LONDON.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1836, 28 February 1863, Page 3

LONDON.

[prom our own correspondent] : December 29, 1862. You will have heard lqngbefore this,, reaches you of the loss of the Colombo with the homeward mail, due in London this month. It appears that the vessel was driven by stress of weather, upon a coral reef adjoining Mi nicoy Island on the BOuthern coast of India, and became a complete wreck. The passengers and crew, however, were saved as,^ were portions of the mail and cargo. As yet no iie'ws has reached us from New Zealand or Mel-r bourne. The wreck of the Colombo has occasioned a delay of twelve or fourteen days in the delivery 0? the portion saved, which has arrived via Marseilles. The heavy mails have not yet arrived, but are expected at Southampton in a day or two ; that is to say 3(iO boxes are expected, all being more or; less damaged from the effects of sea-water, besides this 160 more boxes have al- '

ready been recovered and are now on their way to Southampton, where they are expected about the 18th January. Altogether it is hoped that onehalf or perhaps the fourth, of the mail will have been recovered from the. wreck, though much damaged, if not useless from immersion, There would really seem to be somo fatality of late about the New Zealand mail. So much so, that wo know little or nothing of what is passing in that colony. For my own part I have not seen a New Zealand paper of a later date . than the 14th of August. I trust, however, my usualjaupplies may reach me among those saved from the Colombo, though I think it ia highly problematical as the Melbourne and New Zealand mails would nece s " sarily underlie the India and China mails, and so be taken out at last — if at all. . '

There is nothing of a striking character in th c , European news of this 1 month, the news from America, however, is full of interest. One of the greatest and most disastrous battles that l;as yet taken place on tha<; Continent, has just been fought.. I moan the battle of Fredericksburg, which took place on the 13th instant, and in which the Federal army sustained a severe and terrible reverse. It was nothing more that had been expected in Europe for some weeks past— at least by those who have followed closely the course of events in the United States. If I mistake not, I think I stated in my last letter, when alluding to the dismissal of M'Clellan and the appointment of Burnside to the command of the army of the Potomac, that General Burnside would be urged " forward to Richmond," nolens valens,. by .the, heads of the War Department, and I believe I also expressed my opinion that he would meet with a check in his progress. The oveut has now come to pass. General Burnsido fought the battle of Fredericksburg againstjhis own judgment, expressed in a Council of War. But lie had no alternative. He was obliged to give battle to the "rebels" — or resign. The Northern cry had been .raised to a perfect shout — nay to a scream : "On to Richmond at all hazards. The thing can be done. M'Clellan was two cautious— you have more dash — you can do it, drive on sir, — .on to, Richmond/ Such, if not the actual words, has been the purport of the northern clamour, raised chiefly by civilians and by the Government. Probably they now repent their error, when too late. It would seem too, that they regret having dismissed General M'Clellan, who, after all, is the most competent man they have got ; for it is said that a telegram was immediately sent to him from Washington, with a view it is supposed of reinstat. ing him once ' morel inhis old command. That he will accept it is doubtful — unless upon the condition of being absolutely untrammelled and un. controlled by. the War Department; in which case he will be a kind of Military Dictator himself. However, to return .to the battle of Fredericksburg. The Confederates had fully expected that Burnside would 'attempt to march upon Richmond by way of Fredericksburg, and they had made their preparations accordingly. The town or rather city (which contains some four or five thousand inhabitants)* is on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, a river which is about 300 yards [wide at > that spot. Burnside with an army*. of perhaps 150,000 men, and an enormous quantity of artillery, reached the northern bank several weeks since ; but owing to the delay in bringing up pontoon bridges to make the passage, he had to wait for more than three weeks, At , length, about the 11th December, all was ready, but owing to the discharge of cannon from the Confederate side, and tlie rapid fire maintained, by the sharpshooters, it was found impossible to effect a crossing, whereupon Burnside ordered the city to be- shelled. Thirty-five batteries of artillery, mounting altogether 179 guns, wore then set to work; and a regular ./ww d'infsr. took place, such as had never before been witnessed on: the American continent. The cannonade was maintained fi>r upwards of an horn-, when each gun had fired 50 rounds, and when it was found that the city was in flames in several parts. Soon after this the passage .of the river was effected over five pontoon bridges. It does not appear that the whole of Bunidide's army crossed; for it is afterwards stated that not more than 40,000 Federals were engaged, though I think this number is considerably underrated, and .that there were at least 70,000 or 80,000 men in the actual contest. When the Federal army had reached the southern bank of the river, they found that the enemy had completely evacuated the city, and had apparently retreated. This delusion was favored by a thick fog, which concealed the position which the Confederates had taken up on the crest of a range of hills to the rear of Fredevicksburghy where they occupied a most formidable, and as it turned out, a most impregnable position, and where, strongly entrenched and fortified, they awaited the attack of their assailants. Thus it. will be Been, that the Federal army was placed iiv a most critical and perilous situation. With a river in their rear, into which they ran the risk of being driven, they undertook to dislodge the rebels" from their strongholds. This was the trap which the Confederate General, Lee, assisted by the redoubtable Stonewall Jackson, had prepared for Burnside's army. The scheme had succeeded as he wished. He had offered but a' feeble resistance to the passage of the Federal troops ; he wished to have the fight his own way. And vow ensued one of the most terrible battles amongst all the : sanguinary con. tests.which have taken place since the outbreak of the war. It lasted for several hours. The 1 fighting on both sides was desperate. The Confedorates suffered some reverses at the outset, were repulsed, and lost several prisoners, but eventually they recovered their ground, drove their assailants back, and laterally mowed them down with their artillery, which' being well placed, did fearful execution in this bloody engagement. The accounts which have reached us from the 'field of battle are all written by men favorable to the Federal cause, and even the one-sided version which they give of the fight aud of its results show what a disastrous reverse was sustained by the army of the Potomac. The correspondents of the New York papers, estimate the Federal loss at 15,000 or • 20,000 men. This number is doubtless understated. They estimate the Confederate troops en gaged, at 200,000, which is probably an exaggerati6n. At all events, General Burnssde did not renew th c contest, and having buried his dead, he retreated on the night of the 16th, across theßappahaunock with the remnant of his discomfited army. This battle will probably put an end to the winter campaign, and there appears but little livelihood of any further attempt for the present of marching upon Richmond. The effect of this battle was to send gold up to 33 per cent premium at New York.

The message of President Lincoln, which reached us about a fortnight since, is exceedingly moderate and even conciliatory in its tone. Its two main topics are finance and slavery* The latter subject is treated at great length. The President, who evidently sees the error which he committed in September, by issuing uig notable proclamation for the emancipation of the negroes, but who is unwilling to avow his fault or/to.annul the proclamation in question, proposes a new arid most elaborate scheme for the gradual emancipation of the negroes, by which that object would be offected by the year 1900. He proposes a convention oH all the legal states to discuss the measure, and suggests that compensation should be given in state bonds to the slave-holders. He thinks that this plan would restore the Union, but he by no means makiss his " plan " a sine qud non to thatend. Indeed his scheme is full of inconsistencies, and will certainly not gain over " the seceded states any more than it will satisfy the ultra-abolitionists, who regard it as a faltering compromise. At all events, it will have no practical results, except it may be in swaying some of the border states, such as Maryland and Kentucky .to remain within the Union. -He endeavours to show, that according to the present rate of increase, the population of the United States will have attained such a number by the year 1900, that the amount of compensation required by the circumstances* of the case, extended Over a period; of 37 years i would not be felt as a burthen, and that in fact it; would be a ." cheaper" plan than that of prosecuting the, war for an indefinite period. He also enters into ah elaborate argument to ". show that the welfare of the North- and South alike, is intjy mately and lindissolubly bound up with their Union. That there is no natural boundary «no

straight line or crooked "by which they couldbe separated, and that the interests of peace and of commerce would bepermanentlyjeopardized by separation. He abstains, however very carefully throughout from any expression of animosity against the Southern States; and it is thought that had he issued tho present Message at his accession to office, the plan which he proposes, involving a revision and reconstruction of the Federal Constitution, would have satisfied the Confederate States and have obviated a rupture. But it is now " too late." The die is cast, the rupture is a fail accompli — definitive. As a practical measure therefore the English press attach no. value to the plan proposed by President Lincoln ; and even the jAmerican press only accords to it a sort of negative praise.

The distress in the manufacturing districts still continues, but it is satisfactory to state that it has not increased much of late. Enormous efforts have been made both privately and publicly to mitigate its effects. ''The great Lancashire meetiog" was held some four weeks since... Lord Derby presided on the occasion, and in one of the most elaborate and statesman-like speeches that has been delivered on the subject, recounted what had been done, what was doing, what remained to be done, and what ought to be done, for 'the relief of the su fieri ng-poor. At that meeting a collection was made— unprecedented in' the annals of publfc beneficence, amounting to the -sum of £130,000, to which- Lord Derby himself contributed the princely and munificent sum of .£SOOO. In addition to this immense,, sum, t £400.000 had been previously raised, and since tha,t meeting a farther sum of £100,000 or more has. .been added, inclusive of £30,000, lately raised at a gteat meeting held in Cheshire, at which . the Marquis ot Westminster contributed So . that at the present moment a sum of nearly A' 700,000, has been collected for the relief of the poor. And this, be it remembered, is -altogether independent of the relief afforded by the poor-rate, by private benevolence, and by many manufacturers who are helping their hands, either by weekly allow- j ances, or by keeping their mills working two or j three days a week, though at a loss. These sums are also independent of the relief afforded by soupkitchens, clothing, coffee, and reading rooms for the men, and needle-work rooms where a large number of young women are employed.; It is estimated at the present moment that upwards of half a million of operatives, including their families, are dependent upon the public support in one shape or another. But it is hoped that by. the end of April, even should the American war still continue, we shall have a sufficient supply of cotton in hand from India and elsewhere, and that the demand in the market will be' such as to enable manufacturers partially to resume their operations. But this hope, I need add, is not indulged in by Mr Bright (no mean authority on the subject) who lately addressed his constituents at Birmingham, and told them that he saw no immediate prospect of the resumption of work; but that we only had ourselves arid our government to blame for the present difficulties; first, by having patronised slave' grown cotton so exclusively as we have done ; and secondly by not having encouraged the growth of cotton in outIndian territories — a measure which he had recommended over and over again for the last twenty years— but to'no purpose. He, then went into a long argument in favor of the Northern States— while his colleague on the occasion, Mr Scholefield, spake in favor of the South.

The principal subject of conversation in England for the last month or two has been the candida- ! ture of Prince Alfred for the vacant throne of i Greece. The matter seems now, however, to be ' definively settled; for although ,the prince, has been elected by an overwhelming majority— indeed by acclamation— to the Greek throne, yet is I now understood that the English Government here will not allow the Prince to accept the proffered crown. The Prince's own wishes on the subject are not known ; but this much is certain, that.the Greeks are disposed to thrust it on him, and will listen to now refusal. Such, at least, is their present temper. They are in the attitude of a loyer^ who has made an offer to the lady of his choice,, aud who, hoping against hope, interprets^ her. negative response, to mean, yes, and so continues to prosecute his suit — trusting that the urgent per-, tinacity of his addresses will eventually soften the obduracy of tho fair one's heart. •« Either I'll have you, or no one else— if you don't take- me I'll throw myself away ; what is all the world beside' to me if you reject my suit— l'll live uuwedded for the remainder of my days— nay ! I'll adopt the , austere habit of a recluse— of a Republic." There are good political reasons why England does not j wish to embroil herself with the ardent wrongs of i tho fair damsel. It would not suit her Eastern ! policy. The Prince, possibly, might not suit his | ambitious spouse, and might perohance one day be ignominiously turned adrift like his predecessor, and for this and other reasons, he must decline the intended honor. At the same time, it is fully understood that in order to mitigate the disappointment of the rejected lady, and for other good reasons, England is about to cede to her the lonian Islands. ;We have also it seems recommended to her notice King Ferdinand of Coburg, late Regent of Portugal, but it would appear that she does not Wish to accept him, nor he her. Some people still thinjc that afW ail Prince Alfred, will, accept the. crown at the last moment— and that the Powers concerned, namely France and Russia will waive their objections rather than see a Republic established in Greece. How this may turn out I cannot venture to predict. The Prince of Wales' marriage is settled to take place early in xVpril, it will be celebrated with great pomp at St George's Chapel, Windsor. The public complain loudly at such an arrangement. They maintain that such an imposing pageant should take place in the metropolis, so as to give the million an opportunity of seeing the spectacle— at least outwardly,, and that. Westminster Abbey or St Paul's Cathedral- would be the most proper place.

The " Garrotte robbery" nuisance, to which I alluded in my last letter, has somewhat abated for the last month. Some twenty or thirty of these desperate vagabonds were tried before Baron Bramwell at the old Bailey a few weeks since, and, ho awarded them such severe punishment, namely penal, servitude for terms varying from four years, up to twenty years, and in some cases incarceration for life, that it appears to have struck terror into the gang, who have since been on their good behaviour. It is thought, however, that the mode of dealing with the criminal population is too lenient, or at least that it is inefficient, and accordingly a royal commission has been appointed to inquire into the whole system and its working. This step was urgently called for ; for the outcry that was raised by the press, and by the public in favour of exemplary punishment', and vengeance, was sucl> that it would shortly have led us back once more to the good old hanging days of George the third. We have had, a.s usual, some pits and railway accidents during the month. But these are matters of such every. 6>y occurrence, that unless in special cases they pass almost unnoticed. But wo have had anoth"er r collieiy accident, which, though not as severe as that of the Hartley liery, which occurred about a twelvemonth since, resulted in the loss ■of some fifty lives or more, i This accident took place at the Edmond main colliery, near Barnsloy in Yorkshire, about three weeks since. There were about 300 men in the pit at the time, when. a shot fired .in; one of the workings ignited the gas. issuing from the coal. Shortly aftor this, an explosion took place, and it was quite a miracle that a greater number of lives were not lost! As it was. several of those who escaped had been severely burnt, and it was not until the pit had been filled with water that the fire was got under. *

Your readers will probably remember the celebrated Yelverton marriage case, which was tried some time back in Ireland, when the Irish jury found that there had been a good marriage, as well in Ireland as in Scotland. The case has again been before the publio, and we have hot yet heard the last of it. During the past summer the question was raised' in Scotland before tha Lord Ordinary, Lord Armillan, who ruled that there was not sufficient evidence, that a valid marriage had taken place according to the law of Scotland. I An appeal wap then made to the Court of Session in Scotland, which lately gave its decision in favor of the pursuer, Mrs. yelverton,. maintaining. tha,t the Scotch marriage, was, a valid one. This decision wa!a.two to pnp in', her favqur-rthe PresU dent of the Court befog on one side andtheLoifda

Deas and Gurriehill on the other. This, decision, which did not talce the Irish marriage at all into , consideration, has given great satisfaction in Scotland. But the matter is not yet at rest, as an appeal will be carried to the House of Lords, where the question will be finally and definitely settled. Some other curious trials- have lately taken place. Amougst them is ono in which a tradesman named Hall, living in Tottenham Court Eoad, brought an action agaiust a Dr Semple for, having, .without any just grounds, givena certificate to his (Hall's) wife, with whom, he had lived , an unhappy life tor thirty, years, and who was ( . anxious to be rid of him,. that he was a confirmed . . lunatic. The man had actually been conveyed to an asylum, where he might have remained for some time, had it hot been for some informality in the notice. However, he brought his action^ against the medical man, and recovered *15U • damages— there being no grounds whatever, ap- i parently. beyond a certain violence of temper, .for assuming the man's insanity. This will, be- ft caution to Doctors, who are only too apt. to, grant such certificates without sufficient investigation. , Another case was that of Hudson v.The Benchers „. of the Temple. This was an action for .assault „ and false imprisonment. The case arose put, of an investigation which took place in the sumtrier , of last year, into the conduct of Mr Digby Seymour, Q. C. Who was supposed to have 'been concerned in certain 'transactions some 1 eight' or ted ' years since, in whioh his integrity arid honor were ' impeached. The inquiry was a very grave one, as it reflected directly; upon the character of 1 a •< barrister of good practice and standing at -the bar; ;I and who was also aQ. C. and a recorder. It appears that about the. year 1854, the plaintiff ■ Hudson, who had been a solicitor, ; and who was acquainted with Mr Seymour, started a gold mine company for the purpose of working^ a mine ijb; Virginia.. He became a director .himself, !a'nd ' . induced Seymour also to become a director. , The , : '■ lattersubsequentlybecamechairmano'ftheco^j&ny , .' This company in the : end became a total failure, ; ;' and collapsed about the year 1857 — not; 1 however, ! ' until the company, including Mr Seymour,' '< had embarked • and lost considerable ; sums ■■■ of money in the . speculation. . It further appears r. that in order to bolster up.theconqernjiwhichiWar : always in a tottering moriband condition, certain of the Directors. and Shareholders had engaged in . . some discreditable " operations" for " rigging tho market,'' with a view to get the Bh^res ,up to a , premium. With these transactions it would appear that Mr Seymour's name became mixed uf> j and he was also charged with having pledged' by way of security in loans raised for "settling day" certain shares deposited in his hands by a Captain 1 -' ■Robertson, one of the shareholders '; and he! wa'a ; ' s ' : ; further charged by aMr Parker with having frau- ; ' dulently misapplied a sura of- jgSOO placed in his' ; -• hands for the purpose of working a-, certain patent connected with the art of printing. Now Robert. :.. son and Parker are both dead ; and both themselves and the Waller Gold Mining^ Company.', were entirely forgotten at the time that the . charges in question were raked up arid brought : before the' Benches in 1861. Mr 'DJgbjr; Seymour maintained that he was never a party ,to rigging the market, that it had been done' by certain id-' ' dividuals without his privacy or sanction; while he> ' ' was absent in the Northern Circuit, tfta'fc as re- : : ' g'arded Captain Robertson, he had given his foil consent to the securities or shares being-dealt with ;> and that with respect to Parker the case was. one- ■•;'' of mere debt. Such were the allegations, or x&» • : ther, such was the answer of Digby,. Seymour -to < ••..•; the charges, in question. At the time that the' ; inquiry was pending he happened to meet Mr Hudson who had withdrawn from the Waller Com* „ pany in 1856 and gone to India, arid as he knew, something of the Parker transactions, arid of the^ concern of the company in ; question, Seymour' asked him to attend as a witnessin bis behalf before the Benchers. This he did, as a friend ; but it appears that he was subjected to a severe and, as he asserts a very discourteous cross-examination - , by the Benchers, who in the course of 'the inquiry confronted him with a private letter-book, rela^ . '.' ting to the affairs of the ■ Waller Company and : other matters. This book he recognised j and ' triairifairiedtb^e Iris own : pnvate : property— sia- • ; ting that when he went to India he had left it be* '■ . h ind in the hands of the Secretary to the Company. •i . < He thereupon demanded how they became pps— :-.. sessed'of it and refused to give it up, or to be ex-, ;; amiried as to its contents. An. angry altercation ']. thereupon ensued, which ended in what must.'lor i. brevity sake be called a "row." The Seriohere' would- not ; allow Mr Hudson to leave the !rpbni" '"' until he had given up their property, but he icoolly : put it in his pocket and set them at defiance, and defied them to give him into custody.' They then sent for their head porter, a stalwart fellow, who • soon tripped up Hudson and was endeavouring 'to : ransack his pockets for the. book when the police was < \ called in. Hudson i^ appears was then conveyed to . . Bowstreet, but the criminal question is, was;he. in i -. custody at the time for stealing the book; . When he ..got to the station house,, the oharge was disfnissed, because none of, the,' „ Benchers would charge him directly with stealing ~ , the book-i-they only alleged that He took .the book improperly. And as this was riot'a crirhinai ; - : charge, the case was dismissed. Whereupon' Mr . Hudson brought an action against the Benohers, but the jury could not agree, as to the ownership of the book. It was maintained that the book was , in no wise the property of Hudson, that itbblohged ' v to the Company, inasmuch as tKe letters; Which it contained, referred .to the affairs of the .Company, 1 • ; through whose solicitor it reached the hands of the : Benchera. I should here mention, that the '; Benchers acquitted (as you are donbtlesa .already. ■ ■■ ' awave) Mr Seymour of the charges against him,; or rather they ruled. that these charges had not been proven— giving him at the same time, se,- ..'. „ vere censure. Since' then, I understand, Mr Sey- : mour has had the whole of the notes and evidence printed and published and circulated amongst thb ' .members of the Bar an d others ; and he ' has also lately brought an action for libel against the publisher of the Law Magazine, for an article foundedupon the charges above mentioned, and reflecting in very unmeasured terms, upon the , conduct and ■ ' character of Mr Seymour, ; but the .jury awarded, him only nominal damages. ..Had-. t toe charges v. ; - in question been satisfactorily, proved, the Bench era ..; would have disbarred him.

1 It is now, decided that there will be no , public .' ■ • distribution of medals in January to the Exhibitors, .; >. as had been intended. It is now feared, that the . .- affair would not go off with sufficien t &lat,. with r ; out a considerable amount of expenditure, : whioh . the Commissioners are not prepared, to incur ;,Md . so I presume the Exhibitors will receive their medals through some private channel 'of oommu- . ; mention. This will ; be a disappbintnfent -to many ' persons living in London and near home, but Iprei ; sume it will be felt as a great relief to persons re- ' sidenf on the Continent and in the Colonies, who , .would otherwise have to remain' in Ldnd6niat<' " great expense and inconvenience, ;• , , .< ■;;< i»i „•<;.: The weather has been exceedingly mild forth& i; * ' last few weeks. Never within the memory 6$ the" •'■*-' oldest inhabitant, have we, had » finer Chrietmaa t ■ < Day than this year.,. It was- like a beautiful - day at the end of spring--a fine,, cloudless skyj-r ; . and brilliant summer sunshine.— A rare thing ill:.; ■- these latitudes at this season of the year. Busi» <VUL . ; ness has been tolerably good. Wool la fully" maintaining its price, there has been a fair de* raand, and there is an upward tendency, Higher^ •? ' prices are asked than formerly, and more busines,,, would ba done if the markets were easier. The > sj . latest quotations are for Lincoln parcel wethoro, ? 21d. to 21 Jd. per lbr'hoga, 23d. to 28 Jd.. pef Ih; , : Consols are from 94$ to 98{. I shall ©nolos^ latest telegrams if ainy.' t • ■' < t - ';' ! , ( ' .;