The Arkansas banner., 1846-04-08

= sioner-and team of clerks--and connected with 1t, he believed, squadron of the navy, which had gone over the whole world to bring back stones, and fossils, and birds, and Fejee wigs.
 Mir. CASS. Egyptian mummies.
 MT. SEVER. Yes; and also Egyptian mummes-and all sorts of seads--turnip seed, and cabbages, and lettuces-in fact, al- most everything he had heard of, and great many things of which he had not heard, with names which he could not make out at all, and had to get his friends from Alabama and Pennsylvania to make out their meaning for him. They had gone far enough in this business He was tired of this spending money for the printing ofa book about buck wheat and Indian COTE Or the documents accompanying the Presidents message. full of valuable information relative to the foreign relations, the finances, army. navy, Indian affairs, and everything else of the country, only fifteen hundred copies were printed. This patent office had gone too far ahead. It had absorbed public printing in a great degree It had all turned out just as he had anticipated years ago when il was proposed 10 build that magnificent structure. He sup posed if the revulsion of 1887 had not come they would have proposed 10 build great national church alongside the patent office, so that they might all worship there beside that national curiosity, He thought stop should be put somewhere to that magnificent hum bug-the patent office, which had actually lecturers attached to ir yes, lecturers 10 teach farmers He was a farmer himself, and he pT IT I Inpt -bap pfhlI ot tors only think of it-lecturers 10 teach men how 10 SOW oats He never went to hear such lecturers. How much did the patent, office cost? Coull his friend from Pennsyl- vania, Mr. CAMERON, tell? No; he shook his head, he could not tell Nobody could tell. He supposed it cost more than the State Department All of their old commo- doGas and their captains were instructed to fill up their vessels with seeds and plants. and all sorts of trash, and to bring them to the patent office He hoped his friend from Connecticut, Mir. NILES. who, with him self, generally stood at the door of the treas ury, and took care of all the money they had got there, would limit the number 10 five thousand; that would be quite sufficient. A cart load oI this document Lad been sent 10
  great cities and as he did not carry on a great correspondence--he had good char acter n that respect, and he recommended his example to other senators; he did not answer any letters at all; that was by far the best plan-he did not often hear from the postmaster, but one day he found him in terrible pucker because the documents filled up his room so that he could not turn him sell about. The fact was, that was not a very scientific place, and he (Mr S did not move Tn a literary circle; itw was true they had some literary characters in the village, but he did not belong to them. He thought that six men could be found in his village who would read the document, and therefore he would agree to take six copies of the dccu- ment.
 Mir. BENTON regarded the question as one much more important than the mere prn- ting of document He was opposed to the system of expending the public money for the publication of a document made up great measure of communications furnished in reply to circulars issued from the patent office, by persons who had no object but merely to get their names published ina pub ilc document. The volume had swollen to one thousand pages; and at the rate at which It had grown, il would soon amount to two or three thousand pages. But he was opposed to the principle of teaching the people agri- culture m thls way. It was the remark of a wlse man, no longer amongst them, that if the government would undertake to instruct the people in the act of raising corn, they would soon be obliged to purshase the seed for them It was vain idea, that of the gov ernment teaching the people agriculture. In the West, 1t was well known, that after the first year, the farmers had no occasion to buy seed. The only exception in his (Mr B's) State, had been that of a very learned gentle man, who had undertaken to write a book on the subject planting corn. The expense of the work ofinstructing the people in agricul- ture was not the only obiection-that would be assuming a task never contemplated by the founders of the government, and one which would only tend to njure the agricullursts Let agriculture be left, as in England and France, to the farmers themselves, and to the periodicals and works which were devoted to their interests and pursuits.
 AWFUL TRAGEDY.-No event, we are sat isiied, has ever occurred in Nashville which produced such excitement as was exhibited on Saturday afternoon, in consequence of the homicide of ROBERT PoRTERrIE1p at the hand of E. Z. c. HUDSON. In rencountre near the sulpher Spring, winch, from all we can learn, was accidental, several shots were fired, and a ball from Judson's pistol took effect in the forehead of Porterfeld just above the right eye; and, without much suffering, he breathed his last about II o'clock on Satur- day night.
 We are not disposed to'go into detail of the circumstances of this most melancholy affair Satisfied, we are assured, that he had been wronged in the tenderest point, and goaded almost 10 madness by his convictions, Mir. Porteriield was prepared to take ven- geance, at the first opportunity. upon his direst foe, or to lose his life in the attempt. It was wiled by an everything Providence that the latter alternative should occur, and it becomes not man to seek to fathem His wisdom or intentions.
 Judson was arresled-as we are informed. for We were absent from town during the occurrences--and borne to the Court-house, and shortly afterwards, a brother of Porter 6nld .uho ,tsac b,, bis siIn a tb bo 4;r,a h n fall