the ditch prepared for it. Once in the line of position, the ends were to be opened, and the siphon sunk to its proper place in the bed of the stream. The two tubes were firmly joined at the ends with plate-iron couplings, or collars, moved to the surface line over the ditch referred to, and loaded down with pig-iron to sink them. But scarcely had they been submerged to the depth of one-half their diameter, when the water checked in its current, and, seeking an outlet, boiled up over the upper tube, fell into the interval between the two, and then leaped up again over the lower tube, thereby causing a formidable oscillation and rolling movement, which shook off a great part of the iron by which the siphon was being sunk. This iron was raised and the ditch cleaned out by divers, and meanwhile additional precautions were taken to make the next attempt a success, by constructing a double stockade of piles on the upper side of the siphon, in the manner of those on its lower side, to the end that the siphon, sustained and held in a horizontal position, might more effectually resist the force of the current. The siphon was again loaded with iron, guys were attached to control and regulate its descent, and, at its second trial, it was submerged, without accident or obstruction, to the entire length of the stockades, which to a certain extent served the purpose of slides or runways. Water-gauges placed on different parts of the double tube, and indicating by their scales the depth attained, marked, as they sunk, the progress of the immersion. When the index showed the proper depth, the siphon had reached its bed; and thenceforth it has received the sewage which it is destined to bear from bank to bank, and nothing betrays where it lies in the bed of the Seine.

SLEMMER, Brevet Brigadier-General ADAM J., Lieutenant-Colonel 4th Infantry, an American army officer conspicuous for his gallantry and meritorious conduct, born in Montgomery County, Pa., about 1828; died at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, where he was commander, October 7, 1868. He entered West Point in September, 1846, and graduated July, 1850, twelfth in his class. He was assigned a position in the 1st Artillery, and, after a short campaign against the Seminole Indians in Florida, was four years on frontier service in California. In 1855, after a short period of garrison duty at Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor, he was appointed assistant professor at West Point, where he remained four years, and then returned to garrison duty at Fort Moultrie and Barrancas Barracks, Fla., till January 10, 1861, when he was transferred to Fort Pickens, which he gallantly held till May 9, 1861, against the attempts to besiege it. He was promoted to be major of 16th Infantry May 14, 1861, and served in Virginia and the Western Department, being engaged under General Buell in his march from Corinth to Louisville, and back to Nashville. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, November 29, 1862,

and took part in the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, where he was severely wounded, and received a brevet of lieutenant-colonel in the Regular Army for his gallant conduct He was disabled by his wound from further active service during the war, but performed some garrison, and other duties. On the 8th of February, 1864, he was promoted to be lientenant-colonel of the 4th Infantry, and in March, 1865, was brevetted colonel and brigadier-eneral for his meritorious services. After being mustered out of the volunteer service in Agust, 1865, he was employed in garrison_daty at Fort Schuyler and Sackett's Harbor, N. Y till October 1, 1865; was on Board of Examination of Cadetship for promotion in the Army for over a year, and then was assigned to the command of the post of Fort Laramie, D. T where he died of disease of the heart.

SMITH, SEBA, an American journalist and author, born at Buckfield, Me., September 14, 1792; died at "The Willows," Patchogue, LL, July 29, 1868. He graduated at Bowdoin College, Maine, in 1818, and subsequently settled in Portland, Me., as a writer for the periodical press. While there he wrote the popular series of humorous political letters under the pseudonyme of "Major Jack Downing," first published collectively in 1833, and which afterward passed through several editions. In 1842 he removed to New York, in which city, or in its neighborhood, he continued to reside until his death. His remaining publications comprise "Powhatan," a metrical romance (1841); "New Elements of Geometry” (1850), an ingenious but paradoxical attempt to overturn the common definitions of geometry, in which he maintained the position that the three dimensions of space-length, breadth, and thickness- were predicated upon lines, scrfaces, and solids-the book excited little attention, and has long been out of print; and "Way Down East, or Portraitures of Yankee Life" (1855). Mr. Smith was the husband of Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes-Smith, whose miscellaneous writings are familiar to numerous readers. His last illness was protracted and painful.

SOMMERS, Rev. CHARLES G., D. D., a Baptist clergyman and author, born in London in 1793; died in New York, December 19, 1868. In 1802 he emigrated with his parents to the United States, and was in 1811 employed by John Jacob Astor as his confidential clerk and travelling agent. He made long journeys to Canada and elsewhere in his employer's interest, and while engaged on one of these met with such a change in his religious views that he decided upon entering the Christian ministry. He accordingly stated to Mr. Astor his purpose and his reasons for it, and his employer parted with him kindly though reluctantly. He completed his studies and began his labors as a preacher at the Old Almshouse in the Park, where he was very useful. From thence he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in Troy, and after several years re

called to New York to the pastorate of the South Baptist Church there (1823), worshipping in Nassau Street near Fulton. He remained their pastor till 1856, when he retired to private life. For twenty-three years he was the recording secretary of the Executive Committee of the American Tract Society. He was also an officer of the American Bible Society, and subsequently of the American and Foreign Bible Society, one of the founders of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and a director almost from the first of the Home for Aged and Indigent Females. He published several tracts of the American Tract Society, a number of sermons and occasional addresses, and a few small denominational books; he was also one of the editors of The Baptist Library. Madison University conferred the degree of D. D. upon him in 1852.

SOUTH CAROLINA. The convention, called by order of General Canby, "to frame a constitution and civil government" for the State of South Carolina, under the provisions of the reconstruction acts of Congress, assembled in the city of Charleston on the 14th of January, and organized by the election of Dr. A. G. Mackey, as permanent president. The convention finished its work in fifty-three days, and adjourned on the 17th of March.

As soon as the work of organizing the convention was completed, Governor Orr was invited to address the delegates. This he did in an earnest speech, in which he expressed his regret that the white citizens who were entitled to vote under the reconstruction acts had very generally abstained from exercising the privilege, and that, as a consequence, the "intelligence, refinement, and wealth of the State," were not represented in the convention. He therefore all the more earnestly recommended wise and moderate action on the part of the delegates, and suggested some of the features which he considered most essential in the new constitution. Above all, he urged the removal of all political disabilities from the white citizens, but advised an educational or property qualification, applicable to blacks and whites alike. In regard to a time-honored doctrine in the South, he said: "The doctrine of State rights, as taught in South Carolina, has been exploded by the war. The allegiance of the citizen, according to the results of that controversy, is due to the Government of the United States, and not to the State. I recognize this doctrine to the fullest extent, and, in my inaugural message as Governor of the State, I announced my judgment that hereafter the supremacy of the United States Government over the State was undisputed and indisputable. I am aware that many of my contemporaries deny the proposition, but, if I can properly comprehend the legitimate sequences of war, no other result presents itself to my mind."

During the first weeks of the session, while the various committees were occupied in preparing the portions of the constitution in

trusted to them respectively, some measures of general legislation were adopted. The expenses of the body were provided for by an ordinance to raise a special tax for that purpose, which was carried into effect by an order of the military commander. One of the subjects demanding the most serious attention of the convention was that of relieving the people from their numerous pecuniary embarrassments, by some enactment having the force of law. Among the poorer classes, especially the freedmen, a degree of want existed amounting almost to destitution, but this was relieved in some measure by the United States Government through the agency of the Freedmen's Bureau. Advances were also made to planters, to a moderate extent, from the same source, which became a lien upon their property, by order of the military commander, to secure repayment. It was also proposed to make appeals directly to Congress for loans or donations, to relieve the people from pressing wants, but none of the propositions of this kind prevailed.

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By far the most important measures of relief ordained by the convention was a stay law," which was matured by long deliberation and finally adopted on the last day of the session, and afterward carried into effect by military order. While this ordinance was pending in the convention, a temporary stay of sales on execution for a period of three months was effected by an order of the district commander issued in response to a request of the convention. The stay law, as finally passed, continued all civil actions pending in the Superior Courts, to the spring term of 1869, and provided that execution on all judgments then rendered should be for only one-tenth of the amount due; further execution for one-fifth to be issued in 1870, for one-half the residue in 1871, and for the balance in 1872. Such provisions were made as were necessary to render this ordinance effectual, and its operation was limited to debts and demands contracted prior to May, 1865. Another ordinance was passed declaring null and void all contracts the consideration of which was the purchase of slaves, and prohibiting all proceedings for their enforcement.

During the deliberations of the convention, the following resolutions, which exhibit the views of a portion of the members, were submitted, and referred to the Committee on the Executive:

Whereas, a large majority of the people heretofore constituting the government of the State of South Carolina have, by unjustifiable rebellion, forfeited their political rights, and are hostile to every act of Congress for the reconstruction of the State to the Union, claiming, as they do, every political right under the Constitution, which properly defines their late acts as treason and authorizes even the penalty of death for crimes thus committed, instead of equal rights with those who love the Government which they so madly attempted to destroy, and

Whereas, the officers of the present provisional government of the State, from the highest to the

lowest, have generally exercised their influence and used the emoluments of their offices in a manner highly prejudicial to the claims of loyal citizens, and in opposition to the laws of Congress, looking to a speedy reconstruction, the only competent authority we recognize, and are now marshalling their forces to defeat any constitution, however faultless it may be, that this convention may frame as the fundamental law of the State: therefore, be it

Resolved, That we, the representatives of the loyal people, having accepted in good faith the terms offered by Congress for the restoration of the State to her proper relations in the Union, demand for ourselves and our constituents, under the law and the constitution, present and prospective, every right which these embittered and incorrigible enemies to the Government claim as exclusively their own.

Resolved, That the continued efforts of the present disloyal officers of the provisional government of the State, to continue themselves in power as such, while looking to a speedy reinstatement to place in the Federal positions so lately and contemptuously deserted by many of them, and their systematic efforts to escape the just penalties of violated faith, while their active hostility to the essential principles of republicanism remain, are substantial and positive proofs that the safety of the Government and the welfare of the people demand their removal.

The following were referred to the Committee on Miscellaneous Provisions:

Whereas, the prosperity of States, like that of families, depends upon the harmony existing among its members, and the precepts of truth and religion teach us to do unto others as we would they should

do unto us;

And whereas, our newly-enfranchised citizens have displayed their good sense and strong love of country, by a cordial and unassuming cooperation with the rest of their fellow-citizens, in promoting the true interests of our beloved State and glorious Republic,

be it

Resolved, That this convention take such action as it may in its wisdom deem compatible with its powers, and conducive to the public weal, to expunge forever from the vocabulary of South Carolina the epithets 66 negro,' ""nigger," and "Yankee," as used in an opprobrious sense. That the exigencies and improved civilization of the times demand that this convention, or the legislative body created by it, enact such laws as will make it a penal offence to use the above epithets, in the manner described, against any American citizens of this State, and to punish the insult by fine or imprisonment.

The first article of the constitution embraces only the Declaration of Rights, which consists of forty-one sections. Besides the provisions ordinarily contained in documents of the kind, the following may be selected as somewhat peculiar :

SECTION 2. Slavery shall never exist in this State; neither shall involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

SEO. 5. This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union, and all attempts, from whatever source, or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve the said Union shall be resisted with the whole power of the State.

SEO. 12. No person shall be disqualified as a witness, or be prevented from acquiring, holding, and transmitting property, or be hindered in acquiring education, or be liable to any other punishment for any offence, or be subjected in law to any other restraints or disqualifications in regard to any personal rights than such as are laid upon others under like

circumstances.

SEC. 32. No property qualification shall be neces

sary for an election to or the holding of any office, and no office shall be created, the appointment to which shall be for a longer time than good behavior. After the adoption of this constitution, any person who shall fight a duel, or send or accept a challenge for that purpose, or be an aider or abettor in fighting a duel, shall be deprived of holding any office of honor or trust in this State, and shall be otherwise punished as the law shall prescribe.

SEC. 39. No title of nobility or hereditary emolument shall ever be granted in, this State. Distinetion on account of race or color, in any case whatever, shall be prohibited, and all classes of citizens shall enjoy equally all common, public, legal, and political privileges.

The House of Representatives is to be composed of 124 members, apportioned among the counties according to population, who shall hold office two years. There is to be one Senator for each county elected for a term of four years. The regular State elections are to be held on the third Wednesday in October of every second year, beginning with 1869, and the sessions of the General Assembly are to be held annually on the 4th Monday of Noyember. Ministers of the Gospel are made ineligible to seats in the Legislature, and to the office of Governor or Lieutenant-Governor. All members of the Assembly, and all officers, before entering upon their duties, and all members of the bar, before commencing the prac tice of their profession, are required to take and subscribe the following oath:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I am duly qualified according to the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, to exercise the duties of the office and that I will faithfully discharge, to the best to which I have been elected (or appointed), of my abilities, the duties thereof; and that I recognize the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States over the consti tution and laws of any State; and that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of South Carolina, as ratified by the people on

So help me God."

The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are to be chosen for a term of two years, and are invested with the functions usual to officers of the same grade in other States. Among the disqualifications for these positions, is a denial of the "existence of a Supreme Being." A Comptroller-General, Treasurer, and Secre tary of State are to be chosen, to hold office for a term of four years.

The judicial power of the State is vested in a Supreme Court; in two Circuit Courts, viz., a Court of Common Pleas having civil juris diction, and a Court of General Sessions with criminal jurisdiction only; in Probate Courts, The General Asand justices of the peace. sembly may also establish such municipal and other inferior courts as may be deemed neces sary. The Supreme Court is to consist of a chief justice, and two associate justices, chosen by a joint vote of the General Assembly for a term of six years. The Circuit Judges are to

be chosen in the same manner, and hold office four years. A Court of Probate is to be established in each county, the judge of which shall be chosen by a vote of the people for a term of two years. Justices of the peace are elected by the people, and have jurisdiction of all cases where the amount involved does not exceed one hundred dollars. The General Assembly is required, at its first session after the adoption of the constitution, to make provision "to revise, digest, and arrange, under proper heads, the body of our laws, civil and criminal, and form a penal code founded upon principles of reformation, and have the same promulgated in such manner as they may direct; and a like revision, digest, and promulgation shall be made within every subsequent period of ten years. That justice shall be administered in a uniform mode of pleading, without distinction between law and equity, they shall provide for abolishing the distinct forms of action, and for that purpose shall appoint some suitable person or persons, whose duty it shall be to revise, simplify, and abridge the rules, practice, pleadings, and forms of the courts now in use in this State."

The qualifications of electors are laid down in the following section:

SEC. 2. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, not laboring under the disabilities named in this constitution, without distinction of race, color, or former condition, who shall be a resident of this State at the time of the adoption of this constitution, or who shall thereafter reside in this State one year, and in the county in which he offers to vote, sixty days next preceding any election, shall be entitled to vote for all officers that are now, or hereafter may be, elected by the people, and upon all questions submitted to the electors at any election: Provided, That no person shall be allowed to vote or hold office, who is now, or hereafter may be disqualified therefor by the Constitution of the United States, until such disqualification shall be remedied by the Congress of the United States: Provided further, That no person, while kept in any almshouse or asylum, or of unsound mind, or confined in any public prison, shall be allowed to vote or hold office.

Any person, entitled to vote, is declared eligible to office "except as otherwise provided in this constitution or the Constitution and laws of the United States;" and the Legislature is prohibited from depriving any of the citizens of the State of the right of suffrage "exeept for treason, murder, robbery, or duelling, whereof the persons shall have been duly tried and convicted."

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The supervision of public instruction is given to a State Superintendent and to County Commissioners, and it is made the duty of the General Assembly, as soon as practicable," to provide for a "liberal and uniform system of free public schools," and to cause the State to be divided into suitable school districts, in each of which one or more schools are to be kept open at least six months in the year. Compulsory attendance, at either public or private schools, of all children between the ages of six and sixteen, not physically or

mentally disabled, for a term equivalent to twenty-four months at least, is to be provided for as soon as "a system of public schools has been thoroughly and completely organized and facilities afforded to all the inhabitants of the State for the free education of their children." The Legislature is also required to provide for the establishment of a State Normal School; educational institutions for the Blind, and Deaf, and Dumb; a Reform School; State University; and Agricultural College. A poll-tax of one dollar is to be exacted solely for the support of schools, and an annual tax on all taxable property is to be levied for the same object. The following is section 10 of the article on education:

All the public schools, colleges, and universities of this State, supported by the public funds, shall be free, and open to all the children and youths of the State, without regard to race or color.

When the work of the Constitutional Convention was completed, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

due to Brevet Major-General E. R. S. Canby, commanding Second Military District, and all officers in this department who have cooperated with this body in the framing of the constitution, under the provísions of the reconstruction acts of Congress, for the future government of South Carolina.

Resolved, That the thanks of the convention are

Resolved, That this convention will ever remember with gratitude the harmonious relations which have existed between the military authorities, under the command of General Canby, and its members, and that, in this expression of the appreciation of such a pleasant fact, we recognize how feeble words are to

convey the true sentiment of the heart.

Resolved, That a certified copy of these resolutions be furnished by the President of this convention to Brevet Major-General E. R. S. Canby, commanding Second Military District.

The convention had adopted an ordinance on the 9th of March providing that the constitution should be submitted "for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions of this act (March 23, 1867, section 4), at an election to be conducted by the officers appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general as herein before provided, and to be held after the expiration of thirty days after the notice thereof, to be given to the said convention; and on the 13th, General Canby issued the necessary orders appointing the 14th, 15th, and 16th of April for holding the election, at which the vote was to be taken on the constitution, and all the State officers were to be chosen. Full directions were given with regard to the registration of voters, the revision of the lists, and the taking of the ballots, which did not differ materially from those for the election of 1867.

For the preservation of good order on election days, the following regulations were laid down: 9. The sheriff and other peace officers of each county are required to be present during the whole time that the polls are kept open, and until the electhere shall be no interference with judges of election is completed; and will be made responsible that tions, or other interruption of good order. If there should be more than one polling-place in any county,

the sheriff of the county is empowered and directed to make such assignments of his deputies and other peace officers to the other polling-places, as may in his judgment best subserve the purposes of quiet and order; and he is further required to report these arrangements in advance to the commander of the military post in which his county is situated.

10. Violence, or threats of violence, or of discharge from employment, or other oppressive means to prevent any person from registering or exercising his right of voting, is positively prohibited; and any such attempts will be reported by the registrars or judges of election, to the post commander, and will cause the arrest and trial of the offenders by military authority. The exhibition or carrying of deadly weapons, in violation of General Orders No. 10, of 1867, at or in the vicinity of any polling-places during the election herein ordered, will be regarded and treated as an additional offence.

11. All bar-rooms, saloons, and other places for the sale of liquors by retail, will be closed from six o'clock of the evening of the 13th of April until six o'clock of the morning of the 17th of April, 1868; and during this time the sale of all intoxicating liquors at or near any polling-place is prohibited. The police officers of cities and towns, and the sheriffs and other peace officers of counties, will be held responsible for the strict enforcement of this prohibition, and will promptly arrest and hold for trial all persons who may transgress it.

12. Military interference with elections, "unless it shall be necessary to repel the armed enemies of the United States, or to keep the peace at the polls," is prohibited by the act of Congress, approved February 25, 1865, and no soldiers will be allowed to appear at any polling-place, unless as citizens of the State they are qualified and are registered as voters, and then only for the purpose of voting; but the commanders of posts will keep their troops well in hand on the days of election, and will be prepared to act promptly if the civil authorities are unable to preserve the peace.

Nominating conventions of both parties were held, to place candidates before the people for the State offices. The Republican nominations were made by the Constitutional Convention, sitting as a nominating convention, and with one exception were taken from the members of that body. For the office of Governor they nominated General R. K. Scott, a native of Ohio, who had been for some time Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in the State; for Lieutenant-Governor, Judge Lemuel Boozer; for State Treasurer, N. G. Parker, formerly from Massachusetts, who had served as an officer of colored troops in the war; for Comptroller-General, J. J. Neagle, from New York, originally, however, a North Carolinian; for Secretary of State, F. L. Cardoza, a colored man of intelligence and education; for Adjutant and Inspector-General, F. J. Moses; for Attorney-General, D. H. Chamberlain, a young man from Massachusetts, who had served in the Federal army.

The Democratic Convention met at Columbia on the 3d of April. The attention of the delegates was given, soon after the opening of the convention, to a series of resolutions represent ing the views of the party. The following were adopted without debate:

Whereas, In the opinion of this convention, the interests both of our State and our common country imperatively demand the union of all good, wise, and

conservative men, under the banner of the national Democratic party-a party faithful to the principles of the Federal Constitution, as maintained by the fathers of the Republic: be it therefore

Resolved, That the Democratic party of South Carolina do unite with the national Democratic party of the country, and hold themselves ready, under the Constitution and the laws, to cooperate with that organization in all principles, and in all measures, that may be regarded conducive to the interests of the whole country and of all classes of the people.

Resolved, That the people of this State, including all men prepared to act with the party, be earnestly invited to form Democratic clubs in every section of the State.

The third resolution was in these words:

Resolved, That the people of this State be urgently recommended to go to the polls and vote against the constitution of the Radical faction lately promulgated in Charleston, and to vote for good and true men for all offices within their gift.

ed in the following words: After some debate an amendment was adopt

At the same time, in voting for officers under this constitution, we would put on record our protest against its validity.

A fourth resolution was then offered, which read as follows:

Resolved, That, under the action of the State of South Carolina, heretofore taken, we recognize the negroes of the State as an integral element of the body politic; and, as such, in person and property, entitled to a full and equal protection under the State constitution and laws. And that, as citizens of South Carolina, we declare our willingness, when we have the power, to grant them, under proper qualifications as to property and intelligence, the right of suffrage.

After some discussion, this was amended by substituting the words "colored population" for "negroes," and in that form adopted. The nominations were: for Governor, Hon. W. D. Porter, of Charleston; for Lieutenant-Governor, Hon. T. C. Perrin, of Abbeville; for Secretary of State, Ellison Capers; for Adjutant and Inspector-General, Colonel J. P. Thomas; for Treasurer, William Hood; for ComptrollerGeneral, S. L. Leaphart; for Attorney-General, I. W. Hayne; for Superintendent of Education, J. A. Leland.

The commanding general having received information from different sections of the State, "and from members of both political parties, that combinations have been formed, or are now being formed, to prevent delay or hinder the execution of the laws of the United States, or by force, intimidation, or threat, to prevent persons from accepting or executing the duties of any office or employment under the United States, at the election to be held under authority of the law of March 2, 1867," issued an order on the 6th of April, warning all persons taking part in any such combinations that they were "amenable not only to the penalties prè scribed under the authority of said laws, but for the violation of the act of Congress 'to de fine and punish certain conspiracies,' approved July 31, 1861." It was also declared to be the duty of the civil and military authorities "te secure to every registered voter the free and full exercise of his right of suffrage, and this