The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-16 00:00:00

THE BATTLES OF CHANCELLORSVILLE

(Front the Special Correspondent of the Tinzts.)

BEAD-QUARTERS OF GEN. R. E. LEE, CHAN-
CELLORSVILLE, VIRGINIA, I\L G.

If ever the narrative of the memorable drama
played upon the stage of Virginia tietween the morn-
of Wednesday, April 29, and the morning of Wed-
nesday, May 6, be undertaken by a competent mili-
tary critic it will be found that never in history did
grander or worthier theme engage the scientific at-
tention of a Jomini, or kindle the sparkling elo-
quence of a Napier. It may be that in at tempting
to describe operations which were spread over an
area of something like 15 square miles of country,
intersected by two great highways and numberless
by-roads, and which involve minute descriptions of
intricate fords over one trunk stream and its two
tributaries, I shall utterly fail to make myself in-
telligible to the reader, or to convey a distinct im-
pression to his mind. But it should not be forgotten
that the ablest historians of military events have
never been able by words alone to give distinct de-
lineations of the collisions of great hosts of men, and
that the plain diagram which serves as a key to the
text of Napier or Alison, and which by a few simple
scratches gives clearer ideas than pages of letter-
press could convey, is denied to me, who have like-
wise the disadvantage of writing in the midst of an
excitement and hurly-burly such as eye has seldom
seen or ear heard. It has seemed to me best to
throw my narrative into the form of a diary, ex-
panding and weaving the notes made day after day
into a consecutive thread, and adding at the com-
mencement a description of the scene of action, so
far as it is capable of being painted in words.
Ten miles due west of Fredericksburg, on the
same side of the river Rappahannock, stands a large
brick house, with a blacksmith's shop and a few
small outbuildings attached, where a certain Mr.
Chancellor once lived and kept an hotel. Ia the
poverty of nomenchttive invention of this continent,
where hamlets are ordinarily named on the principle
of selecting some prominent resident in each, and
attaching " burg" or " viile" to his name, this little
group of buildings, likely to be as famous in the
western as Hougomont in the eastern hemisphere,
is called Chancellorsville. The brick house, which
has lately been used as a boarding school, reminds
the Englishman who is old enough to remember the
north road from London to York before the days of
steam of the once-famous posting-houses at Barnby
or Scarthing Moor, Chancellorsville is connected
with Fredericksburg by two highway-roads, which
unite in front of the house, where, deflecting from
the westerly course they have hitherto pursued,
they proceed together in a south-westerly direction
towards Orange Court-house. These roads are dis-
tinguished by the names of the turnpike and plank
roads. In former times Fredericksburg was con-
nected with Chancellorsville solely by the turnpike,
which during most of its course runs nearer to the
river than the plank, the latter having been laid
down because, being further from the river, it
avoided the hilly bluffs which adjoin the stream.
Almost parallel with these two roads runs the river
Rappahannock, until, 12 miles west of Fredericks-
burg, it bifurcates, the north branch of the Rappa-
hannock running northwards and westwards,while
the Rapidan river flows in from the south-west.
Two miles below the junction of the streams the
Rappahannock is crossed by the United States Ford.
Eight miles above Fredericksburg is another ford
called Freeman's Landing; four miles above Fre-
dericksburg another called Banks's Ford; while at
and below Fredericksburg itself, in place of the two
bridges which once spanned the stream, pontoon
bridges have, during the memorable seven days of
which I write, been constantly and in many places
thrown across by the Federals. Proceeding west-
ward, and following the two streams above the
fork, the north branch of the Rappahannock is
traversed by ono or two fords, of which Kelly's is
the principal,while the Rapidan is crossed by Ely's
and Germanna Fords. The whole of the country
commencing four miles west of Fredericksburg and
for 10 miles southward and westward of Chancel-
lorsville is clothed with woods, dense as the pri-
rnmval forests of Germany, in which Yarns' legions
were destroyed, consisting partly of pine, partly of
scrub oak, called here black jack, intertwined with
a thick undergrowth of chicopin, and apparently im-
penetrable, save to rabbits and foxes. To the wild,
dreary region extending southwards and westwards
of Chancellorsville, towards Orange Court-house, has
been given the appropriate name of the Wilderness.
At Chancellorsville the plank and turnpike ,roads
are at their union joined by a third road, which runs
to Ely's Ford, on the Rapidan, out of which third
road branches half a mile away from Chancellors-
ville, a fourth road leading to the United States
Ford, on the Rappahannock. Again, as you advance
from Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville, a country
road on your left leaves the plank eight miles from
Fredericksburg, and proceeds due south towards an
iron foundry, called the Catherine Furnace, and then
plunging into the woods brings you out again on the
plank road five miles from Chancellorsville and 15
from Fredericksburg. It is to this country road as
connected with the famous flank movement of
" Stonewall" Jackson that I would particularly in-
vite the reader's attention. It will be seen, then,
that the operations of the past week have principally
had to do with the 15 miles of plank road from
Fredericksburg:to Wilderness-house, with 10 miles
of turnpike from Fredericksburg to Chancellors-
ville, with the country road by the Furnace, with
the road beyond Chancelloreville leading to Ely's
Ford on the Rapidan, and with its branch leading
to the United States Ford OR the Rappahannock.
S,
imilaErlyly,
,s 7 Kelly's,ehaa,eto bear in mind the fords, spe-
cially Banks's, and, most of all, the
United States Ford. Over the whole of this region,
as well as over the old historical line of hills which
the Confederates occupied during the first battle of
Fredericksburg, backwards and forwards, rolled
for seven days the tide of war; and if asl hurriedly
endeavour to narrate the incidents of this momen
tous passage of arms some trifling inaccuracy should
hereafter be detected, the reader's clemency is in-
voked in consideration of the difficulty of verifying,
within sound of the deafening roar of cannon, the
reports of 10,000 informants who fought in different
parts of the field, and gathering such a right per-
ception of its tangled and intricate geography as
will defy error and evade mistake.
Upon the evening of Friday, May 1, accompanied
by a Virginian clergyman, I left Richmond on horse-
back, following the telegraph road towards Frede-
ricksburg. My friend's knowledge of the country
about Richmond was not such as to preserve us from
losing our way in the swamps of the flooded Chicka-
hominy, across which we plunged on our way to the
Hanover Slashes, the dreariest waste of marsh and
fen and spongy copse on which mortal eye ever
rested. Putting aside all question of resistance, the
broad belt of the Hanover Slashes would, except in
the height of summer, be an insurmountable obstacle
to an invading army, while in summer its poisonous
breath would exact fearful toll if an army lingered
within its precincts. Yet even to this forsaken re-
gion the interest of having given birth to a great
man clings, and the nickname of the " Millboy of
the Slashes," by which Henry Clay was so gene-
rally known to the country folks of this continent,
points to the fact that here, in the humblest circum-
stances, he first saw the light, and here as a bare-
footed boy, was wont to ride to the flour-
ing mill, carrying on the bare back of his horse
a sack of wheat to be ground. As we proceeded
in the bright moonlight the tree-frog and the
bullfrog croaked in chorus so dissonant as to defy
even Aristophanes to produce
restless of nightfarers, the
whip-poor
through the woods and astonished me br;
d
witmhi imitation,
el artiaonng
while the ceaseless cry of that most indefatigable an
accu-
racy with which his three notes are repeated. Be-
tween 1 and 2 we had got no further then Ashland,
16 miles from Richmond, where we lay on the
ground, though under cover, fora few hours-36

hours later the party of Federal cavalry which sub-
sequently so fluttered the doves at Richmond, and
from which at other points we narrowly escaped,
burst upon Ashland, and inflicted some slight da-
mage upon the railroad and upon the astonished
little town. On Saturday we travelled at our best
pace from sunrise to sundown, and were rewarded
by hearing not far distant the heavy firing which
commenced about four in the afternoon of Saturday,
and continuing long after dark announced that we
were approaching the neighbourhood of what was
rightly expected to be the bloodiest battle of the
war. Sleeping near Guiney's statio❑ we were close
to Chanccilorsville at nine on the morning of Sun-
day, and I found that my anticipations that I should
be on the spot in time to witness the struggle were
fully and happily realised.
Wednesday, April 29.

This morning, under cloak of an opaque fog, a
large body of Federals arrived unmolested on pon-
toons below Fredericksburg, and, clinging closely
to the river bank, spread themselves right and left,
surprising two or three parties of Confederate
pickets, which were surrounded before it was known
a Yankee had crossed the stream. Simultaneously
a far larger body crossed the north branch of the
Rappahannock at Kelly's and other adjoining fords,
while Gen. Stoneman, with a powerful cavalry and
artillery force, struck in towards Culpepper Court-
house, and began to spread with impunity over Vir-
ginia, breaking his men up into parties, by whom
various raids were undertaken, which General J.
E. B. Stuart was for seven days powerless to cheek
or to chastise. The suddenness and simultaneity of
the enemy's operations, the apparent sagacity which
guided them, the magnitude of the varied force
which assumed them, the consciousness that General
Lee, deprived of his " old warhorse," Gen. Long-
street, was far weaker in numbers than he has ever
been since he left Maryland, combined to create
uneasiness in the breasts of his staff, which was only
relieved when they comforted themselves by watch-
ing the unruffled calmness of " the old Tycoon" (as
they affectionately call 111 m- Without bustle or
agitation his dispositions were made, their general
policy being to leave Gen. Early at Fredericksburg
with a sufficient force to guard the hills from Hamil-
ton's Crossing to Marye's Heights, and on down to
the river, while Generals Lee and Jackson with the
rest of the army slowly turted their faces westward
along the turnpike and plank roads. Upon the
afternoon of this day Gen. Stuart delayed the Fe-
deral advance in the neighbmrhood of Kelly's Ford
by cutting the head of one o° their columns between
the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, and taking
prisoners from three different army corps. And
here it may be an assistance to the reader to repeat
the official order under which, since the last battle
of Fredericksburg, the Federal army has been re•
distributed and reorganized :

GENERAL ORDIRS (No. 6).
"Head-quarters, Army of the Potomac, Camp,
near Falmouth, Virginia, Feb. 5.

" I. The division of the army .nto Grand Divisions im-
peding rather than facilitating its current business, and the
character of the service it is lieble to be called upon to
perform being adverse to the movement and operations
of heavy columns, it is discontinued, and the corps organi-
zation is adopted in its stead. They will be commanded as
follows :—First corps, Major-General John F. Reynolds;
second corps, Major General D. N. Couch; third corps,
Brigadier-General D. E. Sickles (temporarily) ; fifth corps,
Major General George G. Meade ; sixth corps, Major
General John Sedgwick ; eleventh corps, Major General
Franz Sigel; and twelfth corps, Major General H. W.
Slocum.

"11. Hereafter the corps will be considered as a unit for
the organisation of the artillery, and no transfers of batte-
ries will be made from one corps or division to others
except for purposes of equalisation, and then only under
the authority of the Chief of Artillery.
" 111. The cavalry of the army will be consolidated into
one corps, under tho command of Brigadier General
Stoneman, who will make the necessary assignments for
detachment duty.
" IV. The foregoing changes in command will be made
as early as convenient.
" V. The Major Generals commanding Grand Divisions
will report to these head-quarters the names of such staff
officers as are for assignment for duty in the execution of
this order. "By command of Majo r General Hooker,
"JOSEPH DICKINSON, Assistant Adjutant General."
THURSDAY, April 30.

The three army corps which had crossed at Kelly's
Ford were, it is believed, joined this morning by

two other corps which crossed at the United States
Ford, and together they swept onwards in a fine
broad front towards Fredericksburg along the turn-
pike, plank, and Spottsylvania Court-house roads,

the last being the direct route from Fredericks-
burg to the Virginia Central Railroad, by which
on our first entry into Secessia, Colonel Wol-
seley and I proceeded on our way to Rich-
mond. The full strength of each army corps
should, I believe, amount to 20,000 men; but,
making allowances for the inevitable shrinking of
regiments, it is computed that General Hooker's
army at this point could not have been less than
80,000 men. With them marched a band of
pioneers, or sappers and miners, 5,000 strong—in
other words, mechanics accustomed to handle
timber, fell trees, and build bridges ; lumbermen
from Maine and carpenters; men who are clad in
uniform in order that they may be exchanged if
taken prisoners, but whose arms are the pick,
shovel, and the axe, aril their employment to work
at intrenchments while the soldiers rest. Contrast
with them the Southern army, composed of men
who for the most part never touched spade or axe
before the commencement of this war, who work
with tools insufficient in number, worn with use,
and all of them captured from the enemy, and who
fought on this occasion in the ratio of three fagged,
weary, and hungry against seven fresh and pam-
pered men.
General Lee, anxious to ascertain whether Gene-
ral Hooker designed to march straight on Fre-
dericksburg or, in pursuance of the plan by him
exhibited to the Congressional Committee which in-
vestigated General Burnside's failure, to strike
deeper into the country, moved leisurely towards
Chancellorsville, holding all his troops except Gene-
ral Early's division closely in hand. But when
General Anderson's division, stationed in the neigh-
bourhood of the United States Ford, recoiling
before the immense Federal host, heralded its
advance, General Lee threw up earthworks half-
way between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
and there arrested the advance of his foe. General
Hooker did not press him hotly, but, in his turn,
fell slowly back towards Chancellorsville, followed
still more slowly by the Confederates. On the even-
ing of this day General Stuart attacked the Federals
upon the Spottsylvania-road, and inaugurated one
of those " free fights" into which in this war night
conflicts ordinarily degenerate. The 3d Virginia
Cavalry charged the sth, the sth charged the 3d,
Major Von Borcke, of General Stuart's Staff, had
his horse killed by one of his own men, everybody
fired at anybody and anybody at everybody, but the
result was that "all's well that ends well," inas-
much as, after losing 50 prisoners, the Federals,
notwithstanding their immense numerical superio-
rity, fell back, and were beard nu more on the
Spottsylvania-road.

FRIDAY, May 1.

The day passed uneventually. General Lee con-
tinued to advance, General Hooker to fall back.
But as they neared Chancellorsville the former
penetrated the latter's purpose in retreating, when
he discovered that about 500 yards in front of Chan-
cellorsville, in the midst of a dense thicket of black
jack, the Federal pioneers had thrown up very
strong intrenchments at right angles to the turn-
pike and plink roads with an abattis of felled trees
bristling outwards in front, and seemingly defying
the passage of any living and walking animal. Ren-
ning southwards for about a mile from the plank
road, the Yankee works turned short to the west
until they again met the plank road be-
tween Chancellorsville and Orange Court-
house, towards the latter of which points (as
I have already said) the plank road deflects in a
south-westerly direction after leaving Chancellors-

ville. 'Within these works the Yankees stood
thickly and savagely at bay, their powerful ar-
tillery massed on some high ground a little in the
rear. Their position was fearfully formidable—
repulse, if the works were attacked solely from the
front, seemed inevitable—the loss of life to the
assailants anyhow must have been ghastly. Under
theso circumstances General Lee resolved to out-
flank the flanker.

SATURDAY, May 2.
If ever a man was adapted for the execution of a
plan daring and hazardous in the extreme, but de-
pending for its safety upon the celerity and audacity
of its execution, assure:lly that man was Stonewall
Jackson. With the first break of dawn he plunged
with his three famous divisions—the first com-
mandedth e
th?eee
tonnidr,din l
lately
ya busne ndee
r 3
nfTrimbblye,Ab.y P.
Coulson;Hill ;
D. H. Hill, by Rodes, into the country road which
leads to the Furnace. At the Furnace he ascended
a hill, and was viewed by the 'enemy from an ad-
joining hill called Fairview, and heavily though
harmlessly shelled. With his usual temerity he
sent word back to General Lee that the Furnace-
hill must be held by one regiment until his artillery
and waggons had got by. A South Carolina regi-
ment was accordingly sent there, but was, I believe,
shortly carried forward in company with the
cavalry, and in its place three or four companies of
a Georgia regiment were left to guard the critical
spot. The enemy, discovering the weakness of the
guard, attacked and took the Georgians prisoners.
The last of Jackson's batteries was passing as the
Georgians were captured, whereupon Capt. Brown
unlimbered his guns, opened on the Federals, and
drove them back. He then passed on after Jackson,
whose waggons had to fall back and pursue their
General by a more circuitous route. Marvellous to
say, it never seems to have suggested itself to Gen.
Hooker, although this large body of Confederates
passed under his nose, that his rear was in danger,
or that Gen. Lee, greatly weakened, was lying
'within a few hundred yards of the mighty Federal
host of 80,000 men.

At four in the afternoon Gen. Lee, knowing that
Jackson could not be far from his destination,
opened fire steadily along his whole line, feeling the
gigantic masses of his intrenched foe. For two
hours and a half a heavy fire was interchanged
between the hostile batteries, each party holding
its own line. Suddenly, about half-pest 6 in the
evening, the rattle of musketry was heard in the
distance, followed by the loud boom of artillery,
and instantly General Lee passed word along
his lines, " Jackson at work ; press them heavily
everywhere." Swift and sudden as the falcon
swooping on her prey, Jackson had burst on his
enemy's rear, and crushed him before resistance
could be attempted. Passing right over the plank
road, and extending almost up to the Ely's Ford-
road, getting behind Chancelloraville, the three
noble divisions raced gallantly forward, drunk with
the animal joy and inebriation of battle. Not a
trench had been dug, not a tree felled, not a stick
raised to resist them ; the unconscious Federals en-
gaged in cooking their supper—one regiment on
dress parade—heard in the sudden volley of Jack-
son's long line the knell of their doom. An intel-
ligent Virginian farmer, Mr. Green, taken prisoner
by the Federals, heard one of their Generals say to
his men about six o'clock, " Jackson and his rebels
don't dare face us to-night. Get your suppers
ready, boys, and enjoy yourselves." With faces
turning eastward, secured, as they fancied, by the
dense masses of their friends within the intrench-
ments in front, without a thought of their rear, the
Federals rummaged their knapsacks for all the
luxuries with which Boston, New York, and Phila-
delphia pamper and recruit their Sybarite soldiery.
Before that supper could be eaten the un-
washed, unkempt, starving raggamuffins of the
South bad burst on them from the west, and scat-
tered them, nerveless, panic-struck, helpless, like
chaff before the blast. Major Peyton, of General
Lee's staff, found a coffeepot, with cups round it,
standing in the wood. He poured the liquid out,
but it was so hot he could not drink it.

What might have been the result but for one
casualty which alone almost countervailed the vic-
tories of a week who shall say ? Formation or
order the Federals had none ; reserve, tactics, orga-
nisation, disposition, plan, all went down before
the whirlwind suddenness of the surprise. The less of
the Confederates was ludicrously small; their advalencs.
e
likeNig htthahtod fallen
of a white
Asbqouoatl l 8 ion,otlohoekGeneral Bay of Nap
Jack-
son rode forward with two or three of his staff along
the plank road, and advanced 150 yards in front of
his foremost skirmishers, peering with those keen
eyes which you might fancy could be seen through
the densest gloom forward into the night. He
turned to ride back—a heavy fire from one of his
own regiments, hailing from South Carolina, but
whose number I will it. mercy withhold, saluted
him. One bullet struck his left arm four inches
below the shoulder, shattering the bone down to
the elbow. The wound was intensely painful; he
half fell, half was lifted from his horse. An aide
galloped back to A. P. Hill to report that Stone-
wall Jackson was wounded and lying in the road.
General Hill galloped hastily up, flung himself from
the saddle, began, choked with emotion, to cut the
cloth of Jackson's sleeve, when suddenly four of the
Federal videttes appeared on horseback, and were
fired on by.the Staff officers. The videttes fell back
upon a strong and swiftly advancing line of Fede-
ral skirmishers. Gen. Hill and all the officers and
couriers of both Staffs had no alternative but to
mount and ride for their lives, leaving Jackson
where he lay. Bight over the ground where was
stretched the wounded lion the Federals advanced.
Within their grasp lay the mightiest prize, the most
precious jewel in the Confederate crown ; but it was
not destined that Stonewall Jackson should be
struck by Federal bullet, or yield himself prisoner
to a Federal soldier,

As General Hill and his companions galloped
back they also became the target of the same luck-
less North Carlolinians. General Hill's boot was cut
by a bullet, but his leg uninjured; Colonet Crutch-
field, chief of artillery to Jackson, was seriously, if
not mortally, wounded; Boswell, of Jackson's Staff,
killed; Howard, engineer to A. P. Hill, knocked
from his horse, but whether killed, or wounded, or

a prisoner, is not known ; two or three couriers
killed. Without losing a moment, General Hill
threw his own skirmishers forward, backed by heavy

supports, and the ground on which lay Gen. Jack-
son was again occupied by the Confederates. But
in the meantime two more bullets, both from his

own men, had struck him as he lay on the ground

one passing through the wrist of his shattered arm,
the other entering the palm of his right hand and
coming out through its back. He was at once car-
ried to the rear, and his arm instantly amputated
under chloroform. Grave fears were entertained
that he would lose his right hand also, but I am
happy to add that they have since abated. Again
may it be hoped that, if he is wanted, Stonewall
Jackson will carry into action a guilelessness, sim-
plicity, and unselfishness which are all his own, and
elmbine with them Cromwell's fiery zeal, saintly
earnestness, and dauntlessness of purpose.
Never was it more apparent than this evening
what Jackson's presence and influence are to his
men. With his wound ceased the fiery desperation
of their onslaught ; tidings of it flew like wildfire
hitherto
through the ranks; the routed Federals found
heartf
selves no longer closely pressed, and. too _
the
grace as they poured grape andGcanistelr
Adowpnirlel
acnadl f
fon fr heals
hleigm,
plank road. Between 9 and 10 General
J. E. B. Stuart was by General Lee withdrawn
ilnegadaingbaGtetineertahlse whontlll
ithavetor is
was
reluctantly which
struck
tr
uc
causedk
by
from aa painful
tti hn fu
field.shell contusion,
11A the
1 i e 0 p.m.. General
from his cavalry command and put temporarily at
the head of Gen. Jackson's corps, stripped as it was
opfarhlnis
taken its dangers and glories without b • _ being
arrested by disease or stricken by bullet.
SUNDAV, May 3.
°lnwtearptwreotunder

the necessary disadvantage of describing as succes-
sive incidents which actually took place simul-
taneously along the whole line. This disadvantage
is increased if, as in the present instance, simul-
taneous operations are progressing at both ends of
a 15-mile stretch. The eye and mind oscillate
between east and west—between the Confederate
battery at Marye's Heights and the Federal works
on the slope at Chancellorsville—doubtful which
way to turn when both places demand notice, or
whither in the first instance to address attention.

et
ft
oi
the h t,
At Chancellorsville the baffle, hardly intermitted
through
opplaenoekd
rfouaridoues.:syywoiuthttrhaeveclarflrioesmt
dawn of day. Last night it had raged principally
Orange Court-house to Chancellorsville; this
tthuegi- 1 he night,
morning it was mostly transferred to the right,
as the right wing of the Federals, recoiling
before Jackson's onslaught. was doubled back on
the Federal centre. Morning found the Fede-
rals entirely within their lines, which ran from
the neighbourhood of the river across the turnpike
and plank roads, back again, at a right angle, to
the same plank road, after it has left Chancellors-
and turned southwards. The slope up which
the road from Orange ascends, and which is one of
the few spots in that densely clothed region which
li
is bare of trees, was defended by ordinary earth-
works, but behind them was massed a wealth of ,
artillery such as no other modern field of battle
has witnessed. Against this slope with earliest
morning advanced in three divisions what, whether
he lives or dies, will never cease to be called
" Stonewall Jackson's corps." First advanced the
division of A. P. Hill, now commanded by Gene-
ral Heath; next advanced the' Stonewall" division,
under General Coulson ; last, and in reserve,
advanced D. H. Hill's division, now under
command of General Rodes. Through a perfect
tornado of shot and shell hurtling through the
woods, and rending trunk and limb and bush and
sapling, as though a hurricane of iron hail had
rushed from the clouds, steady as regulars, inexor-
able as doom, advanced, division after division, the
fiery Militia of the South. Who that has seen the
listless, sleeveless, ragged, mendicant-like units
which compose the Southern host, dragging them-
selves wearily and painfully to the front, with
pleading eye and dejected mien, could imagine into
what a thunderbolt of war the aggregate of these
units grows and ascends when death and danger
lower in their front? Onward, right onward they
press ; they have gained the edge of the torn and
riven woods, they burst into the open, and here,
for the first time, Heath's Division falters under
the tempest of shot rained upon it from the
heights. At this critical moment the Stonewall
division, which should have given Heath in-
stant support, ineffectively handled, as is alleged
to me by its commanding General, failed to ad-
vance, and disaster and repulse seemed not impos-
sible; But a man was found equal to the perilous
emergency, as General Rodes, animating his men
with voice and gesture, commanded the third, or
reserve division, to advance over friend or fee and
storm the heights. Nobly did they respond to his
call. Under the inspiration of their presence and
example Heath's division slowly and sternly re-
covered itself, and together they swept up the slope,
and never rested till the well known battle-flag of
the rebels was flying from the earthworks torn
from their foe.

If in this narrative something like censure of the
Stonewall division is expressed, it is nothing less
than justice to state that on the preceding evening
a charge made by this division, and of which the
exact particulars are unknown to me, elicited the
very highest encomiums from General Jackson, and
was continually mentioned by him for the first two
or three days:after his wound. The prompt presence
of mind and gallantry of Gen. Ruda were to the
full appreciated by Gen. Lee, and a recommendation
that he should be advanced to a major-generalship
was by the latter instantly forwarded to the War
Department at Richmond. Meanwhile the Federal
lines, as they sweep round and face eastward, were,
as I have said, defended by works more formidable
than the slope at Chancellorsville. The trunks of
trees, about the thickness of a man's thigh, had
been cut down, trimmed of their branches, and laid
longitudinally to the height of four feet, the in-
stertices between the logs being banked with
earth. More scientific or better engineered works
I have never seen. In front the lopped branches
were interwoven with felled trees, and an abattis,
difficult and impenetrable beyond description,seemed
to defy attack. To four brigades of Gen. Anderson's
division was intrusted the perilous task of storming
works strong enough to have stood a siege, and de-
fended by vastly superior numbers of Federals. I
am warned by the length to which this letter is ex-
tending that your readers' patience must well nigh
be exhausted. But there were no more gallant rushes
during six days of unprecedented gallantry than
those of the brigades of Pesey's Mississippians and
Wright's Georgians againstthe almost impregnable
intrenchments of their foe. With admirable sagacity
Gen. Stuart had fastened upon the hill called Fair-
view, and opened upon the flank of the Yankees an
enfilading fire of 20 Napoleon guns. Simulta-
neously right up to the breastworks rushed
Posey's and Wright's brigades. They spring into
and upon the felled trees and matted branches—
they bound like tigers into the works, and drive
the panic-struck Federals headlong from their cover.
Never shall I forget the yell which rent the sky,
and announced that the enemy was broken. Yield-
ing works—from which ten times their number
should never have driven determined men, leaving
behind them knapsacks, canteens, overcoats, oil-
cloths, books, cards, paper, newspapers, muskets—
the Federals rushed quailing to the rear, and never
stopped until they had got behind the building at
Chancellorsville, beyond which their artillery opened
a heavy fire.
IviThe battle at Chancellorsville was over for the day. The
loss of Posey's and Wright's brigades, notwithstanding the
terrible works they carried, was slight. But in the three
divisions of Jackson's corps the loss in killed, wounded, and
missing could not have been less than G,OOO men. Such a
sight as the inside of the Yankee breastworks, just after
they had left them, never may I see again I With astonish-
ing accuracy Stuart's enfilading fire had torn through their
ranks. In every variety of attitude of death, torn, rent,
and shivered into scarcely distinguishable relics of humanity,
lay what so lately had breathed and moved. Still more ter-
rible and strangely appalling was the road from Chancel-
lorsville towards Orange Courthouse, along which, and on
either side of which Jackson had descended to the harvest
of death. Tumbrils overthrown, caissons exploded, horsess
dead and dying, sometimes with broken legs,. sometimes
with with ghastly wounds, human bodies in every
gull' fearf Asa
ing and death tortured, and riven trees,
gandful thoughts of
black jack brushwood, and suggesting
rhe most agonising
wounded and helpless men perishing blood with horror as
all, a crackling fire running swiftly. through
death known to humanity, froze
eyeheaven,
to gain a
the spectator in agony turnedeyes to
ble and woful anguish of
moment's relief from the unuttera 11:: grass

lyquaint balanced,
humour but not,o
fevenhic
which
earth. , lock, for the first time, I encountered
Shortly after 1
at that time, wholly
ns through his composition. In answer to
so rich a vein ru
ongratulations he answered that they were pre-
my hearty c
that things were not going everywhere as he wished
mature:
ttsaid he, " we have lost Marye's Heights." I
them, for,
then learnt that at an early hour upon Sunday morning
the Federals had made two or three abortive attempts to
storm the heights, which were held by one Mississippi re-
giment (the 21st) on the top, and another Mississippi regi-
ment (the ISth) in the lane at their base. A flag of truce
was sent in by the Federals, asking to be allowed to bury
General Lee, calmoendneivlde
.dof,
their dead and carry off their wounded. To this consent
was given by Col. Griffin. It is scarcely necessary to add
that the real object of this flag of truce was that its bearer
might ascertain the strength of the Confederates holding the
hill. Scarcely had the flag got lack before three heavy bodies
of Yankees, in all not less than 20,000 men, burst from the
town of Fredericksburg, from the river road leading towards
Bowling Green, and from the west of Taylor's Hill, and
made at the double quick for the heights. One large body
came across Bernard's Flats, in front of the eminence known
to your readers as Lee's Hill, and ascended Marye's Height,
from the rear; another column burst up the plank road, and
were on the defenders before effectual resistance was pos-
sible; sible ; but gallantly and dauntlessly did the Mississippians

------ ---
The news was quickly carried to Gen. Lee. He lost ntot
a moment in detaching Gen. M'Laws' division, and sending
them back towards Fredericksburg. Meanwhile, the 20,000
Yankees, intoxicated by the consciousness of their stupen-
dous valour in having overpowered two regiments upon
Marye's Heights, and loud in their self-exaltation, streamed
along the plank road towards Gen. Lee's rear. In one of
the houses adjoining Fredericksburg a Federal officer caught
up a Richmond newspaper, and, after reading for a few
moments, tossed it from him with supercilious disdain, ex--
claiming, "They say we can't fight." Five or six hours
later the same officer and many of his companions returned
to the same house, dejected, mortified, and chagrined.
Four miles off they and their followers had encountered
Gen. M‘Laws and his division at S Clem Church, and had
been driven back before him, smitten hip and thigh. At
Chanceliorsville, although no match for the burning en-
thusiasm and fiery zeal of the Confederates, the Federals
had, at least, not disgraced themselves; at Salem Church.
wh
,ti,lanf
"ley
uc
set) corpsshow
off iacvrhtailifoughtvalour.
vhueansdt el
adulation
r;s
ue pn e. r
or
rdf gntwuhimecikrb
esrcs
officers,a r ca enl y madeuntold
po
oiwserl.edssist "finesttelgeteven wonemhy neoartytheeffporlatnoeutt.,o! this portion of
the

MONDAY, May 4.
The scene shifts this day entirely to Fredericksburg. At
an early hear this morning Gen. Early attacked Marye's
Heights and recaptured them with ludicrous facility, tak-
ing, if I am not mistaken, two fine Napoleon guns which
the Federals had mounted on the heights. Gen. Early
then threw his forces forward towards the river, and en-
tirely intercepted the Federals lying between himself and
Gen. M'Laws from retreat on Fredericksburg. Simultane-
ously Gen. Early sent word to Gen. M'Laws to press the
fines
y from
offrFredtehreinwksebstu,rwg.hilFe hore hung on the
some
unknomwnfrormeatshone etohnis-
owr greatide ekr swhcaoosunl nfdeodthe
aroavbteeeye
sevcdia.npt
victories
Stupendous r
aaprse:rthe
uri
ses s
straitnulatt su
ro af
by
ythetshat
thee
disappointment should be felt that both Hooker and Sedg-
skin of their teeth. Here were, between the two divisions
of Early and M'Laws, some 20,000 demoralised, shattered
Federals, with a swift river and no pontoons in their rear.
It is " beyond a peradventure" that if an attack on them
had been made early this morning they would have lost all
their guns and half their men. But M'Laws waited for
Anderson, the precious opportunity was lost, and no attack
was commenced until five in the evening.
Meantime General Lee, satisfied that General Hooker
would give him no more trouble at Chancellorsville, re-
paired to Fredericksburg, and in person marshalled the
brigades of three divisions in that part of the field. The
attack, as I have said, commenced at five in the evening—
the resistance of the Federals was contemptible in the ex-
treme. Their shattered columns made for Banks' Ford,
pd ue r
ars
tuoefes
h,
eblufif tgt
hshcet
length
olgywthw i; taf hr
thiss
sffil cep
airetenenrt
wvl iea
sgaoputr
not,
down
bo
already
rnt
ehae C
fdryemionnotfehr
dmate, many details of the local circumstances of this por-
tione
height behind Marye's Hill upon their standing fee—how
Lawton's brigade of Georgians, commanded in this instance
by a gallant young officer named Gordon, specially distin-
guished themselves, might be profitably given—suffice it to
say that night fell upon the Federals hurrying down to the
river at Banks' Ford, and that during the night, under
cover of ancther dense fog, threw a pontoon across the
stream, under a heavy and damaging fire from M'Laws,
and broken, discomfited, demoralised, got back to the
Northern bank.
At Chancellorsville the Confederates lay all day within
the lines which with indomitable energy they had in the
night traced around the position of Hooker's troops, and
which hemmed them in, leaving only the United States
Ford open, the sole exodus of that army which had advanced
in full assurance of victory five days before. Along these
lines for a considerable portion of their length it was my
fortune to ride to-day, and never did I witness anything
like the mirth and glee of the troops. It was touching to
hear the complaints of the skirmishers who had just re-
turned from the front, and who felt themselvee personally
aggrieved that the Federals refused to skirmish this morn-
ing, and that, in fact, no fight could be got out of them.
strange and unprecedented fatality—So,ooo troops sur-
rounded and hemmed in by one-third of their number,
powerless to break through, or make any demonstrations
against their puny foe—to this pass had " the finest army
on the planet" ingloriously come I

TUESDAY, May 5.

Early this morning I rode over to Fredericksburg, and
found that not a Federal soldiet, save a large batch of pri-
soners around Salem Church, was left on the south side of
the Rappahannock. I proceeded to General Lee's head-
quarters, and had the great advantage of riding back from
Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville in company with the
General, and hearing his free comments upon the events of
the week. If for ono moment lam tempted to lift the veil,
and reveal portions of his conversation, it is because I feel
that all who speak the English tongie should be admitted
to a closer perception and higher appreciation of ono who
does honour to our race. The General bewailed the compa-
-at:ye impunity with which Sedgwick and his followers had
escaped from his grasp. "Up to this time we have done
nothing but afford the Northern press material for Another
great Union victory I' True, we have driven our enemy
from every field, swept away his every formation, scourged
him out of works from which neither whirlwind nor hurri-
cane could ever drive my poor raggamuffins—but what of
that ? I have learnt that nothing but the entire capture of
a whole corps will ever produce ar effect, and such a capture
should unquestionably have been effected yesterday." In
answer to my remark that, judging from the wholesale cap-
ture of arms and accoutrements, at least one quarter of
Hooker's army must be impotent for offence, the General
observed, " With the resources of the North probably the
deficiency of arms has been made good already. Conceive
the glee of the contractors when a new call for everything
wanted for 100,000 men, from caps down to shoes, is re-
ceived at Washington, all the profits going into the pockets
of the Republican party I Compare with their resources
those which I wield. Not a day passes but opportunities
occur. Signal advantages oiler themselves, bat I cannot
use them. Want of transport, want of tools, pontoons,
horses, and inferiority of numbers force me to abandon the
chance of action. But hereafter I think we shall be more
on an equality." But most interesting of all was his
conversation about Stonewall Jackson. " Had I been
able to dictate events, most gladly would I have been
disabled in my own person if he had teen spared.
Such an executive officer the sun never shone on.
I have but to show him my design, and I know that if it
can be done it will be done. No need for me to send and
watch him. Straight as the needle to the pole he advances
to the execution of my purpose. Pure, high-minded, un-
selfish, he has no earthly thought of himself or his own ad-
vancement. The solo aim and object of his life is the good
of his country."

As w e parted the General's last words led me to conclude
that his attack upon Hooker would be resumed that after-
noon. We arrived at Chancellorsville about 1 o'clock. The
morning had been singularly and oppressively hot. Pre-
sently heavy thunder-clouds blew up from the south, the
wind swept round into the north-east, and there was a
sound of much rain. The whole of that afternoor, the fol-
lowing night, and most of the next day, the heavens seemed
to have opened. Torrents of rain deluged the earth, and it
became very cold. As I sheltered myself in a little farm
on the plank road the brigades of Anderson's division
came splashing through the mud, in wild tumultuous
spirits, singing, shouting, jesting, heedless of soaking rags,
drenched to the skin, and burning again to mingle in the
wild revelry of battle. One could not but speculate what
manner of night Hooker's men were passing. But assuredly
to them the heavy rain of Tuesday night, the deafening re-
verberations of God's artillery, which rent the heavens and
mocked puny man's efforts at imitation, were blessings in-
deed. They arrested and delayed the renewal of Lee's at-
tack, and preserved Hooker's army for the opportunity of
" another great Union victory T."

WEDNESDAY, May G.
The morning broke misty, with rain, heavy and lower-
ing. The reader will anticipate my statement that it found
Hooker and his army on the northern bank of the river.
All night long had they been streaming across the pon-
toons over the United States Ford. It was found that they
had thrown up works and traverses which were marvels of
industry and indefatigable energy, but which, fresh from
the memory of the slope at Chancellorsville, and of the in-
trenchments and abattis in the black jack thicket, they
dared not attempt to hold. Further comments upon the
incidents which so hurriedly and imperfectly I have at-
tempted to relate I will, in mercy to the reader, forbear.
The bloody repulse of the enemy at every point, the frus-
tration of every movement, the spectacle of at least 120,000
men hurled back in three places across the Rappahannock,
after paying fearful toll for its passage, constitute an 04-
semblc which requires nothing to be added to it.

Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
chasing llorniman's pure Tea ; very choice at 3s 4d. and
4s. " High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the
strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every
town supply it in packets.
ST. BOTOLPH7 BISTIOPSGATE.--The rectory of
St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, in the City of London,
vacant by the death of the Rev. John Russell, D.D., has
been conferred by the Lord Bishop of London upon the
Rev. William Rogers, M.A., incumbent of St. Thomas
Charterhouse, E.C. Mr. Rogers was appointed incumbeno
of St. Thomas, Cbarterhouse, in 1814, a chaplain in ordi-
nary to the Queen in 1857, and has held the honorary office
of a prebendary- in St. Paul's Cathedral since 1561. The
living of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, was in the first instancee,
we believe, offered to the Rev. Frederick George Blomfild'
M.A., rector of St. Andrew Undershaft, E.C. It is pro-
posed to make such alterations in the benefice of St.
Botolph as will reduce the rector's income in future to
£1,200 per annum.

. t _
,
gig

LONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1863.

How serious matters are becoming in Poland, the
Telegrams of this forenoon clearly demonstrate.
Through one the electric current tells us, by a few
lightning flashes, from the other end of Europe, that
immediately after the execution of the insurgent
chief HEINRICH ABICHT and of the Capuchin
monk KONARSKI, both of whom, it will be remem-
bered, were only the other day hanged, a warning
from the National Government was despatched to
the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE. That mysterious
National Government —as inscrutable, in its
way, as the awful masked Council of Ten at
Venice—has thus warned the Grand Duke CON-
STANTINE that his life is in serious jeopardy. The
invisible and puissant authority representing the
present armed and hitherto triumphant insurrection
tells the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE that for his
safety, for his personal safety in future it can no
longer hold itself responsible. The death of the great
Polish Chieftain, above all the death of the good
and beloved Monk—has each, have both—cast away
the last chance of reeonciiiation. The divinity that
hedges Kings and Princes according to the poet
has crumbled to dust in Poland, in reference to the
representatives of that cruel Russian Autocracy.
The Grand Duke CONSTANTINE now stands
unsheltered by any glamour of loyalty—even
supposing loyalty to be under any circumstances
possible from a polish peasant to a Russian Prince.
His Imperial Highness has himself flung away the
scabbard : and now without shield or barrier
of any kind, he stands before an outraged and
infuriated nation the foremost and the most
conspicuous figure amongst the ranks of its
oppressors.

Another incident reveals, if possible, yet more
distinctly than ever the solemn warning addressed
to the GRAND DUKE by the National Government,
the extremity of antagonism to which the Poles
have at length been driven by the cruel domination
of the CZAR. And the incident we allude to is
simply this—thatin consequence of the execution of
the excellent priest KONARSKI, the archbishop
and the clergy of Warsaw, having sent in a
protest to the Government demanding that that
dead Monk's body should be handed over to them
for interment, that protest and demand were
immediately telegraphed to St. Petersburgh.
Thence, it now appears, that an order has recently
been received, commanding the archbishop at
once to repair to the capital. Archbishop FELINSKI
has in consepence it is said already left Warsaw for
St. Petersburg. To meet with what reception—
who shall say ? The Russian game is fast being
played out. Religion has long since begun there in
earnest to sanctify Patriotism by its august com-
plicity. The insurrection is gaining strength day
by day. It would require the whole might of
Russia now to crush it out entirely. And the
exercise of that ruthless power by Russia against
Poland—Public Opinion throughout -Western
Europe can hardly much longer tolerate.

The case of Sergeant-Major LILLEY was last
night adverted to in the House of Lords, and the
Earl of SHAF CESBTJRY put a question to the Seere-
tary for\Var regarding that subject which has lately
engrossed so much public attention. The noble
Earl stated that he forebore to make ally pre'imi-
navY observations as he had no official knowledge
of the matter' and he must be careful not to give
rise to "unfounded
ions." This reservsuspicions," or "unjust asper-
from
Lord
sis only what might be ex-
pectedntArrEsßUßY'S well-known
moderation, but he wen
n to say with great truth
that " so frightful a picture as that presented in the
case I have alluded
to
public,h and i m
never yet been brought
before the British
that, so
far as I can judge, whaatnhdasstuackheni
place mast
believe add
hitherto
also
is
most unsatisfactory,
the judgment of the public." The noble lord then
asked whether it Was the intention of the Govern-
ment to institute auy further inquiry into the cases
of Lieutenant-Colonel firawley and Sergeant-Major
LILLEY. Before this was answered by the Secre-
tary for War, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE madd some
remarks on the question. He observed that he
wished to explain not so much about the court-
martial on Paymaster &VALE, as what might re-
sult from a court-martial on Lieutenant-Colonel
CRAWLEY, which he believed would be deemed
necessary. His Royal Highness then clearly
explained his purpose in addressing their
lordships. " So much has been said as to the
position which I fill, and as to the line I have taken
with regard to this melancholy proceeding, that it
is right your lordships and the country should know
the exact relative position in which I, filling the

r high position I have the honour to occupy, stand
with reference to the Commander-in-Chief in India,
and, in short, how I stand with reference to the
whole matter." The illustrious Duke then pro-
ceeded to explain that he had very little to do with
the discipline of the Army in India. He stood in
the position of a referee, as a last appeal, In regard
to the proceedings of Colonel CRAWLEY with respect
to Sergeant-Major LILLEY he observed that, when
his report was drawn up, he was not in possession
of the whole facts of the case. He, therefore, did
not summarily dismiss the Colonel, but reserved his
judgment till more was known. In reference to
Sir HUGH ROSE and Sir IV, MANSFIELD, the Duke
of CAMBRIDGE spoke very decidedly. He said that
it had been imputed to them that the reason nothing
was done was in consequence of their being con-
cerned in the transaction :—" No doubt these two
distinguished General officers were concerned ; but
the question arises, were they concerned in such a
manner that I was called on to take action at once?
Now, I most conscientiously believe that these two
distinguished officers had every desire to do their
duty, but they committed a very serious error of
judgment. That was my conviction, and I believe
that to be the real state of the case. I believe that
will come out as the result of any further investi-
gation that may take place, even on the question of
the erroneous imprisonment to which such import.
ance has been given." Further on, the Duke stated
that the result of the imprisonment was not known
to him when the memorandum was written. Also,
he acknowledged that he did not believe that these
distinguished officers, Sir H. ROSE and Sir W.
MANSFIELD, had been actuated by personal feeling,
and that they had erred in judgment, "and from
no desire to do what was cruel, unjust, or wrong in
point of law." The illustrious Duke then explained
that he had not acted so undecidedly as some sup-
posed, because it was only within the last ten days
that he had been in a position to advise that a court-
martial should take place upon the merits of the
case. After referring to the great delay that in-
evitably took place, because of the time it took to
communicate with India and the many questions
that had to be put concerning the whole transac-
tion, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE concluded in these
impressive words :—" I have been obliged to point
out these facts to your lordships in order to show
that, whatever has been done has been with a view
not to screen any person, but with the strictest and
most earnest desire to do justice to all—not only to
do justice to the feelings of distress naturally occa-
sioned by the painful circumstances that have oc-
curred, but also to do justice to those who have been
implicated, and to whom your lordships must wish
to give every possible opportunity of defending and
justifying themselves. That, my lords, is the only
statement I have to make. As to any pressure
being put upon me, I would, of course, spurn the
idea. It does so happen that I never discussed the
matter in any manner but with those parties on
whose judgment I was enabled to rely in coming
to a sound, just, and safe conclusion."
It must be acknowledged by every one that the
Duke of CAMBRIDGE spoke in a decided manner,
and showed great judgment in his spirited and yet
cautious reply. It is also significant that he never
made any allusion to Colonel CRAWLEY'S conduct.
It is most satisfactory that this question has been
taken up at last in a proper manner, and there now
seems no reason to cavil any longer at the question,
since the proper authorities are about to investigate
the matter ; and apart from their own sense of right,
the knowledge that so many are watching their
proceedings will ensure full justice being meted out
all offenders.

Another debate between the Marquis of CLAN-
RICARDE and Earl RUSSELL on the much-vexed
question of our neutral commerce to American
waters took place last evening in the House of
Lords. As on previoas occasions, however, the
noble Marquis was unable to convince his opponent
that there had been any degree of harshness, injus-
tice, or illegality in the acts of the Federal autho-
rities. On the contrary, the sentiments of the noble
Earl at the head of the Foreign Department seem
to grow more and more mild and pacific. Although
rash and intemperate expressions would ill become
a Minister of the Crown, yet the representatives of
our mercantile interest may well feel disinclined
to trust their cause altogether in th e
hands of our Foreign Secretary. In his anxiety to
be just to the Federal Government he is inclined to
slight the claims of his own countrymen to con-
sideration. No doubt the situation presents many
awkward aspects which render it difficult to deal
with, but a more assured and manly tone on the
part of the English Government throughout would
unquestionably have saved much loss and annoy-
ance. On the only occasion cn which our Ministers
showed anything like spirit or determination
matters were seedily adjusted ; and though we
should shrink from exerting our great naval
strength as a means of tyrannising over weaker
powers, there is no reason that we should allow the
Federals to tyrannise over us. The war which is
desolating their country, decimating their popu-
lation, and crippling their resources, is certainly
none of our doings. It was madly rushed into by
themselves, and has been recklessly carried on, no
matter at what cost of life and happiness. America
certainly presents a warning against the evils of
war, but a calm and resolute maintenance of our
own rights is the way to avoid war rather than to
seek it. A Government and a people need not be
so proverbially " cute" as the Northerners to per-
c2ive that our Ministry will submit to any insult or
injury they may chose to inflict on our commerce,
rather than risk a quarrel. So timid and hesitating
are their proceedings that our naval officer 3 have
outstripped Lord RUSSELL'S sentiments considerably
in their actions. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE
referred to the case of the Ruby, an English vessel,
for the capture of which Admiral Winfus, that
Federal NELSON, had given orders, wherever she
might be found, whether engaged in running the
blockade or not. Admiral MILNE, on hearing
this, sent the Ariadne to protect the Ruby, who
was found at a short distance from Admiral
WILKES, who, like other valiant commanders,
esteemed discretion the better part of valour, and
departed. It is satisfactory after this to read the
letter quoted by the First Lord of the Admiralty
from Sir ALEXANDER MILNE, expressing the sense
which he and all his officers entertained of Admiral
WILKES'S invariable courtesy and attention.
Doubtles 3 the commander of the Ruby was
ietci s
if
e l b y
of American ex-
tremely sensible of the attention so kindly shown
that v
tihneterNesotrathaerorntonbae übvaalhmotteri.ed
It is a
to
the
an authorities
reverse the position of affairs
Pity f Englishs s
d
, atnhda t
obtain
bwtea i
n cannot
their
opinion of it, supposing it t..) be an American case
In the old legends culprits were sometimes called on
- -
to pronounce their own doom when they still sup-
posed their offences to be secret, and if
we could get
an American view of our case it would undoubtedly
be very advantageous. The Marquis of CLANRI.
CARDE reminded the House that in 1816 an eminent
American statesman had declared that it was re-
pugnant to the law of nations for several hundred
miles of coast to be blockaded. The Spanish
Government withdrew the proclamation ou this
reorebentatiol,, and the blockade ceas,d, The noble

lord made several other statements proving the
real inefficiency of the blockade which yet continues
to impoverish our manufacturers and injure our
legitimate trade. How much longer this state of
things is to last may well be questioned, but the
Northern Government may thank the timidity or
lenity of cur Government that the blockade has
been suffered to exist, if indeed anything can be
estimated an advantage which has tended to prolong
this miserable and fruitless war.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

MADAME RISTORI.

In the present wintry condition of our stage,
when its tragic and poetic power is almost reduced
to the verge of extinction—the visits of Madame
Ristori remind us of those of the Government agents
who yearly travel to the Siberian colonies, in order
to supply them with light and sustenance, and sus-
tain their spirit of allegiance. Without her we
could almost fancy a true sense of a tragic ideal
would die out altogether. It is something as painful
as it is surprising to see how palpable she makes the
phenomenon of the decay of our histrionic talent—a
decay which is only to be explained by the fact of
our realistic and sensuous age that deteriorates art
in all directions, and which in the drama, replacing
a mental by a merely physical excitement, has
reduced our comedy to farce, and our tragedy to
melodrama. As it is the play that develops the
actor—that calls into being all that sympathetic and
imitative faculty which gives to the creation of the
poet the manifestation of the artist—and as this
relation necessarily holds in every phase the
drama assumes—the actor never rising above
the source of his inspiration—an age in which
Shakespear is only to be sustained by spectacle,
and theatres only rendered prosperous by
sensation pieces, such as the " Colleen Bawn"
and the " Peep 0' Day"—may well explain the
abasement of our long declining stage. It is a proof
as striking as it is humiliating that the only in-
stances in recent years in which it was felt that
histrionic art regained the splendour that irradiated
our own theatres, in other days, when they possessed
a Kean and a Macready, a Young and a Charles
Kemble—were in the persons of three foreigners—
Rachel, Ristori, and Mr. Fechter. These are circum-
stances little calculated to sustain our national com-
placency. Nor is their annoyance mitigated by any
prospect of a speedy removal of the stigma. An
entire change in public taste which must affect
the entire condition of the arts must be the
condition, we apprehend, of any sensible improve-
ment of the particular branch we are considering.
At the same time we must not be ungrateful for
the good with which we are favoured, and which
so largely alleviates the position that it serves to
make so palpable. We must duly estimate the
powers of our great Italian actress, which are so
adapted to keep alive in us our truest poetic sympa-
thies, and which can so well fulfil the double end
of supplying us with an ideal resource, and the
finest and rarest standard by which its enjoyment
should be tested. Madame Ristori comes before us as
no mere substitute for a lost power, which in the
impoverished condition of our time we ought to
be thankful for in any shape, she presents herself,
on the contrary, as its highest illustration, and
claims as much to be regarded in the light of a study
as a source of pleasure. No little credit, therefore,
is due to the taste and spirit of Mr. Mapleson, who,
wisely divining the want of our times, has placed
this great artist again before us, and who in his
announcement of her claims has given such further
proof of his own to be placed at the head of a na-
tional theatre. Nor is there a want of fitness in
her appearing on the boards of a Lyric Temple,
where the tragic element at present is in so much
force than at other houses, and where if the
space is somewhat too great to do justice to the
play of her features, the advantage for sound en-
sure the enjoyment of the minutest whisper
of her noble voice. Mdme. Ristori is en-
gaged for a series of eight representations,
' none of which will be repeated, and commenced
them last night with the character that made her
genius known to Europe—that of Medea.
We are gratified in stating that her unrivalled
powers show no decline since she last appeared
among us, now some four seasons ago, but on the
contrary, an increase of concentration, and even
mentality, that many of her old observers would
have scarcely imagined possible. We need
hardly refer again to the old comparisons which
have been so frequently and often, we must
add, unjustly, instituted between herself and
Rachel—in respect to whom, if it can be said she
wants the electric energy and overwhelming pas-
sion, she as entirely surpasses in her pathos, her
variety, her consummate art, and her imagination.
As little occasion have we to dwell on the merits of
the play she appears in as a test of legitimate
power. After all the outcry that has been raised
against M. Legouve's version of Earepides,
and its false colouring of French senti-
ment on the simple beauty of Greek
sculpture—it must be remembered that his
endeavour to give a romantic form to a classic
original was a transition that involved no ordinary
difficulties, and that in its chief respect his version
is to be regarded as highly meritorious, namely,
'its entire displacement of the supernatural element
in favour of the human—by means of which
Medea not only ceases to revolt as a sorce
ress, whose aspect is mach too terrible, but enlists
our sympathies as the wife and mother whom great
passion in the first instance had tempted into crime,
and great wrong in the second maddened into cruelty.
The dramatist with great shill has made Jason the
true criminal both in his abuse of Medea's affection
in the first place, and his desertion of her in the
second. Condensing admirably the expres-
sion of his purpose in the last energetic burst
he gives her, when on the slaughter of her chil-
dren she turns on him with the frantic and ter-
rible denunciation, Tu!
Madme. Ristori's performance last evening Was a
most profound as well as affecting interpretation,
of this design. NV e had the wife and mother before
us, as more sinned against than sinning, whose cha-
racter, if so entirely passionate, as to make it an
easy prey to crime—supplies, in this very source
the expiation of her guilt, in the more than ordinary
suffering which its retributions would impose on it,
Thus the painful and the terrible, whilst rounded
by her poetic expression of them into a sense of
beauty that makes them attractive, are still further
elevated by the moral aspect that her agonies
assume, when, deeply as they move our pity, they
make plain to us their justice. It is this double
power which confers on Madame Ristori her great
distinction—the ability to refine the terrible, how-
ever vehement, into the poetic, and the power, not
less conspicuous, of exhibiting its effect as either
purificatory or retributive,

We regret we have not space to illustrate
these remarks by a quotation of the numerous pas-
sages which we marked during the performance,
and must content ourselves with referring in proof
of her increase of power to both of her scenes with
Creusa, in evidence of the finer growth of
her deep-seated passion into hatred, a change
which ever struggles with, conviction till
wrong and suffering afford her heart no
other outlet than in blood ; and in the scene also
with Jason, in which the terrible fear of his false-
hood strives to the last to indulge a hope of his
returning love and justice. The more marked
points of her performance were also stamped with
this concentration, such as the delivery of the image
of the leopard, the feeling that her love frightens
her children even on blessing them.

Sovente
For for paura col mei stessi Abbraccia.
Her reference to the Eum,enides, and the stamp of
murderess on her brow—

Il tartareo segn9.l the Glove on fronts,
Dell' omicida imprimi.
Her reminding Jason that their guilt is an insepa-
rable bend of union, the finest passage in the play ;
and lastly her great outburst on her rejection by
him, which so strangely and so worthily recalls
the memory of Edmund Kean.
audience,
the Was
end called
of h
Madame Ristori was warmly applauded through-
out this noble performance by a highly appreciat-
ingane d forterm
atpertfhoecalnoscee
withof every
act, and ie
n a ctethe
loudest ?iemonstration.