Show letter from the pres Fres president ident pa p I 1 CL i hi bi 11 1 1 washington nov rov 1858 gentlemen I 1 have had the honor to receive your invitation to be present on the instant at the centennial anniversary oi of the capture c of fort duquesne and I 1 regret that t the e pressure pressure of public affairs at a period so near the meeting of congress renders it impossible that bat I 1 mould should enjoy this privilege every patriot must rejoice whilst reflecting upon the unparalleled paralleled ph progress of our country within the last century centar cen ten tury tur what was at its commencement an obscure fort far beyond the western frontier fr antler of civilization has now become the centre centra of a populous commercial and manufacturing city sending its productions to large and prosperous sovereign states further west whose territories we were rethen rothen then a I 1 vast unexplored and silent wilderness from froin the stand point at which we have arrived the anxious patriot cannot cannoa fail whilst reviewing the pait past to cast a glance into the future and to speculate upon m what hat bat may be the i condition loe of our beloved country when your posterity will assemble i to celebrate the second centennial Anni annl anniversary vera verp ary of the capture of fert duquesne shall our hole whole bole country then compose nation more populous powerful al and free than any other which has evie evil aisted or will the confederacy have boerl boeri reni ii sunder asunder and divided into groups of hostile and jealous states or may way it not b be flo ilo possible sibie sible that ere the next all the fhe f fragments r ghents exhausted by intermediate con coll each other mayi mayl have filially re rei 1 united and abid sought refuge under the shelter of f one great rea t and a nd overshadowing despotism d thebe these T g eriq questions liest ons will I 1 finnly believe under the providence pr of god be virtually decided lb by ih reiah geneia generation tion we have haq reached a crisis crisis when upon their action depends the preservation of the union according to the he let ten ter aind the constitution and this once gahe gane ane all is lost t 1 I regret to si say bay that the present omens ar are i e far from propitious in the last age of the republic it was consid considered hed med almost treasonable to pronounce the word cord lord dord disunion times have siri bince since e sadly changed and now disunion is freely prescribed prescribe das ras the remedy for evanescent v ary which it left to them themselves dehes se hes boulde wo ulle ulde in th ibe I 1 progress a of events r uki UNI our r revolutionary fathers have passed away and the genera generation tion tiou next after them who were inspired 1 by their perso personal lal lai ial co counsel ansel and example have nearly all disappeared the creseta generation deprived of these lights must whether abe thay they will or not decide the fate pt of their posterity let them cherish the union buhion in jit their heart of hearts let them resist every basure measure which may tend to relax or dissolve its bo bones nes neb let lf the citizens of different states cultivate the feelings of kindness and forbearance aice ance towards each gach other and let all resolve to transmit it to their their descendants in the form ani and spirit they have inherited k from their f forefathers and all will then be well for our country in future times I 1 shall ass assume ume the privilege of advancing shri ye ars in reference to another gr growing oVing and dangerous evil eyll in the last age although our fathers fathers like ourselves were divided into political p parties arting chih ch often liaa h ad severe conflicts with each other yet we never heard beard until within a recent period of the employment of money to carry elections should thib this practice increase until the voters and their representatives senta tives in the state and national legislatures shall become infected the fountain of free government will then be poisoned at its source andee and we must end as history proves in military despotism A democratic republic all agree cannot long iong ong survive unless sustained by public virtue when this is corrupted and the people become venal there is a cancer at the root of the tree of liberty which will cause it to w wither and to die praying almighty god that your r remote emote po posterity may continue I 1 century after century for ages yet to cometo come to celebrate the anniversary of the capture of fort duquesne in peace and prosperity under the protecting banner of the constitution and the union 4 remain very respectfully your friend james BUCHANAN A ROMANCE ir IN ROYAL LIFE in the whole of bavaria there is nobody who can play the zit zither litber tit her ber better than duke max often his ro royal rosal sal sai highness has moved the members of the munich court to tears by performing on this noble and singularly plaintive instrument this national guitar of the german alps the duke is accustomed to spend the summer in the mountains when armed with his rifle and the zi zither theil hung bung round his shoulders raj he be delights to roam about in the garb ot of a common hunter A short time since on one of thebe these rambles he sat down on the trunk of a tree and awakened the echoes of the opposite chain of hills he fancied himself unobserved and revelled bevelled revel led long in the sweet do dolinda linds at last he be stopped immediately some peasants who had bad been his secret auditors stepped forward and one acting as spokesman addressed the duke in the cordial way of the country as i follows i thou indeed canet play it wonderfully now come with us a and nd we will din dance 1 cp to thee in the nn inn down there we will pay for as much beer as thou canet drink 12 thank you replied the duke 1 I am not thirsty but I 1 shall certainly go with you so the duke accompanied the men and played for more than two hours in the inn down there the peasants and their lasses got almost out of sense while dancing to the tunes of their new friend with the poetical feeling native to the mountaineers of the alps they sang jumped about and kept up a steady d mand demand for more tunes the dukes face beamed with joy but he grew so tired that ultimately he prepared to leave thou go said one of the peasants abut but not till thou hast played the new dance composed by duke maximilian that is the most exquisite piece of music I 1 ever eer heard beard hla hia pla play y it and ill pil give thee twenty f four our areu 21 the duke did as he was requested got his kreuz ers and then no sooner had bad he the door behind him when one of the peasants made the following speech to his fellows and their partners cc my dear comrade comrades permit me to tell you that you are asses every orie orle one of you plumes himself on his kitow knowledge ledge 11 of the etther either 2 and none of 1 ou while bearin hearin hearing I 1 the best player in the land recognized duke max I 1 did at on once cp I 1 the peasants still more delighted with the condescension of their illustrious friend ran after him thanked him and pot got the promise that lie he would play for them once more As to the twenty four for kreuz ers the duke saidi bali said ralli iI I shall keep kiep 1 timmy tiey are re ail all I 1 have hive ev ever r made by playing luy my ruy Ll zither lither ther 51 court journal |