Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1838-01-06

The draught water of the Pennsylvania, we learn.
was % 2 feet aft, and q feet lurward.-Hef ctsw
numbered six hundred men.
From McN Y. .]7nerican)
Tie ExpIoriay Erpediioa.-Ihe annexed letter from
Captain Kearney was cxcludrd Yesterday hy u press OF
other mutter. This distinguished officer has not teceiv.
ed, as we were assured and announced, the command OF
the Exploring Expedition. That annuncialion, howe
YER. having given rise to constant applications to him,
he has addressed The following letter tu US for publlca.
ton. as a means Of saving Inconvenience 10 others, US
well as himself.
To The Editor Of The yre,c York american:
The public prints regard me as Commander OF the Elk.
pl0ring ExppdI,ion-hut, as no such appointment has
been made, or ever rendered tn me, must disclaim the
possession Of The honor. Yet it becomes ME TO thank
you. and through your paper, your contemporaries, Tor
the fattering rncDniums with which my name is asso'
ciated with this great national enterprise. An enter
prise of science should be in the hands of science, 10
which iuy no claim, and for which ! have sought not,
more than became necessary for the common manage
ment of vessels under my command. For this reason,
and mp situation in point OF seniority. the thought had
never crossed my mind, until a casual look into some OF
your city papers announced | had accepted the station.
In an appointment of this kind, the hnnored person.
age, whoever he may be. has no easy task 10 perform.
Public expectation has been long INDUCED, and hope
delayed. This would seem TO render it not only a task
af difficulty, but of delicacy, on the part OF tile success
scr, in accepting the command.
When commercial interests are involved, can see my
way clear, and SD far can count upon success; but when
the wings ot science are spread, they soar loo nigh ior ME
to Tencl o feather.
Whoever may be appointed to conduct this enterprise,
Il, is hoped hs will not lend his aid to pluck a single
plnme-curinilment is too late, and delay would be The
lesser evil.
Should Com Jones not resume the command-should
all his exerlions, his enleeblrd health, be sacrificed, aud
the energies Of the other officers and men, their views
and The views Of the Government. all fall short Of con.
summation. il gtill brhoovps every friend of his country,
and IF mankind in general, TO come In The rescue.
Iunk nbnn the tnrIh smiling of This eyuPuItInn, ns
do upon a r:alier OF k~onOr-lhnt we are as much bnund
under al obligation To send It 10 The land nearest The
South pole, to meet those who have gone before, co.ope.
rating on the field of science as in matters Of that ma
lure. Congress cannot recede -ior The resolution has
been hrralded abroad almost from pole To pole, and for
which all praise has been bestowed upon that honora
BILE body.
The renown which tina, act has thrown into the scale
of American science, should not be cast away ut this
time, let who will kick the beam.
Whether expeditions as TO new discoveries are or
are not fulfilled, there are still greet and important OBJ:
jec,s 10 he atlninpd.
: Islands, reels, harbors, and head lands, which are but
little known, and are impsrfrctly described, or placed
upon charts, will all receive their proper position and
character. Productions (bnlh animate and ina
of nature, essential for the use nf man, or holding firth
Inducements fur commercial enterprise, and The facility
for obtaining supplies Of all sorts, will be pointed out.
The security Of our nation, will he established among
those who bul hear of US by report of others. Our tolls,
and the mnnificence of the Government, are both repaid
IL ven t]SsS iS" VI te ehusI " Wow wv Neo
The selection of the vessels for this service is a matter
much discussed, and uPnn which n diversity of opinion
prevails aid upon which, under circumstances, l shall
not speak.
England and France both have, i, is knnwn. " aston.
,shcd me ~natirss,'' in distant regions. with sights OF big
gun slips lakpn from their enemies. The ''Macrdonian'
may balance The account OF me, and wonld have LIN
surytat" 10 pay of The other.
Tipping thu, SUCCESS will attend this undertaking, let
it fall into what hands il may, | shall hold myself ever
ready To contribute, in Common with my brother officers,
TO its support; und ! hive the h"pe Still, that the officers
who have borne The labor, nny reap the fruits.
'' LAWRE3NiCE KEARNEY.
To exhibit, the spirit with which the late Mr. Lovejoy
went into the affray in which he lost his life after taking
the life Of another, we copy The following paragraph
from the Missouri Republican,, q most respectable paper,
mndt rate and candid IN its character, and conducted by
a man entitled TO all respect and confidence.
(-Aezund, ia Gazette.
awe have no disposition TO reflect upon the memo.
~ Of the dead. and were il not for the course Of others
who keep disinlerred the manpled corpse of the Rev
E.. 2. L"vejoy TO frighten and alarm the community
with. we should not now allude to him. Throughout The
land he hns been called q martyr TO freedom, a victim of
misrule, and the unfortunate defender Of the rights most
dear 10 American citizens. Those are high punrgyrics,
and so far as conduct and language justify US to nudge
of the motives Of men. wholly undeservpd. MIR. Love
jny was a victim of fana,icsIn and religious zeal, he
struggled for whit he believed 10 be a religious duty, and
in support of which, he was prepared to sacrifice every
political Consideration. we were on terms of personal
friendship with The man, and before the finale Of the Ira.
gedy, we con versed with him freely as to the tendency and
result of his course. We endeavored 10 point 10 him the
evil results to our political institutions, and especially
the probability Of producing a dissolution of the Union,
it he and those will, whom he co-operated should persist
in their opposition 10 The domestic institutions Of the
States. His reply was prompt and decisive, in sub.
stance: "Religion comprls Us 10 oppose slavery as a
sin, and our duty to religion can be second 10 no political
considerations Whatever. IF the Union must be dissolv.
ed, let it 60! the service of my Master must be done =
TIE MAsDAs IsD1AKs.-The Commercial Advertiser
states that the tribe of Mandan Indians, which a short
time since numbered three thousand souls, has become
extinct by the ravages of the small pox. A gentleman,
belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, has arrived in
The city Of New York, who passed through the Mandan
village, and there found that only a small remnant Of
the tribe, some twelve or fourteen, remained 10 tell their
melancholy fate. 1t is further slated, that The distemper
is now raging 10 frighlful extent among The Black Feet,
(anothsr tribe and that it will probably extend TO other
tribes.
Rrpuc7Ios OF DyrrEs-On and afer the list of ia.
nuary, all articles s~uLjrct to duty, either I'D vulorem or
specific, imported on and after that day, and paying more
than twenty per cent. on their invoice cost, will be emit.
,lsd IN a reduction Of thirty per cent. of the excess on