In July, 1843, our minister sailed in the steam-frigate Missouri, which was destroyed by fire, August 22d of that year, off Gibraltar. He fortunately rescued all his official papers from destruction; and, without awaiting the instructions of government, directly proceeded on his mission, by the way of Egypt and India, to China, and in six months succeeded in the negotiation of a treaty, which was signed at Wanghia, July 3, 1844. It was ratified by Taukwang, the Emperor of China, and finally exchanged by the United States and China, Dec. 31, 1845. Thus Mr. Cushing had the proud satisfaction of being the first foreigner who ever negotiated with "the Son of Heaven" upon equal terms, and secured for the United States an honorable standing in the Celestial Empire.

During this journey, among other useful pursuits, he prepared a highly valuable article on the peculiar geographical position and unique physical characteristics of Egypt, dated Suez, Oct. 3, 1843, which he forwarded to Francis Markoe, Esq., corresponding secretary of the National Institute, at Washington. Mr. Cushing returned from China through Mexico, having made almost a complete circuit of the globe, by land and sea, within a belt of forty degrees, in the period of less than one year.

Mr. Cushing has proved himself abundantly qualified for any political station. He was elected, in 1846, a representative of Newburyport to the State Legislature, and in the subsequent year was a candidate for the office of governor of his native State. The war with Mexico having been declared, Mr. Cushing warmly advocated an appropriation of twenty thousand dollars for the benefit of the Massachusetts volunteers in that service, which was rejected by the Legislature. He was elected colonel of this body of volunteers in 1848, and in a few months was appointed a brigadier-general; and was in command of the volunteer regiments of Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi, on the front of the line at Buena Vista, under Major General Taylor. Hostilities having ceased on this general division, he was transferred, at his own request, to the line of Major General Scott, under whom he served until the peace.

On his return to the United States, Gen. Cushing was elected, in 1849, to the State Legislature, as a representative of Newbury; and, as has been related of his ancestor, Judge Cushing, of Scituate, he was the life and soul of the Court. A political opponent, writing of Caleb Cushing in regard to a political debate in which he was engaged, in the

Legislature, said that he never saw sophistry and sounding verbiage cut up into small bits more expeditiously, nor in more masterly style, than was done by the logical scimitar of Caleb Cushing. The flash of the blade, and the keenness of the edge, were alike incomparable. There was no escape from the blows of that steel. And a political friend said of him, that few men have either the intellectual or the physical capacity to do what he has accomplished; and when the session is over, and the people look back calmly upon the measures and reforms which will have been effected, they will see the impress of Gen. Cushing's mind stamped upon all the most important changes which have been effected.

In the manly and patriotic document, written by Caleb Cushing, on the nature of the opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act, and its tendency to dissolve the Union, he says: "Why do any of the people of Massachusetts condemn the extradition act? Why the extradition clause in the constitution? We have the answer to this inquiry in the avowed ulterior objects of the abolitionists proper, as distinguished from the Free Soilers, which abolitionists are the men who lead the agitation, and under whose apparent leadership so large a mass of men have, unreflectingly, suffered themselves to come to be ranked. They are logical. They object to the extradition law because their avowed aim is to abolish negro slavery in the United States by extra constitutional and revolutionary means. They object to the extradition clause of the constitution for the same reason. They object to the constitution itself, because it stands in the way of abolitionism. They propose and advocate nullification, and the dissolution of the Union, in perfect good faith, as being the only means of separating themselves from slavery, and ridding themselves of all participation in the responsibility of its continuance in the south." Is this imputation justifiable?

In connection with this subject, we here present Mr. Cushing's peroration to the spirited oration delivered at Newburyport, July 4, 1832: "This Union is a vast fabric of political forethought, sagacity, and comprehension. Its builders were the master minds of the New World. Shall we, like a spendthrift heir, lavishing in an hour of riot the treasures amassed by the parental wisdom from which he has degenerated,— shall we scatter our splendid heritage to the winds? I will not believe it. I appeal to the spirits of our fathers to look down from their blessed abode on high, to watch over our interests, and to give us of the fire of patriotism kindled at their own holy altars. Illustrious

and ever venerable men! Ages yet to come, as they flourish under the immunities which you have bequeathed to them, shall applaud your wisdom, and unborn generations shall be proud to emulate your virtues, and to animate their great resolves by the contemplation of your example. The long line of your descendants, who peacefully reap the advantages which your blood purchased for them, shall gratefully cherish your memory. Posterity can erect no more splendid monuments to your fame, than are the public institutions which your wisdom planned, and your heroism established. The colleges you endowed, the free schools you founded and protected by law, the nicely-balanced adjustment of the powers of government you devised, the religious ordinances you sustained, the sage and just laws you enacted, the sober, industrious and enterprising population which such laws and institutions fostered, and the system of defence and revenue which supports and binds together the whole, these are the imperishable memorials of your renown, to which every year, in the lapse of time, instead of tarnishing their lustre, shall but add new vigor, freshness, and brilliancy."

Caleb Cushing was the first mayor of Newburyport, in 1851; and a feature in the city charter, probably adopted at his suggestion, is that the mayor shall receive no salary. He is the most public-spirited man in the city. Two fortunes having descended to him by will, he is liberal in his gifts, and in the provisions he makes for the benefit of the public. He is ready, at any time, to throw open his house to the public, and convert his gardens and orchards into pleasure-grounds, and to furnish entertainment, when expedient. His generosity, in this way, flows on like a river; and the noble reception extended to the one hundred and twenty-five members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, of which he is the commander, will be memorable in the history of that venerable body. As mayor, he is out early on horseback, like the elder Quincy of Boston, with a watchful eye upon all police duties. He inquires of men in every occupation, and every locality, and of every kind of association, regarding the wants of the city; and listens to suggestions tending to public benefit. He never forgets a person, however obscure, who has ever conferred upon him a personal favor; and he is sure, in some way, to bestow a mark of his approbation. These traits, and the reputation they have given him of being a noble-hearted man, enabled him, when a Whig, to command a large portion of the Democratic votes in his vicinity; and now, while he is a Democrat of

the old line, to get the votes of a large portion of the Whigs, whenever required. Few men have the good sense to direct their ambition into a channel like this; and such course, on the part of Mr. Cushing, fully accounts for his popularity at home. He has been twice elected mayor by an almost unanimous vote. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College. In 1852 he became an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

RICHARD SULLIVAN FAY.

JULY 4, 1834. FOR THE CITY AUTHORITIES.

Was born at Cambridge; a son of Hon. Judge Fay; graduated at Harvard College in 1825; was of the Law School, and a counsellorat-law. He married Catharine Leavitt, daughter of Dudley Pickman, Esq., of Salem. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and of the Boston city Council in 1835.

FREDERICK ROBINSON.

JULY 4, 1834. FOR THE TRADES UNION.

WAS born at Exeter, N. H., in 1799, and entered the academy in 1821. Like Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, he rose from the shoemaker's bench to eminent political station. He was a self-taught lawyer, and became president of the Massachusetts Senate, in the administration of Gov. Morton, in the year 1843; and was the means of abolishing special pleading in the courts of justice, seconded by Robert Rantoul, Jr., Esq.,-a reform which the famous John Gardiner failed to effect, in 1786. Mr. Robinson married Mary Hutton; was the warden of the Massachusetts State Prison, and of the State Senate in 1851.

This was a joyful day for the Boston Trades Union, as the law for the abolition of imprisonment for debt, which was drafted by Mr. Robinson, and ably sustained by him in its passage through the Legislature, took effect this day. The oration was delivered on Fort Hill.

The respective trades appeared in procession, embracing more than two thousand persons, with banners and emblems. A beautiful printingpress, and a superb frigate completely rigged and manned, drawn by twenty-four white horses, gave effect to the parade.

EDWARD EVERETT.

SEPT. 6, 1834. EULOGY ON LAFAYETTE.

WHEN the eloquent Everett pronounced his first great oration, at the age of thirty, on the circumstances favorable to the progress of literature in the United States of America, amid the fathers, fellowgraduates and students, of his venerable Alma Mater, and in presence of Lafayette, whom he beautifully apostrophized," Welcome! thrice welcome to our shores! and whithersoever your course shall take you, throughout the limits of the continent, the ear that hears you shall bless you, the eye that sees you shall give witness to you, and every tongue exclaim, with heartfelt joy, 'Welcome! welcome, Lafayette!'"- the performance was received with great applause. When published, it received greater favor than any oration ever delivered at this ancient seat of learning, and doubtless had an influence in shaping his future course of life. We bless the day; for, by this rhetorical inspiration, there has been showered upon our republic a body of orations and speeches, founded on the declaration of independence and the national constitution, destined to be the admiration of all future generations. Fortunate is it for our republic that Everett has trod in the paths of Cicero; and, though we question not his capacity to have brought out some great production on a single subject, of enduring fame, yet the embodiment of his national orations, in a connected, classified form, comprises a great work itself, of more practical, sublime and enduring nature, than the most elaborate disquisitions of the most profound authors in the Union. More highly favored than most orators in our land, Edward Everett has enjoyed his own fame, from the blush of youth to the decline of maturity; and this reminds one of the opinior. of Thomas Jefferson regarding his oration before Lafayette: "It is all excellent, much of it is sublimely so; well worthy of its author and his subject, of whom we may truly say, as was said of Germanicus,