The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-08 00:00:00

AMERICA.

We have received New York advices to the 1166
ultimo.

The New York Times of that day says its intelli-
gence from General Sherman, although exclusively
through Confederate sources, is of a very encourag-
ing character. The latest positive intelligence
of his whereabouts is up to eunday, the 20th
ult., at which time his advance was at Gordon, a
station on the Savannah Railroad, sixty miles east
of Macon. According to the reports in the Georgia
papers, General Sherman had not, up to the 21
occupied Macon, though deserters to the Federal
lines at City Point report that the Union forces
were in possession of the place. The legislature
at Milledgeville had fled in precipitation, Sherman's
cavalry having approached to within twenty-three
miles of the city. The Confederate forces under
Cobb and Wheeler had been steadily driven before
Sherman, who seems to have marched at the rate of
fifteen to twenty miles per day, as be had made
over 100 miles on the 20th ult., and had been gone
but six days. Beauregard bad issued a proclamation
from Corinth, Mississippi, invoking Georgians to
" arise," and telling them that he was flying to their
rescue.

In an article upon Sherman's grand march, the
lame paper says, in ita impression of the 26th

' Growl Martian's army la making tepid progress in its
great march through Georgia. Our advioas are se late as
Sunday last, at which time it was in the geographical
centre of the state. The mews of this morning will be
found both important and exciting—though the excitement
in the North can by no means approach the tremendous
commotion it is producing in Georgie, sod throughout the
length and breadth of the whole Southern Confederacy.
From the various items of intellipeoe that have reached
ns within the week and up to this boar, mainly through
rebel mediums, we are enabled to fix definitively two or
three point. which were for some time ia doubt, to
deduce some general results, and to draw some few in-
ference". 1. In the first place, as to the direction of Sher-
man's march. When the feet of a movement was originally
announced to the public, it was • ',abject of distracting
dispute whither it was to tend. Speculators and journalists
differed as widely and as variously as possible. The whole
Confederacy lay before them where to choose their piece of
rest, with no guide but their own fancy. Sherman
was marching upon Lynchburg, in Virginia, to co-
operate with Grant on the James ; he was marching upon
Mobile, on the Gulf of Mexico ; he was retreating
into Tennessee; was moving upon Hood's rear; was
advancing into South or North Carolina ; was
striking for Pensacola. But the actual fact has
turned out to be as foreshadowed in the Times of the 10th
inst., that Sherman is marching through the State of
Georgia to • base on the Atlantic coast. 2. Sherman is
marching in two great columns, each of them two corps in
strength, with cavalry —one column (Howard) striking
southward for Macon, and the other (Slocum) eastward for
Augusta—the whole of the four corps, it is supposed, to
form a junction at Augusta, and thence advance to the sea.
3. By Sunday last, Howard's column bad got as far as
or beyond Mama, though it Is not fixed that the
place itself was taken. His advance had reached Gor-
don, sixty miles east of Macon, on the Savannah
Railroad, and at the junction of the railroad to Mil-
ledgeville. This point is 141 miles from Savannah, and 90
miles from Augusta. The main body was reported only 23
miler from Milledgeville, and the legislature of Georgia
bad adjourned and left with precipitation. The other
column (Slocum) had made about an equal distance along
the railroad from Atlanta to Augusta. In other words,
both columns had got about half way on their march to
Augusta in six days (14th to 20th). Sherman's " orders
for the march" require each of the columns to start habi-
tually at seven o'clock in the morning, and to make
about 15 miles per day. We judge that the
six days' march to Macon was almost precisely up
to orders. 4. In this hundred mike' march through
the most densely populated section of Georgia, Sherman met
with no serious obstruction from the rebels. Cobb and his
militia have popped up once or twice in the rebel news-
paper", and it is not impossible that they took refuge in
Macon, which is strongly fortified, and made Inch a show
of defence as to stop ens forces, if not to cause them to
pass by the place. Macon itself, indeed, may not have been
taken in Howard's line of march, as his troops passed to the
north-east of it in the movement toward Milledgeville.
Deserter from Lee's army, however, who cams Into
our lines at City Point yesterday, report it. °coupe-
tion by our troops. 5. The march of our army seems
to have spread over a wide extant of country.
According to the rebel reports, which are doubtless
authentic, Sherman's two columns have already traversed
18 of the most populous and wealthy counties in Central
Georgia, via., Clay, Fayette, Fulton, De Kalb, Wakes, New-
tow, Jasper, Morgan, Putnam, Jones, Batts, Henry, Spald-
ing, Pike, Bibb, Twigp, and Baldwin ; end either his ion.
Pantry or cavalry have visited the following towns :
Decatur, Jackson. Griffin, Forsyth, Monticello, Hillsboro,
Covington, McDonough, Social Circle, and others. At a
dozen different points be has touched both railroads, and
the width of the strip of country over which his
army moves is net lees than 75 railer, covering
both the named to Augusta and that ;to Savannah,
Thus far, them, the march, in whatever aspect viewed, has
been a success. The compact columns have marched to
time, and resistlessly. The rebels seism to be in despair of
stopping oar army. Beanreprd has issued • highfalutin
proclamation, announcing that he is firing to Georgia's
relief ; but more sober rebels than be are calling on the
elements, the wawa', and all possible and impossible
powers and weaknesses, to aid them. The whole Confe-
deracy is evidently in • panic ; and there is DO doubt that
Jefferson Davis will do all that is parable to thwart or
overthrow Sherman during the last half of his extraordinary
march. That they have not succeeded in doing anything
from last Sunday until now is evident enough, from the fact
that they have not laformed me of it.

We read in Gafignani :—" A great deal of gossip
soda its way into print respecting L'afriraine, which
amounts to this—that the two first acts are by far the best.
Competent judges, however, who have seen the whole por-
tion, and goes over it carefully, aware an that this last
work of hfeyerbeer's is also his greatest."

An indignant French critic points out the fol-
lowing Enoch pieces which are Wag acted under dieguiaed
same is London:—La Palterer de Paris, Fah/an la
Tulips, La (Btansbre 4 Dean Lite, Don Clear de Ba:an,
A!i Baba, L'Aienle, Le Capitaine Pantos se, Lea Freres
Cora, Mademoiselle de Belle•Iele, J'inrite le Colonel,
L'Aroeat du Po arra, aild Les Drawee du Cabaret.

It is stated that Madame Ristori has accepted an
eogagement at the Lyricist Posit aid is to teaks her &Gilt
in a drama in were by X. Legatee, Les Deaz Reines de
Preece, is the muse el test vain. The pity le to be in.
Unpaged with choruses by Gotta&

One of our daily contemporaries published yes-
terday a startling amount of an outbreak of weskits at
Portland Island. To-day she same paper announces that
the statement "has no foundation in fact." One of the
prisoner., it *soros, made hie escape, and the authorities,
fearing a general outbreak, hoisted the "mutiny signal^
A large force of military was immediately deapatehed from
Weymouth, but their servioes were not required.
. .

A French journal, after repeating the paragraph
from the Bogßah papers relative to the sale of Blair Athol
to Mr. Jackson for 7,5001. remarks that, however high that
price may seem, it is far below the sums paid for horse* in
sapient times, and Matte that Philip of Macedon paid 13
talents for Bucephalua, which became the favourite bores of
his eon, Alexander the Great. The tarot was equal to
MOM., so that Bucephalus met 72,800 tr.; but as silver
was at that time foertee times more valuable than sow,
the above sum was equal to 1,019,200 fr. is the present day,
'which is nearly dm times the price paid for Blair Atha.
FATAL AcclDax? AT AIIDLEDIDIL —OU MOD-
, day a 6,. little boy, between four and five years of agar
perished in • remarkable way. His weeks. named Fisher.
live under the Wealeyair chapel, just outside of Ambleside ;
std at noon. their dicer time, Me child west for wets,
to the well is the ohmel yard. This well is as mooing,
Mum feet deep at the deepest part ; it is supplied from the
bills above, and it discharges he waters by • mewed water.
course, passing under the chapel yard and mother enclo-
ser., and under the gardee, drive, and field of the adjacent
residence„ The Mild dropped the ma into the weU. and
returned. He we misted presently after; sad it was too
truly supposed that be had goes to the well main. The
asiyhbours sesseibled ; the wabercourse woe laid epee at
manna§ points ; sad Me body was found, two hears after
be had disappeared, wader the drive. Owing to the
heavy rains of Saturday sad Banal the water was rushieg
through the well with meet faros ; sad, cum carried off
his feet, the poor child had so chance. Some precaution
will doubtless he taken to prevent the recurreem of such ea
accident.