LONDON.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1798, 29 November 1862, Page 3

LONDON.

[PROM OUR OWN COBBESPONDENT.] London, 26th Sept., 1862. Aii unbroken series of victories has attended the fortunes of the Confederate arms since I last wrote to you, while the Federal army has met with little else than defeat and disaster. In all the engagements which have taken place, the Southern forces have been triumphant. And, whereas, a few months since, when Fort Donilson was taken, when New Orleans was captured, and when the Federals were onco more masters of the greater part of the Mississippi, the star of the South seemed to be on the wane, and all was uncertainty and gloom, yet it has now once more risen above the Northern horizon, with increased brilliancy and splendour ; and the Confederates who only lately were defending their capital at Richmond, have now forced their enemies back upon Washington, and have themselves) moved forward into Maryland, carrying with them victory in their course. Perhaps ifc would not be too much to say that at least a dozen different battles or important engagements have been fought between the contending parties, within the last month. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, with a great part of Maryland, are now in the hands of the Confederates, and it is by no means impossible, that before long Washington may have to succumb. The Southern Generals do not attack it at present, only because it would take too much time, which can be spent better otherwise, and because Washington, which is well defended by nature and by art, has at least 150,000 Federal troops behind its ramparts at the present moment — the North being determined to make a desperate stand for its capital. The Times special correspondent (in whom 1 think I recognise once more the familiar pen of W. H. Russell) lately writing from Baltimore commences his letter with the ominous words,, " Actum est de Bepublica," and he then proceeds to describe a condition of affiurs, of which we can form no adequate conception. The full truth as to the disasters of the Northern army, will, he says, never be known upon earth. Merely faint glimmerings of the naked truth have reached us. M'Clellan's army, or rather the remnant of it which was left after the long series of battles before Richmond— broke up in pitiable condition at Harrison's Landing, and retreated northwards, without however being molested or pursued by the Confederates— the object of tho latter being to attack General Pope before he could be joined by M/Clellan's troops. Thia was about the middle of August. Meanwhile " Stonewall " Jackson, the redoubtable^who is now the hero of the Southern army, commenced a forced march, took with him about 30,000 men, crossed the Rappahannhock near its fountain head, doubled back, and turned the right wing of General Pope'sarmy ; when a seriesof desperate engagements ensued between the main bodies of the Northern and Confederate forces, extending over a week or more, from the 27 th August to the 3rd of September, the result of which was disastrous in the extreme to the Federal army. Strange to say, one of these battle was fought upon the old ground of Bull Run, where the Confederates, gained their first great success fourteen months ago It is impossible to estimate with accuracy the I

losses sustained on either sido in these terrible and sanguinary engagements ; but I think it will not be too much to say that the Confederates must have had 20,000 men put hors de combat and the North at least double that number. General Pope himself, is who notorious for his want of veracity, admits that in the second battle of Bull Run, he lost 8000 men. But besides the loss in men, the Federals have lost in ammunition, stores, waggontrains, &c, property estimated at 5,000,00 i) dols.; besides which, General Pope lost his personal luggage, maps, official dispatches, and most valuable 1 papers relating to the campaign. His commission as General was also captured, but was magnanimously returned to him by the " rebel " commander- The Confederate army on the sth inst., occupied precisely the position which they held a twelvemouth ago. Since then, they have been gradually pushing northwards, passing by way of Harper's Ferry into Maryland, where the people are ready to receive them with open arms, and when the Confederate General Lee issued a proclamation, stating that he has come to free the people from Federal rule, but only with their own free will and consent — no coercion being adopted. ■ At present there cannot be lesi than 50,000 Confederates in the state of Maryland, while the Federal forces there to oppose them exceed that number. Another desperate battle between Lee and M'Clellan is imminent, I must tell you that M'Clollan is once more at the head of the Federal army. Pope has been deposed from the chief command, and it was only at the earnest entreaty of the President that M'Clellan resumed his former position. It h now admitted on all hands, that the Northern Generals are unequal to the difficulties of their position — they are unable to copo with their Southern opponents, who have out-marched, out-gone-raled, baffled and defeated them in all the engagements which have recently laken place. " Stonewall' Jackson, who is now looked uponaa a , kind of modern Cromwell, is a man of infinite resources, and consummate skill in the handling of troops. But hia forte consists in his rapid movements, forced marches, and sudden surprises. At one moment he eludes his enemy, and the next attacks him unexpectedly in hig weakest point. He is moreover, said to be a man of strong religious sentimonts, who inspires his troops with his own fervid enthusiasm. He is even said to conduct prayer meetings in his camp, to the great edification of his soldiers, who are devotedly attached to him, and who shrink from no hardship or < fatigue, under his influence and example. Meanwhile, consternation and dismay reigns throughout the cities of the North. New York, Boston, and Philadelphia are making superhuman efforts to meet the crisis of the hour. Enormous sums of money are being subscribed for "bounties" to induce enlistment. As yet the draught has not taken place; owing to its extreme unpopularity, it has been postponed from time to time, and for the present aeema to have been abandoned. The high bounty offered by Government and by private individuals has tempted a considerable number of Irish and Germans to swell the ranks of the Federal army ; but then these raw undrilled recruits, mingled with the debris of the ci-devant " Grand Army of the Potomac,"' despirited, defeated, and demoralized, and without Generals who arc capable of leading them, will have but little chance of success against the well-trained legions of the South, flushed with victory and enthusiasm, fighting for their independence "pro aris et focis," and marshalled by Generals in whom they have unbounded confidence. Even the Northern Journals are now forced to admit that they have been, in their own phrase, " well whipped." They assert that there are traitors in their own army, and cry out for some one to be hanged. Even General Pope complains bitterly against some of hia subordinates, in not having promptly and efficiently reinforced him in his recent engagements, contrary to his exprega and peremptory orders. Against General M'Dowell he was loud and bitter ; and it will not be surprising if the latter should one day be brought to a court-martial. Au reste, there is a stolid apathy and a stoical insensibility in the North to the suffering and loss of life in their armies. Human life, though dearly paid for, seems to be of little value. Victory, success, the subjugation of the South, and the preservation of the "Union " at all hazard and at whatever cost of blood or treasure, are the only considerations. It is another version of the old precept, " rem qusennque mo do rem !" Washington at the present moment is oaiil to be crowded with dead and dying, maimed and wounded, who have fallen in the recent battles in Virginia. The churches are said to have been converted into hospitals, and the spectacle of mangled humanity is described as appalling. But how much longer is this butchery to last? No one knows. There are at present no symptoms of European intervention ; but this we know, that the belligerents on both sides are considerably weakened in resources and men, and that it will be next to impossible to prolong this deadly struggle much longer. But at present there aro no signs of peace ; and throughout the North the press are so fettered that they dare not propose or advocate a cessation of hostilities if they would. The cry is still "We will spend our last dollar to put down the rebels and to preserve the Union." The Exhibition season is now drawing to an end? It will be closed to ordinary visitors on the Ist of November, but will be kept open till the middle ,of that month at an increased charge for admission. It has on the whole been very successful, but not more so than its original promoters expected, There has been a gradual and decided falling off in the number of visitors for the last month. The average attendance on shilling days has probably been 45,000, and on half-crown days 17,000; the daily attendance lately having been as low as 40,000. This is a great falling off as compared with 1851. If matters do not mend during the ensuing month, there will be a considerable deficit for the guarantors to make good. The general impression now seems to be that a decennial Exhibition will be impracticable, that we may have too much of a good thing, that the expense to exhibitors is too great to make it pay, and that the public curiosity has been satiated* However this may be, I cannot say ; ten years will bring a great change, and the, schoolboy of the present day will then be enterprising men of business who will take their own views of the requirements of the luture of 1872. At all eventsour colonial possessions have every reason to be gratified with the result of the great Exhibition, as it has given them tho opportunity of putting themselves in a material and bodily form before the civilised counties of Europe, of exhibiting their strength, their resources, their commercial capabilities, their varied and extermine products, in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdom. In short the Exhibition has] done more for the Australian colonies in a few short months, than the combined efforts of the Press of Europe could have effected in their behalf for ten years. This will beyond doubt have the effect of giving an immediate and powerful stimulus to emigration, and that two of a superior kind, for capitalists will now be induced to speculate more largely in colonial produce, while enterprising young men with means at their disposal will embark it in developing more largely the antipodean sources of wealth. That New Zealand too will benefit greatly by her share in the Exhibition is equally certain. In 1857, New Zealand was looked upon as a country scarcely reclaimed from cannibalism, whereas at present it excites a degree of interest second to none that is awakened by another colonial possession ; and now that the last embers of insurrection have become extinguished, that peace has happily been restored, and that new sources of wealth have been discovered, it is not too much to assert that in the next ten years New Zealand will contain half a million or more of active, enterprising, and prosperous colonists. This will doubtless give a corresponding increase to the value of laud. Happy are those therefore who have already made large purchases. And with regard to tho New Zealand woods, which have attracted^such marked attention*at the Exhibition, there can" be no doubt that such of them as have a bona fide "commercial value" equal to that of mahogany or walnut, wil shortly enter into competition with the latter for domestic purposes ; and therefore those who have land to dispose of, growing totara and other such timber trees will do well | to bear in mind the prospective value of the woods on their estates. While speaking of colonial matters, I may mention that the third series of wool sales, which commenced on [the 31st July, and closed on the 6th inst , — the quantity brought forward being the largest ever offered for sale, The total number oj

colonial bales was 105,184, including 15,826 from New Zealand, which latter class was considered " generally badly \ sorted and irregular," . and therefore did not realise so much as it would otherwise have done. At the opening, sales were effected at former rates with considerable variations, but towards the close prices ruled higher. Since then there has been a decided upward tendency in the market, with an increase in some instances of id. or 3d per lb. On the whole the wool market has been in a very satisfactory state for the last month, and all in favor of the settler. 1 I think decidedly the wool trade is likely to be brisk ; that prices are likely to bo maintained, i and to mount still higher. For even though peace were restored in Amei-ica to-morrow, and the Liverpool markets glutted with cotton, "there would still be a great demand for clothing in the Southern States, cut off as they have been for the last 18 months from the markets and manufacturing centres of commerce of the whole world — so that at present there «must be [quite a dearth of clothing in Dixie's land — not to speak of Brother Jonathan's territory. Leather and hides will also go up shortly for a similar reason. The distress in the manufacturing districts still continues, and at least eight or ten thousand operatives continue each week to swell the list of the already unemployed. Enormous efforts are making to alleviate the privations of the factory hands; and subscriptions have been opened, and with considerable results, in all the leading towns and cities of the United Kingdom. By this means thousands havebeen saved from starvation. But still the evil increases, and the subscriptions cannot go on increasing in a corresponding ratio ; — the public benevolence becomes at length ! exhausted. There are now few if any mills in full work; there are still some on half time, but it must be at a loss to the mill owners, for the price of the raw material is now too high to enable them to manufacture at a profit. There is no prospect of obtaining cotton from India to any extent; such, at least, is the opinion of a very competent authority Mr Laing, who has lately returned from India, and has been addressing the Manchester people, at the Chamber of Commerce in that city. Within the last year wo have had it appears a million bales of cotton from India; and as the natives are not an enterprising or speculative race, and are not'overburdened with capital, and as moreover it takes the cultivation of five or six acres of land to produce a single bale in that conntry, *and as the rigots raise only a auflicent quantity ;to meet current demands and native wants, we are not likely to supply our wants from Indian sources. Still India, as Mr. Laing says, is making vast and rapid progress, and if it continue to advance in material prosperity, as it has been doiug/since the suppression of the mutiny, it will be able he avers, in twenty years time to take from us as much manufactured goods, in the way of clothing, as we now supply to the whole world. An announcement has lately appeared in the papers that a gentleman has discovered a material capable of being worked up into a fabric resembling that of cotton, and that it is cheaper, better and more abundant than cotton. For the guarantee of a sum of money, the amount to be afterwards agreed on, the inventor offers to make his discovery public ; but this inventor, it must be observed, like- many others yet remains to undergo the test of practical experiment and success. I have myself seen specimens of the most beautiful linen and paper, manufactured from a certain fibrous weed or plant, but then the expense of the process was too great to render the discovery of any great practical value. This too may turn out to be the case with the alloged substitute for cotton. The prospects of the harvest are said to be now much more favourable than they appeared to be a month since. Oats and wheat are on the whole a good average and the potato crop in Ireland is most abundant, while the tubers are of a superior size and' quality, and no symptoms of disease at present visible. The Queen and all the members of the Royal family are at present in Germany on a visit to their cousins, uncles, and friends-in-law. Her Majesty's health and spirits are said to be much improved. Her stay in Germany will be of six week's duration. The Prince of Wales too has lately been affianced to his future bride at Brussels, where ho has been enjoying her society for the last two or three weeks. The matter is now finally settled, and the young couple will be married about a twelvemonth hence. The Princess Alexanpria is spoken of in terms -of glowing enthusiasm and sausraction, Doth on the continent and in England. She is beautiful, amiable and highly accomplished, and will doubtless be appreciated as an ornament at the court of England in future times, a when the good Queen Victoria shall have terminated her labours as ruler of this kingdom— quod lunge absit ! This royal match in supposed to be the result of love at first sight. I have heard it stated on good authority, that the Prince met his fair fiancee for the first time at a ball in Germany four years ago, and that he was captivated on the spot. Certain it is that if the face be an index of the mind and character, the Princess must be a most amiable and fascinating person— for everybody has already fallen in love with her portrait which in the shape of a carle de visile — the present style of photograph, is to be seen side by side with the Prince of Wales in all the print-shops of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Sumner, has lately paid the debt of nature at the advanced age of 82. He was generally considered a safe, quiet and prudent man in the discharge of his duties. He was made Bishop of Chester in 1828, and Archbishop of Canterbury in 18i8, so that on the whole he enjoyed a full measure of the good things of life— such as the Church has at her disposal. Indeed his family have been all peculiarly fortunate in finding such rich pastures within the spiritual fold ; for his younger brother who was appointed to the see of Landaff, in 1826, and shortly after translated to the see of Winchester the richest in the church, which he still holds. And then when we take it into consideration the enormous revenues and the vast ecclesiastical patronage at the disposal of these two fortunate brothers, we must consider them as amongst the ter beati and the felkes of earthly prosperity— the favoured children of men. The Archbishop's successor has not yet been appointed, but no doubt Lord Palmersion will look out for a man of " moderate views " who will not be likely to disturb the Church's repose by any extreme opinions but who will take his revenues and spend them with the dignity and cultivated taste becoming a gentleman, and be thankful. The career of Garabaldi has been brought to an abrupt termination, and he may now be considered as " laid on the shelf" for the remainder of his days. Towards the end of last mouth a collision took place between himself and his followora to the number of 3000, and some of the royal troops under Colonel Pallavicino at a place called Aspromonte on the Calabrian mainland. The result was a brief engagement which Garabaldi did all in his power to avoid (for it was no part of his plan to come into contact with the national forces), but which resulted in himself and aOOO of his followers being taken prisouers, The affair was rather a short skirmish than an engagement Some of his followers, however, were kilfed and a few others wounded, he being among the latter himself. He now lies a prisoner and wounded at Spezzia, suffering from two gun shot wounds, one in the thigh and the other in the ancle ; and the great question of the day, and one too which sorely puzzles the Government of Turin is " what is to be done with Garibaldi ?" At first it was said he would be tried by court-martial, then that a special civil tribunal would be appointed for the purpose : in short the rumors on this subject have been infinite. But as yeb nothing has been done and it is now thought that in consideration of the great services formerly rendered to the national cause of Italian independence by the formidable guerilla general, he will receive a pardon ; and that the occasion of the approaching marriage between the daughter of Victor Emmanuel and the King of Portugal, a general amnesty will be proclaimed for Garibaldi and his followers. In fact the whole affair turned out a farce, nearly as ridiculous as that of which Smith O'Brien was the hero in 1848. How a man of Garibaldi's experience could have suffered himself to bo led into such an insane enterprise baffles conjecture. Indeed ho must have imagined, at least his followers did, that while the Turin cabinet ostensisibly disapproved of and disavowed his mission, they were secretly conniving at his acts, and hoping that he would eventually succeed in finding his way to Rome through the mountains of Southern Italy. At all events if such had been his idea, the illusion is now dispelled, and although

to Garibaldi is mainly owing the consolidation of Northern and Italy, yet he must be taught, however severe and ungrateful the task, that he is not a king nor a ruler, and that to Victor Emmanuel alone and his Government belongs the exclusive right of raising armies and of making war. The career and fate of Garibaldi have invoked great sympathy in this country, and meetings have been held and subscriptions raised in his behalf, and one of our most famous medical men, Dr Partiidge, of King's College Hospital, has been sent out to attend to the General's wounds and offered the native surgeons the benefit of his great skill and experience. Victor Emmanuel has been greatly blamed by a certain party the extreme radicals in this country for the ' • unworthy and ungrateful part" which he has enacted against his great " benefactor" Garibaldi, in^thus cutting short his career. But the worthy King had no alternative ; he is a constitutional Sovereign, and must be guided by his Ministers, by policy and by expediency. And were it to appear for a moment that ho was unable to put down " open rebellion" against his government and authority, and unable to maintain peace in his dominions, it would afford his Bourbon and Papal enemies grounds for alleging that he was unfit to govern the new kingdom entrusted to his charge, and would probably give the Emperor Napoleon a pretext for marching an army into Southern Italy, which he would be only too glad to acquire for his cousin Prince Napoleon. This much is certain, that all thinking and rational politicians in England approve the course adopted by Victor Emmanuel, and condemns, while they commisserate, Garibaldi, as a short sighted enthusiast who committed himself to an impracticable enterprise, under the instigation of such men as Mazzini and his clique. The latest accounts that have reached us from the captive General, state that his wounds are progressing favorably ; and it is alleged that when he finds himself again able and i at liberty, he purposes sending his sword to the Federal States of America •• of which he is a citizen." Few, however, believe that he will be so infatuated as to add to his recent follies by doing so, An extraordinary case of attempted fraud has , lately been disclosed in London, it appears that a Mr William Calvert, her Majesty's Consul at the Dardanelles, and who was also sub-agent to Lloyds, some time since caused a ship, the Possidhon, laden with oil, and bound from the Levant to London, to be insured in London for £12,000. The ship, he alleged, belonged to a friend of his, a Turkish merchtnt named Hussein Aga, resident at Adramztti. The insurance was effected in the usual course, aid an advance of .£ISOO obtained upon the policbs and bills of lading from Messrs Bevan & Co. To be brief, however, it turns out that the good (hip Possidhon never had any existence but in the fertile brain of Mr Calvert, altho' he described ii circumstantially as being " brig rigged, and r.ewly built in the Danube." Of course, the oil too had no existence, nor the supposed owner, Hussein Aga, nor the bills of lading. Still great merit is due (if such can ever be imputed to a swindler) to Mr Calvert for the singular adroitness with which he attempted to perpetrate this fraul. He even telegraphed to Messrs Llody's agents that "on the night of the Bth instant, a vessel had been seen, forty miles off the island of Lemndo, furiously burning, a heavy gale of wind blowiig at the time;" and he subsequently attempted to show that this vessel must have been the Possidhon, and that it must have perished with all on board. This story, however plausible, was aot quite satisfactory to the parties concerned, and upon closer inquiry, Hassen Aga could not be produced, and the result was, that Mr. Consul Culvert was at length obliged in self defence, to start off into Asia Minor, or Syria or elsewhere in search of his imaginary "friend," and there we must leave him at present, and there he will probably Btay himself— if he wishes to keep out of trouble. While on the chapter of swindlers I must not omit to mention that Mr. William Roupell, late M. P. for Lambeth, was brought to trial a few days ago on a charge of forgery and perjury. To both of these charges he pleaded "guilty"; and upon being called up for judgment, he made a somewhat extraordinary and penitential speech, though devoid of cant or claptrap. He adinittted his guilt to the fullest extent, but said that his whole life and career, had been a " mistake", from, the rmsat;. . that however the p»olic erred in their judgment ot him — for that we had never been " a spendthrift, a gambler, or a libertine" as had been allegod in the papers. Pie did uot, however, volunteer any statement as to how he had squandered all the money that had come into his hands; but threw out some mysterious hints that he had been the victim of his too generous and confiding nature. He said further that he had written a full account of his life since he had been in prison, but that upon second thoughts he resolved not to have it published, for that it might give pain to many friends, while it could serve no useful end. All this was said with wonderful calmness and self possession the prisoner not attempting for a moment to extenuate or palliate his guilt. He said ho was prepared for his sentence whatever it might bo. The judge told him that " many a miserable wretch had stood in that dock before, and had gone thence to the gallows '• for crimes of less enormity than those of the prisoner ; and concluded by sentencing him to penal servitude for the term of his natural life,— and then thus curtain falls upon the career of the late honorable enfant gate, of the fashionable world of Brixton! Sic te ancil Brix, lonia gloria. Among the chapter of accidents, the most striking has been that of a railway collision which took place at Market- Harborough, whereby several persons were killed and several hundred more or less injured. The accident as usual, was owing to the fault of an engine driver, (who has been committed for trial) and to the fact that the trains which came into collision were excursion trains, (always dangerous) which both left King's Cross station within five minutes of each other — the first having stopped at a certain station to water, while the other ran clean into it. A dreadful fire lately took plabe at the Liverpool Workhouse, by which twenty little children of from four to seven years, and two or three nurses were burnt to death. There has lately been a dreadful " row," or " shindy," or " scrimmage," or whatever you please at Belfast. Those " Sturdy Presbyterians " of the North, who vaunt so much their good sense and their other good qualities, cannot , it appears, keep themselves at peaoe with their Roman Catholic neighbours. There was lately a grand Orange and Protestant "demonstration " got up spontaneously in the North— for what purpose no one can conceive — for there was no tangible grievance to complain of. The result of this demonstration was to provoke the Roman Catholic rabble to a riot, and then the inhabitants of the " Pound, 1 ' and Durham-street, and Sandy's liow, all emerged from their purlieus and made another sort of demonstration, in the way of window-breaking— and the upshot has been that several public buildings, churches, chapels, and private dwellings have come to grief. There will bo work for all the glaziers of Belfast for the next twelvemonth. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. It is now six o'clock, and I must close. I will subjoin the telegrams from the evening paper, if there be aught of importance.