AMERICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1085, 4 April 1863, Page 4

AMERICA.

The civil war still increases in violence. The Federals have obtained one success, and sustained several defeats. The Northern troops are fighting more gallantly than hitherto, while the Northern people are as wild and headstrong as ever, so far as speech is concerned. The Southern troops, who are but badly clothed at best, are as resolute and determined as ever. The Federals, under Rosencrantz, have had a five days' battle at Murfreeston, for the possession of Nashville, gaining a doubtful victory. The slaughter was fearful on both sides, and the contest terrific. The Federals lost more officers than in any previous engagement. After the victory they were unable to pursue the retiring Southern forces. The Confederates carried away with them 4,000 Federal prisoners, and captured 5,000 stand of arms, and fourteen pieces of artillery.

At Vicksburg, another great battle of five davs' duration has been fought.

The battle of Vicksburg resulted in the defeat of the Federals, with a loss of two generals and 5000 men. The attack was most determined, and resistance obstinate in the extreme. The Federals were at one time within two miles of the city. Whole regiments and brigades fought hand to hand, and batteries and fortifications were taken and retaken several times. Each army numbered about 60,000 men. The Federals retreated, and re-embarked in their transports, intending to attack Vicksburg from another point.

The Confederates have retaken Galveston, in Texas. Four steamers, protected with cotton bales, and manned with riflemen, attacked the Federal fleet of gunboats, captured some, and drove the rest out of the bay. The Federal flag-boat was blown up by its crew, who, with the commodore and officers, perished.

The Federal iron-clad Monitor, foundered at sea, with loss of the officers and thirty-eight men.

It is again rumoured that Burnside has resigned, and that General Hooker, alias Fighting Joe, ha 3 taken his place.

On the 2nd of January President Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation, which has for its object a rising of the negroes against the whites in the Southern States. He declares all slaves in sixteen States free; but slaves in Border States and in such part of Southern States as are occupied by Federal troops, are still to remain slaves. Tliis has caused immense excitement. And President Davis has issued a retaliatory proclamation.

The Federals have passed a vote to raise 180 millions sterling for the prosecution of the war. This was causing great commotion, and had sent gold up to 42, and bankers' bills to 150.

Governor Seymour has addressed the New York Legislature, denouncing the acts of the Government as unconstitutional.

President Lincoln has signed a bill admitting Western Virginia into the Union as a separate state.

The notorious Butler has been suspended at New Orleans by General Banks, who is pursuing conciliatory measures.

President Davis has issued a manifesto denouncing Butler as a felon and common enemy of mankind, and directing that in the event of his capture, he is to be immediately hung.

The Confederates are violent against England for declining to mediate. Her neutrality satisfies neither party. President Davis, in a public speech, spoke hopefully of the rebellion, but admitted that it had lasted longer than he thought it would. He urged the defence of Yicksburg, and thought Fort Hudson as the next important place in the Confederacy, asserted that the South had a right to recognition, praised the conduct of France, and deplored that of England. New York, Jan. 12, evening Excitement in gold exchange and stock market continues. Gold, 42 premium; bankers' bills, 155. Great army frauds in the Federal service, amounting to one million and a half of dollars, have been discovered. The Vanderbilt steamer Ariel has been captured by the Alabama.

Last month we gave an account under the head of " Latest Intelligence " of the battle of Fredericksburg. Further details only deepened the impression produced by the first narrative. General Burnside, it is evident, crossed the river with an army of about 100,000 men; he hurled them against batteries planted on the slopes, and defended by at least the same number, and he continued the onslaught for 11 terrible hours. The men behaved magnificently, marching to certain death again and again, till it would seem as if Burnside could, had he chosen, have continued charging till his army had disappeared. As it was he lost upwards of 10,000 men to the Confederates' 1800, and individual brigades were almost annihilated. General Meagher saved only 250 of the Irish brigade, 1200 strong; Gen. French lost all but 1200 out of 7000; and General Hancock admits the loss of half his entire division. Two days after, during which time the Confederates did not stir, the army was withdrawn in safety across the Eappahannock, but desertion recommenced on a great scale. Three regiments of Massachusetts recruits lost 700 men in three days after the battle. General Burnside sent in his resignation when he found that his failure was complete, but President Lincoln did not accept it. The Federal army of the Potamac has since done and attempted nothing whatever. Its head-quarters are at Falmouth.

The disastrous defeat of the Federals at Fredericksburg led to a ministerial crisis at Washington. An attempt was made by a party in the Senate to get rid of Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War; and the resignations of Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase were tendered to the President, but were not accepted. General Burnside, in his report of the battle, admits that the crossing of the Rappahannock, and attacking the fortified positions beyond, were his own acts. He that President Lincoln and the War Secretary, as well as the commander-in-chief, General Halleck, had advised that the crossing should be made lower down the river; but he, Burnside, in the exercise of the authority given him, had decided, for reasons which he deemed sufficient, to cross at Fredericksburg and attack the enemy's centre. Such was his knowledge of the distribution of Lee's troops that he thought a favorable moment for a grand movement had come. Unfortunately, the delay caused by the resistance of the enemy's sharpshooters, as well as by a heavy fog, involved a loss of 24 hours of precious time, and Lee was thus able to get ready for the attack. The failure is briefly dwelt on: the courage of the men ; the delay afterwards, and the show of preparation for renewed attack ; then the withdrawal of the army in a single night, leaving behind neither property nor men. Finally, General Burnside says that if the attack had succeeded, the praise for it would have been due to the courage of the troops. " For its failure," he adds, " I am alone responsible." lie then speaks of the loss—lloo killed, 9000 wounded, and 900 prisoners. The prisoners were at once paroled, or rather exchanged for a like number taken from the enemy. Of the wounded, an unusual number were but slightly hurt, so that but 1600 were taken to hospital. He describes the march of the men in the early morning, after their re-crossing of the river, and their good order as they moved towards their old camping-

ground, all as if they were on parade, lie says that the army is not at all demoralised, and that it is, of course, eager for further employment. He speaks, then, of the change from Warrenton to Fredericksburg, the sudden alteration of the plan of campaign, as entirely his own act. lie exonerates, in other words, the Fresident, Secretary of War, and General-in-Chief from any share of responsibility for the movement. The defeat at Fredericksburg has been enquired into by the permanent committee on the conduct of the war, and the various causes which led to the defeat have been explained by half-a-dozen generals. The ' Globe' supplies a clear and impartial review of the conclusions which may be held to have been established: — " Burnside. Sumner, Hooker, Franklin, Woodbury have been examined, and there does appear to have been some plain speaking. General Burnside was frankness itself. He did not disguise the fact that he considered himself unfit to command so large an army. He did not hesitate to say that M'Clellan was the better soldier. He did not hide from the committtee the fact that he scarcely had a will of his oavii and that he constantly yielded to the opinions of others. Nevertheless, lie gallantly took upon himself the whole responsibility of the movement on Fredericksburg and of the daring attempt to carry the Confederate position. He was opposed to the retreat across the river without making one more effort, but again he yielded to the advice of his generals. This candour is very creditable to the general, but it does not tell well for those who keep at the head of an army a man who cannot' rely on his own judgment, and who does not command the confidence of his subordinates. The story of the brief campaign, as it appears in the evidence of the o-enerals, shows that the movement on Fredericksburg was not so foolish a design as some would have it appear to be. We know that the Confederates thought that it was possible that Burnside would try that road, but had all the details of the Federal plan been carried out the Confederates must have been surprised. The plan of M'Clellan was to advance upon Culpepper. To this it was objected that the movement would carry the army too far from its supplies and leave General Jackson too inconveniently near the Federal flank and rear. Therefore it was determined to march rapidly upon Fredericksburg, cross the river, and occupy the heights to the south. To enable the leading corps to effect this, pontoons and stores were ordered to be sent at once from Washington to Acquia Creek, and they were to meet General Sumner on his arrival at Falmouth, and thus enable him to cross at once. The army was put in motion. Sumner arrived; there were few Confederates on the other bank; but the pontoons had not come. The other corps of the army came up; still there were no pontoons. Something worse had happened; for the Confederates had reached Fredericksburg and had occupied the line of heights which the Federal commander had hoped to seize by a rapid movement. Inexcusable negligence at Washington had kept back the pontoons until the two armies had assembled on either side of the Rappahannock. So far Burnside had been foiled. Had the arrival of pontoons been simultaneous with the appearance of Sumner, there can be no doubt but that his corps would have secured the fatal hills, and have given another turn to the campaign. What, under the circumstances, should be done ? This was the question General Burnside had to answer. He was a long time making up his mind. The Confederates had come up. They were in force, not only on the heights south of Fredericksburg, but they had detachments down the river watching the points of passage. General Burnside having determined that "something must be done," debated whether he should cross at Fredericksburg, because he calculated that he would not be expected there, and would have time to drive a wedge through the centre of the Confederate lines before General Lee could concentrate his army. That this calculation rested on an unsound basis we now know. The Federal movements were watched closely, and the Confederate troops detached down the right bank counter-marched, as soon as they found that no serious diversion was on that side. When Burnside threw his army over the river, only one Confederate brigade was still at any distance, and this brigade joined in time to take part in the battle from the beginning. Thus General Burnside's plans were frustrated once more. But he pursued them nevertheless, either because he was ignorant of the concentration of the enemy, or because he hoped to succeed in spite of adverse fortune. That battle ensued which we have already described. There is little to alter in the accounts already published. There was an absence of military skill in the conduct of the battle. It does not require any brains to hurl masses of divisions in succession upon a formidable position defended by courageous men. That is the simplest and least effective mode of fighting. Gen. Burnside could only have hoped to succeed by overthrowing the right of the Confederates. That was manifestly their weak place, and they showed they were aware of it by intrusting its defence to General Jackson. There does not appear to have been any necessity for the attack on the left and centre, until the more decisive attack had succeeded. Yet General Burnside not only sent his troops in columns against the left and centre, exposing them to a storm of cannon shot and musketry at the outset, but he failed to strengthen his own left at the decisive point. General Franklin, who commanded on the left, said he failed because he had not troops enough. And no doubt he was right, for positions so strong as those occupied by the Confederates, can only be pierced at any given point by directing upon it overwhelming numbers. "It is my opinion," said General Franklin, " that if, instead of making two attacks, our whole available force had been concentrated on our left, and the real attack had been made there, and merely a feint upon the right, we might have carried the heights." The available troops were Hooker's reserve. General Burnside did not lack troops; he lacked the skill to use them. We are inclined to agree with General Franklin. At any rate, there was nothing decisive to be gained even by a successful attack upon the Confederate left. All the live 3 lost there were wasted. The battle of the 13th is remarkable in a military point of view for nothing but the gallant behaviour of the Federal soldiers, and after this fight nobody will believe in any excuses for failure reflecting on the courage of the troops. It is plain that neither General Burnside nor his officers sufficiently reconnoitred the ground to understand thoroughly the serious character of the task before them, and hence there could be no display of effective generalship. General Burnside consented to abstain from a further attack, and to retreat at the instance of his officers. General Sumner wished to hold the town, and there really seems no reason why it should not have been held, if merely to keep up a bold front; but General Burnside, leaning again to the opinion of the majority, would not consent. In short, his conduct throughout the campaign shows that he had no hold upon his army, did not command the confidence of his generals, and acted rather as the speaker of a military Parliament than as a general-in-chief. It follows from these revelations that the original plan, so far as it related to the passage of the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, was a good one; and that it failed solely because the War department neglected to send pontoons in time ; but that the subsequent plans of the general were poor and feeble, and made him an easy prey to the Confederates. No competent general has yet arisen in the Federal States, and we doubt whether the ultra-Democratic institutions of those States are exactly the soil suitable for growth of military genius, even of the lowest order. Moderately able soldiers may be produced, but no great captain. The institutions of the country give power and distinction to men very little superior to their constituents in intellectual capacity, and it is not in the nature of things that the arjny of a country should be. as a rule, better officered than the civil service. General Burnside's evidence shows that, even in the application of the principles of warfare, the leader carries out the opinion of a sort of military caucus, whereas a general, above all men, should be a dictator." The Southern correspondent of the ' Times' in a letter dated Richmond, December 20 (and published on January 22), gives an account of the terrible scene presented by the battle-field after the repulse of the Federals :— " A glance at the long slope between the town of Fredericksburg and the foot of Marye's Heights gave the best idea of the magnitude of the toll which had

been exacted for their passage of the Rappahannock. A ride along the whole length of the lines told also a sad tale of slaughter; but when the eye had once rested upon the fatal slope above mentioned the memory became fixed upon 1 lie spot; nor for 50 years to come will that scene ever fade from the memory of those who saw it. There, in every attitude of death, lying so close to each other that j'ou might step from body to body, lay acres of the Federal dead. It seemed that most of the faces which lay nearest to Colonel Walton's artillery, were of the well-known Milesian type. In one small garden, not more than half an acre in size, there were counted 151 corpses. I doubt whether in any battle-field of modern times the dead have ever lain so thick and close. By universal consent of those who have seen all the great battles of this war, nothing like it has ever been seen before. It is said that the morning after a victory always breaks upon naked corpses. It was not so in this case, but the sole reason was that the pickets of both armies swept the slope with their fire, and that any living thing which showed upon it was the target for a hundred bullets. But three or four mornings after the battle it was seen that the furtive hand which invariably glides into the pocket of victory had been busily at work, and naked corpses and others from which everything but their under clothing had been rifled, were visible in abundance. So tremendous was the fire, chiefly emanating from Cobb's Brigade, posted in the lane at the foot of Marye's heights, that even chickens in the gardens in front fell pierced by it. It was remarked by a Confederate general intimately acquainted with the Federal General Sumner, who commanded the Federal right, " Was there ever any other general but Sumner who would have got his men into a place in which not even chickens could live?" But the fire across the slope was fatal not only to men and chickens, but also to every other living thing. Horses by dozens were strewn along the hill side; and occasionally a dead cow or a dead hog lay close to the silent and too often fearfully torn and mutilated human bodies which everywhere met the view. Such a sight has rarely been seen by man. It is doubtful whether any living pen could do justice to its horrors; but it is certain that it would be easy to write more than any ordinary reader would care to read. It is known that during the nights of the 13th and 14th very many bodies were carried off and buried by the Federals; but when the party of Federals detailed to bury their comrades had completed their task it was found that under Marye's Heights they had buried 1493 corpses, and 800 more on the Federal left. Computing that 3000 Federals fell dead on the field, and adding six or seven times that number of wounded, you may gain an approximate estimate of the Federal loss on the 13th of December. To this must also be added upwards of a thousand prisoners taken by the Confederates, and all stragglers and who strayed away from the Federal .army. It is incontestable that the 13th of December will be graven as deep in the annals of the great Republic as is the anniversary of Jena upon the hearts of the Prussian people." In the same letter we have the following description of the town of Fredericksburg and the condition in which it was left by the Northern army.— " The first impression of those who rode into its streets, and who had witnessed the feu d'enfer which the Federal guns had poured upon it for hours on Thursday, the 11th December, was surprise that more damage had not been done. But this is explained by the fact that the Federals confined themselves almost entirely to solid round shot, and that very few shells were discharged into the town. Nevertheless, it would be difficult to conceive a more pitiable devastation and destruction of property. Whole blocks of buildings have in many places been given to the flames. There is hardly a house through which at least one round-shot has not bored its way, and many are riddled through and through. The Baptist church is rent by a dozen great holes, while its neighbour, the Episcopalian church, has escaped with one. Scarcely a spot can be found on the face of the houses which look towards the river which is not pockmarked by bullets. Everywhere the houses have been plundered from cellar to garret; all smallec. articles of furniture carried off, all larger ones wantonly smashed. Not a drawer or chest but was forced open and ransacked. The streets were all sprinkled with the remains of costly furniture dragged out of the houses in the direction of the pontoons stretched across the river. Many of the inhabitants clung to the town, and sheltered themselves during the shelling in cellars and basements. Among others, it is stated that Mrs. Slaughter, the wife of the mayor, returned two or three days after the bombardment to her house, which she found ransacked and gutted. A Federal officer offered a few words of explanation or apology, when she replied, pointing to half a dozen dead Federals lying within sight of her house,' I am repaid for all I have suffered by the sight of these.' But there are sights more horrible than the devastation of property, and which, like the hillside below Marye's Heights, neither admit of nor invite description. It must be remembered that into the narrow limits of the town of Fredericksburg four-fifths of the Federal wounded were carried on the 13th and 14th December. Hardly a house or shed but was converted into a hospital; the churches and municipal buildings were crowded to bursting with dying and mangled men. Shutters and boards were laid down in gardens and yards, and upon them layer after layer of wounded men were stretched. Upon the night of the 13th the whole town was one continuous lazar-house; a few days later, when it was occupied by none except the dead, it became a continuous charnel-house. Death, nothing but death everywhere; great masses of bodies tossed out of the churches as the sufferers expired; layers of corpses stretched in the balconies of houses as though taking a siesta. In one yard a surgeon's block for operating was still standing, and, more appalling to look at even than the bodies of the dead, piles of arms and legs, amputated as soon as their owners had been carried off the field, were heaped in a corner. There were said to be houses literally crammed with the dead; but into them, horrified and aghast at what I saw, I could not look." The military interest of the American quarrel has during the last few weeks been transferred to the South-west. The principal points of the recent-news j are thus summarised by the New York correspondent of the ' Times' in a letter dated January 6:— " The success of the Federal arms in the Southwest has been great, but not decisive. General Rosecranz advanced from Nashville, Tennessee, on the 26th December with 45,000 men and 120 pieces of artillery. The struggle before Murfreesborough for the possession of Nashville commenced on the 29th and continued for five days. Both armies fought with the utmost desperation. On the first day General Rosecranz was beaten back with great loss. The struggle was renewed on four successive days, with varying fortune; on the fifth day the battle was closed at nightfall, after severe slaughter on both sides. In the morning when General Rosecranz expected to renew the contest, he found that the enemy had disappeared and was in full retreat to Tullahema, 30 miles distant, on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway. General Rosecranz has occupied Murfreesborough, but has not been able to pursue General Bragg's army, which retired in good order. The Federals state their loss at 6500 killed and wounded, several thousand prisoners, and 28 pieces of artillery. Generals Willich and Fry are among the prisoners. The Confederate loss is estimated at 4500 killed and wounded, and 1000 prisoners. All the negroes captured by the Confederates were immediately shot. Five thousand Federal cavalry are reported to have made a raid from Kentucky into Tennessee, and destroyed nine miles of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railway, and captured 2000 Confederate cavalry, thus preventing reinforcements from Richmond from reaching General Bragg. General Sherman, with 40,000 Federal troops, attacked Vicksburg on the 27th Decembei, Commodore Farragut's gunboats co-opeiating. Ihe latest accounts state that three lines of the Confederate works, 10 cannon, and 7000 prisoners had been captured, and that the struggle was still undecided. Despatches from General Grant to General Ilalleck report that General Sullivan defeated the Confederates under General Forrest, at Lexington,Tennessee, on the Ist, capturing six cannon and many prisoners. The Confederate loss in killed and wounded is put down at 1400, and that of the Federals at 800.' The ' New York Times ' of Jan. 5 says: " The accounts from the battle-field near Mur-

freesborough reveal a new phase of rebel atrocity in the treatment of their late slaves. Every black teamster, or black follower of the Union camp, captured by the rebels, is immediately shot. No less than 20 were found thus murdered, and lying along the Murfreesborough 'pike, after the rebel raid upon Roseneranz's wagon-trains. This is, undoubtedly, the inauguration of the mode of warfare indicated by the late proclamation of Jefferson Davis. It is not literally within the terms of that document, but is in accordance with its temper, and no very nice discrimination will be observed by the rebels in executing the spirit of the sanguinary orders of their chief. At Murfreesborough only the negroes found in the national service were butchered. Next we shall hear that whites and blacks, when found together, will be indiscriminately shot, and then will ensue complications which all Christian people will shudder to contemplate. It is hard to account for the ruthless spirit that thus butchers a mild and inoffensive race of people, on any other ground than the irredeemable moral callousness produced by the institution of slavery. The negroes of the present day have served their Southern masters faithfully for years. Their ancestors served the families of the whites faithfully in the generations that are past ; and by their labors the blacks of the past and present have built up a great name, wealth and power for the South. Surely the race is entitled to some gratitude, if not reward, on the score of the past. But the cruel rebel masters do not see it thus. Their poor slaves desired liberty—nothing more; and when caught in the act of enjoying it, however innocently, the penalty is instant death by a ball through the brain. Surely God will not prosper a cause so fiendishly cruel." An official report from General Rosecranz, dated the sth January, says that the entire success of the Federals at Murfreesborough on the 31st December was prevented by a surprise of the right flank, but they had nevertheless beaten the enemy after a three days' fight. They tied with great precipitation on the night of the 3rd. Their last columns of cavalry left on the morning of the sth. Their loss is very heavy. General Ewell, in a despatch dated Chattanooga, sth of January, says: —"We have retired from Murfreesborough in perfect order. All our stores are. saved. About 4000 Federal prisoners, 5000 stand of arms, and 24 pieces of cannon captured by us have arrived here. General Bragg has fallen back to Shebyville. The Federals estimate their loss at 7000, and the Confederate loss at 12,000." The ' New York Herald' says:—" The importance of the Confederate retreat cannot be exaggerated, as General Bragg is foiled in his attempt to capture Nashville. If the War Department was efficient, General Bragg's army would have been destroyed, whereas General Bragg, after inflicting upon General Rosecranz a loss of 10,000 men and 30 cannon, retreats more with the air of a conqueror than with evidence of a serious defeat." The 'New York Tribune' says:—" It remains to be seen whether the Confederate retreat is a bona fide movement, or merely a change of operations." Southern despatches, dated Vicksburg, say that the enemy, finding all efforts to make an inroad upon the Confederate position ineffectual, has reembarked.

President Lincoln delayed his expected proclamation 24 hours, but issued it at last almostunchanged. In it he decrees, " by virtue of his power as com-mander-in-chief of the United States, in times of actual armed i-ebellion," that all slaves within Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia—always excepting a few counties and parishes occupied by Federal troops —"are, and henceforward shall be, free." All officials and generals of the United States are charged to recognise such freedom, all blacks are authorised to enter the army and navy of the Union, and the slaves are charged to abstain from violence except in self-defence. The President concludes with an expression of his sincere belief that the act is just, and invokes "on it the considerate judgment of mankind, and the favor of Almighty God." The decree has been hailed with publication by all negroes in the North, and by the Republicans; but the Democrats pronounce it illegal, and one which no State is bound to obey. As yet only one general, General Shaxton, has announced his intention to execute his own ends.

We are in possession of the full text of the important document by the issue of which the President of the Southern Confederacy has marked the close of the year 1862. In this proclamation General Butler is denounced as an outlaw and common enemy of mankind, and the officer who may capture him is directed to put him to death at once by hanging. The commissioned officers under his command are declared not to be considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare, but as robbers and criminals deserving death, and each of them, when captured, is to be reserved for execution. The common soldiers are not to be included in this sentence, as being involuntary agents, but all negroes taken in arms are to be delivered over to their several States to be there dealt with, and all officers found serving with them are to be put to death. Mr. Davis gives the reasons which in his opinion justify these sanguinary menaces. He alleges in particular the case of William B. Mumford, a citizen of New Orleans, who was said to have been executed by the order of General Butler, for pulling down the United States' flag in that city before its occupation by the Federals. Mr. Davis further alleges the outrages committed by General Butler in New Orleans. The imprisonment in chains and subjection to hard labor of unresisting prisoners and non-combatants, the outrages on women and the cruelty of their imprisonment, the close confinement of prisoners of war, the plunder of the inhabitants, th<? refusal of egress from New Orleans, the driving away slaves from the plantations, and the compelling the planters to share their crops with General Butler and and his brother, and the confiscation of the property in Louisana west of the Mississipi, the incitement of slaves to revolt, and the emancipation proclamation of General Lincoln—such is the catalogue of injuries which the Southern President submits to the o])inion of the civilised world as justifying him in initiating the policy of retaliation.

General Butler has been superseded at New Orleans by General Banks, whose expedition has reinforced the garrison and taken possession of Baton Rouge. General Butler, in a farewell order, tells the population that lie has enforced order among them, improved the sanitary condition of the city, and governed them with invariable leniency. He challenges them to produce an instance in which a woman had been outraged, and sneers at the " hypocritical " nations of Europe, who suffocated Arabs in Algeria and blew Sepoys from cannon before Delhi. General Banks began his command with an order stopping confiscation, and promising protection to the citizens in words wholly free from insult. His instructions are obviously to govern sternly, but observe the judicial decorum which experienced officers, however savage, seldom forget. General Butler has been summoned to Washington, and will, it is rmoured, be appointed to command an expedition to Charleston. The Republican party in the North have succeeded in getting a bill passed which admits Western Vir ginia to the Union as a separate State. The House of Representatives has passed a bill for the issue of 10,000,000 dollars in thirty years bonds, to aid emancipation in Missouri. The government is to colonise the negroes. The committee of ways and means has reported a bill for the issue of 900,000,000 dollars' twenty years' 6 percent, bonds; 300,000,000 dollars in three-year treasury notes, bearing 5J per cent, interest; and also a further issue of 300,000,000 dollars in legal tender notes; the Bank circulation to be taxed 1 per cent, on a graduated scale, according to capital stock. The Message of Mr. Seymour, the recently elected (Democratic) Governor of New York appears to have been on the whole well received. He argues against the unconstitutional proceedings of the administration; directs district attorneys and sheriffs to allow no person to be imprisoned without due process of law; declared the President's confiscation acts and proclamation to bo as unconstitutional as the rebellion ; proclaims the Union to be indissoluble, and prophesies that- the people will triumph alike over Northern Radicals and Southern Secessionists. The Confederates are violent against England for declining to mediate. The 'Richmond Whig' speaks of our " grovelling and cold-blooded selfishness," calls Lord Palmerston and Earl Russell

" painted mummies," actuated by " sordid lust and base fears," and promises to hate us, " next to the abominable North more than any nation upon earth." Mr. Seward is dictating the policy of Earl Russell, and the " Yankee fox" is by far the shrewder knave of the two."

The Federal government has discovered a new series of dangerous frauds. They were committed by the " recruiting brokers," in collusion with the colonels of some regiments, and possibly with the New York " disbursing office," and the modus operandi seems to have been in this wise:—The recruits were sent in squads to live at the " beer saloons," the proprietor receiving his money from the disbursing office. He never could get it, so sold his claim to a recruiting broker, who multiplied the bill by as much as he dared, presented it, and was paid. One colonel presented a heavy bill at Washington, swore to its correctness, and produced a host of sub-vouchers, the whole of which he had forged. Other colonels compelled the contractors to pay them 2£d. on every ration delivered to the men, and the quartermaster usually took 10 per cent, upon the gross receipts. The government has appointed a commission of inquiry, which has discovered that not one bill in 50 is free either from overcharge or forgery. The large hall of the Cooper Institute was crowded on the evening of January 5 to its fullest capacity by a mixed audience of white and coloured people of both sexes, to celebrate the emancipation proclamation of the President. The platform was also occupied by representatives of both the Ethiopian and Anglo-Saxon races. The meeting was very enthusiastic, and cheered for Lincoln, the proclamation, John Brown, and prominent abolitionists of the present day. " John Brown " and other songs were sung.