The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-04-02

this year district judges, board of education,
&C., are to be chosen next year.
With regard to the extension of the right of
suffrage to the colorsd race, the Convention pro-
vided for the submission of this as separate
question next August, in the following manner:
"SEC. IA. At the same election that this
Constitution is submitted to the people for its
adoption or rejection, proposition to amend
the same by striking out the word white
from the article on the Right of Suffrage shall
be separately submitted to the electors of this
State for adoption or rejection, in a manner
following, viz: A separate ballot may be Civ
en- by every person having right to vote at
said election, to be deposited in separate box.
And those given for the adoption of such prop
osition shall have the words, Shall the word
white be stricken out of the article on the
Right of Sufrage2' 'Yes' And those given
against the proposition shall have the words,
Shall the word white be stricken out of the
article on the Fright of Suffrage p sNo.' And
if, at said election, the number of ballots cast
in favor of said proposition shall be equal to a
majority of those cast for and against this Con-
stitutton then said word white shall be strick-
en- from said article, and be no part thereof"
Here, ell who desire suffrage shall be free
and universal, are required to vote so; while
those who wish to defeat that equality are per.
mitted to skulk the vote and all scho for any
reason fail to oote on this question, are to be
counted on the side Of inequality and caste!
The ANTICIPATED CoMET.-Itis possible that
some of our readers may have been alarmed at
the statements which have been made, on the
authority of M. Babinet, French savant, to
the effect that this globe of ours was to be pref
ty severely shaken by coming in contact with a
comet next June. But we are happy to be
able to announce, on very good authority, that
no such calamity is likely to occur. The editor
of the Boston Daily Advertiser has applied to
Professor Peirce, of Cambridge, for information
on the subject, and has received the following
satisfactory reply from that distinguished math-
ematician
HARVARD COLLEGE, March "a, 1857.
My DEAR SIR: What Babinet, who is an
excellent popular lecturer, good physicist, but
no geometer or astronomer, may have written
about possible comet or collision with comet,
or what some unknown German may have
done of the same kind is wholly unknown to
me. But neither of them, supposing the Ger
man to be Of equal scientific position with Babi-
net, can have predicted in June any such coils
ion for am positiue that there are not the d.
for such a computation, and Babinet is at least
of too respectable abilities to involve himself in
such an absurdity.
The only matter of prediction, relating to
comets, which has recently come under my OBJ
servation, consists of series of signal failures
committed by the English astronomer, Hind,
which have been discussed with cutting severity
by German mathematician, and shown to be
utterly without foundation. This Hind is the
man who was recently appointed to the control
of the English Nautical almanac, in opposi-
ton to the rival claims of Adams, whose name
is so deservedly celebrated in connection with
the discovery of Neptune. Yours, &C.,
BENJAMIN PIERCE.