The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-22 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morning
This day at Two o'clock 5B

Barometer-30.05.
Wind—N.E. ; moderate breeze, and cloudy.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAT.—Morning, 4h. 51m.—Afternoon; sh. 6m.
To-movatow.-Morning, sh. 25m.—Afternoon, sh. 45m.

-
Zijt >. tut

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1863.

Although the news brought from America by
the Glasgow is but a single day later than that
which came to hand on Saturday last, immedi-
ately on the arrival of the Persia that one

additional day's intelligence will bo found, upon

examination, to be of very considerable import-
ance. And it is so, for the very simple reason,
that it fully confirms the first hurried announce-
ment, brought over by the Persia, descriptive of
the utter defeat, rout, and all but annihilation, of
General SEDGWICICS division at Fredericksburg.
A mer 3 remnant of that division, it now turns out,
having contrived to effect its escape from the Con fede-
rates by rapidly crossing the Itippabannoeld Even
then, when the flying remnant of that more than
decimated division had succeeded in putting the
long-named river between them and their Southern

pursuers, the dilemma in which SEDOWICK'S men

found themselves must have tended in no very
material way to hearten them on in regard to their
future proceedings For how, in fact, were they
situated when they had thus (nominally speaking)
escaped ? They were so situated that they were in
reality more than ever in a perillous state of isola-
tion. They were, in the strictest meaning of the
phrase, on the wrong side of the hedge, when they
had recrossed to that, certainly for them, wrong
side of the Rappahannock, So conscious was

General SEDGWICK of the fact of their being

so, of their; being in this most untoward predi-
cament, that immediately after crossing he directed
his steps forthwith along the northern bank in the
direction of the United States Ford, as it is called,
in order, as speedily as possible, to recross the river
at that point, if he should happily for him find it in
any way practicable—so as to reach once more the
head-quarters of General HOOKER, the Federal
Commander-in-Chief.
As to that same unfortunate Commander-in-Chief
of the Northern Army, he appears, by this one day's
later intelligence, to have been in as sorry a plight
as well could be—short of his total discomfiture.
As the sequel to his disastrous struggle with
the Confederates, on the morning of Sunday, the
31 instant, he now turns out to have wisely availed
himself of the excuse furnished by the bad weather
for not renewing the battle with his antagonists.
With his lines contracted—hard lines truly for him!
lines certainly not cast just vow in pleasant places !
—.HOOKER had, until the moment of these last
advices leaving the seat of war, persistently and
prudently remained strictly upon the defensive.
Satisfied with having stunned the Federal Gammen-
der-in-Chief into this complete and profound state
of quiescence, the attention of the Confederate Com•
manger-ic-Chief, General LEE, and of his Generals
of Division, foremost amongst them the redoubt-
able" STONEWALL" JACKSON, seems to have been
directed to the more caniplete crushing out, from
all further hope, of General SEDGWICK'S iil•starred
division. So serioas was til position of things even
in the estimation of the ,
headed
obtuseand dawdling Exe-
cutive of Washington
~by that greatestlione
Failure of the Age, President
4d
his
coadjutors, in
Am LINCOLN,
that the latter an
the Federal Government, really at length would
appear to have been startledartled into something k
an energetic course. It is a course which,
supposing the flying tumours as to its having been
taken, to be correct—is a rather precipitate course
at best, a course indicative very nearly of a sense of
absolute desperation! The accuracy of the rumour,
however, yet remains to be demonstrated—this ex-
traordinary /am-lour now brought over, as it were
breathlessly, across the Atlantic by the Glasgow,
to the effect that the reserve set os;de for
of the capital, a reserve of
tits in olection
:39,000 men, had been has' fly despatched from
Washington, to the support of Gz.neral HOOKER
and his lieutenants. Should this prove to have
been actually done—should it turn out that these
30,000 men of the rtserve have really been despatched
thus summarily to the assistance of General
HOOKER—President LINCOLN may then be said
' to have fairly staked all upon a single cast of the
t
. die, to have risked his whole available resources upon
the salvation, at the last gasp (the mere rumour of
this act would seem to say this), of the Army
of the Potomac! Supposing the course here
particularised, we repeat, to have been taken,
. ,l it must be allowed certainly to be a bold course

enough ; but it is also, no less, surely, a very
ha zlreous one. _ _

While ugly rumours of this kind were flying
about, moreover, thick and fast, at Washing-
ton, an ominous silence was still preserved as
to the actual condition of General HOOKER'S
entrenched army. True, there were wild, vague
statements whispered about, exultantly, at the
Federal hotel-bars in New York and Washington,
telling how the Federal General had taken multi.
tudes of prisoners from the victorious foe, observe !
But then, rather interfering with our readiness to
accept statements of this kind with anything like
confidence, they variously put the aggregate of
these reported prisoners at any total that might be
selected from five to fifteen thousand! Thousands
on General HOOKER'S own side having notoriously
fallen upon that fatal Sunday's battlefield ! Driven
to bay, once more, as the army of the Potomac
undoubtedly is, will not President LINCOLN at
length listen to reason, will he not modify somewhat
the dogged policy to which he has hitherto so per-
tinaciously adhered ? Heaven grant it! For the
restoration of the Union, as it was ! intact I—we
have long come to regard as utterly hopeless. Nor
are we in any way exceptional, in so thinking, on this
side of the Atlantic. What sane man amongst
us can seriously maintain for one moment the feasi-
bility of the realisation of the old Federal daydream?
Even that cherisher of Federal hallucinations, the
hon. member for Birmingham, would hesitate now,
we should presume, from adventuring upon any
such display of flagrant hardihood as the main-
taining of a thesis so utterly extravagant.

Affairs in Prussia still seem to be complicated ;
the last accounts informing us that Herr BISMARK
appeared at the Chamber of Deputies and read a
message from the KING, which apprised that House
that as it had indirectly approved of the conduct
of its President, it had acted in violation of the con-
stitutional rights of the Ministry. " Such a posi-
tion for the Ministry," the message add, " does not
correspond w ith the dignity of the Crown. The KING
can only advise the Chamber to terminate such a state
of things, in order that the business of the House may
be continued." Nothing could be more ill-timed or
ill-judged than this communication, and unwisely
as the King of PRUSSIA has already acted, this last
step is still worse than any previous one. He seems
resolved to irritate, by every available means, the
temper of the Chamber of Deputies. There can be
but one end to this contretemps between the Go-
vernment and the House, and that is a dissolution.
The whole aspect of affairs in Prussia at the pre-
sent moment is most unsatisfactory, 'whether we
regard foreign questions or turn to home matters
It was only the other night that reference
was made in the House of Commons to the
part taken against the Poles by the Prussian Go-
vernment, and now we have this latest confirmation
of the unhappy state of things existing between
the Sovereign and his subjects. It is, at all events,
satisfactory to note that the members in the Cham-
ber of Deputies have resolved at once upon offering
a determined resistence to the arbitrary missive sent
to them. Herr VIRCHON moved that the Royal
Message be referred to the Committee on the Ad-
dress, as the Ministers had misinformed the KING.
His proposal .was unanimously adopted by the
Chamber. If their existence is soon to be abruptly
terminated, these representatives will at least have
the gratification of remembering that they did their
utmost to uphold the dignity and to maintain the
rights of their position, thereby leaving behind them
an example worthy of imitation by the race that
may succeed them. The present crisis is a most
painful one ; and it seems useless to expect any
amelioration in the prospects of the future, while
the KING and the Ministers persist in supporting
and encouraging each other in the unwise course and
the dangerous policy that have of late so perplexed
and startled their own country and the neighbour-
ing States of Europe.

Experiments in legislation are usually fascinating
if they are dangerous, although in no other science
does theory so ill stand the test of practice. It is
easy to discourse on political rights and duties, the
responsibilities of statesmen, and the privileges due
to taxpayers, but the melancholy fact remains that
men, whether in office or in opposition, as candidates
or electers, seldom act up to the expectations of
Utopian philosophers. Nevertheless, it is always
interesting to watch the application of new princi-
ples, and to subject to the sharp test of daily prac-
tice by ordinary men those measures and projects
which elcquent theorists have formed from excep-
tional experience. Such experiments are most easily
and suitably tried in young and unformed states,
where no overthrow of existing institutions, no
violent convulsion of the social system, is needed to
make way for the trial of new constitutional laws.
Oar colonies are especially fitted to be the theatre
of such essays, possessing as they do the experience,
steadiness, and political intelligence of the old
country, along with the fresher energies and wider
scope of their new life. The self government which
has been of late years accorded to them enables
them to put their Chartism to the very wholesome
and moderating test of experiment, under
whose disenchanting influence universal suf•
frage, payment of members and other "points" lose
somewhat of their charms. The aspect of political
affairs in Victoria affords a good illustration of the
drawbacks attending some of those measures which
Democrats so earnestly enforce. Under the aus-
pices of Mr. REALER, the late Premier, whose
opinions were essentially Democratic, the payment
of the popular representativf s was determined upon.
Three hundred a-year, besides the privilege of med-
dling in the affairs of the country, proved an attrac-
tion that brought into the field a host of competi-
tors of questionable character, many of them being
professional men whose ill luck or want of ability
had rendered their respective professions unremune-
rative, and men of the lower orders, ambitious to
display their political abilities while gaining a com-
fortable income. The necessary votes were not difficult
toobtain, for universal sufft age rendered mob- oratory
a fair passport to success, and a throng of grandi-
loquent declaimers on the rights of man and the
duties
of property were carried in triumph to the
desired goal. The dangers of an assembly composed
exclusively
so
t el
czadi fdo
of such representatives were, however,
more
rparent, that an association was formed by the
of a bettepreeca
labs
sl e
of a
ar t
epsr, promoting ot ing
paying the
theirelection
ex-
penses.
The result of these
after the
timeefforts was that in a short
meeting of the
Tr Assembl th •
were defeated, and Mr. minrity
foundyl°l' e
is democratic
tfflrts rewarded with a seat on the Opposition
benches. Mr. CrSIIANNESSY, one of the most able
men in the colony, supplied his
place ; but the
d,ffinilties attending the
working of the Victorian
Constitution are 60 great, that it
- is more than
hinted that the Assembly is kept in k. wor ing order
by the use of means not altogether immacu:ate. The
perplexity seems to be much the same as that which
was felt in the United States before the crisis. The
aspirant to power has many supporters and advisers,
but few rewards to give when success is won. The
disappointed partisan easily discovers some flaw in
his policy. Some inconsistency in his proceedings
gives him an excuse for transferring his support

and his services to a more hopeful ,patron. In
America this scheming is constantly at Work with
regard to the chief office in the State. In Victoria,
happily, it is confined to the more constitutional
limit of Ministerial changes. The fact is, that uni-
versal suffrage over there does not work well, as
Victorian statesmen are beginning to find. The
new Electoral Act neutralises it in a great ale asure
by disqualifying all who have not been resident
in the Electoral district for three months, and in-
sisting on the signature of each would-be constituent
to the roll of voters. But these proposed amend-
ments have serious defects. In the first places
gthoeldrudlieggrsaest, howreo forma
sidence presses very badly on the
numerous and influential
class of the population. Again, the regulation as
to signature, although at first sight good as secur-
ing educated voters, shuts out a large number of
quick-witted and intelligent men, long resident in
the colony, whose shrewdness and experience would
be worth having in. the legislature. Reading and
writing is a fair test of the capabilities and associa-
tions of the adult emigrant. It is by no means
infallible evidence of the powers of the native colo-
nist, who was
probably brought up in a home and
district where "schooling" was a thing unknown.
The worst of it is that in all this political rivalry
and democratic experimentalising the interests of the
colony are but ill represented, while measures of real
value and importance are delayed or neglected
owing to adverse influences. What can be done,
when the Government acts freely and promptly, is
shown by the rapid development of the cotton cul-
tivation in Queensland. Every facility has been
given to speculators, and every encouragement
afforded to successful cultivators. Free grants of
land up to 1,280 acres are conceded on easy condi-
tions, and bonuses are offered of £lO for every
bale of cotton weighing 3001 b. of the growth of
the seasons 1862-3.4, and of £5 for the two
next seasons. The result of this liberal and
enlightened policy is so satisfactory [that an
enlightened Australian contemporary thinks it not
unlikely that the cultivation of cotton will shortly
assume in Queensland an equal importance to the
growth of wool. if this policy had been earlier
adopted in all our colonies suitable to the
growth of cotton, how much suffering and loss
might there not have been spared ! Instead
of which, every obstacle has been put in the
way of enterprise, and every discouragement
given both by the home and colonial governments
to any attempt at experiment or speculation. Pri-
vate enterprise, in the person of a German tobacco-
nist, has recently developed another source of wealth
and prosperity to our Australian colonies. He has
established a tobacco plantation near Melbourne
with such astonishing success as to produce many
imitators, a new and thriving branch of trade
thus opening to colonial industry. It is dsser ted
by the cultivators and manufacturers concerned in
it, that in a few years Victoria cigars will rival
Havannahs, but whether or no such megnificent
visions be realised, the successful experiment is a
matter of congratulation. If our colonists would
suspend their political disputes for a while and turn
their attention to the development of their internal
resources, they would find it a more profitable wey
of employing their political energies.

The Egyptians, from time immemorial, have been
more or less in a state of serfdom, notwithstanding
that before their conquest by CAMBYSES, they pos-
sessed privileges of which in later times they were
deprived. A curse seems to have fallen upon the
land many centuries ago, and up to the present day
the vast buildings and statues which were produced
in past ages by their forefathers, have no more in-
terest in the eyes of the Egyptians than as a source
of profit to be derived from guiding the curious
strangers to the ruins of the works of the Phareahs
and their predecessors. The cause of this inertness
does not spring from any want of intelli-
gence in the individual Egyptian, but rather from
the thraldom to which he has become accus-
tomed, and to a total want of interest in a
country in which he has no material concern. Is it
to be expected that, when at any moment, at the
call of the government of his district, he may be
ordered to leave his home, and labour under
the rod of the Turkish taskmaster, the _Egyp-
tian can possess any national sentiments.
Up to the late visit to Egypt by the new
Turkish Sultan, ABDUL AZIZ, such has really been
the state of this extraordinary country. But a new
vista has been at length opened up by the appear-
ance of this grand reformer in the country which
had been so long neglected by so many of his pre-
decessors, being left by them to the care of tribu-
tary, not independent, Viceroys. ABDUL Aztz feels
the responsibility of his position, and his duty to all
his subjects, Turks or Egyptians, Catholics, Pro-
testants, Greek Church, or Mahommedans. At
his interview with ISMAIL PASIIA, with the concur-
rence of the French authorities, it was determined
that in future forced labour shall be abolished in
Egypt. This is as it should be, and we trust
that a new era is now opening in the East. Let us
hope that good government and free institutions
will mitigate religious animosities, and so strengthen
the Ottoman Empire that, in case of a threatened
invasion from the North, the assistance of the
Western Powers may not again be required.

To the Editor of the Sun.

Tavistock Hotel, Covent-garden, lir.C.,
May 21, 1863.

SIR,—In your Marlborough-street police report of this
day there is a person named " Edward Douglas " charged
with being drunk and disorderly in Coventry-street at four
o'clock this morning. He states he is of the Tavisteck
Hotel, Covent-garden. We beg to say no one of that name
is known here.--We arc, Sir, yours obediently,

TlABitrso s and Co.

LORD LYNDIIuRsT.—" The Nestor of the House
of Lords," as he has been most properly denomi-
nated, completed his 91st year yesterday. It affords us, as
well as the whole of his aide circle of friends, great pleasure
to say that the venerable Lord is in the enjoyment of excel-
lent health, both mental and physical, but his intellectual
faculties surpass his physical. Yesterday being his birth-
day, a family circle assembled to the number of 18. Not
only from Royalty, but from a large circle of admiring
iends, his Lordship received many testimonials of regard.
We understand that the marriage of the Hon. Gt orgiana
Copley, Lord Lyndhurst's youngest daughtei, with Mr Du
Cane, M.P., will take place at the close of the ensuing
month.

A fi re
ho u:rtesualtteßde
intik ft ohred,
destruction near
or Tewkesbury,seious
on Tuesday,
damage of several buildings. The fire spread to a large
r
pigsty, and as soon as it was possible to approach the sty
several "navvies" made a rush, and seizing the pigs, which
were almost cooked, commenced cutting them up and with
the greatest nonchalance commenced eating the meat. Ono
of these fellows, finding the meat not sufficiently cooked to
his taste, held it oa a fork over the burning embers.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.-00 Monday last Mr
Nottinghamshire, sent his ter-
vant Brown,in
charge
niiin'
egfaherse and cart from the field to the
homestead, On his way tome ha had to cross the railway,
and opened the gate to lit the horse and cart cross over
wi hout looking if there were any trains in sight. The horse
and cart had no socner entered the crossing than a luggage
train came up, The buffer of ihe engine struck the body of
the
cart, separating it from the shafts, without in the least
injuring the animal. Unfortunately, Mr. Brown's son, a
years tittle boy three ye
of age, was riding in the cart when
the collision took
ttherown engine.
ov e hedge The child
remnants of the
shattered
The poor child, together with the
e
r the
theh i tatitered vehicle, was tossed into the air
about 20ft. high,
e boy's cap alighting on the top of
h
fell close by the side of the rails
senseless to the ground, l
ge
into ther adjoining field. The father,
while the remains of the cart were
who was left in the field, heard the collision, and hastening
to the spot found the boy
Senseless. After the lapse
of some hours the child showed signa of life, and hopes are
entertained that Ile will recover,