RUMORS AND INCIDENTS.

The following singular narrative is given by the Evening Post. It was originally told nearly thirty years ago, by an eye-witness:

THE SPOTTED HAND.

THE other morning, at the breakfast table, when I, an unobserved spectator, happened to be present, Calhoun was observed to gaze frequently at his right hand and brush it with his left in a hurried and nervous manner. He did this so often that it excited attention. At length one of the persons comprising the breakfast party-his name, I think, is Toombs, and he is a member of Congress from Georgia-took upon himself to ask the occasion of Mr. Calhoun's disquietude. "Does your hand pain you?" he asked of Mr. Calhoun. To this Mr. Calhoun replied, in rather a hurried manner, "Pshaw! it is nothing but a dream I had last night, and which makes me see perpetually a large black spot, like an ink blotch, upon the back of my right hand; an optical illusion, I suppose." Of course these words excited the curiosity of the company, but no one ventured to beg the details of this singular dream, until Toombs asked quietly, "What was your dream like? I am not very superstitious about dreams; but sometimes they have a great deal of truth in them." "But this was such a peculiarly absurd dream," said Mr. Calhoun, again brushing the back of his right hand; "however, if it does not intrude too much on the time of our friends, I will relate it to you." Of course the company were profuse in their expressions of anxiety to know all about the dream, and Mr. Calhoun related it. "At a late hour last night, as I was sitting in my room, engaged in writing, I was astonished by the entrance of a visitor who, without a word, took a seat opposite me at my table. This surprised me, as I had given particular orders to the servant that I should on no account be disturbed. The manner in which the intruder entered, so perfectly self-possessed, taking his seat opposite me without a word, as though my room and all within it belonged to him, excited in me as much surprise as indignation. As I raised my head to look into his features, over the top of my shaded lamp, I discovered that he was wrapped in a thin cloak, which effectually concealed his face and features from my view; and as I raised my head, he spoke: 'What are you writing, senator from South Carolina?' I did not think of his impertinence at first, but answered him voluntarily, 'I am writing a plan for the dissolution of the American Union.' (You know, gentlemen, that I am expected to produce a plan of dissolution in the event of certain contingencies.) To this the intruder replied, in the coolest manner possible, 'Senator from South Carolina, will you allow me to look at your hand, your right hand?' He rose, the cloak fell, and I beheld his face. Gentlemen, the sight of that face struck me like a thunder-clap. It was the face of a dead man, whom extraordinary events had called back to life. The features were those of General George Washington. He was dressed in the Revolutionary costume, such as you see in the Patent Office." Here Mr. Calhoun paused, apparently agitated. His agitation, I need not tell you, was shared by the company. Toombs at length broke the embarrassing pause. "Well, what was the issue of this scene?" Mr. Calhoun re

sumed. "The intruder, as I have said, rose and asked to look at my right hand, as though I had not the power to refuse. I extended it. The truth is, I felt a strange thrill pervade me at his touch; he grasped it and held it near the light, thus affording full time to examine every feature. It was the face of Washington. After holding my hand for a moment, he looked at me steadily, and said in a quiet way, And with this right hand, senator from South Carolina, you would sign your name to a paper declaring the Union dissolved?' I answered in the affirmative. 'Yes,' I said, 'if' a certain contingency arises, I will sign my name to the Declaration of Dissolution.' But at that moment a black blotch appeared on the back of my hand, which I seem to see now. 'What is that?' said I, alarmed, I know not why, at the blotch on my hand. That,' said he, dropping my hand, is the mark by which Benedict Arnold is known in the next world.' He said no more, gentlemen, but drew from beneath his cloak an object which he laid upon the table-laid upon the very paper on which I was writing. This object, gentlemen, was a skeleton. 'There,' said he, 'there are the bones of Isaac Hayne, who was hung at Charleston by the British. He gave his life in order to establish the Union. When you put your name to a Declaration of Dissolution, why, you may as well have the bones of Isaac Hayne before you-he was a South Carolinian and so are you. But there was no blotch on his right hand.' With these words the intruder left the room. I started back from the contact with the dead man's bones and-awoke. Overcome by labor, I had fallen asleep, and had been dreaming. Was it not a singular dream?" All the company answered in the affirmative, and Toombs muttered, "Singular, very singular," and at the same time looking curiously at the back of his right hand, while Mr. Calhoun placed his head between his hands and seemed buried in thought.

A GENTLEMAN at Baltimore, Md., lately returned from Fort Sumter, details an impressive incident that took place there on Major Anderson taking possession. It is known that the American flag brought away from Fort Moultrie was raised at Sumter precisely at noon on the 27th ultimo, but the incidents of that "flag-raising" have not been related. It was a scene that will be a memorable reminiscence in the lives of those who witnessed it. A short time before noon Major Anderson assembled the whole of his little force, with the workmen employed on the fort, around the foot of the flagstaff. The national ensign was attached to the cord, and Major Anderson, holding the end of the lines in his hand, knelt reverently down. The officers, soldiers, and men clustered around, many of them on their knees, all deeply impressed with the solemnity of the scene. The chaplain made an earnest prayer-such an appeal for support, encouragement and mercy as one would make who felt that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." As the earnest, solemn words of the speaker ceased, and the men responded Amen with a fervency that perhaps they had never before experienced, Major Anderson drew the "Star-spangled Banner" up to the top of the staff, the band broke out with the national air of "Hail, Columbia!" and loud and exultant cheers, repeated again and again, were given by the officers, soldiers, and workmen. "If," said the narrator, "South Carolina had at that moment attacked the

Ir is asserted in Charleston, that President Buchanan had pledged his honor to South Carolinians that the forts should not be reinforced, that they should be given up to the State authorities when demanded, and also that General Cass's resignation originated in his condemning this promise of treason. Cor. Evening Post, Dec. 31.

"MACON, Ga., Dec. 27.-"Rumors of a rising among the slaves in the southwestern part of the State prevail here. It is impossible to say with certainty whether an insurrection has really taken place, or is only threatened. The planters are hastily getting all things ready to send their wives and young children to the North."-N. Y. Tribune.

GOVERNOR BROWN, of Georgia, has solicited from the Secretary of War, and obtained, a year's leave of absence for Colonel Hardee, late Commandant at West Point, to go to Europe to purchase guns and munitions of war for the State of Georgia.-N Y. Times, Dec. 27.

Dec. 28.-The South Carolina Commissioners have had a conference with President Buchanan and his Cabinet, and demand that the troops be withdrawn immediately, or this shall be their last interview, and they will return to South Carolina and prepare for the worst.-Evening Post, Dec. 29.

Ir is said that Mr. Buchanan is doing all he can to favor the schemes of the revolutionists. The conduct of Major Anderson, in evacuating Fort Moultrie and taking up a stronger position at Fort Sumter, is understood to meet the decided disapprobation of the Administration. It seems he acted without orders, Government arms have been sold to the State of Georgia by the Secretary of War, and there is reason to believe that the President will take no measures to suppress any revolutionary efforts which may be made by Southerns.-Idem.

GENERAL SCOTT threatens to resign, if President Buchanan recalls Major Anderson, and will offer his services to his country.-Idem.

Ir is said that merchants and other men of property in South Carolina, are compelled by threats of personal violence, to become subscribers to the State loan. It is also reported, and there is no reason to doubt the truth of the report, that a tax has been privately levied on slaveholders, of $16 per head for each slave owned by them-a tax so onerous that, in some cases, the slaves will be confiscated and sold in order to meet it. This is a forced loan as thoroughly as was ever any loan during the French Revolution, or during the chronic revolutions of Mexico. The secession movement is in the hands of the mob; and the planters, merchants, and other men of substance, are powerless against them.-Cor. Albany Evening Journal, Dec.

28.

Dec. 31.-PHILADELPHIA.-There is a report in circulation that "Wheatland," the residence of Mr. Buchanan, has been burned.

In addition to Bates of Missouri, Cabinet places have been offered by Mr. Lincoln to Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, and Robert T. Scott of Virginia.-N. Y., Evening Post, Dec. 31.

THE Raleigh Standard says: North Carolina still commands us to obey the Federal laws and to respect the Federal authorities. Up to this moment these laws and these authorities have breathed nothing but respect for our State, and have offered nothing but protection to our citizens. It will be time enough to talk about levying war and capturing forts when the State shall have dissolved her relations with the Union. She has not done so yet, and we trust that no such step will be required. She is too brave to run out of the Union under temporary panics, and she is too wise to commit herself to revolution for the purpose merely of imitating the examples of other States.

"THE Northern people have an enemy at their own doors who will do our work for us, if we are not insane enough to take their myrmidons off their hands. The winter of their discontent' is but beginning to dawn. They have a long, dark winter, of cold and hunger, impending over their heads; before it is over, they will have millions of operatives without work, and without bread.

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"In all human probability, before another summer melts their ice-bound hills, blood-human blood-will have flowed in their streets. When cold and hunger begin their work, this deluded rabble will ask alms at the doors of the rich, with pike and firebrand in their hands. Our Northern enemies will then find that they have business enough to attend to at their own doors, without troubling themselves about keeping forts on Southern soil. They have got the wolf by the cars,' and they have a fair prospect of being bit, unless we are charitable enough to take the beast off their hands. If the North can furnish bread for its paupers for the next five months, well. If not, their rulers will answer for it in blood. It was simply the want of bread that brought Louis XVI. to the guillotine; and New York, as well as Paris, can furnish her Theroign de Maricourt, who may sing her carmagnole up Broadway with Seward's head upon a pike.

"Our Northern enemies are locked up with their million of operatives for the winter, and how they are to be kept quiet no man can tell."-Charleston Courier.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 1861.—“Scarce a man here from the Free States, and few from the border Slave States, (I refer to men in society,) hesitates now to declare in the most emphatic language, that the Union must and shall be preserved. Even Gen. B. F. Butler, of Massachusetts, one of the most ultra of Breckinridge's supporters, and the bitterest of Anti-Republicans, does not hesitate to assure Southern men that the Free States are forgetting all political parties and uniting as one man for the Union. Talking with a South Carolina Commissioner, the latter is reported to have told him that if Massachusetts should send 10,000 men to 'preserve the Union' against Southern secession, she would have to fight twice the number of her own citizens at home, who would oppose the policy. By no means,' Mr. Butler replied; when we come from Massachusetts we will leave not a single traitor behind, unless he is hanging upon a tree.' Private accounts from Charleston state that a thousand negroes are engaged in the erection of fortifications in the harbor, and that the channels leading to Fort Sumter have been obstructed by sunken vessels, and the buoys removed. Also that Governor Pickens

has received the offer of 10,000 volunteers from without the State, who hold themselves in readiness to march at a minute's warning."-Times, Jan. 3. Jan. 4.-"A resident of Chicago, Ill., who has been travelling through the Southern States for the last two months, in a quiet and observant manner, says that the greatest alarm and fear exist among the slave owners, in consequence of certain evidences which they have discovered, of an expectation on the part of the slaves of events soon happening which will result in their universal liberation. Every one who has been much in the South, knows the manner in which intelligence is disseminated among the slaves. The hotel waiters, the barbers, the private servants of gentlemen and families in cities, are the first ones to hear what is going on. Constantly present with their masters, and the travelling population, they hear all the conversation, and if it bears upon their own interests, they treasure it up with a very retentive memory. The constant theme in the South for the last two months, has been the election of the Abolitionist Lincoln, and the free negro Hamlin,' to the Presidential chair, and the consequences that were to result from these events. The slaves have heard all this, and they have told it to their companions, and the news has spread to the plantations with that celerity which is so remarkable a feature of slave life. The news has not lost any by travelling, and there exists now a very general belief among the slaves that an army from the North is soon to march down to the South and liberate all the slaves. They think their liberation will be accelerated if they make a rising themselves; and some such struggles have been made. They have been put down with great severity, and hushed up as much as possible. Some slaves have been burned at the stake, others hung, others sold to go further South; and every one says as little about the insurrection as possible. But so fearful are the planters of a rising, that the slaves have all been deprived of their usual Christmas indulgences and visits, and have been confined closely to their own plantations. The police regulations are made still more strict, and every precaution possible is taken to prevent an eruption of the smouldering volcano, which sooner or later must take place. The large planters, as a general thing, are not earnest secessionists, and they fear the effect of secession upon the value of their property. The chief secessionists are the politicians of the towns and cities, and they have produced such a state of feeling that no one dares openly to express anti-secession opinions."-Chicago Democrat.

A WRITER in Washington says: "In conversation, this evening, with several of the North Carolina delegation, they inform me that they had been aware, for some time past, that the small squad of secessionists in that State had been for weeks past concocting schemes to seize the Federal property, which, perhaps, might have been consummated without the knowledge of the Union men of the State, whereby the latter might possibly have been drawn into it; but having been advised of that fact, the members of Congress immediately telegraphed to their friends, to suppress all such revolutionary schemes, which advice was at once taken, and this movement thus interrupted. Having implicit confidence in the honesty and ability of Gov. Ellis, they also sent a dispatch to him to quell all such

insurrections, and it is believed he will use all his power to prevent an outbreak. They also state that there need be no alarm as to North Carolina taking any such precipitate action. It is recommended by these members that a convention be immediately called to discuss this question, and to present some plan for the adjustment of all these difficulties, and thus save their State from being drawn into this vortex of certain ruin. It is not unlikely that such a convention will be called in the course of a few days."-N. Y. Times, Jan. 5.

Jan. 5.-The Southern senators at Washington say, that the United States frigate Brooklyn, if sent to Charleston, will be sunk in the harbor; that the light-houses will be darkened, the buoys removed, and the battery opened upon the steamer from Morris Island.-Boston Transcript, Jan. 6.

Ir is rumored that when South Carolina is brought to submission, that State is to be occupied as a black republic, by the slaves liberated from the border States.-Athenæum.

Jan. 7.-A gentleman from Charleston says that every thing there betokens active preparations for fight. Last Sunday, he says, not a lady was at the church he attended. They were all at home making cartridges and cylinders, and scraping lint. The thousand negroes busy in building batteries, so far from inclining to insurrection, were grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of shooting the Yankees. Extravagant reports were current as to the hostile designs of the Federal Government, such as that the Macedonian was on her way with five hundred troops.-Evening Post, Jan. 7.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7.-The Cabinet have entertained the idea of causing the arrest of Senator Toombs for treason, the treasonable act being that of sending the alleged despatch urging the immediate seizure of the Georgia forts, which was done.-Washington Star, Jan. 7.

Jan. 8.-It is stated that a movement had, last week, obtained the sanction and support of several wealthy merchants of New York, for sending relief to the gallant Anderson, and that a large amount of money and materials were contributed, and a steamer selected for the purpose. On Saturday the parties who were at the head of the movement were informed that the United States Government had undertaken to send supplies and men to that post, and that consequently their patriotic services would not be required. It is understood that South Carolina has agents in New York, and at other important points, who promptly notify the Governor of every movement of troops intended for reinforcing the military posts at the South. We have good reason to know that it is now understood on Governor's Island that an order has been received in this city from the War Department, in obedience to which all the available troops at this station will be mustered and critically inspected at Governor's Island on Thursday next. Lest any man should be absent at roll-call the utmost strictness is exercised in making out the daily liberty lists; and no soldier can leave the island except by special permission. The order is supposed to have authorized the complete equipment and preparation for the road of all the troops in garrison.-N. Y. Times, Jan. 8.

A gentleman arrived this evening from Charleston, in company with Com. Shubrick. Both say the panic which prevails there is unparalleled. There is a great lack of food, business is prostrated; the people are idle, and patrols are wandering up and down to preserve order. On the day Com. Shubrick left there was unusual excitement, and upon inquiry he found that news had been received that the steamer Macedonian was on her way with eight hundred troops to bombard the city and reinforce Major Anderson. He could not convince them to the contrary, and expresses the opinion that they cannot hold out in their present condition long, unless Georgia comes to their relief. No vessel entered or left the harbor while they were there."

THE Tribune has the following editorial paragraph:

We learn, through a private letter, from a perfectly responsible source in Charleston, that the other day a body of twenty minute-men from the country entered a large private house in that city and demanded dinner. A dinner was given them, and then they demanded ten dollars each, saying that they had not come to Charleston for nothing; and the money was furnished also. Another fact of still greater significance has come to our knowledge. Governor Pickens has written to an officer of high rank in the United States army, a native of South Carolina, who is loyal to the stars and stripes, requesting him to come to Charleston and protect them from the mob. The officer has declined, saying that he can serve his country elsewhere, and that he does not wish to have any part in the proceedings now going forward in that State."

THE Baltimore Clipper has information of a similar character. It says:

"We learn, by the fresh arrival of a stonecutter from Columbia, South Carolina, at his home in Washington city, that a sad and sorrowful state of things prevails there. Business and work of all kinds are in a paralyzed condition, owing to the excitement existing among the people about the approaching inauguration of what they term a hostile Government. The talk of war has caused every thing else to be suspended. He represents the people as excited almost to derangement, and relates a case where a fellow-mechanic of his had been completely crazed and made an inmate of a lunatic asylum, by the warlike demonstrations around him. Nearly every mechanic employed on the Capitol of the State has left, and those remaining behind will follow in a few days. Other mechanics employed elsewhere will soon take their departure, and unless times shall soon improve, many of the native mechanics and laboring force of the State will seek employment in other

States."

THE Journal of Commerce, a few days ago, contained this specious apology for one of the numerous acts of treason to the Union by which Secretary Floyd endeavored to efface from the public mind all recollection of his more despicable, if less noteworthy crimes:

"Arms for the South-The Evening Post, under the head of A Suspicious Proceeding,'

It is a little

muskets, from the Watervliet arsenal, opposite Troy, have been shipped to this city and put on board the steamer Florida, for Savannah.' As the Post's paragraph will be copied, with amplifications, into Republican papers throughout the country, it may be well to state the real facts upon which the above ridiculous report is probably based. Several weeks ago, five hundred cases of muskets were shipped to Savannah, to supply, it is said, the legal demand of Georgia for her quota of guns from the United States. There was no mystery about the transaction. The arms came down the Hudson River on a barge, and were taken on board the Savannah steamer like any other cargo. If this shipment had occurred at any other time, it would have caused no remark. Its occurrence now is explained by the fact, that Georgia had previously neglected to draw out the quota of arms to which she was entitled, and which the General Government could not legally or equitably deny to her. Within a week or two, the Adjutant-general of this State has drawn all the arms to which New York was entitled, and no good reason can be given why every other State, as long as it remains in the Union, should not exercise the same right.' singular that the State of Georgia should be entitled to a quota of ten thousand stand of arms, that being the number contained in five hundred cases, (as I learn from a highly intelligent officer of the service,) when the annual appropriation for arming the militia is only $200,000 per annum. kets are worth about $11 50 each, so that the ten thousand would cost $115,000. Now, if we reflect that the State of Georgia constituted, in 1850, only one-thirtieth part of the Union, and that, at the present time, it bears a still smaller proportion to the whole, we shall see how absurd is the pretence Divide $200,000 by thirty, and we have for her disthat she has only received her proper share of arms. would be her quota for seventeen years and more. tributive share $6,666; so that the 10,000 muskets Perhaps the Journal of Commerce can reconcile these facts with its smooth and plausible statement. It is well known, that besides the arms thus given others in the Southern arsenals during the summer, to the States, Secretary Floyd has been putting in order that the secessionists may arm themselves whenever they see fit to rebel against the Govern ment. There were not more than twenty thousand stand of arms in the Charleston arsenal a year ago; there are now seventy thousand, if the Charleston These arms were papers can be relied upon. sent there to be seized by the State authorities, and accepted. The mob in Savannah has imitated the no one can feel surprised that the present has been

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Government of South Carolina, and among the latest items of news, we learn that the United States Government has been dispossessed of its armory at that place. Floyd was industriously engaged up to the date of his resignation, in sending arms and munitions of war to all the seceding States. This seems to have been the only public measure in which he took an interest. When not employed in arming the rebel States by disarming the Government which he had sworn to support, his attention seems to have been entirely occupied with various and complicated schemes for depleting the treasury; and I know of no man who will have stronger claims to the gratitude of the rebellious States than he who did so much to bring dishonor