The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-30 00:00:00

first gete it came to, regardless of the fact that it
was spatted in an opposite direction. By half-
past five o'clock all were on the ground. 1h e gene-
rally sombre colours of the Volunteers were here
and there relieved by corps in red or lighter gray,
and the density of the masses on the extreme right
contrasted well with the open formation of the Ar-
tillery on the extreme left. The master of Artil.
lery was remarkably strong and creditable. Though
cnly 26 guns were brought on the ground, yet the
number of effective gunners that attended were
more than equal to the serving of 100 pieces. The
Volunteer Artillery deserve every praise, for their
drill means double work—infantry drill and drill at
the great guns—and the manner in which they
went by on Saturday both in battalions and with
their guns shows how admirably they must have
attended to their twofold duty. Soon after six
o'clock the boom of the guns and the cheering of
the multitude proclaimed the arrival of the il-
lustrious party, and almost immediately after
the Royal cortege, followed and preceded by a
brilliant Staff, entered the enclosure, and with
a quick, continued rattle the whole force pre-
sented arms, while the Honourable Artillery Com-
pany, the only Volunteers who possess colours,
lowered them to the ground as the strains of the
National Anthem marked the Royal salute. The
Princess of Wales, dressed in deep black, was in an
open carriage and four, with outriders in scarlet, and
escorted by a detachment of the Life Guards.
Seated by her Royal Highness, but not in mourns
jug, was the Princess Louis of Hesse. In the
second carriage were the Countess of Morton and
Mdlle. De Grancey, in attendance on their Royal
Highnesses. The Prince of Wales, in the uniform
of the Royal Artillery Company, rode by the side
of the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Louise of
Hesse, both of whom were in full uniform also.
Following the Royal party were the Marquis of
Salisbury, Sir Richard Airey, Sir G. Wetherell,
General Knollys, the Marquis of Ailesbury, the
Aides-de-campjo the Prince of Wales, the Duke,
and Prince Louis, the Deputy-Adjutant, and
Quartermaster-General, &c. In the Royal suite,
also, was Count d'Audigne, Attache to the French
Embassy, who wore his uniform of the Imperial
Guard. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,
accompanied only by the Duke of Cambridge and
the officers of their respective Staffs, at once rode
along the line, making their inspection slowly as
they went, and examining every corps with critical
but evidently well-pleased glances. From this in-
spection his Royal Highness did not return to the
saluting point, but at once rode off and took his
position at the head of the fine brigade which was
placed under his orders for the marching past.
The Royal carriages meanwhile had chasm up
close to the flagstaff, and as they took their posie
tion his Royal Highness Prince Arthur, accom-
panied by Major Elphinstone, R.E., came forward
and joined the party. Shortly afterwards the Duke
d'Aumale and two gentlemen by whom he was
accompanied were perceived in the reserved seats by
his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.
They were at once conducted within the enclosure,
and, having paid their respects to the Princess of
Wales, remained to witness the march past. First
in order came the Hon. Artillery Company, a body
which can traee its pedigree back to a time when
there was no standing army in England, and whose
ancestors, the old Train Bands, ranged themselves
sometimes on the side of the Sovereign and some-
times against it, but always on the side of liberty.
Next marched the representative corps of Oxford
and Cambridge Universities, and the brigade closed
with a battalion raised from those distinguished
civil servants who act as the wheels on which our
social machinery revolves. The Prince, wearing
the uniform of colonel of the Hon. Artillery Com-
pany, with the blue riband of the Garter, was
warmly cheered as he rode past in advance of his
brigade; and, having gracefully saluted the Com-
mander-in-Chief, took up his post on the left of
Gen. Pennefather, where he could be seen to advan•
tage by the different regiments as they passed. It
le no new thing to say of the Hon. Artillery Com-
pany that they are hardly to be distinguished from
the corps d'elite, to whose uniforms their own so
narrowly approximate; but on Saturday, conscious
of their added dignity, they put forth special efforts
to justify their ancient renown. Oxford University
came tripping along merrily to the music of
" Faust"—a little short in the step, perhaps, but
that may have been the fault of the band—with a
somewhat novel look imparted to their ranks by
the bright blue colour of their caps and stock-
ings. The Cambridge men enjoyed the advan-
tage, as far as appearance is concerned, of those
knowing Z MEM gaiters, which on parade replace
the " cardinal" stockings. In other respects the
University corps wet() on a footing of perfect
equality, and in every respect worthy to be in-
cluded in this new formation of Infantry of the
Guard, Lord Bury, the Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Civil Service Regiment, was warmly greeted—a
tribute apparently persarial as well as complimen-
tary to the fine regiment under his command. The
navalry brigade, comprised of Ist Surrey Light
Horse, the Ist Middlesex, and Ist Hertfnrci Volun.
tear Cavalry, formed in the aggregate a tiq72►dron
of nearly 100. The horses for the most part welq,
exceedingly good, but many of them either had not
been accustomed to march in line, or were discon-
certed by the music of the bands. Cavalry at pre•
sent is scarcely one of the elements of strength in
the Volunteer service, and it would be well if occa-
sionally means could be taken of enlisting the co
operation of the Yeomanry. The military effect of
Volunteer reviews would be much heightened by
their presence. The Artillery display was very
imposing. This has al ways been a favourite branch
of the service ; but, in spite of their previous
knowledge on the subject, the public were surprised
to find how large a proportion the artillerists bore
to the general force under arms. In addition to the
six light guns which had gone past with the Hon.
Artillery Company in the Prince of Wales's Bri-
gade, 20 others of heavier calibre were now paraded
in charge of the Ist Administrative Brigade, the
Middlesex Artillery Volunteers,commanded by Col.
Creed, and the 3d Middlesex Volunteers. The
bearing of the men and their general equipments
were highly creditable to all concerned, and, not
content with mere efficiency, some of the batteries
borrowed a hint as to style from the Royal Horse
Artillery, and horsed their guns exclusively with
animals of one colour. In addition to what may
be called, for the sake of distinction, the service
Artillery, there was a complete brigade of Artillery
Volunteers armed with carbines only, numbering
close upon 2,000 men. When these had passed the
infantry divisions came np, and continued to move
along in unbroken order for nearly an hour and a
half. The public are by this
time such keen critics
at Volunteer reviews,
and the regiments themselves
by the earnestness they
outset have accustomed threw s intopect att ho
re s movement
at the
standard of efficiency
Ithat anything in the nature
of shortcoming is sure to be detected.
It is there-
fore paying no small compliment to the force upon
the ground to say that at the conclusion of the pro-
ceedings the general voice declared the display to
have been attended with complete success. From
first to last, as far as the Volunteers were concerned,
there was not a single hitch; on the contrary, the
improvement in discipline since the last great display
in Hyde-park is too palpable to admit of question.
A fact to which attention cannot be too strongly
pointed is that the battalions from various parts of
the country taking part in the review were, it any.
thing, in advance of those in the metropolis. It
has been the fashion to speak—not slightingly, for
it was never possible to do that—but in a careless,
off•band manner of the performances of " country
come," and to assume that in 1864, as in 1860,
London is still giving the tone to the provinces in
all matters connected with Volunteering. But if
the regiments sent up from Lancashire, Nottingham,
Warwick, and Derbyshire are average specimens of
those in other parts of England, the metropolis must
look to its laurels, and that without delay. It
is true that all the established favourites of the
London Volunteer garrison were on the field on
Saturday afternoon, and in no degree lessened
their former high repute. The South Middlesex,
for example, were present in large numbers,
land the perfect evenness as to merit of the
companies showed
the good results of the internal
competitive examinations instituted •In that corps.

The London Scottish, steady and precis•. i.epaid the
trouble taken by Lord Elcho, white the London

Rifle Brigade, solid and sombre, upheld the credit

of the city of London. The Inns of Court, neatly
dressed end smartly handled, as Rifles should be,
elicited frequent remarks of " We've not seen any
like this yet," and from one old gentleman the
plaintive soliloquy, " Fine fellows, very fine fel-

lows ; what a pity there are such rogues among

them !" The Victoria Rifles, under the Duke of
Wellington, did credit to their long and careful
training. But rating the merits of these and other
corps as high as possible, the fact cannot be got rid
of that, without exception, the finest brigade upon
the field was that commanded by Lord Grosvenor,

and composed exclusively of country corps. The
6th Lancashire, better known as the Ist Manches-
ter, led the van of this brigade, followed by the
celebrated " Robin Hoods." The late Lord Hor-

bert once coveted an Irish militia regiment so much
that he almost infringed the rules of Ihe service in

he hope of transferring it bodily into the Queen's

•
army. The Commander:in- Chiefmust be more than

mortal or less than a soldier if he did not cast a

longing eye on those serried files of Lincoln green.
So great was the interest excited by their appear-
ance that the Volunteer corps which had just made
the circuit of the field and returned to their former

positions cheered them enthusiastically again and
again. The Birmingham, Derbyshire, and 2d Man-
chester corps were almost as good ; they were cer-
tainly equal to any corps present, if the Notting-

.. .. _ _
ham men be deducted. Bearing in mind that most
of these Volunteers had made a journey longer than
that which metropolitan corps undertake when they

go to Brighton, and that in the aggregate they corn.
posed a brigade of nearly 3,000 men—exclusive of
the Somersetshire and Berkshire regiments, not less
efficient, which were classed in other brigades—
it will be manifest with what spirit drill must
be pursued in the provinces. The march past
began shortly after a quarter past 6, and terminated
at 2 minutes past 8 o'clock. It was estimated that an
hour and 40 minutes would be occupied in the pro-

ceedings from the time the troops were aet in motion

and it will be seen from this how accurately the
volunteers must have carried out their instructions.

The programme was adhered to with such literal
fidelity that the occasion was almost devoid of inci-
dents. The directions as to equalizing the strength
of companies had, en the whole, been very fairly
attended to, but there were still some instances in
which blank files—say in a regiment of gray uni-
form, had been filled up with " casuals" dreksad in
green, inconsistencies which detract very much from
the appearance of a regiment on parade, and ought
not to be allowed by officers in command. More-,
over, there is a manifest want of head somewhere
when a mounted officer sits his horse as if it were
an easy chair, and lounges past the flagstaff without
giving himself the trouble to draw his sword; and
when the tallest member of a cadet corps struts by
in plain clothes and a " billycock" bat. Matters
like these the Volunteers for their own credit will

do well to keep their eyes upon, as they would never
be tolerated in the military service to which it is
their desire to approximate as closely as possible.
When the last corps had passed the flagstaff, and
it became evident that the Prince and Princess of
Wales were about to leave the ground, there was one
general impulsive rush to see and cheer them. The
carriage in which the Princess sat was surrounded,
swallowed up, and almost climbed into, by eager
thousands, who bestowed upon her Royal Highness
such a greeting as has not been heard since she passed
through London on the day of her public entry. It
was with the utmost difficulty that a way was at
last cleared for the carriage to take its departure,
but once it was in motion a troop of Lancers, form-
ing in rear, were enabled to check the pressure.
Immediately that the royal party quitted the park
the great, massive line of Volunteers which stretched
across it began slowly to disjoint itself, the brigades
were disintegrated into regiments in a few minates,
and a general move made in various directions for
the different outlets at all points of the compass. It
was very picturesque, this breaking up of the force,
and managed with admirable celerity and good
order. The City of London Rifles ware well on their
way down Piccadilly with the first spectators, yet,
early as they were out, the Inns of Court were level
with them by a different route, though even they
were not the first, for as " the Devil's Own" passed
Regent-street the Cambridge Corps, which had pre-
ceded them and was waiting to disband, faced about
and presented arms as the Inns filed past. While
the City of London were being dismissed in Carl-
ton-gardens the City of London Engineers were
marching down the Strand, and the strains of the
band of a Surrey corps on its way down Parliament-
street to Westminster-bridge mingled with the
music of another going north near the National
Gallery. Whoever arranged the routes of depar-
ture deserves great credit, for hardly two took the
same, and all seemed to progress with equal rapidity
north and south, east or west. This quick and
easy dispersion was all that was needed to perfect
the success of a day which should long be remem-
bered with pride by all the Volunteers who have
had the honour and satisfaction of sharing in it.

TIIE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

PLYMOUTII, S inlay,

The Union StNM Shipping Company's mail ship Briton,
Commander John Wier, from Cape Town April 20, St.
Helena April 29, and A.seension May 3, arrived in the
Sound this morning. _ _

er ore, 558 bales oicni
The cargo includes 90 tons of e.
wool, 46 bales of skins, 716 bundles o: hides, and 25 cases
of ostrich feathers ; and among her 91 pa,:genge" " are his
of Mo
, .
Excellency H. E. Savaren de Almeida, Govern
zambique; Deputy Assistant Commissary General Sar,:ierB;
Lieut. Hare, 11th Regiment; Lieuts. Houghton and Morse,
of the 96th; and the Revs. Woodrutle and Urquhart.
Sir P. Wodehouse was to open Parliament in Graham's
Town on the 27th April. The revenue for last year fell
short of the expenniture by £170,000.

The bill before Parliament in relation to the public roads
will, if carried, relieve the Colonial Government of a charge
amounting to £36,030 per annum. The stamps may add
£25,000 and bank notes and succession duty £14,000. These
gains, if obtained, will scarcely meet the requirements of
the Government.
The continued intention of Sir P. Woichouse to transfer
a portion of the law courts, &a , to Graham's Town gives
great annoyance to Ca'e Town.
Opinion varies so much in regard to the different routes
of proposed railroads that very little progress is expected to
be made with the new projects in the present session. The
Queen's consent has been given to the Wynberg to amalga-
mate with the Wellington Railway Company.
Large stocks of grain are held in Cape Town—wheat, 168
to 19s, oats 6s, and barley is 9d. There is a great demand
in the Eastern provinces for greased wool for North Ame-
rica, and as much as Fl I and 91d have been given to fill up
cargoes. To England id per lb is given for freight, hides
30s, and copper ore 555.
The paddlewheel steam sloop Salamander, 6, Commander
Hon. John Carnegie, from Plymouth, arrived at the Cape
on the 28th March en route for Australia, and sailed again
on the 13th April. The screw steam corvette Pearl, Capt.
John Borlase, C. 8., from China, celled at Simon's Bay, and
sailed on the 2d of April for England. The screw steam
sloop Lyra, 9, Commander Robert A. Parr, from England,
arrived on the 6th of April. The paddlewheel steam frigate
Valorous, 16, Capt. C C. Forsyth, towing Li vingstone's
steamer Pioneer, had arrived at Simon's Bay from the
Mozambique.
The Portuguese ship of war Anna Maria, from Mozam-
bique, was refitting in Simon's Bay. The Confederate
steamer Alabama arrived in Table Bay on the 20th of
March, and left March 25 for a cruise.

The Royal mail steamer Cambrian, from England, ar-
rived out on the 12th of April. The bark Countess of Yar-
borough, from Cardiff for Shanghai, after calling at the
Cape for supplies, bad put back leaky.
The transport Middlesex, Capt, J. Commel!, 74 days
from Calcutta, for Portsmouth, arrived at St. Helena April
23. She has on board 173 men, women, and children be-
longing to various regiments, under the command of Capt.
Martin 38th, and in medical charge of Dr. Boyle.
Her Majesty's ships Rattlesnake and Meander were at
Ascension. The gunboat Sparrow arrived there on the 34
of April to refit, ad left on the 23d for the West Coast
of Africa. The Archer arrived also on the 3d, and left
on the Bth. The Industry, from England, arrived on the
20th, and, having disembarked stores, sailed on the 30th for
Rio; ar..d the Pearl, from China for England, touched at
the island cn the 21st.
The Briton has experienced a constant succession of head
winds since crossing the Line.
Dr. Murphy, R,N., One of the passengers from Cape
Town, died at sea on the 28th of May.
The Briton spoke, May 1, in let. 12 4 S, long. 9 51 E, A
bark, showing new code P.R,M.W.; and on the 16th, ill
lat. 25 13 N, long, 18 23 W., passed a screw steamship,
supposed to be the Athens, which left Plymouth for the
Cape of Good Hope on the Ott of May,

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(From the Coi respondent of the Times.)
NEW YORK, May 17.
It turns out that Mr. Stanton in his official reports of the
progress and results of the great contest in Virginia on
more than one occasion has mistaken his wishes for facts.
General Grant has made no real progress whatever,and Ge-
neral Lee still confronts him at Spottsylvania Court-house.
Both armies have suffered enormous losses, that of Grant
an amount variously estimated in this city between 60,000
and 80,000 men. Fredericksburg is literally crammed full
of the wounded and the dying. Every house is a hospital,
and every room of every house is no sooner emptied of the
dead, than the dying are thrust into it, to make way in
their turn for fresh victims of the unhallowed struggle.
The streets aro impassable for the wounded, who lie all day
and night forlorn and unattended to in their last agonies,
not for want of pity and sympathy and the desire to show
them every possible care and attention, but solely because
their numbers are so many that there not surgeons and
nurses to be obtained to look atter a tithe of them. Wash-
ington is represented to be in a situation scarcely less de-
plorable. As anticipated in my last, both armies have been
compelled by the weather and the state of the roads, as
well as by the fearful losses which each have suffered, to
pause for a while in their frightful conflict. Both are re-
ceiving reinforcements. Beauregard, leaving Richmond to
its defences, and Gen. Butler to be dealt with hereafter, has
succeeded in slipping from Petersburg and effecting a junc-
tion with Gen. Leo at Spottsylvania. The worst of the
work thus remains to be done. If Richmond is to be taken,
or Gen. Lee's army annihilated, or compelled to capitulate,
it will not be until many battles have been fought, as obsti-
nate and bloody as those of last week. But people in the city
who three days ago were sanguinehave had cause to change
their opinion of the facility with which the end was to be
attained. and are contented to adjourn the consummation,
which they still believe to be inevitable, until the 4th cf
July, a day on which they seem to think possessed of a
strange influence over the hands, heart, and head of every
true Yankee. It is not every one, however, who is equally
credulous. General Lee has not yet reached the point
where he desires that his antagonist shall meet him for a
decisive effort, and seems content in the meanwhile not
only to lure him on to that position by such degrees as suit
his purpose, but to inflict upon him at every mile or half
mile of his progress an amount of slaughter that would
demoralise any army less gallant than that cf the Potomac.
While Grant. with characteristic energy and contempt of
life, says he will " pile up his men and conquer at all
hazards," Lee—with equal energy and heroism—dares him
to come on, whatever may be his numbers—foils every
attack which he cannot wholly repel—and on every occa-
sion inflicts at least double the damage which he receives.
Were men of no more value than mosquitoes they could
not be more ruthlessly sacrificed than they have been dur-
ing the past week, or as in all probability they will be
again as soon as Grant makes another march against his
enemy. Though his battalions are not engaged in fighting
against a foreign nation led by a would-be conqueror, who
would reduce them to subjection, bat are lifting their fra-
tricidal hands against men of the same race and language,
who have taken up arms in defence of that sacred principle
of self,government on which the Federal Union must rest,
if it rest upon anything, it is impossible for any one, what-
ever his opinion of the cause of quarrel may be, to with-
hold his admiration for the noble qualities it has displayed
in this, the most tremendous struggle in which this army
was ever engaged. And if admiration be extorted by the
army of the North, shall it not be freely rendered to that
nobler, because smaller, army of the South—which bears
up so splendidly against difficulties that might
well appear to be overwhelming, and which, dis-
daining the vulgar induceraents of bounty, does
battle for home and independence—desiring nothing,
asking nothing, expecting nothing from the hated
Yankees but to be left alone to such Government as the
suffrages of the Southern people shall elect and maintain?
The great business of the war—all absorbing as it
might be supposed at a moment when the fate of the Re-
public hangs upon a thread—has not interfered with the
social, and scarcely with the political life of the people. In
New York, as in London, May is the month of meetings,
religious, philanthropic, moral, and it may be added, as far
as New York is concerned, immoral. The foes of slavery,
of whiskey, and of marriage have each had their anniversary
celebrations. Since General Grant crossed the Rapidan the
supporters of Women's Rights, the believers in Spiritual-
ism, and of all the other " isms" that flourish in this land,
as they flourish nowhere else, have followed the example
—and brought out their crotchets for discussion and " ven-
tilation," sometimes for the instruction, sometimes :for the
amusement, and not ua frequently to the disgust of all
sensible people. The Abolitionists, as might have been ex•
petted, are jubilant, for although, according to the procla-
mation of the President, slavery is still to be recognized he
the United States, provided that the slaveholders be loyal
to the Government, the evil thing has been abolished theo-
retically in every part of the once Great Republic, where
his proclamations have no more validity than those of the
King of Dahomey. For this reason, and also because their
party is in power, the Abolitionists were in excellent spirits
at their anniversary—though they did not separate without
a schism in their ranks, upon two questions of considerable
' interest—first, whether Mr. Lincoln was a wise man and a
good President; and second, whether Great Britain was
a first or a second-rate Power. The balance of opinion on
the first question was decidedly against the President; on
the second, which was raised by Mr. Wendell Phillips, it
was as decidedly against Great Britain, Mr. Phillips seems
to consider that free countries in Europe cannot be great, for
he admitted none to stand in the first t ank except Russia and
France, and carried the sympathy and conviction of his
audience along with him.
The teetotallers and advocates of the Maine liquor law
have also had their annual gathering. They did not appear
to be so well satisfied with things in general as their friends
the abolitionists. They were quite ready to make it a felony,
punishable with fine and imprisonment, though not exactly
with the gallows, to distil, to vend cr to drink a glass of
alcoholic liquors, except for medicinal purposes, on the pre-
scription of a properly qualified physician, but did not see
their way very clearly to the happy consummation of their
wi-hes. Neither did they seem to think that victory could
reward the gallant exertions of the army of the Potomac
until it was commanded by a teetotaller, and until every
general of division or brigade confined himself to tea and
cold water. As General Grant and General Meade drink
wine when they can get it, the prospect in this direction did
not appear hopeful to these excellent philanthropists.
The spiritualists have mustered in great strength, ap-
parently with the design of purging their faith of a heresy
that has grown into it, the heresy of "free love," as its
friends call it, and of "free lust," as it is designated by its
opponents. The free lovers consider marriage to be slavery,
the slavery of the woman to the man, and a thing as odious
in its way as the slavery of the black man to the white ; they
therefor urge its abolition, The Spiritualists, who design
with a notion .4
to form a nee; religion, do not wish their faith to be encum-
bered,2l opinion of all mankind,
tianity, with civilisation, :ith morality, and with thetrets
"free lovers" from their coninluni°ine,aained, and
despebautle;
outset .tie
dement more difficult than they a- eeleet
oirrecaonnuc.i. I.;:ecliysatrtivvainrigence with Chris-
find the achie
assert that evil spirill°
. and not good ones, instil such inca.
thoughts and such wicket!
heresy into the minds of harlots
and of other worse people of th° opposite sex. Of course the
spirits had something to say of the war and of the progress
of hostilities in Virginia. One set of spirits declared that
General Grant would triumph over all obstacles, while an-
anni-
hilated. As there was no superior spirit to say told
an-
other set declared as confidently that Grant would
be
which
the truth and which the lie, the matter remained in abey-
ance, and was not decided to any
one's satisfac
after sittings prolonged into the second week, the Conven-
tion adjourned.
Less dreary than the gathering of these crazy fanatics
was the meeting of the fair Ladies of the Covenant, who
tion, when,
assembled last night at the Cooper Institute to sign a pledge
not to wear any article of foreign finery until the restoration
of peace. The ladies are by no means so enthusiastic in the
cause as the ultra-patriots imagined. The young ones have
awakened to the suspicion that the movement is a Yankee
dodge, got up by the New England manufacturers of inf.&
nor dry goods, to palm off upon them the ugly home-made
article at a foreign price, and the old ones, especially those
who have money in their pockets, and like to look young,
though youth may have departed—have come to a similar
conclusion. The shafts of ridicule have been let fly against
the whole movement, and especially against the leaders. It
is asked if they are not the identical ladies who refused
to drink tea or other imported beverages, in the days before
George Washington became the father of his country, and
whether it is not time that such venerable persons should
retire into private life and leave the affairs of the world to
a younger generation. It is also asked whether the whole
of them---young or old—are not of the strong-minded order,
and whether it will not be fatal to the chances of marriage
of any spinster or young widow if she be seen among them,
or to wear the badge of the order—a bee on the left shoulder.
The inquiry is simultaneously made, whether the bee
would not be more appropriately and suggestively worn in
the bonnet. The principal speakers at the meeting were
the philanthropical and wealthy Peter Cooper, from whom
the building in which it was held derived both its name
and existence, and the Rev. Drs. King and Hitchcock.
The last mentioned gentleman was especially severe on the
tawdy and costly finery trailed through the streets of Broad.
way by the ail-dressed and vulgar rich women of New York;
and declared that their heartless extravagance in the hour
of their country's peril, when the heroes of the army of the
Potomac were dying by thousands on the bloody battlefield
of Npottsylvania, " was indecent, unbefitting, nasympa
thetic," and, in one word, "a shame." But his remarks
did not appear to receive much favour, and were received
with as decorous a silence as if they had been uttered from
the pulpit. The pledge which the ladies were to sign on
becoming Covenanters was not a very stringent one, for it
only bound them to refrain during the war or the rebellion
from the purchase of imported articles of luxury for which
those of home manutacturo and production could be conve-
niently substituted. This weak mode of putting the case to
the consciences of those who loved pleasant finery more than
unpleasant duty, called forth the indignant reprobation of
a Miss Susan B. Anthony, the only lady who mustered suf-
ficient courage to address the meeting, but who had not in.
Sauce enough to procure the substitution of the word

"possibly" for the obnoxious word "conveniently." 'ln
consequence the whole affair very nearly miscarried, and
the lair assemblage dispersed—the strong-minded among
them asserting that French milliners and Foreign importers
had packed the hall; and the rest going home, strongly
minded to wear what they pleased, if they could afford to
purchase it, and to do all in their pGwer to perpetu Lte the
reputation which the gentle promenaders of Broadway have
established, of being the worst and most expensively dressed
women in the world, It is asserted in most of the papers
that Mrs Lincoln, who is not, however, a leader of fashion,
has refrained from lending the countenance of her name to
the movement "lest foreign Powers should take umbrage !"
A lady, who signs herself Jane Ct. Swisshelm, and
is said to be one of the female clerks employed in one of the
public offices at Washington, says that not only Mrs. Lin-
coln, but the President is of this opinion, and in a letter to
a western journal, to the columns of which she is a frequent
contributor, takes credit to herself for letting the people
know that the chief magistrate considers his foreign rela-
tions in so precaricus a state that the people must continue
to buy more velvet and lace than they can afford, for fear of
a rupture with their European customers. She raises her
voice against such a scandal, end desires the " American
people to know that their Government is afraid to decrease
the amount of purchases of street silk mops, lest the thun-
der of French and English cannon should be heard on their
shores." It would appear from the postscript of Mrs Swiss-
helm's epistle. that the information of the President's no •
tions on this delicate subject was communicated to her in
confidence, but that the honour of the country being at
stake she declined to keep it secret. " Our officials," she
says, "need not in future fear to express their sentiments
fully, as no one will be likely to tell me anything that may
not be published but I do not imagine that President Lin-
coln had any objection to having the country know his
opinions on this or any other question." But whatever
be the cause—whether it be the President's disapproval, or
the ridicule of the male sex generally—the movement is not
' fashionable and cannot apparently be made so.

- -
MAY 13.
•
Postscript—l have but little time before the departure of
the steamer to allude to the forged proclamation attributed
to President Lincoln, which was published in two of the
morning journals to-day and refused insertion in all the
rest. In these days, when it is considered a good joke to
forge official documents, and not discreditable in a Minister
of State to give them currency, it was scarcely possible for
any one to read the document without a suspicion that Mr.
Lincoln never penned or published it, but that it was the
invention of some unscrupulous Confederate, designed to
injure the Federal cause, to turn the President into ridi-
cule, and to paralyse the arm of General Grant in face ,of
the army. It appears that one of the morning journals had
printed off about 20,000 copies of its ordinary issue when
the attention of the editor or manager was drawn to this
proclamation, and that he immediately ordered the sup-
pression of the whole number rather than give it currency.
Everybody who read it was startled, Many were scan-
dalised, but the bulk of the public, if any opinion can be
formed of the masses by the remarks made in public
places, incline to believe that the document was
genuine, that it told unmistakable truths in unmistakable
language, and that it was eminently characteristic of the
style and he mind of the President. To set the matter at
rest, I telegraphed to Washington to know if anything had
been heard of it in that city. The reply just received is
that the proclatpation is "bogus" and a "wicked forgery."
It had the effect, however, during the short term in which
it was believed, of sending up gold from 178 to 184, from
which some people infer that it was concocted by speculators
in this city. The forgery, however, is not likely to go un-
punished, if any clue can be obtained to its perpetrator. It
may be a joke to forge the name of Mr. Mallory, or of Lord
Lyons and Mr. Jefferson Davis, but it is no joke to forge
the name of the President and the Secretary of State to a
document which, if it the army of the Potomac,
might have have produced a very disastrous close of the
campaign in Virginia, by the complete discouragement and
demoralisation of the troops. So the forger, whoever he
may be, may expect a short shrift and a long rope as the
sentence of the drum-head court-martial before which he
will indubitably be brought, if he is discovered.