The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-17 00:00:00

ASSIZE AND CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS.

Mr. M'MAHON moved a resolution "That it was ex-
pedient to make such alterations in the assize and circuit
arrangements as would secure a more speedy trial in the
country of country causes."

Mr. lIADFIELD seconded the motion, and urged that
the expense of the proposed changes was not to be put in
comparison with the benefit which they would confer upon
the country.

Mr. BAINES supported the resolution, and instanced
Yorkshire as the county which suffered the greatest incon-
venience and hardship under the present system.
Sir F. CROSSLEY was proceeding also to support the
motion, when
Vir lion, MEMBER moved that the house be counted,and
the b
e_eing only 34 members present,
"In hoxse stood adjourn,d at 10 minutes to 10 o'clock,

Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
c
45. hasing
Hig Hornimau's pure Tea ; very choice at 3s 4d. and
" h atatulard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the
strongest
town supply andit in moat
packs:llA. deliciew, imported. Agents in every

THE CONFEDERATE STATES.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)

GUINEY'S STATION, VIRGINIA, Muy 7.

Of all the strange sights which within these last
few days have met my eyes nothing stranger than
the small country station from which this letter is
dated has as yet fallen under my observation.
Situated on the Fredericksburg and Richmond rail-
road, 12 miles from the former town, Guiney's
depot has for many months been an important en-
trepot for commissary and ammunition and ord-
nance stores, and is the furthest point to which
during squally seasons in and about Fredericks-
burg, the trains from Richmond advance. Conceive
this spot as I see it this morning, with 12,000 or
14,000 men encamped about it, swimming in mud,
ghastly from the multitude of its sick and wounded
men, a Babel of confusion, voices, and tongues.
dere, too, are at least 6,000 Federal prisoners, look-
ing in their blue uniform like a crop of indigo risieg
from the low, swampy sail, and refusing until this
morning to be paroled, because they professed to
believe that Stoneman, or Sedgwick, or Hooker
would rescue them. " John Sedgwick is not a man
to be stopped." " You haven't done with Joe
Hooker yet." " Wait till something is heard from
Stoneman." Such are some of the phrases which
salute your ears as you wander among them, com-
puting whether the proportion of Irish and German
faces amounts to two-thirds or four-fifths, Turn to
the wooden storehouse adjoining the station and
marvel at the immense piles of captured muskets
which have already come in, and which would fill
Exeter-hall from floor to roof. These muskets have
been lost in the attempt to execute Exeter-hall's ab-
horred, but possibly well-intentioned behests ;
stronger hands and stouter hearts are wanted before
those behests shall prevail.
A few hundred yards from Gainey's lies a com-
fortable Virginian farmhouse belonging to a Mr.
Chandler. In it " Stonewall" Jackson is understood
to be lying wounded. With a beating heart I rode
up to ask after him, for rumour had stated that his
condition was not favourable. Dr. Maguire, his
staff surgeon, met me outside the house. He stated
that until two this morning nothing could be more
favourable than his patient's progress towards re-
covery, that he had ceased to entertain any fears
about the wounded right hand, and that it had been
his intention to convey the General to Richmond
to-day. But at two this morning the General woke
with an acute pain in his side, and, although Dr.
Maguire hoped that it might proceed from neuralgia,
he had the greatest apprehensions in regard to
pneumonia. The General was asleep while I wes
talking with the doctor. Shortly after he awoke,
and upon examination it was pronounced that the
symptoms were decidedly those of pneumonia.
The doctor proceeded to cup and leech him ; from
that moment I gave up all hope of his recovery.
General Jackson's physique was far from being
robust. It is an unerring indication of the fiery
earnestness with which he entered into this war that
from the time the first musket was fired he forgot his
feebleness, and exposed himself to hardships, pri-
vations, destitution of food, exposure by night and
day, such as I verily believe have never been sub-
mitted to by any General, whether modern or an •
cient, since first war desolated the earth. The
famous description of Hannibal recurs to the mind as
you think of him,—" Colon's ac frigoris patienha
par ; nullo labore aut corpus fatigari aut animus
vines poterat." There was in his endurance of
hardship, in his indifference about food or shelter,
in his unsparing and undemonstrative self-sacrifice
something that was positively sublime. All have
felt that in military genius, in strategical ability,
Jackson may have had many superiors ; but the
sight of him, and of him alone, stirred the blood
like a trumpet, and the words " Stonewall Jackson
is coming" carried confidence to his friends and
terror to his foes, such as of yore the word "Marl-
brook" inspired when whispered into the ear of
French children.

I retired a few hundred yards from the house ; the
train from Richmond came in, bringing with it his
wife and only child—a daughter born less than six
months ago. It was impossible to look at the house
where he lay, and to think of the meeting between
himself and his wife, from whom he had for two
years almost entirely torn himself away to render
service—and such service—to his country, without
a mist coming over the eyes and a choking sense of
suffocation rising in the throat. I turned to look at
the wounded—the unknown and unrecorded heroes
of this war, with love for whom, unsparingly as he
called upon them to exert themselves, Jackson's
whole heart was instinct. It was a sad and piteous
sight. In no previous battle has the suffering been so
great. The tangled, intricate, and difficult country
in which the battle was fought, the threatening de-
monstrations of the Federals at several points, made
it dangerous to ex pc se waggons and ambulances to
the possibility of capture, and almost all the wounded
who were able to walk had walked, some 12 and 14
and some between 20 and 25 miles, from the field of
battle to Guiney's Station. Amputations on the field,
instant attention t 3 wounds, now known to surgeons
as being vitally necessary, were in few cases possi-
ble. More than one case of limbs badly shattered and
untouched far four or five days, and in which mor-
tification had ensued and death was inevitable, came
under my notice. Many other cases were noticeable
in which, though life was likely to be spared,
health and vigour were manifestly gone for
ever. The want of prompt surgical assistance to
men wounded in battle involves not merely the
alternative of death or life, but of enjoyable, elastic,
vigorous, sparkling life, and the innumerable forms
of death in life, or living death. There was a com-
mittee of worthy and excellent citizens from Rich-
mond dispensing soup and medicines, but their
efforts were like a drop in the ocean.
I went down to Richmond by one of the trains
which conveyed the wounded. It was, indeed, tra-
velling through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Such sights and scenes—how many of them have I
now seen !—are not to be detailed to your readers.
They sink deep into the heart of him who:witnesses
them, as the wild screams of the delirious live and
are impressed upon the tympanum of his ear. My
thoughts were with Jackson ; the shadow of the
Coming event strode forth and cast a chill over the
heart. But it -was encouraging even in such a mo-
ment to note the energy of the Confederates, which
in one day had repaired the damage done by Stone-
man's cavalry to the Fredericksburg and Richmond
Railroad, and in two days had got the Virginia
Central Railroad again in working gear.
Let it now be understood, in answer to the cuckoo
cry always raised by the North of overwhelming
numbers concentrated by the rebels, that the late
series of battles was fought by General Lee without
the addition to his numbers of one man from Rich-
mond. When first General Hooker's menacing
attitude was assumed, General Longstreet was called
for by General Lee. But Longstreet replied that
he could not leave Suffolk without losing many of
his waggons, which were deep in the recesses of
North Carolina, and
'Would be seized by the enemy
if he retired from before Suffolk, and opened the
country to five unchecked ravages of the enemy.
General 1:40 immediately telegraphed to him not
to mew(' a certain loss for the sake of a pro
bleraatical gain, and seriously inclined to make
Vac best possible preparation for the reception of
Hooker. It is not necessary that I should state
how small General
Lee's army actually was. No
statement of mine, made when the echoes of the
cannon have scarcely died away, would command
credence in the North or in England, any more than
the unquestionable fact that General Lee fought the
battle of Sharpsburg with 35,000 against consider-
ably more than 100,000 men. But it will be be-
lieved when I state that not one man left Richmond
to assist General Lee, except some small bodies
which went to guard the large stores at Haaover
Junction and Gordonsville, and to prevent the de-
struction of the railroad bridge over the South
Anne River.

It is too early at present to enter into an examina-
tion of the strategical merits of General Lee's
operations. The impression of all who are best
qualified to judge is that hereafter they will be re-
garded by competent military critics as exhibiting
ability of the very highest order. Threatened at
many points by an immensely superior foe, he did
not scruple to divide his little army into three por-
tions, one of which he left under General Early to
guard the heights of Fredericksburg, one of which

he threw under Jackson upon his enemy's rear, and
with the third he opposed the great Federal host
in front. Higher audacity was, I believe, never
manifested by mortal General than when General
Lee, about 4 on Saturday afternoon, opened fire
along his whole line against his gigantic foe, in
order to distract his attention from Jackson, who
General Lee knew must then be approaching
Hooker's rear. Again, I am reluctant, by reason
of its incredible smallness, to disclose the number
of men by whom fire was opened that afternoon
upon the intrenched and multitudinous masses of
the Federals. History will do justice to the
sagacity which led General Lee to divine that his
enemy, having fallen back many miles to get
into his intrenchments, would be little likely to
leave those intrenchments and take the initiative.
But it will be difficult to do justice to the composure
with which General Lee sent back men to meet
Sedgwick, without for a m,:ment relaying his gripe
upon Hooker; with what astonishing prescience he
read and frustrated the design and purpose of his
foe. General Hooker has shown ability, daring,
and energy ; but in striving to outmanoeuvre Gen.
Lee it was the urchin boy conjuring with the wand
of Michael Scott.

RICHMOND, May 10.

Consummatum est. One of the purest, most
guileless, most unselfish spirits ever lent to earth has
been taken to his rest, and " Stonewall" Jackson is
no more. From the violent bleeding of Thursday
last he never rallied, and with circulation so re-
dueed that the pulse was hardly perceptible he in-
sisted, contrary to the entreaties of his doctors, in
having cloths dipped in iced water and laid upon
his chest. From the first he seems to have had a
strange presentiment of his approaching dissolution.
At a time when nothing but the most favourable
auguries were entertained as to his recovery, he ex-
claimed, with strange emphasis, " If I live it will be
for the best, and it I die it will be for the best ; God
knows, and directs all things always for the best."
There was about him a living consciousness that he
was an instrument sent by God for a special purpose,
and left on earth EO long as he was competent to
achieve that purpose. With the strong faith of a pre-
destinarian, he soared above all sensations of physical
fear, such as accompany ordinary mortals when artil-
lery is roaring and musketry flashing around them.
He was not a great strategist, a finessing tactician—
but he was the most downright sledgehammer of
war, triumphing over difficulties which stood in his
way with a facility unknown to any other General.
In only one quality of mind did his powers ascend
to the region of genius—in the most remarkable
geographical or topographical accuracy of percep-
tion which led him to march to his destination with
the unerring instinct of the Red Indian. He knew
the northern half of Virginia as. the -prisoner of
Chillon knew his dungeon.
He has gone at a moment when nothing can bp
added to his earthly fame. In not one of his flank
movements, his fiery onslaughts upon his enemy's
rear, was be ever baffled or thwarted or disconcerted
by any opposing general. But never was surprise so
complete as that of Saturday, May 2, never were the
consequences of any of his movements so momen-
tously eventful. It is his own belief that if he
had had one hour more daylight, a large portion of
Gen. Hooker's army would have laid down their
arms. These words will be probably received in the
North

witnesso
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whethe:
their wl
thrown
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oak thil

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ith a howl of derision. They only who

d the unmistakable evidences of Federal
isation will recognise and admit the reason-
,of Gen. Jackson's impression. Bat one
beyond a' peradventure. If he had not been
I at the trost critical moment of the battle,

[d undoubtedly have cut Gen. Hooker off
United States Ford, and it may be left to

6ders and to the whole world to surmise

L the Fedcrals would have been able to cut
Ity out through strong lines of intreuchment
around them, when they could not keep
Lemy out of still stronger lines of intrench-
i the perilous ridge and in the memorable
bket of Chancelloraville.

as gone, but will not his memory be a pillar
leading, kindling, vivifying, and inspiring
I, and from the tomb calling them to deeds
) than mortal valour ? In one great respect

his mission has been fulfilled. He has roused a
heart and kindled an enthusiasm in his countrymen
which will but be intensified by the thought that he
is one. While he lived it was not unusual to
hear disparagements of his ability, damaging com-
parisons between him and other Generals, asser-
tions that his successes in the Valley and elsewhere
were attributable to the advice and inspiration of
this General or that. But, now that he is gone,
the true instinct of his country's outspoken heart
proclaims that his loss is irreparable.
The battles of last week are unquestionably the
bloodiest of the war. After careful inquiries about
the COnfederate loss, I find that it amounts to, but
as is thought does not exceed, 10,000 killed,
wounded, and missing. The computation of the
Federal loss I feel little disposed to enter upon, as
it must necessarily be of the nature of an estimate.

But, judging from the immense amount of pri-
soners now being marched to Richmond, amounting
to between 8,000 and 9,000, and also from the dead
bodies at Chancellorsville and Salem Church, it is a
moderate figure to estimate the dead, wounded, and
missing of the Federals at 25.000. It is, I think,
impossible that the number of Confederate pri-
soners captured and sent across the river can reach
2,000. Rumour puts them at 1,500.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

The Orlando, screw frigate, 1,000 horse power,
Capt. G. G. Randolph, arrived at Spithead yester-
day morning from the Nore.

The Channel fleet at Portland is under orders on
Monday evening to proceed on a few days' cruise in
the Channel, and to exercise the crews in gunnery.
The iron-cased frigate Royal Oak, Capt. F. A.
Campbell, will sail from Spithead to join the fleet
on the conclusion of her trials.

The royal yachts Victoria and Albert, Fairy, and
Elfin, have each received a thorough renovation
and embellishment at Portsmouth, in readiness for
the service of her Majesty and the royal family
during the remainder of the summer.

The Cossack, 20 gun screw steam corvette, 1,296
tons, 250 horse power, Capt. W. R. Rolland, made
her official trial of speed at the measured mile off
Maplin Sands on Saturday last, under the superin-
tendence of Capt.W. K. Hall, C. 8., of her Majesty's
ship Cumberland, guardship of Steam Reserve at
Sheerness, prior to leaving for the Mediterranean,
Six runs at full speed, with full boiler power, were
made on the mile, which gave an average of 9055
knots per hour, the pressure of steam being 201 b. ;
vacuum, 25 ; revolutions of engines at full boiler
power, 80; at half power, 56. Two runs were made
at half boiler power, giving an average of 5.945
knots per hour. The circle was turned with helm
to port in 5 min. 29 sec., and with helm to starboard
in 6 min. 12 sec. The Cossack is fitted with Smith's
propeller; diameter, 12ft. lin. ; pitch, 16in., and the
immersion of screw was 2ft. 9in. At the time of the
trial the draught of water was 17ft. Tin. forward,
and 17ft. Bin. aft. The engines are from the
eminent firm of Maudslay, bon, and Field. On
Tuesday the Commander-in-Chief at Sheerness,
Vice-Admiral Sir W. J. Hope Johnstone, K.C.8.,
attended by his staff, inspected the Cossack, and
expressed his gratification at the condition of the
vessel. Immediately after the inspection she pro-
ceeded to Portsmouth, enroute to the Mediterranean.
The Vivid, tender to the flagship Fisgard, at
Woolwich, got up steam yesterday morning at an
early hour, and sailed from Woolwich at daybreak
for Ostend, to embark the Queen of Prussia for
England on a visit to her Majesty.
The hired steam transport Samson, having shipped
80 guns of various calibres and a mixed cargo of war
stores from Woolwich pier, yesterday went down to
the red buoy off the Arsenal to embark 100 tons of
powder. She will proceed to the following stations
on the West Coast of Africa :—Cape Coast Castle,
Anamaboe, Dix Cove, Accra, Whydah, Lagos, and
Badagry.

The following appointments were made at the Admiralty
yesterday :7 _

Edward M, Roe, assistant paymaster, to the Firefly, in
charge.

Alfred G. Roberts, clerk, to the Hibernia.
Joseph G. W. Hoare, assistant paymaster, to the Victoria
and Albert.

Robert F. W. Soady, assistant paymaster, to the Magi-
cionne.
Charles Walker, assistant clerk, to the Black Prince.
John E. Mills, to be retired Master, with rank of Captain.
C. F. H. Burt and James Parry, assistant engineers, to
the Indus, as supernumeraries.
Dixon S. B. Mackenzie. Harvey H. Glazbrook, and C. H.
Cockran, to be naval cadets.