The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-09 00:00:00

"INCREASE OF POPULATION.

" The :births, as has been stated, were 194,287,
and the deaths in the same period were 140,646.
The excess of the former over the latter was 53,641,
and represents the natural increase of the popula-
tion.

" But the population of the United Kingdom lost
about 25,000 by emigration in the quarter that
ended the 31st of March ; and of these about 8,903
were persons of English origin. The total emigra-
tion (including foreigners) from British• and Irish
ports, where there are emigration officers, was
27,513 persons, and showed a great decrease on that
of the same quarter in 1863, which was 37,806, and
a still greater as compared with the number last
year, which was 41,037. The emigration to the
United States was little more than half of that
which took place in the March quarter of 1864.
" Of 17,365 emigrants who went to the United
States in the present year, about 3,700 were Eng-
lish, 800 Scotch, and 11,000 Irish. The rest were
foreigners.

" PRICES, PAUPERISM, AND THE WEATHER.
" The prices of wheat, 38s. 4d. per qr., was less
by 2s. than in the same period of 1863. Both
beef and mutton were dear. The average price of
the best potatoes at the waterside rairket, South-
wark, was 91s. pir ton: In the'lfarch quarter of
1863 it was 1255.`; 'in-that of 1864 it was 625. 6d.

" The following are the-retiirni3 of paupers in the
last three winter quarters

Indoor. Outdoor.
1863 „............„... 143,661 ~. 948,212
1864 ; 189,666 ~. 855,728
1865 142,329 ~. 813,371
" The numbers show a decrease in outdoor pau-
perism.

" Mr. Glaisher writes that January began with
cold, frosty weather ; a warm'period set in on the
4th day and continued till the 10th, during
which period, though the weather was mild, the sky
was cloudy, and the wind blowing a gale. From
the 17th January to the end of the quarter, with
the reception of short intervals at the beginning and
end of February, the weather was cold for the sea-
son, sometimes to an unpleasant degree. In a cold
period in January the temperature of the air was
as low as 20 degs., at many places ; in February
from 13 deg. to 20 deg. in many places, and as low
as 8 deg. at Birmingham ; and in March at the
equinox it was as low as 23 deg. In January and
February snowstorms were frequent, and extended
all over England and Scotland. At the end of
February the weather was extremely wild and
stormy ; and March was cold and ungenial through-
out. The mean temperature of January at Green-
wich was 36.3 deg. ; that of February and also that
of March 36.6 deg., each being below the average of
the corresponding periods in 24 years, and the mean
temperature of March being as much as 5.4
deg. below the average. Usually February is
2 deg. and March 5 deg. warmer than January ;
but this year the increase was not obtained. To
find a March equally cold it is necessary to go back
to 1845, 1837, and 1814, when the mean tempera-
ture was above 36 deg. In 1785 it was 33.9 deg.
Towards the end of last century that month was
oftener remarkable for extreme coldness than it has
been in later times.

" DEATHS, AND THE STATE OF THE PUBLIC
HEALTH.

" In the last quarter the total number of deaths
was 140,646, being less than in the same period of
1864, when it was barely 143,000, and much greater
than in that of 1863, when it was 129,000. In
London it was 21,018; in Cheshire and Lancashire,
containing more population, 23,330. In all the 11
divisions of England -the deaths were lens
numerous as compared with those of the March
except the tenth—namely,
quarter of last year,
the Northern counties (Durham, Northumber-
land, &c.) and the eleventh Monmouthshire
and Wales. In each of these two divisions
there was an increase. The south-eastern counties
also furnish an exception, but the numbers in the
two quarters were almost equal.
" The rate of mortality in England was 2.728
(viz., deaths to 100 personsgiving), against an average
for the quarter of 2.522. Since the March quarter
of 1855 the returns supplied no example of as high
a death rate, with the exception of that of last year,

IN E WS PA.P E A
• 7;3-, , 2-2,-.,-:( pw,4—'-
~ri.„.?",..,..3,,..,„;.,,,
)
....__",..
"4 .?,.-,::?J:';`.4-• -,• ",..i
_ • • 0-Z-,-,-%te,:-______,
.4"&";;;;,v tx-o . ,
4,7•1i.....:4144, , r., y-e di-
when it retie in the three month to 2/13,61the
mortality was excessive both in the large town dis-
tricts. and in those districts which embrace the rural
;and small town population ; 2.881 in the former,
2.514 in the latter ; and it rose in both to nearly
the same extent above the respective averages ; the
advantage, however, falling to the towns whose in-
habitants are generally better fed, and in this im-
portant matter better fortified against the incle-
mency of the sky.
" The effect of the winter-like severity. of March
doubtless remains to be read in legible characters in
the registers of the quarter now running; and the
lateness of that unpropitious weather must be con-
sidered in any comparison between.the last two win-
ters. The mean temperature of the winter of 1864

was 37.9 deg. at Greenwich, -and was higher by 1.4
deg. than that of last winter; but the weather was
marked by more frequent and abrupt changes, and
as the cold was more seasonably confined to the first
two months, its effect would be apparent chiefly on
the death registers of that quarter. The deaths from
bronchitis in London in the winter quarter of 1863-5
were successively 2,217, 4,023, and 3,217.
" The following statements exhibit the progress
of scarlatina -and typhus in London since 1860.
Scarlatina discovers a uniform well-marked tendency
to increase in the last six months and attains its
maximum' in the December quarter, the earlier half
of the following year witnessing a decrease. It was
decidedly less fatal in 1864 than in 1863 ; while ty-
phus, after decliningin 1863, rose again in 1864. The
last quarter of the year also favours the development
of typhus, but by a law which is apparently less con-
stant.

" DEATHS IN LONDON FROM SCARLATINA.
March. Juno. Sept. Dec.
Yrs. Quarter. Quarter. Quarter. Quarter. Total.
1861 420 326 467 1,145 2,358
1862 774 677 841 1,165 ~. 3,457
1863 888 ... 1,055 1,519 1,621 5,075
1861 749 593 805 1,095 3,242
1865 ... 566

" DEATHS LN LONDON FROM TYPHUS (INCLUDING
TYPHOID, CONTINUED FEVER, &C.)
March. June. Sept. 14ee.
Yrs. Quarter. Quarter. Quarter. Quarter. Total.
1861 354 ... 347 429 624 1,754
1862 991 ... 1,015 ... 833 796 3,635
1863 735 624 652 881 2,892
1864 ... 862 783 ... 980 ... 1,064 3,689
1865 .. 936 "'
"
Bronchitis and pneumonia, scarlatina, fever,
and small-pox prevailed last winter both in town
and country. Zymotic diseases ravaged South
Wales, and raised the death rate in the Welsh divi-
sion to 2.951 per cent., which is higher than the rate
of London or of any other division except that of
the cotton districts. Out of 438 deaths in the sub-
district of Cardiff, 55 were by small-pox, 31 by
measles, 20 by scarlatina. Out of 128 deaths at
Llantrisant, 53 were from scarlatina. In the
lower sub-district of Merthyr Tydfil out of 303
deaths, 32 were from scarlatina, 37 from measles,
11 from small-pox, and 20 from typhus. Aberdare
returned 371 deaths, and of these 75 were from
small-pox, and 35 from scarlatina. Of 203 deaths
at Neath, small-pox caused 56, measles 31. There
were 38 deaths from Scarlatina at Llangafelach
(Swansea) out of a total number of 143. The ill-
health and the frequent deaths of the population of
the Principality appeal to the pity of every
patriotic Welshman.

" Small-pox prevailed in many other parts ; and
among these at the following places, where it was
chiefly fatal:—Tiverton, Lansdowne (Bath),
Tewkesbury, Shrewsbury, Burton-on-Trent (where
41 were from small-pox out of a total number of 185),
Aldridge (Walsall), Wednesbury (West Bromwich),
Rowley Regis (Dudley), 'Birmingham, Lincoln,
Liverpool, West Derby, Prescot, Warrington, Bol-
ton, Scarborough, Easington, Chester-le-Street,
Whitehaven, Pontypool, Newport. The Registrar
of Chester-le-Street complains of great want of
cleanliness among the mining population.
" Scarlatina caused 20 out of 22 deaths at Nor-
tham, Southampton, a low-lying ground near the
Itchen. Typhoid fever and scarlatina prevailed at
Ilchester, Somersetshire, where there are old dilapi-
dated hovels, overcrowded, and without drainage
or ventilation. In the sub-district of Mount Plea-
sant, Liverpool, of 1,150 deaths from all causes,
no less than 318 were from typhus, nearly 300
of which occurred in the workhouse. At Everton,
West Derby, 104 out of 775 deaths were from
typhus and typhoid fever. In the sub-district of
Cheetham, Manchester, there was great mortality
in the workhouse at Crumpsall ; 119 deaths oc-
curred in it, 63 of which were from measles.
" The Registrar of Rillington (Mallon) writes as
follows : West lleslerton used to be a most
healthy village until it was drained last year ; but
it has never been free from fever since. The drain
terminated in a walled receptacle at the end of the
village, which was entirely closed at the top, thus
throwing poisonous gases into the houses at every
back door. At a slight expense the work might
be carried into a field about 300 yards from the
spot, and the village thus cleared from what has
proved a heavy scourge to its inhabitants.'
" Taking the ten large towns in the United King..
dom, the death rate of Liverpool (borough) was

3.979 per cent. in the quarter. The next highest

rate is that of Glasgow, 3.898; Dublin, 3.431; Man-

chester, 3.414 ; Leeds, 3.203 ; Edinburgh, 3.095 ;
Birmingham, 2.874 ; Bristol, 2.813. London and
the borough of Salford showed the lowest death

rates, 2.798 and 2.796 ; and their rues were almost
the same.

" THE UNITED KINGDOM.
" Through the courtesy of the Registrars-Gene-
ral of Scotland and Ireland the returns can now
be given for the United Kingdom. The registered
births in the first quarter of the year were 261,175;
the deaths, 190,741. The estimated population in
1865 is 29,897,366."

THE BLOCKADE-RUNNING FLEET.—The occupa-
tion of the blockade-runners being entirely at an
end the fleet so long and in so many cases so successfully
engaged in it are turning their faces homeward again, and
daily we hear of numbers of them being off the coast mak-
ing for London, Glasgow, or Liverpool. At this port we have
had our full share of them, for on glancing up the list of
vessels lying in the docks we noticed no fewer than 22 of
them. In the Queen's-dock we notice the Alice, Capt. Grant,
a well-known runner of the blockade of both Charleston and
Wilmington, and which must have repaid herself to her
fortunate owners over and over again. She was one of the
most successful boats on the station. In the Sandon-dock
there is the Abigail, but she is alley" steamer. Then there
isto thethi Amy,s
portt,behgaind to put unteeobanckd
whenwii c which, if
boundwe
career as a blockade-runner. Another now steamer, the
to
rememberyeud
Bermuda
tgeh
Curlew, lies in the Coburg-dock, in the hands of Messrs.
Jones, Quiggin, and Co. The Confederate States, Cap-
tain Ramsey, occupies a berth on the west side of the
Birkenhead float ; from her present nom de plume, and the
changes sho has recently passed through, it would be diffi-
cult to identify her with the steamer Laurel which con-
veyed the armament to the new Confederate steamer She-
nandoah, but such is indeed the case. The Caroline, Cap-
tain Hudgins, returned from Nassau and Bermuda only last
week, making one of the fastest passages on record. She
is a Clyde built steamer, as is also the Emily, Capt. Egan,
in the Canada-dock. She, too, returned last week from
Nassau. The Eugenie, Capt. Porter, which his been for
some time lying
up at Birkenhead, is perhaps ono of the
finest blockade-running steamers in the port, as she is re-
ported the fastest. She belongs to Messrs. Fraser, Tren-
holm, and Co. The Fanny, in the Carrier's-dock, is a
fine steamer, sister ship to the Emily and Caroline.
The Gibraltar, late Captain Reid, is well known. She,
it will be remembered, conveyed to Charleston the
two Blakeney guns, which figured so conspicuously in
the first, if not in the more recent, bombardment of that
city. Captain Reid, her commander at the time, has, in
command of the Lynx, proved himself one of the most
daring captains engaged in the business. The Gibraltar is
the Sumter which created such consternation among the
American shipping at the breaking out of the war, and
which, if we except the Nashville, was the first Confederate
vessel at sea. The Georgia Belle, though a magnificent
looking vessel, has failed somewhat in the engine-room.
She has never been at soa. The G. T. Watson, which, if
we are correctly informed, is veritably the oldest blockade-
runner extant, is in the Carriers-dock. She certainly was
the last vessel that left Charleston, the dock, shipping, &c.,
being all fired by the Confederates as she steamed from the
wharf. The Hornet, the Mazeppa, the Plover, the Ray,
the Ruby, the Rosina,
the Swan, the Snipe, and the Wid-
geon,are all new vessels, models of symmetry, and by
their trial trips are said to be unrivalled in speed. The
Chamelion, Capt. Wilkinson, is in the Clarence graving-
dock. She, like the Gibraltar, has figured in the double
capacity of merchantman and cruiser, having, as the Talla-
hasse, cruised some time under the Confederate flag,
--
com-
manded by Captain Wood, of the Confederate Navy.
Liverpool .3fercury.

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1865.

There is nothing to be surprised at in the rejec-
tion of Mr. BAINES'S Bill last night, and perhaps
no great good would have resulted from the pass-
ing of so isolated a measure ; but still it was as
well that the question should be considered. On
the eve of a general election it was desirable that
some members of the Government should be com-
pelled to pass an opinion upon a matter about which
they would much rather have kept silent. Sir G.
GREY'S speech was certainly a masterpiece in the
way of mystification, and Mr. W. FORSTER very
truly characterised it when he said that the right
hon. baronet had promised to tell the House what
the Government would do in future in the direction
of this bill, but that he defied any one to
make out from his discourse what that policy
would be. This is just the sort of game that
our present Government delight to play ; but they
do not always succeed in their object, for it is some-
times possible for people to discern a motive and
discover a tendency by what is not said as much as
by what is._ Thus Sir G. GREY must have been
very badly off for ideas on the topic immediately
before him, for he had to go back to the past
achievements of himself and his colleagues, and to
expatiate upon the advantages which they had
gamed by the rejection of Lord DERBY'S Reform
Bill. Under the circumstances of the case
the right hon. baronet would have shown more
sense and better taste if he had left this matter
alone. It
was very, venturesome on the part of Sir
G. GREY to make out that the House of Commons,
and not the Government, were responsible for the
failure of Earl RUSSELL'S measure. It is needless
to say that the effort proved a complete failure.
It was imprudent in the extreme to provoke Mr.
DISRAELI to come forward and express himself upon
a subject on which he, of course, entertains much
indignation, and the right hon. gentleman was quite
equal to the occasion. Ile did not take up the ques-
tion with the view of raking up old grievances, but
rather to disabuse the House of the false impression
which Sir G. GREY'S specious speech had made.
" Political life," as Mr. DISRAELI truly observed,
" must be taken as you find it ;" but after a matter.
has been so far settled, it is inconsistent for politi-
cal opponents to dig it up to life again to serve their
turn. Thus what other object could the right
honourable baronet have had in view, in taking
his retrospective glance, if it was not to da-
mage the Consevvatives before till approaching

election. Properly speaking, the question at issue
lay between Ministers and the Liberal party, and if
they agreed they were strong enough to carry the
proposal of Mr. BAINES. Had the present Opposi-
tion been in office, they could not have done worse
than to let the measure fall to the ground for want
of support and sympathy ; and yet this is the course
pursued by a Government which boasts of its ex-
ploits in turning out the Conservatives, and declares
that it fears not an appeal to the country on the
question of Reform. For real effrontery and dar-
ing assurance, as exemplified in public life, we can-
not do better than look to the Whigs for a model,
and especially if they have some doubtful Liberals
at their beck and call as partisans, as Mr. DISRAELI
forcibly put it. Sir G. GREY took up the history
of Reform, and gave the same remarkable descrip-
tions of it. He conveyed some very erroneous im-
pressions by his skilful adaptation of the theme;
and, for the sake of justice, it was just as well that
they should have been exposed. The amendment
of Lord JOHN RUSSELL was described by the Home
Secretary in very daring terms, but unfortunately
they were not in conformity with truth. One pas-
sage was also extracted from a long speech of Mr.
DISRAELI'S, in order to show that some notions
were entertained by the then Government which, in
reality, were not thought of. It did not require so
great a proficient in the art of criticism as the right
hon. gentleman the member for Buckingham to
point out the flaws and discrepancies in the speech
of Sir G. GREY, but still it is satisfactory to realise
the remarks of the one most qualified to speak on
the subject, since Mr. DISRAELI had to introduce
the measure to the consideration of the House.
When he had concluded his remarks on the cavalier
treatment of Lord DERBY'S measure, Mr. DISRAELI
proceeded to follow the right hon. baronet through
his criticism of this measure of his friends. In this
affair to gain was to lose, and to succeed to fail.
When Lord JOIIN RUSSELL had got his Bill through
a second reading he came to a stand still, and as
the right hon. gentleman observed " the Government
were quite overcome, and it appears that they have
never recoverd the paralysis up to the present time."
The manner in which the Liberal Government dis-
poses of those supporters who go too far in advo-
cating reform was also capitally exemplified by the
dangerous adversary whom Sir G. GREY had un-
wisely provoked. One in particular, who had made
himself obnoxious by his comments on Lord JOHN
RUSSELL'S measure, was " promoted to a great post
and sent to India, with an income of fabulous
amount." Certainly the manoeuvres of the Cabinet
to get rid of awkward adherents can ill bear the
light of day upon them, and still less can stand
inspection before the House, in which a member of
the Government declares the willingness of himself
and friends to be offered up on the sacrificial altar
of Reform. And now the Ministers complain that
there is no one to help them in their great under-
taking, but, as Mr. DISRAELI forcibly declared,
" How can they suppose that they will ever carry a
Reform Bill if they reward all those among their sup-
porters who oppose such bills by promoting them to
posts of great confidence and lucre !" The conclu-
sion at which Sir G. GREY arrived after all
his rhetoric was exhausted, and his comprehensive
criticism could do no more, is thus ably summarised.
First, the right hon. baronet repudiated the rights
of man, and then he repudiated the £6 franchise.
Another inconsistent member of the Cabinet is Mr.
GLADSTONE. Why did he not appear to lend the
powerful aid of his support to a measure which
is in conformity with the principles he professed
last year? The fact is, that this shuffling mode of
procedure will not do ; it may suit the purposes of
a moment, and answer the requirements of the
time, but it can never receive the support or win
the respect of the commmunity at large. To blow
hot and cold is not the way to foster a cause or
to mature a purpose, and it is quite idle for Minis-
ters to think of going to the country on the ques-
tion of Reform, if they cannot be certain before-
hand what part the most influential members of
their Cabinet will play in the mighty drama to be
enacted. Who will be bold enough to prophesy
the course which Mr. GLADSTONE will pursue?
Will he remain silent and do nothing, will
he take a medium course, descant upon popular
rights, and so on, but deem it advisable just for the
present to keep quiet, and therefore vote against a
Reform proposition? or will he, like his great pro-
totype, Sir R. PEEL, discover a third course, and go
boldly in for the honours of democracy, thus keep-
ing up the character depicted by Mr. DISRAELI
in the following terms :—" When, by the dangerous
but fascinating eloquence of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, we were led to believe that the days of
Tom PAINE had returned, and that ROUSSEAU was
to be rivalled by a new Social Contract." There
can be no doubt that Mr. BAINES'S proposal,
and many similar progressive stages of reform,
will be eventually carried, and the matter may
safely be left to the sense and understanding of the
community. In England there is never any cause
for fear, and never any foundation for the threats
of the demagogue that no time must be lost in
gaining the desired end. The really important
question as regards last night's debate is the policy
of the Government, and let not the country
be deceived anew, for it is not likely that
by them a Reform Bill will be intro-
duced. As time goes on we can the more
fully appreciate the mischief which Earl RUS-
SELL has wrought to the cause which he is supposed
to have so much at heart, that of reform, in the
ad vocacy of which he won so many laurels in his
earlier years, but the lustre of whose renown has
been somewhat dimmed by his subsequent conduct.
The facts are incontrovertible that, after living its
full time, this Parliament has been a failure, so far
as it has fulfilled the purpose for which it was
summoned. Had the measure of Lord DERBY
been allowed full scope and fair play there is no
doubt that by this time we should be in posses-
sion of enlarged principles of representation ; but
as it is the settlement is further off than ever,
and it is expedient that the public should know who
they have to thank for it. Let it not be misunder-
stood by those who will be called upon for their
suffrages, and if anything were wanting to convince
the doubtful of the party nature of the Liberal opposi-
tion to the DERBY Reform Bill, surely the deficiency
has been supplied by the speech of Sir G. GREY last
night, in which he did not address himself to the
matter before the House so much as he raked up
past altercations, for the purpose of showing that
his opponents were to blame for the sins and short-
comings of his friends.

The present condition of American affairs is
altogether unsatisfactory, and all well-wishers of
the country, whether Federal or Confederate in
their sympathies, must unite in deploring the dark-
ness and doubtfulness of its prospects. Justice is,
in some measure, avenged by the capture and death
of BOOTH, but the mischief done by the assassina-
tion of ABRAHAM LINCOLN is far from being
remedied. Moderation and conciliation were always
too feebly represented in the Federal councils,
but though LINCOLN countenanced severe and even
cruel measures, and SEWARD was not lacking in
arrogance and assumption, still these two members
of the Cabinet, whose —position, reputation,
4114 experience glyo the% great weight, were

usually on the side of more moderate proceedings
than their fellows. Mr. LINCOLN'S last address
gave offence to some of his party by the quietness
of its tone, and he fully upheld the terms which
General GRANT offered to General LEE. All is now
changed, and changed in a manner which gives
little hope for the speedy pacification of that
unhappy country. Mr. SEWARD, it is true, has
happily escaped with his life. We may hope that
when his voice is once more heard in public his
words will have all the more weight with his
countrymen from the dangers he has escaped and
the sufferings he has undergone. But absolute
power has now drifted into the hands of the extreme
party, men who strive to outbid each other in the
ferocity of their denunciations and the recklessness
of their assertions. Treason, extermination, and
confiscation are words so lightly and so constantly
used that men grow familiar with their sound.
The voice of wise, humane, and prudent men is lost
in the storm, and by an unfortunate conjunction of
circumstances, just as the peace so long striven for,
and at the last so dearly and unsatisfactorily gained,
seemed about to dawn, the horrors of civil disunion
and bloodshed have sprung up with more force than
ever. The present rulers of affairs at Washington
are only anxious, apparently, to influence the pas-
sions of the multitude, to keep up the tumultuous
excitement consequent upon the cruel murder of
Mr. LINCOLN, and to justify themselves in measures
of extreme severity. No thought of conciliation or
compromise is present with them. No heed
is paid to the counsels of moderate and
really patriotic men who might well sug-
gest that as each party has received a severe
shock and has suffered a heavy loss the moment
has arrived for mutual concession. The one side
has lost its leader, the other its capital, but while
the North was the gainer by the Southern evacua-
tion of Richmond, the South has certainly gained
nothing by the assassination of President Lincoln.
Nothing can be more unjust than the attempt to
affix the stigma of the crime on the Confederates as
a party. There is no evidence whatever to point
to such a conclusion, and everything that is known
of the Southern leaders contradicts the assertion
most emphatically, while the evidence of reason and
common sense points to an entirely opposite con-
clusion. Would any Confederate in his senses
wish to supersede LINCOLN and JOHNSON, to replace
SEWARD'S pre-eminence in the Cabinet by the
prominence of STANTON? Such an idea is as ex-
travagant as it is groundless, but the excuse serves
well the cruel and oppressive views of the extreme
party. Mr. STANTON, who appears to have most
mysterious means of obtaining information, for
which we are supposed to accept his word, has now
discovered that the attempt on the PRESIDENT'S
life was " organised in Canada and approved in
Richmond," and he believes the man who stabbed
Mr. SEWARD to be a St. Albans raider. This is
pretty good, but such announcements from the lips
of a Minister of State are something more than
ridiculous. 'They show a desire to influence the
popular mind against the Confederates, and against
this country, which cannot be disregarded. Such
accusations should not be lightly made, even on
plausible evidence, and certainly they must be based
on something more solid than Mr. STANTON'S ready
and imaginative assertions before they can be
listened to in this country.

The catastrophe which has placed Washington in
mourning has excited the deepest horror among us,
and the manifestations of English sympathy have
been widespread and sincere. But we fear that the
pomp and circumstance with which Mr. LINCOLN'S
funeral obsequies have been invested have had
something of political purpose in them. What are
we to think of President:JonmoN, now that the
first heat and passion of the tragedy is over,
deliberately declaring that " the rebel leaders
must be punished and impoverished, and their
social position destroyed," asserting that the
assassination of Mr. LINCOLN was due to the
" fiendish spirit of rebellion," and that Union men
in the Confederacy " must be remunerated from
the pockets of those who had brought suffering
upon the country." Is this the spirit in which to
approach the solution of this difficult and delicate
question, in which to deal with a brave and
chivalrous, but partially vanquished people ? If
to all the horrors and jealousies of civil war
Mr. JOHNSON means to add the bitterness of con-
fiscation and the enforced distribution of property,
he will introduce another and a more powerful ele-
ment of discord into his already distracted country.
The extent of the Southern States is so great, their
population is so numerous, and their natural wealth
so considerable, that such an attempt will re-
kindle the flames of war, and excite a resistance
more desperate and more united than any merely
political proceeding could do.

Nor are acts wanting to prove the uncompro-
mising hostility of the Northern rulers. General
SHERMAN, who a few weeks since was the hero of
the moment, and who has been virtually the moving
spirit of the last campaign, has made an agreement
with General JORSTON, the only considerable leader
of Southern force left in the field. The terms of
armistice were favourable to the Confederates, as
they well might be, considering that no engage-
ment had taken place, and that JOHNSTON had
before proved a formidable antagonist to SHERMAN
and his army. On learning the particulars, however,
President JOHNSON, Gen. GRANT, and the members
of the Cabinet unanimously declared that such an
agreement could not be recognised, that SHERMAN
had exceeded his powers, and that he was greatly to
blame for the temporary advantage he had given
his enemy. A most ungracious message was sent to
SHERMAN, bidding him thenceforward to confine his
communications with the enemy to subjects of a
purely military nature, while GRANT himself set out
for North Carolina to direct personally the opera-
tions against JOHNSTON. By this means the Federals
have probably succeeded in disgusting their best
General, and in putting upon him an open slight.
The Americans are never remarkable for their gra-
titude
,to their public men, and SHERMAN him-
self, some months ago, when he was the
idol of popular enthusiasm, remarked that
the first repulse or misadventure would soon
make men forget his successes. Now, it seems
that a reverse is not wanted to effect this.
Moro stirring events have obliterated the interest
felt in the march through Georgia, and SHERMAN,
notwithstanding the atrocities committed during his
march, has not personally shown sufficient rancour
towards the South to make him acceptable to JOHN-
SON and STANTON. The latter, indeed, has gone so
for as to notify his disapproval of SHERMAN'S nego-
tiations to the different commanders of the Federal
armies, directing them at the same time to disregard
all his orders. A less impetuous man than General
SHERMAN would hardly brook such au affront, espe-
cially when he must feel that the present supremacy
of the Northern arms is mainly due to himself.
The South has still an army left, and the extreme
measures of the North may call forth fresh recruits.
It is no longer a question of the supremacy of North
or South, but of the internal government of some
millions of men, and it seems but too probable that
the flames of civil war will be rekindled, that fresh
eleinents of strife will be called into action, that
anarchy and despotism will struggle for the mastery.
By theft) means they will very probably drive the