The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-23 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This raorning
This day at Two o'clock

Barometer-29.86.
Wind—N.E. ; light breeze, and fine.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tata DAY.—Morning, sh. 25m.—Afternoon, sh. 45m.
To-moartow.-Morning, 6h. Om.—Afternoon; 6h. 24m.

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LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1863.

The successive defeats sustained by the Federal
army at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville have
terminated, we now learn, in that army's disastrous
and ignominious flight across the Rappahannock.
General HOOKER has fared no better than his pre-
decessors. The last of the commanders-in-chief of
the forces of the Northern, or as it is still called,
with an excess of courtesy, of the United States Go-
varnment, has turned out to be not one jot less of a
failure than the President himself. After embark-
ing upon an enterprise of nine days' duration—and
a mere Nine Days' Wonder it has certainly proved
to be after all—General HOOKER has returned
to his old place of encampment, situated
a little to the north of Falmouth. He
has returned thither, we learn, but in
Sorry plight enough after those nine days
of bitter anxiety—four of them of fierce and
sanguinary battling with a foe as resolute in de-
tt rrninetion and as irresistible in valour as hitherto
found to be (as compared with themselves, the
Federals) matchless in generalship. The discomfi-
ture endured upon this most memarable occasion
appears to have proved, from first to last, so com-
plete and absolute that there is no talk
now, it will be observed, about the retro-
grade movement having been resolved upon
by the Commander-in Chief of the Federals—
that is of the defeated force—having been
resolved upon, for—" strategic purposes." All that
we do read in these last telegrams, in then ay of
extenuation, or rather, as we may say, with a view
to making the best of it, is that " Washington
RlEspatehes attribute General HOOKER'S retreat
wonderful sagacity certainly on the part of these
Washington despatches, so to attribute it l] to—
prudential motives !" It is in the highest degree
probable. Prudential motives, bqond a doubt of
it, did induce the Federal Commander-in-Chief—
after the fearful chastisement he had received
on Sunday, the 3d, and more particularly after
the all but destruction of General SEDG-
WICK'S division on Monday, the 4th instant—
to recross the Rappahannock during the night of
Tuesday, the sth, from Fredericksburg to Falmouth.
By Wednesday, the 6th of May, after an absence of
just those nine miserable days of strife and defeat
already particularised, General HOOKER had settled
down again, in the place from which he had gone
forth, with so grand and sonorous a flourish of
trumpets, to conquer those who have again, and not
by any means exceptionally, proved one too many
for the North. The result of this last Federal expe-
dition, like so many other expeditions that have
gone forth in the same direction to conquer, but
have returned, like this one, unmistakably defeated,
and fairly put to flight by the victorious Con-
federates—the result of this last grand raid, adven-
tured upon by the bran-new Commander-in-Chief of
the Army of the Potomac, has assuredly approved
itself to be a positive and unmitigated anti-climax.
Insomuch is this recognised to be the case, that
already the North is becoming clamorous for
the displacement of General HOOKER
fromlk the
command—for his immediate
removal
s.
o
many who have gone before him) from that
posi-
tion of immense responsibility. The infatuated
Democrats still crying loudly for the restoration of
M'CLELLAN to the supreme command over the army
of the North The Republicans—solicitous, as it
would seem, to try the vague chance of yet another
experiment, in preference to the far greater hazard
of reverting to a former failure—demanding the
nomination of FREMONT rather than the renomina-
tion of M'CLELLAN as Commander-in Chief
While rumours flitted about at 'Washington, when
these last advices left, to the effect that
neither M'CLELLAN nor FREMONT should step into
the post about to be vacated by HOOKER, but that
the Federal army, after all these defects and cala-
miies, should be confided to the guidance of a
wholly different Commander-in-Chief--to wit,
General 'REIS TZ EVIAN. The rapid sequence of
Commanders-in-Chief at the head of the
Northern army, since this terrible war com-
menced in North America, is only ceropar-
able, as it seems to us, to the equally
rapid and melancholy succession of Austrian Mar-
shsls who, in the famous campaign of 1849 in Hun-
gary, confronted, one after another, ta3 Insurgent

* Colton's Map of the Seat of War in Virginia. Pub
lished by J. H. Colton, New York.
Battle Fields of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
Published by Bacon and Co., 48, Paternoster-row.

The news from Prussia contains intelligence that
the Chamber of Deputies is determined to maintain
its rights.;The address:was:completed and:modified,
and allusion was made to the Royal Message the
day before. The Chamber declines to give the de-
claration required by the Ministers, it declares
them responsible for the frustration of the ob-
jects of the session, and it requests the KING
to put an end to the continuance of a situa-
tion which threatns serious dangers for the monarchy
and the State. The address was approved by 239
votes to 61:votes. This is decisive, at all events, and
it is most earnestly to be trusted that that large ma-
jority may teach the KING and his misguided Mini-
sters the importance of conceding in time and not
irritating and aggravating the Deputies. After all
the affair is not so momentous as they would make
it out to be, and there can be but little hardship in
the Minister of Prussia confining his remarks with-
in the boundaries of good taste, and good breeding.
Nor can there be any great indignity in bearing
others express themselves concerning his actions in
strict accordance with the rules of the assembly.
The fact is, that it is a very convenient excuse
for doing nothing this session, and it al-
most seems as if it were malice prepense
to have made this decided stand against a consti-
tutional right, and to insist on the prejudices of
everyone being given up to mere arbitrary de-
crees.
Those who are so headstrong will seldom
listen to reason, but if the KING and his Ministers
were only rightly instructed as to the effect of this,
their conduct in the eyes of Europe, it might per-
haps startle them with a salutary warning. They
are deteriorating daily from their former reputation,
they are injuring the interests of their country,
they are rendering its representative institutions a
byeword and a reproach in the sight of nations,
and all for what ? To cause a country that had
made great progress in its position, to retrograde,
in order to carry out the wishes of a SOVEREIGN
who aims at becoming one of the despots of Europe.
One who has selected Ministers who are only too
willing to carry out his mischievous policy, reck-
less of the consequences and indifferent to the ignc-
miny that attaches itself to such proceedings.
One thing is satisfactory, however, the Chamber
of Deputies seem resolved to maintain their ground,
and that is at all events most gratifying. A
country is never lost either politically or socially,
unless degenerate sons by their apathy or indiffe-
rence allow the tyrant's decrees to be csrried out,
and the fatal course of obstruction to be entered
upon.

The official report which has been presented to
the Poor-Law Board gives us some interesting par-
ticulars respecting the condition of the Lancashire
operatives. Messrs. FARNALL and ROBINSON visited
together the five boroughs of Ashton-under-Lyne,
W.ackbarn, Oldham, Rochdale, and Stockport.
The statistics which the former gentleman has fur-
nished show very strikingly the grievous distress
still existing in the North, in spite of the improved
condition of things. The rates are very high, in
Blackburn, the sum total charged for all rates being
9s. 11d. The numbers out of work are mournfully
large, upwards of 7,000 hands in Ashton-under-
Lyne, of 8,000 in Rochdale, and the same number
in Stockport, being entirely out of work, while in
Blackburn the list of idle hands includes 12,698.
Such a state of things is in every way lamentable,
and must not be suffered to contiuue. A large pro-
portion of the unemployed operatives are able men,
who3e wages were they in full work would relieve
their families. It is calculated that if regular and
profitable work were found for 10,000 men, 40,000
persons would immediately be taken off the parish.
In the five boroughs above referred to, it is esti-
mated that there are no less than 10,500 able men
unemployed, many of them being carpenters,
masons, carters, and others dependent on the cotton
trade, as well as the mill hands. Of course this
variety of trades would greatly simplify matters, as
the men accustomed to such work would more
readily turn their hands to out-door labour.
The difficulties in the way of the proposed scheme
seem to be of a local nature. Mr. RAWLINSON,
in the conclusion of his interesting report, says
that so far as his inquiries have as yet gone in Lan-
oashire and Cheshire, he has found work requiring
to be done, ablebodied men out of work, and the
local authorities willing workers among the dis-
tressed operatives. There are of course objectors,
who argue that a time of distress is not favourable
to large expenditure on works not directly produc-
tive, that the cotton operatives will not be able to
execute the proposed work with advantage, and
that much of the money raised would have to be ex-
pended on the materials, and on the remuneration
required by the skilled labourers, who must neces-
sarily be engaged. To all these objections Mr.
RAWLINSON brings prompt and conclusive replies.
Ile says very justly that the ablebodied men now
out of work must be maintained by the authorities
either by means of the poor rates or
_by
andthem
cownistchienretaliollunseimaatinvecan labour.hesi
ate between the
Supplying
No farsighted
two. " The present system,".says Mr. RAWLINSON,
" if persevered in another year, will ruin the men.
Relief to able-bodied men is ever demoralising.
He declares that from his own knowledge the best
of the cotton operatives both can and will do a fair
's work for a fair day's wage. But who can
say what habits of idleness, thriftlessness, and
vagrancy, what loss of self-respect and independence
will be the fruit of long continuance of the present

state of things. Allowing the money required were
far greater in amount, surely it would be a poor
saving on the part of the authorities to foster such
habits which will certainly avenge themselves in
days to come. Bat Mr. RAWLINSON, who is evi-
dently well qualified to judge, speaks confidently of
the fitness of the men for their new employment.
Within one month after setting fairly to work, he
expects that the best of the cotton operatives will
have become " skilled labourers" in another trade,
in excavating, in trenching, or in the formation of
streets and roads. There is one thing in favour of
his sanguine prognostications—the men are mostly
intelligent and willing to turn their intelligence to
good account. We all remember the surprising
quickness with which our educated classes acquired
the necessary drill of the Volunteers, anti we do
not doubt that something of the same kind would
be seen among the better class of operatives. The
cotton labourers should not, thinks Mr. RAWLIN-
SON, be massed together. They should work in
sub-divisions under the superintendence of tho-
roughly practical men. The wages should be paid
in money, at short intervals,a suggestion which will,
we trust, be strictly adhered to, as any deviation
from it is likely to provoke discontent. Any loss
in the work at first will be more than compensated
for, in the opinion of this competent authority, by
the saving in the poor-rate. A prejudice seems
to exist against the Local Government Act, a
prejudice which is but gradually being dis-
pelled. An impression was common that the
proposed works were to be conducted by
the Government, hut Mr. RAWLINSON has
clearly explained to them that all works under-
taken must be devised, superintended, executed, and
paid for by the local authorities. This explanation
ought to be gratifying to the independence of the
municipalities, and is no doubt by far the best
course to adopt. The only assistance given by Go-
vernment will be the advance of the necessary funds
at a low rate. We shall look with interest to the
next report of these gentlemen, a report which they
promise to forward very speedily.

A very interesting letter has been forwarded by
Lord ALFRED CHURCHILL from the African Aid
Society. It shows the origin and progress of the
quarrel between the British authorities on the
Gold Coast and the King of Ashantee. It appears
that in November one of the captains of the King
was ordered up to Comasie, having been supposed
to have stolen the King's quota of gold. Being
fearful of the results he escaped to the coast, and
asked protection from the English Government.
Upon this the King sent to demand that they should
give him up. A grand council was held, at which
the charges did not appear substantiated against
the runaway chief, who declared that he would
rather have his head cut off, there and then, than
be sent to Comasie. Finally, the conclusion was
come to that the chief should not be given up un-
less the King sent witnesses to substantiate the
charges which ware brought against him. The
King, however, demanded unconditional surrender;
if not, he threatened the Governor with the con-
sequences. At this time a curious circumstance
was noticed. Those Ashantees who came down as
traders bought almost wholly the munitions of war,
such as guns, powder, and lead, but the chiefs in
the interim naturally grew alarmed at this and
seized the articles as the men passed their
territory. Of course this infuriated the KING, who
made preparations for an invasion. He also in-
timated to the Governor that he had broken the
treaty, and that he would send down a captain
to show him about it. The Governor promised
that when this took place he would yield up the
chieftain. This appears to have been a very safe
promise, since he did not come. Soon after this,
reports reached the coast that a large army of
Ashantees was crossing the River Prah. The in-
formation given by an Ashantee prisoner that is
said to be authentic is sufficient proof of the vin-
dictiveness of the whole affair. After taking most
solemn oaths, he spoke as follows.:—" The KING,
on hearing that the Governor refused to deliver up
the men, turned out all the available force, num-
bering about 60,000 men, Of these 20,000 were to
form a corps of observation on the eastern district,
by descending on Akim, and thus preventing the
Accras, Aquamhus, and Akims from joining the
Fantees, and the remaining 40,000 were to descend
upon the Fantees through Assin, sweeping every-
thing before them, until they arrive at Cape Coast
and Anamaboe, both of which places they intend to
sack ; the victorious were then to march against the
Accras. So that perhaps before you receive this
account we might all have been massacred by
theso brutal Ashantees ; but we are determined to
give them a most hearty reception." It seems almost
incredible that a man should conduct himself in
such a manner as this, and doom thousands to de-
struction because his fancy for revenge is not grati-
fied, because his tyrannous sway is not upheld to the
remotest verge that he may desire. The conduct of
the Governor at Cape Coast is most praiseworthy,
and he has rightly vindicated the character of his
country. Lord CARLISLE, when he was Governor
of Canada, gained deserved credit for his resistance
in yielding to the demands that were made to him
to give up a poor refugee black who had gained,
as he thought, a haven of refuge. After some die-
pute had arisen on the subject, Lord CARLISLE ex-
claimed, " I would rather lose Canada than give up
a single slave." This is a worthy interpretation of
the rights and duties of those who represent Eng-
land in her distant colonies. The only really satis-
factory occurrence that has taken place in the
American war, as regards the conduct of our Go-
vernment, was their insisting on the restoration of
those men who had been taken out of a ship that
bore the British flag. It is to be hoped that this
much loss ao
fffaliirfe,wi and lletehenat bt
he e t ei rr ma
irascible
ba tl
ee dk wn
gi t hmoanyt
learn a lesson of wisdom and moderation.

THE Loss OF THE ANGLO-SAXON,—The Board
of Trade has directed an inquiry to be instituted at Liver-
pool into the circumstances attending the melancholy
wreck of the Anglo-Saxon steamer, near Cape Race.
DARING BURGLARY AT BRlGHTON.—Yesterday
morning Henry Thompson, a pedestrian, Henry
Tapner, and George White, also known in pedestrian
circles, were brought before the borough magistrates at
Brighton, charged with committing a burglary at 8,
Powis-square, the residence of Miss Sandhurst, which was
broken into the night previous, and a large number of ar-
ticles stolen, including a quantity of silver. The burglars,
it seems, took the trouble to apply aquafortis to various
articles they selected from the cupboard, leaving all the
Plated goods behind, but taking all the silver. They also
found their way to the wine cellar, and partook of three
bottles of wine, the necks of which they knocked off. Two
pieces of money were found in the possession of the pri-
soners Thompson and Tapper, which, from some peculiarity
pocket
theo f Thompson
threepri-
soners
were remanded.
in the coin were identified by Master Sandhurst; a bottle
when captured. -
of aquafortis was
AaflstoPr hfoeunaridng thinte evidence,
he

THE DISCOVERER OF THALLIUM.—It appears
that there are some grounds for doubtingor whom thewhether
either Mr. Crookes or the French chemist for
merit has been claimed are entitled to thehonosuinrcoefabsa
July
s
first discovered the metal thallium, for so long
Alining Touinal,
18, 1857, a notice was published in the
stating that Mr. Joseph Jones, of Bolton de-Moors, claimed
to have discovered a metal which it now appears was thal-
lium, although by Mr. Jones it was designated sulphurium.
That Mr. Joseph Jones really succeeded in isolating tho
metal is beyond doubt, for he staled that it was "of the
same class as arsenium, silver, aluminium," Se. Mr. Jones
also stated that this new metal was obtained from su'phur
residue. The inventor being a poor man, had little oppor-
tunity of making his discovery known, but that he is really
entitled to the honour of being the first discoverer of thal-
-141;4 there seems sao doubts-raiinftly ;Toona4