The Sun. — London, England, 1863-08-13 00:00:00

nICHARD NIONCICTON MILNEs, M Poor John Bull —Thoughts in a Crowd—in FUN this week. One Penny NW THEATRE -ROYAL, ADFLPH),— sec. Prorriator and manamn. M 7. R. Webster. THIS EVENING, THE IRISH TIGER. After which, a t Eight .'clock, a new drama, entitled THE FAINTED MAN; oR, T E GHOST'S IARGATN, in which will be ex.hibited Professor Peuper's adantatfon of the Great Spectral lilusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, R. Phi lips, Felton C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss IT. Simms. Followed by a new Burlesque, ent'tled ILL-TREATED IL TROVATORE. NI( ssrs. Toole. P. Bedford, It. Phillips, Xbnrne, C. J. Smith, Romer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry and Sara, and Miss IC Kelly. Commence at 7. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Manazer, Mr. W. H. Swanborouzli. TO-IGHT WHILE TIT ERE' -4 LIFE THE RE's 110 PE. 3Tessrs W. Fr Swanhorough, Vfilaire, G. - Finney; Misses Ada Swanborough, L. Thorne, F. Hughes, Mander and E. Bufton. Fr,llowed by (21d. time) THE MOTTO, " M ALL THE ItE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Dancers, Clifton ; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria Simpson, Wallace, anti .Jenny White. To conclude with KEEP YOUR TEMPER. Commence at 7. THE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," Containing. the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, ran be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Trtis DAY.—Morning, lh. 30m.—Afternoon, lh. 50m. To-moßßow.-Morning, 2h. 10m.—Afternoon, 2h. 28m. The Weather—Sun Office, Aug. 13, 1863. THERMONETEII. This morning: This day at Two o'clock __— Barometer-30.02. Wind—E. ; light, and fine. ~~ ~ Zuz. ~~ i ~. LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1863. The more closely these more recent events of the American war come to be looked into, the less apparent becomes the reason for the sudden exulta tion of the Federal multitude headed by their President. Vicksburg has fallen it is true. JOHNf;TONE has retreated. LEE has withdrawn his army from Maryland back again across the Poto mac. The Confederate C o mmander-in-Coief has retired indeed still further southward, having passed through one of the convenient gaps of the Blue Ridge on his road towards Culpepper, where, assuming a purely defensive position, he finds the enemy confronting him, though at a respectful dis tance enough. MEADE'S army of the Potomac having returned to the old position held by them (some time before .MeeDE assumed the chief command with such exemplary diffidence) on the line of the Rappahannock. Granted all this, however, the result above specified still remains behind, now that we begin to look through all the hazy vapouring of the Northerners, that, as Pro fessor LONGFELLOW has it, "things are not what they seem," or at any rate not precisely what they seemed only as it were but yesterday. General JOHNSTONE has retreated, but—he has not been routed. His forces are not victors—but at the very least they are not dispersed, being, on the contrary, held admirably well together. Again, General GRANT'S successful troops—described so very recently as outnumbering their antagonists almost overwhelmingly—turn out, in point of numbers, to have been very considerably exaggerated. And since this revision of the Federal statements as to the relative strength of the forces respectively, at this juncture, under the banners of GRANT and of JOHNSTONE, it has been shrewdly calculated that the predominance numerically must before much longer, in the regular course of events, turn rather in favour of the Confederate Commander. The antici pation, here, resting princi pally, it should be remem bered, upon the all but certainty, as we may call it, of JOHNSTONE'S at present inadequate force being nearly doubled by the simple exchange of the Vicksburg garrison, now upon parole. A judicious correspondent of one of our contemporaries main taining the probability of this " doubling-up" (in a totally different sense from that intended SO recently by the Federals), this actual doubling-up of the Confederate force under JOHNSTONE, by reason simply of the circumstance of there being, as the writer opportunely remarks, " a very large number of prisoners dae to the South on account." Hence, because of these arrears alone in the striking of the balance, this same anticipated doubling-up of the Confederates under JOHNSTONE in the country of the Mississippi. Westward of that river still remain fully thirty thousand of the Confederate forces in arms—biding their time, perpetually on the alert for their (next opportunity, waiting for the close of the last deleterious warmth of the season, waiting for the recruits certain not to be waited for in vain. Whatever yet has oc curred in these recent transactions disadvantage ously for the Confederates—Sumter has not fallen, neither has Savannah, nor yet, again,has Charleston Charleston was to have 'alien for a dead certainty, and yet Charleston still obdurately holds out. Be sides which, turning from isolated positions to the situation and condition of the main army of the South under their redoubtable Chief, General LEE —we hardly know in what terms sufficiently igno minious were to be described the most fitly the situa tion into which the Confederate Commander-in- Chief had been driven, and the condition to which his main army had been reduced. Both of these gigantic advantages being due, of course,to Northern prowess, directed by the consummate generalship of the new Federal Commander-in-Chief, General MEADE—ad last, as head of the Northern army, that almost despaired-of desideratum, " the right man in the right place." The demoralisation of LEE'S forces, the utter discomfiture and craven flight of that boasted Captain of the South, were words feebly expressing the actual state of things subse quently to the close of the great battle of Gettysburg, and the subsequent hasty re-crossing of the Poto mac by the defeated and almost routed Confede rates. This —according to the Northern flourish of trumpets, audible only too plainly upon the morrow, so to speak, of President LINCOLN'S rididiculous serenade ! Facto, those horribly stubborn things, however, showed soon afterwards that again the New York narratives had been grossly, even more grossly than ever, exaggerated. General LEE'S defeat at Gettysburg was it appears so little of a de feat after all, that it turns out simply to have been (contrary to custom with him it is true)—No Victory. Flight there was none. Rout, as applied to any portion of his valiant army, were a phrase simply ridiculous. So fir from anything whatever of that kind having occurred, in relation to the Confederate troops under LEE, those troops, we know now for an absolute certainty, have been withdrawn by their Com mander quite deliberately, quite calmly, without haste, or opposition of any kind, taking with them not only the whole of the very considerable sup plies seized by them while in Maryland, but carry ieg off scot-free in their train as many as fifty pieces of the Federal artillery, captured by them while on the other aide of the Potomac Meantime, there is one circumstance related about the Federals, in regard to their most recent pro ceedinga in the conduct of this deplorable war, there is one circumstance Bo novel and so cruel of its kind, as to be (we cannot but call it) nothing less than a most dastardly innovation. A circumstance, it is, moreover, that has already twice of late called for words of the sternest re probation. These mrnarks having reference to the continent poeiticn in w hick the negto regiments j were placed in the assaults made respectively by the Fedi forces, now upon Fort Wagner, now upon Port Hudson. The unfortunate blacks being obvi ously placed in that conspicuous position, in both those assaults, simply for the purpose, it would seem, of distr acting the attention of the foe from the advanc ing troops of the North, and of concentrating upon the not appy negroes the fire of the beleagured garrisons! As the correspondent already alluded to, signing himself S. in the columns of our principal contemporary, scornfully remarks, " It is something new, in an age like this, to drive white American conscripts at the bayonet's point to the work of invading and destroying their fellow-countrymen ; but, beyond this, it will remain an indelible brand on the future history of the Northerners that they could not fight a people of less than a fourth of of their own numbers without getting negroes to help them." Remembering what the apologists of the North affect to regard as the origin of this miserable war, the course thus pursued by the North in these two most disgraceful incidents, is one not an iota lees contemptible of its kind than if the Yankee warriors were upon each occasion fighting behind the shelter of so many petticoats. If a too active and officious Government has i ot to b evils, as we are all ready to isadmit, itdrawbackse n questioned that there are very s active enough. an Administration that h enough. It is very annoying ttoahave tradeet ct d e manufacture harassed by constant inspection, and d laws ; to be unable to passrestricted i from c onetown meddlesome t o another without wasting rte b y precious hours at the bureaus of indifferent officials ; and we in England are so much in the habit of trusting to private enterprise, and of watching with a iealous eye any new assumption of Government authority, that we seldom complain that our con stitutional authorities are doing too little; or, if we do, we are very ready to accept the usual stereotyped reply that it is not desirable for Government to interfere. But there are cases in which King LOG is nearly as bad as King STORK, especially if King LOG refuses to let other people do his work. India may place defective legislation in the very first rank of her national drawbacks, and the hopeless view which so many of her statesmen persist in taking of her capabilities and prospects has helped much to retard their development. It is better to be too sanguine of the fortunes of a nation than not san guine enough. In the one case every chance will be given to the national fortunes, in the other the gifts of nature are neglected and left unused. The recent Address,:delivered by Sir ARTHUR COTTON to the Cslcutta Chamber, shows very clearly how much this been the case in our vast East Indian pos sessions. The subject of the eminent engineer's discourse was the connection of irrigation and navigation with the finances of India, and his re velations of the perverse indifference of the Govern ment to so wonderful a source of health, plenty, and capital is really marvellous. The facts he states are nncontroverted ; the arguments he draws from them are clear and logical; the evidence which supports his views is open to any one's in spection, yet year after year the land is left waste, alternately parched with drought and submerged by floods, while fever, sickness, and famine prey upon a population who might be living in health and plenty on the produce of the land were it once properly drained and irrigated. Some years ago Sir AtTHUR COTTON was despatched to visit the provinces of Cuttace and Pooree, that were endan gered. by the changes taking place in the great rivers ; and having seen in Madras how cheaply and easily districts liable to the double catastrophes of flood and drought can be raised to proportionate prosperity and comfort, be drew up a comparison between Cuttack and Tanjore, showing, he says, the comparative results of grievous neglect and moderate care." His report was of course tossed aside, disregarded, or, as he says, with well-merited satire, " The report of a man who was writing the results of nearly forty years' practical experience, and who supported his propositions by confirmed results over a vast extent of country, was submitted for the decision of a gentleman not quite oldenough to be his son, who had never seen a weir or an im proved delta." Another report on the state of the country between the Hooghly and the Ganges was treated in a s imilar manner, and the City of Palaces has been left to suffer the ills of bad water, delayed communication, and a fever-stricken neighbourhood. The scheme which Sir ARTHUR COTTON pro poses by which to regulate the flow of the mighty Indian r ivers is a very simple and comparatively inexpensive one ; it is, too, one which Nature herself is the first to faci litate. He proposes to construct large tanks in tha upper basins of several rivers in which he has reason to believe he can store any quantity of water at a very trifling cost ; and it is important to re member that such tanks answer a double purpose by supplying water in time of need and in diminishing the floods in the country below. Those unfamiliar with the subject are apt, says the engineer, to suppose that works of great extent are needed to control floods. But it is generally only the last pool or two that does the mischief, and a flood seldom lasts more than a few hours at its height ; so that a comparatively small body of water detained for a time will divest it of its dangers. The materials for the works are ready to our hand. The Soane alone has water enough for a million acres in the dry season, besides suppli es f rom ot h er r i vers. The money that is laid out in providing for the passage of heavy floods through bridges in the low country, might, says Sir ARTHUR C OTTON very justly, have been more effectually and satisfac torily spent in preventing the floods by storing the water in the upper country, so that India at this mo ment might have had large stores of water in the upper basins of every great river, while in the dry season a fresh and plentiful supply of one of the first ne cessaries of life would have been flowing through the plains now parched and arid, while the demon of fever would no longer find a potent agent in the stagnant pools, from which the people are compelled to drink, and all this without any additional out lay ! The greater part of India affords remarkable facilities for such a scheme in the natural basins which only require small gorges to be closed to con nect them into vast water tanks. As a proof of the comparative expense of the method proposed and that now followed, we are told that water can be thus stored at the rate of about half a rupee for one thousand cubic yards ; while at present it is raised from wells in the dry season, at a cost of from two to five rupees per I,eoo cubic yards. The difference between the fer tilising properties of fresh water, and that which has already percolated the earth must be well known to every agriculturist. In the plains south of the Ganges, it is found that from a dam thrown across the Soane a line canal can be led on a dead level to Allahabad, a distance of 170 miles, thus providing for the supply of water to the whole plain west of the mouth of the Soane and south of the Ganges. The profits resulting f rom such a change are almost incredible, but can be essay believed by those who have witnessed the disastrous effects of a " dry sea son." As a proof of the value of water in India, we learn that a gentleman had a piece of land which he let at sie annas an care; he dug a well thirty feet'dcep, when he let the stale land at six rupees an acre, The Scone projea i 5 iL:endcd to irrigate two millions and a quarter of awes, mod to bring a plentiful supply of water to Ca►cutta, which by the provision of the necessary water power will be raised to tha highest biddings. This will add but little to the expense as a supplement to the original scheme, while its advantages to Calcutta will be incalculable. The Oude project is still larger and less expensive from the nature of the country. The engineers calculate that they can readily supply eight millions of acres in this pro vince, so that the whole area from Itohilcund to the Ganges and the North-Western districts of Bengal can be irrigated and their produce brought down to Calcutta for export to the foreign markets —a result equally encouraging to British enterprise and native industry. We are not surprised from Sir CDARLES WOOD'S general policy that while the local authorities encourage the scheme, the Govern ment have as yet done absolutely nothing with these startling facts before their eyes. The accoucts leave the subject out altogether, though their reve lations might convince the most sceptical. Such perversity and inaction have been the bane of India. Why should one of the largest and most important of our possessions be governed according to preju dice ? No colony peopled by Ecglishmen would have submitted to such a rule, but advantage is taken of native ignorance and indolence. Such con duct is the more extraordinary from its financial effects. Sir ARTHUR COTTON, in his able and in teresting address, to which we shall return at an early oppportunity, gives what may be called a Budget of the irrigation expenditure and profit, whose "unanswerable logic of facts" does not reflect very creditably on the India office or the Calcutta authorities. According to all accounts affairs are progressing most satisfactotily regarding the Congress at Frank fort, which is fixed to take place on the 16th of this month. The Emperor of AUSTRIA has worked wonders so far, and it is to be hoped that he will go on prospering in his good work, and by uniting divers interests and joining severed links in unity, be may succeed in his grand design and realise his noble project of rehabilitating the state of Germeny . Of course there have been some contretemps to en counter, and some difficulties that would not be surmounted, but that is to be expected in the natural order of things when an important national undertaking is set on foot, and where so many rivalries and jealousies are perforce awakened. The King of PRUSSIA has evidently aspired to the honour of becoming the Marplot on this grand decisi In, and is determined that if any progress is made no one shall say that it is his fault, or that he had any share in the plot or plan. The interview between the Sovereigns at Gastein, from which event so much was expected to accrue, and of which so many beneficial results were predicted, seems to have been a failure. Count BISMARK is certainly King WILLIAM'S evil genius, he haunts him like a shadow, and is ever on the spot to do away with any good impressions made by others and to insinuate his own views in contradistinction to the opinions of new and better advisers. The EMPEROR, it i 3 said, invited the KING personally to attend the Congress. This circumstance certainly renders th© refusal the more ungracious, and gives a more marked charac ter to the already too significant denial. Of course in a verbal explanation so much mare could be said and treated of than in a stiff and formal dispatch, and therefore it can be from no lack of comprehension regarding the object and intentions of the EMPEROR that the unwise and unexpected denial was uttered. The excuse given for the KING'S absence is most absurd, and of course M. BISMARK figures promi nently as the cause. He, it is said, desires the Mi nisters to have a conference before the Sovereigns do so. H the object of this unexpected alteration in the programme be to preclude the Prussian Minister from using any power or exercising any influence in the deliberations that take place, and the plans that are resolved upon, certainly the resolution to decline the invitation is a wise one, and likely to prove conducive to happy results. It is to be pre sumed that the enlightened statesman whom tome doubtless ararbiter consider as a heaven-born minister pri vilegedich has toe rof tu his r make r u le or the mar destiniesth e fortunes o fprinces, o f is States, highlyan d the indigna n t a t t h e want o f respect and reverence wh asbeenshoewciuestntohy other hisde Powers. A mands,andth u e ignoring t Ccesar acct Nail is his motto, and since he may not bring his skill to their counsels, and exercise his eloquence to rule their actions, he will have nothing to do with the affair, and uses his potent in fluenceatnod bring thus his a d a master e to c 0 a urse wro a n d g opt d :d - . It is very an m shortsighted, too, on the part of the KING and his Minister not to see the grand chance trey are throwing away so recklessly, and the glorious opportunity that may not occur again speedily, and perhaps never in their lifetime. If Prussia now draws back from this conference of nations she w il l l os e a place she may never afterwards regain, and forfeit the chance of giving advice and imparts i n influence on momentous occasions. It is stated :kitting that they are in a p os i t i on had erieneae e b se dinget na "the fordge r y te n hcs i se d ß p: ful. ovrfGsp purpose 1 t e em n l oaN n fnc d pE a rr t i o n th e r s tbo u e y p m o t m r dh t ee o circulate d a t a s t i h t l e y a i t n It is most probable that a b n e a he m ld iss a i be feared the denial is true, for it is to that the t on F t r o au th k e fo(.:t o 2 n , King of P R USSIA is not like l y to chcose his son as his representative after th e serious differences that have taken place between them on the subject of the changes that have been made in the constitution of Prussia. In reality there could not be a better envoy than the PRINCE, who bppears duly impressed with the importance of free institutions, and, so far as can be gathered from his remarks on various occasions, to entertain very correct notions re garding the maintenance of popular rights. However, it is not very lik e ly, for that very reason, that the CROWN PRR:CE will be selected as the representative of his country, which had better not be represented at all if the same misguided views and mischievous policy are to rule and actuate her Statesmen and be firmly upheld by her King. It is said that the Emperor of AUSTRIA is not influenced by personal desires of ambition, but is solely actuated by the desire to benefit Germany. It is to be hoped that this is the case; and certainly, so far, he has shown a spirit of firmness and an enlightened policy that do hint infinite credit. His desire to improve the cond ition of Germany is the more remarkable when so m uch confusion reigns in the councils of the surrou ndin g states, and in some places there are raging such strife and anarchy. In Prussia, for instance, there is an universal feeling of discontent now rife among the people, and liable at any fresh provocation to entail serious consequences. Poland is in a de plorable state ; and the present condition of Rus sian affairs is rife with discord, engaged as is the Court of St. Petersburg in disputes with nearly al' the kingdoms of Europe. It is at this critical juncture that the Emperor of AUSTRIA seeks to restore Germany to her pristine power. The grandson of FRANCIS the Second endeavours to renew some of the advantages and to revi ve the greatness th a t h as b een d ecay i n g since his grand father resigned the Imperial crown of Rome. It is eNttd that the objets Frepeeed by the CoEferetee is the union of the several princes, that every State should heep its sovereignty intact, but that there should be complete unity amorg their several rulers. If this result is achieved, the Congress now about to take place will have effected more good than generally ensues from such meetings, that too often begin and end in wordy warfare, and have nothing stable or lasting to chow for the result of their vaunted intentions. FRANCIS JOSEPH has come forward in an un expected manner at t hi s time, and it is to be trusted that he will redeem the Fledges he h - ,s given o f goo d w ill to t h e true interests of all States, wh et h er t h ey b e Em pires Kingdoms, or Confederations. He has evinced a desire to be ruled by the principles of truth and justice in contra distinction to the arbitrary laws of despotic councils, and in doing so he has conferred signal benefits on his own dominions. If he now seek to impart the same influence elsewhere, and show to those who are perplexed by distracting and diverse opinions that union is strength, and that the brtsts of all strong constitutions it the recognition of po pular rights, he will be dcing the grea t es t serv i ce in his generation, and earn f or hi mself a place i n history that is only accorded to the benefactors of their kind, whether they be crowned heads or obscure individuals. When a powerful Monarch joins the march of progress and follows enlightened views, the best results are sure to e nsue , an d th e most propitious events may b e con fid ently es pected, without any undue hopes being indulged in, or the beholders foretelling a too flattering augury. Mr. Coxwell's Description of a Balloon Sur vey of Portsmouth, &c. As my recent aerial reconnaissance at Aldersh o t had been witnessed by Mr. Brown, the prop r i etor of the Portsmouth Recreation Grounds, I was ap_ plied to by that gentleman to ascertain whether I would attempt any experiment of a similar charac ter at this famous seaport. Having explained the nature of my engagement at Aldershot, and that it was in compiiance with Government orders, Mr. Brown decided to have a public ascent. I agreed to make one or two co nditions —Firstly, that it should take place if t h e w ind was fair for the Isle of Wight;secondly, that I would offe r no ob j ecti on if I could even ski rt t h e coa st or proceed somewhat the infliti on o f my Mr. Douglas, th e eng i ne er of the gasworks, in tended to make v ery cons iderable preparations for mam moth balloon, but time would not permit hi m t o do so by the 1 0 th, on which day Mr. B rown h a d promised to have an ascent. It was doubtful cven whether my balloon—the Evening Star --could be filed, so that I borrowed a small one from Mr. Gouens, and it was well filled by the appointed hour-7 o'clock—the wind at that timo being f res h f rom t h e westward, which occa sioned much doubt as to whether I would make the ascent or not. Rel y in g u pon the careful observations I had pre viously made with chart, compass, and pilot bal• loons, and all ow i ng for l o cal variations. I left the North -end G ar d ens at 7. 15, with full confidence as to my prob a bl e course. The scene which opened out in the s p ace of five m inutes was altogether novel. Inst ea d of the w idespread landscape, so familiar to aerial voyagers, with its variegated sur face of green an d b rown fields, I now had a com manding view o f a b eaut if u l island and of a town and harbou r so surroun ded by water , with the Channel bey on d , that re liance I had i n t h e dire, had it not been for the c , ion of th e wind, appearances would seem to i n di cate t h a t I was lik el y to be bl own away due so ut h, and to d r ift out to se a . Alt hough I was provid e d w i th an ex cellent bar ometer, ther mometer, &c., by N egre tti and Z imbra, and pre sented to me by Mr. Glaisher , I had very little op portunity of using th e m frequently , and I felt how valuable Mr. Gl a i s h er 's presence would have been in the car. What most engaged my own attention was a gene ral survey of the town, fortifications, and shipping, with a view of military a pp lications for war pur poses. I was agre eabl y surprised, the atmosphere being cl ear , bow well I could p erceive and count the cannon mounted on the ram p arts, the ships in ordi nary, and, by their white streaks and portholes, their relative sizes, whether corvettes, c d o rmvieltitteasry ,stronghold frigates, o or lof p ine-oofr-tbsccatcttlie,hsbeis a ps. The bold and 'ending features might have been canvassed in an interesting man ner had I bad companions, instead of being alone. I very soon satisfied myself most thoroughly as to the extent of objects visible to the naked eye and tot n ordinary vision assisted by a common opera-glass. A t 7.3 s—barometer 26.6, thermome ter 46—1 saw through a glass the visitors on Ryde. pier promenading. The distance could not have been less thi n seven or eight miles. I observed also marines or soldiers of the line in front of a guard house, and several steamers between Gosport and Southaea Castle. Being soon over the water, I had to withdraw y atteation and look Aheadna . The course of the balloon was direct to Chichester, a more sell' her ly breeze began to alter my bat o urse, and I hoped to re ach Goodwood, where w e so lately descended after a scientific voyage from the Crystal Palace. As the s hades of evening came I fo'ind I was making for se veral extensiv e woo d s on hi gr ound between Singleton and Arundel. As I crossed the fir st wood a large meteor shot .or shot towards but over the balloon from a n easterly direction another quick l y followin g ; a nd although , upon their s u p Posed altitude, and felt I relied personal security, Yet I could not but compare my situa tion to that of a ship whiii re t wo across he r bows, or perhaps a 241b "Ivesashot or rocket, as a warning to haul to or alte course in obedi to the dictates of an enemy. The late hour of the night, and the high upon which Nor a Wood is s ground situated, compelled me t o cas t anchor a ODg several high beech trees. Ind ee d, na I had to let off gas end le ave the ballo all night be fore I secure d and packed i suspended it up. Several gentlemen v olunteered t o ass i st me at day li g ht, an d we proceed ed at 5 o'c lock to the w ith ropes, la dder s , and hat place of d escen t hatchets, ready to lop off boughs or fell a tree, if necessary, rather tha n in jure the s aloon. , wa s obliged to return to tre e at least 60 feet from terra firm a d own a 0e ground. In th e morn ing the ball oon had quietly slid dow n th rough t h e boughs, and was not in nay way d amage d . Th e magnificent and complete bird' s - e y e v i ew I h a d of the Isle of Wight would occupy too much space and time to describe lVlooday was most . Altogether, my v o yage on • exciting, and in m an y r espects Pecu liar, differing, as it did,' beg therefore to furnish you with from my own account previous trips. I of it, tr ust ing that some few of your readers may fiud it interesting. CULTIVATION OF PEACHES AND NECTARINES. -- Peach and nectarine trees thrive well in the s ame kind of border t h at i s made for vines; and it is requisite to lay a quantity of h ard rubble or strong gravel beneat h the border to preve n t t h eir roots running down. I n a span roof orchard-h ouse p l ant the trees on each side o f the centretbe walk, at a suffi c i ent distance fr om the walk, t hat be branches will not obstruct the pathway, but they . w." . y, allowed to extend over the pathway at seven feet hil: r iam t l . h • both sides of the house are planted in this man: with peach, nectarine, and plum trees alternately, effect. a perfect grove, which will have a most enchan tingthe ill be hibberd's Gardener's Magazine. THE COMMISSI ON ON T HE Hp,—A L Trx OF OUR her all the INDIAN TROOPS.—After getting g evidence they could think of or deg mi s s Nightingale, cm/ wieners put it into the hand.slo ret,itheetinvestigating inqui , y i s in great to whom the institution of th measure due —requesting her f ;e, c°n a l tely chose to print her . wlio :lent on it for their guidance. They wisely convey some very commentary with their r:Plodrtf.°l:tu:n: na to ay be hoped that it will also be published separately, that important knowledge to thousa n ds of f f =persons who never enormous Blue dream of sitting down to the stu d y book.—Once a Week. A YANKEE BULL.--'A Massachusetts judge has decided that a husband may ope n his wife's letters, on the ground —so often and so terse ly stated by Mr. Theophilus . t. the . husband and wire are Parsons, of Cambridge — th e— , that one i 011 e, and OW ale ttilb Ar4d is 1 LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) HER MAJESTY'S JOURNEY. BRUSSELS, AUG. 13 (Noon). Her Mcjesty Queen Victoria and the Royal chi:dren arrived yesterday evening at the palace of Lacken. The King of the Belgians and the Duke and Duchess of Brabant received the Royal party at ,he private railway station. The Queen's suite were conducted to the palace at Brussels. A grand dinner was given at Lacken in honour of her INl6je,ty. DENMARK. REFUSAL OF THE KING TO ATTEND THE FRANKFORT CONFERENCE. COPENHAGEN, AUG. 13. The King of Denmark has declined to be present at the conference of the sovereign members of the German Confederacy, to woich his ?Majesty was invited by the Emperor of Austria. A grand military camp will be established and a review held at the end of this month near Danne kirke, in Schleswig, The King will visit the camp. aERM A N Y . VIENNA, AUG. 13. Very animated conferences took place yesterday at Gastain between the King of Prussia, the Crown Prince, and Herr von Bibmark. It is asserted that Prussia intends to secede from he German Confederation. The Crown Prince left Gastein yesterday. SPAIN, MADRID, AUG. 12. It is reported that the Council of Ministers has approved of the new situation that has arisen in Mexico, and will despatch a special envoy to Paris. Senor Pacheco is spoken of as likely to be sent to Paris, Senor Bravo Gonzales going to London. AUSTRIA AND MEXICO. VIENNA, AIM. 13. The Oesterreichische Zeitung, in an article on the election of the Archduke Maximilian to the throne of M e 4 ino, says The acceptance or refusal of the throne is, up to the present time, a personal affair with the Archduke. The Austrian Govern ment has in no way interfered in the question, and taken no part in the negotiations relative thereto. The Emperor Napoleon, in communicating direct with the Archduke, has also perfectly maintained this point of view. Negotiations have been opened solely between the two high personages, and not between France and Austria. The conduct of the Emperor has thus been marked both by courtesy and loyalty. " The situation of Mexico might lead, at a later period, to differences with America_ But all this is irrevelant so long as the matter has a personal cha racter, apart from politics. It is for the Archduke in his wisdom and in consulting his own tastes to see whether ho will enter into this affair, and what guarantees he can obtain. The Archduke is too experienced a man to accept the offer of the Mexi cans before their country be entirely submitted, and before it has expressed itself tht ()ugh the medium of freely-elected representatives. The Oesterreichische Zeitung concludes :—" Tho whole subject is one of a very delicate and difficult nature, and must be treated with prudence and ability." WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS. 60U IHAANIP TON, AUG. 13. The Royal Mail steamer Seine, with the above mails, arrived off the Needles at 1.10 p.m. to-day. FRANCE. PARIS, AUG. 13. The Moniteur of this morning publishes a letter from Pekin, dated the 13th June, stating that the insurrectionary movements in the southern pro vinces are creating serious embarassments to the Government. BOURSE, Aug. 12.—Business continues I:mited in amount, speculators keeping away as much as they can in contequence of the heat of the weather. Threes, for the Account, are unvaried at 67f. 45c. The Railway Share Market quiet, but prices were pretty well maintained. The market closed as follows : it per Cents . . 96 50 Do. end month.... 3 per Cents Do. end month 67 40 Credit Mobilie- lOB2 50 On, end mnnth 1077 50 Bank Shares 1365 Credit r oncier 1250 Italian Loan — Do. end month — New ditto — Do. end month — Russian Austrian Spanish Threes.,, florae Debt - RAILWA.YB. Cash. Account. Orleans lO2O .. 1017 50 Northern New ditto - Lyons and Medi tGrran can 1026 25 .. 1027 50 Ge n e va .. Southern 7OO .. 698 75 Western ........ 525 .. 525 Eastern .... Sardinian .......... • • -- -- Austrian Lombard North of Spain • • Saragossa • • 352 50 .. 348 76 Ditto to Barcelona THE N, LONDON, TIIURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 13, 1363. RUSSIA. Advices from St. Petersburg state that a great number of Swedish families have left that capital. Throughout the whole of the North war is consi• sidered probable. The Swedish, journals state that after the interview which lately took place between the Kings of Sweden and Denmark, a committee composed of Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians was formed for the purpose of deliberating on the orga nisation of a common maritime defence for the three Scandinavian States. AMERICA. (Per the Nova Scotian, via Greencastle.) NEW YORE, Aug. 1. General Gilmore has applied to the Government for reinforcements of troops at Charleston. On the 29th he had erected batteries within 250 yards of Fort W a gner, and mounted three heavy guns one mile and a quarter from Fort Sumter. General Burnside has declared martial law in Kentucky. Gold advanced this morning to 129 a, and fell in the afternoon to 128. Exchange, 142, Treasury 7-30 Notes, 1068; New York Central Railway, 127; Erie, 104; Illi nois Central, 114. Cotton, 162!,c. Breadstuffs irregular. Pro7isions more active, at lower prices. Sugars, 10c. to 12c. THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—The working of the Metropolitan line by the Great Western Railway Company having ceased on Monday evening, the traffic was worked on Tuesday morning by the Great Northern Company on the narrow gauge rails. Whether owing to the want of adequate rolling stock or to some imperfection in the arrangements, great inconvenience to the public was occasioned by delays in the trains. At King's-cross station such was the state of things that the clerks declined at one period to take money from intending passengers, and refused to return money to persons who had paid their fares and found themselves unable to proceed to their destination with sufficient speed. The train leav ing Bishop's-road station at 9.30 was drawn by an old en gine which, it is alleged, was out of order, and no sooner had the train left the station than the engine ran off the line, causing considerable alarm to the passengers, none of whom, however, were hurt. Assistance was procured, and in a short time the engine was lifted on the rails. A ton porary stoppage of the Mad' occurect, MUSIC. Hymns, Sacred Part Songs, and other Pieces. Edited by Frederick Westlake, Parts I. and 11. Lambert and Co. The combination in this beautiful series of Hymns and other Sacred Pieces, the intimate and appro priate combination in them of Good Music and Good Poetry, both of a religious character—is the simple but admirable design set before himself by the compiler and editor of the Publication. So far as the working out of such a design can be estimated upon an examination of two instalments, the initial one and its immediate successor, we can speak of it in terms not merely of unhesitating ap proval but in those of real and unaff&cted admira tion. Within the compass of these two intro ductory Parts alone, comprising in one of them 13 and in the other 19 distinct compo sitions, no less than 23 out of the 29 pieces thus given have been composed expressly for the work under notice. Of these twenty-three original pieces four are from the hand of Mr. .Westlake himself—and of themselves, by their varied merit, justify his position as supervisor of the whole serial collection. Macfarren, Molique, Meyer Lutz, John Barnett and Henry Leslie, Schultes, and Schacher are particularly noticeable also among the other contributors. The pieces are variously arranged for two, three, or four voices. The accompaniments are, at choice, for organ, harmonium, or pianoforte. Living composers, and these both English and Foreign, as the names already specified sufficiently indicate, are intended to be chief contributors to a work as carefully selected and as intrinsically beau tiful of its kind, as a.whole, as it is a perfect marvel of cheapneess in the mere manner of its publication. Sight Singing made Easy. pp. 32. Lambert and Although this little sixpenny manual (designed for choirs, schools, and cuoral societies) does not assume to itself any notable originality either in plan, principle, matter, or arrangement—as its own prospectus very candidly acknowledges—it will be none the less welcome, or the less usetul,we are certain of that, when it comes to be examined into by those for whose use it has been expressly designed. It is wonderful how much practical instruction has been comprised within so small a compass, and that what has been so compressed there, has been ren dered, in spite of the compression, so perfectly corn. prehensible in every way to the least tutored learner. Intended, as its very title page intimates, to em brace the advantages of the Tonic Sol-fa System with the ordinary musical notation, it is calculated to render sight-singing' easy to all comers, that is to the disciples of both schools or systems —easy, that is, upon one simple condition that the instructions here compacted together be practised or acted upon within a reason able interval with assiduous application. TELEGRAPH TO INDIA. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. your impression of yesterday there was, an article on the Persian Gulf Cable, in which it is stated that in point cf conductivity and insulation this cable comes so nearly up to the standard of electrical perfection that (in the writer's opinion) it " will remain good for 100 years," and that the cause of failure in the Atlantic, Red Sea, Toulon, and Algiers, and the Malta and Alexandra Cables will be avoided, and, above all, the imperative necessity of having no section of submarine I.ne more than 600 miles in length. Now, the Persian Gulf Cable possesses the same elements of destruction as the Malta and Alexandria, Toulon and Algiers, and the Red Sea cables aid, viz., gutta percha containing impurities in combination with Stockholm tar and resin ; in the outer covering the wires are protected with hemp, resin, and tar. The Persian Gulf cable has the addition of sillica and bitumen, or mineral pitch. This compound is thought all that is required for sections not more than 600 miles in length. A little chemis try in relation to submarine telegraphy is all that is required to show clearly that the said compound is neither flexible or impervious to water, nor is it capable of resisting tropical heat or the attacks of marine insects. I beg to state that the principle cause of failure in long lengths of submarine lines consists in the impurities contained in the gutta percha: so long as the impurities aro kept dry they act as partial non conductors, but when they become hydrous decomposition takes place slowly and surely according to the size of the conductor, the length worked through, and the battery power used. I quite agree with the writer that longer lengths of cable than 600 miles would not remain commercially useful for long, if constructed on the principles of the Persian Gulf line. I may add that a cable is in progress that will in one section connect England with America, and will, I have no doubt, remain commercially useful without the aid of gutta percha in combination with Stockholm tar and resin as the insulating medium, nor will pitch, tar, or silica be used as an outer protection for the fibrous or metallic strands, and it will not cost more than the Persian Gulf cable. I am, sir, your obedient servant, J. MACINTOSH. MOHAMMED ALI.—A native of Roumelia, where he had been a trader in tobacco, this great man originally entered Egypt with the force which, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, finally expelled the French from the coup try ; and to him it was principally due that the Matne luke Beys did not after that event recover their former supremacy. As Mr. Paton speaks from perso na l observe ti n, his estimate of this remarkable character is worthy of attention. He attributes to him consummate coolness in the greatest dangers, profound dissimulation of his own p l ans , coupled with a marvellous discernment of the mo tives of others, and unbounded liberality to his friends. The picture has, however, its darker shades. He was perfectly unscrupulous in the choice of means to gain his ends; he was morbidly desirous of imp or t ance in the councils of nations, and quite in the dark as to the truths of political economy. e can feel little wonder at this in a man who only learnt to read and write when forty-three years old: A NATIVE MOOR OR ALGERINE. Generally handsome, and with a fair but colourless complexion, the Moor's dark eyes and regular features are mostly cha racterised by an expression mild to effeminacy. Fond of dress and of brilliant colours, he always carries his some what portly person in as costly a manner as his means per mit. Indolent by nature, he never in any grade of life engages but it some sedentary occupation. If belonging to the upper classes, he keeps a stall or bazaar in a native street, where, quite indifferent to the absenci of customers, he smokes, drinks coffee, and chats with passing friends. The greatest effort which he makes is to jog placidly along to his country garden, seated on a broad well-cushioned saddle, borne by a quiet mule. Every act, look, and attitude of the Moor indicates his love of ease. The occupations of the Meor in a humble rank of life are very limited in number. He embroiders jackets, vests, girdles, purses, shoes, and trappings for horses. He makes silk laces, trinkets, and earthenware jars, which he embellishes with coloured streaks in a pecu liar manner. The gay trousers worn by the Moorish lady, and the rich jacket of her husband, are both fashioned by his needle. He distils essences ()Nose and jasmine, and weaves mats and baskets of the dwarf palm. The Moor has an innate love of beauty. The colours of his dress are well-assorted, and his embroidery designs are graceful. He is passionately fond of flowers—he has them often in a jar beside him as he works, and be frequently inserts them beneath the edge of his fez or turban ; the oppressive frag rance of the large white jasmine and the orange flower is his delight. Though loving to lie in shade, he likes to have a gush of sunshine lighting up the scene on which he looks. Polite in speech, his gestures are always graceful, his bearing dignified, and the calm self - possession of his address is never disturbed by the most unexpected incident. —" Through Algeria," recently published by Bentley. THE GREAT EASTERN.—The Great Elstarn left the Mersey yesterday morning for New York, via Queens. town, and, as usual, large numbers of people crowded both sides of the river to see her off. Besides a large cargo, the Great Eastern takes out 900 passengers, and at Queenstown she will take on board about 200 more. MAILS TO THE UNITED STATES, &e.—Her Ma jesty's Government having revived the contract with the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company (which was terminated in May, 1861) for the conveyance of mails once a fortnight between Galway and the United States, mails will be made up in London on the evening of Monday the 17th August, and thenceforward on the evening of every alternate Monday, and forwarded to Galway, to be despatched on the following euy to their destination. The packets will proceed alternately to Boston and New York, calling at St. John's, Newfoundland. Ad letters, &c for the United States, Canada, and Newfoundland, which are posted in time, will be forwarded in these mails. Let,ters, &e., for any British North American colony (except Ca. nada and Newfoundland) intended to be . sent by the se packets, gust be specially directed " V i a the United States:i The rates of postage upon letters, &c., intended to be forwarded by these packets will be the same as by th e British packets from Liverpool calling at Q ueenstown. The first homeward packet of this line will leave Boston on Tuesday, the Bth September, and wid be due at Galway on the 18th September. The next will leave New York on Tuesday the 22d September, and will be due at Galway on the 2d October. —By command of the Postmaster -General, ROWLAND HILL, Secretary,—Goneral Post<eiilee, lath .61.'agus c, 180. k- • arra 11 v 4 o rm , s , Litgbr. HER, MAJESTY. The Victoria and Albert, having on board the Queen, Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice, left the Thames early yesterday morning for Antwerp. The Royal yacht was convoyed across the Channel by tho Vivid, the Osborne, and other vessels. The Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia. Although the denial has come by telegraph that the Crown Prince of Prussia has been summoned to. Gastein by the King, his fath er , f or th e purpose of • "proceeding on a mission to the Congress of German princes, to be held at Frankfort," there is no doubt that his Royal Highness is at Gastein, and that he has gone there in obedience to a wish expressed by the King. The Crown Prince left Berlin, for the place mentioned on Saturday evening, and was accom panied to the railway station by the Crown Princess, who returned to Potsdam. It is considered that the stay of the prince at Gastein will be exceedingly brief. Towards the close of the stay of their royal high nesses on the Island of Rugen, an excursion was made with the Prince and Princess Putbus to a hunting villa, possessed by the latter. On Mon day week the Crown Prince and Crown Princess paid a visit to Prince Adalbert, who was at anchor a short distance off in the Prussian war steamer Niobe. On Wednesday their royal big:inesses left the island after a residence there of five weeks, and on their departure the Prussian national hymn was played, and the inhabitants cheered most heartily, at the same time waiving hats and hand kerchiefs, a demonstration which the Prince on Princess repeatedly clinowledged. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambriilge le Gloucester House, Piccadilly, last evening, for G.lnian to pass a few weeks. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duche d'Aumale have left Orleans House, Twickenham, for Pen carrow, Cornwall, the seat of Lady Molesworth. Their Serene Highnesses Prince and Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar have left town on a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Richmond at Gordon Castle, near Fochabere, N.B. • the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort and family have left Badminton, Gloucestershire, fer Troy House, Monmouthshire, and afterwards go to the other family b eat in Wales, Llangattock Park. His Excellency Baron Gros, the French Ambas sador, will leave the Embassy to-day for Paris on a short leave of absence. The Marquis and Marchioness of Clan ricarde, the Hon. F. Calthorpe, M.P., and Mr. F. F. Courtcnay have left Port Eliot, the seat of the Earl of St, Germans, fur Pencarrow, on a visit to Lady Molesworth. The Marquis of Hastings has left Long's Hotel for Scotland. His Excellency senator Hat and Do❑ Jose d'Huk have left Edwards's Royal Cr.mbridge Hotel, George-street, on their way to Madrid. The Earl and Countess Howe are entertaining a select circle at Gopsall Hall, Leicestershire. The Earl of Hopetoun has left Long's Hotel for Scotland. Tne Countess (Dowager) of Lichfield and Lady Gwendolena Anson have left town for Switzerland. The countess and dauguter will return for the marriage of Major the Hon. Augustus H. Anson, Y.C., and Miss Clauglaton, niece of the Earl of Dudley. The Baron and Baroness Keilburg and family have left the Brunswick, Jermyn-street, fpr Paris, on their way to Switzerland. The Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bert., M.P., left town on Tuesday last to join Lady Emily Peel at their villa at Geneva. The Right Hon. SiL Alexander Cockburn, the Lord Chief Justice of England, left town yesterday to spend a few weeks in Germany. Baron Charles de Rothschild has arrived at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, from Frankfort. Count and Countess 3zechenyi Gnd suite have left Long's Hotel for the Isle of Wight. Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston left London yesterday for Weimer Castle, Kent. Lord and Lady Willoughby de Eresby will enter tain a succession of guests at Drummond Castle, Perth shire, during the shooting season. Lord and Lady Vaugha❑ have arrived at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, from Beechgrove, Aberystwith. A marriage is about to take place between Lord Londesborough and the Lady Edith Somerset, youngest daughter of the late Duke of Beaufort. PROPOSED CATHOLIC REFORMATORY SHIP FOR THE MERSEY.—A number of the leading Cush°lice of Liverpool and its district met on Monday evening at the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson•street, to consider the advisa bility of establishing a Catholic reformatory on the plan of the present reformatory ship Akbar, moored in the Mersey'. Sir Robert Gerard presided, and the meeting was addressed by Mr. Aspinall, Q.C., Recorder of Liverpool, Mr. W. Blundell, Mr. R. Shell, and others. Ultimately resolutions were adopted to establish a reformatory, and also a yearly fund to meet the expenses which would be involved beyond the Government grant. The Chairman intimated that after a man-of-war had been obtained, £l,OOO would be sufficient to convert it into a reformatory. During the proceedings a letter was read from Mr. T, S. Raffles, to the effect that the establishment of a Catholic reformatory would relieve him from a difficulty which he had often felt in dealing with criminals of the Catholic faith. Before the meeting closet subscriptions to the extent of upwards of £7OO were received. SHAKSPEARE'S COMMEMORATION.—A writer in the bcotsman says :—•' It is n ow 6on_e time since it was determined in London that the 23d April, 1864, should be seized as a fit occasion for a col:immolation worthy of the name of Shakspeare. Shakspeare having been born on the 23d April, 1564, this date would be the tri-centenary of his birth. The leading literary papers have viewed the pro ject with great favour, and the 4tlteneeuet weekly contains paragraphs announcing new distinguished names as mem bers of the committee for promoting the commemoration. This committee now presents not only the names of most of the distinguished living English writers and the Macenase of English literature, bat also many foreign littercacurs of eminence. Of course, Scotland now holds Shakspeare to be almost as much her own as she holds Scott and Burns; and no petty distinction of the nationalities of England and Scotland aro suffered for a moment to injure the love and honour with which Scotland cherishes the name of Shak speare. James VI of Scotland became indeed James I. of England while Shakspere yet survived, and Scotland and Eugland became one kingdom. It seems, then, somewhat strange that Edinburgh, which not many years ago swayed the literary sceptre of Great Britain, and yet, next to Lon don, bears the highest literary repute, should have made no sign of seizing the occasion to honour the name of him whom all the British Empire at least acknowledges to be the greatest uninspired genius that ever lived. Can we nut have a committee for the commemoration, who would do honour to themselves, to Scotland, and to the occasion ?" THE FLYING PIEMAN !—When I was a young ster (says Aleph, in his recent anecdotes about Old London), the steep roadway from Hatton-garden to Fleet market was highly attractive to me on account of the Fly ing Plenum, though he did not vend pies, but a kind of baked plum pleading, which he offered smoking hot. lie was a slim, active, middle-sized man, probably about forty years old. He always wore a black suit, scrupulously brushed, dress coat and vest, knee breeches, stout black silk stockings, and shoes with steel buckles —then rather fashion.. able. His shirt, remarkably well got up, had a wide frill, e ha i pe t r h h s urmounted o e en r ld i powdered v s ha t isc o mh r a cb hl ay al Pr; circular lr a ye n hs u p r d i I s e lh a t r he hair,eht was s re s ady t white t .r d oo o r e p h c b p o i so e r aade cravat, knees.r. a w y ju t with nl or l a a s hr ee di s e e wni righti as7oet plenti fullyeru w a ht n a e receive an appetite-provoking pudding about three Lucius thick, which was divided into twelve slices, which he sold at a penny a slice. A broad blunt spatula, leithantly bright, is Lich. he carried in his left hand, enabled him to dispense his sweets without ever touching them. His coun tenance was open and agreeable, expressive of intellect and moral excellence. Precisely as St. Andrew's cleck struck twelve at noon, Peter Stokes turned out of Fetter-lane with his tempting pastry, and from that moment up to four o'clock he was incessantly occupied in a rapid transit from. the lane to Ely-place, thence to Thavies-inn, and across to Field-lane, or from Hatton-garden to Fleet enarket, never pausing longer than would enable him to deliver a slice of pud ding to.sonae expectant customer, and shouting without pause, "Buy, buy, buy," adroitly darting from side to side, never lingering till the road was clear, but piloting his way be tween carts, waggons, and coaches, and profluing his g to all passers, with the not unmusical accompani ment or t , Buy, buy, buy." If any peripatetic pilgrim felt his longing for a slice overcome him, as Peter flashed be tween a dray and a goatleman's carriage, his penny must be ready and held up, or the man would be 100 yards off in a few seconds. His board was often cleared in a angle run between the Garden and the Market. Th e r inging syllables, Bay, buy, buy ," were repeated unconsciously ovand he would dive o u t o f s i g h t o. fresh su quite understood w h ere was. On a finPeerpdlaya day he ehanle"e you j could trays 0;3 ho o f 0 rouild 4 , o f pudding h.te-seet 12 and .1 o'clock. •