The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-21 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 21, 1863,

one great Power, a boon for Germany, and a
guarantee for the peace of Europe."
It is not to be wondered at that this speech
was received with every mark of approbation by
those who heard it. It would be difficult to say
how, or in what manner, it could have been im-
tpireonvee,danudpotnhe:
eatudylbe eofthiteinadtdhe
reses,piitrinit
noeftihts iaventeenn-
r.
,pwonheenntheoaftattehde
tphaes shed epteheeaenxdp
we citeahtei
so nesf oafl
lma annxyi
0,
nwe heihl
see
rivt e
rree.a
Ti shed e
t they coincided
oo anp sfi en ditoehnreat thee xas
Kingtwh iasthei st oowff
atßehAet BAVARIA
Ale l
their
general
re inao
ecurt seal
Cd
with the opinions they had just heard. He added
that they would take the proposition into their
"conscientious consideration," and they hoped
that no delay would occur iE coming to a conclusion.
They also regretted the absence of the King of
PRUSSIA, but still trusted that when again they
assembled " that powerful link in the great chain
of the different German States would not be want-
ing." So far as it has proceeded, this important
conference has been most happily arranged, and it
is to be trusted that its auspicious inauguration may
be followed by a triumphant termination, and that
the several members of the Confederation will ratify
the propositions that have been proposed in so en-
lightened a form, and with so much right feeling
and good sense. Amid the strife and turmoil of so
many neighbouring nations it will be a source of
gratification to witness a brightening exception in
the unity that exists among the various States of
Germany. While some are striving on sanguinary
fields of war to force their liberties with a strong
hand from the grasp of The oppressor, while others
are meekly vacillating between anarchy and deca-
dence in the political scale, the Confederate Princes

hare a great and glorious mission to fulfil. It is
theirs to gain a bloodless victory, and to bestow
upon their people the richest blessings of peace, in-
stead of the painful trophies of war. They may
sow the seeds of freedom, that, germinating in a
friendly soil, will spring up a glorious harvest to
brighten and benefit a mighty nation. They may
now commence a good work that shall live when
they have themselves passed away, and associate
their names with after generations as the pioneers
of progress, and the heralds of reform. Let us trust
that the chance may not be thrown away, but that,

having put their hands to the plough, they will not
look back and disappoint the ardent hopes and
earnest longings of an expectant people.

The lessons of experience appear sometimes to be
qseueimte
ttohrhoewpnerafweeatyly, ahnd opealmesosnog h f
itmpe
rsouvbejrnecetnstwh ,
fromich
their teaching, we may certainly rank the risks run
r si o n trains.
after
In vain
disaster
a v ed
t u
turned
aftere pleasant
catastrophe u
exc
catastrophe,
holiday trips into ghastly tragedies. In vain
the public indignation has been roused, and
the public confidence shaken, until one of the
most profitable branches of railway revenue
has threatened to fall into disfavour. Nothing,
it seems, will teach the authorities. In almost
every case where an accident has occurred to
an excursion train, it has been owing to a want of
common care and ordinary precaution. The trains
have been overloaded, they have run too close to-
gether, they have started before or after their time,
the engine has been defective, the carriages worn
out, the guards and engine-drivers exhausted from
overwork or ignorant of their business, the station-
master absent or inattentive. The shortest memory
can recall at least one disaster from every one of
these causes, and perhaps the most common source
of misfortune is the most unpardonable. Various
reasons or excuses may be brought forward, for
many occasions of mischief, but there is no possible
defence for neglecting to take care that a proper and
sufficient time intervenes between the arrival and
departure of each train. After the long experience
we have had of railway travelling and its attendant
perils, it is perfectly inexcusable to reckon that
every train will comeein to the moment. And to
allow the following one to come so closely after it,
that no possible margin is allowed fora trifling delay
on the part of the first or a casual increase of
speed by the second ! Yet trains have run
into each other often enough, one would think, to
have infused a little caution into the most reckless
of officials. It might certainly have been supposed
that the terrible catastrophe at the Clayton Tunnel
would have sufficed to guard one generation at least
from a repetition of its horrors. It is certainly not
owing to public indifference on the matter, for so
well is this danger understood that it is the direc-
tion in which every passenger's thoughts instinc-
tively turn, at the first rumour of any delay or stop-
page befalling a train. It is difficult to see the rea-
son for so much carelessness as unhappily exists in
this respect, for an hour or two added to the
day's work would make all the difference between
reasonable caution and reckless risk of life. It
would be better if necessary to curtail the number
of the trains, rather than expose the passengers to
unnecessary danger. It is to be feared that the
repeated accidents from this cause tend to indiffer-
ence rather than to caution, if we may judge by
the example of the Great Eastern line. The recent
disaster was in some measure due to this cause,
since the drieer asserted that he saw the obstacle
but could not stop the train, as the other was so
close behind it. Yet at the inquest held on the un-
fortunate signalman killed since that time, we learn
from the evidence of a station-master, that the old
careless system is continued. The regular and irre-
gular trains were due at almost the same time, and
he himself appeared to know very little about the
arrival of the latter. Nor is this company by any
means the sole offender. The want of caution of
which we complain appears unhappily to be part of
our railway system, and especially of the excursion
branch of traffic. A correspondent of the limes
animadverts in strong terms on the confusion exist-
ing at the Birmingham station a week or two since,
in consequence of several excursion trains blocking
up the way and delaying the departure of the ordi-
nary trains. So long as no accident occurs, nothing
thsuec h
temporary
beyondat tt he
ee
station ; but, if we add the narrow escapes to the
positive catastrophes,
thiswe
enshlpaalhlfilendiutohdaetthe m
of
proceeding
tnogf
greatlyrisk o occasioned a a ioned by
increases
the dangers of railway travelling.
We cannot, of course, expect the railway manage-
mentthe most sleepless
demand that when special
o
provision is professed
public
bl t
haveo be infallible,
a rig ht
t nor
d e n
vigilance guard against every accident. But the
to be made for their comfort
and convenience, some little regard should be had
for their lives and limbs as well as for their pockets.
It is very acceptable, no doubt, to save half-a crown
but if that saving entails
health and shattered nerves,
n
ip
o
stant repetition of any risk has a wonderful effect,
the one'sg
eyc eo an
r os m yf holiday
e i
ns
f e notetIenfeebled
quite uite so agreeable. The con-
we all know, in diminishing its terrors. The good
old proverb about the pitcher and the well is not
half so much considered as it deserves to be. A
danger incurred regularly every week, or every day,
soon becomes no danger at all theoretically,
although practically the chance of disaster
may increase with repetition. Much more is this
the case when the risk is run not only every day
but many times in the day, and it is perhaps no
WQll4et that btation-masters and &won grow tale

reckless, and are inclined to believe that the peril
so often chanced is never coming, and that the plan
which worked safely through one season will
carry them as safely through another. Yet
setting aside the ciaims of humanity and their
responsibilities to the public, it is a very short-
sighted and mistaken policy which prompts
the directors to such a course. The expense in-
curred by one such accident as that at the Clay-
ton Tunnel, would have paid a superior class of
officials and re-organised the whole excursion sys-
tem for many years, setting aside the heavy indi-
rect loss occasioned to the company by the shock
given to the pleasure taking public. The disasters
to excursion trains ere becoming as common es the
catastrophes to emigrant ships were a few years
since; only as excursions are not a matter of neces-
sity or serious importance, people are less inclined
to run unnecessary risks in their passage. We
hope the railway companies will look to this matter
and see that all that proper care and watchfulness
can do is henceforth done to guard passengers
against risks of all kinds, and that they will
especially take heed that danger is not courted by
a reckless apportionment of trains, and a frantic
chase of excursion by express or stoppage of express
by excursion.

cessor.

r

1 LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS,)

AMERICA.

QUEENSTOWN, AUG. 21

The royal mail steamer Scotia, from New York
on the 12th inst., arrived here at 7 a.m, She
brings 116 passengers, and 696,000 dollars in specie.
She landed all mails and 17 passengers, and pro-
ceeded immediately, all well. She made the pas-
sage in S days 16 hours.
NEW 'YORK, AUG, 10, Evening.
(Per the Scotia.)

It is reported that General Meade has twice
tendered his resignation, and now insists upon its
acceptance. General Grant is spoken of as his suc-

'The Army of the Potomac is to be reorganized

drafted men and substitutes are now reinforcing

The Federals have arrested all the inhabi-
tants North of the Rappahannock as far cs
Belle Plaine. They have occupied Beverley Ford.
Mosby's guerillas are still committing depreda-
tions between Alexandria and Fairfax.
It was reported that the land and naval forces
would attack Fort Sumter on the Bth inst.
A Federal force has marched down the centre of
Arkansas. Other forces are preparing to clear the
territory west of the 'Mississippi of the organized
Confederate forces.

General Foster has made a reconnaisance with
three gunboats up James River.
The Secretary-of-War has ordered three Confede-
rate prisoners to be confided and held as hostages
for three negroes captured on board the steamer
Isaac Smith whom the Confederates refuse to ex-

change.
The Governor of New York has written to Presi-
dent Lincoln, complaining of the injustice done to
the State by the mode of enrolment, and asking for
a suspension of the draft until the errors are cor-
rected. He urges volunteering to be substituted
for the draft, and claims that by the Constitution
the Conscription Act should be tested i❑ the
State Courts. President Lincoln replied that

the draft must be enforced, but that the
districts where there is an irregularity could be re-
enrolled, The President does nGt object to submit
the constitutionality of the Conscription Act to the
decision of the Courts, but cannot consent to lose
time while obtaining judgment :—" As the enemy
is driving every man into his ranks, very much as a
butcher drives bullocks into his slaughter-pen, thus
producing an army which will soon tarn upon the
victorious Federals, if not sustained by recruits, the
volunteer system is so far exhausted as to be
inadequate,"

The Washington correspondent of the New York
Herald asserts that reports had reached Washing-
ton that Mr. Cassius M. Clay had entered into an
offensive and defensive treaty with Russia, assuring
to that Power that, in the event of the Western
Powers declaring war against her, the United States
would declare war against France and England.
Blockade running at Wilmington is said to be
carried on to an enormous extent at present.
The steamer Georgia, from New York to Liver-
pool, ran ashore on the 4th inst. in a fog, on the
north-east bar, Sable Island. It is supposed that
she will be a total wreck. The passengers and
luggage were saved.

The mail steamer China was interrupted off Cape
Race on the Bth inst.

NEW YORK, AUG. 12 (Morning).
The news generally is unimportant.
Military affairs are quiet.
The steamer Georgia has been wrecked.
General Lee's head-quarters are at Gordons-
ville, and his main body is on the line of the

Rapidan.
The New York Herald asserts that a convention
of prominent Republicans will be held at Wash-
ington next week. The object of the meeting is
not known, but the Herald asserts that informa-
tion has reached Washington that the Confede-
rates were willing to return to the Union if
terms were offered them, and that the Republican
party is desirous to stop the war, and to avoid
the unpopularity of the conscription ; hence a

meeting has been called.
President Lincoln has written a second letter to
Governor Seymour confirming his determination to
enforce the draft.

. It is reported that Confederate General Richard-
son is conscripting all light-coloured negroes in
West Tennessee to serve as soldiers for three years,
at the expiration of which they will receive their
freedom, but no pay.
Mr. C. B. Sedgewich, late chairman of the Con-
gressional Naval Committee, has written a letter,
stating that Mr. Howard, of New York, came to him
in July, 1860, saying that he came at the instance
of Messrs. Laird to make proposals to the Navy
Department. Mr. Sedgewick referred him to the
Secretary of the Navy, who declined entering into
negotiations. Mr. Howard was either Mr. Laird's
agent, or a volunteer expecting a commission, but
was not an agent of the Navy Department.
The New York Herald states that several Cabinet
meetings have been held at Washington at Which
the Mexican question was discussed.
It was decided to demand from France the entire
abandonment of the monarchical scheme.
The China, Sixonia, and the Glasgow have
arrived out.

The Confederate pickets extend along the South
bank of the Rappahannock, thotgh the Federal
cavalry occasionally scour the country as far as the
lower fords of the Rapidan. Stafford Court House
and Acquia Creek are within the Federal lines.
It is reported that 8,000 Federal reinforcements
arrived at Charleston on the Ist inst., and would
lend on the south end of Folly Island.

General Bragg is at Chattanooga. Part of his
army is at Rome, Georgia.

is rumoured that Bishop Polk has superseded

General Bragg.

Daring General Foster's reconnaissance up the
James River his vessels were fired at by artillery
and sharpshooters stationed along the banks. A
torpedo exploded under one of the vessels, doing
considerable damage.

Admiral Farragut has arrived at New York in
,he steamer Hartford.

A battle is imminent at Fort Blunt, Indian ter.

Governor Seymour has addressed another letter
to President Lincoln, reasserting that there was in-
justice and fraud in the enrolment, and furnishing
statistics proving that more persons were enrolled
in the Democratic than in the Rupublican districts.
Governor Seymour says he is sure that the Presi-
dent cannot fail to right these gross wrongs.
The Kentucky Democratic press asserts that the
election in Kentucky was carried by military au-

thority.
President Davis has rescinded the furlough
granted to the prisoners captured and paroled at
Vicksburg.
The Governor of Alabama has called a special
session of the Legislature.
The _Richmond Enquirer announces the military
appointments made by President Davis, and sass:
" The spirit of resistance to the North is as strong
U 144444 SQI4I9I4.PKVO Wear?-Qf