The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-15 00:00:00

According to the last accounts in relation to the
seizure by General Butler at New Orleans of the plated
spoons and forks and few articles of silver ware which had
been shipped by some private families to consignees in
Europe on board the Prussian merchant ship Essex, under
the previous sanction of officers appointed by Gen. Butler
himself, it appears that the Federal Government justify
the act, Mr. Seward, in replying to the reclamations of

Baron von Gerold, the Prussian Minister, on the subject,
admits that the conduct of Major-Gen. Butler was marked

by some symptoms of irritability, but it is added in expla-
nation that the Prussian Consul and the Prussian master
of the Essex committed the offence of being pertinacious in
representing what they consldsred to be the rights of the
case to that personage. The Government, however, now
that their object has been accomplished, intimate that rather
than offend Prussia they will hold themselves open, if it be
wished, to reconsider the question at any future period.

PENALTY FOR SMUGGLING.—Notice has been
issued at Washington that ladies desirous of going to their
friends and families in the South must obtain leave from
the Federal Government, and that no one must take more
than one package of female wearing apparel, not weighing

above 1001 b., and subject to inspection. "If any contra•
band property is found, the party will be subject to impri

sonment during the war."
INTERMITTENT FEVERS.—The Societe d'Accli-
matation has just received a letter from India, accompanied
with a box containing a quantity of seeds of the Ceesalpina
Bonducolla, a plant which, according to Mr. Hayes, the
writer of the letter, is much used there as a specific for in-
termittent fevers. The Bengaleo for this plant is Natha ;
it is a small creeper, producing a nut, the kernal of which
is exceedingly bitter, and possesses the quality of Jesuits'
bark in an eminent degree, with this exception, that it is
aperient rather than the contrary, a valuable property in a
tropical climate where the bilious system is so generally

affected. One of these seeds reduced to a paste, with three
or four pepper-corns, and taken three, four, or five times a
day with the adjunction of Cherettah• tea (Gentiana che-
rayita), is generally found so infallible in its effects that
many European physicians in India have adopted it, and
will probably in a few years abandon bark entirely. Che-
rettah is a kind of gentian which grows on the mountains
skirting the course of thA Gangoa, find may be gnt at all
the bazaars of Bengal; it is a stronger febrifuge than the
Gentiana lutea of Europe. Native physicians employ
Natha also as a powerful tonic; they administer it in pow-
der mixed with spices and castor-oil ; externally the seed is

applied in cases of hydrocele. At Amboyna it isadminis-

tered as a vermifruge ; the roots are used as a tonic in dys-

pcpsia. In Cochin-China the plant is considered deob-
struent, and the oil extracted from the leaves is found use-
ful in paralysis. In Egypt the women make necklaces and
amulets with the seeds. The latter are often carried to
great distances by the sea, as, for instance, to the coast of
Scotland, where they are known as Molucca beans. It is
singular that the remarkable sirtues of this plant should
have remained so long unnoticed, offering as it does a cheap
and powerful substitute for Jesuits' bark, which, as every-
one knows, commands a high price. As this plant thrives
in Egypt, Mr. Hayes thinks that it must prosper in Algeria,
and even in the south of France.
LETTERS FROM TUE FEDERAL CAMP.—A Cana-
dian, a Montrealer, writes on the 20th ult from " near Fort
Edith Allan, Virginia,"—" We left Maryland three weeks
ago, and marched through Washington for this State, where
we are now encamped in the midst of 80,000 men of all
branches ; artillery, cavalry, and engineers. We are under
marching orders, and on the qui vivo to move. Our duties
are pretty severe; day after day, from sunrise to sunset—
digging trenches, rifle pits, and building mud forts ; and at
night picket and guard duty. I have not had my clothes
off for three months, lying on the barn ground with a
blanket and cloak, and the weather now is pretty cold. We
have had snow ton inches deep round our tents; and sick•
ness is pretty prevalent among the troops, in the shape of
jaundice, typhus fever, and dysentery. We have already
lost a good many men ; they do not stand the cold so well
as would be expected, considering they come from a
Northern climate ; the fact is that most of the men left com-
fortable homes for fear of being draughted, and have not
been used to the night exposure. The dews are extremely
heavy, besides great falls of rain that we get here, with
boisterous winds. The other day I awoke with my tent on
the top of me, and nearly half a foot of water under me.
However, as yet I have been fortunate enough to escape
sickness. Our food at present is very indifferent, and short
allowance. We have as yet received no pay since enlistment,
and see no immediate prospect of getting any. The whole
system of carrying on the war has been shameful, and now
it appears that those in authority have been playing into
the hands of the rebels, assisting them with provisions and
clothing that properly belonged to our forces. The army
appears to be thorougly discontented, and desertions con•.
tinually take plaee. I expect by the time the winter is
over, if something effectual does not take place, two-thirds
of the army will desert, or lay down their arms. lam writ-
ing this on my knee, so you must make allowances for its
deficiencies. The country about here looks fearfully deso-
late —all the timber laid waste, country places deserted, and
the soil running waste with vegetation."

REPRESENTATION OF EAST KENT.—Sir NortoP.
Knatchbull has issued the following address to the electors
of East Kent :—Gentlemen; you will be very shortly called
upon to exercise your privilege in choosing a representa-
tive in the House of Commons, in the place of our late
member and much.to-be-lamented friend, Mr. Deedes, I
have been solicited by a large number of your body to pre-
sent myself as a candidate for the vacant seat, and I ven-
tun to ask you for your support and votes. My political
principles are, I do not hesitate to avow, precisely those
which you so clearly sanctioned by your long and continued
support of my late father. I am prepared to uphold our
Protestant religion as established in Church and State,
to assert on all occasions the supremacy of the law, and
thus to protect the security of the throne, and the quiet and
happiness of the Sovereign who fills it. There are many
political cries to which it is unnecessary to pay attention.
I am attached to the principle of stability rather than to
the principle of change, because from the former wo are sure
to receive improvements certain and durable ; from the latter
weak alterations attended by ephemeral results. lam too
old to be deceived by movements made for the purpose of
creating a feeling, and, I hope, too wise to offer undue re-
sistance to any strong national feeling from which a move-
ment may spring. I will only add that should I prove the
object of your choice, no efforts will be wanting on my part
to discharge faithfully and zealously the duties of one of
your representatives.
THE 4TH DRAGOON GUARDS.—Some couple of
months since we complained that Lieutenant Harran, who
had been removed from the adjutancy under circumstances
requiring no more particular reference, still held it nomi-
nally, though not really. Searcely has our remonstrance
brought about his formal removal, when we find him again
adjutant—this time really, but not nominally. We must
confess to a feeling of surprise that Colonel Shute would
suffer this, no matter from what quarter the suggestion
came. We cannot but attribute it to the settled desire on
the part of the authorities in Ireland, especially those
having the superintendence of the cavalry service, to run
counter to the Duke of Cambridge's decision, and as far as
possible sustain Lieutenant Harran against his Royallligh-
nese. Along with this objection we must think it highly
impolitic to employ in a post of such influence and authority
an officer closely identified with a party in the regiment
whose bitterness is naturally not decreased by discomfiture.
—.Army and Navy Gazette.
MADRAS COLLEGE.—Mr. Francis Stone Evans,
8.A., demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, has been ap-
pointed by Sir Charles Wood, Secretary of State for India,
to the Professorship of Mathematics and Physics in the
Presidency College, Madras. Mr. Evans, who is an old
pupil of the Bristol Grammar School, obtained first-class
honours in mathematics and physics at the final examina-
tion in Easter Term last, and subsequently received a testi-
monial from the public examiner, the Bev. Bartholomew
Price, M.A., F.R.S., and Sedleian Professor of Natural
Philosophy.
THE SUPPLY OF SEAMEN.—We have an ernbaras
de richesses just now in the number of seamen in. the diffe-
rent ports. With the ships now paying off and on their way
to England we shall have between 7,000 and 8,000 unem-
ployed seamen and marines. As to the latter, they will be
quietly marched off to their barracks, and their officers will
give a good account of them ; as to the former, although not
all continuous service men, the number is already admitted
to be too formidable to be received on board the ordinary
guard and receiving ships, and the various admirals and
captains superintendent have been ordered by the Admi-
ralty to survey certain ships and report upon their capabili-
ties to receive the men as they return from their leave. We
are not croakers, but we cannot help thinking that this plan
will be attended with much inconvenience. How are the
men to be employed ? In fitting out the steam reserve ? In
clearing out a store-house one day and filling it again the
following ? Who is to look after their discipline ? An old
lieutenant of the ordinary, backed up by a superannuated
gunner ? The question is one full of gravity, and if the
late Sir Charles Napier were here to speak for himself he
would remind us that he always foretold sooner or later
we should have to erect naval barracks, in which seamen
NS hen not wanted afloat, could be received and placed under'
the control of a regular staff of officers until again required
to go to sea.—Army and Nary Gazette.
THE DUKE OF BEDFORD'S FAT STOCK.—The an-
nual sale of Christmas stock at tho Park farm, Woburn-
abbey, took place on Friday, the 12th inst., Mr. Furze, as
usual, being the auctioneer. There was a very large attend-
ance of buyers present, including several leading salesmen
from the metropolis. The stock offered for sale consisted of
300 sheep of various breeds, 70 oxen and heifers, and about
60 pigs. Mr. Coleman, the bailiff, appeared to have taken
much pains to bring the animals up to the mark, and their
splendid condition when brought to the hammer testified to
the success of his management. The Shropshire sheep
were knocked down at prices varying from £2 17s. to £3
19s. each, and the Scotch wethers varied in value from £2
9s. to £3 2s. The Oxford downs realised £3 ds. to £t, and
the Southdowns £4 6s. to £5 35., while some very extraor-
dinary half breds were run up to £5 IGs. ; the average price
of the 300 sheep £3 7s. 10d. The Herefords sold rapidly,
the prices taking a range from £2l 10s. to £4O. The Scotch
oxen appeared to excite the greatest amount of interest;
the biddings were spirited ; the highest sum obtained was
436,