The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-12-25
Washington Correspondence Of the Boston .4ilas.
|t- sH WASHING TON, Dec. nth. 1850

w ION, LEU. l1uI, IOOU-
A SINGULAR EvENr.-A circumstance lap
pened here last season, which, were we in
cllned to superstition, or disposed TO put faith in
omens, might sttrtle us not little, and GER
tainly cause curious apprehensons for the fu
ture. 1t was during heated debate upon the
compromise measures one night and before Cali
forum was admitted, that, seated in the Hall of
Representatives, my attention was about equal
ly divited between the noisy defamation around
me, and the beauty and brillancy of the chan
delie suspended overhead, which threw out n
volume OF light upon one of the most impress
s've' solemn, and exciting scenes that ever was
witnessed in that chamber, or probably ever will
be again. The galleries were crowded, and
every heart was iptent upon the turn of affairs
when Mr.. Burt, of South Carolina, took the
floor; for then the novelty of discussion gave
place to actual suspense, because it was known
ne intended to define the ultimatum of is
State, and the words he might utter, she would
stand as Mr.. Venable had previously declared,
until the crack of DOOM" | was still gazing
at the chandelier, at the instant Mr. B. delivered
the memo able sentence, secession and diSs0l,t-
tion al every hazard" when one of the gilded
stars studding the crescent of the dome and
nearly over where Mr.. b. was standing, gave
way, and fell to the floor without attracting any
special remark, Qfrom the fact, perhaps, that
very few observed the inciden) and the speaker
continued his speech uninterrupted, until, by the
rule OF the House, limiting his time to one hour,
he again resumed his seat.
noticed the circumstance in connection with
his words, secession and dissolution ut every
hazard" To-day, in counting the stars, nclud-
ing the fallen one, discovered thew amounted
to just thirty, the number of States constitut-
ing the Confederacy; but it must be borne in
mind that when the capitol was erected, only
eighteen States formed the Union, and honce
there could have been no design (uness pro-
phetic) in placing that number there But this
was not all. Enumerating from the limb of the
crescent nearest TO where Mr.. Burt (the Repre-
sentative Of South Care lina) was standing,
found the fallen star to be The hirteenih-an-
swerng to the original thirteen States, and thus
clearly indicating that, in the opinion of old
maids and riddle-readers, the thirteenth star was
surely and uncquivocally South Carolina She
was the last admitted, if we reverse Georgia,
and, consequently, viewed, twisted, contorted,
turned, examined in what light we may, the in
ci:ent was sngularly and truly extraordinary
The gllded outline remains on the DOME but the
body has dropped; and now, since the circum-
stance is wholly true, let these disunion patriots
"eiSh wei Tie moran OF the STORY. FOR my
own part, intend to be firm believer in omens
for the next twenty years; and you will admit
that the features of this incident constitute n
good basis for credulity.
GRACCHUS
If one star goes out of the system at one
session, and by one speech how long will it
take for half of them to travel off! Look out
for the next speech from the Mississippi deega-
finn