The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-11 00:00:00

Reporting his Own Case,

One of the correspondents of the New .Fork
Times gives an account of the misfortunes ot' his
house during the recent Confederate advance upon
Washington. He tells the story of his wrongs in
this wise :—" Having an abiding faith in the ability
as well as disposition of the Government to protc et
all residents within a reasonable distance of tl )e
capital, in an unfortunate hour I hired a boo te
one mile from Fort Stevens, on the Seventh-
street pike, five and a half miles from Washing:-
ton—where house-reet, fuel, and all the necessaries
of life are to be had at comparatively reasonable
rates—and into which I moved all my household
goods and treasures in April last. On Sunday,
July 10, eirumstances rendered it necessary that
I should return to the army in front of Peters.
Lurg. The fact that Early had creased the Potomac
was then generally known, and the prudential
query as to whether I should leave a wife and four
daughters outside the forts of Washington suggested
itself, bat all apprehensions were quieted by the as-
surance that everything possible was being done,
and seeing no outer lines of defence prepared bee
tween my residence and the forts I very naturally
assumed that my position was really within the
outer defences of the capita), and therefore perfectly
safe from any simply raiding party. Thus assured
Heft my family and went to the army. Taesday
night's mail dissipated whatever notions of safety
I had previously entertained. As quick as possible
I returned, and reached my house on Thursday
morning. From acquaintances whom I met on the
road I had learnt enough to be prepared for the
worst, and was almost as philosophical as the
Irishman when about to be executed, who said he
felt thankful that his punishment was no more, but
not quite. As I stepped into the house there stood
before me my wife and four little daughters, their
nakedness scarcely covered by the few articles of
clothing the enemy had consented to leave them,
standing around a table upon which was placed a
plate of broiled ham and a few crackers, which a
more fortunate neighbour had kindly sent in, and
the question under consideration just at that moment
was how they were to cut the meat; my arrival
soled this difficulty, for I soon produced a pocket
knife, and six of us used it at this matutinal meal.
Such a picture of desolation as was presented to my
eyes as I entered the house that morning I never
hope to witness again. The dejected, careworn
appearance of my family would almost have
excited the sympathy of a rebel. The floors
throughout the house were covered with the debris
of housekeeping articles. As stated before, I
thought I was prepared for the worst, but I was not
I was prepared to see my house sacked of every useful
article, either of clothing or furniture, but I was not
prepared to find my children's playthings and other
presents to them wantonly destroyed; I was not
prepared to hear that even a rebel soldier was deaf
to the pitiful appeals of a little girl, four years old,
to save her canary bird from destruction. Nor was
I prepared, indeed, to find every article of vertu,
which had been collected during a period of 20 years
destroyed or carried away—yet all these things
were done. Dolls were stripped of clothing, heads
wrenched of, and then as if the fellows could not
find objects enough to vent their spite upon they cut
open the bodies of the dolls and turned out the saw•
dust. An old click excited their ire, but instead of
knocking it upon the floor and destroying it in a
manly way,they filled the works with a compound of
wheat flour, meal, a deodorising flour, flower Heeds,
and resin oil. Not satisfied with doing this much,
they primed the house with kerosene, and were
about to apply the match, when the intruders dis-
covered Union soldiers scaling a fence into the
yard, when they left in great haste. It is said
(poetically) that there is a silver lining to every
cloud. If there is a silver lining to this affair, it is
in the fact that the men who revelled in my
home knew whose property they were destroying,
and told, exultingly, in presence of my wife and
children, what they had done; that they had 'gutted
the home of one who had done Confederate cause
more harm than any ten of Lincoln's soldiers.' "
The writer then goes back to explain what
had passed :—" Near my house, on either side of the
pike, the enemy had planted their guns. Generals
Early, Breckenridge, and nearly all of the other
general officers, with their staffs, occupied the yard
surrounding my house. My wife asked if they meant
to injure us. An officer replied, ',We shall not, but
your friends may.' It is due to the rebel officers
to say that all of them treated the members of my
family courteously. When the skirmish line was
passing through our yard, and some of the
men trampled upon a flower-bed, my wife,
being somewhat excited, told the men not to
crush her flowers, whereupon General Brecken•
ridge laughingly ordered the men to leave. They
were seen from one of the forts, and a 100-pounder
shell was thrown, which struck a post within five
yards of where my wife and children stood convers-
ing with a squad of rebel officers. Three particles
of the shell hit one of my little girls, seven years
old, in her left ear, causing blood to flow, and for a
moment stunning her. The rebel officers insisted
that my wife should go to the rear ; but she had de-
cided to remain and- protect her property at all
hazards. Several shells successively exploded near
the house within a few minutes, and ball from
our skirmish line came in unpleasant proximity to
the party in the yard. My wife was again impor-
tuned to leave, and on account of her children con-
sented to do so, provided a guard was placed over
the Louse, which request was agreed to but never
complied with, or if it was, no protection was
afforded. Under the guidance of Dr. Strath my
family was escorted through the rebel troops to the
house of Oliver Clark, two miles in the rear, where
Colonel Arnett, of the 20th Virginia Cavalry, made
his headquarters, and where they remained until
the last of the enemy had fallen back."—New York
Times.

AFFAIRS IN TAPAN.—The following is an extract
of a private letter, dated Yokohama, May 26 :
" May in Japan seems to be the season for panics. Last
year, about this time, if you recollect, letters spoke of a
panic, and the same thing occurs again now. The two-
sworded gentry are swaggering, insulting, and fiercer-look-
ing than usual—the Japanese money-changers of note have
been imprisoned, the governor is excited, and things are
beginning again to look unpleasant. To satisfy, or rather
allay, the feeling of alarm amongst the people on shore, the
soldiers are loaded with ball cartridge. On the 23d two old
Japanese hulks, the representatives of Japan's fleet, moved
from the proximity of the fort of Kanagawa and sailed for
Yeddo, in all probability to take station behind the forts
there. This gave rise to a report that at midnight the fort
and grins on the hill near the town were to open fire, and,
as you may imagine, this considerably frightened the
nervous among the dollar grinders, especially as it blew
great guns all night. However, the forts and guns on the
hill thought better of the matter, and all were allowed to
sleep in peace. A few days before a startling paragraph ap-
peared in a daily paper that some Daimiu was marching on
Yokohama with a large force, and might be expected. The
prince in question was moat likely einoking his pipe at
home—at all events, he had not yet turned up. Politi-
cally matters are bad. Sir It. Alcock visited Yeddo and the
Gorogia the 16th; the result of the interview was not satis-
factory. The French minister followed a few days after
with the same result. The Coromandel's officers, during
their stay at Yeddo, counted over 100 guns mounted in the
forts. It seems likely that if you do consent quietly to
leave this place and retire gracefully to the mantrap at
Nagasaki, they will be foolish enough to try force. If a
number of half-drunken, determined men wore to make a
night attack on the foreign settlement, and at the same time
the guns (of the number of which we know very little) pitch
into the ships and town, a good many of we poor devils
ashore would come to grief, especially the ladies, o f whore
there are many fresh arrivals. Of course what would fol-
low would be a severe retribution, and give the Burton
party a lot to talk about; but this would be no consolation
to the unfortunates murdered, The Dutch join us in the
Simousaki affair—but if any attempt is made on Yoko-
hama this Simousaki affair would in all probability
stand over. Messieurs les Japonais, you aro too late.
Last year we were almost at your mercy—now
the tables are turned--and have the goodness to wait an-
other month for 1500 marines and soldiers and we are safe,
at least, against murder. Acting Lieut. 11. Morris
(promoted at Kagositua), of Racehorse, was turned out of
the service on the 17th for drunkenness. Several other
courts-martial come off shortly, I regret to say, for the same
cffence. When the Japanese question comes again before
the House of Commons I hope the give the country up'
party Won't win. Next to England it is the finest place in
the world, and nature was kinder to it than to England.
In the hands of Englishmen it would, indeed, be a paradise.
It would be a thousand pities to relinquish our footing in
such a land—rich as it is in all that man could desire."—
Army Gazette.