AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 657, 2 July 1864, Page 2

AMERICA.

The President, by.ap official order promulgated on March 14, assigned Lieut.General Grant to the command 'of all the armies of the United. States. General Halleck, who was, at his own request, relieved from duty as, general-in-chief^ had been appointed in "Washington chief ol the army staff. There was at first, a strong impression that General Grant .intended 'to inaugurate a vigorous campaign 'in Virginia ; and that the Confederates were con-^ centrating an army of observation in North, Carolina, to watch the s_otit]iemi\part :of James River, in which direction they anticipated the Northern regions w^ ilq appearf Subsequent information,' howe'yerV affirms that General Grant contemplates an imjmediate advance upon Richmond. .VL.ee was giving signs of a forward movement^ but a heavy snowstorm Tiad put a stop to active operations in- Virginia. Abortion of Longstreet's force was stated.vto.-Jbeoii' the move to Kentucky.- TheLbjrik6f4tj however, was believed to be about-to-jom Lee

President Lincoln has called for 200,00Q< more men, to be raised by 15th ApriiiBoth Houses of the federal CopgressJhaTepassed the .bill authorising the^sahy. <rfvthj£ surplus gold in the -treasriry^^Generi^ M'Clellan and GenerarFremont'hacl bbttt been nominated for the Presidency by meetings held in New York. Arkansas has elected an anti-slavery legislature. The Free- State Government has been publicly inaugurated at New Orleans with imposing ceremonies. The wife of General Beauregard had died iuthat city. At the funeral a great public demonstration of sympathy < was made. •*; A conspiracy- has been discovered in Kentucky, having . for its object the annexation of that State to* the Southern Confederacy. . •• ' ;A Chattanooga despatch states that Longs'treet's cavalry, commanded by General :; Martin, s had arrived at Marietta, Georgia, and that General Polk's army was rapidly reinforcing General Joe Johnstone, The Confederates are reported to present a very 'sttong front at Dalton, and to have 8000 cavalry 'on the Federal left. Th6y were moving* their; artillery, up from the rear, and -their <■ general movements indicated an intention;- to assume the offensive at fan eariyday^; /rheuFederal army at .Chattanoogaas. reported to be in splendid c6ndition,»,bat it -was! feared that sickness would; nnoVease witK the warm weather, 1 , on account of the great number of decaying carcdse&of horses and mules that have died during the winter, and strew the country for miles around the Federal position.

>J On-'the f .2*6th Mar|fit tfe\ Confederacy ■ General Forrest, with a%ofce} of ca3?atrs mounted infantry, iand^, artillery, estimated "^ at 7000, attacked and captured the city of ' Paducah, Kentucky, 50 miles above Cario, . on the Ohio river, at the mouth of the' Tennessee. A fort below the city garrisoned by 800 men, repulsed three attacks. Gpneral Forreat sacked, arid destroyed "the"Government stores, and secured a large ■ ' amount of plunder. The Federal" gunboats Pawpaw and Peosta opened fire on the rebels, driving them out of the' city, thegreater part of which was destroyed by Federal fire. At last accounts, Fprrest had retreated to a position about ten miles south of Paducah, where he was Teinforced by General Faulkner, and it was expected/1 that their combined forces would" attack' • Columbus or Clinton. The Confederate* ' are reported to have left 300 killed at;' Paducah and in front of the fort. '- A pbr*; ' tion of Forrest's command,- before Ih'e I . tack on Paducah, attacked the Federal^', position at Union Ci'y;> They were twice I',1 ', repulsed, but finally took the place,- cap* •;, turing the garrison, which consisted «f~ 500 of the '7th' Tennessee Union' .Regiment. » ' ;• , . ■ President Lincoln, on March. 26,' issued/ a proclamation defining and restricting his' previous amnesty proclamation. ' ' > f

THE FENIAN BROTHERHOOD ASTD THB HOMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY; . ' The New York correspondentof aXon,-?,, don contemporary, in a letter dated April, 6, furnishes the following : — „ r : The Fenians in Chicago have triumphed^ over the bishops and Church ecclesiastics who have so industriously denounced their organisation. Their great fair was opened' on March 28, and continued during the whole of last week, resultiug in a complete success. The second evening of the. fair*. - Colonel John O'Mahony, of this, city t " Head- Centre of the Fenian Brotherhood," as he is ambitiously styled, made his appearance in the hall where the fair is in progress. Of course he H waswel» corned with long-continued applause j" as : the local papers put it, all the more earnest because he had taken with him' from the city the donations made to the fair from Ireland. Taking hi 3 stand upon the platform the colonel spoke as follows :—: —

"The magnificent demonstration this evening is the best answer that can be given to the enemies of the Fenian Brotherhood. I. trust that this glorious commencement of our cause will be followed by success after "success, until we will rescue the birthright of a united Irish people which has been Wrested from our sires, and prove to ttie world that the oppression of seven centuries is^pot^o end in a general fronrou^-native soil. (Greati cheering.) Unless^e put Ireland hV,a position, to meet -her .ancient e^emy in., battle array, within the^present generation, it . is probable -i will' be no young, men. in Ireland to fij?ht f for. theu: country. , you allaw your; k3th, your kiriS-fathers, . ; mosiers, sisters, ;-.an<JL broth^~tp^ be k drfv v en f rpin Iheir country;;^r*di||btjktn die in?an JDngHsh poor- house R.; n^Gjeafecheer-!ing,Vnd*-criesj of- I'No^ riever.''|t--%trust jit yill J noij be so-, 'but thatjqu wiU|hSire a igoott itjiri/ stand-up /fight Ijme^dous 'fcheferingJl)/ r The; go&ds fsom Ireland arijvedm.lirew York pjiijF|idj|i and: no 'delay waiTmade inVendeavduringvlip get tiheroj, through /ijtie Cu^om r Jkqu^4s f We | wer;^unabl.e T tof despatfeli the 'gbqdfijfrom New; jfcoirk^tillJ^ppd^yfttioMjig^'Xhey--&cp. ndwj however," pnithe »tflaasand^may be"expecieijD^CliicagoQp;^^toepay or Jth^jiayi-aftep^ large , faiantjE^of^good^ Irejand, K and : ab|fr.t'd form an estistate that over has been paid upon ftnemv" Such excitement was caused by the appearance of these genuine relics from, " ould Ireland" that the space where they were to be exhibited had fpr a time to be guarded by a force of special policemen.. The fair was to'have closed at the end of last week, but it will undoubtedly be^kept'\ open until there is no prospect of : nikkitfg r aay more money out of it, when the mana-< < gers will close the doors and pocketf- the 1 proceeds. It is stated that : the money;; raised will be invested in United States- - Stock, and that i(r will remain there^tintilr ithe proper, time comes tp use it fqiyihe;,, purposes for which it was collected. »T^e interest will be a snug little' incofiurfor s somebody, payable; as it will be/ia^old,. \ The history of the contest (between the r Fenians and the priesthood has been very" 1 curious and instructive.. Bishop 'Duggan , the suffragan of the Illinois diocese, 1 as ;t • wrote to you at the time,' deii6unJßed lf ttie : brotherhood, and laid his' bans upbri*-tb$ v fair.' The Fenian 3 only s defied H u ßim, n and the' preparations wentrdrfniore. r| vigo» ; rously 5 and^energetically ; than, eV^j'^A 1 " few days "before* Sk 'Patrick's Day- a^mejst*-? frig of ,Iri3hnieh-^f& called : thrd«gh«toe'' Chicago' 'papVsftp; effect's \ plan Mf thW° feelebrationfoi?the dayl as,a;trrck>to spoil the Fenian icteletfraiion' which waa already advertised. The call referred to was general, and the Fenians

went in strnnj force to the meeting. A presiding officer was appointed, the programme arranged, and a series of toasts - submitted which were entirely satisfactory to the the Fenians. The Church party, under the instructions of the clergy, wished to have the hierarchy and clergy of ' Ireland toasted, but fhe Fenians present refused to allow the toast to go in the programme, and substituted instead one to the Archbishop of Tuam, who sent a donation to the fair, and the patriot priests •of Ireland. This was too much for the disciples of Bishop Duggan, who fled in dismay, and left the field to the triumphant Fenians. Soon after this event, a meeting -of the Catholic societies of Chicago was called by Father Dunn, the vicar-general of Bishop Dugsjan, to devise a plan to celebrate St. Patrick's day by a procession, &o. To ensure compliance j with his orders, Father Dunn had the bishop present to enforce the authority o the church. A paper was read from Father Dunn to the representatives of the various societies present, exhorting them not to march with the Fenians, and excluding all who would do so from the churches on St. Patrick's Day. The paper was no pooner read, than a member of some Catholic society jumped to his feet, and moved that it be laid on the table. In an instant another got the floor, and moved that it be laid " under the table, and never resurrected j" where, sure enough it was ignorainioußly thrown, in the pre- - sence of the bishop and his vicar-general. Such boldness as this was altogether unparalleled, but the bishop could not help himself, and was compelled to make the ' best of the insult. The result was, that , the Fenians did walk in procession with the societies on St. Patrick's Day, and they fraternised together freely on the day the was inaugurated. Notwithstanding the threat of excommunication against all v?ho should attend the fair, the building ■where it has been held has all the time been crowded, so that large numbers o 'those who have heretofore been estemed good Catholics will be lost to the Church, or the bishops will have to .retreat from the extreme stand they have'taken. Time most tell what will be done. I may as well state that the proceedings of the Fenians receive no attention whatever here from any but the Irish, and I should not think it worth while to have detailed their movements at such length had it not been for the difficulty which I see the same organisation is creating in Ireland. If it is really going to become so formidable as to cause serious trouble, it will be well to watch its doings here. The following episode took place some days previously to the holding of the above fair :— # The Chicago (American) ' Fenian' publishes a long report of an interview between the Roman Catholic Bishop of Chicago and a deputation of the Catholic members of the Chicago circle of the Fenian Brotherhood. The report is made up from notes taken by the five members of the committee who constituted the delegation. The bishop denounced the apsociation as a secret society, with an object, condemned and anathematised by the Church, and said that even were these objections removed, the society was not likely to improve the condition of Ireland. At the close of the interview a member of the committee said, "Well, bishop, is there- no way in which our society can be made in cciisonauce with the laws of the Church ?" Bishop—" Your object is illegal, and until you abandon that object nothing can be done." Committeeman — "Our object is the overthrow of British rule in Ireland ; must we give up that ?" Bishop — "I have said your object was illegal."- Committeeman — "Must we, in your opinion, give up our idea of overthrowing British domination in Ireland, in order to be reconciled to the Church ?" Bishop— "The British Government is a legal Government, and it is a crime against the Church to attempt to subvert the existing state of society." Committeeman— "Then we are to . understand that the British Government in Ireland is a legal Government, and it is a crime against the Church' to' attempt to overthrow that .. $pvernmens in Ireland ?" Bishop—" Well yes." Committeeman — "Good evening, bishop, we hoped for a different result to 1 our interview." •

ITALY. ' The preparations for war already announced as actively going on iv Venetia have excited the liveliest attention at lunn, the journals of which city ate - earnestly urging the Government to arm at once aud stand ready to repel a probable attack upon Austria. A sum of money seized by order of the Turin tribunal at Lemtni'a, and alleged to be the proceeds of a subscription towards \ for an assoc * a tio& objected to by .toe Government, has been restored to Garibaldi' 3 bankers, it having been proved ■ that the money in question had no con- , nection with the aforesaid fund. . il The accounts received from Rome respecting,the health of the Itope are still

contradictory and disquieting.' That he is in a precarious state is not doubted. At least, the French Government thinks so, and thinks it necessary to prepare for the worst. Instructions have been transmitted to the French (ambassador to concert with the General commanding the army of occupation as to the precautions to be adopted in case of the death of the Holy Father. It is believed in Paris that that event would be the signal of a rising in Rome, or at least of an attempt to create disturbances ; and both the ambassador and general are enjoined to maintain, at all hazard, the tranquillity of the city while the Conclave are choosing the successor of Pius IX.