The Sun.
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Cousultationi tree.

THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)

RICHMOND, April 7.
If ever my letter from distant Vicksburg, written
just two months ago, has surmounted the many ob-
stacles and difficulties which interpose between the
Confederate States and England, your readers will
have been prepared for the present attitude of events
on the Mississippi, and for the abandonment of all
hostile enterpriseson the part of the Fiderals against
Vicksburg or Port Hudson. It is perhaps premature
to say that Yankee ingenuity may not yet discover
sore pass or creek or tortuous route through which
Vicksburg can be hypothetically turned ; but it is
certain that all the dodges hitherto attempted have
resulted only in disastrous failure; that Vicksburg
and Port Hudson are practically impregnable, that
Grant's army is melting away like a snow wreath,
and that Port Hudson is not likely to be again at-
tacked from below, or Vicksburg from above. The
words which in 1854 again and again thrilled the
Yankee heart with delight, when upon the arrival
of each successive steamer from Europe were an•
nounced in colossal capitals the tidings, " Sebasto-
pol not taken yet," might at present be stereotyped
with the word " Vicksburg" substituted for " Se-
bastopol." But Sebastopol fell at length, to the ill-
concealed mortification of New York and Boston,
nor was the satisfaction of ascribing its fall entirely
to French valour an adequate compensation for the
vexation which accompanied the fact. For many
more months than those during which England and
France beleaguered Sebastopol the whole resources
of the Federals have been lavished expended upon
an attempt to reduce a little defenceless inland city,
situated upon a river of which the Federals, at the
commencement of the war, claimed possession as
confidently as they now claim possession of Staten
Island. Does any one believe now that there is
the smallest chance that these mighty efforts of
the Federals will eventually be crowned with
success ? Never will the day dawn when the
words, " Vicksburg has fallen," will thrill the
Northern heart with exultation and delight. The
canal is, as I pronounced it, a costly failure. The
Ya zoo river, with its innumerable creeks and tribu-
taries,is easily defended ; the camp on the Louisiana
shore of the river, in which for so many months the
hapless Federals have been exposed to swamp fever,
and ague, and dysentery, and pneumonia, has be-
come one vast burying ground; the practice of the
Vicksburg batteries has lately become so accurate
and formidable that, not only is it almost impossible
for any craft to live upon the river in front of them,
but all work upon the canal has long been suspended
by reason of the fire of the Blakeley and Whitworth
guns, which subtend the lower mouth of the canal.
Chiefly to the skill and activity of Col. Higgins,
originally a naval effi,:,er in the service of the United
States, but now in command of the batteries at
Vicksburg, may this improvement in their practice
be attributed. Col. Higgins is favourably known
as a sailor, inasmuch as he was captain of the Van-
derbilt when she made what is claimed as the
swiftest passage ever accomplished by a steamship
across the Atlantic.

From Fort Pemberton (the fort which commands
the point where the junction of the Tallahatchie and
Yallobusha livers forms the Yazoo) the information
is that the Federals are in full retreat towards the
Mississippi, considerably damaged, as they go, by
sharpshooters and guerillas who line the inter-
minable windings and sinuosities of the little
streams. It is impossible to say when the truth
about Vicksburg and Port Hudson will become
generally known in the North. Every day that I
pass in the South fills me with greater wonderment
at the amazing ignorance of the Federals about the
disposition of their enemy's troops and the actual
condition of affairs in Dixie. For instance, the
whole winter through there have been incessant
announcements that Gen. Longstreet (whom your
readers will have observed that I regard as one of the
most valuable officers in the Confederacy) was
marching through Tennessee to reinforce General
Bragg, that be was threatening Kentucky and about
to march on Cincinnati. The truth is that General
Longstreet has never been far removed from Rich-
mond, that, had occasion demanded, he would have
been found at his old post at Fredericksburg, ard,
for aught that I know, may
be back there whenever
General Hooker again attempts that advance to
which it is known that he is peremptorily impelled
from Washington. The accompanying extract from
the general orders which, Since the commencement
of 'April, have daily appeared in the Richmond
papers, will indicate the present whereabouts of
General Longstreet

it The geographical limits of the command of Lieut..-
General Longstreet, embracing the defences cf Richmond,

and extending south to include the State of North Caro-
lina, the whole under the provision and general direction of
General R. E. Lee, will be divided into three military de-
partments as follows :—All north of the James river, for
the defence of Richmond, will constitute the Department of
Richmond, under Major-General Elzey head-quarters
Richmond—all that portion of Virginia south of the James
river, and east of the county of Powhatan, will constitute
the Department of Southern Virginia, under Major-Gen.
French, head- quarters at some central point near the Black
Water. The State of North Carolina will constitute the
Department of North Carolina, under Major-General D.
H. Hill, head-quarters, Goldsborough."
But, if the general ignorance about the South has
appeared amazing, occasionally incidents of little
significance have in the Northern journals dilated
into dimensions so stupendous that a resident here
has asked himself whether he is not unconsciously
sleeping on a volcano which may at any moment
burst and scatter havoc and destruction around.
Such an incident, which, long before this letter
reaches England, may have been represented to
your readers by the New York press as a Lord
George Gordon riot, an upheaving of the lowest
.strata of society, occurred in this city on the 2d inst.
It should be remarked that a pressure in regard to
the daily supply of the necessaries of life, under
which one half of the population of England and a
still larger proportion of the populations of France
and Belgium are contented to live year after year,
has been so unheard of and unknown upon this con-
tinent that it is a marvel that the poorer classes in
the Confederacy, and especially the foreigners, who
care, comparatively speaking, nothing about the
guiding princip:es of the war, should have mur-
mured so little under a destitution which has cnt
them off from all but the barest necessaries of exis-
tence. Simultaneously with much hardship and
privation, busy rumour has pointed out persons who
iu various trades have amassed enormous fortunes
during the last two years. The excitability of a
naturally restless population and the unsettling of
ordinary relations of life which war invariably en-
genders have combined to make the lowest classes
uneasy and dissatisfied, because, when so many
around them were adding house to house, and lay-
ing field to field, they were not able to do more
than keep body and soul together. Therefore,
under the guise of "bread riots," there have in
many cities been erneutes of the population, in the
form chiefly of mobs of women, who demanded
flour and cornmeal at the principal stores, and
trusted that if they were refused a riot would grow
into an irresistible outbreak, which would place all
the stores and property of the wealthier classes at the
mercy of the lowest. Such emeutes have occurred
at Salisbury, in North Carolina, at Atlanta in
Georgia, at Mobile in Alabama, and at Petersburg
in Virginia. They have in no case been serious,
because everywhere ample resources for relieving
cases of unquestionable destitution have been at
hand, and such cases have been found to be very
rare, as might be expected when it is mentioned
that no man who is willing to work at any kind of
trade has difficulty in earning from 6 to 6 dole. per
diem. I have been assured, on the authority of
several of the most eminent clergymen, some of
whom have resided in Richmond for many years,
that never in their recollection was there such ab-
sence:of want and suffering among the lowest classes
in Richmond as during this winter. But it was not
to be expected, after occurrence of such outbreaks
as I have described in the smaller cities of the Con-
federacy, that Richmond should wholly escape the
contagion. There are persons who see in every
contretemps which occurs in the Confederacy indi-
cations of Yankee malignity, just as there are others
who, whenever a fire or robbery occurs, whisper
ominously the word " slaves," though, perhaps, in
the Confederate States, and certainly in the State of
South Carolina, which is the very heart or nucleus
of slavery, there are fewer fires and "robberies than
anywhere else upon earth among populations of a
similar size. It is beyond a question that fire and
robbery in the northern towns are vastly more fre-
quent. It is not, therefore, wonderful that some
persons should have imputed to Yankee emissaries
a restlessness of the population which seems to me
explicable by many other causes. On the 2d of April,
in a low quarter of this town, chiefly inhabited by
the Irish of the South and West of Ireland a mob of
unruly women, perhaps 200 in number, broke into
several stores, some of them containing flour and
provisions, but chiefly repositories of boots and cloth-
ing and cheap articles of jewelry. There were many
women among them whose husbands are earning from
6 to 8 dole. a-day. The clear object of the emeute was
to inaugurate a carnival of cupidity, which, gather-
ing strength from the explosive and dangerous popu-
lation of a city which has seen two years of un-
paralleled warfare, might place all the wealth of
Richmond at the disposal of a lawless and predatory
mob. But the outbreak in question never got
enough headway on to become alarming. President
Davis and Governor Letcher paid the insurgents
the compliment of going among them and address-
ing them, but it seemed little less than mockery to
address the offscourings of Ireland and Germany as
" Women of Virginia." There is, however, not the
slightest occasion for fearing that the riot will be
repeated. Whatever may be Governor Letcher's
other qualifications for the office which he now
holds, there are not two opinions about his firmness ;
and it is with him more than with the President
that the repression of future and similar riots will
rest. Except upon the 2d inst., and, in a much
less degree, upon Good Friday, the 3d, all tendency
to insurrection has disappeared, nor is it likely to
be resumed. It is felt everywhere that it is im.
possible this miserable warfare can be protracted
beyond the end of 1863. The disposition of Presi-
dent Lincoln and Mr. Sumner would lead them to
fight during the remaining two years of Mr. Lin-
coln's Administration, as they have fought, though
with miserable impotency during its first two years.
But the signs of the times abundantly proclaim that
it will be impossible. How long it will be befoi e,
in American phrase, the bottom of Yankee obstinacy
and persistency will fall out, it is difficult to say.
But it is doubtful whether the North-West, when it
learns that all attempts to re-open the Mississippi are
abandoned, will persevere in a war which is incon-
testably conducted in order that New York, and
Pennsylvania, and New England may grow fat upon
Government contracts. What is to be the future
destiny of those recriminating and angry and an-
tagonistic provinces, which will still find themselves
loosely hooped together by the broken bond from
which the South has torn itself free, it passes human
, it appears probable
lc
that the Western States oflllinois,lndiana,and Ohio
Sodiscovere far as the feeling of Southern
Confederacy
bebeyretaocwydeiclvcaionnme.e d into the Southern fraternity,
but that an attempt would be made to exclude
lowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It is obvious
rliotvyinincesa plan which
of lowa and
and Indiana the
Wisconsin. But, nevertheless, as a chronicler of
itwnhotaeutrletdhs
tedsriesosfcoactniha
the sentiment of the moment, I am bound to
record that in general discussions
ebteecontiguousfromiinbpoi s
and foreshadow-
ings of the future this plan seems to find more
favour than any other.
In the meantime, this day has witnessed the
opening of the long delayed and formidably
menacing attack with which Charleston has so long
been threatened. It has been announced to us by
telegraph that at 3 o'clock this afternoon eight or
nine Federal iron-clads opened upon Fort Sumter
at a distance of 900 or 1,000 yards. The bombard-
ment lasted till 6 o'clock in the evening, Upon the
Confederate side the loss was i'svo men killed and
six men wounded. Upon the Federal it is confi-
dently believed that the Keokuk wtzs so much
damaged that she will sink in the night. An un-
expected opportunity of sending this hurried le: ter
to England has occurred, and it is probable that it
will reach its destination earlier than its predecessor
of March 31. I have, therefore, no opportunity of
awaiting the arrival of fuller news from Charleston,
but it must be confessed that the opening features
of an attack which has so long been studied And so

The deputation appointed at the trades unionist
meeting in favour of Poland, held at St. James's-
hall, on the 28th of April last, met Lord Palmerston
last evening, by appointment, in the library of the
House of Commons. The deputation was introduced
(bricklayer),
icM o
f e Syt ar) ,
the Universitys fel d,
president, M.P.,
College,.P . ,a
ndwconsistedwith
h the
Mr. chairman
oOdf Professorgef
r(h
os
theoe .
Beesly,b
meeting ; Mr. G. Potter, the secretary ; Mr. Coulson
maker), the secretary of the London Trades Council,
and the following officers and members of the trades
societies :—Messrs. Graham, Hamlyn, Applegarth,
Merrifield, Harry, Smith, Eglinton, Cremer,
Garland, Tremlett, Dormer, Mildred, Evans, Lle-
wellyn, B argess, Peterbridge (carpenters' societies),
Facey, Vise, Vickers, Lambelle (painters), S tainsby
(tailor), Grey, Connolly, Cruse, Pearson, Gibbon
(mason), Butler, Jones (tinplate-workers), Miles
(cabman), Nash (wire-worker), Wigmore (brick-
layer), Fast (zinc-worker), Shave (plumber), Dod-
son, Murray, Bassett (boot and shoe makers), Os-
borne,(plasterers).
and
Professor
BEESLY explained to his lordship the
constitution
NoiE
of the
the society as one consisting entirely
of trades unionists, of which the deputation now
present were representatives. The trades unionists
might claim to speak in the name of the large body
of the labouring classes. It had been determined
that a deputation should seek an interview with his
lordship, because, working men not being repre-
sented in the House of Commons, t hey were obliged
on any matter which was particularly interesting
to them to address themselves directly to the Go-
vernment. Their desire was to see France and
England co-operating cordially in the cause of Po-
land. They were not jealous of the influence of France
in Europe. That feeling might be entertained, and
expressed in other quarters, but among working
men it did not exist. The resolutions agreed to at
the meeting would be read, and when he assured his
lordship that they were carried with the heartiest
unanimity and enthusiasm he would understand
what the temper of the meeting was.
sympathy with the
ne , to se-
cureon h Mr. G. POTTER then read the resolutions agreed
to at the meeting, three in number, denouncingupte Go
the
vconduct
en ottindependence
fht:iinterfereussi
insurrection,a
expressingb
oyt adn calling
force,
if cessary,
Poland. He considered
England had a right to speak plainly on this mat-
ter, inasmuch as she was a party to the Ti eaty of
Vienna, and assisted in placing a portion of Poland
in subjection to Russia under certain conditions,
one being that the constitution of Poland should be
preserved. His lordship must be aware tbat this
stipulation had been wilfully, grossly, and inso-
lently violated. The constitution of Poland
has been entirely abrogated by the Emperor Nicho-
las, and had never been restored. So far from Russia
upholding the nationality of Poland, she had used
her every effort to destroy it ; she had abolished
the Polish colours, closed the universities, introduced
the Russian language into all public acts, confis-
cated the property of the Polish nobility, and sent
thousands of her people into exile. The present
policy of Russia teemed to be the total annihilation
of Poland as a country, and to blot her out of the
map of Europe. The deputation now before his
lordship considered Russia had forfeited all claims
to Poland under the Treaty of Vienna, and believed
it to be the duty of her Majesty's Government to
use every means within their power to free Poland
from the brutalising grasp of Russia, and to restore
its ancient nationality. They were of opinion that if
diplomacy could not accomplish this object the Go-
vernment should not hesitate to take other means, and
he could assure his lordship, however strong the mea-
sures it might be necessary to adopt, the Govern-
ment would be warmly supported by the millions
of the industrious classes. (Hear.)
Mr. CONNOLLY, mason, said the deputation were
there to tell his lordship the feeling of the working
men of England on the Polish question. They con-
sidered it necessary for the peace of Europe that
Poland should be again a nation, and they thought
that the present afforded a favourable opportunity
for her Majesty's Government to insure that result.
The working classes were not insensible to the evils
of war, but they were prepared to encounter these
evils, to bear suffering and increased taxation, if by
so doing Poland would be made free. (Hear.)

Mr. dREM ER, joiner, wished his lordship distinctly
to understand what the deputation wished. They
desired the Government to take immediate action, to
tell Russia to relinquish her hold on Poland, and it
she would not do that, to compel her by force of
arms. (Cheers.) These were the sentiments of the
great bulk of the working men of this country.
Mr. MURRAY (bootmaker) said they were no ad-
mirers of his lordship's domestic policy ; he refused
workmen the right of representation ; but they ad-
mired his general foreign policy, and trusted he
would act on this question with his usual vigour.
Tne English Government not long since suspended
diplomatic relations with Noples on account of the
elrni en
means
sympathy
aar
him if
faaftanisiei
yiteiinemsg.;
barbarous conduct of that Government; and let
them now, if Russia persisted in her present diabo-
licalabo-
men of this coun-
try St. Petersburg, and send the Russian ambas-
sador home with a message to his master that an
conduct, withdraw the
followboE barren
1 . ige.
sary. His lordship had often
m ienitpiroenssteodthhiessima:e
EnglishPh
takeaadhi Ypr more
. afPoso
srrEflee Poland,
decided
loEcaarni nndnedde id army
Len ir
teGeshEas i means.
him now,
would
ui
no] dfe r ) thought the
tt
rh
ye_
odgc
desired
iii
erasendot
ftPoitOslueesess.ai
as TipneheedyPoland,workingtebry
thought that
ly be accomplished the determination of
ati.aud
to
ethouelEdnflish Governmentproceed to the extremity
of war if neceseaeb•

Mr. NILASB (pfastert;!) thought the question was,

Mr. Applegarth (joinnbenteteotrieep)hen,uadstvs Mr. Wigmore (brick-
layer),
Mr.Facey (painter),and Mr. Eg.inton (joiner),
reiterated the opinions of previous speakers. They
contended that if a war with Russia became neces-
sary to set Poland free, it would he one of the most
popular wars ever (Altered into by England, and the
Government might depend on the supp rt of the
country at large. (Cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON said—l have felt considerable
pleasure in listening to the members o the depu-
tation, who have spoken in such clear and unmis-
takeable terms, and which do much credit to their
intelligence and good feeling. I think it is always
useful that a person occupying the position I do in
her Majesty's Government should clearly under-
stand the opinions and feelings of that numerous
savvoa
teefnci
rrEtdo
bnui
nii.ta
ismai
toeil pnNnit
E,l),thort
ibimt
soaunsnentoant
was
gtife
oeaol
wnnasr class
gts
srthuaesaalosarvoasi representedm
I think the generous sympathy you have displayed
for Poland highly creditable; indeed, the sympathy
to
of
tbl
opowc nor!: l maen
netegphda, and
noi cbsditttai
neveraum bad
sp gssr
ioooa :f,
wrong as the Polish people. By the Treaty of Vienna
and the Emperor of Russia of that day gave a con-
yet tried. Russia never did, nor does she to this
day, fulfil the compact she entered into. (Hear,
hear.) I entirely share in the general feeling ex-
pressed towards Poland, but peace or war is a grave
question, requiring much deliberation, and one that
I would not enter upon without consulting my col-
leagues in the Government. Be assured, however,
gentlemen, that I will represent the opinions you
have so ably laid before me to my colleagues, and
that we shall do our best for the cause of Poland.
Mr. CREMER—We ure men of action, my lord,
and have come to the conclusion that the only way
to aid the Poles is to call on Russia to desist from
her present conduct, and, if she will not attend to
that call, thrash her into compliance. (Cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON (laughing) said—l cannot
pledge myself as to the course her Majesty's Govern-
ment will ultimately take on this question. You
must be aware, gentlemen, that the duty of a man
in office is to give his opinion on the past, to speak
of the present, but not to talk about the future. I
can only say that I will faithfully convey the
opinions of this important deputation, whom I have
bees very glad to have met, to my colleagues in the
Government, and that they will secure every con-
sideration.

The deputation then retired, thanking his lord-
ship for the courtesy with which they had been
received. The interview lasted nearly an hour.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—It can now hardly be doubted that an-
other great disaster has befallen the Federal arms.
The army which was led so confidently across the
Rappahannock in the last days of April had, accord-
ing to the last advice; been repulsed by the Con-
federates after three days of fighting; the division
of General Sedgwick had been cut to pieces and
forced to recross the river; and the main body,
under General Hooker himself, had fallen back, and
was " intrenching itself" in the presence of a power-
ul and victorious enemy. The course of events,
though known to us only from a hasty despatch, is
sufficiently clear to enable us to judge of the great-
ness of the Confederate success and the peril in which
the whole army of the Potomac stands. It has
already been told that the result of the desperate
fighting on Sunday, the 3d of May, was to cause the
main army of General Hooker to fall back about a
mile nearer the Rappahannock and to abandon its
head•quarters of Cnancellorsville. On the evening
of Sunday the head-quarters of General Hooker were
between that place and United States Ford, on the
Rappahannock. Toe fierce attack of General Jack-
son—if he it was who assailed the Federal right—
had totally disconcerted all the plans of Hooker. In-
stead of being able to march round to the rear of the
Confederates and cut off their communications, while
General Sedgwick attacked them in front, the main
Federal army was thrown back on the river, so that
it must either recommence the conflict by a direct
attack on its victorious enemy, or defend itself in
its dangerous position; or retreat across the river,
as the army of General Burnside did in December
last. But on the Sunday night the worst had not
come. The corps of General Sedgwick was still
opposed to the enemy lower down the river, and
had, as it was said, carried Fredericksburg heights
with brilliant success. Here, then, there was hope
of retrieving the fortunes of the campaigns. The
plans of the Federal commander bad miscarried,
and the Confederate army could not be takes
in the rear, but, if Sedgwick was able to keep
possession of Fredericksburg heights, he might
hold the Confederate Generals in cheek long
enough to allow the main Federal army to be rein-
forced and placed in a condition to make a new ad-
vance. Gen. Lee, however, and his brother com-
manders appear to have struck blow after blow with
a promptness fatal to the Federal hopes. When Gen.
Hooker first determined on his plan of operations
he no doubt:considered that the corps of Gen. Sedg-
wick crossing below Fredericksburg, near the spot
made memorable by the former battle, would en-
gage all the attention of the Confederate generals,
and allow him, with the main body of his army, to
make an unmolested march to the enemy's rear, It
is probable that with this view he gave Gen. Sedg-
wick a much larger force than the 15,000 mentioned
in the latest despatches as having been defeated on
Monday. But, whatever the numbers thus de-
tached from the main army, they did not succeed
in drawing off the Confederates, Gen, Lee seems
even to have allowed them to gain some advan-
tages at Fredericksburg while the main strength
of the Confederates was directed against General
Hooker in person. The Federal general had crossed
12 miles higher up, but only to find that the ene-
my had made a corresponding movement, and was
ready to assail him on the right wing, instead of
allowing his own left to bo turned. Hence the bat-
tles of Saturday and Sunday, which not all the in-
genious colouring of the Federal correspondents
can prevent us from regarding as defeats. By thus
divining the intentions of Hooker, and directing
their principal attack against him, the Confederate
leaders frustrated his whole plan of the campaign,
but as soon as Hooker was sufficiently repulsed the
Southern commander turned upon the corps of
Sedgwick, which, by Hooker's failure, was exposed
to his full force. Monday, the 4th of May,,
No fightingpa
quietly for the main Federal array-the
afternoon,
destroyed
took place, we are told, till late
in
ned a Division to
when Gen. Hooker having advane
ensued, lasting
action
twheas being
" feel" the enemy,general was left
ptl eh
Wtee
eleyor
ps Hooker'sf _ y
for half an hour, and e__
~ thiinut while the nom-
" nusily intrenching.
thus ~ feeling the enemy "
mander-in-chief was
his unfortunate 8 b
and making himself safe,
Confederates u ordi-
b the with
nate was being crushed
Y
what is described as a slaughter unparalleled in the
war. army
must have been disabled that it was obliged to bus
on which so much deended Sedgwick,
short but decisive. General Lon have received are
to have arrived with fresh II gstrcet is supposed
Large masses ofeonkderates a "Ps
from Suffolk.
aitafeewlf wmliittlhessinhotfforw.enscrrhhhi
to the east of Fredericksbu ,ppeared on the height s
to join the force which r,,, and thence moved up
General threatened Sedgwick. This
was fiercely attacked,
numbers, and forced to probably by superior
a shattered force, the retreat across the river with
bridges enemy's artillery raking the
over which
at Mink's Ford,about he
fled. The battle took place
hurg and the 1 midway between Fredericks-
burg
pointl where the Rapidan joins the
all fear of an attackt relieves the Confederates from
on their right, and allows them
to use all their strength against General Hooker,
who has now to face '
the whole Confederate army.
It is,
,indeed, difficult to imagine a more unfortu-
nate position. It would be a relief to the Federal
Government if in such a case it could pronounce its
army to be" safe." As for an advance through that
difficult country in the face of a powerful enemy
elated by victory, the idea must be abandoned.
After three days of unsuccessful fighting the utmost
Hooker can hope for is to be able to repel h
attacks on his position, and retire after a withtiiehbe
safety and credit across the river. But will e
able to accomplish this ? Every one who considers
one
awg
accountsb whilecr
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