The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-15 00:00:00

Letter from Mrs. Stowe.

We have been favoured with a copy of the
following letter from Mrs Stowe :
Northampton (U.S.), Aug. 16, 1861.
Dear Sir,—l have delayed answering your letter of
July 9 enclosing a certificated P.C.I.t stock for benefit
of Freedman's Aid Society, because, being at a watering
place, I could not immediately find the address of the
treasurer of the Boston Society. I have this morning
transmitted to him an order for the money, requesting
him to acknowledge it to you. and to forward to you
such documents as may show the progress of the society
for the year. Never were a people more peaceable, more
industrious, more hopeful in all respects. In the army aro
no truer soldiers, more exact in discipline, more docile to
command, more fearless in battle. My brother, Colonel
James C. Beecher, commands a regiment of them, and he
speaks in the highest terms of their bravery and docility.
The camp is also a school, and spelling-books and Testa-
ments take the place in leisure hours that is often given in
armies to worse things. Eventually America, England, and
the world will be of ono mind on these subjec's. There has
been a great diversity of spirits, throughout the world, in this
our controversy, but God will show the tight, and when
the right is shown all will acknowledge it. So now
we keep silence and wait ; but when a bravo heart
sees things before the times "i'm rejoice in it,
and when the hand of aid comes to us from
a true Englishman, we hail it as a forerunner or
the time when England and America shall be knit
together in one heart and one mind, as they seemed to
be before this conflict, only the union shall be a true
ono. The taking away of this accursed thing slavery
will bring moral healing and soundness. One great
thing that has corrupted the world will have sunk like a
millstone never to rise. When I think how this accursed
system of fraud and cruel tyranny has sunk and is still
sinking, every event of our long and cruel struggle send-
ingsue itsuch
prsateiilel
precious lives
las amwe reconciled
giving;
icvi dto our sufferings and
sorrows, to the shedding of such precious bloid and loss of
and not long are we,
I hope, from the time when the amendment of our consti-
tution will finish and perpetuate the work, and make it
impossible to hold a slave on Amerian ground, as now on
that of England.

As I have changed my residence, and hope at some
future time to have the pleasure of hearing from you
again, I enclose my address (Mrs. 11. B. Stowe, care of
Dr. C. E. Stowe, Hartford, Conn., U.S.A.) —Very truly
yours, 11. B. STOWE.

FATAL LANDSLIP.—On INlonday evening be.
twsen 40 and 50 navvies were engaged at a Mit.
cutting on the Stockport and Tiznperley Railway, at Galley,
near Cheadle, when a mass of earth, weighing, it is supposed
about 60 tons, fell with a tremendous crash. The great ma.
jority of the men below contrived to escape, Three, how-
ever, including John Mitchell, were buried beneath the
debris. Mitchell was killed and the other two very seriously
injured.

THE NEW ZEALAND WAR.

(From the Argus.)

There is still no appearance of a speedy termina■
tion to the New Zealand war. This month, however,
we have to record a success which goes far to come
pensate for the reverse our army sustained at Gate
Pa. After that engagement the Maories were im-
measurably elated. The leader of the East Coast
tribes, Rawiri, sent a written challenge to the com-
mander of the troops at Taurangs, a chivalrous
production, of which the following is a literal
translation :—" Now hear what we have to say.
We have been waiting for you to como and attack
us for a whole month, bat you have not come ;
and now we are coining to you. We give you
warning, therefore, that you may expect to 'see
me within the month, and not to let any of your
soldiers out, for our young men will certainly shoot
them. We give you warning that you may not
say it is murder, for it won't be murder." The
Maories, so eager for the fray, did not have to wait
long. Oa June 21, Colonel Greer, the officer in
charge of the forces at Tauranga, received informa-
that the enemy were entrenching themselves at a
spot four miles inland from the scene of the late
engagement. Col. Greer marched out to the place
with an Armstong gun, a 6 pounder, and 600 men of
the 43d and 68th, and Ist Waikato Militia (Victorian
Volunteers) Regiments, and found that the enemy
had commenced the erection of a new pa on a nar-
row neck of land, surrounded on three sides by deep
gullies, and completely commanding the Tauranga-
road. All that had been done, however, was to con-
struct a single line of rifle pits. The Maories assumed
the offensive themselves, their skirmishers firing
briskly on the troops as they advanced across the
plain. Tile skirmishers were, however, soon driven
in, and Colonel Greer extended his men, placed his
guns in position 000 yards frum the pits, and main-
tained a sharp fire for two hours, while he sent for
reinforcements, As soon as the reinforcements were
sufficiently near to give support the advance was
sounded, and with a cheer which made the hills
ring again, the 43d, 68th, and the Waikato Militia,
rushed forward to the position. The Maories re-
ceived them with a heavy volley, and stood their
ground well. The troops dashed into the pits, and
a hand•to-hand encounter took place. It was not
of long duration. The soldiers, determined to
remove the stain the Gate Pa repulse had cast upon
them, used the bayonet with effeot, and three
or four minutes saw the Maories flying to the
gullies, pursued by both cavalry and infantry,
The former followed them for a distance of 10
miles, and with their breech-loading carbines did
good service, though owing to the swamps and
gullies with which the district abounds they could
not prevent the escape of the main body of the
enemy. Sixty-eight Maories were killed in the rifle
pits, and altogether 107 bodies were collected.
Twenty-seven wounded men were also brought in,
and 10 other prisoners. Among the killed were
Rawiri, the leader of the Maories at the Gate Pa,
and Henare Taratoa, the writer ofßa challenge
Zb the troops, a man much respected for his ability
and education. Many more Maories must have been
killed in the ravines, where it was not possible for the
troops to find them. The English loss was compa-
ratively tiifling-9 men were killed and 39 wounded.
Amongst the wounded are Captain F. A. Smith
and Captain H, Berners, of the 43 ; and Captain R.
W. T. Trent, Captain T. Casement, Lieut. H, I. R.
V. Stuart, and Ensign W. H. F. Palmer, of the 68th.
The engagement will be severely felt by the East
Coast tribes, but it has far from broken their spirit.
The latest advices report that they are erecting
another pa in a strong' position farther back. It
was said that Colonel Greer would attempt also to
storm this work. Rewi and William Thompson,
the leading rebel chiefs, were in the neighbourhood
of Tauranga during the fight, intending to attack
the place should the soldiers be repulsed. The guns
of the corvette Esk were trained on the namp, and
every preparation made to give the enemy a warm
reception. As matters turned oat, however, the
wily Thompson declined testing the issue.

The firm and vigorous, but conciliatory, policy of
the New Z -eland Government is already producing
good fruite. Mr. Fox, the colonial secretary, has
just received the allegiance of Wi Tako, a powerful
chieftain of the Wellington district, who had raised
the King flag, trained men, and threatened to
destroy the peace CA southern part of the island is
now enjoying.

The New Zealand authorities are taking active
steps to place the military settlers on the cor.quered
soil. The Ist Waikato Militia ore to be located at
Tauranga, and the 2d, 3d, and 4th Regiments in
the heart of the Waikato country. This plan will
effectually cat the rebels off from their accustomed
source of supplies.

By the very latest accounts 204 of the enemy's
killed and wounded had been found. Our own list
is as follows :-
43D REGIMENT, LIGHT INFANTRY.

Killed—Corporal J. Wheeler, Privates Robert Johnston,
William Vialou, Jeremiah Maber, H. Wilkinson, and T.
Meagher.

Wounded—Captains F. A. Smith and 11. Berners, Ser •
geant Cane, Privates Daniel Felton, William Warner, John
M'Guire, Robert Longley, Reuben Long, George Martin,
John Payne, John M'Conliffe, Robert Brown, John Druiy,
Charles Morris, and David Casey.