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

PRUSSIA AND THE DIET.

A letter from Berlin, dated 2d inst., says :
" It is on Monday, the sth, that the Frankfort
Diet will hold a sitting to pronounee a final judge
ment upon the Austro-Prussian proposition concern-
ing the evacuation of the Duchies by the Federal
troops. Should the Diet, as is expected, declare
the execution at an end, Saxooy herself will imme-
diately recall her troops and her civil commiasary.
"M. de Savigny, the Prussian representative to
the Diet, made use of an argument in yesterday's
sitting quite of a novel nature to urge the Dies to
adopt a resolution concerning the Austro-Prussian
proposal. M. de Savigny said that as long as the
Federal troops should not have left the Duchies
Prussia was resolved to set aside all deliberations
upon the question of succession.

" The Prussian representative, however, modified
the observation that the claimants to succession in
the Duchies should be allowed to assert their claims.
Nevertheless, it would be an error to suppose that
in the opinion of the Cabinet of Berlin those
claimants would be allowed to justify their claims
before the Diet.

"M. do Bismark is of the opinion (and it ap-
pears is shared by Austria) that it appertained
to the Governments of Austria and of Prussia,
first, to form a judgment as to the rights of
the claimants, and to designate to the Diet that
one whose claims seem best founded. It need
scarcely bo said that Prussia will look upon the
claims of that candidate best founded who will
make the largest concessions to her.

"It is clear, in this point of view, that the Diet
cannot exercise anything but a secondary inQuence
in the settlement of the question of succession.
"It appears that in yesterday's sitting of the Diet
Hanover declared that she had already taken steps
for the withdrawal of her troops from Holstein.
The evacu Alen will probably be completed by the
6th December."

AMERICA.

__---__ ..,..-___-.

QUEENSTOWN, Saturday Evening.

The Cunard Royal Mail steamer Africa, from
Boston November 23, and galifax the 25th, has
arrived.

In the Confederate Senate, Senator Henry, of
Tennessee, introduced a long series of joint resolu-
tions very defiant in tone, but saying that " this
Congress does not hesitate to aver its sincere desire
for peace, and to that end proclaims to the world
the readiness of the Government of the Confederate
States to open negotiations to establish a permanent
and honourable peace between the Confederate
States and the United States upon the basis of the
separate independence of the former."

speculations as to
ostvielml containents y
. The
Washington corre-
-BSphoTenrilimeeannt'e m o
f papers
thecontraband to state that it is known that General
Sherman will touch at Macon.
New York 7 Imes says it is not now
lie has five corps of
veteran infantry—the 14th and 201 h of the Army of
the Cumberland, and the 15th, 16th, and 17th of
t 1
l t
Armya men.ick of
, andthe
li
h Tennessee,
an
hassn
doeao
in all of over
50,000 cavalry, under
K
rations for man and
beast. He goes finely Equipped in every particular.
His scout system and courier line are so complete as
ip Kilpatrick,e"Yo consisting
s is
pickedt
i ng
few hours. There to guard against the possibility even of a failure,
evaerysathnidnyg efooril' thehicWhich
consumption
and the country through Which
he will pass is
haveadnescarbiubneddatnoceofhaebrseoribs
the army along the alleged route,
the heaviest rain shower in a
which is thus
laid out :

Macon General Sherman will
probably"Onargroivtiong a
;Milledgeville, Where he will divide
his army, sending a part of it to Savannah and a
part to Augusta. He will fortify the latter place,
and after receiving supplies up the Savannah River
he will be able to move on Columbia or Charleston.
The programme, if carried out Successfully, com-
pletely demolishes the railroad system of the State
itdg
of Georgia. The Western and Atlantic, running
from Chattanooga,to Atlanta, 138 miles, is almost
totally destroyed. it will take a year to rebuild it,
with no inconvenience in obtaining iron. The
Georgia Railroad (a State institution, as is also the
Western and Atlantic, and to which the Confede-
racy is indebted many millions of dollars), running
from Atlanta to Augusta, 171 miles, is destroyed
from Atlanta to Covington, 41 miles, The occupa-
tion of Augusta Will add to its destruction. The
Macon and Western Railroad, running from Atlanta
to Macon, 103 miles, is entirely destroyed. The
Georgia Central Railroad, running from Macon to
Savannah, is 191 miles, and this will no doubt
receive Sherman's attention in a few days. From
Augusta to Charleston is 137 miles. From Augusta
to Columbia, South Carodna, it is 141 by rail.
Mostly all the manufactories for shot, shell, fixed
ammunition, and cannon are at Macon, Augusta,
and Columbia. Half the powder the rebels nse
is made near Augusta. If Beauregard attempts to
intercept Sherman or follow him he must send his
entire army with all its paraphernalia by rail from
Corinth to Meridian, It must then march from
Meridian to Montgomery, a distance of about
200 miles, with only a short piece of railroad,
with nu 1110 IDS of transportation, running from
Uniontown to Selma. By the time Beauregard
reaches Macon Sherman would be out of his reach.
Thomas is watching him, and is being heavily re-
inforced (with new troops), In a week from now
Thomas's army will have 55,000 men, besides A. J.
Smith, who is co-operating with an army of obser-
vation."

A Washington despatch of the 2d ult. says :
" Nearly two weeks have elapseu since direct
information has been received from Gen. Sherman
himself—the Government has no intelligence of his
recent movements later than that contained in the
Richmond papers of Friday, General Sherman at
least a month ago informed the proper authority at
Washington of his plans, which, judging by rebel
accounts, have thus far been carried into effect with
bright promise of success throughout his campaign,"
The Nashville correspondent of the Chicago
7ribune soya the Louisyille Journal bus disclosed

pretty much all (it has announced Sherman's de•
parture for Savannah, Bz-,c), and therefore feels at
liberty to tell what he knows. That is, that Sher-
man is moving through Georgia for either Sa-
vannah, Charleston, or Beaufort, with fifty or sixty
thousand troops, in two columns. Me has 8,000
cavalry and 125 pieces of artillery. One column
is to go by way of Macon and the other direct to
Augusta, where both will meet. The writer thinks
Beaufort the objective point of the movemeht for
the annexed reasons

"1. Savannah, cat off from all communications,
would be valueless to the rebels, and the same rea-
sons which render Mobile unimportant now will
render it so with all its railroads cut off. 2.
Charleston can be cut eff by moving down the rail-
road to Branchville, 20 or 30 miles to the west, and
it is highly probable that will be Sherman's line of
march. 3. Beaufort is already in our possession.
We have an abundance of shipping and supplies
there, and our meu will need the latter after their
long march, and therefore it is highly probable
that Beaufort will be the new base of General
Sherman."

There is abundance of corn and sweet potatoes
in the country through which Sherman will pass,
while he takes with him " any amount of hard
tack" and several thousand cattle. His men will
live better than when in camp. The Richmond
Dispatch of November 18 has the following in re-
gard to the matter
" The only official information received by the
press yesterday was that Sherman had destroyed
the North-Western and Atlantic Railroad from At-
lanta to A llatoona, the Chattahoochee-bridge in-
cluded. This movement is difficult to understand,
except as explained by unofficial reports that were
in circulation during yesterday. If they be true
the destruction of the railroad can be understood,
though it will appear a superfluous labour. Reports
had it that Sherman, having burnt Atlanta on the
15th (last Tuesday), had set out for Macon, with
three corps, amounting to 30,000 men, and that he
had yesterday reached Jooesborough, twenty-
two miles south of Atlanta. If there is truth
in these accounts, as we believe there is, Wheeler
has much to answer for. It devolved upon him to
watch Sherman and keep posted as to his move-
ments. Only four days ago he reported him mov-
ing toward Bridgeport.' Now, it is said, he reports
him moving towards Macon, as above stated. We
regret to say that this latter report is corroborated
by other evidence. Sherman will, we think, meet
with opposition he does not calculate upon before
he reaches the fortifications of Macon. These works,
should he ever reach them, he will find of most for-
midable character, and, with troops that before that
time will be collected in them, they must give him
a vast deal mere trouble than he evidently counts
upon. If Georgians will battle for their trenches
as the Petersburg militia did last Jane for theirs,
or the Richmond militia did at Stanton River
bridge, later in the summer, Macon will be saved.
In undertaking this expedition Sherman is too
prudent a man to rely upon subsisting his army on
the country, and it becomes interesting and im
portant to consider what point he calculates upon
making his base of supplies. His destruction of the
railroad north-west of Atlanta proves that he has
cut loose from the Chattanooga base ; he must, then,
be looking to some point on the Atlantic or the Gulf.
We are disposed, for several reason:', to believe that
Pensacola is the selected point. This is not because
of its greater proximity than any other post to his
present field of operations, but because it is ascer-
tained that for more than a month very large sup-
plies have been accumulated here. If he fails to
take Macon at the first dash, ho will probably
run for Pensacola, and make it his new base
of operations. It is not to be presumed that he
carries with him supplies sufficient to enab:e him to
enter upon a siege which shall occupy a con-
siderable length of time. We have ventured the
opinion that Sherman had Pensacola in view as a
new base of supplies, bat it is proper to say there
are reasons why he might select some point on the
Atlantic as being nearer at hand. Savannah, for
instance, offers advantages did its approach not
involve the certainty of a great deal of heavy
fighting. We look with intense interest to full and
authentic news from Georgia."
The Richmond Sentinel regards the theory of
several of the Northern papers that Sherman has
started for Savannah as the true programme, al-
though he may go to Montgomery and Mobile, in
view of which it remarks :

"Go which way he will ho has a long road
before him, and it will be our fault if it prove not a
rough one. Will Beauregsrd turn and pursue
Sherman, or will he prosecute his own campaign ?
One is moving North, the other South; his pur-
poses are necessarily secret. Nor are we in pos.
session of information for an opinion as to the best
policy. It is to be hoped that the people of the
States through which Sherman proposes to march
will fling themselves upor, him with a courage that
shall do them honour. There is a capital difference
between his situation and that of Hood. He is in
an enemy's country, while Hood is among friends.
No sacrifice of property, no activity of opposition,
must be counted now, or considered excessive.
fear down bridges, block roads, remove or
destroy supplies, cut off foragers, fight at every
pass. If Sherman should be able to accomplish such
a journey as that he proposes, foraging as he goes,
it will be a proof that he was not becomingly re-
sisted. Oa the whole, the situation of affairs East
and South is extremely interesting, and important
events hasten to their accomplishment."
A letter in the Tribune, dated Rome, Georgia,
Nov. 10, the day on which that place was partially
destroyed by order of Gen. Corse, says that, owing
to a want of railroad conveyance, nearly a million
dollars' worth of property was - destroyed which
could not be removed, including a few thousand
dollars' worth of condemned and unserviceable
Government stores. The writer says :

"Nine rebel guns captured at Rome by oar troops
were burst, it being deemed unsafe to use them.
One thousand bales of fine cotton, two flour mills,
two rolling mills, two tanneries, one saw mill, an
extensive foundry, several machine shops, together
with the railroad depots and storehouses, four pon-
toon bridges built by Gen. Corse's pioneer corps
for use on the Coosa and Etowah rivers, and a sub-
stantial trestle bridge nearly completed for use,
were destroyed. This trestle was constructed by
the engineer Corps, end would have cost 50,000
dole. North. Recollecting the gross outrages per•
petrated upon Colonel Streight by the ' Romans,'
our troops, as soon as they learnt that the town was
to be abandoned and a portion of it burnt, resolved
to lay Rome in ashes in revenge for insults offered
to our prisoners. General Corse, however, had
taken the precaution to station guards through all
parts of the city, with orders to shoot down the first
man caught in firing a building without proper au•
tiaority. Stringent orders wore also issued to arrest
all citizens or suspicious persons found in the streets
after the conflagration commenced. The roaring
of the flames as they leaped from window to win-
dow, their savage fire darting high up into the
heavens and then licking the sides of the buildings,
presented an awful but grand spectacle."

Washington advices of the 21st contain rumours
of the evacuation of Petersburg. They are as fol-
low :

Information from the army of the Potomac,
dated yesterday, say a good deal of firing was heard
on Saturday in front of Petersburg on the Appo.
mattox, but as far as heard from without important
results. D.:serters report that the rebel troops on
the James have all been withdrawn, with the excep•
tiun of a skirmish line and enough to man the guns
in the forts. lip to yesterday morning there had
been almost continuous rain for 36 hours. Rumours
had reached the army that the enemy were CIVE3.
cuating Petersburg, but they were not generally
believed."

The Richmond Dispatch of the 18th thus specu-
lates on military affairs in the Old Dominion

" There is a general impression, gathered chiefly
from hints dropped by the Yankee press, that Grant
is preparing for a final grand movement of the
campaign in Virginia, which, it is confidently
hoped by the Yankee people, is to end the war,
by taking Richwond. Constant and repeated failure
seeming to have no effect upon him, we know of no
reason why he should not make another attempt to
dislodge our army. As B utloc's canal is not finished

an attack on cur centre is hardly to be thought of,
and his next attack will probably be, to some ex-
tent, a repetition of his last, rxeept it will, we think,
be the last reversed, with its heaviest columns on
the north side. His experience on the south side
should satisfy him there is nothing to be hoped
from an advance in that quarter. He may argue
that if he could throw two corps on the Williams-
burg and Nin_c-mile roads at points essayed by the
18th Corps on the Tith ultimo he might Effict a
lodgment. It is said he is already mustering his
forces for the fray, and deserters report that he has
been reinforced by a portion of Sheridan's com-
mand from the Valley. But this we shall not im-
plicitly credit until it comes to as through some
less questionable channel. From Petersburg wo
have nothing of interest. The Yankees continue
their raids and depredations into Surrey and neigh-
bouring counties, and are treating the inhabitants
with unusual barbarity, the raiders being mostly
negroes. Passengers by last night's train say that
nothing special has been heard from Early at Staun-
ton for two days past ; but it is supposed that he is
driving on towards the Potomac. Our cavalry had
been within a very short distance of HArper's
Ferry, and made some captures of men and horses.
Sheridan has, without doubt, sent away a portion
of his forces, and they have, it is said, arrived at
City Point. This information comes from deserters
as well as from our own scouts. Another informant
says some of them have been put into Fort Harri-
son. There is evidently a great scheme on foot,
and the Yankees are determined to spare no effort°
to render it successful."

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGEMCE.
NEW YORK, Nov. 22.

Stocks higher. Chicago and Rock Island Railroad,
104; Cumberland Coal Company, preferred, 47}; Illinois
Central Railroad Scrip, 126} ; Michigan Southern Rail-
road, 72}; Now Yoi k Central Railroad, 1211; Reading
Railroad, 138; Hudson Railroad, 120} ; Canton Coal Com-
pany, 23} ; Erio Railroad, 062 ; Chicago, Burlington, and
Quincy Railroad, 116.