The Sun. — London, England, 1863-09-26 00:00:00

THE LEGISLATURE OF VIRGINIA. Governor Letcher delivered the following address to the Virginia Legislature on the 7th inst.:-- "Executive Depw:tment, Richmond, Virginia, Sept. 7, 1863. " Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Delegates, — In this crisis I have deemed it advisable to convene yon in extraordinary sessio n, in order that the freshly chosen representatives of thie people may consult and devise such measures as will be calculated to meet the existing emer gency in public affair s. The war has new been in progress for more than two ye ars and a half, and has been prosecuted against us with a ife-ocity unparalleled in all past struggles between contendb tg parties. It has been conducted upon the avowed principle. of subjugating els, either by force of arms or by visiting up ma our people the horrors of famine. Hence it is that, foil ert and defeated again and again upon the field of battle, -they have adopted the policy of desolating our farms, doe troying our crops, burning our dwellings, stealing and currying away our property, leaving our wives and children, - to perish by the slow torture of starvation. It is no longer_ a war for the preservation of the old Union, as it was ori.ginally proclaimed to be; but it has degenerated into a wear for the emancipation of our slaves; and this purpose. the administration at Washington propose to ac complish, even if the extermination of the white race, of all ages,, sexes, and conditions of the Southern Confederacy, shall) be the result. We have no alternative, therefore,but to defend ourselves with all the power, energy, and ability we can command. We must succeed, if we would be free and independent people, worthy of the illustrious ancestry from which we descended. To succeed, we must have union, harmony, r4on cer t, conciliation, courage, energy, and deter mined res elution on the part of rulers and people. We must cultivate one towards another the noble virtues of prudence. toleraticry, charity, and forbearance. With these general re marks I, proceed to the consideration of such subjects as are of special interest at this time, and in my judgment demand legisl'etive action. The subject first in importance, so far as the Commonwealth is concerned, is the beat means of pro viding an adequate force for the local defence of the State against invasion or raid, and for the execution of the laws in case a resort to force shall at any time become necessary. The entire military force of the State has been absorbed by the conscription law, and we are thus left, in the time of greatest peril, with no militia organization for the defence of the Commonwealth. This want can be and must be sup plied with as little delay as practicable. As to the plan of raising this force I am aware there is much diversity of opinion. The difference, however, is reconcilable, if the subject is considered and discussed in a patriotic spirit. Let a force,to consist of all able-bodied persons between the ages of 16 and 60, not in the Confederate service, be organized, corresponding with the force now organized in the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, and Lynchburg. Let them bo regularly enrolled, formed into companies, bat talions and regiments, and officered is such manner as will be most likely to secure efficient, intelligent, and energetic men. They should be drilled at proper intervals, so as to be well instructed in the evolutions and the manual, and pre pared for efficient service whenever the necessity shall arise. The act should also define what is local defence, as there is much contrariety of opinion in regard to it. Some think local defence consists in remaining at home, and under no circumstances to be taken out of the city or county in which the company is organised. This, in my view, is a most mis taken. notion of the moaning of the term l oca l defence ,' and if it is to prevail will work great mischief, and render the organisation of little value in giving protection to our people. My opinion is, that if the city of Richmond can be defended more certainly 50 miles from it than immediately around or in it, that locality is the proper place for its de fence, and the local militia should be required to make the defence there. The officer charged with the defence of any :particular locality is presumed to be better acquainted with the mode of defending it, and the best point for defending it successfully, and he should direct all troops so as best to secure the ends desired. The object of such organisations should be to give adequate protection to all parts of the Commonwealth. We must not only provide for the defence of the counties, cities, and towns, by the local forces in and immediatelyaround them, but we must, under the law which is proposed to be passed, have authority to order others from contiguous counties to their aid and support. A force whose operations are to be confined by county, city, or town boundaries, can prove of but little value in checking raids or in executing and enforcing obedience to the laws. This organisation should be made to embrace the foreign population who are located among us. This foreign population may be said to consist of three classes. First, those who have been regularly naturalised, and who aro therefore citizens embraced by our laws relating to the public defence; second, those who are domiciliated among us, and have been living in our midst and prosecuting various branches of business, and who left their native land - with no purpose or intention of returning to it; and, lastly, those who are tempor h arily sojourning among us. The first class are in service under our militia laws, and the second should be required to go into service for public defence of the soil on which they reside. The latter class, who are sojourners, engaged inno regular business, should be exempt. I recommend therefore that in your legislation upon this subject the second class above referred to shall be clearly and distinctly embraced. On this subject I desire to present another recommendation in regard to the Act passed by your predecessors en Nov. 20, 1862, authorising persons of certain religious denominations in the State to exempt them selves from military service in the war by the payment of 500 dols. each. Subsequently Congress passed an Act of like character, and these persons availed themselves of it and were discharged from liability to all military service in the Confederate army. I regard this provision as substan tially a violation of the constitution, inasmuch as it grants exemptions to certain classes of persons which are not granted to others. In this war all classes who reside among us should be required to perform duty of some sort, if they are within the military age. If they are unwilling to bears arms there are various other duties connected with the army and the general defence which they can perform, and which they should he required to perform. They are citizen', property holders, to a large extent interested therefore in all that concerns other citizens, and should be required to perform their part. In some countries this class of persons are re quired to aid in the construction of fortifications, and I sea no just reason why they should not be required to do so here. This branch of defence must be maintained by some body, and if their religious convictions will not allow them to go into the ranks for the defence and maintenance of the common cause, why cannot they do this ? It will not do to say they are opposed to war, and can do nothing that will tend to its prosecution. The law is based upon the princi ple that they are bound to do something; otherwise they would not be taxed the sum of MO dollars each. That money goes into the Treasury, and is drawn therefrom to defray the expenses of the war; and to this extent, at least, they are aiding and supporting it. If they can aid to the extent of 600 dole, in money, can they not aid by labour or other service ? A state of war imposes a personal obligation upon every citizen within the military age, and he should be required to discharge it. When the country is invaded, our dwellings burnt, our landslaidwaste, our property destroyed or carried away, our citizens imprisoned, it is their duty to step forward promptly and aid in repelling the invader. Ministers, and members of other religious denominations equally as conscientious, are in the field. I recommend, therefore, that this law be repealed. The time has come when it is absolutely indispensable that we should omit no thing which promises protection to our people and success to our cause. An unscrupulous enemy is pursuing us with a spirit of malignity and vindictiveness that respects neither the rights of persons nor of property. We must be active and untiring in our efforts to repel him, and to accomplish this we must call forth all our able-bodied men, and prepare them for the most efficient service. No army can expect a continued current of success. We may, nay, we must expect to meet reverses, and wemustbe prepared for them. Instead of discouraging, they should only stimulate us to increased efforts — should call forth redoubled energy—should bind us more closely together, and inspire us with a more determined spirit and courate. If our forefathers had permitted reverses to crush their spirit or paralyse their energies and efforts, the American Revolution never would have proved a suc cess, and the ind ependence of our country would never have been achieved. They passed through storms and trials far greater than any that have fallen to us in this con test. The men, old and Young, sustained and supported the cause with hearty goodwill, and as the clouds gathered and the prospect of success seemed to grow more despe rate and hopeless, they became more and more resolved and determined. The noble w oraeu of that day, while their fathers, husbands, and sons were engaged in fighting the battles and driving back the invader, planted and gathered the crops by which the army was sus t ained. 'We h a ve not i been r e d uce d t o suc h straits yet, nor s it probable we shall be. But the women of the present day have shown a self sacrificing spirit, inducing them incessantly to work, and showing that they are ready to emulate such a n example. They have di sp l ayed a generous devotion, which s h ou ld awake the sluggards and animate and cheer the gloom y and desponding. There are in all communities some p eople whose eyes alway s fall upon the dark side of every picture, and who are disposed to succumb at even the indications of disaster. It would be remarkable if we had not some such among us ; but it is ratifying to know that the number is very small, even in those Portions of our State which have been overrun by the enemy. The spirit and courage of the large mass of the people have never flag ged. Each new wr ong has inspired new resoluti on. Eac new outrage has but nerved them for a more determined and desperate struggle in behalf of the cause. Virginia went into this con test after the most serious and calm consideration—with a firm resolve to do her whole duty to herself and her Confe derate sisters—to take all the consequence s , however hor rible they may be. seer peop le n ever quailed, nor h ave they murmured under the repeated wrongs and aggressions they have suffered. She was not the first to enter this struggle, nor will she be the first to sue for peace, unless that p eace shall be accompanied by an unqualified recognitio n of the independenc e of the Southern Confederacy. The General Assembly, at its last session, prescribed that no Confede rate issues of a date anterior to April 6, 1863, should be received in payment of State taxes. I am unable to com prehend either the wisdom or the policy of this legislation. It is calculated to impair confidence in the currency of the Confederate Government, and, indeed, in almost the only currency in circulation in the greater portion of the State, If these issues are not to be receivable in payment of State taxes, it is inferrible, at least by those who are not fully informed in regard to such questi ons , th a t it is because those issues are not as valuable as subsequent issues by the Government, or for some cause or other they have not been considered a safe or reliable circulating medium. No matter what caused the exclusion, it is per fectly plain that the effect has been to depreciate the cur rency and to arouse in the public mind the suspicion that it will not ultimately be redeemed. Very few persons in ordinary business transactions stop to examine the particu lar date of a note which they are about to receive. Very few can remember the particular date of the note, discredited by the law. The consequence is, as soon as they ascertain that notes of some date are not receivable in payment of taxes, and they do not know which, they became shy of re ceiving any, and all are discredited. When they are told that some of the banks will not receive them on deposit, and that some of the railroad and other transportation companies will not receive them for fare or freight, they of course re fuse to receive them, and a general depreciation ensues, which it will be found next to impossible thereafter to pre vent. In very many cases this money has been paid to our soldiers, and by them sent home to pay the'r taxes. Some such cases have been brought to my knowledge; and the persons who were in this situation, on finding that it was not receivable in payment of State taxes, have very natu rally complained. If the money was good enough to pay the soldier, who receives but 11 dole. per month, why is it not good enough to satisfy the claim of the State when her agent applies for State dues ? We have no State bank cir culation, we have no State Treasury-note circulation, both of these descriptions of note having been hoarded as fast as they could be collected by moneyed men. The conse quence, therefore, is that the holders of the repudiated ' Confederate issues are driven to the necessity of shoving off those they have, in order to procure such as will enable them to meet the demands of the State. While it was not the intention of the Legislature to place the tax payers in this condition, such is inevitably its effect. They must have such money as will answer the pur pose, and to obtain it they must apply to such persons as have it, and must pay them such price in th ese re j ected Confederate issues as will command it. The only reason I have ever heard assigned in justification of this legislation is that it was designed to force persons holding to this r currency f to fund in Confederate bonds, and thu s retire itomrhcuad lation. This would all be very wel l if every man for an who ithe these issues in hand had no use for th a em ts ei . either It sup portunfortunately of his family or the payment of d at hcoarappmeunns,ithyohwaevveern,o moneyfor this th in e v o e ry st ,. h t f h ou ey r- r fi e f c t e h i s ve of th th ey e have present and pressing use for to relieve their daily i w n a lag with t and a the wantsh a e uch h thereforeo f those an dependentimpossibility, u p n s t p h awe e nl amdtyhit the Find ing n o nd fund ing,.- all otes of issues cir culationgr e sa, feeling e t l h i n u gs thee je difficulty,c e d cannot pa nr obdverdeetsire desirousd that in tno compel which ecember, 1862, should be fundable P in re B iPieurssscethednatthil. e bo ai n es d tt s if presented by the 22d of April, 1863; if not presented by that day, but presented before August 1, 1863, they were then fundable in 7 per cent, bonds ; and these issues are not fundable at all after August Ist. Notes issued after Deo. 1, 1862, are fundable in 7 per cent. bonds until August 1, 1863, and after that date in four per cent. bonds. Notes issued after April 1, 1863, are fundable in 6 per cent. bonds if presented in 12 months from their issue, but if not so presented they are fundable in 4 per cent. bonds. This looks to me very much like a repudiation to some extent of the obligations assumed by the Government, and it is not, therefore, surprising that such legislation should have created uneasiness in the public mind, and aided in bringing about depreciation and a want of confi dence in the ultimate payment of these obligations. Other legislation on the part of Congress has tended strongly to produce the same conclusion in the public mind. The mode in which taxes are to be assessed upon credits in certain contingencies may be mentioned as one that tends directly to the discredit of the currency. Better far would it have been to make these issues a legal tender in payment of debts than to resort to a compulsory process like this to force its reception by the creditor; and while this is being done our Legislature is urged to reject the same paper issues in payment of State taxes. When the Government casts suspicion upon its currency, and the State Governments and the banks and railroad companies do the same thing, the people may well become alarmed. The consequences cannot fail to be most disastrous. We cannot change the action of Congress, but we can remedy the errors of our own legislation, and thus show that we aro disposed to uphold the credit and currency of the Confederacy. I submit the report of Captain Edward H. Fitzhugh, now in charge of the Quartermaster-General's office, to which I in vite your attention. It presents a clear and succinct state ment of the condition of affairs in that office from the orga nisation of the State line forces to the present time, and will doubtless be read with great interest, especially when it is recollected that just before the State line troops were disbanded it was quite currently charged that the entire ap propriation had been expended. This report shows that the sum of 1,225,000 dols. had been drawn from the Trea sury for that department, and that since the force was dis banded 616,517 dols. 92c. had been refunded, leaving the actual cost of the State line forces, so far as that depart ment is concerned, 608,482 dols. Bc. Other property, now being collected, and which will be turned over to the Con federate Government, will further reduce the cost. No re port has been received from the Paymaster-General's de partment-. . . On the 20th of August last a requisition was made upon me by the Secretary of War for 5,340 slaves, to work upon the fortifications around Richmond. Copies of the papers are herewith submitted to your consideration ; and I particularly invite your attention to the draught made upon the several counties. The apportionment upon the counties seem to be entirely arbitrary, and bears very un • equally. In some cases 5 per cent. of the slaves is crdled for, and in other cases less than 1 per cent. Thus, Amelia, with upwards of 7,000 slaves assessed with taxes in 1862, i s required to furnish 50, while Allegheny, with less than 700, is required to furnish 30. The county of Albemarle, with 12,681, is called upon for 200, while Brunswick, with 9,212 is called upon for 250. The county of Augusta, with 4,430; is called upon for 80, while the county of Rockingham, with 2,161, is called upon for 100. Hanover, with 8,521, is called upon for 30, while Prince Edward, with 5,998 ; is called upon for 150. These examples will suffice to show how unequally this burden is distributed, and I trust that mine amend ment will be made to the law which will afford protection against such inequality. The law requires that the value of such slaves as may escape from the Confederate authori ties and not return to their owners, or be seized or be killed by the public enemy, or may by want of due diligence on the part of the authorities of the Confederate States, in any manner be lost to the owners, shall be paid by the Confede rate States to the owners of such slaves, and in like manner compensation shall be paid for any injury to slaves arising from the want of due diligence on the part of the authori ties of the Confederate States.' Many cases of peculiar hardship arising from the loss of slaves have been brought to my attention, and mach complaint has been made by the owners in consequence of the fact that they have not received the value as provided for in this Act. In several cases the only slave capable of field labour that the owner possessed has been lost, and compensation not having been made he has been unable to supyly his place. If the value had been promptly paid the hardship in such cases would have been greatly relieved. 1 invoke your early attention to this sub ject, of so much importance to our common constituents. I have received a communication from the President of the Central Railroad, enclosing a report made to him by the superintendent on a subject of great importance to the road, and not less to the State and tha Confederacy. The demands for the transportation of passengers and freight over this and the other railroads of the State have been very great, and the roads have been severely taxed to meet them. So far they have fully met the demands, but it is apparent to any person who will pass over them that extensive repairs are now much needed, and must be made, or they will be broken up and rendered useless. Besides, great difficulty is experienced in procuring crossties and the necessary sup ply of wood for fuel. Labour is indispensably necessary to relieve them ; and, so far as legislation can aid them, I am satisfied it will be cheerfully extended. . . I communi cate herewith the reports of the board of visitors, the supe rintendent and the surgeon of the Virginia Military Insti tute, and I commend them to your consideration. They are deeply interesting, and notwithstanding the embarassments of the time, they show that the institution is in a very flourishing condition. When the institution was re-opened it was seriously apprehended that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to procure the requisite supplies for clothing and feeding the cadets; but I take pleasure in saying that the judgment and energy of the superintendent have over come all difficulties, and the operations of the school have been regularly kept up. The institution has strongly com mended itself to the fostering care of the General Assembly and the people of - Virginia, and I cannot too earnestly press its claims upon your support and favour. I trust it will be your pleasure to adopt the recommendations made in the reports, and thus place it upon a firm and enduring basis, and enable it gradually to extend the sphere of its useful ness. . . The extortioner is still pursuing his heartless traffic and amassing his gains. The war to him is a godsend, and he would not have it terminated for any earthly consi deration. He shares none of its hardships—he suffers none of its dangers. He has perhaps hired a substitute who, for a Pecuniary consideration, agreed to be shot at in his place. Such men are found everywhere throughout the Confede racy, and it is time something were done to put an end to their money -making business. I have been investigating this subject, in the hope that I would be able to make some practical re commendation that would check, if it did not eradicate this evil. In the first volume of the Revised Code' of 1819, page 551, I find an act which was passed in 1777, entitled ' An act to prevent forestalling, regretting, engros sing, and public venduos,' which, with very slight amend. meats, would, if re-enacted, check in a great measure this growing evil. I invite your attention to it, and recommend that some similar act be passed at this session. The finances of the State are in a highly prosperous condition —much more prosperous, indeed, than could have been anticipated undearntdhescaitricsuflemd-. circum stances which surround us. The numerous de man d s ma d e upon the Treasury have bees promptly met Our revenue is increasing, and the people, with that noble spirit which has ever characterised Virginians, cheerfully pay their taxes, and thus maintain the credit and uphold the character of the Commonwealth. • • • 6, JOHN LEICIIER," THE SUN. LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 26, 1863. THE ALABAMA, (From the Cape t own Argus of August 11.) During the whole of Saturday the Alabama lay quietly at anchor in Table Bay, the waters of which had then become comparatively calm, but with the Valorous no longer alongside, that vessel having draggediher anchors during Friday night and drifted a considerable distance to leeward. In the latter part of the day, although the weather was gloomy, a goodly number of visitors went off to the vessel, and were received with the courteous urbanity which distinguished the conduct of the officers of the ship towards the crowds who thronged around her on Thursday. His Excellency the Governor having, as stated in our issue of Saturday last, decided that prima facie there was no ground for his interference in regard to the capture of the Sea Bride, the mind of Capt. Semmes was untroubled by any of the abstruse questions supposed by some people to be occupying the attention of his Excellency the Go vernor and puzzling the brains of the Attorney- General. Having completed on Saturday the re pairs intended to be effected here, at an early hour on Sunday morning Capt. Semmes weighed anchor, and at 6 o'clock the Alabama took her first depar• ture from Table Bay. On leaving the bar the Ala bama steered a south-west course, and scarcely had she got out of sight when the signalman on the Lion's Rump made down a sail to the north-west, and subsequently another coming from the same direction. Both turned out to be Federal merchant men—one the bark Sedron, from Baltimore to this port, with a general cargo, consigned to Jamieson and Co., and the other the whaling schooner Charles Colgate, from New London to Desolation, which put in for repairs. The Alabama passed within a few miles of both. The signalman on the Lion's Hill had all the ships under his view at the same time. A fog bank between the steamer and the Federals prevented Capt. Semmes from getting a sight of his prey. On her passage to Simon's Bay the Alabama fell in with the American ship Martha Winzell, bound from Akyab to Falmouth, but she, not being three miles off the land at the time, was allowed to proceed on her voy age. Yesterday morning she put into Simon's Bay, where the Alabama also will remain for a few days to complete re pairs, and then will proceed to sea. She will pro bably cruise off l'Agulhas for some time in the hope of falling in with homeward bound American ves sels engaged in the Chinktrade. On Saturday the Confederate cruiser Tuscarora, Lieut. Low com mander, formerly the Conrad, of Philadelphia, cap tured by the Alabama, and converted by Captain Semmes into a tender to his ship, put into Simon's Bay for the purpose of refitting. She carries two guns and 10 men before the mast. About 14 days ago she fell in with the American ship Santee, bound from Rangoon to Falmouth, and captured her, but as the vessel was laden with cargo belong ing to British owners she was allowed to proceed on giving a bond of 150,000 dols. A few days after the Tuscaloosa fell in with the American China clipper ship Snow Squall, 800 tons, homeward bound. It was blowing hard at the time, and the Tuscaloosa, having fired at the Snow Squall with out bringing her to, made chase, but the latter be ing the fastest sailer escaped_ The Cape Town Argus of August 20, says :—The Alabama sailed from Simon's Bay on Saturday last. The bark Saxon, from Algoa Bay, belonging to Messrs. William Anderson, Saxon, and Co., re ports having been boarded by the Confederate stermer Alabama off the Cape. After inspection of the ship's papers she was allowed to proceed on her voyage, with an apology for her detention. The Saxon arrived in Table Bay on Monday. On Sun day afternoon the Confederate steamer Georgia, Captain Maury, entered Simon's Bay for coals and repairs. She appears to be an ordinary iron built packet boat, certainly not intended for a fighting craft, but having a good crew, and armed with two Whitworth rifled guns aft, one large 56. gun for ward, and two 32's on her quarter-deck; and, being a fast sailer, is well suited to capture mer chant ships, and run from war vessels of superior armament but inferior speed. On the 25th of April she captured the ship Dictator, of New York, bound to Shanghai, with coal. After burn ing the Dictator, she proceeded to the Cape Verd Islands to land her prisoners. As she got into the entrance of the harbour of St. Vincent, she dis covered a man-of-war with the American colours flying ; put about, and went to the north side of the island, where she liy until dark, and then stood out for sea. On the 13th of May she arrived in Bahia, where the Alabama was lying at the time. From Bahia she proceeded down the South American coast off Cape Frio, in sight of land, she captured the George Griswold, which vessel had a British cargo on board, and was therefore bonded. The Georgia then proceeded to the island of Trinidad, on her way capturing the barque Good Hope, of Boston, bound to Agulhas, with a general cargo. Her captain had died some days before, and his body being pre served in salt, Captain Maury had it brought on board the Georgia, read the funeral service over it, and committed it to the deep. During the service the barque J. W. Sever hove in sight, and was chased by the Georgia. She was from Boston, bound to the Amoor River, with machinery for the Russian Government. The prisoners of the Good Hope were put on board, and she was bonded, On the 18th of June the Georgia arrived at the island of Trinidad. On the 25th of June she captured the s hip Constitution, of New York, loaded with coal for Shanghai, made a prize of her, and took her into the island. On the 28th of July the Georgia captured the ship City of Bath, of Bath, from Callao to Antwerp. The cargo being neutral she was bonded, and the prisoners of the Constitution were put on board her. On the 16th of July, the p, with g uano . Th e Georgia captured the ship Prince of Wales, of Bath, was bonded. The fol lowing is a list of the Georgia's officers :—W. L. e V a a r l g p o ar b a e i i s n o g , bnoeunnt neutral, t A b e n t e w b i e p r , Ist li e ut enan t ; Morgan, m id- E M v a a u n r , Smith, 3d ditto ; I ngraham, 4th 2 e d om di m tt a o n ; der ; Chapman doctor; Pear son, chief engineer.take in from s d b i t p o m ; a I n V ; a c l u k r e t r i , a p p passed Thea a m te i rG d ; s el h ov i r p bg m ei ae a d n wo ; 200 to 300 tons of coals, besides general supplies. The Florida is expected to put into Saldanha Bay. The Valorous was last night signalled to proceed at once to that port. As soon as it was known that the Alabama was in Saldanha Bay, Mr. Graham, the United States' Consul at Cape Town, addressed a letter to the Governor, requesting that the vessel might be " at once seized and sent to England, tbe from groundw h t e b n a c t e b s e h e British Government, clandestinely ' treaty of amity and commerce with the United as a Government a t a ll . " against States, had the not United recognised States His Excellency replied that he had no instructions or course authori ttytakoseen byp izeorcadettain Semmes was, detain the vessel, and that tho in his opinion, in conformity with the instructions he had received relative to ships of war and privateers be lenging to the Government of the United States and the States calling themselves the Confederate States visiting British ports. Against the capture of the Sea Bride Mr. Graham protested, on the ground that the capture was made within British waters, contending that neutral waters were limited to the fighting distance from land, which, sin ce th e invention of Armstrong guns, must be held to be six miles. He also subsequently claimed her forfeiture on the ground that on the day succeeding her cap ture the prize crew on board of her brought her within a mile and a half of Green Point lighthouse, which he maintained was " a violation of neutrality as much as if the capture had taken place at that distance from land." But on both points the deci sion of the Governor was adverse to his views. Mr. Graham also claimed the delivery to him, as the official agent of the former owners of the Con rad, of the Tuscaloosa, on the ground that being a prize, and "not having been condemned by any Ad- miralty Court of any recognised Government," she was debarred from entering any British port, and ought, therefore, " to revert to her real owners" the moment she violated the Queen's proclamation. His Excellency replied that he was not aware of of any provision of international law by which cap tured ships, as soon as they entered neutral ports, reverted to their real owners ; and believed that the claims of contending parties to captured vessels could be determined in the first in tance only by the courts of the captors' country, and was satisfied that the Tuscaloosa was entitled to be regarded as a vessel of war. Against the decision of his Excellency in each case Mr. Graham formally "protested," in the name of his Government. The Occupation of Fort Wagner by the Federals. On the evening of the 6th inst., General Gil more, it is known, ordered that an assault on Fort Wagner should be made, the following morning. The special correspondent of the New York Herald writes The troops moved from their camps shortly after 10 o'clock, reaching their positions in the trenches an hour later. They had barely arrived when a deserter from the rebel lines came in, bringing the news that the island was being eva cuated. We had depended upon our picket beats in Vin cent's creek, under Major Sandford, to keep us advised of any movement of this kind on the part of the enemy ; but it appears that the state of the tide would not allow them to get through until some time after the withdrawal of the rebel garrison had commenced. As soon as the story of the deserter could be told, General Stevenson sent forward a small scouting party to ascertain its truth. They speedily returned and corroborated the news, and our forces imme diately leaped into the fort, Captains Walker and Pratt, in charge of the sappers, planting their flag upon the parapet. A slow match connecting with the magazine was dis covered and extinguished, and then commenced a race between our troops for Battery Gregg. Captain Btayton, of the 3d Rhode Island Artillery, was the first man there. A few men of the 54th Massachusetts were close behind him, and then came two companies of the 3d New Hampshire regiment, under Captain Randlett. They arrived in season to capture between 40 and 50 stragglers, mostly from South Carolina regiments, while Major Sanford, who as soon as tide served had got his picket boats through the marsh, succeeded in overhauling a couple of boats con taining a lieutenant and 22 men of the rebel iron-clad steamer Chicora, who had been assisting the garrison in their escape. In addition to the prisoners taken we captured a ten-inch n sinisgte five dof i n two ht n r Greg g. c o um The bi ad rm , e 19 guns, 14 of w hi c h we re in Fort Wagner and the remain aomneentteonf.:SinVeahgnmerorctoan;: five navy howitze rs , mou nted c n seacoast carriages; three carronades, one rifled gun, and two field pieces , Gregg was armed with three ten-inch columbiads and two field guns. e s Nearly all the pieces had been spiked, but in such a manner that the spikes can be easily withdrawn from the vents. These guns are nearly worn out, and are now of little use except for short ranges. The scene which presents itself to the eye of a visitor at Fort Wagner this morning is one of utter wreck and ruin. The broken parapets, the dismounted guns, the sand piled up before the entrance of the bombproof, the bolts and fragments of exploded shell with which the terreplein is paved, and more than all, the heaps of rebel slain, some lying in the sun and others half buried in the loose sand, show what a fearful ordeal the garrison passed through. The stench arising from the decaying dead is sickening and overpowering. Many were buried at night, just below the surface of the terreplein, to be unearthed and torn to pieces by the missiles which on the following day continued to plough through the work. Hera au arm sticks stiffly out of the ground, and there a shoeless foot is visible, while in another corner are three bodies, one clad . . in a major's uniform,Taiie;efuliYaside for burial, but left in the hurry of departure for us to put away. WITHIN THE BOMBPROOF. Existence must have been terrible while the bombardment was going on. Even now the odour of the apartment is almost intolerable. The garrison, which consisted of about 1,400 men, was here huddled like sheep in a fold, without sunshine to illumine or air to breathe. The ceiling, formed of huge logs, is so low as scarcely to afford standing room. Dead bodies are scattered here and there, contributing their effluvia to the horrid stench arising from human filth and nastiness. I could only remain for a moment in the place. Officers and soldiers who enter it flee hurriedly away as from a plague or pestilence. The only fur niture of the room was a table ma d e o f roug h b oa rds. One or two rough coffins were th ere , w h e th er em pty or not I did not endeavour to ascertain. A row of shelves on either side of the main entrance containel a number of shot and shell of various calibres. The floor was strewn with papers, old rags, pieces of greasy bacon and other filth which, in ordi nary camps, finds its way to the sinks. Until disinfectants are freely used and the work thoroughly policed it will be impossible for our men to remain there. Already General Terry has ordered them out of the fort, and 40 barrels of chloride of lime are on their way up the beach to be em ployed in making the atmosphere of the place in some de gree tolerable and wholesome. THE REBEL BURYING GROUND. Beyond Fort Wagner the ground seems to have been used as a place of burial for many who fell in the defence of the place. There are a number of graves just in the rear of the banquettes. Here also are several dead h orses and mules, swollen with noxious gases, and attracting to the spot myriads on myriads of flies. A little further on are several holes dug in the sand for shelter to the troop s , those stationed without the fort living very much like the fiddlers and sand crabs with which the ground is thronged. THE TELEGRAPH IN OPER ATION. At an early hour this morning the te le g ra p hic m achine which has been stationed for a month p ast in a bo mbproof in the second parallel, was removed to F ort Wa gner, and the line advanced to that point by Lieut. Dane,of th e Si gnal corps. The following message from Lieut.-Colonel M ann, of the 39th Illinois Volunteers, was the first transmitted from the new station : United States Military Telegraph, F.epartment of the South, Fort Wagner, Sept. 7, 8.20 am. To General Gilmore—The general officer of the trenches sends his compliments and congratulations to the Command ing General from the bombproof of fallen Fort Wagner. Hi s confidence in God and General Gilmore is unshaken. Colonel MANN, Affecting Incidents During the Earthquake at Manilla. I was so much bruised that I made illy way very slowly. At last, finding I was becoming exhausted, I sat down on a heap of rubbish Whi c h , as far as I could make out f r om the appearanc e o f the frag ments, had once bee n a church — as i ndeed it had the sa me catas trophe.been, and I oneof en tried me utmost to shut out the sound of the screams and g roans w t destroyed by d the air all night . hich filed tightlyby tying my ever my ears; but I found it impossible to sleep, and as soon as the sun rose I got up, stiff and Weary, and made my way towards a group of men and women who were assembled about a heap of ruins, the magnitude of which enabled me to recognise them as the remains of the cathedral. Of all tile sights on that dreadful morning, there W as none whi c h equalled th i s. Th e service in the cathedral not only began later than in the other churches, but Was longer, so that while those who had attended the latter had for the most part left them, the whole congregation was present in the former. The earth quake was so sudden, that probably not a do zen persons escaped out of the building before it came crashing down, burying every one of the two or three thousand persons within it beneath its heavy roof and massive walls. When I reached the ruin s , men and women were already working at those parts where appearances indicated the possibility of must speedily reaching bodies. The largest group was col lected round a c h apel, a small portion of which was upheld b y t he peculiar way in which a beam had fallen. Women were sobbing, and men were listening anx i ous l y at a sma ll open i ng where a window had formerly been. Seeing I was a f ore igner, the. Spaniards and Indians, with the p o liteness they invariably practise, made way for me, and I approach e d c l ose to th e o p en i ng . F a i n t groansissued from it, and I could hear a voice— that o f a girl, I thought, but it turned out to be one of the choristers_asking piteously for help and deliverance. Then a low but deep bass voice, doubt less that of the priest who was officiating at the time of the calamity, uttered the well-known words 44 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours." As these words came forth, those outside burst into a passion of tears, which was soon choked, in order that they might hear if the voice spoke again. There were some deep groans, apparently wrung from the speaker by intense pain, and then the same voice spoke in a ca l m an d even tone as t h ough ad dressing a congregation : "For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." Silence followed for some minutes, and then a deep voice came forth which was so low that only I and a f e w others near the hole could hear it: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and with the utterance of those words of faith and prayer the spirit must have left the tortured body, for not a sound was heard after this, except the piteous prayers of a Child. Being too weak to assist in the efforts that were making to enlarge the opening, I left the spot With a sad heart —Dickens's "All the Year Bound." Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur chasing Hornituan's pure Tea ; very choice at 3s. 4d. and 4s. "High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the strongest and most delicious imported, .A.gents in every town eapply it iu pachet,4. PRUSSIA, A letter from Berlin, dated 21st inst., says : A few days since the Conservative fractions issued their electoral programme, which does not contain any points clearly formulated, but dwells more upon the general state of the country. We have now before us the programme of the party of progress. That party demands :- 1. Complete liberty of the press, and, consequently, the suppression of the decree of the 2d June. 2. Presentation of the law on Ministerial responsibility prescribed by the Constitution. 3. Effective recognition of the right of the Chamber of Deputies to control the expenses of the Treasury. 4. Re organisation of the House of Lords. 5. An army founded upon a popular basis, with a two years' service. 6. A German Parliament, freely elected by the nation. The organs of the press which are more or less intimately connected with the Government are not quite agreed upon the policy of the Ministry. It is therefore very difficult, not to say impossible, to form any certain conjecture of the at titude which the Government will assume towards the Diet. All that is positively known is that the Cabinet is deliberat ing upon the German question, and that the budget is the object of serious discussions. Count Wielopolski, from War saw, who is still sojourning at Putbus, has taken a house hero in the Thiergarten, which he purposes inhabiting towards the end of September. The King is expected here to-morrow afternoon for military manoeuvres. The Ministerial councils will, it is supposed, then be resumed to settle the propositions that will be made to the Diet. At all events, it is probable that the King's answer to the Sovereigns who met at Frankfort has been decided upon. It is also supposed that, shortly after the opening of the Diet, the documents relating to the German question will be laid before it. During the last few days additional warnings have been given to various newspapers. The President of the Police announces that the pamphlet entitled "Art. 73 of the Con stitution and the Laws on the Press" has been confiscated. At the request of the Government the police at Leipsic have confiscated a number of the Weekly Journal, pub lished there." A telegraphic despatch, dated Berlin, Sept. 23, gives the following as the substance of the report addressed by the Ministry to the King, relative to the question of Federal reform : In this document, which bears the date of the 15th of September, the Government complains that the project of Austrian reform was only communicated to the King in an incomplete manner, and posterior to the date of the letters of invitation sent to the other Sovereigns. The report claims for the two great Powers the right of opposing their veto to all declaration of war, as long as the Federal territory should not be attacked. It solicits, moreover, that Prussia and Austria shall hold a perfectly equal rank in the Directory. The elections ought to direct and the powers of the Na tional Parliament more extended. The Ministry proposes to the King 1. To refuse his adhesion to the actual project, and to enter into negotiation with his confederates; 2. In case it should be decided upon to hold Ministerial Conferences, to convoke them with a view to decide upon some other project of reform; and 3. To submit it either to the elected representatives of the nation, or to the Diets of the different countries, COUNT DE CHRISTEN. The following letter has been forwarded to us for publication. It tells its own tale : " TO THE VISCOMTE CHARLES DE ST. PRIEST. " Citadel of Alesaandria, Sept. 2, 1863. "My dear Cousin,--I have just received your kind letter informing me that your efforts in my favour with M. Ming hetti have been unattended by any good result. lamin no way surprised, as I never expected a different answer, the reply being in entire conformity with the usual mode of action of the Italian government. What does surprise me, as it always has done, is the conduct of the French govern ment, which, although perfectly aware that one of its own subjects is unjustly detained in an Italian prison, after hav ing been for two years the victim of treatment so inhuman that no government would have dared to inflict it on the lowest criminal, should ask for his liberation as a matter of favour, and submit to a refusal from the Cabinet of Turin couched in the most insolent terms. "Never have I asked for mercy, feeling strong in the sense of right and justice, as could easily be proved by no less than eight letters I have addressed to their Excellen cies the Comte de Sartiges ar cl M. Drouyn de Lhuys, and of which letters five have been suppressed by M. Peruzzi, Minister of the Interior, who at the same time informed me that he had not thought proper to transmit my reclamations to the French authorities. "In consequence of these repeated sequestrations [ find it impossible to address the representatives of my country, and I, therefore, call on you, my dear cousin, to act ener getically at the opening of the Chambers that I may, if passible, obtain that justice I have vainly invoked for two years. You have a clear ground for oction, and have only to request those who take the initiative in laying my affair before the Senate and Corps Legislatif to move for the notes taken by the consul of France at my trial, and by him transmitted to his superiors, as well as the report of the entire proceedings. My innocence can be clearly proved by these documents, for no honest mind can fail to perceive the infamy of my condemnation. I recall to your memory the fact that the entire judgment rest on the denunciations of two false witnesses ; one an agent of the police, who accused me of conspiring, without being able to say where or how, and entirely on hearsay. the other, a cab driver and cammoristi, who pretended that he had received money from me at a period when I proved to the satisfaction of all present that I was not even in the kingdom of Italy. To these worthy Italians I may add one still more honourable, the procurator general of the King of Italy, Signor Clausi, who, with a forged letter in his hand, attempted to prove that I had conspired with the Chevalier Carracciolo. Unhappily for his credit M. de Belligne, junior consul of France, observed to the Court that the document was a forgery, and demanded a public rectification. Observe further, that what I here state is to be found in the authentic report of the trial, and I claim -that it should be brought before the notice of the represen tatives, that the Chamber may be edified by the way in which justice is administered in the kingdom of Italy, and the manner in which a French subject is treated in a friendly country. It is, however, scarcely a matter of surprise, if we recall the debate of March 11, in the Turin Chamber, when the deputies Alfieri and Evandro pressed the Government to use all severity in my regard, as my being a Frenchman, according to the above .named deputies, made my detention a matter of national amour propre. As for the hopes Signor Minghetti holds out to you of my being comprised in the earliest amnesty, I trust you will consider it as nothing beyond a compliment, as more than a year since the same reply was made to Lord Russell, and when his lordship inquired when that amnesty would take place, he received for answer that it would be ' when his Majesty the King of Italy made his triumphal entry into Rome, his capital.' 11ree years have now passed by since the Southern provinces were annexed to Piedmont, and in that interval every nation in Europe, inclusive of Turkey, has given an amnesty to its political prisoners more than once, and it is only the paternal rule of Piedmont which, far from setting at liberty its political antagonists, adds daily to its long catalogue of fusillations and imprison ments. possible " I trust, therefore, in your acting with all vigour to obtain justice as early as may be ; for though up to the present time I have always found the nece, sary energy to surmount all the sufferings of my terrible posi tion, 1 fear if matters are allowed to drag on much longer my strength can scarcely do other than fail me. You at least will not, I trust, be deceived by the promises of the persons you name, for you may take for granted that if it depends on the goodwill of those who are my gaolers I shall never leave my prison a living man.—l rely on your friendship, and am, &c., " Comte THEODULE EMILE DE CHRISTEN. " P.S.—I should have mentioned to you that the new proces commenced against me and my division, in defiance of the treaty signed by M. do (irammont on the part of France, has not been by any means abandoned, and that I am consequently still liable to a capital condemnation. If you can rind means, it would be well to warn the Minister of Foreign Affairs that a number of unfortunate Neapoli tans are going to be sent, some to the galleys an d th e others to a shorter death, for having blindly confided in a treaty guaranteed by the French flag. 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Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derange ment, and partial deafness.—Cure No. 47 , 121 . Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestio n, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure No. 54,816. The Rev. Jas, T. Campbell, Fakenhant, Norfolk, " of indigestion and torpi. dity or the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment.' In tins, 1 lb., 2s. 9d. ; 21b., 4s. 6d ; 51b., 11s. ; i2lb., 225. ; 241 b 4C/el.—Barry 13u Barry and Co., N0:77, Regent-street, London; also Fortnum and Mason ; and all Grogers and Chemists every town 01 the United liingdpm. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. DAILY NEWS.—The tone of Prince Gortschakoff's Memorandum, as addressed to France, becomes as offensive and irritating as if it were deliberately worded to wound the keenest susceptibilities of the Second Empire and the French people. In this carefully studied document the Vice Chancellor of Russia calls to the remembrance of the Three Powers the political situation in Europe at the time of the Congress of Vienna. Once and again he pauses in his close and pressing argument to ask whether it was likely that Russia at the close of a war for the deliverance of Europe, in which she had taken so great a part, had been the first to arrest the career of an invader, should have consented alone of all the Powers to renounce all advantage or compensation at the Peace. In 1812, he urges, the Duchy of 'W arsaw, which had furnished a military contingent, and served as a basis of opera tion to the great enemy of Russia, was wrested from Saxony and occupied by right of conquest. The Emperor Alexander would have been fully justified in repressing by force so menacing a neighbour, as Catherine 11., moved by " inexorable necessity," had done in 1772; but the Emperor resolved, if possible, as a conqueror, to reconcile the people of Poland to his Government by a kind and merciful policy. In 1813, although the Duchy of Warsaw had been reconquered by Russia alone from an enemy in whose ranks Austrian and Prussian troops still fought, Alexander I. consented to submit its future lot to a Congress at Vienna. The Vice- Chancellor emphatically denies that Poland held the first place in the deliberations of the Congress : it had its place, but not the foremost. Europe had just emerged from a 25 years' war, and it was the lot of all Europe that had to be settled by a Congress. All that Alexander demanded was to be allowed to fulfil a great work of reconciliation and reparation by restoring to Poland her national existence under the Russian sceptre. This intention wes baulked and resisted not because the Powers were solicitous for Polish independence, but because they were jealous of the extension of the Russian empire. The Powers might perhaps have preferred in theory the absolute independence of Poland, but to this the three partitioning Powers must have consented, was it likely that Russia would have acquiesced in her owes dismemberment. Austria and Prussia both opposed the restitution even of the name of Poland ; Prince Metternich protesting that Galicia would be lost to Austria. Prussia shored the fears of Austria. Russia alone desired to give the Polish subjects of the three partitioning Powers institu tions in harmony with the feelings of the people; but Austria presented a counter project, declaring the Duchy of Warsaw to be annexed to the domi nions of the Emperor of Russia in perpetuity, with out a word about constitutional rights or Polish nationality. So that, according to Russian doctrine, as dogmatically stated by Prince Gortschakeff, all the sympathy for Poland at the Congress of Vienna proceeded from Alexander L • the other Powers only acquiesced in his generous designs from jealousy of his initiative, and because at the close of a pro. longed war they knew and respected the resources of the Power to which they owed their deliverance. Russia then had taken the sole initiative in pro posing liberal institutions for her Polish subjects as one of the partitioning Powers; all the other Powers save England were at that time opposed to liberal ideas; Russia actually interceded with her co-partitioners in behalf of Polish nationality. But Poland was obstinately ungrateful, and Alexander I. became disabused of his own magnanimity when he found that his Polish subjects used the constitu tional weapons he had given them to conspire for the dismemberment of the Empire. And in 1830, under his successor, roused by the revolution in France, they burst out in insurrection. Then, as now, the insurgents appealed to the sympathies of liberal Europe; the Western Powers offered diplo matic intervention; Russia declined it. The Western Powers appealed to the engagements of 1815. Russia insisted that the Poles had by the very act of insur rection cancelled those engagements. The Western Po wers rejected this theory. Russia maintained it. They protested against the means taken to suppress the rebellion, yet Russia suppressed it. Then, as now, it was Europe that disturbed Poland, not Poland Europe. Once more, the Emperor Alexander 11. gave his Polish subjects liberal institutions, and they used them as instruments of revolt. Yet Russia still desires the pacification of Poland, and to carry out her benevolent intentions. But, as an in dispensable preliminary, the insurrection must be put down, and order re-established. No Power on eerth can afford to submit to a revolt, or to foreign interference. Disorder would wear itself out in Poland, if the diplomatic intervention of the Powers would be content to impress upon the Polish people that they have nothing to hope but from submission to their Sovereign and from an indissoluble union with Russia according to treaty. In short, the duties and rights of all parties concerned in the question are clearly defined by the terms of the treaty to whioh they appeal. It is the duty of the Poles to respect the stipulations which unite them indis solubly with Russia. It is the duty of Europe to do nothing to weaken this union. It is the duty of the three partitioning Powers to grant representative and national institutions to their Polish subjects, according to the discretion of each. Such is the sum and substance of this Russian me moraadum, which, however sophistical or arrogant, or even mendacious, it may appear to English readers, cannot, we think, in fairness be deemed offensive to England. But we cannot expect our gallant neighbours over the water to take the Rus sian Vice-Chancellor's elaborate exposition of the Treaties of Vienna and the circumstances under which they were framed with English equanimity. Unless, indeed, the mission of the Second Empire be to avenge the First—by meekness, TIME - S.—The Polish National Committee cer tainly exercises the functions of government as much as the authorities of the Confederate States. It appears to have perfect control over the Poles, whether at home or abroad. It has its regular tri bunals, and it seems to carry their decisions into effect. It orders its subjects at its pleasure to pay or not to pay taxes ; it summons them at its will to join the national army, or dismisses them on leave of absence; it directs the course of the insurrection almost in the same way as the Cabinet of an esta blished State directs the movements of its armies; and now it seems almost admitted to have its autho rised _ diplomatic ag en t s , an d its despatches are introduced to the ear of Europe in the same way as those of regularly constituted Powers. The pnblication, at least, in the Ilioniteur of the de spatch of the Polish National Government to Prince Czarteryski gives something of this aspect to the matter. The letter takes its place among the diplo matic documents on the Polish question. The despatches which have passed between the other Powers have already been published, but we have suddenly another Power introduced to our notice, and we are invited to consider the views of the Polish Government as well as those of Russia and the three other Powers. Whatever motive led to the insertion of this document in the French official paper, it certainly was not that it throws any light on the obscurities of the question, or that the Na tional Committee afford us any means of solving its difficulties. "It was easy to determine," they say, " the point of view from which the Polish nation should regard the propositions enunciated by the intervening Powers ;" and, accordingly, the state of feeling and the arguments which this long and ill digested document details are only those with which the public has been made wearily familiar by the regular diplomatic despatches and by our corres pondence from the seat of the insurrection. We knew before that the Poles had no confidence in the Russians, and were not likely under any circum stances to feel any. We were perfectly aware the respect for authority which Prince Gortschakoff proposes to re-establish in Poland would be nothing better than more submission to brute force. Our diplomatists have exposed more forcibly than the National Government the misinterpretation which the Russian Cabinet put upon the Treaties of Vienna, and we have not been misled as to the character of the insurrection by the representations of Prince Gortschakoff. We know, and our Ministers have asserted, not only in Parliament but in their repre sentations to the Russian Government, that the Polish nation is roused to insurrection by very dif ferent motives from the mere passion for revolt. The Russian Cabinet has been told very plainly that the Poles, instead of aiming at the subversion of order, are protesting against the anarchy of despotism; that they have been governed without law ; and that they have a right, if they can, to compel the observance of law. W e are satisfied that on the whole the intelligent majority of the Polish nation support the insurrection, and we are sure that the savage barbarities of the Russian Governors exceed, or rath er are no t i n the same category with, the somewhat startling severities to which the cruel necessities of their position have driven the Poles. All the declamation, therefore, on these points, which swells the Polish despatch to such an inordinate length, was entirely unneces sary. The re was a po i nt , h owever , t o which w e might have expected that the National Government would have addressed itself. We were anxious to know whether they were inclined, in degree, to accept such good offices as the Western Powers might offer them, short of forcible intervention in their behalf. We knew perfectly well that they would think the proposals we made unsatisfactory, and that they wished to obtain far more than we had any reasonable ground for asking from Russia. But, as we were asking Russia to give way in ono direction, it was not oureaeonable to hope that the Poles might have been found willing to make some advances in the other. We , are sorry to say, how ever, that there is no sign of any such diseosition in this &sprach. " Coaficligice," we are told, " has never been possessed by the Russians in Poland,and they never wilt obtain it." "It should be distinctly understood that the Polish nation will never sub mit to laws imposed by foreign dominion. Viet they may be obeyed, the laws must be the expres sion of the national sovereignty." We are told, accordingly, that though the National Ccmmitteo admits the general principles of Govern ment laid. down by Lord Russell, the consequences drawn from them are, in its opinion, " too restricted," and that " the Polish nation does not see in the prepo sitions submitted to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg sufficient guarantees for the future, because its in; con testable rights do not appear to be recog nised.' As we have all along pointed out, in shcrt, the Poles treat our proposals in precisely the same way' as the Russian Cabinet. They for the most part admit our principles, but entirely dispute their ap plication. They entertain our arguments to a cer tain point, but, when the time comes to accept them or to act upon them, they inform us that they merely listened to see what help they could get out of us, but that we must give them all they want, or they will have nothing. The Poles, indeed , seem to treat us with somewhat more official re spect than the Russians, but that is only because they can less afford to break wit h us, and it is Im portant for them, as far as they ca n, to feed our sympathy with hopes of a peaceabl e com p romise. It is impossible, therefore, to attri bute very much importance to the acceptance by the National 60- vernment of the proposal of an armistice. In the first place, it would now be obviously more advan tageous to them than to the Russians, even though no satisfactory result followed from it. Besides, without attributing to them any want of sincerity, they may have had the acuteness, apparently want ing in more practised diplomatists, to see that a n armistice so arranged would give them som ething of the character of a belligerent, which they seem so anxious to obtain. They inform us, indeed, in this despatch, but in terms so vague that we cannot pretend to be sure of their meaning, that they do not expect other Powers to substitute foreign efforts for their own. But they complain at the same time , not without reason, that Russia is, to all intents and purposes, assisted by the neighbouring States, which intercept supplies of arms and ammunition to an extent which otherwise could hardly be enforced. except by a regular blockade ; and they mainta in that it is at least "just and necessary" that foreign Powers should intervene so far as to relieve them of this difficulty. But the National Committee knout perfectly well that no foreign Power could possibly take any step of this sort without being prepared for immediate war with Russia. Indeed, it will be difficult for them to pernsade Europe that they do not really cherish this hope of some such materiel support. But if they entertain any ideas whatever of foreign support or recognition they ought to be prepared to pay some attention to foreign pro posals. It is perfectly idle for them to tails as if they expected to get everything they wish for from Russia. The sympathy of Europe is chilled. and the hands of the three Powers are tied by the knowledge that there is no limit to the inordinate demands of the Poles. If there was any chance that they would be contented with reasonable and moderate concessions, the representations of the Western diplomatists would lose their vagueness , and would have some ground to go upon. But, sie matters stand at present, it is quite sufficient answer to all the proposals we make to Russia that Op Poles will not be satisfied with them. Even if France, or any other Power were disposed to inter vene forcibly, she is checked by the certainty that the Poles would only use what she gained for them as a means of obtaining more, and that she would merely give them a better standing ground for fresh agitation. It is this obstinacy, with whi.eh i the Poles persist, something like the Irish n 0 Connell's time, in regarding every concession as a mere instalment of greater ones, which has brought matters to their present pass. The dead lock of the situation is completed by the publication of this despatch. Neither the Russians nor the Poles will yield a single acre of land or a single point of privilege. How the lock will be forced, as it seems impossible to find any key to it, we cane not venture to surmise. We are only sure of one thing—that both Russians and Poles will have to give way in the end. All questions of this sort are settled by mutual concessions. The Russians will neither establish respect for despotic and barbarous authority, nor will the Poles re-establish the Poland of their dreams. The Three Powers hoped to be able to induce both parties to come to some mode rate arrangement, without tearing each other to pieces first. They have failed, as we predicted they would fail, from the passion and obstinacy of both, and now the two must be left, at least for a time, to sicken themselves of the struggle. Meanwhile, in such a prolongation of bloodshed the Poles have most to lose, and obstinacy on their part is the more inexcusable because it is suicidal. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVE RP 0 OL—FRIDAY. At this day's market there was a small attendance, and rather an inactive demand tor wheat, with prices tending in favour of buyers. New oats were ld per bushel lower. Barley, beans, ad peas dull Indian corn in limited re quest, at late prices. American flour 6tl per barrel lower. New oatmeal 6d to is easier. WAKEFIELD—FRIDAY. A fair quantity of wheat came to hand to-day, and fino dry sorts met a moderate demand at last Friday's prices ; other sorts difficult to quit. Barley was is to 2s lower ; oats, id per stone cheaper. _ ~. . _ Averages for the week : Wheat 6lO qrs., at 4ss 9d Od Eye — —s Oats lO7 Beans — —s Od 8ar1ey......... 195 Peas STAMF ORD—FRIDAY. Whitel'wheat, 45s to 47s ; red, 426 to 45s per 36 stone• Barley, malting, 36s to 40s; grinding, 30s to 32s per (1r• Oats, 20s to 24s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 42s to —0 per qr. ; new, 38s to —s. EXETER—FRIDAY. Wheat, white 6s 3d to 6s 4d 1 Barley. .. 3s Gd to 4 s 31 Ditto red .6s Od to 6s 3d 1 Oats .........2s 9d to 3s Od. Flour, fine, 35s to 36s ; seconds, 34s to —s per sack. CATTLE. I Fat beef, p sc., 10s0d to 11s6d Ewes, per lb .... 5 / d to 613 Pork carcases, 7s Od to 8s Od Wethers, d 0.....,, 7d to Lamb, p 1b.......—d to —d Fat calves, d0...61d to 7d. Rough fat, 3141 per lb. DUBLIN—FRIDAY. Grain of all descriptions in fair supply, and the market steady. s. d. a. d. 0. d. s• a. Wheat, white 23 oto 25 6 Beans.. ..... o to-- ° Do., red 2O 0t023 6 Bere Do., new .... —oto 0 Rapeseed Barley Oats Do., black — oto 0 Indian corn .. 27 oto 28 0 BRISTOL SUGAR — FRIDAY. The market this week has been rather more aeive, an d considerable sales have been made in the private market A t late rates. Refined goods sell slowly at very low rates. steady demand for rum, and late prices were ►ell main tamed. COAL ARKET. Prices of Coal per Ton al the close of the market. H. d. Buddle'sWest Hartley 16 9 Byass's Bebside West Hartley ....16 9 Cowpen Hartley 16 9 Davison's West Hart- Walls End. Haswell ........ • .19 0 Heugh Hall ... . ...... 17 ~9 East Hartlepool ...... 19 "„ South Hart1ep001......17 " K elloe .. ..... .17 South Kelloe ....17 9 Hetton ...... 19 Russel's Hetton ...... .1"° Braddyll'a Hetton ..... 13 Framwellgate ...... 17 au Tunstall ............ 17 " fi South Hetton ......... 114 - 9 Wharncliffe ....17 :et, 54; sold. 59. ley .. 16 9 Walker Primrose 12 3 Carway: and Duffryn Making . 20 0 Eden Main ..17 6 llolywell 17 6 Walls End. Cassop ... 18 0 Ships at mark, Births. COWELL.-011 the 24th inst., at 112, Piccadilly, the wife of Thomas W, Cowell, Esq., of a son. CLAYTON. —On the 23d inst., at the house of her father , Lieut.-Col Henry Somerset, the wife of Capt. Clayteg , late 13th Hussars, of a daughter. SANDWITH.—On the 24th inst., at Tidmarsh Recter4 Barks, the wife of Humphe r y Sandwith, Esq., C. 8., ('` a daughter. YOUNG.—On the 24th inst., at The Limes, Croydon-to m. mon, the wife of D. Hill Young, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. BOVLTON — NicrroLL.—On the 24th inst., at Aldenharn, lierts, Charles George, son of the late Charles Bonito' , Esq , and the Hon. Mrs. Charles Boulton, to Georgioa° second daughter of the late Henry Iltid Nichol), Es t i'? D.C.L. HESSEY---CAZENOVE.—On the 24th inst., at ChristChur al Battersea, Captain William Henry Ilessey, of the Dladr,o Staff Corps, to Louisa, thu daughter of Philip Cawenove, Esq., of Clapham-common. Deaths. ALLEYNE.—On the 24th inst., at Clifton, HenryWryndb anl Alleyne, of Exeter College, Oxford: eldest surviving ae l l of C. T. Alley ne, Esq., of e Island of Barbadoes, a g e 20. ALLEN--On the 21st inst., at Hammersmith, Mary Anne, wise of J. W. Allen, Esq., of 37, Strand, aged 49. AUSTIN.—On the 21st ult., at Chambly, L. Cana da, Char lotte, wile of Lieut.-Col, Thomas Austin. HorE.—On the 23d inst., at Holly-hill, Han ts, Admiral Sir Henry Hope, K.C.8., aged 77.A.n MILEo.—On the 21st inst., a t T u nbridge - we ll s , Ed wd. Millard, of London House, age d 36. SW INK.—On the 23d in s t., a t D un d ee , Captain John Spiny, aged 77. SEWELL,—On the 24th inst., Richard S ewell, Esq., o f 63 ' Arlington-street, Camden-town, aged 11. London : Pr;hzed and I':ll.lished oy WILLIADI ANDRE - X , of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office N o . a!, Strand, b the Precinct of the Bavoy, in the CountY ialltitilesta,—,‘Saturday, SePterabeZ 26, Iti63 Rmen. E Su „ , 3 . Ri t he Di Zus 111 11 be said sl as the R( I , ll e Di s beet 5. R Point( struth 6. T Ch sin intern 7. T Att dri day. B' d. AL kt t' Comps 14 6 the 18 , p The 1. T Direct „2 RI .ue 41, , , us 21,90 5 kanne racist a be her Inanni moat Lc Liabi Depo: fur Mess; Itenr Ti and Pura Hub s ar n ( In been txp, Tay ITT issii Lir( aturti the 150, of tl 22,( etre amo dept Pad tile] and ant] ber I I on 7