The Sun. — London, England, 1863-10-17 00:00:00

------------ ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT -GARDEN. Under the Management of Miss Louisa Fyne and Mr. W. Harrison. THIS EVENING, W4lace's Romantic Opera, THE DESERT FLOWER : Miss Louisa Fyne, Miss Susan Pyne , M essr s. W. H. W eiss, H. Corri. A. Cook, and W. Harrison . . Conductor, Mr. A. Mellon. —Doors open at half-past Seven. commence at Eight. TEIEA.TRE ROYAL DRURY - LANE. Managers', Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton. rr iiis EVENING, GONE TO TEXAS. Mr. Walter Lacy and Miss Miarracy. Alter which, Lord Byron's Choral Tragedy, MANFRED. Messrs. t helps, Ryder, Rayner, M.-agreson, Ward, Spencer • Miss Heath, Mi sa F,. Atkinson, Miss Leclercq, and Mrs. E. Falconer. Vocalists—Miss Poole, Miss hitter, Miss Cicely Notr, Miss Hey wood, and Mr. Swift. To conclude with THE DEAL BOATMAN : Messrs. G. B e lmore, F. C harles ; Miss R. Leclercq, and Mrs. Edmund Falconer. PRINCESS'S THRATRP .—Gre.t. Success of ITERRII ANN. PRESTIDIGITATEIJR. HERR. 11.141RIMANN :has the honour to announce that, in conse quence ~ t the great success and flatterin , * recept on he has met with, he wilt continue his Performances, EVERY LIVENING, until further notice. Commencing at Eight. THEATRE ROYAL HAY NI ARKET.— Sole Le ssee and Mana , er, Mr, Buckstone. THIS EVEN ENG, FINESSE ; or, Spy and Counter Spy_: Messrs. Alfred Wigan, B uc k stone, Chi ppen d a le, 'Howe, W . . Farrell, Braid, and Gordo n ; M rs. D ow t on , Miss L. Ang el, Mrs. Alfred Wigan, .Miss Wright, &c. ssrs. After which, CHARLES THE TWELFTH I%le A eley. Wigan, Buckstone, Compt on , H owe , and Miss L Concluding with THE GALLICIAN FETE- Commence at 7. NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELVIII.— sole propri.tor and Mans.o-er, Mr. R. Webster. THIS EVENING, at T E TiIAGEDI.- QUEEN: Mrs. S II At 8, the New Drama of LEAH : Miss Bateman, supported by lifeserg,A r th ur Stirling R. Phillips, Billington, St, A. Wood, Eburne, Miss H• Simms and Mrs. BillinSS gton. Miss To conclude with CA TCHING AN EIRE : Woolgar and Mr. A. Wood. ATISS BATEMAN.—LEA.H.—The celebrated ITI- young American Actress, Miss BATEMAN, having n her first appearsrce( in the New Drama of LEAH ob tained the most triumphant and enthusiastic success that has been witnessed for many years, and the profound impression created by her impersonation of the character of LEAH upon a crowded audience havintz been completely ratified by the unanimous verdict and critical approval ot the entire Daily Press, the Manager ot the NEW ADELBIII THEATRE has the honour to announce that 11Uss BAT EMAN will appear i n the New Drama of LEA.EI EVERY EVENING till I urther notice. ____ oyAL STRAND THEATRE. Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough. is EVENING, MIRIAM'S CRIME. Messrs. Honey, ra ril rselle, Belford, Turner, Miss K.Saville , and Miss Handers. F o llowed by THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL THERE." Messrs. T r o ney, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier, Mesdames Ada Swan borough, F. Hughes, Weston, Thorne, Wallace, and Jenny White. To conclude with WHERE'ommence S YOUR WIFE. Mr. Belf or d . C at 7. 71111 E THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," j_ Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, Jan be had Every Evening - of_ Cr. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-part HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY.—Morning, 4h. 36m.—Afternoon, 4h. 58m. ro-moßßow.-Morning, sh. 20m.—Afternoon, sh. 42m. The Weather—Sun Office, Oct. 17, 1863. THERMOMETER. This day at Two o'clock 59 Barometer-29.91. Wind—South-Westerly; moderate, end fine. Slut gly LONDON, SATURDAY, OCT. 17, 1863. Mr. BERESFORD HOPE has now, in common par lance, hit the right nail on the head—has driven it home, and then clinched it? We allude to his re marks upon Lord RUSSELL'S policy in regard to th© two steam rams. made by order of a French firm, christened by outlandish Mabomedan names, and now very recently marked with the broad arrow of Her BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S Government. Mr . Here has told no "flattering tale" to the Foreign Secretary. Far from it. He has quoted Lord JOAN against Lord RUSSELL! He has displayed to view a contrast as vivid as that displayed to view by Prince HAMLET. Ile has held the two pictures (drawn both of them by the same master hand) he has held them both very pointedly, indeed , before the eyes of BRITANNIA, as HAMLET held his two before the eyes of Queen GERT RUDE. " Look on this picture and on this ! " We gaze at the two counterfeit presentments, as it were, over the shoulder of the National Goddess, and—what is it we see ?—Lord JOHN and Earl RUSSELL depicted by himself. Lord JOHN as a very BOANERGES. Earl RUSSELL " sin ging small." Lord JOHN indignantly repelling the bare idea of any modification of the laws of England to gratifying the wounded and ever-sensitive pride of the Imperial Government of France. Earl RUSSELL meekly conforming to identically the some kind of thing, at the behest, not of the proud Government of France, but of the insolent Government of those imuddle-headed . F e d erals at Washington. A t E gowrie on the 26th of last September, 1863, the Foreign Secretary said in refer ence to his policy in regard to the latter— " Everything that the law of nations requires, everything that th e present Foreign Enlistment Act requires, lam prepared to do---even if it should be proved to be necessary, for the preservation of Parliament our neutrality, th at the sanction of should be asked to further measures Thethat her MAJESTY'S Mi n i sters may still add. " noble lord, wh en h olding a seat in Parliamentmaea one of our popular, and not as one of our hereditary, representatives, said on the contrary on February 1858, in reference to L or d PALMERSTON'S proposed policy in regard to F rance, in the matter of the Conspiracy to Murder :—" I hive been, I confess, a good deal shocked by some of the declarations made in the course of this debate, by which it seemed that the favour of a foreign Power was of more value to England than the maintenance of her ancient "It is ea s y t o ask for a mild prestige." measure at first to satisfy a foreign Power. At the same time, even any demand of this kind naturally rouses the jealousy and susceptibility of the British If I were to vote for the intr o d uct i on people. • • of this bill I should feel shame and humiliation in giving that vote. Let those who will support the Bill of the Government. In that shame and humiliation I am determined not to share." The contrast presented to view by these two memorable passages taken from two such very different speeches, uttered by the selfsame statesman —in 1858 in refe rence to France, in 1863 in reference to the Federals flag r ant as this one, so —a co n t ras t so g laring, needs, when given, not one syllable by way of com ment. The people, the Comnions, can bide their time —till February. The news Whi from New ch the Indian mail has br ou g ht Zealand confirms the apprehensions generally felt as to the state of affairs in that colony. Auckland itself appears to be surrounded by un friendly natives, and for forty miles south of the town the country is described as a vast camp. Th e Waikatos and their allies are in arms to the num ber of 7,500, and a still eater is feared. The struggle has been goin g g rising on varied s u c ces s between the natives an d the settlers, but, from the great discrepancy of numbers, ett without any conclu sive result. The first regular battle took place on the 17th of July, when G enera l CAx men against a native position on 11°11 led his a bill. Th Mleaving, it is said aories were routed and fled, fourth of their number, among the slain being " ' 4 u ncle of the KING and several chiefs. The loe ees when the combatants come to close quarters or in oven ground are always immense on the side of the natives; but with their characteristic sharpness they avoid such encounters as far as possible, while they seize every opportunity of butchering the isolated and defenceless settlers. The present aspect of affairs is certainly not encouraging, for the atti tude of the natives is calculated to give rise to grave uneasiness. There is reason to fear a general up rising of the tribes, and the fact of more than seven thousand of such crafty and relentless enemies hav ing arms in their hands, is sufficient of itself to excite alarm. Their leaders have been known to declare their intention to " slay and spare not," armed and unarmed alike, and when once these sav age tribes commence hostilities there is not much hope of conciliation or compromise. Stimulated by their native prophet and encouragedbythe hesitating themby and e timid policy hitherto pursued towards European authorities, the Maories grand es seresnad eh beento have of ga thering all their forces for l one extermination. Auckland was to have been sur prised, the settlers murdered, and the undisputed supremacy of the Maories secured once and for ever. Sufficient indications of their temper have been shown in the murder of the settlers at Drury, in the subsequent assault on the convoy, and in the many savage and unprovoked murders committed when the victims were quietly labouring iu their o wn fields. The colonists are fully alive to the danger, and so at length are the authorities. The most active steps are being vigorously taken, and the greatest enthusiasm and unanimity prevail. The defence of Auckland has been very wisely entrusted to the second class militia and volunteer corps, who have been hurriedly called out, and after a few days' drill placed on the active service list. The first rank of militia and volunteers are reckoned among the regular forces, and the whole of the assistance thus rendered by the province of Auckland alone amounts to over 4,000 men. It cannot, therefore, be said that the colonists in this instance have left the task of defence to the Home Government, On the contrary, the greatest promptitude and zeal have been manifested. The townspeople and the out-settlers alike left their employments at the first summons, and large numbers joined the volunteer corps at the very first rumour of danger. Complete confidence is placed by all parties in the General appointed to the chief command, and the acts of the authorities appear to have been well received by the people. There was one exception which does not much surprise us. The Government hav ing consented to place arms and ammunition in the hands of a party of natives professing friendship were forced to retract their gift by the discontent of the populace, the naval brigade who were to have acted in concert with these men refusing to proceed on the expedition with them if they were armed. Such conduct may appear to us strange and disorderly, but we must remember that the lives and fortunes of the colonists are in the scale, and they have had too much cause to distrust the good faith of the Maories to be influenced by the desire for conciliation generally felt by the Govern ment. Still, notwithstanding the eager spirit of the colonists, the energy of the Government, and the ability of General CAMERON, the great want remains. The Europeans are totally insufficient in numbers to cope with the Maories, and conse queatly the war will be protracted through a long course of tedious, harassing, and cowardly assaults unless put down at once with the strong hand. However wise and just it may be to regard the rights of the natives, to pity their ignorance and to attempt to win them over by kind and concilia tory measures at the first establishment of a settle ment, that day has long gone past with the Maories. Hesitation they interpret into fear, re luctance to engage in hostilities appears to them a sure indication of want of power, while their treachery and cruelty have been too painfully evi denced for any reliance to be placed on their pro fessions of friendship and goodwill. There can be no doubt that too much leniency has been shown to them by our governors, and the colonists are now reaping the fruits of that mistaken policy. We have made the velvet glove so soft that the iron hand could no longer be felt inside it, and the deluded natives now probably think that the exter mination of a British colony is a task easily accom plished. This error they are likely to be convinced of by the settlers themselves, and by their brother cola nists. Australia, who is never lacking in public spirit, has come valiantly to the rescue. The latest intelligence from Melbourne tells us that, at the meeting of the Assembly, the Government had an nonncedtheir intention of despatching the whole of their troops, with the trifling exception of six drill instructors of artillery, at once to New Zealand. This resolution excited the unanimous approval of the press and the public, and the Australians have also supplied the New Zealanders liberally with arms, ammunition, and stores. Added to these important services, a large body of volunteers is likely to be raised in New South Wales—an assist ance no less valuable than the Armstrong guns, which the generous sister colonies have already de spatched to their imperilled neighbours. This is the spirit in which the danger should be met, and the New Zealanders have done wisely in appealing to such powerful and open-handed friends. The native minister of New Zealand has, we learn, visited New South Wales for the purpose of en listing help, and an English officer, when the mail left, was in Melbourne, for the purpose of raising 1,000 men there. Our readers will remember that we suggested this resource some time back, and we are not surprised that the colonial authorities should have arrived at the same conclusion. It is reported that Sir GEORGE GREY has appealed most urgently to Sir HENRY BARKLY for help, telling him, at the same time, th a t h e h a d already called out f or ac tiv e service, in the disturbed provinces, every male be tween 16 and 40 years of age, while many over 50 years were employed in the towns. There is, in fearcisti,s7afnodrttuhne ately no doubt of the urgency of the bestsevere lessonw we c an with a hope , that l iule the 1 1 a a y a o r e as may be read a possible, and the future safety of the settlements be thus effectually secured. If skill in 1 Putting tl ---- 1 ------ e most favourable construe atiw(mayuPaw°l2kward circurnstanZy actions, an d . wit in explaining cause, then Sir ROUNDELL appear the better PALMER has certainly done to ornament good service to the Go , can make the worse curious notice a d ouble both might almostsel and a sup vernment, of which be is an port. One thing is to the electors, that he presents American affairs, or what The public or general view that h different from the o ffi cial aspect. I n 9 g ave is very speech is distinguished by that moderation is his chief characteristic. There is which much that rea lly expresses the state of public opi n i on • in many par t s of his address. For instance, when he saps that " nobody can help feeling some sympathy or men w ho maintain a gallant contest against great odds," Thence he correctly explained that th e cases viewi e d addr ess sh ooi sf. South had a large share of public sympathy. When Sir ROUNDELL PA LMER maintained that those wh o ware in favour of the independence of the South might yet consistently declare themselves in favour of the abolition of slavery , be gave utterance to wise and sound statements, There is nothing so absurd in the way of argument, or so unfair in the way of retort, as up holders o to assert that those who have in an y . way advocated the cause of the Sou th, or as "ted it i n it s ef slavery, ff.nts for independence, are the up eiples and thus derogate from the pri n. that should rule the actions of Englishmen, has made such noble and heroic sacrifices. N o and dishonour the cause for which this cou ntry one of enlarged views or extended experience can be taken in by such notions or deceived by such fal lacies ; but there are many who are well meaning and good intentioned, who suffer themselves to be blinded to the clear aspect of affairs, and led astray by the specious sophistries of pre judiced and perverse politicians. The fact is that there is no more hatred of slavery in the Northern States than in the Southern. The latter are honest enough to declare their allegiance to its doctrines, and therefore are so far honest and straightfor ward. It will be conferring a boon on them selves, and a blessing on their land, whenever they sufficiently a p prec i ate the advantages of free dom, and recognise the right which divine pre cepts inculcate, and human laws in their perfec tion maintain, that every man bas to independence, but that does not affect the claim set forth by the Federals to dictate terms to them. The best answer to the frantic asseverations, and the fierce denun ciations of the abolitionist section may be found in the doings of the Northerners at home. In what position is the negro placed in their towns ? Has he the rights and privileges of a citizen, is he suffered to consider himself as one of the com munity among whom he resides ? The conduct of the rioters at New York on the occasion of the disturbances that took place at the conscription sufficiently answer the queries in the decided negative. The sooner a decided stop is put to this attempt of setting up the North as the cham pion of freedom and the denouncer of slavery, the better for the eternal and immutable principles of justice that should rule the condition of States, and regulate the opinions entertained of their policy by surrounding countries. When Sir ROUN DELL PALMER goes on to indicate the reasons which induced the Government, of which he is a member, to recognise the South as belligerents , and yet to decline to recognise their independence , his arguments seem to lose their force, and assume a tone more in accordance with the neces sary formula of details that emanate from those charged with official responsibiliti es. It may be a mistaken notion that induced the Go vernment to take this course, and doubtless subse quent experience will prove it to have been so; but the chief blame that now rests on them is that they are not honest or truthful in their declarations of neutrality. It is a perversion of commonsense, and a denial of evident facts, when a member of the Government states that they desire to preserve an " honest neutrality," when it is patent to the world that only within a f ew d ays the most s tringent measures have been ad o p te d i n order to f a vour the fancies and further the i n t erests of the U n ited States Government. It is an insult to public sense to per sist in making this statement, and it is quite incom prehensible how sensible and well-informed indivi duals can be deceived i n t hi s f as hi on. The speech of Earl RUSSELL, th e ot h er day, is i n i tse lf a suffi cient answer to the v i rtuous indignat i o n that is constantly expressed i n regard to t hi s often dis cussed question. It i s quite useless to persist in prolonging the cont roversy. All the s killed intel ligence of the most astute and the flow i ng eloquence of the most gifted orators will not alter facts nor undo past actions. It would be more honest, more manly, and mor e cre di table for the G ov ernment to take their stand u p on a decided line o f ac tion. Let them say we ar e reso l ved to encourage the Federals by every means open and covert tha t lies in our power, and not go on i n this shuff li ng an d hesitat ing manner. Th ey w i ll end by disgust ing all sides without doin g th emselves any good, or their country. Sir repu tations any credit i n t h e eyes of the - ROUNDELL PALMER c onc l u d e d hi s s peech by assert ing that th ere were two things wh i c h o ur Govern ment expected t o secure b y t h e i r con duct in this American wa r , an d t h ey were peac e an d honour. It is very p oss ibl e that before the sanguinary con test is over it w ill b e shown that they have don just the r everse, and that their shu ffl i ng and hesi e - tating policy h as en d angered t h e o ne, while their want of ener g y and lack o f independence has seriously a ff ecte d the other. Wh e n Parliament assembles it may b e seen t h at ra ther different views are entertained regarding her MAJESTY'S Govern ment than those which Sir ROUNDELL PALMER makes bold to predict. He says that the people would owe a deep debt of gratitude whether they acknowledged it or not. Now it seems evident to those who sc an th e course o f even ts, and thoroughly sift the cond uc t o f t h ose who are now representing the country t o f ore i gn S tates, that the reverse of gratitud e w ill b e t h e sentiment en t e rtained for those who have ihj need our commerce, suffere d our vessels to be stopp e d on the high seas, an d their views in suited, while their cargo was confiscated, who have allowed acts to take place and language to be spoken regarding our people and our property that a gene ration ago would have fired the resentment of the general population, and provoked a declaration of war at once. When a nation threatens to sweep onr commerce from the seas, and we tamely submit to all kinds of indignity, it is not presupposing too much to say that lookers-on will believe that we are afraid or unable to provoke an issue with them. The tone of public feeling must be very much altered, and th e t emper of the Engl i s h na tion altogether changed, Secretary, can before th e course of policy as pursued at present, and p rom i sed for t h e f u ture by the Foreign win approval and !gain esteem from any ranks or c l asses of the peo ple. It would be hardly goi ng too far to say that it i s a contradic tion in terms to what the wishes of the generality have pointed at for some time past, and what many have openly proposed as desirable. An Untravelled Frenchman's Notion of English Fashionable Life and Manners ! As amusing a specimen of this as can be found anywhere — even i n M. Alexandre Dames' prepos trously funn y _ drama of Rean—arpeared in the feuilleton of La .Presse as recently as Tuesday last, the 13th of October. There, in that feuilleten, a new chapter of a aerial story called " Regina di Gennaro," now being published day by day in deli cious morsels for the entertainment of the readers of La Prase, begins (on Tuesday) thus—" Daring 15 days, nothing was talked of in London but the beard of Sir William. Attention was perpetually directed to it in Hyde-park and in Covent-garden _in every place, indeed, in which it is good taste to go and show oneself for an hour daily. Sir William bore with imperturbable calm the pointed attention of which he was thus the object, and allowed the young misses to laugh at his beard without evidencing the least resentment." The author's ipsissima verba are worth giving, how ever, precisely as they appear in La Presse : " Pendant quinze joure, on ne parla dans Londres que de la barbe do Sir William. On se le montrait ]'attention a_ Hyde -park ; Covent garden, partout oh it est de bon Sofa d'aller se faire voir une heure par jour. misses rire— a s Sir W• • ilhaln supports avec un calms imperturbable t c n u ° l g r u s eorf d l o e n while appearing t 11 etatt l'objet, et laissa, sans en m . oin - dre ressentiment, lee juenes t Lando as barbe." All which charming par. English fashionable life and manners, g possibly te th m e mos t natural things in the world ( o f bably draw a smile f rom lant would pro the shoulders, of M. the lips, and a shrug from Alphonse Esquiroe. A meeting of the holders of Peruvian Dollar Bonds is called fcr Wednesday next, to consider what steps should bo taken to obtain payment of their bonds and coupons in hard dollars, instead of in the depreciated American paper now illegally tendered, THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 17, 1863. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. [REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.] DENMARK. COPENHAGEN, OCT. 17. The Government has ordered that a larger body of troops shall be massed upon the southern fron tier of Schleswig. THE BRAZILS. RIO DE JANIERO, SEPT. 24. Exchange on London 271 277,. Paris, 347,850. Coffee, good first, 7,000 to 7,200 reis. Shipments since the departure of the last mail, 79,300 bags, including 35,400 for the Channel. Stock 140,000 bags. BAHIA, SEPT. 29. Exchange on London 271. Sugar 2,000 to 2,500 reis. Cotton, 20,000 to 20,500 reis. PERNAMBUCO, OCT. 1. Exchange on London 271. 'Sugar, 2,500. Browns, 1,800 to 1,900 reis. Cotton, 20,500 to 21,000 reis. The Magdalena, with the outward mail of the 9th arrived here on the 29th inst. ••••••••• ....• FRANCE. " We announced some time ago," says the Patric, " that negotiations were about to be entered on for the conclusion of a treaty of commerca and naviga tion between France and Sweden. We now learn that the Swedish plenipotentiaries -111 VLVillerding and Bernhoff—are expected in Paris, and that the conferences will commence immediately." BOURSE, Oct. 16.—The market continues in the same inanimate state, without there being any rumours, either political or otherwise, to account for it. The little business done shows a further de cline, Threes, for the Account, being now at 67f. 35c. Mobilier have also receded, and Railway Shares are heavy, ant in some cases lo wer. The market con tinued receding to the close, and left off as follows : It per Cents. 95 75 Italian Loan.. Do. end month.... Do. end month.... 3 per Cents ...... 67 151 New ditto ..... 73 30 Do. end month.... 67 25 Do. end month.... 73 30 Credit Mobilier.... 1142 50 Russian ........ Do. end m0nth....1140 Austrian ........ 85 Bank Shares ...... 3400 Spanish Threes.... Credit F uncier ....1320 Rome Debt ...... RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern Lyons and Mediterranean 1008 75 „ New ditto ........ - Geneva Southern Western ...... Eastern Sardinian Austrian Lotrbard North of Spain Saragossa Ditto to Barcelona .. 962 50 497 50 .. 700 697 50 517 50 .. blB 75 507 50 .. 507 50 420 .. 422 50 425 .. 422 50 563 7i .. 562 50 542 50 .. 646 25 641 25 .. 638 75 350 350 AMERICA. (REUTER'S TELEGRAM.) ARRIVAL OF THE CHINA. QUEENSTOWN, OCt. 17. The Royal Mail steamship China arrived here last night at 11.45, with 87 passengers, 258,512 dole. She landed all the mails, excepting the Scotch, and 20 passengers, and proceeded for Liver pool at midnight. All well. NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (Evening). President Lincol❑ has appointed the 26th Novem ber as a day of thanksgiving for Americans, at home, at sea, and abroad. A malignant fever has appeared in the fleet be fore New Orleans. Its progress is being checked. Four steamers have been burnt on the Mississippi. Numerous lives were lost. Confederate emissaries are supposed to have set the vessels on fire. It is reported that a French frigate is on the way to Charlaston. A portion of the committee appointed to arrange the ball to be given to the Russian naval officers are opposed to inviting the French and English officers now in port. The question is not yet de cided. Money tighter. Gold 47 per cent. prem. Ex change on London 162. Stocks very firm. New York Centrals 131. Illinois 128 Erie 109:. Cotton very firm, middling upland 86c. to 88c. Flour firm and advancing. Wheat and corn ad vancing. Provisions steady. Coffee and sugar very firm. Molasses steady. Coffee and sugar very firm. Molasses steady. Crude petroleum 34 to 35 ; refined ditto 55. NEW YORK, Oct. 7 (Morning). The Confederates are operating in Gen. Rosen cranz's rear, leading to the supposition that Bragg has attacked Itosencran z in front. All is quiet at Charleston, Knoxville, and on the Rapidan. Money easy. Gold 4G per cent. premium. Ex change on London 162. Stocks higher. The Confederates were repulsed, on the 28th ult., in an attack upon General Rosencranz's right. General Forrest, with 4,000 cavalry, has made a raid on the railroad b e t ween Nashv ill e an d Chat tanooga, and destroyed a large railroad bridge south of Murfreesboro. The Confederates also attacked Macminville, 70 miles south-west of Nashville, with a view of cutting Rosencranz's lines, and isolating Burnside. In this attack the Confederates lost 120 men. Its result is not, however, reported. Telegraphic communication has been interrupted between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga, but nu merous movements in Rosencranz's rear lead to the supposition that Bragg may have simultaneous l y attacked Rosencranz i n f ront. F e d era l despatches, however, confidently as ser t R osencra nz's position to be impregnable, and th e F ederal f orces fully able to keep his communi ca ti ons open. Burnside holds the country South from Knox ville to Calhoun on the Hiawassee river, and the Western and Atl ant i c railroads, an d East from Knoxville as f ar as G reenville, on t h e E a st Tennes see and Virginia R a il road. H e also possesses all the passes int o N ort h Carolina. Hi s r ight wing is in communicati on w i t h R osencranz . Despatche s h ave b een rece i ve d from Charleston to the 3d inst. General Gillmore has removed his headquarters from Morris Island to Folly Island. The Federal land batteries are bombarding Fort Sumter. NEW YORK, Oct. 9, Afternoon. for strong The situation at Chattanooga portends an early engagement. The Confederates have rendered the roads in Rosenoranz's rear difficult to travel except military commands. A portio n o f t h e C on federate cavalry has moved towards Ke n t uc k y , to harass Burnside's lines. A part has m ove d sout h w ard against Rosencranz. It is rum oure d t h a t the Confederates have cap tured Shelb y v ill e . The Confederates opened fire on Chattanooga o n the sth from Look-out Moun tain. Shells were exploding in Chattanooga. The New York Herald asserts that Bragg's army has been swelled by reinforcements to 270,000 men. Advices from Charleston of the 6th inst. state that the Conf e d era tes had attacked the frigate Iron sides, doing h er som e damage. Money easy. Gold 41,1 per cent. prem. Exchange on London 162. Stocks steady. New York Cen trals 135. Illinois 1271. Erie 109:. Cotton steady. Middling u pland to 89 90c. NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (Morning). In Tennessee the Confederates have attacked Shelbyville, capturing 15,000 prisoners. They have also captured M'Minisville, with 500 prisoners, and seven waggons, together with 500 prisoners at Waldron Ridge. The Confederate cavalry have been defeated near Franklin, Kentucky, with a loss of 300 prisoners and four cannon. Money easy. Exchange on London 164. ARRIVAL OF THE BAVARIA. SOUTHAMPTON, Oct. 16. The Hamburg and American Company's steam ship Bavaria has arrived here. She brings 67 passengers, 800 tons of cargo, and 54,940 dole, for England, 95,100 dole. for France, and 1,000 doll. for Hamburg. On the 7th the Bavaria spoke the British ship City of Ottowa, from Plymouth for Quebec. She left New York on the 3d, called at Cape Race, and received New York telegrams to the evening of the 6th, which confirm the news of considerable skir mishing having taken place in the rear of Rosen eranz' force; of the Confederate attempts to inter rupt the communications between Nashville and Chattanooga; of Bragg's fortifying Missionary Ridge; of Burnside's retiring to Cumberland Gap ; and of the reported occupation of Knoxville by the Confederates. MISS BRADDON'S NEW NOVEL. Eleanor's Victory. By M. E. Braddon. Three vols. Tinsley Brothers. _ _ " Eleanor's Victory" will more than sustain the reputation already won for the author by her two remarkable works—" Aurora Floyd" and "Lady Audley's Secret." It will more than sustain Miss Braddon's reputation, not by advancing it, but rather, we would say, by purifying it. As a work of:art the narrative here presented to us is—of course, in no puritanical sense, yet, for all that, purely and simply enough—unexceptionable. It is, throughout, what the two earlier, and (we must confess) far more enthralling fictions by which this literary amazon won her spurs is the arena of romance— right womanly ! We have nothing here to do any more witk horse jockeys and dog fanciers. As we traverse the new pathway along which Miss Braddon now conducts us, guided, as we advance along its most devious windings, by the intricate and elastic, but tenacious and wholly unbroken thread of her narrative, our nostrils are no longer offanded (even occasionally) by overpowering whiffs from the kennel and the stable-yard—oppressed now by the close atmosphere of the Lofty's garret, now by the reeking fumes of the low taproom or beershop—until the whole web work of the story, among the meshes of which the siren whose cunning fingers have woven it has contrived to entangle us, seems to have become saturated with a strange inerradi cable flavour mysteriously compounded of rank ammonia and stale tobacco. Such—who shall deny it, that has ever read, or even looked into the histories of either Lady Audley, or Aurora Floyd ? —such literally is the general character of the air Miss Braddon's readers have hitherto breathed, and to which they were gradually becoming shamefully accustomed, and were beginning almost—shocking, though it may appear, to speak thus of our authoress's more infatuated admirers—almost—to like ! A different atmosphere altogether is breathed by the readers of " Eleanor's Victory"—a different atmos phere is respired, in other words, by the imaginary characters peopling the little world of this new and most romantic narrative. The scene of the story here related lies for the most part in the green, fresh, wholesome country side, among the fields and woods of old England, hard by the royal town of Windsor—either at Woodlands, the seat 'of old Maurice de Crespigny, or at Tolldale Priory, the estate of Mr. Gilbert Monckton, the wealthy London solicitor. The incidents of the fiction, it is true, carry us as well alternately to Paris or to London—conducting the reader when in Paris mostly to the gaslight boulevards, and when in London to the homely purlieus of the little back street, or cul de sac, here spoken of as the Pilasters in the Cockney regions of Bloomsbury. Eleanor—Vane by birth, Monckton by marriage— is, as the title at once indicates, the heroine. The Victory that title specifies is the one achieved by her at the very close of the fiction, not over her foe,but over her own passionate yearning for vengeance. In all three of Miss Braddon's principal fictions, the heroine occupies the central position in the picture—predo minates, so to speak, far and away over the hero: whether the good or the bad, whether the bluff Yorkshire squire, or the handsome horse-train ing adventurer—whether, as in the present instance, Mr, Monckton, the attorney, or Launcelet Darrell, the gambling, swindling, forging, fribbling Ne'er-do-weel. In all three of these stories again—there is a Secret. Lady Audley has her Secret. Aurora Floyd has her Secret. Eleanor Vane has her Secret. Only, in the last mentioned instance, the secret is held aloof, not from the reader, but solely from the heroine's friends and foes—save one, the dearest, and truest, and manliest of all her friends, Richard Thornton (Dick Thornton, we should rather call him), the scene painter. It is in the Pilasters that Dick has his habitat, smokes his ball-dog meershaum, lounges about in his shirt-sleeves or his pigment-stained working coat, the kindliest of good-natured fellows, loving in his heart's core (unacknowledged to any body but himself) grey-eyed, amber-haired Eleanor Vane (who is not for him, however), and cherishing, as only such a model nephew can, the worthy, homely, kind-hearted Signora Picirillo. We don't quite know but what we have a sneaking preference for the untidy ways and sordid sur roundings of the Signora's menage at the Bloomsbury Pilasters, to all the luxurious comfort and splendours of Tolldale Priory, with its ancient rooms and its modern furniture, its costly paintings and its parian statuettes. The battle all through— though long delayed—is to be (the reader sees it soon enough, and waits for it eagerly when once he has seen thus that is to be)—between Eleanor and Launcelot ! Between the good-looking young, idling, scoundrel, who lures old George Vane, Eleanor's father, to his ruin at one of the Paris gambling-tables, and through that ruin goads him to a ghastly suicide in the grey of an autumn morning. The plot: of the story here told is for the most part wonderfully ingenious. Only one flaw in it as a plot—namely, one aris ing out of a ne e dl ess v i o l at i on of the probabilities—can we point to. That flaw, to our thinking, is one that might readily enough have been avoided by so skilful a romancist as the author of " Aurora Floyd," being the unnatural suddenness with which Eleanor s lips into an engagement as travelling companion to the very woman by whom Eleanor's own husband, Mr. Monckton, had years before been jilted. As we read the chapter recounting the manlier in which this astoundingly wonderful coincidence is brought about—the chapter where the fugitive wife, just after her flight from Tolldale Priory is showing off her brilliant powers as a pianist to the profession al negotiator of these engagements,the Principal, that is, of the Governese's Institution—we hear the whistle of the scene-shifter ; we see the ungainly sliding-flap sticking at an angle all askew in the ill-adjusted groove; we smell the orange-peel, and the sawdust; all is tinsel and cotton velvet, rouge and spangles. Otherwise than in this exceptional instance, we are carried onward in the narrative under the agreeable influence of a complete illusion. Nevertheless, there are one or two inconceivable idiots, at times quite distressingly prominent, among the dramatis persona. Little blue eyed Laura Mason, for example, with her prattling talk and her everlasting simper, is—alas ! that we should have to say it of a pretty girl in a love story —a perfect ass. One hardly has patience at times to glance with half an eye down the pages rendered frivolous by her nonsensical small talk—very small talk. Her mother, Mrs. Major Leonard, is nearly as great an idiot, when we come unhappily towards the end of the story, to make her acquaintance. But her empty headed husband, the Major, com pensates the reader for the drivelling foolishness of his pretty wife and daughter, by an opportune kind heartedness and a blunt common-sense that make us forget oven his own crass stupidity when not under emergencies! What possibly can be said, however, of our respect for the sound judg ment and the good taste of the clever London lawyer, who has made such an egregious nincom poop of himself as to fall desperately in love with ao very shallow a creature as that pretty Margaret with the yellow hair and the torquoise eyes, even tually the wife of Major Leonard, and, as such, the mother of Laura the beloved of Launcelot ? All respect for Mr. Monckton's taste and judg ment pass away from us for ever—so soon as we drop into the acquaintance of the Lennards and come to appreciate the character of that same Margaret. That Eleanor's Victory will obtain the popularity of " Lady Audley'e Secret" and " Arrow Floyd," we cannot believe for an instant. The story, besides being not nearly so enthralling as tither of those two wonderfully interesting narratives, ends altogether too happily for the securing to itself of any such popularity. The green curtain falls like a last pang completing and perfecting the poignant emotions excited by a tragedy. But there always seems to as an intolerable insipidity in the " dressing up" of the dranzatis personce, the heavy father, the youthful lover, the fair young lady who loves him and is beloved, the shrewish mother-in-law, the low comedy serving man, the pretty abigail, with the neat waist and ancles, and that everlasting apron with the preposterous little watchpockets—the "drawing up" of the whole set of these " in line" behind the footlights as the curtain descends upon the last scene of a genuine five-act comedy. Worse evt.n than the sense of insipidity thus produced is !hat caused by the announcement of something like the happy living together ever afterwards of good and bad alike at the end of a romantic story like this one about " Eleanor's Victory." The ,Bride of Lammermoor would certainly not possess the glamour with which it is so resplendently endowed by the genius of Sir Walter, if the Master of Ravenswood had not been swallowed up in the quicksands, if Lucy had not been discovered, the morning after her nuptials, mad and blood-bespattered in the chimney corner. As for the Old Curiosity Shop it would never have been held (as it is) in almost sacred remembrance by us, sanctified by our tears for the death of Little Nell —had Miss Trent been discovered in the nick of time and brought home, in ruddy health and a carriage and four, by her in every sense Punchy uncle, the good-natured Single Gen tleman! Particularly if Mr. Daniel Quilp, of Tower Hill, had turned out a reformed character, making it up permanently with Mrs_ Jiniwin, and frequenting Little Bethel out of a pure spirit of devotion, rang a deux panniers, with Mrs. Nubbles on one arm and Miss Brass upon the other. We don't believe in these sudden transformations. We only tolerate them about Christmas time, and then only for the pure love of fun, in the gorgeous halls of bliss, or the fairy dells of delight at the tran sition stage of the pantomime. Launcelot's exemplary after-life 'will be unwelcome, we believe, to the majority of the readers of "Eleanor's Victory." Apart from that distastefully insipid incident, the new story here completed by Miss Braddon is fully entitled to that cordial recep tion which it is now receiving every day more and more widely, by right of her expanding and ex panding reputation. THE ALBERT CROSS. TO THE EDITOR OP THE SIIN. SIR,—I have read your leading article bane Sun of last evening, on this subject, and I think that the idea is excellent ! I hope that the Queen, who, like her lamented husband, has naturally scientific and literary attainments, and who has always shown a disposition to patronize mental efforts, may be in duced, or " graciously pleased," to use the jargon of the Court Newsman, to act upon the suggestion, thereby doing justice to literary merit, and further perpetuating the name of the Prince, in a manner more useful and pleasing than can be done by the erection of a hundred monuments to his memory. Literary and scientific persons require some tangi ble and special mark of Royal favour to bring them on a level with military characters—each useful in their particular vocatiod—and the " Albert Cross" would admirably answer this purpose.—Yours, obediently, MERCURY. October 16. The Attorney-General and the Solicitor- General. (From the Law Times of to-day) Two facts are certain, that Sir It. Palmer was returned for Plymouth as a Conservative; that Mr. Collier was a candidate as a Radical ; that Sir R. Palmer, the Conservative, was turned out, and that Mr. Collier, the Radical, got in, and that now they are colleagues. It is certain that there has been no change on the part of Mr. Collier, and therefore, to bring Sir R. Palmer and Mr. Collier together, Sir R. Palmer must have gone to Mr. Collier; — either this, or they are still unlike in their princi ples, in which case one or the other must be acting for a Government from which he differs. We do not design any blame to Sir R. Palmer for this. It is simply the custom of lawyers--a licence tacitly allowed to those who are compelled by an evil cus tom to look for professional promotion through the paths of politics, and who have therefore no help for it but to choose the path that will most certainly lead them to the laudable objects of their ambition. The fault lies not with them, but with the practice that now regulates professional promotion ; and Sir Palmer is only a more striking illustration of a mis chief we are very desirous to reform. WILLS AND BEQUESTS (From the Illustrated London News.) The will of Sir F. Wm. Slade, Bart., Q.C., of Maunsell Grange, North Petherton, Somerset, a bencher of the Middle Temple, was proved in the London Court on the 6th inst., by the executors, Lord Vans of Harrowden (the testator's brother-in law), and Mr. Lucius Henry Fitzgerald, barrister at-law, the personalty being sworn under £16,000. The will was executed in 1852. The testator was the son of the late General Sir John Slade, Bart., G.C.H., and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1859, and attained the ago of 60. Sir Frederic, after making provision for his wife (who is the sister of Baron Vaux), and securing to her ladyship an annuity for her life, has directed his property to be divided amongst all his children not otherwise provided for. Sir Frederic was a magistrate and deputy-lieu tenant for Somerset, and lieutenant-colonel of the West Somerset Yeomanry. The will of Mr. Richard Owen, formerly of Wakefield Lodge, Northampton shire, but late of Leamington Priors,Warwiekshire, was proved in the London Court on the 17th ult. by Mr.Thos. S.Wright, solicitor,Leamington Priors, the sole executor. The personal property was sworn under £14,000. The testator died in July last, having executed his will in 1856, and a codicil in March, 1861. He has disposed of his property almost entirely to charitable objects. After leaving to a sister a life interest arising from £l,OOO, and to each of the children and grandchildren of the brothers and sisters of his mother a legacy of £lOO, and to his executor £2OO, and a few other legacies, he bequeaths the remainder •as fol - lows :—To the London Society for Propagating the Gospel, £4,000 ; Church Missionary Society, £3,500; Pastoral Aid Society, £5OO ; London Orphan Asylum, £1,500; London Fever Hospital, £500; Welsh Charity School, £100; the District Schools at Leamington, £100; and to the Brompton Con sumption Hospital, £l,OOO, this latter legacy being a reversion falling due on the death of his sister. The residue of his property he directs to be divided into two equal parts, leaving one moiety to the Leamington Hospital and the other moiety for the relief of the poor of Leamington Priors.—The will of Mr. Alfred Ricketts, of Lansdowne-place, Bath, was proved in the London Probate Court under £60,000 personalty, the executors nominated being his relict, together with Mr. Alfred Hudson Ricketts, the son ; Mr. Heberden Finden Emery , of Banwell ; and Capt. W. Stocker, R.N. The will bears date April, 1862. To his wife ho bequeaths a life interest over £12,000, in addition to her mar. , ridge settlement, and other bequests. To his son Loftus he devises his freehold estate at Banwell, Somerset. To each of his three sons and daughter he leaves a legacy of £5,000 beyond any other pro vision or'settlement, appointing his sons Alfred and Charles residuary legatees of the real and personal estate. There are legacies left to some personal friends, to his executors, and to his servants. THE POST - OFFICE. — Sir Rowland Hill having been compelled, by the:stato of his health, to obtain leave of absence for six months, Mr. Tilley, the Senior Assistant Secretary, will, by direction of the Postmaster-General, perform the duties of Secretary of the Post-office, as Acting Secretary, during Sir Rowland Hill's absence. THE ALLEGED MURDER IN OLD STREET ROAD.—The adjourned inquiry into the circum stances attending the death of Edward Neal was resumed yesterday at the Princess Royal Tavern. At the sugges.. Con of the coroner, further time was given to the police to follow up their inquirieu, before any final decision was arrived at, I\4t'itir?' -o*,:riftk, - Court . y ituar. THE QUEEN IN SCOTLAND. BALMORAL, Oct. 15. The Queen, accompanied by Princess Helena went out yesterday morning. In the afternoon her Majesty, accompanied by the Princesses Louise and Beatrice, and attended by Lady Churchill, drove round by Glen Beg. Princess Louise, attended by Lady Churchill, went out riding in the morning. The Crow❑ Prince and Princess of Prussia and Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse went to the Caill. The Prince and Princess of Wales. SANDRINGHAM, Oct. 16. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and his royal relatives have already commenced shooting. This morning the Prince of Wales, Prince Christian, and Prince Frederick, with several gentlemen of their suites, used their guns with great effect. The weather has been very fine, and strongly in contrast to that of yesterday. Their ruel highnesses found plenty of game and entered into the sport with great zeal. The Princess of Wales, Princess Christian, and Princess Dagmar walked in the grounds in the morning, and afterwards drove out. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge is expected at Sandringham on Monday next to join the royal party. THE RETURN OF HER MAJESTY TO WINDSOR...—. Her Majesty, accompanied by the members of the Royal family, is expected to return to Windsor Castle on or about Tuesday, the 27th instant. In anticipation the private apartments which are occupied by the Queen are being pre pared, as are also those intended for the use of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and their suites in the York and Round Towers. The apartments in the York Tower are being fitted up in a very magnificent manner. Prince Frederick of Denmark, eldest son of Prince Christian, will shortly proceed to Oxford, and will prose cute his studies at the university for about a year. The Duke and Duchess of Manchester have been visiting the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dunrobin Castle, N.B. The noble duke was to leave Dunrobin Castle yesterday for Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdonshire. The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland's party at Dunrobin Castle was to separate to-day. The noble duke and duchess leave Dunrobin the week after next for Tarbet House, the duchess's seat, near Cromarty. The Marquis of Hartington, M.P., who has been staying with the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dun robin Castle, Sutherlandshire, was to leave there yesterday for the south. The Earl and Countess of Strafford and Ladies Byng are staying at Savernake Lodge, near Marlborough, Wilts, where Viscount and Viscountess Enfield and a select party had met for the marriage of the Hon. Colonel Byng and Countess Henrietta Danneskiold. The Earl and Countess of Wilton intend to leave town for Heaton Hall, Cheshire. Count Victor Haniskorif has left the Brunswick, Jermyn-street, for Paris. The Marquis d'Alterre has also left the same establishment. Colont3l the Hon. Percy and Lady Mary Herbert left town yesterday, for Powis Castle, near Welshpool. The Hon. Leopold A. Ellis, M.P., has arrived in town from visiting the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dunrobin Castle. LORD BROUGHAM.—The noble and learned lord, after ten days of physical and mental labour sufficient to have more than "half-killed" many men bearing only a third of his years, left Edinburgh yesterday morning for Brougham Hall, by the ten o'clock train on the Caledonian line. THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON HI. is living quietly at the Tuileries with the Prince Imperial, visiting daily either the works in progress in the various quarters of the town, or the Exposition des Beaux Atts at the Palais d'lndustrie of the Champs Etysees ; or, as he did a few days ago, comforting by his presence and the kind words he knows so well how to bestow, the last hours of one of Napoleon's faithful servants, the General Count d'Ornano, late Governor of the Invalides. His Majesty was walking the other day along tha lake of the Bois de Boulogne, for some considerable time, after which he drove about in his coupe till nearly six o'clock. THE EMPRESS EUGENIE is prolonging her ex cursion in the Iberia❑ Peninsula. She has visited Lisbon, Seville, Cadiz, on all occasions adopting a strict incognito, and wearing, when out sight-seeing, the ordi nary Spanish costume, a long full black dress with em broidered bodice, and black lace Mantilla fastened over a high comb with two large-headed gold pins. No doubt her gracious and graceful Majesty is enjoying this unrestrained ramble and costumed toilette, so suited to her tastes. To day she is to be received by her former liege Sovereign, but now royal sister of Spain, at Madrid, where, we are told, the Empress's mother, Madame de Montijo, has also gone to meet her daughter. DEATH OF LADY HAWSE.—On the 11th instant Lady Hawke died at Clavering-place, in her 98th year. DEATH OF LADY KATHERINE STEWART.—SeveraI noble families are placed in mourning by the de mise of the above lady, who expired yesterday at her resi dence in Bryanston-square. The late Lady Katherine Stewart was the only surviving daughter of Francis, Lord Elcho, eldest son of the sixth Earl of Wemyss, brother of the late Earl of Wemyss and March. She married, Nov. 19, 1805, the Hon, Edward Richard Stewart, son of John, seventh Earl of Galloway, by whom (who died in August, 1851) her ladyship had a large family, including Jane Duchess of Marlborough. The Prince de la Tour d'Auvergne's removal from Rome to London, in place of the Baron Gros, as the new Imperial Ambassador from France to the Court of St. James's, has caused some sensation in political circles, as showing clearly that Count Walewaki refuses to be mixed up in foreign affairs until the termination of the Polish question, in which he naturally takes so great an interest. The prince is a devoted supporter of the interests of the Pope, and is a staunch Roman Catholic. Such an appointment can only be made to show tha pacific disposi. tions of the Emperor of the French. THE LATE KING OF GREECE.—The Ost. Deutsche Post states that a part of the effects of Otho, the late King of Greece, and of Queen Amelia, have arrived at Venice fr3m Athens. The most precious objects, and espe cially the Queen's jewellery, the private library of .the King, ic., are still at the palace at Athens. A GRATIFYING I NSTANCEOF THE GRO WING CORDIALITY between man and man, which Young Men's Christian Associations, the Volunteer Movement, and other institutions are supposed to be calculated to ensure between class and class, individual and individual—An en thusiast in the pit of Covent Garden on the first night of Wallace's new opera, finding his has impeded him in his struggles to maintain a precarious foothold upon a side of that precipice which terminates in an abyss just by the centre of the dregs-circle, took it off, and placing it upon the flat edge of the dress-circle, said to his neighbour therein, before whom he had laid it , " Will that be in your way, Sir F" to which his neighbour answered, with great distinctness of enunciation, " Very much indeed ;" where upon the enthusiast uttered the driest "Oh I" I ever heard. donned his hat, and, adds the reporter of the inci dent, I don't think enjoyed the remainder of the opera'. TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE.—REPORTED Loss OF FORTY LIVES BY AN AVALANCHE.—Rumnurs of a very painful character reached town last evening, to the effect that a great loss of life had been occasioned on a branch of the Dunstan diggings, by the sudden fall of an immense mass of accumulated snow. On instituting inquiries to ascertain the truth or otherwise of this report, we were favoured by Mr. Branigan, the chief commis sioner of police, with a copy of the following official communication, which we are permitted to use :—llalf way House, 16th August, 1863.—Duncan Escort.— Sir,—l regret to report that when at the Deep Creek, on the 15th instant, I was informed by a party of nine miners, whose names appear in the margin (Jo.hn Tip pings, T. Blair, C. Clerk, S. Harriss, G. Bonham, -- James, It. Bligh, J. Abercrombie), that an accidel at of a fearful and most melancholy nature took place at the head of the Serpentine Gully, situated ten miles from the Black Ball Hotel, the particulars of which are as follows:—.John Tippings and his mates, together with some 40 miners, were working in a small gully at the head of the Serpentine . Their tents were pitched immediately under a huge cliff sr bank. On the morning of the 14th inst. an immense snow drift, which had formed on the top of the cliff, fell upon the tents, completely covering them all, Tippings' tent being situated further from the cliff than the others, be and his mates, after great difficulty, managed to effect their escape. After several vain attempts to rescue the unfortunate inmates of the other tents, who, they state, are covered with some 40 or 50 feet of snow, they were obliged to desist. When they arrived at the Deep Creek, some seven miles from the Serpentine, two of their number were terribly prostrated. I have also to report that I left Con stable Finnigan at the Upper Taieri Station, with instruc tions to proceed without delay to the scene of the accident, and if he found the statements of the miners eorrect, upon finding any of the bodies, to communicate immediately with Mr. Bailey. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed), Gilbert F. Percy, Sub-Inspector.—St. John Barnigan, Esq., Commissioner of Police, Dunedan,—Otago Dguly Times, 41ngust 18.