The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-12 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(From the Times Correspondent)
NEW YORK, April 29.
As is usual when nien's minds are greatly excited,
when events that may shape the destinies of a
people are in progress, when the moral atmosphere
is surcharged with electricity, and when nobody
knows what an hour may bring forth, all sorts of
rumours are in circulation—some alarming, some
reassuring, some absurd, some contradictory, and all
perplexing. To-day brings a plenteous batch of
them from Washington, the most prominent of which
may be recorded—partly because there may be more
or less truth in them, and partly because, whether
true or false, they show the current of opinion, and
throw light upon the history of the extraordinary
crisis through which this people will have to pass
during the next three months. One is that Mr.
Lincoln despairs of renomination for the Presidency,
and favours that of Gen. Fremont ; a second, that
the Republican party, unable to unite upon Fre-
mont, Chase, Bank;, or Butler, have found a candi-
date more to the mind of the majority in Mr. Adams,
now United States Minister at the Court of St.
James's; a third, that Mr. Chase, offended by the
appointment of Gen. Frank Blair to high military
command, apparently as a reward for his fierce at-
tack on the personal no less than on the public cha-
racter of the Secretary—whom he accuses of core
ruption as well as of " Secessionism"—is about to
withdraw, if he has not already withdrawn, from
the Administration ; a fourth, that General Grant
desires to strengthen the armies with which he is
prepared to march upon Richmond by the appoint-
ment of General M'Clellan to one of its divisions,
and that Mr. Lincoln, supported in his determina-
tion by Mr. Stanton and General Helleck, perempe
Writy refuses, and the present and unexpected in-
action of the army is due to this among other causes
—a fifth, that Richmond will be evacuated, and
that the plan of General Lee is to seize upon
-Washington, and hold it as more than an equi-
valent ; a sixth, that the Confederates have
silently and secretly constructed a formidable
navy of ironclads and rams which will in a few days
appear in the Potomac, and co-operate with Long-
street in the meditated attack upon the Federal
capital; a seventh, that difficulties have arisen with
France upon the Mexican question, and that an
alliance offensive and defensive has been signed be-
tween the Emperors Napoleon and Maximilian and
the Southern President, and that Great Britain,
Austria, Spain, Italy, and Belgium will join with
France and Mexico in recognizing the independence
of the South ; an eighth, that the leaders of the De-
mocratic party in Congress have framed articles of
impeachment against Mr. Lincoln, not alone for his
abandonment of the Monroe doctrine, but for his
culpable mismanagement of the war and the affairs
of the nation during his disastrous incumbency ; a
ninth, that the repulse of General Banks in Louisi-
ana is much more ignominious than has been repree
rented ; that half his army is lost, and the remainder
so demoralized that nothing but the appointment of
a new General and a large reinforcement, which
cannot be spared from the armies of the Potomac
or of Tennessee, will prevent the recovery by the
victorious Confederates of the city of Orleans and
the whole of Louisiana. This is a long list—but it
would not be complete unless it were added that
serious fears are entertained, not only of a commer-
cial crisis, but of an uprising of the working classes
in this and other cities, if, contrary to the calcula-
tions and hope of the governing party, General Lee,
and not General Grant, should be the victor in the
mighty struggle that is now impending on the
Rap*.dan and the Potomac. These rumours, like
straws upon the storm, may all be worthless ; but
at least they show the direction of the wind. If
they come from different points of the compass,
they may also prove that the wind which blows so
freshly is a whirlwind.
The stock-market is as feverish in its o eon way as
the greater world of politics. The announcement
that Mr. Chase had left Washington en route for
New York; that he bad stopped at Philadelphia
to consult the bankers of that city on what was
to be or could be done to bring down the premium
on gold, or, at all events, to prevent its further rise,
caused a gentle panic yesterday, and unsettled
every kind of business. This morning's announce-
ment that he had only gone to Philadelphia to
have a tooth extracted, Washington not possessing
any artist sufficiently dexterous to be allowed to
operate on a jaw so illustrious, somewhat re-assured
the " It, however, displeased the " bears,"
and especially all those loyal patriots who continue
to hope against hope that greenbacks and gold can
be brought to par, that the Union can be restored,
and that the contending armies of the North and
South can shake hands, forget bygones, and join
their forces to drive the Emperor Maximilian and
the French from Mexico, and annex Canada by
two simultaneous and irresistible movements.
Congress has been seized with a fit of hard work.
The Ministerial press has asserted so often and so
angrily within the last six weeks that the sole busi-
ness of the representatives was to tax the people,
and that the people on their part were so eager and
even frantic to receive the visits of the assessor and
collector that the heavier the burden that was laid
upon them the more gratified they would be, that
the House has taken the assertion as a fact, and pro-
ceeded to act upon it. Mr. Chase, who sees a limit
to his powers of borrowing, and whose new loan
—the "ten-forties," is not received with anything
like the same favour as its predecessor, the " five-
twenties," had also confirmed the opinion of the
press, if it was not he who inspired it, and told the
notabilities of the Legislature, though unofficially,
that unless 500,000,000 dole. be annually raisee, the
war must end, and a financial crisis occur, the like
of which neither this nor any other country has
ever seen. The Legislature, alarmed apparently
at the prospect, has rushed into the consideration
of a new Tax Bill, and manifested its willingness to
tax anything and everything, save and except the
stock of whisky on hand, which, doubtless for
substantial reasons, a majority of its members con-
siders too sacred a thing to be touched. Very little
discussion takes place, and all sorts of ridiculous
projects are proposed and carried with an unanimity
of ignorance which will amuse foreign nations, but
will certainly not amuse Americans when the results
become apparent. The income tax of 3 per cent. on
all incomes above 600 dole., which produced last
year considerably less than one-sixth of the estimate,
has been raised to 5 per cent., with the notion, ap-
parently, that those who evaded the tax when it was
comparatively small will pay it cheerfully when
it is large. Incomes above 10,000 dole. and under
25,000 dots. ten per cent. In vain Mr. T. Stevens'
the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means,
protested against making any distinction in the rate.
In vain he urged that to make a very rich man pay
10 per cent., while the poor or moderately rich man
only paid five, was to discourage thrift and topunish
wealth as a crime. The House refused to be turned
from its purpose by his arguments, and the bill
passed through all its stages so rapidly as if it had
been the merest matter of form. 05 a subsequent
day Mr. Stevens, with the view either of checking
theimportation of foreign luxuries, such as silks,
velvets, laces, jewellery, precious stones, shaNils, 40.
for the adornment of the persons of the fair ladies
whose fathers, husbands, and brothers are floating
stately argosies in a sea of paper money, and spend-
ing greenbacks as if each was of no more value than
a cent., or of increasing the revenue to be paid in
gold, and thus adding to the resources of the coun-
try, moved to add 50 per cent. to the already high
duties imposed by the Morrill Tariff, such increasd
duties to be levied for 60 days only. The motion
was carried by acclamation. Mr. Stevens, like many
other crack-brained philanthropists, entertains the
notion that this time at least 60 days will suffice to
rod the war, and if he can bring down the price of
gold in the interval, either by destroying the foreign
trade, or by making wealthy Americans contribute
more largely to the revenues of their own country,
by the exorbitant duty they will pay on such goods,
he will do the State essential service. But Mr.
Stevens will neither destroy the foreign trade nor
pat money into the Treasury by the incredibly
foolish proposal which he induced the House to
adopt. No amount of duty will check the importa-
tioa of articles of feminine luxury as long as the
immense war expenditure and:the consequent issues

of paper money are continued. The gr eater the
cost of silks and vel•vefs the more determined the
ladies will be to obtain them. A fashionable bon-
net already costs 50 dols., and if it were to cost
200 dole. the fair Mrs. Shoddy would not forego
the:indulgence. She already trails her long skirts,
at 20 dols. a yard, in slush and saliva of Broadway,
and she will trail them with equal pride of wealth
and absence of cleanliness if they cost 100 dole.
Daring the 60 days of this stupid tariff, importa-
tion will cease, to the loss of the revenue, but stocks
in hand will go up, and the dry goods importers,
already the most prosperous class in the commu-.
nity, will put into their pockets the whole diffe-
rence between the old tariff and the temporary
new one. And such legislation goes in Washington
by the name of statesmanship! Nobody laughs at
it; nobody exposes it; and nobody thinks it of
much conseqnence.
But taxation, and it would seem political eco-
nomy altogether, is as new to American legislators
as to the American people. They are both as igno-
rant of taxes as that inimitable flunkey immor-
talised by Cruikshank, though less happy than
that pampered individual, they will learn all about
it to their sorrow before many months are over. At
present no attempt is made to make the new sys-
tem work smoothly., The tax-collector is a great
and important person, who will not take the trouble
to come to the tax-payer, and who will not even con-
descend to receive through the post office, or the
hands of a special messenger, the income tax re-
turns, duly certified by the signature of the victim.
The earner of income must wait upon the tax col-
ector at his office—on a day set apart for the pur-

pose by that awful functionary—who may possibly
live half a dozen miles distant ; must kick his heels
in the antechamber till the great man is ready to
receive him ; and must then and there make a return
of all his income, whencesoever derived, and
solemnly swear to its truth. Daring the first year
of the experiment there must either have been as
much perjury in America as there has been blood-
letting on the battlefield, and corruption in every
department of public affairs, or the assessors and.
collectors must have grossly neglected their duties.
Whether any improvement will take place udder
the new act is a question for the future, but if the
Americans, so unaccustomed to taxation, pay an
income tax ranging from 5 to 10 per cent. without
complaint or evasion they will set an example of
self-denial and patriotism such as the world has
seldom witnessed. _ _

Toe attempt of the Legislature of New York to
defraud the foreign creditors of the State by
paying the interest of the debt in greenbacks
meets with universal reprobation. The amount at
stake is small, and from all appearances it seems
likely that governor Seymour will convene an extra
Session at Albany, especially to reconsider whether
so wealthy and solvent a State shall commit this
paltry act of bankruptcy. In a circular ad-
dressed to the leading bankers and public men
of this city the Governor recapitulates the facts,
encloses his Messages to the Legislature, and calls
upon them to save the honour of the State by
providing, by subscription among themselves, the
balance between the interest in paper and the
interest in gold for the payment of all the State
creditors, whether domestic or foreign, adding his
conviction that the money thus advanced will ba a
loan which the next Legislature, if not the present,
will hasten to repay. " If there be any faltering in
the matter," he says, " New York can claim no in-
dulgent opinion from the world, and the State will
brand itself with dishonesty." The Governor's
energetic appeal is not likely to pass unheeded. If
it were a question of hundreds of millions, there
might be a doubt of the result, but, as it is only a
matter of a few thousands, the money will be forth-
coming, and every member of the State Legislature
who voted for the petty meanness will he a marked
man, if he ever again solicits the suffrage of his fel-
low. citizens,

Wrangler also, both of whom belong to this Unie
versity—(cheers)—and of the large number of those
who have taken very high and distinguished honours
at Cambridge a very large proportion have been
enabled to distinguish themselves in that Uni-
versity by means of those exhibitions they so meri-
toriously gained by their exertions in our Univer
sity. (Cheers.) I cannot help alluding to the con-
tinuous good feeling that has been maintained be-
tween the Senate and the Convocation. I believe
I am not speaking only for myself, I am sure I am
speaking for the Senate, and I believe for the whole
University, when I say that I deeply regret the
causes which have deprived this University, and, to
a certain degree, the country, of the talents of Dr.
Foster. I believe he contributed very materially to
the success of our new charter, which he did so
much to frame and work out, from the devotion and
attachment he felt to the University. (Hear, hear.)
lam glad to think that the gentleman who has
succeeded him is one from whom, from the manner
in which he has worked, with the perfect under-
standing of the Senate and Convocation, in every-
thing that is good for the University, we shall
derive the same cooperation as from Dr. Foster. I
have said these few words upon points all tending
rather to the advantage of the University ; but there 1
are some points in which we do not stand in so
satisfactory a position. A Committee of Csenvoca-
don has reported, and their report is a most able
statement, as to our position, on the °Sae hand, with
regard to annual income, and on t/Se other in regard
to buildings. Now, I don't mean to say that I
should not like a little more wealth. I think some
wealth might be applied very advantageously ; but
so far as a mere anneail income is concerned, I think
we may take pride, from that honourable poverty
in which I entirely admit we find ourselves. I
think it doea afford a strong stimulus to our exer-
tions wheel we know we depend on our character
alone, and not on any factitious inducements to
keep up the reputation of the University, but when
we come to buildings, I must say that is a very
different question. (Cheers.) The statement to which
I allude gives a very clear, and almost interesting
account of the troubles of the University in this re-
spect—how we have really been driven from pillar
to post, finding a resting-place now in one place,
then in another, and how we are rather in a doubt-
ful situation at the present moment. There is
something almost amusing in this description of a
University travelling in search of lodgings, but it
is, after all, a subject of very sad importance to us.
I think really it is some reflection on the adminis-
trative power of the country to consider that such
is the position of the University, after it has been
established for more than a quarter of a century,
created, as it was, by the Crown, at the express wish
of the Legislature, having entirely maintained those
principles which it professed from the beginning,
and exercised a large influence on the whole educa-
tion of the country. (Cheers.) I may, perhaps, say
what were the practical measures which the Vice-
Chancellor and myself thought it best to adopt.
We wrote a letter and put ourselves in communica-
tion with the Chief Commissioner of Public Works,
by whom we were received with every desire to
meet our wishes. We requested him to pat the
architect of his department in communication w',ce
the Registrar, who is so intimately acquaint ;d with
the wishes of the University. I believe e scheme is
devised, though I do not know how rsar it would be
proper for me to mention it; but the subject is not
neglected. (Cheers.) No clssubt what we all wish
is that we should have buildings of an iteposing
character, of arehiteel.ural pretensions, buildings
distinct in themselves, and giving a more complete
embodiment of the interests of the University than
at present exists. On the other hand, though here
lam doubtful—l should think the general opinion
of the University was that some of these great ad-
vantages ought to be sacrificed to great convenience
of site if the whole are not compatible. (Cheers.)
These are matters I think which ought to be
carefully considered, both by the Convocation and
the Senate in their communications with the Go-
vernment. But Ido hope we shall at all events be
placed in a position in which, whether quite ade-
quate or not, we shall not leave so ignominiously to
shift about for the means of carrying on that great
engine of usefulness, :he examinations of this Uni-
versity. (Cheers.) Having mentioned what ap-
pears to be the state of our University 1 may per-
haps allude 'to its indirect influence on the educe.
tion of the country. Now it 'es always very desira-
ble to know what the state of education is, and we
'have recently had the great advantage of a single.
'ltaly able report drawn up by most competent men,
who have directed a large amount of labour and in-
vestigation with reference to the state of the great
public schools in this country. And what do we
gather from that report ? I remember when prince
Talleyrand was ambassador hero he was asked, I
think by the late Lord Holland, what he thought
of our system of public schools in England ; and
his answer, rather characteristic of his turn for epi-
gram and paradox, was this. He thought it the
best system in the world ; but then he added mais
c'est des astres. The same paradox is to a certain
extent carried out according to what this Commis-
sion reports of our great public schools. There are
Incalculable advantages connected with the system ;
there is a sort of freedom perfectly unknown in any
other schools, which, for the expression of honest,
sound public opinion, is invaluable. The system has
produced men most remarkable for their great public
utility and eminence; but, on the other hand, it ap-
pears that after spending a great na.3 ny years in these
educational institutions, the large mass come out
with a great knowledge of cricket, and a very good
knowledge of rowing, with only that sort of Latin
and Greek which is perfectly useless in after life,
and entirely destitute of mathematical, scientific,
elementary truth, a knowledge of history and
their own country, which it must be admitted are
desirable, if possible, to attain. (Cheers.) Now, I
cannot heip thinking that it will be satisfactory to
this University to read the evidence that seems to
have been so much appreciated by the Commission,
given by very distinguished persons connected with
this University, as to what our curriculum is, what
species of examination we require before we admit
anybody even within the threshold of the University.
It is quite evident that the commission very much
approved of what they had heard—that it led them
to a course of examination as to the result, and to
make most important recommendations founded on
the feasibility we have proved to exist of a great
extension and widening of the common education
now given in the schools in England. With regard
to all such recommendations, there can be no doubt
that merely calling public attention to them is itself
of great use ; but in regard to any public enforce-
ment of them there is great difficulty. Most of these
schools are, to a certain extent, endowed, and it is
not very easy to induce a change in the system. The
only true source of power is in the University, on
the one hand, and parents on the other. A great
many of these masters complain bitterly that young
boys are not prepared sufficiently to begin the work
of public education at all. But if you enforce the
system of University examination and make it abso-
lutely necessary that all those who come from school
or private tuition must show that amount of know-
ledge which this University exacts, you produce an
immediate pressure, not only on the schools but on
parents. Parents would be dissatisfied in seeing
their sons not going from these schools to the Uni-
versity, and schools would take better care to have
their pupils brought up to the mark. We in this
University deserve some credit for setting the ex-
ample with regard to the strictness of the matricula-
tion examination. Some colleges in the other Uni-
versities have adopted this system, but it was more
petilous for a university to set the example without
endowments, and relying entirely on the number
of its graduates for any position it might take in
the world. The result has been not to deter, but
gradually and satisfactorily to increase the number
of candidates for examination, and particularly in
the medical profession. (Cheers.) I might dwell
on these topics, but I have already spoken longer
than I intended. I have only
on
beg in my own name and in the name thameing of h
to offer our most cordial congratulations ttotoe all add:Senate
those
who nave been successful, and at the same time to
offer friendly condolence to such as have not been
so successful. (Cheers.) May Ibe allowed also to
express a hope that under the blessing of Divine
PrOV;denCe both time who are enceessfal and those

who have not yet achieved success may all be en-
couraged to continue in the path of progressive in-
dustry, remaining honourable and useful labourers
in this university, and, what is of more importance,
useful and virtuous citizens of that great country to
which we are all so proud to belong. (Loud
cheers.)
The proceedings then terminated.