to the treaty respecting Central Amer-letter addressed to the Attorney-General, assigning ica. It is understood that this is not a definite re- his reasons. He says that the Mormons look to jection of the amended treaty, but merely a postponement until matters have been adjusted with the Republic of Honduras.-The propositions made by our Government to New Granada were essentially as stated in our last Record. The Granadan Plenipotentiaries replied that these propositions implied a gratuitous, unconstitutional, and disgraceful cession of territory; that the measures proposed to insure the safety and equality to all nations of the transit across the Isthmus were wholly inadequate for that purpose, since the overwhelming influence of the United States would constitute a virtual privilege in favor of the Union, its citizens, and mercantile interests. But they say that they are empowered to enter into negotiations having for their object to give to all nations equal rights and facilities, while the sovereignty of New Granada shall not be impaired; and add that the new Administration, which comes into power on the 1st of April, will find ready prepared the elements of a just and proper arrangement, one feature of which is the friendly interposition of all nations interested in the freedom of transit across the Isthmus. In respect to the massacre at Panama, they deny that New Granada is justly responsible, and affirm that this outbreak is proved to have originated in the brutal conduct of a citizen of the United States toward a native of the country, who was supported by other citizens of the United States. The United States Commissioners thereupon replied, that as all attempts even to settle upon a basis for negotiation had failed, they were instructed to demand the sum of $400,000 as indemnity for property lost and stolen at the time of the massacre, adding that this was much less than the actual amount of damage. Señor Pombo, the Granadan Secretary of State, replies, reiterating that his Government is not responsible for this damage; and makes a counter demand of $150,000 from the United States, by way of indemnity for losses sustained by natives of the country and peaceable foreigners; besides which, reparation is claimed for other wrongs. The Congress of New Granada has passed resolutions fully indorsing the action of its Plenipotentiaries in this matter. Mr. Morse, our special Commissioner, has returned to this country, and a considerable addition has been Brigham Young as the sole source of law, and consider no enactments of Congress binding upon them; that there is a secret organization among them, embracing all the male members of the church, who are bound by oath to acknowledge no laws except those emanating from Young; that there is a body of men, whose names he can disclose, set apart by the Church to destroy the lives and property of those who question the decrees of the hierarchy; that the records of the court have been destroyed at the instigation of the rulers of the Mormons, and the Federal officers have been insulted for questioning the outrage; that the Government of the United States is openly abused, and its officers in the Territory insulted and annoyed, without redress; that Young constantly interferes with the Grand Jurors, directing who shall and who shall not be indicted, and that his directions are invariably complied with; that Mormons convicted of aggravated crime, have been summarily pardoned, while those not belonging to the Church, though guilty of no crime, have been wantonly imprisoned. He also affirms that the murder by the Indians, in 1853, of Captain Gunnison and his party, was really committed at the instigation of the Mormon leaders; that his own predecessor, Hon. L. Shafer, was poisoned by them; and that Mr. Babbitt, late Secretary of the Territory, was killed by them, and not, as reported, by the Indians. He says that if a Governor were sent out, who is not a Mormon, and if he were supported by a sufficient military force, something might be effected; but as matters now stand, it would be madness to attempt to administer the laws in the Territory, and that no man who has once tried the experiment would be willing to risk life and property by accepting an appointment there. The new United States steamer Niagara, the largest man-of-war afloat, has been ordered to assist in laying the cable of the oceanic submarine telegraph. She sailed from New York, April 20, and will proceed to London, where she will take on board one-half of the cable. The other half will be taken by the British steamer Agamemnon, lately the flag ship in the Black Sea. Both vessels will proceed together to a point midway between the two continents, where the two portions of the cable will be joined, and the Niagara will proceed to the American coast, while the Agamemnon returns to Great Britain, each paying out the cable as she advances. These steamers will be accompanied by other vessels to afford assistance if needed. The distance between Valentia Bay, in Ireland, and St. Johns, Newfoundland, the termini of the telegraph, is 1650 miles; but 2500 miles of cable are to be taken on board the vessels, to provide against any deviations from a direct line occasioned by currents or other causes. be confined in the State Prison at hard labor for a term not less than two, or more than ten years.The Legislature of Ohio has also passed a bill of similar character. It provides that any person who attempts to hold another as a slave shall be fined and imprisoned; that if any person shall seize or arrest, or use force or fraud for the purpose of detaining any other person, on pretense that he is a fugitive from service, he shall be punished by fine or imprisonment; and that any attempt to kidnap, with the intent of removing any person from the State for the purpose of enslaving, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary. Resolutions were also passed denouncing the decision of the Supreme Court; complaining that the Slave States had an undue proportion of the judges; and instructing the congressional delegation to endeavor to obtain such a modification of the laws as shall secure to the Free States their proper proportion of judges.-The Legislature of Maine has passed a "Personal Liberty Bill," declaring all slaves brought into that State to be free, and making it the duty of county attorneys to defend persons claimed as fugitive slaves.-The Legislature of Massachusetts has adopted amend that no person shall be a voter who is not able to read the English language and to write his own name. The House of Representatives is to be reduced to two hundred and forty members, elected by districts; and the Senate, of forty members, is to be chosen by districts, instead of by counties, as at present. SOUTHERN AMERICA. The Legislature of New York adjourned on the 18th of April, having passed during the session more than eight hundred bills. Among those of general interest are a new charter for the city of New York, and a bill consolidating the cities of New York and Brooklyn, together with Staten Island and the County of Westchester, into one police district, the police of which is to be under the direction of a board of seven commissioners, of which the Mayors of New York and Brooklyn are to be members ex officio. The legality of this bill has been contested by Mayor Wood and others, and the question is still before the courts.-A new Excise Law has been passed, repealing the Prohibitory Act of 1855. It provides for the appointments to the Constitution of that State, providing ment by the courts of three Commissioners of Excise in each county; the fees for licenses are to be from $30 to $100 in towns and villages, and from $50 to $300 in cities; no license is to be granted except at the discretion of the Board, and to persons of good moral character, on the petition of thirty respectable freeholders of the district, the licensed party to give bonds to allow no gambling on his premises; hotel-keepers, who must provide certain specified accommodations for travelers, only to sell liquors to be drunk on the premises under a penalty of $50; giving liquor to apprentices or minors without the consent of their guardians is punished by a fine of $10; giving to Indians by a fine of $25; selling to intoxicated persons by a fine of $10 to $25; a complaint by a wife that her husband is a drunkard obliges magistrates to issue notices to dealers not to sell him liquors for a space of six months, under a penalty of $50 for each offense; a similar provision applies to complaints by husbands and children; railroad, steamboat, and other incorporated companies engaged in the transportation of passengers, must refuse employment to those known to be in the habit of the intemperate use of intoxicating drinks. Resolutions were passed respecting the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the Dred Scott case, declaring that "this State will not allow Slavery within her borders in any form, or under any pretense, or for any time, however short," and that "the Supreme Court of the United States, by reason of the majority thereof having identified itself with a sectional and aggressive party, has impaired the confidence and respect of the people of this State." A bill was also passed entitled "An Act to secure Freedom to all persons within this State." It provides that no descent from an African and no color of skin shall prevent any person from becoming a citizen of this State, or deprive him of the rights and privileges thereof; that every slave brought involuntarily into this State, or coming here with the consent of his master or mistress, shall be free; and that any person who shall hold, or attempt to hold, in this State, in slavery or as a slave, any person so coming or brought, shall be guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall The reported victories gained by Walker on the 16th of March appear to have been fabrications. We have now the allied accounts of these and subsequent transactions. According to these, Walker, on the day in question, sallied from Rivas with his whole disposable force, and taking a position near San Jorge, opened a brisk fire upon the Allies, which was vigorously returned. At four o'clock he commenced his retreat to Rivas, leaving behind him 125 men killed. On his return he was harassed by a detachment sent to cut off his retreat; and at the cross-roads, about half a mile from Rivas, the attack was so spirited that the filibusters broke, and fled into the city in disorder, having suffered great loss. The allied loss was 22 killed, and 60 wounded. General Mora thereupon advanced upon Rivas, which he closely invested. Under date of April 1, he reports that Walker's forces, greatly reduced, are hemmed in upon the Plaza, with no supplies except the flesh of mules and dogs, with sugar instead of salt; that all attempts at foraging are unavailing; that desertions to his camp average five daily, while those who take the road to Costa Rica are three times as many; and that he is making preparations for a final assault upon the position at Rivas, being in daily expectation of large re-enforcements from Salvador. This account, like those from the other side already given, may be exaggerated; but it is certain that Walker has sustained an irreparable loss by the failure of the attempts made to relieve him by way of the San Juan River. On the 25th of March, Colonel Lockridge, with 400 men, set off from Greytown with the design of taking Castillo, but found the Allies to be in such force that a council of war was held, at which it was decided not to make the attempt. He then asked for volunteers to join him in an attempt to cut his |