The Express.
London, England, 1862-04-22 00:00:00

me WATU At LONIAJ.I RA/DIM

TIMPI DAT Zii.ll;6l. it Ens— Atternonn, TA. 4.5 an.
Tte=llollllloW—Morning. Va. Mks—... Atternecon, Ink Icen.

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 22.

VTER a short lull, the news from America has
again become important. Both in the East and in
the West of the Union great movements are taking
place, and greater events are impending. The mod
unequivocal announcement is that of the surrender
of Island No. 10 in the Mississippi to the forces
of the United states. The statement, resting on the
reports of the General Commanding-in-Chief in
the district, and of the Flag °dicer who re-
ceived the surrender, is distinguished from
previous announcements of similar tenor. The

Confederates surrendered to Commodore Fowl's.,
commanding the Federal flotilla. An unofficial
report adds that 6,900 prisoners, besides a lam
number of guns, were taken. Apart from the loss of
men and material inflicted on the Confederates,
unbalanced, aa General H ALUM' writes, by any loss
on tho part of the besiegers, it would seem that
this success must prove a great gain to the Federal
cause, by releasing the powerful squadron of gun
and mortar boats under Commodore Foovr- We
are not told what became of the Confederate gun-
boats.

It is, however, to the battle near Corinth,
where the two principal armiesof the West have met
face to face under Generals lIULLL and BEAM'.
GARP, that attention will be drawn most power-
fully in this country•. The accounts of it
which have come to hand are not only
unauthenticated, but are at once exagge-
rated and defective. The engagement was
commenced by the Confederates on the 6th, and
was renewed by the Federate on the 7th of April.
We have a Northern account of both days' tight.
ing, but • Confederate account of the first day
only. The weakness of the advanced column of
the 1 uion army attracted the attention of the
Confederate general, as the latest letters had led
us to expect, and he accordingly attacked it on
the 6th. The newspapers on his side affirm
that he captured " eight Federal batteries and a
"large number of prisoners." The Northern news-
papers allow that he gained the advantage. But
they say—and here they are our only guide—that
early tho next day the Federal army, having been
reinforced by General Beets. in the night, turned
upon the enemy, and after defeating him, drove
him back to Corinth. , It would evidently be
unsafe to build much on the fragmentary infor-
mation brought by this mail. The Southern
army appears to have renewed active operations
with credit. It is, however, difficult to believe
that the loss on either aide was so great as is re-
ported in the telegram. A loss of 65,0110 men
approaches the proportions of that of the great
battles of the Napoleonic wan. Only telegraphic
accounts of the battle had reached New York
when the steamer left.

Tut Committee appointed to advise the Queau
respecting the Memorial of the lamented Paisce
Cievaier have presented their first report to her
Mkii..ry. The weekly accounts that have ap-
peared must have prepared the public for
the principal result of the Committee's
deliberations and inquiries. They have con-
sidered the project of an obelisk in all its
bearings--the quarries we may count on, the
expense attending the excavation, removal, and
fashioning a stone, and the suitability of the
work when erected—and they conclude by lays-ig
before the Quees reasons for re-considering the
proposal to commemorate the PRINcE CoMMOILT
by a monument of that clase. Patient inquity and
deliberation have led them to the conclusion that
to persevere in the original deign of the Memorial
would be to hazard in a dubious experiment the
funds which the nation has so promptly offered.
We might not even get the monolith for the money
subscribed ➢ and it is tolerably certain that we should
get nothing else, no surrounding sculptors, and,
worst of all, no statue of the Pelee& The Queen,
upon these representations, has most graciously
waived the proposition contained in General Gezv's
first letter to the Lone Mkeiiit, and, since the
whole matter must now be considered afresh, has
referred the entire design of the Memorial to
the Committee without conditions. Now that
the Writ:os decision has restored the when, tines-
tom to the domain of unfettered discussion, we
have no hesitation in affirming that the abandon-
ment of the design of an obelisk will give general
satisfaction. It era never taken to by the public,
and for good reasons. A public monument, espe-
cially a monument proceeding from a spontaneous
national influence, should speak a language " under-
" *tended of the people." There may be mystic
meanings in an obelisk, not to perceive which may
denote, as the limo NI evils has lately observed, a
low and defective education of the people in regard
to art. But when it is Prince Attirer we speak of,
lot us avoid the affectation of an unknown tongue.
If we cannot command for this Monument the
Christian and Teutonic style of art which would
best agree with the memory of the Panics, at
learnt let us have something articulate and intel-
ligible.

General GaNy'.l letter to Sir CUAILII4I EMT-
LAK E contains the suggestion that it would now be
better to turn from the geologists to the archi-
tects, asking them to prepare a design in which
the groups of statuary c:.iitemplated from the first
may be combined. The Committee have a difficult
task confided to them ; but the jedgment and
fidelity which distinguish their first report will
increase the confidence of the public in their fur-
ther deliberations.