The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 27, 1863.

" DINNA FORGET."-FRIDAY NEXT.-
ST. JAMES'S HALL.
Grand Attraction.—Sig. Giuglini, Miss R ank s, Mr. Lawler,
Mr. Fielding, a band of twenty harps, and the " National
Melodies Choir" 400 voices). —The best seats can be secured
at Mr. Austin's ticket office 28, Piccadilly, W.—Admission ls.
Sofa stalls (numbered) ss. each.

(`CANTERBURY HALL.—LAST WEEK of the'
kJ LANCASHIRE CHAMPION PRIZE HAND-BELL
RINGERS, at half-past Nine o'clock.
Immrnse success of the renowned Pantom!mic Entertain-
ment, THE ENCHANTED HASH, thirteen characters,
solely sustained by E. Marshall.
'[he Comic by Unsworth, Eugene, Arthur Lloyd, Frank
Hall, and Miss Georgina Smithson.
GRAND OPERATIC SELECTIONS, as usual, conducted
by Mr. Jonghmans,

H E O X F OR 1),
6, OXFORD STREET.
TilE LANCASHIRE CHAMPION PRIZE HAND-
BELL RINGERS,
Twelve Performers on Sixty-six Bells.
Conductor, Mr. E. BENSON.
Drew Dean's Flute Silos. lees, four-part Songs, Choruses,
&c., and other musicil attracti me, including a Grand Selec-
tion from GLUCK'S opera " ALCESTE," now produced for
the first time in this country, and supported by the entire
company, full band and chorus. Conductor, Mr. F. Jongh-
mans.
Miss Caroline Parkes' Pantomimic Sketch, "Little Red
Riding Hood."
George Hodson's Irish, Miscellaneous, and Ventriloquial
Entertainment.
Unsworth's great Stump Speech, "Or any other man."
Eugene's burlesque Scenas and Dances.
W. Randall's. New Comicalities, &c., every evening.
The provincial Engagements of the Bell-Ringers compell-
ing them to leave London, their Last Appearance, on
SATURDAY, 31st instant, is reluctantly announced.

?THE LONDON PAVILION.-
x Messrs. LOIBL and SONNHAMMYR beg respectfully
to azinottice that their ANNUAL BENEFIT will take place
on THURSDAY EVENING next, the 29th inst. They
acknowledge with thanks the very liberal support hitherto
awarded them, and trust their future endeavours to please
and entertain will prove sufficiently meritorious to meet with
a response eq gratifying. On the occasion of their
Benefit a special programme will be arranged representing
such a galaxy of talent as was never presented to the public.

ARGYLL ROOMS, Windmill-street, Piccadilly.
Open nightly for Promenade. There is added to the
above elegant Establishment a Grand Conversation Saloon
Reading Room, and Smoking Lounge. French, German, and
English papers taken in. The musical arrangements under
the direction of Mons. Boulcourt. . .

The Band is composed of the best Musicians in the metro-
polis. Admission is.—Manager, M. Grenet.

ARGYLL ROOMS.-JULLIEN'S PROME-
NADE CONCERTS will take place at the above
Rooms on TUESDAY, Jan. 27th. On this occasion the Pro-
gramme will include Selections and Arrangements from the
Works of the following Masters :

Mozart—Rossi ni—Meyerbeer—Donizetti.
The Dance Music from the repertoire of the late M. Jullien.
Admission, Is.
Manager, M. GRENET.

JIILLIEN'S PROMENADE CONCERTS.

;/TONS. JULLIEN has the honour to announce
l_V_L that his FIRST PROMENADE CONCERT in Lon-
don will take place at the
ARGYLL ROOMS, on TUESDAY, January 27.
On ti is occasion the Programme will include selections and
arrangements from the works of the following masters
MOZART, ROSSINI, I MEYERBEER, I DONIZETTI.
A Grand Quadrille from Howard Glover's Opera, " Once
too Often," and the ballet music will be chiefly selected from
the repertoire of the late M. Jullien.
Programmes and full particulars will be duly advertised.
Admission—One Shilling.
Manager, M. GRENET.

THE LONDON ANATOMICAL MUSEUM ;
containing the Wonders of Nature and Art, shown by
innumerable superbly executed Models, illustrating every
part of the Human Frame, together with a variety of highly
interesting Natural Preparations, Malformations, and Mon-
strosities. Open daily, from 11 to 10 (for Gentlem n only).
Admission One Shilling. Entrances 29, George-street, Han-
over-square, and 91A, Maddox-street, Regent-street, Lon-
don, W.
Explanatory Lecture every Evening at Seven. Illus-
trated and Descriptive Catalogues sent, post free, for twelve
stamps. Address the Secretary, as above.

SAWYER'S FAMOUS LONDON DINNER
FOR THIS DAY,
At 2s. 6cl. each Person.
SOUPS.
Hare. Vermicelli.

FISH.
Cod and Oyster Sauce. N'ried Fillets of Brill.
ENTREES.

Turkey a la Reine. Minced Beef, Polonaise.
JOINTS.
Saddles of Mutton. Sirloins of Beef.
SWEETS.
Black Cap ruddings. Orange Jelly.
Cheese and Salad.
THE LONDON, 19', FLEET-STREET.

France and the Southern States.

The Washington correspondent of the /Veto York
Tribune, writing on January 3, says :
For some time past the members of the diplomatic
corps have been occupying their leisure hours by
indulging in all sorts of comments upon an impor-
tant interview which is said to have recently taken
place between Louis Napoleon and Mr. Slidell. Al-
though I have been acquainted with the details of
these accounts, the want of positive evidence that
such a conversation as I have heard related had oc-
curred caused me to hesitate before transmitting it
to you. I bad, in fact, no ground for believing it,
except conversations. between members of a profes-
sion which has • never had the reputation of being
a school of truth. However, as some details of
that interview are plausible enough to be true,
and as certain opinions said to have been then ad-
vanced by the Emperor of the French coincide
with statements I have seen elsewhere; and since,
moreover, this interview is spoken of and the lan-
guage approved by several members of the Foreign
Legation, whose conversation on that subject may
very well indicate the tendency of the foreign
policy of France, I communicate to you a full re-
port of what I have myself heard related. Accord-
ing to the account which comes to me, Louis Napo-
leon had no sooner reached his chateau at Com-
-peigne, coming from Biarritz, where he had spent a
portion of the summer season, than Mr. Slidell,
who previously to this had several interviews with
his Majesty, solicited another andienee, which was
immediately granted. The Emperor received him
with greater earnestness of manner than he had
ever shown before, and after the exchange of 'civi-
lities usual on such occasions, he abruptlyaddressed
him the following question:—

"Do you think, sir, that if I should propose to
your Government the means of adjusting its diffi-
culties with the North, without injury to its rights,
dignity, or honour, this proposition would be con-
sidered to impose any obligation on your Govern-
ment to use its influence in concilietting the alien-
ated sections of the Union, so as to make its
reconstruction possible P"

Mr. Slidell, startled by this inquiry, remained for
a moment silent, looking at the Emperor with an
expression in which both surprise and embarrass-
ment were visible._ Recovering from his astonish-
ment, he replied that he had received no instruc-
tions from his Government on that subject, and that
consequently he could give no satisfactory answer to
his Majesty. Ho was assured, however, that any
proposition coming from him would not fail to be
received by the Confederate Government with the
greatest respect and weighed with the utmost care.
"Assure your Government," continued the Em-
peror, " that my firm belief is that the time has ar-
rived whea an attempt at reconciliation must be
made, unless by a fatality which I should sincerely
deplore, the two disaffected and hostile sections of
your country, giving up the hope of ever living to-
gether again under the same Government, should
finally determine never to unite under the same
Constitution. I should be sorry, however, to learn
that they have come to such a conclusion, especially
on account of the South, which, notwithstanding
the wonderful energy, skill, and gallantry it has
displayed in this struggle, must ultimately yield to
the superior power of the North, and sooner er later
experience the fate reserved to the weakest. If,
instead of exposing itself to this probable chance,
and to the sufferings and miseries of a protracted
war, some means could be devised by which the
Southern Confederacy should be brought back into
the Union, reserving to itself all its rights, as well
as those which are inherent in its own insti-
tutions, as those explicitly and impliedly contained
in the Constitution, how much more desirable would
such an agreement be than persistence in the dan-
gerous and difficult cffort to establish its indepen-
dence."

"I will not dispute your Majesty's views on that I
subject," replied Mr. Slidell; " I will simply re-
mark that this would require the consent of both
parties, and that this consent, considering the state
of public opinion, North and South, seems to me
very difficult to be obtained."
" Great empires cannot exist without mutual con-
cessions and sacrifices," rejoined the Emperor. "The
North, I understand, is ready to make them—to in-
demnify you for all your losses, present and future,
and to take you back again as soon as you express
that desire. Think of it, Sir ! The preservation
of the largest and most powerful empire which
ever excited the surprise and admiration of the
world depends, perhaps, upon the readiness of
your Government to reply to these advances and
upon the support it will lend to Vie project of re-
conciliation which I have decided to propose."
" The North will never receive us back with sla•
very ; and, as for ourselves, we will never consent
to take the North back again While its policy is
abolition," replied Mr. Slidell.
ci But suppose the North buys up your slaves,
will not, in that case, abolition starve and die out P
Where will, then, be the pretext for separation, for
tirrepressiblethee
uconflicts
P persists
ns
tee
indoenee
of. life,
doenp
et
nh
de
eon()
elle-,
and, deaf to all entreaties and considerations, re-
solves to uphold the institution of slavery, and to
make it the basis of its social and political fabric, I
cannot help thinking that its obstinacy will put
obstacles in the way of its recognition by European
Powers, and materially obstruct the probability of
its national existence."
"Your Majesty," replied Mr. Slidell, "has already,
in previous conversations, alluded to the subject of
slavery, and has even told me how repugnant it is
to the feelings of France to be compelled to receive
into the councils of nations the representative of a
iecatoftuwilDnaiitiry hi:moewinhpidegorhstesotittbhalyazteofoui was looked upon as
snstitution
ro
mthavebee
Confederate also
steps
towardsdemandedG theo Government
l
extinction of slavery, and I have replied to your
Majesty by showing the Montgomery Constitution,
and by explaining to you how, in virtue of their
sovereign rights, our local Legislatures alone were
empowered to act in the matter. I can do nothing
else now than to confirm to you my previous state-
ments, and to repeat that a reform in the position of
the black race in the Confederacy is a question of
locality, of time, and manners and habits of politi-
cal economy, of education and instruction. As I
had the honour to tell yon before I do not believe
slavery capable to resist the strong, civilised cur-
rent of immigration, the introduction of a perfect
system of political economy, the progress, in an un-
developed country, towards a higher moral and in-
tellectual culture. Besides, the commotions of civil
aweadr
eheleveee
da wbakieie n et
ed tbhee na e gmreo e
bf r ot
erne
rhe i s le thar g y,
dangerous
enemy to his masters when he meets them than he
I was before."

" This," continued Mr. Slidell, taking a letter
from his pocket, "is asserted to me by a gentleman
of high standing in Louisiana. I am informed in
this letter that since the arrival of the Unionists in
that State the spirit of independence and the love
of freedom have mAde such progress among the blacks
that they have become unmanageable. In New
Orleans especially, where their contact with the
French have imparted to them a portion of that
spirit which produced the San Domingo revolution,
and where an experience of compensated labour has
it-It'll:lone:NI the temper of the slaves used, s hugely
your Majesty knows, to hire themselves from their
masters,
a compulsory
i return to slavery and the
maintenance of that institution in that locality
would be attended with the most mischievous con-
sequences. Those considerations cannot fail to ex-
cite the attention of those directly concerned in the
matter, and to awakethe solicitude of the Confede-
rate Government, which, although having no power
in the premises, will nevertheless exert its influence
in the manner best calculated to promote the gene-
ral interests of the nation."
" Do you mean to say these States would free

their slaves if they were left to themselves ?" asked
Louis Napoleon.
" They would, if they were sure the independ-
ence they covet will be secured to them. There are
certain States, such as Louisiana, Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee, and perhaps Mississippi, in
which slavery has become either dangerous to the
whites, or useless, or profitless. Now that the
tremendous commotion produced by this civil war
has scattered the seeds of freedom every-
where in the New World, and awakened
in the hearts of the black instincts heretofore
unknown, it is impossible for me to point to a
single locality in which the attempt at perpetual
maintenance of slavery has not become a peril of
every hour to the white race. This is so true, that
my friend from Louisiana writes me that the first
act.of the Legislature of that State, after it shall be
restored to the Government to which it properly
belongs, will be to pass a bill for the gradual eman-
cipation of the slaves.
" This is undoubtedly a very satisfactory pro-
spect," replied the Emperor; " but allow me to say
that I doubt whether the plan will be as efficient, as
prompt, and advantageous to the bouth as the pro-
posal made by the North to pay for all your slaves.
This project, I know, offers serious difficulties ; but
what method of solution does not P I know also
that a reconciliation between the North and the
South and a reconstruction of the Union upon its
former basis have serious and apparently insur-
mountable obstacles to encounter. I believe, how-
ever, that the duty of my Government is to attempt,
by all possible means, to favour an amicable set-
tlement of your difficulties, and to bring you back
to the same flag under which you. were two years
ago so happy and glorious a people. It shall not be
said that France, which had a hand in the founda-
tion of your Republic, will do nothing to preserve
it, and to save it from anarchy. Be pleased to ac-
quaint your Government with my intentions; in-
form it that my object is to conciliate the South and
the North by means of a proposition in which moral
influences alone will be set at work."

Mr. Slidell promised the Emperor to follow punc-
tually his instructions. The subject being exhausted
he withdrew, and wrote immediately to his Go-
vernment an account of this remarkable interview.

Such is an exact account of the story now told
and commented upon in nearly all diplomatic circles
in Washington.

THE BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO.

(From the Liverpool Albion.)

The following incidents occurred during the san-
guinary battle of Murfreesboro :—Behind the woods
concealing our foremost lines, and to tha left of
those which lie on the left of the turnpike, an open
and slightly elevated ground extended to the river.
This formed the key to our entire position, and it
was here that the greater portion of the waggons
were parked for safety. On the left some corn fields
extended to the river, and on the other side of the
stream rose a low, wooded hill. The ground upon
the right was a succession of dense cedar thickets,
open spaces where the rocks came to the surface and
nothing could grow, belts of tolerable timber, and
small, irregular-shaped fields. The pike and rail-
road ran near each other. In the elevated open
space which formed the key to our position, from a
point where our line of battle crossed both, a dis-
tance-post on the railroad indicates that it is just
twenty-nine miles to Nashville. A number of
houses were situated in different parts of the field,
but none of them, except the brick building of which
the inside was burned out the day before, played
any important part. The sun had not yet risen on
Wednesday morning when the firing commenced
upon the right. The first Missouri battery, Capt.
Esscock, and the Ist Illinois, Capt. Houghtain,
shelled the rebels out of a point of woods in front of
Sheridan's division, which now slightly advanced.
The enemy threw himself upon Sheridan with terri-
ble energy, but was thrice repulsed. Again he ad-
vanced with larger numbers and greater despera-
ti m than before, and Sheridan's men were compelled
for a moment to give ground. It was only a mo-
ment, however. The brave and noble Sill, assisted
by other daring officers, soon rallied the retiring
troops. The flashing banner of the stars once more
advanced, and although Sill purchased the victory
with his life, the rebels were repulsed and driven
from this quarter of the field. It was a few minutes
after eight when this occurred, and at the same
time the sun broke forth through some cold-
looking clouds, and flashed a clear bright light over
the field. There had not elapsed even time to re-
move the body of the dead General Sill, when all
attention was directed to the extreme right.
Three divisions of the enemy, M'Cown's, Clai-
borne's, and Cheatham's, had advanced in massive
columns and charged impetuously upon Johnson
and Davis. A portion of the infantry in Johnson's
division immediately broke, almost, indeed, before
they had taken their arms from the stack, and one
of the batteries,Edgarton's, before it fired the third
round, Poor Edgerton ! It was not his fault. A
truer, better, braver, young man is seldom found
than he. It was his greatest ambition to take part
in a battle; and I remember well how often and how
earnestly he deplored that separation from the old
Third Division which prevented him from taking
part in the battle of Perrysville. His hour came at
last. It found him ready ; but those on whom he
had a right to rely to give him timely notice of the
enemy's arrival failed to do so, and ere his guns
could be loaded and discharged three times the rebel
bayonets had swept away his men, and he himself
fell wounded and bleeding into the hands of the
foe. The gallant and earnest Captain Simonson
fought like a hero as he is, and brought off all but
two of his guns. Captain Goodspeed strenuously
endeavoured, after firing several rounds, to save his
cannon, but could only succeed in getting away
with two of them. General Kirk, of Illinois, com-
manding one of the brigades in Johnson's division,
was severely wounded while endeavouring to rally
his regiments. The enemy succeeded in getting the
right flank completely hemmed in. A large num-
ber of offcers of every grade were shot down while
standing almost at the muzzles of the rebel muskets.
The brigades and regiments rushed upon one another
in disgraceful disorder, and the rout of the division
became irretrievable. I suppose I shall raise a
storm about my head for saying so, but I can't, from
all that I have heard, come to any other conclusion
than that the right wing of our army was com-
pletely surprised, and that, too, under circumstances
which should have rendered it particularly careful
and v:gilant. Whether General M'Cook or General
Johnson is to blame for this, impartial investigation
will hereafter determine. At present the sentiment
of the entire army is extremely hostile to both, and
I imagine it will not be many days before there
are important changes in the leadership of the
14th Army Corps. Brigade after brigade, bat-
tery after battery, from Palmer's, Negley's,
and Rosencranz's divisions were sent into
the midst of the thickets to check the pro-
gress of the foe and rally the fugitives, but all in
turn were either crushed by the flying crowds,
broken by the impetuosity of the foe, and pat to
cmfused flight, or compelled to retire and extricate
themselves in the best manner that seemed to offer.
The history of the combat in these dark cedar
thickets thickets will never be known. No man could
one will
ever the whole of his regiment,
and
that foughtbravest,
ever bn able to tell who they w
bravest, and they who proved reercearnet to their trust.
I know there was some cowardice displayed, but I
know, too, that there was
and regiments as lofty as
d the followers of God-
frey heroismsllwn °by many officers
as that which dis-
tinguished and immortalised
trey- or the Cid; but, in spite of heroism and devo-
tion, -spite of desperate struggles which marked
every fresh advance of the foe, in spite of awful
sacrifice of life on the part of the officers and soldiers
of the Union army, the rebels still steadily pushed
forward and came nearer to the turnpike. Nearly