peared as counsel for Iliss in the famous contempt 
case in 1855, and also for Burnham in the question 
whether Burnham’s imprisonment for contempt was 
legal. In 1858, ho was mentioned by many of the 
Democrats as candidate for Governor, but did not 
succeed in obtaining the nomination until the next 
year, when he was, however, defeated. In I860 he 
was a member of the Democratic Conventions at both 
Charleston and Baltimore, and espoused the side of 
the North; but afterwards accepted the nomination 
of the Breckinridge party, llis military history is 
shorter; (so long ago as 1810 he was a member of a 
Lowell company, one of those that were attacked in 
Baltimore last April;) ho is of Irish extraction, and 
was Colonel of an Irish regiment for many years. 
When Gov. Gardner disbanded the Irish companies, 
Butler resisted, and after his commission was with¬ 
drawn, prosecuted the Adjutant-General for taking 
the guns from the armory. J& 1857 ho was elected 
Brigadier-General. He offered his services to Gov. 
Andrew, his successful rival in the Gubernatorial 
conflict, almost immediately after the capture of Fort 
Sumter; his patriotism and ability as since displayed, 
have already made him a Major-General. 
Gen. Butler has been distinguished in every sphere 
of life, in his legal and his political careers by the 
same traits: by a daring that was never daunted, a 
persoverauee that was never discouraged; by a fer¬ 
tility in expedients, and ft promptness of invention 
that few have rivalled. He generally had the most 
unpromising cases as a criminal lawyer, but seemed 
to prefer them, for they gave him a better chance to 
show his talents, which were quite as much traits of 
character as intellectual gifts. Energy, confidence, 
industry, skill; sometimes impudence, always pluck, 
these are the peculiarities by which ho has been dis¬ 
tinguished, and which have placed him in his forty- 
third year in his present position. These are pccull- 
erred, but a brilliant career of statesmanship, and a 
long course of patriotic action, gave a hope that he, 
in connection with the other mighty minds of the land, 
would find a path by which our country might 
emerge from the darkness and gloom in which she is 
now enveloped. The Supreme Ruler has otherwise 
ordained, and we stand in the presence of Death. 
Life’s fitful fever for him is over, and the Republic 
mourns the loss of one whose name will be registered 
among the most brilliant of her statesmen, and the 
most loyal of her sons. 
We are almost daily receiving inquiries from sub¬ 
scribers as to the construction and capacities of the 
the names of 
yarious rifles, muskets, cannon, etc. 
w hich occur so frequently in the daily press. As 
many of these weapons are of recent invention, and 
others are of foreign manufacture, we cannot speak 
concerning them of our own knowledge, but shall 
give, from time to time, such matters of interest 
connected therewith as may come under onr observa¬ 
tion. We now present descriptions from the Scien¬ 
tific American of the Minie and Enfield rifles, and of 
the Cavalry Grapnel: 
The Minie Rifle.— The first rifle in vogue in 
France was the so-called pillar rifle of Thonvenin, 
but the invention of Mr. Minie is one that has prac¬ 
tically revolotionized the fire-arms or the present 
day. The improvements made by Mr. Minie are con¬ 
fined almost wholly to the form of the projectile, 
and have very little reference to that of the gun out 
of which it is fired. 
The ball is of an oblong-conical form, something 
like an acorn without its cup: but instead of being 
solid, this cone i3 hollowed ont at the base into a 
enp-like form. The advantages of this form of pro¬ 
jectile are, that, it offers less resistance to the air 
than around ball wonld, and that having its center 
of gravity in its foremost part, it has no tendency to 
torn over in its flight; bnt its chief merit, in a mili¬ 
tary point of view, is that with it the rifle can be 
loaded as easily as the ordinary smooth-bored gun, 
the forcing of the ball into the grooves of the barrel 
being effected by'the explosion of the gunpowder, 
and not by the ramrod. 
The form of the rifle proper to these conical mis¬ 
siles differs very little from those used with the old 
spherical bullet, except that a three-grooved rifle 
has superseded the old two-grooved gun, and it i$ 
still an unsettled question whether four grooves 
would not be better than three. With this weapon 
the soldier can make better practice at five hundred, 
or even one thousand yards, than he could with the 
old musket at one hundred or two hundred yards. 
TnE Enfield Rifle. —The Enfield derives its name 
from the place where it is made, namely, the govern¬ 
ment armory at Endeld, England, and k is in most 
respects like the American army-rifle made at Spring- 
field, Mass, The barrel of it is formed of the best 
charcoal iron; its length is 39 inches; bore, 580tb 
of an inch; it lias three grooves, J-16th of an inch 
wide and 500th of an inch deep; the pitch of the 
grooves is 6 feet 6 inches. A hollow conical ball, 
with a plug of boxwood placed in the base, is used 
in this rifle. A graduated back sight, set for ranges 
from 200 to 1,000 yards, is fixed on all the Enfields. 
Cavalry Grapnki.. — This is a newly-invented 
weapon of warfare, and is designed to render cavalry 
superior to infantry, It is an admitted fact in the 
science of war, that infantry formed into a square or 
in mass, and standing firm and unbroken, can defeat 
an equal number of cavalry, each being armed with 
the ordinary weapons. ThiH fact has been fully 
demonstrated upon many a well-fought field in the 
last half century, the most notable of which was that 
of Waterloo, where the French cavalry repeatedly 
charged the squares of English infantry, and were 
uniformly repulsed, the squares standing firm and 
unbroken. 
A man and horse, acting as one, have the strength 
and speed of several men, and ought, if prr/perly 
armed, to he competent to the defeat of several men. 
The grapnel is a new weapon adapted to thlssnperior 
strength and speed, and cavalry armed with this de¬ 
structive machine, and well skilled in its use, can 
easily defeat four times their number of infantry, 
mowing them down like grass before a scythe. This 
weapon may also be used by cavalry against cavalry; 
and even by infantry against infantry it will be found 
exceedingly destructive. 
The grapnel was invented in one of the Northern 
States, and 100,000 of them have been recently man¬ 
ufactured for a European Government for the arming 
of cavalry. The present wide-spread rebellion in 
our own country has caused the inventor to offer 
them to our Government. They have been submitted 
to the proper department, and approved of and pur¬ 
chased, and the President will shortly call into the 
service of the United States a large body of cavaby, 
to be furnished with the grapnel as an additional 
arm. With this destructive weapon they will be 
able to cut in pieces and annihilate four times their 
own number of the best infantry that ever entered 
the field. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y., .JUNK 15, 1861 
FACTS, SCENES, INCIDENTS, ETC 
Some of Onr Army Officers. 
With the new and momentous era upon which 
we are now entering, public attention turns to the 
“ men of the hour” who are to take command of onr 
armies and thus become charged, in a conspicuous 
degree, with the responsibilities of conducting this 
grand struggle to a speedy and satisfactory end. 
Whether the trial is to bring out its eontroling gen¬ 
ius,—a Washington, a Napoleon, a Jackson, a Gari¬ 
baldi, or a Second Hcott,—remains to be seen. 
General Mansfield. — General Jos. K. F. Mans¬ 
field, now in command of the forces at Washington, 
and who is reported as tho head of a very important 
expedition planned for speedy execution, is a native 
of Connecticut, from whence he entered West Point 
in 1817, to grailoate in 1822, second in his class. 
This gave him a commission in the engineer corps, 
and when "Old Zack ” went to Mexico, Captain 
Mansfield was selected as the chief engineer of the 
army of occupation. His services at the defense of 
Fort Brown, at Monterey, (where bo was severely 
wounded in storming the enemy’s position,) and at 
Buena Vista, won him brevets and fame. In 1853, he 
was appointed Inspector General, with tho rank of 
Colonel. He has been promoted to a Generalship 
within ji short time. 
General McLellan, — Major-General George B. 
MoLcllati commands the military department of the 
great Northwest, and will probably move down in the 
direction of the Mississippi River, or Western Vir¬ 
ginia, as the war opens. He is a native of Philadel¬ 
phia, and is under forty years of age. He graduated 
at West Point with the highest distinction; thence 
he was transferred to Mexico, under Gen. Scott, 
where for his valor lie was twice brevetted. After 
the war he was associated with Capt. Maroy in the 
Oxplorutiun of the sources of the lied River, and wus 
subsequently transferred to Oregon. He was then 
appointed on the Crimean commission, which ena¬ 
bled him personally to inspect the military systems 
of tho great European powers,— England, France, 
Russia, Austria and Prussia. For the last three years 
he has been the ekecutivn head nf tho Great Illinois 
Central Railroad. He is at once prudent and resolute. 
Colonel Prentiss. — Col. B. M. Prentiss, who has 
the command of tho United Btates forces at Cairo, 
aud is, therefore, likely to be called Into action at an 
early clay, is a native of Illinois, or at least, he has 
lived there from boyhood. He went to the Mexican 
war as the Lieutenant of an Illinois company, and 
was selected by the lamented J. .1. Hardin as his 
Adjutant. By Hardin's side lie fought in every battle 
Jefferson Dnvis in Richmond. 
Tue Richmond Enquirer of May 30 contains an 
account or the journey of Jeff. Davis from Mont¬ 
gomery, and his reception In Richmond, from which 
wo make several extracts. People hereabouts have 
become so infatuated as to doubt the assertion "that 
the mantle of Washington falls gracefully upon tho 
shoulders ” of this traitor, and if the Enquirer fails 
in converting the North, such failure is entirely 
owing to the "natural depravity” of the race. The 
Enquirer says: 
"President Davis, accompanied by his Ji id, Col. 
Wigfall and lady, and by the Hon. Robert Toombs, 
of Georgia, left Montgomery by cars on Snnd.v eve¬ 
ning Ia3t. They made no special stoppage on tho 
route, aud owing to previous severe indisposition of 
the President, it was desirable that his trip to Rich¬ 
mond should be as private as practicable. At each 
station his friends endeavored to convoy this informa¬ 
tion to the citizens, but it was really to no purpose. 
No matter wherp tho cars stopped, even though it 
was only Tor wood or for water, throngs of men, 
womou and children, would gather around the cars, 
asking, in loud shouts, 'Where is President Davis?’ 
‘.Jeff. Davis, the old hero!’ and ho was forced to 
make his appearance, and frequently to address them. 
Then we could see handkerchiefs waving, and gay 
flags and boquets. 
When the flute-like voice of Davis arose upon the 
air, hushed to stillness by the profound respect of 
his auditors, it was not long before there was an out¬ 
burst of feeling which gave vent to a tornado of 
voices; those would break forth In constant succes¬ 
sion to the end of his address. Every sentiment he 
uttered seemed to swell up from his heart, and was 
received with the wildest enthusiasm. When he con¬ 
cluded, three hearty cheers went up from the multi¬ 
tude. * * * * At Goldsboro, while 
partaking of his supper in the hall of the hotel, the 
table was thronged with beautiful girls, anil many 
were bedecking him with garlands of flowers, while 
others fanned him. It was a most interesting occa¬ 
sion. The military had formed into squares to receive 
him from the cars; guns were fired, and the band 
struck up inspiring martial airs during the interval 
of supper. 
The whole country is a camp. On every hand we 
see soldiers — and every day the cars are crowded 
with them. From appearances, they are the (lower 
of the South. The journey of President Davis from 
Montgomery to the capita! was one continuous ova¬ 
tion. The whole soul of the South is in this war; 
and the confidence manifested in our President, in 
tho many scenes which transpired on the trip, shows 
that the mantle of Washington falls gracefully upon 
his shoulders. 
Never were a people more enraptured with their 
Chief Magistrate than ours are with President Davis, 
and the trip from Montgomery to Richmond will ever 
be remembered with delight by all who witnessed it. 
The eagerness of young and old, aud of all classes, 
to catch a glimpse of him, or take him by the hand, 
is beyond description. This trip has Infused a mar¬ 
tial feeling in our people that knows no bounds. 
* * * * At about 51 o’clock, Presi¬ 
dent Davis, accompanied by a cortege on horseback, 
left his quarters at the Spotwood House, and pro¬ 
ceeded to tho New Fair Grounds. Here a large num¬ 
ber of ladies and gentlemen had assembled, and on 
his arrival, greeted him with the heartiest, demonstra¬ 
tions of pleasure. 
On leaving his saddle, the President was sur¬ 
rounded by an eager crowd of soldiers and civilians, 
whom he indulged in a haiid-shalcing performance, 
until the pressure became so great that he was com¬ 
pelled to retire to the Vialcony of the Executive 
Department, where, in response to the demands of 
the assemblage, he delivered the following brief and 
pertinent speech: 
"My Friends and Fellow-Citizens: I arn deeply 
, impressed with the kindness of your manifestation. 
I look upon yon as the last best hope of liberty; and 
in onr liberty alone is our Constitutional Government 
to be preserved. Upon your strong right arm de¬ 
pends the success of our country, and, m asserting 
the birth-right to which you were born, you are to 
remember that life and blood are nothing as com- 
f ared with the immense interests you have at stake. 
Cheers.] 
"It rnayhe that you have not long been trained, 
and that you huve much to learn of the art of war, 
! but I know that there beats in the breasts of Southern 
• sous a determination never to surrender—n deter- 
j mi nation never to go home but to tell a tale of honor. 
[Cries of ‘never!’ and applause.] Though great 
may be the disparity of numbers, give us a fair field 
: and a free tight, and the Southern banner will float in 
i triumph everywhere. [Cheers.] The country relies 
I upon you. Upou you rest the hope of our people; 
and I have only to say, my friends, that to the last f 
i breath of my life, I am wholly your own. [Tremen- 
- dous cheers.]” 
Illinois, by the Legislature of the State. Resigning 
this office in December of the same year, he was 
elected a member of the Legislature by the Democrats 
of Morgan county. In 1837 Mr. V an Burin appoint¬ 
ed him Register of the Land Office at Springfield. In 
August, 1846, he ran for Congress, bnt was defeated 
by five majority in a poll of 36,000 votes. From this 
time on till 1840, he practiced law; but in that 
memorable campaign he stumped the State seven 
months for Van Boren, much of tho time speaking 
in debate from the same stump with the now (’resi¬ 
dent of the United States. In 1841, he was chosen 
Judge of the Supreme Court, by the Legislature, ano 
in 1842 was elected to Congress, from which time wc 
find him on the larger field of national affairs. He 
was transferred from the House of Representatives to 
the Senate, March 4th, 1847. 
The late political history of Mr. Douglas is so famil¬ 
iar that we need noteven glance at it. Aaa proof Of his 
surpassing ability, however, we may cite the fact that 
be was the recipient of more important public trusts 
while yet a young man, than ever fell to the lot of 
any other person of whom history speaks. Before he 
was 36 years of age he held the offices successively of 
State's Attorney General, Assemblyman, Register of 
a Land Office, Secretary of State, Judge of the (State) 
Supreme Court, Member of Congress (House,) to 
which be was thrice elected after being once 
defeated, aud finally entered the Senate of the United 
States when but 35 years old. He was nominated 
for the Presidency by the Convention of I860, com¬ 
manding a majority of the votes from the beginning, 
and two-thirds (by the decision of the President,) on 
the final ballot. He received a large popular vote, 
exceeding that of any of hie competitors, except the 
successful one, though not his relative proportion of 
the Electoral ballot. 
Mr, Douglas was twice married, first in April, 
1847, to Miss Martha Denny Martin, daughter of 
Col. Rouert Martin, of Rockingham county, N. C., 
by whom he had three children, two of whom are 
living. She died Jan. 19, 1853. He was again 
married Nov. 20, 1856, to Mias A dele Cutts, 
daughter of James Madison Cutts, of Washington, 
D. C. 
The last hours of the illustrious Senator are thus 
described by the Chicago Tribune of June 4th: — 
*' A wandering and delirious state accompanied his 
illness more or less from its inception to its final 
close. At such times us lie was rational last week, 
he seemed aware of the grave fears entertained iu his 
behalf, and on one occasion said to those about him, 
that lie knew his constitution so much better than 
they did, he felt confident he should recover from tho 
attack. Doubtless his will and courage, joined to 
his great physical powers, had much to do with his 
long continuing to resist a malady before which 
feebler men would have rapidly succumbed.— 
Throughout Saturday it was feared he could not 
survive many hours. As nightfall drew near, with¬ 
out any positive change Jiaviug taken place in his 
disease, he yet seemed easier. So passed the night. 
He had only brief intervals of consciousness after 
this, but lay in a quiet state, gradually but surely 
sinking. At times lie briefly rallied, but it was not 
to a clear conception of what was transpiring about 
him. On one occasion, indeed, it was evident that 
memory aud habit of mind was strong in the dying 
statesman, and that his thoughts were once more in 
the Senate Chamber. One of bis physicians, Dr. 
Hav, was administering a blister. " Wbat arc you 
doing?” asked the patient, "stop, there are twenty 
against me, the measure is defeated.” At an early 
hoar yesterday morning he had an interval of rally¬ 
ing, was ratioual, conversed briefly with those about 
him, and then sank gently aud quietly until ten 
minutes past nine A. M., when he breathed his last 
power of destruction. Only imagine that every her¬ 
ring has from fifty to seventy thousand eggs! If 
every egg was to produce a herring, and every her¬ 
ring fifty thousand more, were there not au enormous 
destruction going on, the ocean would very soon he 
solidified and putrified. The great cetacea drive 
them toward the shores, ever and anon diving into 
their ranks and swallowiug up whole shoals. The 
whiting eat their fry; cod again devour the whiting. 
Yet, even here, the peril of the sea, an excess of 
fecundity shows itself iu a still more terrible shape. 
The cod has up to nine million of eggs, and this 
creature, of such formidable powers of maternity, 
has nine months ol' love out of twelve. No wonder 
that the fishery of this productive fish has created 
towns aud colonies. But even then, what would the 
power of man be, opposed to such fecundity? He is 
assisted by others, among which the sturgeon takes 
chief rank. Then, again, the sturgeon itself is a 
very fecund fish. This devourer of cod has itself 
fifteen hundred thousand eggs. Another great de¬ 
vourer is not proportionately re-productive, and that 
is the shark. Viviparous, he nourishes the young 
shark in his bosom, his feudal inheritor, who is born 
terrible and ready armed. Hence are sharks called 
in many countries sea-dog.— ttlacktcood. 
Tut Human Ear.—M. Fessel, of Cologne, on test¬ 
ing the new Parisian tuuing-ferk, observed that he 
heard differently with his two ears—the note heard 
with the right ear being somewhat higher than that 
heard with the left. On examining hia musical 
friends he has not yet found one, even among part- 
masicians, whose ears are precisely alike in the esti¬ 
mation of the pitch of musical tones. He conjectures 
that the reason for this difference in hearing is, prob¬ 
ably, that the external passage of the ear is set in 
vibration, like a speaking-trumpet, by the sounds 
that enter it, and that this vibration modifies the 
pitch of the entering sound according to the form of 
the individual ear. 
