The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-23 00:00:00

,he Federal officers confined in the Libby could be

hardly be stated to any sensible man or woman. If

admitted to a sight of the heartrending letters

which I have read from Confederate officers con-

fined on Johnson's Island, they would face their lot
with a little more manliness, and no,, aggravate

trials already sufficiently irksome by permitting
themselves to imagine that their sufferings are ex-
ceptional and peculiar, and such as were never borne
by any other prisoners of war upon earth. For the
present it will be sufficient to state that I hope
shortly to give such facts and statistics as will esta-
blish, at least to the satisfaction of Europe, the true

condition of the unhappy starvelings whose ima-

ginary agonies have been such a rich mine to the
press, and especially to the illustrated journals, of
__ _

New York.

The presence for the last ten days of General Lee
[n Richmond has led to many rumours of his being

about to go to the West, but, as I mentioned in my
letter of the 14th inst., the appointment of General

Joseph G. Johnston to fill the post vacated by
General Bragg has been for some time past decided.
It is understood that throughout the deliberations
which have preceded this appointment Gen. John-

ston's claims have been warmly urged by General
Lee. And here let ma do justice to the patriotism
and unselfishness of General Bragg's bearing since

his " decapitation," which have been such as all
those who were best acquainted with his character

expected at his hands. Without rancune, with
generous cordiality and warmth, he has offered to
fill the post of Chief of the Staff to General John-
ston or General Lee—the same post which at the
commencement of the war he so successfully filled

under General A. Sidney Johnson. I believe that
nothing is as yet settled with regard to the post to
which General Bragg will be appointed. The cor-
respondence with the War department in which
General Bragg has recently played so creditable a
part will hereafter, when made known to his coun-
trymen, recommend him to their favour in a degree

of which they are at present unable to form any
conception.
The military movements of the past week have
been of little moment, unless (as is at this moment

hoped rather than expected) they should end in the
capture of the Federal Cavalry General Averill,
who has struck boldly into the heart of Virginia,
and inflicted some damage, though not much, upon

:he Virginia and Tennessee railroad at Salem eta.

tion, It is along this railroad which connects
Lynchburg with Bristol in Tennessee, that the
supplies for General Longstreet's army—or rather

such supplies as he cannot gather on the spot
where his army is stationed—are forwarded to him.
It is hoped that General Fitz Lee, ono of the most
active of the cavaliers of Virginia, will be in
time to cut off General Averill's retreat ; but

such is the length of the frontier line over which it
is possible for the Federais to retire that I have
little expectation of the attainment of this result.
Gen. Longstreet has during the past week given a
hug to a small portion of a Federal force, which was
making believe to pursue him, and would apparently
have inflicted material damage upon them had not

a great rise in the Holston River forbidden the
Confederate cavalry to cross and intercept the
Federal retreat. Nothing is, I suspect, further from
Gen. Longstreet's intention than to leave to Gen.

Burnside the unmolested possession of Knoxville
during the present winter. The withdrawal from
around Chattanooga and Northers Georgia of
Federal troops still continues, and is by some ex-
pected to lead to the evacuation of Knoxville and
East Tennessee. It is evident that some important
development of Federal strategy is in progress, and
the large number of transports and their activity on
the Potomac are suggestive either of some attempt
upon Richmond by water, or of a descent upon
Charleston. Be the programme of the Aulic Council
at Washington what it may, it will, I apprehend,
be impossible for them to permit the winter months
to wear inactively away. There are signs which in-
dicate unmistakably that the unanimity of the
Washington Ccugress about the prosecution of the
wai is a thing of the past. It is idle to talk about a
large portion of the Federal army, which is about to
disband in May,being willing to enlist again. There
aro too many Federal prisoners in the South, and
too great uniformity of opinion among them about
their own future conduct when their time of service
will bo up, to admit of any doubt as to what the
conduct of their comrades under similar circum-
stances will be. Unless that mighty Battle of
Armageddon, which has incessantly danced before
the clazz'ed vision of the North, is fought between
the present moment and the Ides of May, let all
hope of aggressive warfare be abandoned by the
Federals. It is true that they may be strong enough
to repel invasion, and to maintain the blockade of
their enemy's ports for years to come, but it is doubt-
ful whether such an amount of unanimity as will be
requisite to enable them even to preserve this atti-
tude can be secured for 12 months more. In the
meantime, if ever England, under the guidance of
Mr. Cobden and Mr. Beecher, has been led to be-
lieve that this is honestly a war for the abolition of
slavery, what will be said when it is known that the
motion of Mr. Rollins, of Missouri, to the effect that
"This war is not waged in any spirit of oppression,
nor for any purpose of conquest or subjection, nor
for the purpose of overthrowing and interfering with
the rights of established institutions in those States,"
was recently carried in the House of Representatives
at Washington by a majority of 115 votes against 52 ?
The winter has already worn half away, and none
of the terrible trials which were bespoken for the
Confederate States by Southern croakers and
Northern threateners have as yet made themselves
felt. With true English heartiness, Virginia is put-
ting on her Christmas garb, and if the social condi-
tion of Richmond were canvassed at this moment, I
should say that exception might reasonably be
taken on the ground rather of an excess than of a
shortcoming of merriment. The markets of the
present winter are unquestionably more abundant
hitherto than were those of last winter; oysters,
game, venison, poultry are offered in the greatest
profusion. Irish potatoes are almost a drug, and,
as I predicted, are served out with the rations of
the Virginian army in the field. Prices have ceased
to be weighed and considered ; the Confederate
dollar is worth about twopence English, and is so
regarded by everybody, for everybody has dollars in
abundance. The temper of Congress on the ques-
tion of the war is stern and unyielding as was that
of the Roman Senate after Cann; but I fear that
I must be permitted to express a doubt whether
they are fitter to deal with the difficult question of
their currency than was the French National Con-
vention to cope with the analogous embarrassment
of their assignats. He, however, who should fancy
that this war will be stopped by the breaking down
of a financial system upon either side cannot be
other than a sorry judge of human nature, and
poorly versed in the teachings of history. If there
be any misnomer on earth, it is that which makes
money synonymous with the sinews of war. Never
yet was war stopped by the impecuniosity of belli-
gerents ; least of all in a country blessed with such
abundanc3 as this continent, where all that is requs
site for the wants of man is lavished upon him with
matchless bounty, where the clouds drop fatness and
the valleys laugh and sing, and where all that was
wanted to secure prospectively to a third of the
human race such contentment and happiness as
have been denied to Europe was the presence of
`wo qualities of which, more than any other nation,
, I Americans are bereft—humility and moderation.
Ire

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THE SUN, LONDO

Complimentary Soiree to Mr. George

Thompson.

A complementary soiree was given in the Manchester
Town Hall, on Thursday evening, to Mr. Geo. Thompson,
the well-known advocate of negxo emancipation, prior to
his departure to America. About 500 persons were present,
and the chair was taken by Mr. Geo. Wilson.--The Chair-
man said that since Manchester elected to lose the first place
in the House of Commons by the rejection of its represen-

tatives, he had preferred to see the exposition of his politics
at Ashton, Rochdale, and Birmingham—but he could
scarcely have acquitted himself of the calls of conscience if
he had remained absent from that meeting, because, consi •
dering Mr. Thompson's great services to the country and to
freedom, he esteemed that gentleman to hold a place in the

front rank of all living men.—Mr. T. H. Barker read an

address to Mr. Thompson, beautifully illuminated on vel-
lum, and encased in morocco leather. It commenced with
an acknowledgment of the 30 years' services which Mr.
Thompson had devoted to " every advanced movement for
the welfare of the human race, but pre-eminently in the
caase of freedom." "Whoever the foe, whatever the diffi-
culty, he had always been the steadfast friend and defender
of liberty and justice, His able pen and eloquent tongue
had always been at the service of the true friends of universal
emancipation. His name was not unknown to the friends
and foes of liberty in the Federal Republic of America.
Associated with the name of William Lloyd Garrison, the
name of George Thompson had become a cherished house-
hold word in the homes of that kindred and friendly nation.
On this cccasion he would visit America under circum-
stances, and with prospects very different from those he
encountered on his two previous visits. Within the last
three or four years it might be said that a nation had been
born again in the cause of freedom. " That nob' e martyr
liberty, John Brown, the hero of Harper's Ferry, by his
magnanimous devotion, sent a thrill of new impulse to the
nation's heart of hearts. The moral electricity of that
grand human soul, not only galvanised the shareholders of
the South, but awakened to new life, to new purpose, and
to new hope the drooping spirits of the freemen of the
North. Had it not been for that immolation on the altar
of liberty and patriotism, honest Abraham Lincoln could
not have been elected President of the Union, nor have
been enabled to become the second deliverer of the nation,
and the holy cause of negro emancipation would have
gone back probably half a century, It was the
cr'sis of the nation's utmost social, political, and
moral need, and the providence of God raised
up a man who had a heart and a conscience above
the tricks of politicians and the subtleties of diplomacy."
George Washington gave the American nation the precious
boon of independence; Abraham Lincoln conferred a more
inestimable blessing, by proclaiming the Federal nation
henceforth the home of universal freedom. Though the

great work was not fully and finally accomplished, the
foundation of true national freedom was laid, and the day
was at hand when the top-stone should be raised amid the
plaudits of every free nation throughout the world.—Mr.
Etnest Jones moved the adoption of the address. He said
that, and all the efforts in which M. Thompson had been
engaged, the one which he had been most gloriously
associated, was the struggle for the emancipation of negro
slavery. He would now go to America as an ambassador,
to draw the links of friendship still closer. His entry
into the States would not be a mere isolated, individual
act. The Americans would recognise in hint one who

represented as largely as any man the feelings and
the virtues of the English people.—Mr. Charles Thompson
seconded the adoption of the address, which was supported
by Mr. J. H. Estcourt, Dr. Pankhurst, the Rev. J. C.
Street, and Dr, John 'Watts, and adopted.—Mr. George
Thompson, who was received with loud cheers, rose to
accept the address. He said that he left England with the
consciousness of having been no place hunter ; he had never
asked to be rewarded for his efforts for the weal of this
country. He did not leave England a disappointed man,
nor with any desire to cast reflections on his country, for
with all her faults he loved her still, He did not go to
America in the expectation, or with the view of receiving a
welcome when he landed there, or with the hope of having
a seat on the floor of Congress, or receiving an invitation
to dine with Mr. Chase, Mr. Seward, or Mr. Lincoln.
What drew him with the most strength to America was
the wish to meet a cherished few who were the pioneers
in the great and glorious movement of negro emanci •
pation. That cause had enlisted his sympathies from
his earliest years; it increased when as a boy he went
to the Freemason's hall, London, to listen to the dulcet tones
of Wilberforce, and the magnificent eloquence of the now
deceased Henry Brougham, for Lord Brougham lived, but
Henry Brougham was dead. (Applause.) Twenty .nine years
ago, and shortly after his first public appearance in Man-
chester, he (Mr. Thompson) visited America. He was hunted
about that country like a partridge upon the mountains, a
reward was set upon his capture, and gallows were even
erected at his door. But he who was " spewed" out of
America 29 years ago, should return to see that mighty
people in its right mind, bringing forth " fruit meet to re-
pentanca" in 'She shape of freedom to the race they once
abased. If he had the opportunity he should represent to Mr.
Lincoln the feelings of this country towards the Northern
States ; and t hough he was absent from England in body, he
should be here in spirit, and take interest in her welfare.—Mr.
J. Patten and Mr. Glazibrook presented an address from the
Ashton-under-Lyne Union and Emancipation Socisty. It
acknowledged the services which Mr. Thompson had ren-
dered to the cause of negro emancipation, and his zealous
advocacy and defence of the great principles of political
and social reform, of his assistance to secure a suitable
administration to guard the interests of British India, and
of his advocacy of the repeal of the corn laws. The society
rejoiced to have had his counsel and co-operation during
the present American rebellion. They sincerely hopel he
might have a pleasant and speedy voyage, and that he
would be welcomed by thousands of generous hearts
when he reached America—the future refuge of the
lieerties of mankind. Mr. U. Thompson briefly acknow-
ledged the compliment that had been paid him by his
friends at Ashton, and after the meeting had :been ad-
dressed by Captain T. M. Chester, a coloured man from
Liberia, the proceedings closed With a vote of thanks to the
chairman.