The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-16 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morning i'o
This day at Two o'clock 5B

Barometer-30.07,
Wind—W. ; fine.

L. `-•
'egg. ET"I
-

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 1863,

Is Earl RUSSELL'S facetiousness the other day
at Dundee to be accounted for in any respect, we
wonder, by reason of a certain self-complacency at
the successful development by him during the holi-
days of certain extremely odd new phases in his
Foreign Policy ? Scarcely have the Houses of
Parliament been prorogued, scarcely have the mem-
bers—hereditary and representative—been fairly
scattered far and wide throughout the provinces and
upon the continent, as well as upon the wide seas in
their yachts, when Earl RUSSELL effects a change in
the diplomatic arrangements of the Government, such
as he would, for certain, never have ventured upon
while the Legislature was actually sitting, Sir
JAMES HUDSON is coolly turned to the right-about
at Turin. He is compelled to vacate his place there at
the British Embassy—in order that another of those
interminable ELLIOTS may slip into it quite com-
fortably and conveniently. The long vacation
enabling the noble Earl to carry out his affectionate
intentions towards thus furthering the interests of his
kinsman by this distinguished and most desirable
promotion, the thing is in due course done accord-
ingly. And done so quietly, too—by an announce-
ment in the /Gazette! No vexatious worrying of
either the Foreign Secretary himself' in the House
of Lords, no troublesome annoyance inflicted upon
his representative in the House of Commons, the
hon. member for the borough of Southwark, who
sits there during the session upon the Treasury
bench in his responsib:e character as Under. Secr-
etary for the Foreign Department ; no annoying
questions put either here or there, now to Earl
RUSSELL by one of those sarcastic peers on the
side of the Opposition, now to Mr. LAYARD by one
of those metropolitan members who are always SO
eagerly in quest of knowledge under difficulties !
Sir JAMES HUDSON—about whose removal we, at
any rate, can speak quite dispassionately, having
a supreme indifference as to the sequel of
the diplomatic career of his ex-Excellency—
Sir JAMES HUDSON has only to withdraw
silently from his position at Turin as English
ambassador Mr. ELLIOT has only as silently to
step into his empty shoes, and to occupy his vacated

residence in that capital of Piedmont—for we can
hardly yet surely speak of Turin as the capital of
Italy, without running, at least, a very imminent
hazard of wounding the amour propre of every
Lombard, Tuscan, Neapolitan, even, we might say,
of every Modencse, Parmese, and so forth, in the
the length, and whatever there is in it of breadth,
of the whole Roman peninsula. All the penalty
Earl RUSSELL has been subjected to, in consequence
of his flagrant subordination of public interests
of all kinds to the petty individual interests of one
among the large cluster of his own numerous kith
and kin, has been in the way of printed commentary
'upon that extraordinary proceeding, extraordinary
even from him and for an ELLlOT—sarcastic
leaders in the daily and weekly newspapers, and
an occasional caustic gibe in the shape of a hu-
tnoxi,
`-laillustration in the pages of our
Landoll
Charivari. The accomplishment of his
amiable design in regard to Mr. ELLIOT, with only
this slight
cost to himaelf in the shape of ridicule
endured, was,
doubtless, in itself a circumstance
calculated to lighten considerably the spirits of the
Foreign Secretary at the very commencement of his
autumnal holidays,
ut,even then, it fails to explain
the height of hilarity attained by those lightened
spirits of his upon the occasion of the noble earl's re-
cent public appearance at Dundee. Something very
different, indeed ; something far
more exhilirating
than the quiet effecting of this dexterous insinua-
tion of an ELLIOT into the suddenly I vacated British
Embassy at Turin, must have inspired that most
unusual vivacity on the part of the Foreign
Secretary one ordinarily rather didactic in
manner, and given to an undue display of
gravity than to the convulsion of his audience,
whether in Parliament or oat of it, into bursts of
irrepressible hilarity.
Yet it is only necessary to glance down Eirl RUS-
SELL'S speech lately at Dundee, to recognise that
the noble lord was in what is called familiarly and
emphatically t;p-top spirits while he WEIS
'nig. But for his name appearing at the headspeak-
of
his speech to the I)andeeites, we might, from the
character of the interruptions, have been led to
suppose that it was an after dinner harangue by
Mr. BIICKSTONE, or an oration upon some very
serious question, indeed, a Church matter of
great importance, or a more than usually anxious
topic connected with finance, spoken to a
laughing audience by that veteran light comedian
of politics, the First Lord of the Treasury.
Laughter, renewed laughter, once even, intense
langhter—these were the kind of interruptions to
Lerd RUSSELL'S speech the other day at Dundee.
\'Thence, this abounding hilarity on the part of the

noble earl at the head of the Foreign Department ?
It could not possibly be attributable to a delighted
sense on his part of a most adroit avoidance of
parliamentary annoyance in connection with the
tittle family incident already referred to. That
was a thing already past and done with.
Neither could it well have had reference to-day, in
any way, to what was yet more remotely past and
done with—to such incidents, let us say, as the
arrogant bearing assumed, by him, at different
times and in various degrees towards Den-
mark, towards Mexico, towards Brazil—towards
any State, in fact, that a British Foreign Secretary
might safely treat with arrogance. No, the sourca
of these sudden high spirits at Dundee must
surely be more recent. It must, clearly, be
some incident much more suggestive of a sense of
personal exultation. We have it ! Earl RUSSELL'S
vivacity is traceable to nothing less than a delighted
consciousness of his having again ventured, during
the holidays, upon doing what he could never have
had the hardihood :o attempt during the sitting of
Parliament—the truckling to the North, the
knuckling down to the insolent threats so often
indulged in from -Washington, the perverse deter-
mination to interfere, at the behest of Mr. ADAMS,
in the business arrangements of Mr. LAIRD, the
shipbuilder, by detaining upon, a bare suspicion,
the steam rams, called for the nonce, El Toussoun
and El Monassir.

Among the many changes produced by the Ame-
rican war, the position of the Western States
are te s is not
the least interesting.
While other
upon them,
com-
plaining loudly of the demannudasncmeadeef
hostilitieso n
p
and depreciating the continuance
n States
while the fertile plains of havetheSlovutehster suffered
are
all tile horrors of invasion, the
ready with their men aanddmaorneewy,ilalrinegrapeindelyegdhevtee-
loping their resources, u
vote for on of the war. By one of
thoseue turns of the wheel of fortune that are
vote thee carrying
sometimes to be seen in our prosaic age, the war,
so disastrous in its results, and so lavish in its
expenditure, has been to these 'Western States a
source of profit and prosperity. These agricultural
districts were in no flourishing condition at the
beginning of the war. Excessive speculation, that
bane of American trade, bad harvests, and other
causes had combined to load almost all landowners
with heavy mortgages. A sudden turn of the wheel
brought to them this opportune and profitable war.
The produce of the soil was :eagerly sought for,
there was no fear of lacking customers for pork and
breadstuffs ! The change in the currency was still
more important than the increased demand for com-
modities. The easy terms on which money could
be obtained worked wonders for the embarrassed
farmers. Oppressive debts of long standing were
swept off in " greenbacks." No matter as to the
real value of the money tendered, the 'account was
paid in the currency of the realm, and no complaints
could be made. In other ways, too, the effect of
Mr. Chase's system has made itself felt. Ten years
ago there were not 100 miles of railway in all the
State of Illinois—there are now more than 3,000.
Building and planting, scheming and speculating,
are going on on all hands. On every side are the
signs of that busy commercial activity which tells
of a prosperous and thriving State, Still there is
no question but that these energetic and enter-
prising traders are going on, morally and politically,
as they do practically on their cars and steamboats
—going at a degree of high pressure that ensures
rapid progress, but also entails the risk of sudden
collapse and disaster. That the day of reckoning
must certainly come, perhaps at no distant
date, is an indisputable fact, and whether the
war will look equally attractive then, may be more
than questionable. Still it has been justly observed
that, however great or disastrous the crash may be,
the material evidences of prosperity will remain.
The lines of railway and other substantial improve-
ments will be there, whatever party rules at New
York and Washington, whether Union or Seces-
sion be triumphant. At present the motto seems
to be " take no thought for the morrow ;" and it is
no great wonder that, amidst such brisk and
thriving trade, and surrounded by the evidences of
commercial and industrial speculation, the go-a-head
New Englanders from the leading circles of the
West should be fully satisfied with the aspect of the
present. When the bubble bursts there will be, no
doubt, a revulsion of feeling ; but, as yet, there is
no hesitation in paying the taxes, which are not,
indeed, rigidly enforced in the West, while Illinois
had contributed 135,000 men to the army up to
last December out of a population of 2,000,000. A
farmer, who was the father of ten sons, declared
that he Lad sent seven of them to the war, and such
sacrifices in an agricultural population are not
turned,with however, and in
outtheireffect. When once the tide has
place of a liberal supply of
paper money, always obtainable on easy terms, the
weight and burden of taxation begins to make
itself felt, and the enormous expenses of thisruinous
war are pressed upon the nation, there will be a
new element in the American strife and struggle.
The North-Western States, with all their agricul•
tural wealth and most natural resources, will begin
to feel that they have separate and individual
interests, entirely distinct from those of the North.
They will probably refuse to bear their share of the
expenses so rashly and lavishly incurred, although
they have not failed to profit by the tide at its flood.
The dismemberment of the once mighty United
States has become only a question of time, and
it is not unlikely that the unwieldy nation
may break into three—the North Western
provinces forming a State by themselves--
which, from size, wealth, position, and resources,
they are very well qualified to do. The centrali-
sation system which is being stretched to such un-
reasonable lengths is manifestly failing more and
more every day. Mr. LINCOLN may dream of abso-
lute sovereignty over South and West, but he had
better make the most of his dreams, since they will
never become reality. The secession of the West
has been talked or thought of—probably from
the prosperity it is now enjoying, and the conse-
quent content of the great body of the people.
England, however, is not the only country in
which the real test of conviction is to make a
demand upon the pocket. The Americans, reck-
less and lavish as they are of their money, re-•
garding tremendous commercial panics, which we
look upon as unmitigated and exceptional calami-
ties, as are casual depressions of trade, will yet
be very unwilling to see their new found pros-
perity and importance melt away under the pres-
sure of taxation, and the collapse of Liovernment
credit. Should the Confederates capture Wash-
tinhgintgon
ilike the
far'
ys greenm o n e
yb a co kf s
the would bl ee
gseoemd
se
turning into thorns and shrivelled leaves at day-
break, toThe the
consternation of
ratttyh, by one of theeir disappointed
owner of a handsome fortune in
these questionable securities
extraordinary fluctuations of war, rise up one
morning and find his
greenbacks are veritable
fairy
moneys
on e y
Still by that system of compensation,
which runs through the universe, bringingevil
out of good, and chequering good with evil, the
horrors of this most deplorable strife have not been
altogether without effecting good. Apart from the
larger questions of social, political, and moral in-
finance, the large wum of paper money afloat has

unquestionably given a stimulous to enterprise in
quarters where it was needed. The Western
States have been among those who have profited
most largely by it, and it is some satisfaction that
works of an enduring character, and of permanent
benefit to the people, have owed their existence to
the blood-stained struggle of the last two years.

The Bishop of St. DAVID'S made a very interest-
ing speech at Swansea, on nationalities. The dis-
course of the right ma. prelate is well worthy of
perusal, and will afford gratification from its elo-
quence, as well as instruction from its details. He
said, to commence with, that much diversity of
aopinionssero bl i had
s.”H prevailede cited
dw
thei t hregard
anth or
ittoy these "
fe st h
eßa
d i
ancientc
Greeks, who held their national Eisted-dfodan, the
most celebrated of which were Olympic Games.
These games were most valuable, as they were a
" centre of national unity" for the Greek people,
and they also stimulated the progress of literature,
since the victories there obtained inspired the muse
of PINDAR. But, said the Bishop, you have the
advantage in your Eisted-dfodan, as compared with
the Olympic Games, for they were all feats of bodily
activity. It belonged to a totally different order
of entertainments to that which they were assem-
bled to enjoy. Dr. THIRLWALL then entered at
some length into the disputes that arose regarding
the question of the maintenance of the old form of
speech. He said that these disputants were exag-
gerating the effect of language, good or bad. If
they crossed the Channel and went to France, they
would find a portion of that great country, called
Brittany, whose inhabitants spoke very much the
same language as themselves. In regard to this
place, the greatest unity subsisted between it and
other parts of the empire. There was no part of
France where the spirit of nationality prevailed to
a greater degree than in Brittany, and hence it was
apparent that all did not depend upon language to
such an extent as some erroneously supposed. In
Ireland, the greater part, indeed, nearly all the
people spoke the English tongue. Hence it could
not be said that the small remnant preserved of old
language cause any of the disturbances that arose
occasionally. There were sad proofs how little
a unity of language was instrumental in pre-
serving a unity of nationality. Need he take
them across the Atlantic and ask what had been
the effect of a common language there ; it had not
prevented " two sections of the same great people
from breaking out into the most dreadful civil war
which has been known in the history of mankind."
At all events, said the speaker, let us not exagge-
rate the effects of language, but reduce them to
their true value. This little sketch of the most
striking instances of different tongues not prevent-
ing unity from existing, and also that the same
tongue does not deter from the most violent alter-
cations arising from among those who speak it in
wide domains, was most appropriate. It reduced
the question to its true bearings, and confined it to
its just limits. Dr. THIRLWALL rendered essential
service to the cause ho then represented by his able
arguments and fot'cible expositions of the compli-
cated subject before him. It is surprising what
people will find to dispute about at times, and how
angrily they will pursue their details, and with
what zeal carry on their opposition, when all the
time they have most likely no case to make out,
and had much better have remained quiescent, and
not made any hostile move at all. Dr. Dunes-ALL
said that those who were so much against the
Welsh language might believe him that it was not
so great an obstacle as they supposed. As to
those on the other side, he would say that they
had no reason to be over-anxious and so easily
alarmed. " Depend upon it, so long as the great
body of the Welsh people continue to value and to
love their ancient language it is impossible that
it can die out." This is essentially true, and the
experience of all time attests its veracity and
bears out its authenticity. What is engraven on
the mind of a nation cannot perish, what is
cherished in the heart of a people must sur-
vive. The advice given by the Bishop of St.
DAVID'S was very wise, and it is to be
hoped that many who heard may take heed to
it. He said he wished that every Welshman should
have something added to what he possessed, and
not taken from him. He wished him not to lose
the chance of exercising his talents and cultivating
his faculties, so that he might pursue a career of
useful activity and honourable ambition in all parts
of the world, which advantages he could not expect
to realise if he only carried about his ancient
tongue. He wished that in this generation it would
cease to be necessary to employ an interpreter in a
court of justice. He thought the people of Wales
were threatened with a new Saxon invasion. It
had begun, it was spreading, and it would reach
the remotest corners of the land. There was a dif-
ference, however, in this second approach of the
Saxon. He " came not now with mailed troops for
the purpose of devastation and plunder, but to pour
his riches over the whole country." Whoever,there-
fore, stopped the progress of this invasion, and
sought to limit the people of Wales to their own
tongue, to the single use of their own language, was
an enemy to the interest of Wales. Dr. Truna-
evaLL concluded his able address by stating that he
hoped ho represented the opinions cf many in his
views such as he had just expressed them. He
thought the subject he had referred to was one
which required grave consideration. This is un-
doubtedly the case, and ho is deserving of thanks
for the pains which he has been at to explain
rightly the important subject before him. It is one
which is intimately connected with the interests of
the nation, and it is to be trusted that no mistaken
notions of independence will prevent the people
from benefiting themselves by it, and acquiring all
the additional knowledge in their power. It was a
true saying of CHARLES THE FIFTH that the man
who knew two languages had two hearts and two
souls.teold and
Letby being e
those belligerents as to nationality,
then, profit byreteheiisvprecept, and sec vexed questions
at
dtohuebnlyewa:mthends;
sleettttinhgema retain
h defiance
good
oexwanmd spolem
o domains
this other people, and putting a stop in their
tothelasstrsi,fteowthhiechdeistriemnegnetndoef redby
disunions
social
advancementand the hindrance of public improve-
s.
ment ss ohfipabl nddi
ng for ates.
the
Confederates.

The following reply to the memorial forwarded
to Earl Russell by the President of the Union and
Emancipation Society has been received from the
Foreign-office

" Foreign-office, Sept.l4, 1863.
" Sir,—l am directed by Earl Russell to state to
you, in reply to your memorial of the Ist instant,
that her Majesty's Government have long had their
attention turned to the question of building and
fitting vessels of war for the so-called Confederate
States, and the subject will continue to receive
their anxious conEideration.—l am, sir, your most
obedient humble servant, "E. HAMMOND.
"'l'. B. Potter, Esq., &c.,
51, Piccadilly, Manchester."

A monument is to be erected in America to the
memory of Samuel Colt, of revolver notoriety.
CHARLES DICKENS AT PARIS.—The English in
Paris, and very many of the French also, are in eager
expectation that Mr. Charles Dickens may again be pre-
vailed upon to delight them with At least one more Of his
hanitAble Iteadings.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

[REUTER'S TELEGRAIts.]

I'GERMANY AND DENMARK.
FRANKFORT, SEPT. 15 (Evening).

The Europe announces the departure of the
Danish Minister on leave of absence, and regrets
its coincidence with the decision of the Diet to
carry out Federal execution in Holstein.,

POLAND.

THORN; SEPT. 15.

The Russian Government in Warsaw yesterday
began to apply compulsory measures towards
tradespeople who had not paid their taxes. The
places of business of all such persons were closed by
the police. The taxes in question were then paid.

FRANCE.
PARIS, SEPT. 16.

The Monzteur of this morning says:—

" The steamer Florida is not a privateer, as was
believed, She forms part of the military marine of
the Confederate States, and her officers are furnished
with regular commissions. The Florida has all the
character of an ordinary vessel of war."
BOURSE, Sept. 15.—The market has been rather
quiet, but with yesterday's quotations well main-
tained. Threes, for the Account, are now at 69f. 10c.
Railway Shares also firm. The market closed as
follows :

4t per Cents. 96
Do. end month
3 per Cents
Do. end month 69 15
Credit Mobilier 1210
Do. end month 1202 50
Bank Shares 3400 --
Credit F oneier 1415

Italian Loan 74 20
Do. end month 74 15
New ditto —
Do. end month —
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes —
Home Debt

SAILWAYB.
Cash. Account.
Orleans lO4O .. 1042 50
Northern lOO5 .. 1005 --

New ditto
Lyons and Mediterranean 1050 .. 1050
Geneva 497 50 ..
Southern 747 50 ... 747 50
Western
Eastern
Sardinian 427 50 .. 432 50
Austrian
,
:
Lon bard
North of Spain
Saragossa 670 .. 670
Ditto to Barcelona

THE POLISH QUESTION,
The following summary of the Russian reply to
the last notes of the three Powers appears in the

THE MARSEILLAISE HYMN,

Proved to have been both written and coin.

posed by B,ouget de l'lsle.

Daring the last few weeks there has been a very
stormy controversy in most of the Paris journals as
to the authorship of the Marseillaise—Rouget de
l'lsle's right to be regarded as the composer of the
music, at any rate, of that glorious Hymn or War
Song having been distinctly called in question. The
matter has at length, however, as it appears to us,
been definitively set at rest by the following sum-
ming up of the whole matter in dispute by one of
the ablest critics in one of the very first among
the Paris daily newspapers. Having given at con-
siderable length the argument of those calling in
question Rouget de l'lsle's claim to be regarded as
both the writer and composer of the Marseillaise, as
in regard to it both poet and musician, the critic thus
makes good that double claim of his to the glory of
the authorship, thus clearly verifies, as the simple
record of a fact, the beautiful and eloquent descrip-
tion of the origin of that Hymn as related in his
Histoire des Girondins, by Alphonse de Lam artine.

" Arrived at this point [the critic is here quoting
the last triumphant sentence of his opponent], the
whole question appears to me to be proved to de-
monstration."

BUT—it is not by any means proved at all.
Quite the contrary. Que diable ! one does not
destroy thus easily an old time-honoured conviction.
I have always hitherto believed that Rouget de
l'lsle was the author of the Marseillaise —before me
others had believed it—and I cling firmly to the
conviction that others will believe it after me. I
have consulted all the biographies, all the modern
encyclopaedias, all the books of recollections, and,
above all, while sojourning in Castile Blon, I have
seen, read, discovered that Rouget de l'lsle was in
truth the only, the veritable inventor of the Mar-
, seillaise. That proves nothing, however, you will
tell me. It is enough you will say for one error, in
the first instance, to deceive thenceforth all the
biographies of the future, because it is easier to trust
the propagator of one fragment of false intelligence
rather than to do what he has not done, viz., to
consult the sources of it—often difficult to discover.
And it is thus, in point of fact, that errors of all
kinds come to be propagated.
So be it, then, since you will force me to it—l
will at once hasten to carry out your own counsels
by reverting to the origin of this statement about
Rouget de l'lsle, availing myself, in doing so, of
the very documents you enumerate.
And, while doing this, it will not be my fault if
your own arguments come to be turned directly
against yourself.
I take up, therefore, your cherished thesis at the
very point where it appears to be the most specious.
You remark, in the first place, " He (i e., Rouget
de i'lsle) published in the year V. an octavo volume,
under the title of Essays in Verse and Prose :' and
anyone will there find the words of the Illarseillais e
simply entitled, War kong, but not a word relative
to the music."
I an► sorry to say to M. Fetis that this assertion
seems to bet ray on his part a certain ferment of
flippancy,
And I will prove what I say :
At the bottom of page 7 of these very " Essays
in Prose and Verse," I perceive a little note (a foot-
note), in which Rouget de l'lsle apprises
the reader beforehand that t)e lyrical pieces
which he himself set to music are each of

them distinguished from the others (which he
did not set to music) by being marked
with an asterisk. And the Hymn of the Marseil-
laise, which may be found situated in the volume at
page 57, is precisely marked at the side with the
very distinctive sign indicated thus at the outset of
his book by the author—to wit, an asterisk I
By a free translation, therefore, that asterisk at
page 57 might be said to read literally—"/, ROUGET
DE LISLE, the author of the book, wrote the words
and composed the music of the MARSEILLAISE I"
That is certainty clear enough.
As early as 1797, therefore, the author himself
asserted his own right to the authorship ; to the
authorship, that is, both of the words and of the
music of the Marseillaise.

All the arguments of M. Fetis crumble away

like a scaffolding badly constructed. For, at all
events, before hazarding such an assertion, he ought
at least to have taken into consideration those
asterisks which have proved hidden snares to him.
There remains another objection. Further on M.
Fetis says :—" When he (Rouget de l'Isle) had
placed this piece with other melodies of his compo-
sition, which were published in 1827, he did not
accompany it with any explanations." I call you
to account here again. The collection to which you
allude is entitled—" Fifty French songs, the words
by different authors, set to music, with piano-forte
accompaniment, by Rouget de l'lsle. Paris: Carli.
(no date) Folio." In this work, pages 80 to 87, I
find the Marseillaise Hymn, with a historical note to
the following effect :—" I composed the words and
the air of this song at Strasbourg during the night
which followed the proclamation of war at the end
of April, 1792. Entitled at first Song of the Army
of the Rhine,' it became known at Marseilles by
means of a constitutional journal conducted by the

illustrious and unfortunate Dietrich. When it
became the rage some months after, I was wander
ing in Alsace in extreme destitution, in con-
sequence of having refised to adhere to the
catastrophe of the 10th August, and pursued by the
proscription, which, in the following year, at the
very commencement of the Reign of Terror, threw
me in;o the prisons of Robespierre, from which I
was not liberated until after the 9th Thermidor."
After this, what remains of this profound series of
arguments ? I see absolutely nothing left to
answer.