The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 2, 1863,

SALE OF SAWDUST' AND SHAVINGS, &c.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the
SECRETARY of STATE far WAR is prepared to
receive TENDERS for the REMOVAL of the CHIPS,
S oft.WDUST. SHAVINGS, &a, which may accumulate at the
Royal Carriage Derarrment, Woolwich, during a period of
three years from the at April, 1863.
Tenders must be made upon the proper printed form,
wit may be obtained on application to the Director of
Contracts, War-office, Pall-mall; or to the Superintendent
of tae Royal Carria,e Department, Woolwich; and are to
d-livered at the War-office, on or before the 9th April,
1833, addressed to the Under Secretary of State for war, and
marked on the outside, "Tender for Removal of Chips,
"
The Secretary of State reserves the right of rejecting any
or all cf the Tenders.
THOMAS HOWELL, Director of Contracts.
War-office, March 31, 1863.

TIMES.--The commercial world has recently been
startled by the capture of a British vessel under
circumstances not apparently calculated to lend even
a colour to the proeeeding. The Peterhoff, a British
screw steamer, trading between this country and
Matamoras, in Mexico, has been made prize by the
Federal squadron under the command of Admiral
Wilkes. The report of the case informs us that the
vessel left Falmouth in January last with a cargo,
not contraband of war, for Matamoras, and that
she arrived in due course at St. Thomas's, into which
port she put for the purpose of coaling. In those
waters she was boarded by an officer from the Fe-
deral cruiser Alabama, who examined her papers
and passed thein, declining to endorse them with the
notification of his search, but allowing the vessel to
proceed. During her stay, however, at St. Thomas's
Admiral 'Wilkes entered the harbour in his flag-
ship, and is alleged to have declared at once
that the Peterhoff should have been seized.
Matamoras is undoubtedly a Mexican port, but it is
on the frontier of Texas, and Texas is one of the
Confederate States. From Mexico to Arkansas and
Missouri is a long and painful journey, but it is a
journey which may be accomplished with the neces-
sary perseverance, and there seems to be little doubt
but that the Confederates have obtained some sup-
plies by this overland route. Admiral Wilkes, there-
fore, looked probably on the Peterhoff's cargo as a
cargo which, though consigned to a Mexican pert,
would find its way ultimately to a Southern market,
and he stopped it on its way. It is even probable
that he bad received direct instructions to act in
this manner, and to seize the Peterhoff wherever he
found her, pretty much as he might seize the Oreta
or the Alabama. The Federal Government, Mr.
Laird has assured us, has its spies all over England.
" I believe," he said, " there are spies in my son's
works at Birkenhead, and in all the great este blish-
ments in the country. A friend of mine had detec-
tives regularly on his track in consequence of some
circumstances connected with his vessels." It seems
that some "circumstances connected" with the
Peterhoff brought the Federal Admiral on her track
with special orders. Tht ship was one of a regular
line of steamers advertised to run between this coun-
try and Matamoras, but the line was not advertised
till recently, or since the outbreak of the American
War. Whether the American Minister at our Court
thoup-ht this advertisement suspiciously timed, or
whether he had any more particular reason for mis-
trust, we cannot say, but it appears that in com-
municating to Lord Russell a list of " suspected
vessels "he included the Peterhoff by name. Now,
as these suspicions were, doubtless, communicated
by Mr. Adams to his own Government as well as
to ours, and as the officers of Federal cruisers have
made no secret of their orders to capture certain
vessels wherever they were found, we shall pro-
bably be not far wrong in assuming that the
Peterhoff was on the black list, and that Ad-
" Aral Wilkes made prize of her accordingly as
soon as he ascertained her name and destination.
But a very grave question has thus arisen. As
far as regards the Peterhoff herself, it is antici-
pated that she will be restored to her owners, since
the Magicienne, a vessel captured under similar
circumstances, and taken also into Key IV est as
prize, has been just now released. But what is to
be said of the practice, and of the principles on
which the capture was hazarded ? Assuming, for
the sake of argument, that the necessities of the
Southern States do actually create a demand in
Mexico, and by those means in this country, is the
trade between this country and Mexico therefore
liable to interruption? The new doctrine appears
to be that any cargo consigned not merely to a bel-
ligerent port, but to a port from which it may after-
wards reach a belligerent port, is exposed to cap—
ture. On these principles, for example, all trade
with the Prussian ports in the Baltic might have
been forbidden during the Crimean war, as well as
all trade with the Russian ports, for a land journey
would have sufficed to carry the goods from Dantsic
to St. Petersburg, just as goods might be carried
from Matamoras to Vicksburg. It was one of the
arguments recently urged against the right of
blockade that railway communication had rendered
it ineffectual, since all that was now necessary was
to run to the nearest neutral port, and thence de-
spatch the cargo overland to its destination. But
the pretensions of the Federal Government would
upset this argument, for a blockading squadron
might seize a cargo, whithersover consigned, on the
mere calculation that, sooner or later, it would find
its way to belligerent hands. We have no doubt,
in short, that Admiral Wilkes carried precise in-
structions to capture the Peterhoff. We believe,
also, that she may be released after more or less de-
tention, and compensation perhaps paid on demand.
The Fs derals will find their own recompense in the
command acquired over the commerce /if the seas,
and the alarm communicated to traders, but it can
hardly be denied that such proceedings call for
serious attention on the part of our own Government.
POST.—It is rarely that any subject, however in-
teresting, is thoroughly ventilated in the Upper
HouseofPrliament. The nominal time for the
hour,tiht protractedadjournment
uctontshae
cineud va
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debate
dinnerLpltoeroci
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peraemvpedbell inaugurated what he hoped might have
fhoorwFeovreeri,gonf
Recognition,a debaeteel
yoenlietihteed qaureesAoynfreomf thethe
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have
provedvery
leads he one
r
Majesty's Opposition and the other the rather sin-
gulare entreaty with which Earl Russell terminated
his speech. He begged his brother peers not to pro-

long the discussion, and as the request chimed with
the observances of the house, it met with ready ac-
quiescence. As, however, the question of recognis-
ing the Southern Confederacy cannot be shelved,
though it may be thus temporarily evaded by one
of the branohes of the Legislature, it will not be
considered out of place to review dispassionately the
grounds on which the claims of the infant Sta to are
based, and the principles which should govern the
conduct of neutral Powers. We do not see what
good purpose it can serve to endeavour as it were
to hush up a subject which is ever present before
our mieds, and to attempt to postpone indefinitely
the solution of a problem which sooner or later we
will most undoubtedly be called upon to solve. We
therefore sincerely regret, when Lord Campbell sub-
mitted to the House o Lords the advisability of ac-
knowledging the independence of the Southern Con.
federacy, that nothing was evoked beyond a minis-
terial reply. It is notorious that the majority of
persons in England consider that the Southern
States have achieved their independence, and that
the efforts made by the North to effect a reconquest
arc entirely hopeless. There are many in the
Houee of Lords who hold this opinion ; mad it is
therefore to be regretted, when Earl Russell
assumed that the enterprise in which the. Northern
States are engaged might still be crowned with suc-
cess, that some were not found to point out the
groundlessness of such an assumption. If it be
conceded that the Southern Confederacy must ulti-
mately succeed in establishing its independence,
then the obligation of recognising becomes a matter
for the consideration of neutral States. A refusal to
accord the required recognition must consequently
be founded either upon the conviction that' the
ultimate success of the Confederates is problemati-
cal, or that, for political reasons, it is more expedi-
ent to defer for a time an official declaration that
the object with which the Southern States have
taken up arms has been, in fact, attained. Let us
briefly consider these several grounds. As regards
the supposed invincibility of the South, it is of
course impossible to prove a negative and demon-
strate that it cannot be subdued. In matters of
this kind, however, certainty is not essential ; and
the first authorities on international law, including
Vattel, DeMartens, and Wheaton, concur in declar-
ing that an infant State is entitled to demand the
recognition of its independence so soon as it can
satisfy neutral States that in all probability it can
maintain itself against foreign aggression. The
Southern Confederacy has sprung from what to
other nations must be regarded as a revolution, be-
cause, even admitting the right of the Southern
States to secede from the American Union, still
they formed part, and diplomatically considered,
continue to form part of a republic still officially
recognised by the rest of the world. It is therefore
right shat the neutral States should attach the
greatest weight to the fact that the war to which
the secession of the Southern states gave rise still
continues, and that the established Government has
not desisted from its attempts to reduce to sub-
mission those which it still terms its revolted pro-
vinces. But no expounder of international law, if
we except Sir George Lewis, has ever enunciated
the proposition that until a war between the esta-
blished Government and those who set its autho-
rity at defiance has been brought to a close, the in-
dependence of the revolutionists cannot be recog-
nised. It is sufficient if those who constitute them-
selves into a new State establish, to the satisfaction
of the world, that, regarded as a matter of proba-
bility, their efforts will in all likelihood prove.
successfal. Now, judgiug from the position of
affairs in America at the md of the second year of
the civil war, it is impossible for any unprejudiced
person not to feel that the re-establishment of the
American Union is the vainest of chimeras. The
circumstance that the Federal Government have
been unable to penetrate into the interior of the
contiguous State of Virginia would in itself prove
that the subjugation of the entire Confederacy is
not within the bounds of possibility. We can do no
more than point to facts, and ir, notwithstanding
the experience of the last two years, there are those
who still believe in the possibility of the Federal
Government vindicating its authority in the
Southern States, why, we must decline undertak-
ing the useless task of attempting to alter their con-
viction. But admitting that the Southern Confede-
racy has established its independence, it is suggested
that at the present juncture, it is inexpedient to
recognise that fact. By so doing, it is urged that
annfdthe may give serious
United States.
we shall not materially alter the relations of the
belligerents
umbrage
te theto each
oth other,
Government
That we would be regarded by the Government at
Washington as having done an unfriendly act is
anowledg the
ing relations
thei n
.
probable enough; but we do not think that such a
consideration should prevent us discharging such
an act of duty. It is, however,
nd
with scarcelyth ep
orcseoisrttir
oeon for
rt
the
re t e
but b
we
e entitledw ou l
would
be
say that, by recognising the independence of the
South, we should not sensibl
of the belligerents inter se a
world. We would not, by ay modify
dependence of the Southern Confederacy,geh
to interpose
e a
muchbetween themo rbee
favourableli
setting on foot negotiations with a view
to the
restoration of peace. Nor is it nreasonabie to suppose
tsehvaetrteigheeatdy of
missitohnebysetihitehEerue Con federacy would
European Powers of the
exercise considerable influence in determining the
course of the Federal Government. At present the
Government at Washington arednicseintcblieneEdutroopceoann-
fess that they are without hopeof re-establishing
their authority iu the South, si
Powers, by their refusal to recognise the new Con-
federacy, in effect admit that the North may yet
bring the war in which it is engaged to a success-
ful issue. But if E:: rope authoritatively pronounced
the American Union to be finally dissolved, the
Federal Government would be forced by circum-
stances to concur in that decision. If the bellige-
rents are entirely ignored by the neutral Powers,
there seems every prospect oft a p
great rotracte time
but d e
imwar ;
but if, without intervention,
Powers of Europe were to declare Southern inde-
pendence to be an accomplished fact, an opening
would be afforded for negotiations which would in
all probability speedily lead to a conclusion of the
war. America ma
HERALD.—Every mail from y now
be expected to bring us more and more important
news. Like the last act of stirring tragedy, the
great drama that is being played out in the Western
World gathers force and thrilling interest as it
nears the closing scene ; and
await with almost breathless interest the upshot
which may make or mar the history of half a con-
tinent. For whatever may be the issue of the shock
of battle now about to be delivered, it will be as re-
gards the result of the war conclusive. Never again
will the North be able to resume the conflict with
greater odds ; and believing, as we do, that this, its
last effort, will fail as disastrously as those which
have preceded it, we confidently expect that the
conviction of the hopelessness of its efforts will at
length dawn upon the Northern mind, and enable
the voice of reason once again to make itself heard
in Northern councils. There is not a single gleam
of hope to the Federal cause East, West, or South.
The failure of the attempt on Port Hudson has vir-
tually settled the question of the freedom of the
Mississippi. Admiral Farragut cannot be in a
position to resume the attack this season. The
utmost his damaged flotilla is capable of is the pro-
tection of the Federal garrisons at Baton Rouge
and New Orleans, and the blockade of the Missis-
sippi and Galveston. And there is even less chance
of reducing Vicksburg. The inundations which
were to starve out the defenders of this position
have, according to the latest accounts, compelled
the Federals to leave their camps, if not to abandon
the siege altogether. The " cut-off" is a failure.
The route by Lake Providence and Tenses River
is impracticable for so large an armament as the
North would have to despatch down the river for
the assault upon Port Hudson. There seems to be
nothing for General Grant to do but to risk another
assault immediately, against all reasonable hope or
to lead back his enfeebled and demoralished army
to Memphis. Even Rosencranz is brought to a
stand-still in Tennessee. At Knoxville and Tulla-
homa there are large armies in his front. South of
the Duck River, and threatening at any moment to
outflank his right, is General Van Dorn, with a
considerable force. Along the banks of the Ten-
nessee River there are hordes of guerillas, and in
Western Tennessee a Confederate army is muster-
ing for another inroad into Kentucky. Chatta-
nooga is safer than Nashville, and Rosencranz,
instead of penetrating into Georgia, has to content
himself with fortifying Murfreesborough and
covering the capital of Tennessee. At Charles-
ton the bombardment is still only threatened ;
the great army that General Foster landed
at Hilton Head is demoralised by perpetual
squabbles about the status of the negro • whilst
the Confederates are employing all their
time in maturing their plans of defence for holding
Charleston to the last against the fire of the iron-
clads, and preventing a repetition of the catastrope
of New Orleans. In Florida Vie first attempt of the
Federals to excite a servile insurrection has signally
failed. A regiment or brigade of negroes, bearing
arms to place in the hands of insurgent slaves, has
been surrounded and captured, and we fear there

will be short shrift for the white officers who led
them upon the rash and criminal enterprise. The
proclamation of President Davis leaves these men
no loophole of escape. They have been taken in the
act of inciting servile rebellion—the most heinous
crime that could be committed against the Southern
Confederacy. But we would fain hope that they
will be spared the fate they have so well deserved,
and that the commencement of a series of reprisals
which would outdo even the present horrors of this
terrible war will not lie with the Confederates. In
a military aspect there is little that is important in
the last American mail, but we are evidently on the
eve of great events.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

The Lords Commissioners composing the effective
Board of Admiralty yesterday paid an official visit
to Woolwich dockyard. They first inspected the
hydraulic machinery employed in bending and pre-
paring the armour plates of the iron cased ship
Caledonia, and afterwards went on board the ship.
Their Lordships—viz., the Duke of Somerset and
his secretary, Captain Ryder, Admirals Sir Fredk.
Grey, K.C.8., and Charles Eden, C. 8., Captain
Drummond, Admiral Robinson, Controller of the
Navy, entered the dockyard at 3 p.m., and left at
4. After leaving the Caledonia they inspected
the operations of Bray's traction engine, purchased
by Government for the general work of the yard,
and made a short visit to the inner basin.
Mr. Thornton, assistant master shipwright of
Woolwich dockyard, having completed his inspec-
tion of the Galway packet, on behalf of Govern-
ment, yesterday returned to Woolwich from
Liverpool,
The Royal Oak, 34, 800 horse power, having
completed coaling, got up steam yesterday morning
alongside the Ocean coal depot, in the Medway,
and proceeded up the river to Chatham harbour,
taking up her moorings at Folly Point, where she is
to be completed for sea. The paddlewheel steamer
Adder, and other steamers were in attendance on
the Royal Oak, in order to render any assistance
which might be required. There is still a great
deal remaining to be done on board, and fully six
weeks or two months will elapse before the Royal
Oak can be ready to proceed to sea.
The Hector, iron frigate, has been undocked from
the large double dock at Portsmouth, in order to
render the dock available for the Black Prince, iron
frigate, Capt. J. F. B. Wainwright, now refitting
for further sea service it the steam basin. A few
men are about the Hector's decks marking every
part of her metal fittings, whether of brass or iron,
with the Government broad arrow, and greatly to

the disfigurement of some of the work, such
as the brass tubing, stanchions, and hand rails
over the engine-room. No other men are yet em-
ployed upon the ship's outfit from the shipwright
department, nor will there be until the outfit of the
Esk and Curacoa, wooden corvettes, is completed.
The Defence, 18, iron frigate, Capt. A.
Philli-
more, is lying alongside the dockyard •at Ports-
mouth, with sails unbent, &c. She awaits orders.
It is expected that her officers and crew will be
turned to the Hector, and that she will then be
placed in the steam reserve of the first class.
The Pandora, 4, screw gunvessel, Commander
Ruston, has been swung in Portsmouth harbour, to
ascertain the deviation of her compass, and is ex-
pected to go out of harbour to Spithead to-day be-
fore sailing for her destination.
The Dutch screw corvette Sorembing, 8 guns
Commander J. N. Slegt, anchored at Spithead
shortly before sunset yesterday evening, from
Batavia, bound for Flushing. She will resume her
voyage homewards after taking in a supply of coals
and provisions.
The deaths of the following officers have been
officially reported at the Admiralty since Jan. 1 :
Admirals F. Temple and C. G. R. Phillips ; Vice-
Admiral A. T. E. Vidal; Rear-Admirals C. Wyvill,
J. J. F. Newell, D. Marsh, and D. Cox; Capts. J.
J. M'Cleverty, C.B„ F. Liardet, W. A. Willis, C.
Knight, K.H., J. Roche, J. Shepherd, W.-S: Ad-
dington, G, Palmer, and J. N. Gladstone ; Coro-
menders A. C. May, J. A. Pritchard, It. Reid, It.
Ward, J. White, J. Dalrymple, J. Jones, J. Athill,
J. M'Killop, T. Akers, J. Heyland, W. Leslie, the
Hon. C. St. Clair, C. Seaver, S. H. Pickard, A.
Cooper, H. G. Veitch, and J. Higgs ; Lieuts. B. W.
Clark, G. IL Barnard, T. F. Studdert, T. M. Wright,
F. Bickerstaff, J. G. Seton, G. Lyall, and J. Sander-

eon ; Masters J. W. Smith, F. R. Child, E. Colburne,
C. Chown, W. Yeames, J. Brown, T. B. Codnor,
and J, Bowler; Surgeons J Coulter, M.D., W. H.
Woods, F. Logan, G. H. Jones, M.D., N. W. Roche,
M.D., J. dimpbell, M.D., and W. Doak ; Assist.-
Surgs. R. Ratliffe and W. Dickson ; Chief
Engineer W. Lowther; Paymasters G. Teait, R.
H. Hire, T. Darby, F. W. Pike, J. Walter, J.
Mason, and G. Starr ; Assist.-Paymaster D. L.
Rhind. Royal Marines—Major•Gen. H. E vans ;
Lieut.-Col. G. H. Coryton ; Capts. E. T. T. Jones
and R. Searle; Lieuts. W. S. Bond, P. M'lntyre,
and S. H, Browne.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Capt. his Serene Highness
the Prince of Leiningen, to the Victoria and Albert
Royal yacht, vice Seymour, promoted to be Rear-
Admiral ; Capt. W. Armytage to the Magicienne,
vice the Prince of Leiningen; Capt. J. Seccombe,
to the Hannibal, commissioned; Lieut. P. Sharpe,
to command the Investigator, vice Lefroy, pro-
moted ; Thomas Potter, master, to the Hannibal ;
W. H. Harris, master, to the Canopus ; Sub-Lieut.
Augustus B. C. Booth, to the Defence ; Daniel
Finnicane and Horace H. Smith, surgeons ad-
ditional, to the Meander; James B. Hay, paymaster,
to the Canopus; Charles A. Thorne, paymaster, to
the Hannibal; and W. P. Guyer, in the Narcissus,
promoted to acting engineer.