MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER; AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
Confession of Prof J. W. Webster. 
ROCHESTER, JULY 11 , 1850. 
Local Agents* 
James Van Horn, Ovid ; also general agent for 
South Jury District of Seneca county. 
S. E. Norton, Phelps, Ontario county. 
E. Hopkins, Lyons, Wayne county. 
B. Farr and H. Goodrich, Albion. 
Samuel Heston, Batavia. 
R. B. Warren, Alabama, Genesee county. 
Theodore Dickinson, Newark, Wayne county. 
Silsby & Keeler, Senecji Falls. 
A. R. Frisbie, Clyde, Wayne county. 
Wm. Richey & O. A. Graves, Watertown, Jeff. co. 
John Harris, Sheldrake, Seneca county. 
Archibald Stone, Hinmanville, Oswego county. 
E. W. Fairchild, Fiast Bloomfield, Ontario county. 
G. N. Sherwood, Camillus, Onondaga county. 
C. B. Dickinson and P. Parks, Victor, Ontario Co. 
J. W. Reed, Lockport, Niagara county. 
J. M. Trowbridge, Pekin, “ “ 
John®. Lowell, Yates, Orleans county. 
H. S. Frisbie, Holley, “ “ 
L. A. Morse, Knowlesville, “ “ 
M. Scott, Arcadia, Wayne county. 
H. C. White, Mohawk, Herkimer county. 
D. Bunnell, South Livonia, Livingston county. 
E. C. Bliss, Westfield, Cliautauque county. 
J. I. Eacker, Sheridan, “ ‘‘ 
J. C. Sherman, New Baltimore, Greene county. 
L. D. Branch, Trumansburg, 'I'ompkins county. 
W. K. Wyckoff, Lodi, Seneca Co. 
O. B. Scott, Woodville, Jefferson Co. 
B. F. Adams, Bridgeport, Mad. Co. 
Ai.i. Post-Masteus and Subscribers are re¬ 
quested to act as agents for the Neiv- Yorker, by 
forming clubs, <tc. Those who cannot consistently 
do so, will greatly oblige us by handing a Prospectus 
or specimen number to some other influential and 
responsible person who will give it attention. 
We will send an extra copy to any person 
who remits payment for a club of from four to ten 
subscribers, and continues to act as agent. 
Back numbers from April, containing all of Prof. 
Johnston’s Lectures, can yet be supplied. 
Confession of Prof Webster. 
To the exclusion of our usual variety in this 
department of the paper, we give to-day the con¬ 
fession of Prof. J. W. Webster, together with his 
last petition. Aside from this one, it appears that 
a petition was written in April and signed by Mr. 
Webster, in which he most solemnly denied all 
guilt or any knowledge of how Dr. Parkman’s body 
came under his rooms, and asked for a pardon on 
the ground of innocence! This petition has been 
withdrawn, and the statement wo now give, with 
a petition of an entirel}- dilTerent nature, substi¬ 
tuted. The arguments of Rev. Mr. Putnam, Mr. 
W.’s spiritual adviser, in behalf of the prisoner on 
presenting his petition to the Committee on Par¬ 
dons, are able and candid, but would occupy more 
space than we can devote to the subject. 
At a meeting of the Committee on Pardons, in 
Boston on the 2d inst, the case of Prof. Webster, 
under sentence of death for the murder of Dr. 
Geo. Parkman, was considered. The following 
Petition for commutation of sentence was read: 
To His Excellency the Governor and to the Honor¬ 
able Executive Council of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts: 
John White Webster, a convict, under sen¬ 
tence of death, in Boston jail, in behalf of himself 
and of his wife and of his children, respectfully pe¬ 
titions, that the sentence awarded against him by 
the law, may be commuted to such other less hor¬ 
rible and ignominious punishment as your honor¬ 
able body may mercifully decree. 
Your petitioner fully admits that he was tried be¬ 
fore a fair and impartial tribunal, and that under 
the law as it exists, his jury, composed as it was of 
honorable and high-Tninded men, could have re¬ 
turned no verdict other than they did. But ho re¬ 
spectfully reminds your honorable body, that the 
two great moral ingredients of the crime of murder, 
malice and premeditation, have never been found 
against him by a jury, but have been necessarily 
inferred by the arbitrary rules of the law, from cer¬ 
tain general facts, which your petitioner will not 
den)’, but the extenuating details of which, no man 
in your petitioner’s situation can ever possess legal 
evidence to prove. These details your petitioner 
has confided to the friend who pre.seiits his petition 
with authority to state them to vour honorable 
body, in the hope that you will find therein, reason 
to extend to your petitioner and his family, that 
mercy of which the law has made you the dispen¬ 
sers. And your petitioner will ever pra)’. 
liostoTi, June, 1850. J. W. M’ebster. 
On Tuesday, Nov. 20ih, Professor Webstersent 
a note to Dr. Parkman. It was handed to Little¬ 
field, and was unsealed. It was to ask Dr. Park- 
man to call on me (Prof. W.) Ashe had become 
quite importunate about his debt, I wished to gain 
lime. I did not expect to be" able to pay him on 
Friday. I expected to state to him my inability, 
and to apologize for what had occurred, and make 
some promise for the future. 
I heard on Thursday that he was in pursuit of 
me, and feared that he did not receive my letter. 
I therefore called at his house, and asked for an 
interview. Dr. Parkman agreed to meet me at 
the college at half past one o’clock. 
At the time appointed he came to the College, 
lie came in at the lecture-room door, and follow¬ 
ed me into the laboratory. 
fleasi'edme with great energy, “Have you 
got the money ?” I said, “No, doctor,” and be¬ 
gan to apologize. 
He would not hear me, and began to load me 
with opprobrious epithets, notwithstanding all 
that I could say. 
Afterwards he drew the notes and an old let¬ 
ter from his pocket; and referring to the letter, 
said, “In this letter I recommended you for your 
present situation, and now I wiil have you turned 
Weekly Meteorological Abstract. 
BY L. WETHERELL. 
July, 1850 
REMARKS. 
July 2d. Thunder shower this morning—.show¬ 
er)’ during the day—Sumach and Poison Ivy in 
flower—farmers beginning to hay. 
3d. Warm and cloudy—Ailantusin flower. 
4th. Fine morning—thunder shower in the af¬ 
ternoon—mullein begins to flower. 
5th. Thunder shower this morning—also to¬ 
ward evening—followed by one of the most splen¬ 
did sunsets ever seen. 
6 th. Fine day—Chestnut in full flower. ].iima 
bean, the bean of beans, begin to flower. These 
were in flower July 10, last year. 
7th. Fine day—good weather to ripen wheat. 
8 th. Delightful day—Butterfly-weed, Gerardia, 
Canada thisiIeS Rose-bay in flower—also Li- 
lium Philadelphicum—Sundew, Epilobium, Cran¬ 
berry, and numerous other native plants. The 
Lilium Philadelphicum, Epilobium and Gerardia 
should be transferred to the garden for cultivation. 
' Storm.— A storm of wind and rain, accompa¬ 
nied by thunder and lightning of a very intense 
description, passed over this city on Friday eve¬ 
ning. Some of the most beautiful and varied 
natural phenomena were witnessed while the 
storm prevailed and as it was passing off to the 
eastward and southward. An unusually brilliant 
and beautiful sunset scene caused an alarm of 
fire. The declining orb, shining with intense 
brightness through an opening in the clouds, 
when it was about half an hour high, lighted up 
the masses of vapor with a bright saffron glow, 
changing at a later period to pink and crimson. 
7'he firemen ran toward the west with all com¬ 
mendable alacrity ; but we are happy to state that 
tlie Sun shines to-day as brightly as ever, though 
its heat is not felt quite as seriously. The flashes 
of "chain lightning,” darting across fields of 
black clouds in the west and south were very 
brilliant exhibitions of atmospheric electricity, 
•exhibitous. We learn that the fruit trees suf¬ 
fered some by the storm ; but beyond that we 
hear of no injury resulting from it. 
The Wheat of Ohio. —In many parts of the 
State the wheat harvest is commenced, and the 
promise for an abundant harvest has never been 
better. In the south part of the State much of the 
crop is already safe. It is too late now to have the 
crops affected by blight. The heads are well filled 
and the kernel plump. We congratulate the far¬ 
mers of the State, and through them every other 
class of business, on the improved prospect .—Ohio 
Journal, July 1. j 
IE^”The Michigan and Wisconsin papers, all 
bear testimony to the cheering appearance of crop* 
in consequence of late rains. 
iti- At first I kept interposing, trying to pacify him, 
/Xr. so that I might obtain the object for which I sought 
the interview, but I could not stop him and soon 
my own temper was up ; I forgot everything, and 
felt nothing but the sting of his words. I wasex- 
’re cited to the highest degree of passion, and while 
he was speaking and gesticulating in the most vi¬ 
olent and menacing manner, thrusting the letter 
and his fist into my face, in my fury I seized what¬ 
ever thing was handiest, (it was a stick of wood) 
— and dealt him an instantaneous blow with all the 
force that passion could give it. .1 did not know, 
or think, or care where I should hit him, nor kow’ 
1 . hard, nor what the effect would be ; it was on the 
’. side of the head, and there was nothing to break 
the force of the blow; he fell instantly upon the 
’• paveme it; thele was lo second blow ; he did not 
move ; I stooped down over him, and he seemed 
to be lifeless ; blood flowed from his mouth, ar.d I I 
_ got a sponge and wiped it away ; I got some am¬ 
monia and applied it to his nose, but without ef- 
ir- feet > perhaps I spent ten minutes to resuscitate 
him, but I lound he w as absolutely dead; in my 
horror and consternation I ran instinctively to the 
doors and bolted them—the doors of the lecture 
room and of the laboratory below ; and then what 
f- was I to do I It never occurred to me to go out, 
and declare what had been done, and obtain as- 
sistance. I saw nothing but the alternative of a 
successful movement and concealment on the one 
*• hand, and of infamy and destruction on the oth¬ 
er. The first thing I did, as soon as I could do 
a anything, was to draw the body into the private 
e room adjoining, where I took of the clothes and 
began putting them into the fire, which was burn¬ 
ing in the upper laboratory ; they w'ere all con¬ 
sumed there that afternoon, with-papers, pocket- 
book and whatever they contained. 
I did not examine the pockets nor remove any- 
. thing except the watch. I saw that, or the chain 
J ef it hanging cut. I took it and threw it over 
the bridge as I went to Cambridge. My next ! 
‘ move vyas to get the body into the sink which 
• stands in the small private room, by setting-the ' 
body partially erect against the corner, and by j 
getting up into the sink myself. I succeeded in 
, drawing it up there ; it was entirely dismembered ; • 
it was quickly done as a work of terrible and des- ‘ 
perate necessity. The only instrument was the ’ 
knife found by the officers in the tea chest which ' 
I kept for cutting corks. I made no use of the . 
Turkish knife as it was called at the trial; thai 
had long been kept on my parlor mantel piece in | 
Cambridge, as a curious ornament. My daugh¬ 
ters frequently cleaned it, hence the marks of oil [ 
and polishing found on it. I had lately brought ^ 
it into Boston to get the silver sheath repaired. ^ 
While dismembering the body a stream of Co- . 
chituate water was running through the sink, car- , 
rying off the blood in a pipe that passed down’ 
through the lower laboratory. 'Fhere must have “ 
been a leak in the pipe for the ceiling below was 
stained immediately around it. ^ 
There was a fire burning in the furnace of the v 
lower laboratory; Littlefield was mistaken in p 
thinking there had never been a fire there; he ti 
had probably never kindled one, but I had done it h 
myself several times; I had done it that day for ti 
the purpose of making oxygen gas ; the head and cl 
viscera were put into that furnace that day, and ir 
fuel heaped on ; did not examine at night to see to bi 
what degree they were consumed ; some of the e( 
exiremeties were put in there, I believe on that bi 
day. The pelvis and some of the limb?, perhaps ai 
all were put under the lid of the lecture room table vv 
I in what is called the well, a deep sink lined with 
lead ; a stream of Cochiluate was turned into it al 
and kept running through it all Friday niarht; the th 
thorax was put into a similar well in the lower w 
laboratory which I filled with water and threw in fii 
a quantity of potash which I found there. m 
This disposition of the remains was not chang- ex 
ed till after the visit ef the officers on Monday. W( 
When the body had been thus all disposed of, I if 
cleared away all traces of what had been done ha 
I think the stick with which the fatal blow had all 
been struck broved to be a piece of the stump of by 
)r, a large grape vine—say tv/o inches in diameter 
and two feet long. 
s, in It was one of the several pieces which I had car- 
ster, 1^ from Cambridge longbefore for thepurpose 
of showing the effect of certain chemical fluids in 
coloring wood by being absorbed into the pores; 
& the grape vide being a veiy porous wood was weL 
adapted to this purpose. Another longerstict had 
,nor- been used as intended and exhibited to the stu- 
ih of dents ; this one had not been used—»I put it into 
the fire. 
sen- I took up the two notes either from the table or 
iself the floor, I think the table, close by where Dr. P. 
■pb- had fallen ; I seized an old metallic pen lying on 
1 by the table, dashed it across the face and through 
hor- the signatures, and put them in my pocket ; I do 
uor- not know why I did this rather than put them in 
the fire, for I had not considered for a moment 
be- what effect either mode of disposing of them would 
ider have on the mortgage, or my indebtedness to Dr. 
IS of P. and the other persons interested, and I had not 
re- yet given a single thought to the question as to 
' fo- what account I should give of the objects or re 
the suit of my interview with Dr. Parkman ; I never 
dor, saw the sledge hammer spoken of by Littlefield— 
und never knew of its existence—at least I have no 
recollection nfit; I left the College to go home as 
late as 6 o’clock ; I collected myself as well as I 
could, that I might meet my family and others 
with composure. 
mer On Saturday I visited my rooms at the College, 
tion made no change in the disposition of the re- 
mains, and laid no plans as to my future course ; 
isoii ®n Saturday evening read the notice in the Trans- 
that respecting the disappearance ; I was then 
leu- deeply impressed with the necessity of immediate¬ 
ly taking some ground as to the character of my 
interview with Parkman, for I saw that it must 
become known that I had had such an inleiview, 
^nt as I had appointed it first by an unsealed note on 
Ue- Tuesday, and on Friday I had myself called at 
fk- his house in open day and ratified the arrange- 
rnent, and had there been seen, and had probably 
been overheard by the man servant, and I knew 
on not by how many persons Dr. P. might have been 
>'y. seen entering my room, or how many persons he 
ike might have told by the way where he was going; 
the interview would in all probability be known, 
^ O' and I must bs ready to explain it. 
or- The question exercised me much, but on Sun- 
*>0 day my course was taken. I would go into Bos- 
ton and be the first to declare myself the person 
as yet unknown with whom Dr. P. had made the 
810 . appointment ; I would lake the ground that I had 
w* invited him to the College to pay him money, and 
that I had paid it accordingly. I fixed upon the 
ou sum by taking the small note and adding w#crest, 
^0- whichitappeare, I cast erroneously. 
If I had thought of this course earlier, I should 
■>’0 not have deposited Pettee’s check for ,^9() in the 
ah Charles River bank on Saturday, but should have 
suppressed it, as going so far to make up the s an 
ot- which I was to have professed to have paid (lie 
cr, day before, and which Pettee knew I had by me 
'ur at the hour of interview. It had not occurred to 
me that I rhould ever show the notes canceled in 
proo! ofit, orl should have destroyed the large 
note, and let it be inferred that it was gone with 
ibt the missing man. and I should only have kept the ' 
on small one, which was all that I could pretend to 
nd have paid. ( 
X- ^ My single thought was concealment and safety. 
>1^ Every tiling else was incidental to that. I was in i 
’J" no state to consider my ulterior pecuniary interest i 
—money ; though I needed it so much, it was of l 
‘t- no account with me in that condition of mind.— ( 
o) If I had detigned and premeditated the homicide i 
10 of Dr Parkman in order to get the possession of 1 
'V, the notes and cancel my debt, I not only should f 
w not have deposited Pettee’s check the next day, a 
10 but I should, have made some show of getting and f 
‘k having the money tin morning before. I should o 
10 have drawn the money from the bank, and taken tl 
occasion to mention to the cashier that I had a a 
d sum to make up on that day for Dr. P., and the E 
I same to Henchman when I borrowed the ^10._ c 
1 - I should have-remarked that I was so much short v 
U of a large sum that I was to pay to Parkman. h 
•0 I borrowed the money of Henchman as mere tl 
y pocket money for the day. If I had intended the o 
0 homicide of Dr. P., I should not have made the a 
e appointment with him twice, and in so open a h 
It manner that other persons would almost certain- b 
tj ly know of it, and I should not have invited him fr 
'• to my rooms at an hour when the college would h 
n be full of students and others, and an hour when P 
e I was most likely to receive calls from others;—* 
for that was the hour just after the lecture, at the w 
0 which, persons having business with me or in my sc 
e rooms, were always directed to call. I locked al 
J into my rooms on Sunday afternoon, but did no- 
• thing. After the first visit of the officers I took ce 
■ the pelvis and some of the limbs from the upper it 
- well, and threw them into the vault under the pri- al 
vy. I took the thorax from the well below, and ra 
packed it in the tea chest as found. a 
I My own impression has been that this was not 
done till after the second visit of the officers, 
which was on Tuesday ; but Kingley’s testimony P* 
shows that it must have been done sooner. The 
perforation of the thorax had been made by the 
knife at the time of removing the viscera. On 
Wednesday, I put on kindlings and made a fire 
in the furnace below, having first poked down the 
ashes. Some of the limbs, I cannot remember 
which or how many, were consumed at that time. 
This is the last I had to do with the remains.— 
The tin box was designed to receive the thorax, 
though I liad not concluded where I should final- 
ly put the box. The fish-hooks, tied up as grap- 
pies, were to be used for drawing u,t the parts in 
the vault whenever I should determine how to 
dispose of them and get strains enough. 
I had a confused double object in ordering the ' 
box and making the grapples. I had before in- ap] 
tended to get such things to send to Fayal—the pie 
box to hold the plants and other articles which I fat 
wished to protect from the salt water and the sea W 
air, and the hooks to be used there in obtaining 
Cerralliner plants from the sea. It was this pre- kis 
viously intended use of them that suggested and ^kr 
mixed itself up with the idea of 'he other applica- P®^ 
tion. I doubt even now to which use they would 
have been applied; I had not used the hooks at the 
time of the discovery. The tan put into the tea 
chest was taken from a barrel of it that had been' 
in the laboratory for some time ; the bag qj’ tan, ^ “ 
brought in on Monday, was not used, nor intend- 
ed to be used ; it belonged to a quantity obtained 
by me a long time ago, for experiments in tanning 
and was sent in by the family to get it out of the 
. , cau 
Its being sent in just at that time was accident- j 
al. I was not aware that I had put the knife in jg j 
the chest ; the stick found in the saucer of ink ’phi 
was for marking diagrams on cloth ; the bunch of mui 
filed keys had been used long ago by me in Front 
Bt. and thrown carelessly into a drawer; I never y 
examined them, and do not know whether they Tht 
would fit any of the locks of the College or not; er tl 
if there were other keys fitting doors with which I T 
had nothing to do, I suppose they must have been this 
all duplica.es, or keys of former locks, left there 15,C 
by the mechanics or janitor; I know nothing aboi 
ter about them, and should never be likely to notice 
them among the multitude of articles, large and 
ir- small, of all kinds collected in n.y rooms; the 
)se Janitor had furnished me with a key to the dis- 
in secting room, for the admission of medical friends 
:s; visiting the College, but I had never used it.— 
cL The nitric acid on the stairs was not used to 
ad remove spots of blood, but was dropped by acci- 
tu- dent. When the officers called for me on Friday, 
ito the 20th, I was in doubt whether I was under &i’- 
rest or whether a more strict search of my rooms 
or was to be had, the latter hypothesis being hardly 
P. less appalling than the former. When I found 
on that we went over Cragie’s Bridge, I thought the 
gh arrest most probable ; whin I found that the car¬ 
lo riage was stopping at the jail, I was sure of my 
in fate. Before leaving the carriage I took a dose of 
mt strychnine from my pocket and swallowed it. I 
lid had prepared it in the shape of a pill before I left 
)r. my laboratory on the 23d. I thought I could not 
ot survive detection. I thought it was a large do.?e. 
to The state of my nervous system probably defeated 
e its action partially. 
cr The effects of the poison were terrible beyond 
— description. It was in operation at ihe College, 
no and before I went there, but most severely after- 
as ward. I wrote but one of the anonymous letters 
I pioduced at the trial—the one mailed at East 
Ts Cambridge. The little bundle referred to in the 
letter detained by the jailor, contained only a bot- 
:e, tie of nitre acid fo - domestic use. I had seen it 
e- stated in a newspaper that I hac purchased a 
J ; quantity of oxalic acid, which it was presumed 
s- was to be used in removing blood stains. I wish 
m the parcel to be kept untouched that it may be 
e- shown, if there should be occasion, what it really 
ly was that I had purchased. I have drawn up in 
?t separate paper an explanation of the use I intend- 
.v, ed to make of the blood sent for on Thursday, the 
in 22 J, and of the conversation with Littlefield about 
at the dissecting vault. 
I think that Pettee, in his testimony at the tri- 
y al, put most loo strongly my words about having 
w settled with Dr. P. Whatever I did say of the 
n kind was in the hope that IshouM be able to paci- 
le fyDr. P., and was said in order ti quiet Pettee, 
;; who was becoming restive under the solicitation 
1 , of Dr. Parkman. 
After Dr. Webster had stated most of the facts 
- recorded above' n lhe22d of May, this question, 
1 - with all the earnestness, solemnity and authority 
□ of tone that Dr. Putnam was master of, was ad- 
e dressed him: Dr. Webster, in all probability 
d your days are numbered, you cannot, you dare 
d not speak falsely to me now ; you must not die 
e with a lie in your mouth—so prove to yourself that 
;, your repentance for the sins of your past life is 
sincere; tell me the truth then, a confidence to 
i be kept secret during your lifetime, and asmuch 
s longer as my regard for the happiness of your 
5 family shall seem to me to rc^quire, and the inter- ' 
1 cst of truth and justice to pe*rmit; search to the 
; bottom of your heart for the history of your mo- * 
; tives, and tell me, before God, did it never occur to ] 
) you, before the decease of Dr. Parkman, that his ‘ 
1 death, ifyou could bring it to pass, would be of ' 
5 great advantage to yi u, or at least that personal 
1 injury to him might possibly be the result of your 
! expected conference with him ? Asa dying man 
I I charge you to answer me truly and exactly, or 
else be silenj. ^ 
Had you not such a thought? “No never!” i 
said he, with energy and feeling, “as I live, and q 
as God is my witness,never! I was no more ca- t 
pable of such a thought than one of my innocent c 
children ; I never had the remotest idea of injur¬ 
ing Dr. P. until the moment the blow was struck, r 
Dr. P. was extremely severe and sharp, the most s 
provoking of men, and I am irritable and passion- g 
ate. A quick-handed and brief violence of tern- a 
per has been a besetting sin ofmy life. I was an 
only child, much indulged, and I never acquired 
the control over my passions that I ought to have h 
acquired early, and the consequence is all this.” ( 
But you notified Dr. Parkman to meet you at a ' 
certain hour, and told him you would pay him, ^ 
when you knew you had not the means? No[ ” 
he replied, I did not tell him I would pay him, and 
there is no evidence I told him so, except my 
own words spoken after his disappearance, and 
after I had determ'ined to take the ground that I 
had paid him. Those words were of the misera- 
ble tissue of falsehood to which I was committed 
from the moment I had begun to conceal the ®.' 
homicide. I never had a thought of injuring Dr. 
Parkman.” al 
This was accompanied by the statement in 7 
which Prof. Webster attempts to explain as to his i 
seeing Littlefield, sending lor blood, and inquiring 
about gasses from the vault. 
After reading tlie statement. Dr. Putman pro- . 
ceeded to argue as to its truthfulness, saying that 
it was made when the writ of error was pending ; ^ 
also, that Prof. Webster’s estate was worth seve- E. 
ral thousand dollars, and said he was not in such 
a strait as to commit such a crime deliberately.— 
The previous petition from Prof. Webster, pro- 
testing his innocence and praying for absolute 
pardon, he said was got up by his family, who were 
wavering in their belief in his innocence, until his m 
confession was communicated to them about a se 
week since. pr 
He concluded in asserting his belief that the con- 
fession was true. Members of the Council have f®' 
retained a copy of the petition previously present- 
ed, and withdrawn by the advice of Dr. Putnam, 
which will probably be published. It asserts his 
innocence, ai.d it also asserts that Littlefield, or 
some other person, placed the remains in his room 'V 
to compass his ruin. 
Commerce of New York. 
I From the Tribune.] 
The annexed table shows the result of the 
year’s commerce:— 
IMPORTS AT NEW YORK. 
"“"able.79,51:3,.323 95,^59,625 
Free. . . 8.0---e.579 7,690,878 
Specie and Bullion. 2,813,380 10,50-2,115 
.869,4-25,282 8113,752.610 
EXPORTS AT NEW YORK. 
r, ,, 1849 1850. 
. 33,166,.339 33,227,676 
Foreign, . . . . .. 5,553,8=5 5.433,811 
Specie and Bullion. 4,739,903 5,685,103 
Total.841.460,127 844,546,620 
The imports of Juno were $7,978,738 against 
June of last year, and the exports $5,346,021 
against $4,360,043. The June imports show a 
decline of $4,000,000 from May, while in June 
of last year they were only $2,300,000 less. The 
receipts for duties have been:— 
1847. 1=48. J819. leoo 
June....-1.404.5,9 1,138,626 1,351,853 l,511,.i39 
1 revious o mos 8,i75,5-27 9,-237,631 8,996,058 11,675,7.28 
Total 6 mos. 89,649.037 1(^176,257 10,349,912 13.037,067 
The total receipt for duties for the year ending 
30th June, 1850, were $24,487,609 against $19 - 
811,334 in 1849, and $20,839,680 in 1848 The 
aggregate commerce of this Port for the last four 
years has been as annexed;— 
1RJR 7 Exports. 
. 62,593.6-25 46.543.793 
^.91,6s8.&83 48,360,2.35 
. 89,4-25,2:2 41,460,1-27 
. 113,782 ,618 44,5461620 
Total,. 8377,440.408 8180,910,777 
The annexed table shows what proportion of 
our imports consists of what is called Dry Goods. 
The figures below show the amount entered for 
consumption, and withdrawn from warehouse for 
consumption:— 
,, , 1848*49. 1849-.70 
Manufactures of Wool.9,48-»,600 14 877 1-22 
“ Cotion,. . .10,513,596 10,’2-25,’4e5 
Silk.13,354,077 15,«0-2 424 
„ „ “ TIar,- 4,332,275 6,88=.383 
Miscellaneous,.4,-2-27,9y8 2,:J7-2|8C9 
Total,. ...],9t(i ^548 ^5o,j,oo,328 
It Will be seen that nearly 45 per cent of cur 
imports is made up of dry goods. The following 
18 the amount entered for warehousing during 
the year:— ® 
„ , 1348-49. 1819-50 
Manufactures of Wool.1,257,163 1 49 rt 743 
“ ..1,773,571 L446!7I)6 
.1,431,010 1,247.831 
ATio- , ^ .'’'*■^•311 762,4-25 
Miscellaneous. 353,071 146 654 
1819-50. 
1,496,748 
1,446.71)6 
1,247,831 
702,4-25 
146,654 
The Case of Prof. Webster. 
Boston, Friday, July 5. 
The wife and three daughters ofPiof. Webster 
appeared before the Council this afternoon and 
pleaded in aid of the petition of their husband and 
father for a commutation of punishment. Mrs. 
Webster said that she had been unwavering in the 
belief of her husband’s innocence until he made 
his confession. She also stated that it was chiefly 
through her means and representations that the 
petition for pardon, protesting his innocence, was 
sent in. After her withdrawal the Council sent 
for Dr. Putnam and stated that they having grave 
doubts on certain points in the confession, had 
consulted separately, three eminent surgeons, and 
a document had been prepared for him to com¬ 
municate to Prof. Webster. Before thedocumeiit 
was received the doors were closed, but it was 
understood that one of the questions propounded 
wa.o, whether such a stick as that described in the 
confession would give such a blow as would 
cause death in ten minutes. All three consider¬ 
ed it would not. The other questions are stated 
to have been answered adverse to the confession. 
The opinion is univerally expressed that no com¬ 
mutation will be granted. 
Wool..—The wool season has nearly closed.— 
The price this year have been full five cents high¬ 
er than last year—ranging from 30 to 40 cents. 
The amount purchased by Shedd & Ganson to 
this time is 47,000. Howard Olmsted & Morgans, 
15,000; J, B. Pierce, about 15,000—making in all 
about 76,000 .—Le Roy Gazette, July 3. 
is Total.85,231,626 85,040,164 
to It may be remarked as indicating the growth 
ih of our Commerce that the Imports of New York 
ir in the year just closed, are within four millions 
r- of dollars ol the entire Imports of the country in 
le 1844-5. A comparison of the aggregate exports 
). and imports from New York, shows that we irn- 
o port at this port 60 per cent, of the goods brought 
jg into the country, and export 32J per cent! of the 
)f merchandise sent out of the country. 
il , ----- 
ir From Texas. 
" Verbal accounts represent that the late meas- 
^ urea in relation to the Santa Fe territory have exci- 
ted a feeling of universal indignation in the coun- 
try. Public meetings were called in Austin and 
® other places, on the subject. The News says 
that an extra session of the-Legislature will un- 
t doubtedly be called. 
A letter from San Antonio, dated June 7ih, 
. represents the depredations of the Indians in that 
t section ns truly alarming. Their boldness is so 
- great that they have actually killed persons within 
a mile of the city. 
1 News has been received from Eagle pass, that 
i Mr. B. B. Caiu, formerly of Galveston, was kil- 
j led at San Fernando, by John William Powers, 
’ (pncrally known by the name of Kentuck.) on 
1 Wednesday, the 29ih ult. It appears that Mr. 
^ Cain was assassinated in cold blood. Powers is 
, in prison and double irons, at Sau Fernando. 
I A San Antonio letter says: 
, The train for El Paso has at last started, and 
I there are only about eight wagons remaining be¬ 
hind. Most of the carts aud wagons left here 
, some weeks ago, and were to stop on the Leona, 
I the place selected for the general rendezvous, 
, and to start from there together. The train con- 
^ sists of about 150 wagons and 150 carts, besides 
about 3() wagons and carts of California emigrants. 
The train will be under the command of Major 
J. T. Sprague, of the 6 th infantry, U. S. A., of 
F^ort Inge. 
The Case OF Prof. Webster— Whatever may 
be thought of the statement put forward by Dr. 
Webster, by way of enlisting the clemency of the 
Executive in his favor, of the part performed by 
Rev, Dr. Putnam in the matter, there can be but 
one opinion. •• Nothing,” as truly says the Bos¬ 
ton Transcript,— 
" Nothing could be more admirable than the 
manner in which Dr. Putnam has acquitted him¬ 
self of the painful duties imposed on him by the 
prisoner. After drawing from the unhappy man, I 
by the mere force of Christian kindness, straight- ‘ 
forwardness and candor, his terrible secret, he had J 
to keep it in his own breast, uudivulged to any < 
one, until the fitting time had arrived to commu- * 
iiicate it to the family of Professor Webster. This < 
melancholy task was discharged by Dr. Putman < 
with all the teudernees that could avail to break 
the shock. Mrs. Webster, we understand, re- ( 
ceived the communication with firmness; she had ) 
probably long had misgivings of the truth; but ) 
the daughters were overwhelmed by the afflictive ( 
tidings.” ( 
Dreadful Riot near Baltimore — Several S 
Persons Shot, Stabbed, —Baltimore, July 5. > 
—There was considerable rowdyism in and around \ 
this city yesterday, among the various parties cel- ) 
ftbratiiig the day. ) 
A dreadful riot occurred at the Spring House, < 
on the Hookstown road, near the city. The house ; 
I was'robbed and stoned, and several persons were \ 
shot; one boy, named George Robinson, fatally ) 
wounded, it is thought. ) 
5 ):^” There are now more houses to rent in Cin- ) 
cinnati than for many years back. This is attri- \ 
buted to California and the cholera of ’49, by both ) 
of which the city lost more than 10,000 people. ^ 
5 ]^'” It is said that there is a large portion of the j) 
bank at Niagara Falls in a condition which indi- ) 
cates that it will soon follow the example of table I 
rock. • I 
5 ^“ Col. J. D. Stevenson, who commanded the ] 
regiment which was sent to California during the ) 
Mexican war, is now practising law at San Fran- ) 
cisco. ( 
A despatcli dated Richmond, Va., June 26, ( 
states that the wheat cro[) in Carolina, and the ad- ( 
joining counties in Virginia, is almost entirely des- ) 
troyed by the rust. ? 
Two men had their arms blown off in De- ; 
troit on the 4lh, by the accidental discharge of a <* 
cannon. i 
