The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-15 00:00:00

rICE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
RICHMOND, Nov. 14.
a Confederate States are evidently approaching
a ata ge in this war which will test more than ever
the at :übbornness and tenacity of their temper and
prit'Le:ace, and can only be successfully encountered
by a national spirit as systematic as it is resolizte.

fh sir enemy, with as much pertinacity, and far
me re sagacity than heretofore, hems in the edges of
the " rebellion" on every side, avoids the frequent
recurrence of pitched battle and general engage-
ments, pounces with haysk-like swoop upon isolated
and inadequately supported bodies of men, evinces
possession of admirable secret information, keeps the
Confederate generals eaastantly on the rack, and,
harrassed by irruptions of cavalry, makes his supe-
riority of numbers, and still more his abundance of
supplies for horse and man, more and more felt, and
finally is, inrclsting the Forts of Secessia with a cor-
don of v essf.:lB so numerous as for the first time in 30
month 3 to make access to the Confederate coast
really 'dangerous and difficult. On the other hand,
in rel.,eldom itself the Federals have a powerful
ally in circumstances which, to my thinking, have
fro the beginning quadrupled the magnitude of
ti'he Confederate task. No one who has been con-
Tersant with the Northern States during the 21
years can have failed to notice with astonishment
the faith stronger than death which the Northerners
have exhibited in their " star," their " manifest
destiny," their "religion," their Alpha and Omega,
their dream of dominion from sea to sea, and (to

quote Mr. Everett's words) " from the icy Pole to
the flaming belt of the Equator." No parallel faith
has ever been exhibited by the Confederate States in
their future. Six great Southern victories in the
field and three drawn battles, exhausting the nine
principal collisions of the war, the entire absence of
any such panic route as Bull Run or Chicamauga,
the tried inefficacy of the Federal blockade, the un-
molested predatory flight of Alabamas and Floridas
at sea, hive altogether failed to inspire the masses
of the South with a tithe of that confidence in them-
selves which neither defeat, nor disaster, nor hope
deferred, nor illusions dispelled, have ever shaken
out of the Northerners. Deny it who may, there

is something sublime in this shadowy earnestness
and 'misty
magnificence of Northern faith and self-
reli ance. Would that I could see promises of future
andfinal Southern triumph in any corresponding
quality of the Southern mind! In many fashions
Southern unfaith crops up
and recoils upon the Con-
federate Government, waking, for instance, Mr.
meraminger's task, though he takes his stand upon
raw material worth 60 or 70 millions of pounds
sterling, Herculean as compared with Mr. Chase'a,
who issues vastly iarger promises to pay on a security
of breadstuff exports worth only 60 or 70 millions
of dollars. There are, of course, other reasons to
account for the fact t4at three dollars in " green
backs" will buy two dollars in gold, while it requires
30 paper dollars of the Confederacy to buy a like
sum; but this fundamental explanation of the dis-
crepancy in value of the irredeemable paper issues
of the two sections lies in the vastly superior faith
in themselves of the Northern people. For months
we have heard throughout the Confederacy the
cuckoo cry, " Da something to arrest the deprecia-
tion of the currency, or we perish ;'' but hitherto
nothing has been done, and, as is now seen by every-
body, we are on the brink of a precipice. It is univer-
sally admitted that the coup try is richer in everything
that constitutes wealth than it was 12 months ago;
that there is a sufficiency of meat and far greater
abundance of cereals than last year; that fruit and
vegetables has been granted us in unusual abundance,
that Richmond has supplies of coal and wood vastly
in excess of those laid in against last winter—in proof
of which I may mention that the streets are now
as well lighted as those of London, whereas last
year their Cimmerian darkness was a favourite
theme of the New York Herold ; but in spite of
these facts unfaith in Confederate currencrgrows
apace, the farmers refuse to part with their crops en
any terms, flour fetches 100 dols. per barrel, and is
rising, bacon is close ou 3 dols. a lb., every thisg is
proportionately dear, and nothing plentiful, save
Confederate currency, until at last a woman going
to market has been heard to exclaim, " I carry a
basket to market to hold my money, and I carry a
pocket-book to fetch home the slice of beef which it

~. f ~
Q~ 7.

In this emergency all eyes turn to the Confede-
rate Congress, which meets upon the 7th of Decem-
ber; and never was graver question submitted to a
deliberative assembly than teat which awaits its
immediate discussion. Some 800 or 900 millions of
dollars are afloat in a community which could with
difficulty sustain a circulation of 200 millions, and,
worse than all, Mr. Memminger's paper mill is
harder at work than ever, until the dollar, which
now represents a value of fourpence English, pro-
micas shortly to be worth only four farthings. The
redundant currency has somehow to be funded, fresh
issues to be suspended, a limited amount of circulat-
ing medium to be put forth, and a solemn pledge
given that this amount shall not hereafter be ex-
ceeded. I am bound to record that the people are
in a temper to stand extravagant taxation. For
many weeks past the Confederate Cabinet has been
eagerly engaged in discussing and excogitating a
scheme of relief, and a financial convention of the
Presidents. of Southern banks is to assemble at
-ett,reusta on the 16th inst. I have reason to think
ve* t some such van as the following has found
.evee... •
wip be
in the eyt s of influential men. Authority
itisuL:itven to the Secretary of the Treasury to
Bilarl millions of 6 per cent, coupon bonds,
and
6 per cent, on to impose an annual tax of
of which n: real and personal estate capitalised,
the other tehal°t *ne -half is to be paid in currency and
million loan. specie or coupons of the 1,000
'1 here will be inducements offered
(such as a bones ot 5
7 iutoper cent.) at once to buy up or
convert currency
:his loan, and it is hoped that
BO much of the exia
circulation will be quickly
retired es will ina
put m:cilt:
Lately
reduce prices, and admit
to t
of a limit being
e outstanding currency.
Other details of this therescheme are in abundance,
but, concisely stated, its outline is
I have sketched. My owe apprehension
far from what
is that it
will not be prompt and
one stie
tieh
away at on the et
hough in its opera-
tion to sweep
inspire confidence in redundancy of
the currency, to
people, and to bring supplies.proteptie distrustful
t
market
.twant
If it fails there is no alternative left or the Govern-
ment but to seize and impress whatevo, t
with a high hand, and to this step it will be
im-
pelled, rather than yield to the hated Yankeeibet
the
almost unanimous voice of the Confedet ate peopiee.
It was iong ago remarked by Machiavelli that no
people once embarked in war is ever forced into
peace by reason of pecuniary inanition,and never
were there nations less amenable to considerations of
cash than the two sections of a sundered republic,
which three years ago exhibited an average of indi-
vidual wealth among its citizens such as could be
found nowhere else upon earth. The embarrassments
of the Confederates in adjusting their currency, in
getting the supplies which abound in distant Florida
and elsewhere up to the mouths which need them,
and in introducing through an increasingly stringent
blockade all that is vital for the continued struggle,
may be, and probably will be, grievous and per-
plexing; that they will be such as to extinguish or
paralyse future resistance will not be lightly ere-,
dited by one who knows what difficulties have
already been surmounted, what shortcomings sup-
plemented, what energy and ingenuity displayed.
The reported capture of the two principal Go-
vernment v • •
• en_v_e‘
in
running
which have since January last been
mabdel4:eairlyrrning the blockade, and which have
httly round voyages between them, will
doubtless be
up to England by Mr. Seward as
a great instaueee of
Yankee vigour; and yet it re-
quires large
regard as effective such a
blockade as hes eZnt7
ell months pierced at will
be the COrblltlifi findGoirr
been called, the Robert
Tree, Doubtless fresh Go-
nobtehying
vernment
the latthests
of the Qrdnance Bureau, and
emeantime such
by the vessels belongin
is the glut of blockading goods
liQieffts:reeadtt for
introduced into the
t althinisgmtoon:
private
Confederacy
understand there areag to
comp inter, that I
mo-
ment fifteen cargoes warehoused at
awaiting a rise ie. prices before they are
sale. Never since, the establishment of
depeedeace liave there in-
' such suppii:s of brian.

dies and wines in Richmond, Augusta, and many
other cities as at this moment. The blockade- running
seems about to be intermitted, not so much by reason
of the increased energy o 7 the blockading squadrons
as of the fact that the Southern market is glutted
by the goods already introduced.
The principal alteration since I left the army of
Gen. Bragg is the capture by the Faderals of Racoon
Mountain, and the erection by the Confederates of
batteries on the summit of Lookout Mountain.
Three weeks ago when I was there, the Confederate
batteries were not more than half-way up the
mountain, and were principally directed against
the Federal batteries on Moccasin Bond. But

the necessity of sweeping the valley between the

two mountains, and of commanding the stream
called Lookout Creek, which divides Lookout
and Racoon Mountains, and across which

the extreme Confederate left now faces the
extreme Federal right, rendered it necessary for the
Confederates to haul artillery to the summit of Look-
out—a laborious feat, which was successfully accom-
plished by Colonel Alexander, Acting Chief of
Artillery to General Longstreet, an active and
valuable officer. But I cannot conceal my own itn-.
pression that very little energy has been shown by
the Confederate Government in their operations
against Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee. Suc-
cesses have been gained at London by the Confede-
rates, and it would seem that nothing more was re-
quired to drive Burnside out of Knoxville, than a
hearty and harmonious co-operation between Gene-
ral Stephenson, who is at London, and General Sam
Jones, who is in Western Virginia. But no energy,
no enterprise, has in this quarter been exhibited,
although I am assured by officers attached to Jones's
command that, in their opinion 10,000 Confederates
could sweep Esst Tennessee clear of Federals. I fear
that the harmony of action between the armies of
Generals Lee and Bragg, which has been repre-
sented in England as existing, is as imaginary as
the transfer to and fro from Virginia to Tennessee,
and back from Tennessee to Virginia, of General
Longstreet and his corps. They who have witnessed
the slowness and difficulty which accompany the
movement of army corps, who are cognisant of the
weeks which such an upheaval exacts, will under-
stand the impossibility of any such strategy as the
Confederates have been credited with. Great as has
been the acumen exhibited by the English press
throughout this war in sifting Northern versions of
the news,—an acumen which has often been com-
mended in my hearing since I came to the South,—
you have yet to learn that in regard to the number '
of the Confederate troops engaged, and to the Con-
federate generals in command, there is often in
Northern accounts of battles not one grain or yes-
tige of truth.

General Lee is lying in his intrenched camp to
the south of the Rapidan, threatened alarmingly by
the thunders of the Northern press, and feebly by
the movements of Gen. Meade. We are promised
a battle from day to day by the editors of either
section. I have myself the greatest doubts whether
an action is imminent. Nevertheless, there is no
manner of question that Meade is urged forward
from Washington in very much the same fashion
as was Burnside 12 months ago. Possibly Meade's
recent success against two Confederate brigades
(Hoke's and Hay's), which were left in an exposed
position to the north of the Rappahannock River,
may tempt him on to a battle. If he attacks ben.
Lee a repetition of the battle of Fredericksburg
assuredly awaits him. But there are indications
that Meade would rather be displaced than forced
to initiate battle against his better judgment. His
sudden pounce upon Hoke's and Hay's brigades on
the 7th inst. was admirably conceived and executed,
and resulted in placing in Gen. Meade's hands a
larger number of " butternut" prisoners (about
1,700) than have ever hitherto been captured by
Federal Generals in Virginia. Assuming that Gen.
Longatreet's operations against Gen. Sherman are
successful, I incline to the belief that rain and snow
will put an extinguisher upon active operations
East or West, without any such battles as Frede-
ricksburg or Murfreesborough, which signalised the
last December ; and that a long winter of discontent
is about to settle down upon both sections, of which
the coming drift and complicated history lie hidden
more deeply and inscrutably from human ken than
ever yet was the future shroudeu from the eye of
men.

The French in the Mediterranean,
-0. _ -

A letter from Nice, dated Dec. 10, says :
What has become of English enterprise ? our
countrymen are asking. It is not only M. Ferdi-
nand Lesseps who seems bent on realising the
grande idee of converting the Mediterranean into a
French lake ; every month sees the formation of
some new steam packet service, conducted with
French capital and with an unusual amount of
French energy. The Messageries Impitriales, pos-
sessing a fleet of excellent boats, have long had a
kind of monopoly of the Mediterranean traffic; and
at last, now when competition is created, strange to
say, it owes its origin to the French and not to the
English. Posted up on every wall may be seen
programmes of the new companies of Valery and
Frassinet, who undertake to traverse the whole
Mediterranean. There is not a port of any im-
portance on the Spanish and Italian coast which
is not daily visited by one or other of these
great rival companies. The people begin to asso-
ciate the tricolour with anew commercial era. All
the passengers are English—all the boats are
French. It is to France that the tourist tribe are
indebted for the means of gratifying their classical
tastes, and for converting every sheltered olive and
orange-clad nook on the shores of the Mediterra-
nean into an English colony.

It is truly to be regretted that this ample field
for English enterprise has been, strange to say, ne-
glected. We might fairly have imagined that these
energetic Englishmen in wide-awakes and wide
pockets, who elbow their way through the Conti-
nent, would have carried some of their love of mari-
time speculation with them. Wherever they can
plant their foot their money is scattered broadcast
around them, but they seem to mistrust the treach-
erous blue waters. On the mountain side, on the
glittering, glistening coast of the littoral, every rood
of ground, worth anything for profit or residence,
maintains its Englishman. Monster hotels are
found in secluded dells, Protestant churches and
even chapels of ease invite the eloquence of our
itinerant and consumptive countrymen along the
southern shores of France. From Marseilles to the i
new geographical boundary of France, beyond
Mentone, the English language in all its various
dialects and patois is alone spoken. On the rail-
ways the engineers are English ; the guards, the
Porters, interpret in English the wishes of the tra-
vcie.ller while he is looking out in his guide for the
iII:elle which shall express his wants; donkey
those Zi)
drivers, omnibus conductors, indulge in
coantielisla expressions which are associated on
An glaie p4oeullt
the
with our familiar conversation. The
e is still the style of the French
vaudevilie, thorir
Anglaia the welcome guest
at the hotel
English alone oesteurant. The English and the
or en privileged class; their mar-
Frenchman,thiumieaforgiven; where low-batted
venous eccen trieiti:he
off by a sergeant_44.:it,i,e Italian, would be taken
,4 Bah cleat nn
ae_,
_the official exclaims,
But once on the sea, 44tasses on.
element, it is very different.
lishman's natural
home, he feels himself
Where he should be
most at
the "flag that „_%,:anger; all his
swagger about
ur ed a
be forgotten • thousand
years," &c., mustis
walks ell French Protected
by the tricolour, and
• h hours, his E, Pl6mka; he
must forget his English gush habite
and for the time suppress his intense natlonalit
It is hard to find ourselves driven away from
the
to know that,e
high road of the East and from
Gibraltar to the Bosphorus, the French are east
being considered the dominant maritime race.
The annexation of Savoy and Nice has been at-
tended with more important consequences than
we anticipated. Nice and the smaller towns on the
coast afford to foreigners proofs of the wonderful
results of French skill and French progress; the
public gardens spring into new life, touched by the
hand of French taste; the Var, whose banks have
so often witnessed the spectacle of rival armies,
which saw the gallant gathering of the gentlemen
of Provence, when, under the Marshal Belleisie,
they drove the Austrians across the turbid and

swollen river, must be surprised to find its torrent
confined by immense dykes which oppose a barrier
to the floods which in winter devastate the plains.
All this is the work of the French, and the Italians
are beginning to appreciate the advantages of their
civilization. It is true that it costs them dearly.
One cannot belong to a country full of les grandes
„zees without paying a high price for it. The
poor myriads, having pilfered all their lives, find
their treasure taken from them. The troops and
gendarmery of France make them regret those
happy days when they were the governing race,
before the French were
werespcoaillsle.d in to take the lion's
share of the English

Lord Clarence Paget on the Naval Reserve.

afternoon dboatsdhithoneaTbhleamjems pmanayrinaesseomffibeleedreyetrsateinrdinayg
ship Worcester, off Erith, to witness the presentation of the
prizes to the young cadets of the school by Rear-Admiral
Lord Clarence Paget, C.D., M.P.
The ceremony took place on the main deck, which was
appropriately decorated with flags and evergreens. Sir Jas.
Duke, M.P., was called upon to preside—and in addition to
Lord Clarence Paget there were present, Mr. Henry Green
(the Chairman of the Committee), Admiral Hall, fir. W.
Phillipps, Capt. Lean, R.N., Mr. W. Bullivant (the Hon.
Secretary).— and a number of the officers of the Royal Naval
Reserve attended in uniform. The young cadets (about 50)
were ranged in the middle of the deck.
The CHAIRMAN briefly opened the proceedings.
Mr. BIILLIVANT, the Hon. Secretaryf read the report of
Mr. Muggeridge, of Greewich, as to the examination and
proficiency of the lads.
Captain DOMETT, of the London Local Marine Board of
the Port of London, the other examiner of the boys, also
gave the result of his examination of the boys, which was
highly satisfactory.
Lord CLARENCE PAGET, who on rising was received with
considerable applause, said he had been engaged during a
somewhat long life upon various public objects, and could
safely say that he had never undertaken a duty with greater
and more sincere pleasure than the duty which he was about
that day to undertake. H aving adverted to the success of a

A large

similar institution at Liverpool, which had led him to aid,
in concert with the late Mr. Richard Green, in establishing

. _
one also in the Thames, he said it was almost unnecessary
for him to dilate upon the great importance of such institu-
tions as this in their great naval ports. There could be no

doubt that hitherto they had been somewhat behindhand in
the matter; for when they considered the vast amount of

their commerce, the enormous size and the vast number of
their merchant ships, every lover of his country would agree
with him that it was high time that such institutions as
this were established at all the principal ports, and it was
with feelings of great gratification that he now witnessed
there that day what had long been witnessed in Liverpool,
and what he trusted he should witness in other great porta
of the country. After a few words of exhortation to the
youths before him on the nature of their future career, and
warning them against the dangers and temptations to which
they would be exposed, he proceeded to impress upon them
the importance of attending to their studies, more espe-
cially as regarded mathematics and mechanics, In continu-
ation, he aharged them all to attend particularly to the use
of the steam-engine, and to lose no opportunity of making
themselves acquainted with its details. There were also
many other branches of mechanics eminently useful, and
he trusted that, inasmuch as they had no such advantages
of education in his (Lord C. Paget's) younger days, they
would so benefit by them as to arrive at the highest possi-
ble position which they could attain in the particular branch
of service to which their attention would necessarily be de-
voted, He might add a good deal more with respect to other
branches of science equally important; but he must remind
them that there was one thing of greater importance than
all science, and his last words to them should be the expres-
sion of a hope that they would remember the Giver of All
Good, for no man he believed could be happy then, and he
was certain that no man coled be happy hereafter, who did
not love his GQd, (Hear.) Therefore he recommended his
young friends strongly, while they were pursuing their
worldly studies, not to forget that other and far more impor
taut study, the study of the Word of God. He had the
greatest confidence in the success of an institution conducted
and supported as this was, not only by the individual sub••
scribers to the institution, but by public opinion as to the
necessity of such institutions in this country. Of its
ultimate success he had no doubt whatever, and he ear-
neatly requested the committee, for reasons which lie should
advert to in addressing the Naval Reserve, that they would
not omit to teach and show the science to those young men
which was becoming most useful, namely, the science of
gunnery. This was the first public occasion on which he
had, so to speak, had an opportunity of making personal
acquaintance with the officers of the Naval Reserve, and he
could assure them that it gave him the most sincere pleasure
to be enabled on the present occasion to meet them all face
to face. (Cheers.) They were aware that they had in the
creation of this magnificent force many difficulties to en-
counter, and he was sure that they would give him the
credit for being an earnest and a zealous supporter of this
great and important movement. They could not, of course,
expect to arrive at perfection all at once. They (the Go -
vernment) had had various difficulties to get through, and
many prejudices to get over. He was sure that when he
stated in a few words some of those difficulties, so far from
having any cause for dissatisfaction, they had every cause
to be perfectly satisfied with the progress which the move-
ment had made. Assuming, however, that there were
some who were a little dissatisfied with the terms on which
they entered the service, or the severity of its drill, yet he
was persuaded that they would, all patriotic and public
spirited as they were, waive any little feeling of dissatis-
faction, and make common cause with the Government,
doing everything that lay in their power to forward the
movement ; while, on the other hand, he could assure them
that the Government were most anxious to meet their
wishes on every point consistently with their duty to the
public interests. For instance, he knew they were put to
inconvenience by repeated drills. He was quite aware,
and the Government were perfectly aware, that an intelli-
gent body of educated men, who were quite equal in all
respects to the officers of the Royal navy, when they set
to work with a will and were determined to master the
subject, it needed not that they should treat them in
the matter of examination in the same manner in which
they would treat those who were beneath them or who
did not move in their position in life. They were all
aware that when they had once made themselves masters
of the subject, it would be quite sufficient that, in order
to receive their annual certificate of competency,
an examination of a much less irksome nature would
be sufficient. Of these things they (the Government) were
perfectly aware, and her Majesty's Government had at that
moment a code of regulations whereby they were endeavour-
ing to get over such difficulties of detail as he was describ-
ing. (Cheers.) There were other matters, on which perhaps
he had better not enlarge upon the present occasion, viz.,
the question of the flag they should carry. He would state
generally what the Government desired. They desired to
see a British ship carry a flag by which, whatever port she
might enter, whether she be a ship belonging to the Royal
navy or to the mercantile marine, it should be known that
she was manned by the first officers and the finest seamen is
the service; and they knew what would be the result of that.
The desire of the Government,was that their grand merchant
ships should enter ports all over the world, the officers being
everywhere recognised as belonging to the Naval Reserve.
(Cheers.) There were other matters, matters connected
with promotion, and so on. They were perfectly aware that
in whatever position of life they were placed, every man
must look forward to some promotion—it was inherent in
the nature of man that he should do so. All that he wanted
them to know was that these things were not negleeted.
The Government asked them to look ahead, and to believe
that if their services were performed faithfully and honestly
to the Crown promotion would be granted to them.
(Cheers.) Those were matters upon which he entered with
them frankly as a friend, because he would tell them that
from the very first he had looked on the reserve as the main-
stay of the country. He did not want to be mistaken. He
trusted that they would not think for a moment he wished
any one to suppose that he thought the Naval Reserve
should supplant the•navy. It must be an auxiliary to the
navy. That was the position of the Naval Reserve. He
would tell them what he looked forward to see. and that
was the broad sea covered with British merchant ships car-
rying rich cargoes hoisting the invincible reserve flag, and
which would not any longer want convoys, but should
convoy one another. He looked forward to the day when
every captain of a large ship and his officers should possess
a thorough knowledge of gunnery, so that no hostile vessel
should dare to meddle with them, and if at any time an
enemy had the temerity to come near, they (the Govern-
ment) should find in their hands and arms the very safety
of the country. He believed that they must go on, and they
were going on. True it was they did not show such a mag-
nificent force as the volunteers who were performing drills
in public every day, and therefore were constantly before it
and got remarked upon; but he assured them that the very
highest personage in the realm took the deepest possible in-
terest in the Naval Reserve. (Cheers.) No one took a
deeper interest in its success than did her Majesty the
Queen, and her inquiries were constant as to its progress,
(Cheers ) He was sure that of itself was quite sufficient to
induce them to come forward ; and when they heard of pre-
judice in regard to matters to which he had adverted, do not
let that prevent them coming forward in the present condi-
tion of this noble institution. (Cheers.) The noble and
gallant lord then presented the prizes to the successful can-
didates.

the Naval Re-
serve, to thank the noble lord for the exertions he had made
Captain TRIVET begged, as an officer of
ju establishing the reserve and assisting them in overcoming
their difficulties. They now wanted nothing more than a
officers a
" men of the Royal Naval Reserve if his Royal
head, and he thought it would gladden the hearts of all the
na Highness p •
Alfred permitted them to enrol hisme at their ules
head. (Cheers.) august
After some rercarks from Admiral Hall and Mr. 11. Green,
the chairman of the committee, the usual vote of thanks to
As the compny let te ship thes
the chairman closed the proceedin
g.
ds and thea bandf of
h
yar t Mr. Greens workmen played the
natiutail Airs,
cadots manned