The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIX, Issue 1783, 7 April 1863, Page 2

The Daily Southern Cross.

I.UCEO NON t'KO. "If I Ikho beon otHiißiu.ilicd, jet Ilicro Tina A tliousaml bciicom from tlio iimtk J bofCi"

TUESDAY, APRIL 7, ISG3.

Tun military situation in America seems to become more and more intricate, without becoming much more decisive than heretofoic. One thing the Northern, and. indeed to some extent also the Southern States, have succeeded in accomplishing, and that thing is the utter snrprisal of Em ope at large. No one could have anticipated such a war as |hpy have succeeded, in c.v rying on for so long a time, and we can suppose it no mean subject of consolation even to the soldiers and generals who were dofuatcd nt Freclciiolcsburg that they can yet boast of having " chawed up,'" by comparison, eveiy example* affoided by histoiy of mismanagement and defeat. Here, indeed; the iuheicni Barnumism of the nation may find a full and innocent scope for it* excicise. The facts arc undoubted, and monster babies may, with a vast increase of interest and credit lo the national feelings be now .superseded by monster incompctency and appalling misfoiluaes. 'Phe wmkl now knot's yvhal \\\q batllo of I'rcdericksburg really was; and the reason that on thib occasion the world does know it is in fact, that America is rather proud of the scale on which it has been able to get up a defeat. Had Gencial Lee been the diieclor of the movements of both armies, and that in the interest of the South, he could, so far as we can see, have suggested but one improvement upon the course actually pursued by Geneial Ihun.side, at the instigatioh of fhe great nustpv of jjjrajegyj whose "genius is so eminently calculated for f]j<) bureau rather than the battle-field ; " we mean of course General Halleck. Had the army of the Potomac ndvf*nop<l twenty wiles inrdhor into Virginia before fighting a battle, there seems but° little doubt that to General M'Clellan. would once moie have fallen the task for which he is so fitted, that of forming the army of the Potomac for the tliiicl time. As it was, however, affairs were wonderfully well managed. While the Confederate generals were engaged in electing en.oi.nWHS b&tteues, on the %e%\circle and hills surrounding JYedericksburg" on thero sides, nothing could be moro opportune than that General Burn&ido and the Northern army should lie inactively looking on in expectation of the tardy arrival of their own/, guns and pontoons. A fortnight was necessary to finish these preparations on General* Lee's part, and exactly one fortnight elapsed before the pontoons wer«i ready for use. The show of onpGslticn ir,ade bv $» Southern myrifa was ekaptty su'fficfcni- to induce 'Gcnerat JftrnN side to shell the town of Fredorickssburg, and. so reduce to a heap of smoking ruins tho town which might have shelteied his army either, advancing or in retreat. When, at last, tho army was allowed to cioss, it was placed in the , satisfactory position of having an impregnable, range of hills in front, and a deep and wide river to unppprt Jts rear. The situation wa^ complek '$rhtf follouß jwp a- taatfcey/ bs, course, The pioUepi was reduceablp tp a ru]g of three sum, which would not have tj^d. tlv© ' powers of Bi&hop Colonxo, or any other man of,, figures to any great extent : given ( the superior army of the South, and the inferior, arniy of the,. North,, with ,the position, .occupied, what would* the position of the latter be after

tltree'-Tdays-fightiirgi " Answer — destruction ! And the result would, luyve proved the correctness of the calculation. The army of the Potomac is destroyed, and the Northern Btates are far from affecting to doubt it. So far as the desires of General Ilalleck are concerned, no doubt the campaign may be said to have ended here. There are, however, two parties to every such bargain, and already there are signs which would seem to point to a desire on the part of Generals Lee and Jackson to pay the great ' Bureau ' commander a visitin the privacy of his study at "Washington. The troops of the (South have certainly advanced towards Washington, and we shall not feel in the least surprised to hear of a winter visit to the Capitol by Jackson's ragged veterans. , In many quarters, however, besides the north of Virginia, are great military movements reported. Great battles at Murfreesboro and at Vicksburg have been fought, and we may add have been lost, by the Northern troop*. The cele-" brated ' Monitor ' has, as every practical English naval architect expected, gone to the bottom in astrong breeze of wind. A number of other gunboats have been sunk or taken bj r vessels armed, not with iron plates, but with cotton bales. On the whole, and indeed in every direction the Federal cause seems to suffer defeat. .And yet the remarkable fact is evidently true, that no decision of the conflict is yet approached. This is the only real claim which the Northern of America will ever be able to make ?'good in the judgment of history to any share of that admiration so sincerely felt and so freely expressed by themselves concerning themselves. They have systematically mismanaged everything which they attempted . they have blustered of victory, and tried vainly to conceal defeat ; they have, in short, failed in everything except in endurance. This they have manifested, and continue to manifest in a wonderful degree, so as in this, if in this alone, to prove their descent from the unyielding race of the stubborn Saxons. This it is which makes the end of the struggle appear as dim and distant as ever. What amount of failure, what pressure of debt, what evidence of utter powerlessness to effect the object aimed at will suffice to crush tin's spiiit of obstinate perseverance, it is vain to attempt to conjecture. It is, nevertheless, in this alone that we can manage to respect the conduct of our American cousins in the north at the present juncture. In all else they have f.dled : and so failed, that even pity is scarcely felt by EnghVhmen for them. It is not alone that their armies have been defeated in every really important action, with anything like equal numbers to contend with. It is not that the feebleness of their generals has been only equalled by the incapacity of their rulers. But it is because every slight success has been used badly, not only from a military but alhO fiom a moral point of view ; because their incapacity in action has been even exceeded by their capacity for boasting and exaggeration ; because the main strength of their Government seems to be in their pow er to issue proclamations offensive to common humanity, of their generals to write false despatches. From such view sof national character and conduct, it is a comfort to turn to one really strong and manly characteristic, and to hope that from it may spring the elements of a national regeneration. If such is to be the case, however, it will take time. Already we see dawning signs of better things, but a long course of humiliation and suffering must, we fear, be gone through before America becomes what all desire to sec her become — a great nation.

Plats Drf.-vS Ball.— Last evening a plain dress ball took place at the Mechanics' Institute. APi'OiSTtfEXT. — We have on good authority to state that Mr. C. A. Calvert has been appointed Veterinary Surgeon to the Commissariat Tianspoit Corps. OrEm Compvxy. — The Emjtali Opera Company propose to give two grand concerts on this and tomorrow evening, at the Mechanics' Institute, Onehunga. W viroa. — A soil cc is advei tised to be held thy» evening, at G o'clock, in the Wairoa Episcopalian Chmch, when several gentlemen connected •with the church have promised to deliver addresses. Tt is rumoured that Geneial Cameron, C. B , -will retmn to England before long, his application to be lelieved having been granted, and will leave the colony on the arrival of hi-, successor to the command. Ladies' Bexevole\t Society.— The committee of the Ladies' Benevolent Society will meet this day in the office of Messrs Heron. Andrews and Co., Queen-street, in consequence of the Odd Fellows' Hall being pre-engaged. P\kijßV\'O\. — A public meeting of the occupiers of land in the PaKuranga district is advertised to be held at Green Hill Cottage, this afternoon at tluee o'clock, for the purpose of appointing tni'-tees under the Highways' Act, 1862, fixing the amount of rate, and transacting other business. Evster Monday. — Yestei day being Easter Monday the banks, and offices of several of the leading merchants in the city were closed. Thewot natuie of the weather, however, must have seriously interfered with the airangements which holiday-makei s had entered into, for agieeably spending the d«iy. Sr. Paul's Church.— The Rev. J. F. Lloyd announced on Sunday that the above church would be closed for a time to allow the noocsary alterations to be completed, and in the meantime airangemen ts would be made for the pei formance of Di\ me Service in the school-rooms, until the church was re-opened. Kevp.s's PtFEF CosrpASY.— The .shareholders in Keven's Keef Gold Mining Company will peiceive on reference to out advertising columns that tlie extraordinary general meeting of shaieholders announced to be held yesterd.iy, has been postponed until this afternoon at three o'clock, at the offices Queen-street. Soijd Rock Bathing Company. — Last evening at seven o'clock, a meeting of the Bhaieholders of the above Company took place at the Clanrieaide Hotel Wyndham-strpet ; Mr. Henry Kpesing in the chair. It was announced that the Superintendent had grauted permission to tho company to use the place chosen for bathing purposes. After «orae discussion the following resolutions were agreed to ; — Proposed by Mr. Dignan and seconded by Captain Williams— " That a third call of £1 per bhare he made, and payable on the 10th April, 1863; and that the treasuiev discharge all outstanding debts to this date— 6th April 1863." —Carried. Moved by Captain Williams and Meouded by Mr. Webb,— "That Mr. Taylor take charge of the bath to the Ist September 1863; and to receive all fees from non-subsciibers ; ■which are not to exceed 6d. per head— as a remuneration."— Carried. Pioposed by Captain Pulham and seconded by Mr. Dignan,— " That the third call be advertised."— Carried. Votes of thanks 'to the chairman concluded the proceedings. Tkb Maoris.— The London Spectator^ speaking of Sir George Grey's procrastination with the natives, gay« :— " We fear that king Potatau II intends to stand 'in the prow of the war canoe inciting others to noble deed* ;' and, in that case, we hope Sir George Grey will not hesitate to take his stand in the prow of another war canoe, and send king Potatan to ' join the tribe* of tho multitude of Mahi. 1 The Maoris need a humane, but also a firm bani It is no humanity to p«t them into revolt.

SnrGKmiOE Grey's L™iURYr-=Tho CdpeTrontier Times, of December 10th, hays :— The prefAce to the first pait of vol. three of the catalogue of Sit* George' Grey's Library has just appeared from tlib pen of, Dr. ' Block, the custodian of "The Grey Collection in the Public Library." The preface purports to-be only a refiinifi of what has previously appoarod on the" manuscripts ami incnnables ■to the collection in the pages of tho Ca\K Monthly Magazine : hut it is apposite, terse, and perspicuous, and will form a suitable introducer for the peruser of" tho fuithor catalogues. - Tub Generate Government Bift.k Pnisrcs.— By the Waiu/anui Chronicle wo see that N. G. Moivso, Esq., in all probability, h.is scored the highest number of points- in tho recent contest for tho Geneial Government Rift© Prizes. The highest number mado in Auckland was by Mr. W. M. Hay, wlio scored 38 point". Of this a contemporary says, "Tho highest number of points mado by the Nelson champion last year, who now wears the belt, was, if we recollect rightly, 32; and that, too, at ianges of 100, 200, and 300 yards ; whilst the highest score for Messrs. Hibbert's prizes was only 30 points. At Wanganni 42, 30, and 3S have been scored." Whoever expected to see frogs at a Horticultural Show in Now Zealand ? We cci tainly should not j but there they were at tho Wellington show on Thursday, March 26th, "all alive and kickiug," and appealed to bo tho "observed of allob«or\'eis." They were exhibited by the Rev. A. Stock, and have been recently imported by that gentleman.- They are, wo understand, enemies to tho wood louse, feeding almost entirely upon those insects, consequently their introduction will be of great service. — Wellington hide) emlent, March 28. The Nelson Examiner of March 25th Rays : — An impoitnnt resolution has been como to by the Wasto Lands Boaul, at their List meeting, which it may save some trouble to make public. "" They h.we decided that the land about the rivers known to contain gold must be prcsuinedUto be amiferous, and cannot, under the Land Bfjttilatioos, be leased for mining put poses. Such dufrfots may, no doubt, be legally icseivcd, as "necessary to bo constituted into gold districts,"' although' hcie.ifter they may notpioveto contain gold in paying quantity. Tt is an obviously necessary step, in the pi esent state of our know ledge of the coal and gold-fields, to interpose every let;.il check on the alienation of this land. We tuist, however, that the progress of exploiation, and the matm ing and cairymgout of plans for opening the western and southern paits of the pioriuce, may allow enterpusc full play at no distant day. Vh ion MrrkoaoLOiiiCAr, Srvnox. — "We learn that Dr. Knight has lemindcd the Supeiiutendent of this piovince that no meteoiologic.il returns have been furnished. About two ycaio since a sum of money was voted by the Council to erect a stage to make the instruments furnished by the Ueneial Government available for the purpose intended, and it was also the evpiessed wish of the Council that an addition should l>e made to the salary of ono of the officials of the Provincial Government, to lccompcnse him for taking chat <;e of the same; but no specific sum was voted. Neither befoie nor since the stage was built have any observations been taken ; and the woik done by older of the Council is only a fitting monument of the deploi.ible state of inaction to which this piovince is ledaccd. — Vailhorovr/h Prw. Mr. William Robinson, of Wau.au West, whilst inusteiing cittle on tho ] 3th Match, was attacked by a bull, which goied the male he was litling in a dreadful lnanuei, be.iting her before him for some distance The \iolence of the shock nnhoiscd Mr. Robinson, when tho infuriated animal iimuedutily attacked him ; but tint gentlemen, with gieat piesenre of mind, defended himself foi some time, when his sou coining to his rescue, the-bull \\asdu\eu away without inflicting any iujniy besides a few seveio buiises. Wo understand that the maie, which v.is a very wdmole one, has since died. — Mailboiowjh Pic^, Match 23.