The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-22 00:00:00

AMERICA.

PER ST-RAMSHIP AFRICA.
NEW YORK, DEC. 9.
The Steamship Arabia arrived at Halifax Dec. 9.
'The following general summary of news is from
the New Pork Tsmea of to-day:—

" A despatch from the head-quarters of the army
of the Potomac states that there were no movements
of importance yesterday, but the impression is pre-
valent that the quiet would be of short duration.
There have been already some important changes
in the position of our troops.
" The rebels begin to show their tribulation re-
garding the various movements of our forces, land
and naval. In the Richmond papers of Saturday
we find several items which clearly indicate this."
The Richmond Despatch of the 6th says, that
" The reports from Fredericksburg yesterday were
that pretty severe skirmishing occurred in the
neighbourhood of Port Royal yesterday morning,
but with what success could not be learnt. The
general aspect of affairs was such as to indicate a
battle. The columns of the enemy have been moved
to the front, and much activity is observable along
their lines."

The Richmond Despatch also says that the Fede-
rals at Suffolk were last week reinforced by one full
brigade and a battery of field artillery. "The
Yankee forces, at Suffolk and its vicinity are now
estimated at 30,000 by their own men, who state
that this force is to move against Petersburg, while
the force at Newbern, N.C., is to operate simulta-
neously againt Weldon."

General Walker telegraphs from Pocotaligo that a
fleet of twenty Federal vessels sailed from Hilton
Head on Friday last. Georgetown or Wilmington
is the point aimed at. Our troops everywhere were
put under marching orders to be ready for a move
at the shortest notice. Several large vessels passed
Charleston Harbour on Sunday, going Southward.
It is thought they are gone to aid the Gulf Squadron
in an attack on Mobile. Five additional vessels
were off Charleston bar on Sunday, and six
blockaders off Stone Point.

A Fortress Monroe Despatch to the Philadelphia
Press dated Dec. 6 says :
" A division, commanded by General Emory,
sailed south from here last night. It has been here-
tofore supposed that it would form part of the
Banks' expedition. Its destination is to reinforce
General roster in North Carolina. The Confede-
rates threaten to prevent him from advancing by
way of Weldon to Suffolk, to reinforce Banks in his
advance from Suffolk upon Petersburg in over-
whelming farce. The reinforcements consist of
three New York regiments, one Pennsylvania, and
one Massachusetts, including a force of over 4,000
men."

A despatch to the Philadelphta Inquirer, dated
Sunday, Dec. 7, says :--
"General Haupt has a large force at work build-
ing a railroad bridge over the river, back of
Fredericksburg, and as the rebels have made no sign
of disturbing it, it is evident they do not want a
fight here or fear that we will shell the town if they
fire."

Advises from Ne wbern, N.C., state that the rebels
intend to abandon immediately all that portion of
the State lying east of the Weldon and Wilming-
ton railroad.

Our advices from Tennessee recently have been
not much more than a record of disasters—petty in
their individual extent, but amounting in the aggre-
gate to enough to render their contemplation un-
pleasant. The gut.rilla Morgan appears to have
everything pretty much his own way. A brigade
of General Itosencranz's army, under command of
a Colquel Moore, was attacked by him on Sunday
morning at Hartsville, near Gallatin, and after a
brief fight was captured, The brigade consisted of
three infantry regiments, a battery, and a small
detachment of cavalry. After the surrender of our 1
forces the enemy burnt the camp and destroyed all
the other property they could not carry away.
Morgan is said to have attacked another detach-
ment of oar forces on the same day at Gallatin, but
to have been repulsed with heavy loss. We have
no particulars of this affair, however. The rebels
are known to have subsequently eluded pursuit by
making a successful crodsing of the Cumberland.
Cane Mill Ark has been the scene of more fight-
ing, in which the national forces were successful.
The rebels under Hindman and Maramaduke,
25,000 strong, attempted to force General Blunt's
position there on the 6th inst., but were driven
back. On the following morning the attempt was
renewed, but with no better success. Gen. Blunt
is of opinion that this demonstration of the rebels
was intended to cover their retreat.

A correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger
'writes from Washington, under date of December
6, as follows :

" The plans for the capture of Richmond now in
process of execution appear to be a diversion of the
rebel army, by a demonstration on the south aide
of Richmond, while General Burnside moves upon
it by way of Fredericksburg. The expedition
under General Banks and the one which left For-
tress Monroe yesterday will probably act together
in this demonstration, and land a cavalry force of
10,000 or 12,000 in the vicinity of Rarrison's Land-
ing. These will scour the country on the south
side, and finally unite with our forces at Weldon,
but how we are to cross the James River when
we arrive opposite the rebel capital is not clear.
It is not the intention, I hear, to assail Fort Darling
at all on the land's side, but merely to move around
it ; but really if this is the case I cannot see how our
forces are to march upon Richmond when the James
River would be between our troops and that city.
Perhaps, as stated above, the move will be simply
for the purpose of diverticg the attention of the
rebels from the Fredericksburg route, and thus leave
an easy conquest of the capital for Burnside.

" Cliff's renegade regiment is devastating Morgan
County, Kentucky."
The following resolutions unanimously passed the
House of Commons of North Carolina on the 4th

inst. :

" Resolved—That the Confederate States have the
means and the will to sustain and perpetuate the
Government they have established, and to that end
North Carolina is determined to contribute all her
power and resources,

" Resolved—That the separation between the
Confederate and the United States is final, and that
the people of North Carolina will never consent to
reunion at any time, or upon any terms.
" Resolved—That we have full confidence in the
ability and patriotism of his Excellency ?resident
Davis, and that his administration is entitled to the
cordial support of all patriotic citizens.
" Resolved—That we heartily approve of the
policy for the conduct of the war, set forth by his
.Kxcellency Governor Vance, in his inaugural ad-
a,t_eas and message to the General Assembly, and that
"" ought to be unanimously supported in the manly
and Patriotic stand he has taken for our indepen-
dence,"

pitoettr) —.._......
INGS OF CONGRESS.
In the Senate
, on the •
petitions in favour of
A resolution Bth instant, a number of
general bankrupt law were
presented.
ing the number and ranks
'making inquiries regard.adopted. The Secretary of ci
aides-de-camp was
tore-
port to the Senate the number
was instructed
dier-generals now in the service. °f major and brigs-
ruittee was instructed to inquire into
Military Com-
of providing by law for the morientoffthe expediency
sion of the rebellion, and securinge effectual supptes•
the State of Maryland. The call uvr:nqnillity ia
tart' of War for the correspondence relnattihe &ere-
arrest of certain citizens of Delaware was pcgallteoathe
P
and debated, but not disposed of. The Bankrupt
Act was taken up as the special order, but was in-
formally laid aside. Mr. Davis, of Kentucky,
offered a joint resolution, proposing certain amend-
ments to the Con,titution, to alter the mode of
electing the President and Vice-President. It was
ordered to be printed. The Ban
orkrupt Bider ll wasfor the
then
again taken up and ma the special
18th inst. The Senate spent the remainder of the
session with closed doors.
In the House of Representatives the vacancies in
the standing committee were filled. The President
was requested to transmit to the house the last
official report of General Banks. Mr. Stevens, of
Pennsylvania, introduced the bill of which he had

igiven notice, to indemnify the President and other
r persons for suspending the habeas corpus, and for
all acts done in pursuance thereof. After several
unsuccessful attempts to defeat it or to p .Apone its
consideration, Mr. Stevens asked that it he put upon
its passage, which was ordered. A lora debate in-
tervened, but the bill finally passed by 90 to 45.
Mr. Wright, of Indiana, offered a series of resolu-
tions declaring the unjustifiableness of the rebellion,
and asserting our duty to put it down by every con-
stitutional means, &c. They were tabled. Mr.
Wickliffe, of Kentucky, introduced a bill for the
protection and relief of loyal citizens whose pro-
perty and slaves have been taken by the army. It
was referred to the Judiciary Committee. After
some business of minor importance, Mr. Stevens
offered a series of resolutions referring various parts
of the President's Message to appropriate commit-
tees, when Mr. Richardson made a speech severely
criticising the document.
The house then adjourned.

The following is the new financial scheme intro-
duced in Congress by Mr. Stevens from the Com-
mittee of Ways and Means:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America, in Con-
gress assembled—That the Secretary of the Trea-
sury shall, as far as possible, redeem and call in
the 5-20 bonds, and all 7-30 bonds which have been
issued since March 4, 1862, and cancel the same.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted—That the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall redeem all United States
tender-notes which shall be held as a loan bearing
interest; and the law authorising such loan or de-
posit is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted—That the law
authorising and requiring the payment of interest
of United States Bonds in gold, and which autho-
rised the issuing of the 5-20 bonds, is hereby re-
pealed.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted—That, in order
to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to carry
into effect the foregoing provisions, he is hereby
authorised to issue 1,000,000,000 dole., if so much be
needed, of bonds of the United States, similar in
amount and form to those authorised by the act
entitled, An Act to authorise the Issue of United
States Notes, and for the Redemption or Funding
thereof, and for Funding the Floating Debt of the
United States," approved Feb. 25, 1862, with in-
terest payable semi-annually in the lawful money
of the United States, and the pzincipal payable in
20 years in gold or silver coin of the United States;
also to issue legal-tender notes of the United States,
the amount not to exceed, with those already autho-
rised, five hundred millions.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted—That all banks,
savings institutions, or persons who have authority
to issue notes as currency, shall pay a tax, to be as-
sessed as other taxes, of 60 pet' centum on all their
circulation which shall exceed one-half of their
capital paid in ; provided that this section shall not
go into operation until 90 days after the passing of
this act.

Sec. 7. And be it futher enacted—That, whenever
the Government require more money than is hereby
provided, the Secretary of the Treasury may sell any
portion of the billion of bonds hereby authorised at
such price as he may be able to obtain for the same.
NEW YORK, DEC.I 1.

Gen. Butler's Sequestration Committee continue
their confiscation measures at New Orleans. Im-
mense quantities of goods and contents of splendid
mansions are daily being sold by auction. General
Butler occupies a house vacated by Dr. Campbell,
who left when the Federals occupied the city, closing
his house, and leaving everything, including his
plate.

General Butler has extended his confiscation
order to all that part of the State of Louisiana east
of Mississippi River except the parishes of New
Orleans, Saint Berner, and Plaque Mines.

A sharp fight has occurred near Lavergne, Ten-
nessee, between Nashville and Murfreesboro, in
which the Confederates were twice repulsed.
A despatch, dated Nashville, 10th inst., says—
The Confederates in great force appeared in our
front this morning, driving in our pickets at every
point. A battle is momentarily expected near Harts-
ville. Federal reinforcement are hurrying forward.
Great excitement prevails at Nashville, but the in-
habitants have confidence in the Federal generals
and troops.

A barque which has arrived at New York passed
on the sth inst., off Hatteras, eight steamers steer-
ing due south, supposed. to be part of Gen. Banks's
expedition.
The Governor of New Hampshire has ordered the
draft to commence on the 24th inst. in the towns
which have not filled their quotas.
The New York Times has the following private
letter from an officer of one of the south-western
armies which has this statement :—" If I should tell
you the state of demoralisation of many of our old
regiments of the Valley of the Mississippi you would
believe it. They have no respect for man or woman,
and are guilty of offences that, if committted at
home, would send them to the Penitentiary for life.
" Similar representations are made in so many
other quarters that it is no longer possible to doubt
that portions of our army have become greatly de-
moralised. It is got a pleasant fact,bnt it is crimi-
nal to shut our eyes to it. Every loyal organ of
opinion in the land should raise its voice against it,
and demand its suppression."
Gen. M'Clellan is giving evidence in Washington
before the court of inquiry into the conduct of Gen.
M'Dowell. Gen. M'Clellan testifies strongly in his
favour. He said he had no doubt, and it had always
been his opinion, that the army of the Potomac
would have taken Richmond if Gen. M'Dowell's
corps had not been separated from it. General
M'Clellan also believed that if General M'Dowell's
command had joined the army of the Potomac by
way of Hanover Court-house from Fredericksburg,
that the Federals would have had Richmond in one
week after the junction. He did not hold General
M'Dowell responsible for not joining him on either
occasion.

In the Senate a bill has been introduced to estab-
lish an arsenal and ordnance depot on the tidewaters
of New York harbour.

The Senate has passed the bill for the relief of the.
owners of the French ship Jules et Marie.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill
admitting Western Virginia as a State by a vote of
96 to 55. The bill provides for the gradual aboli-
tion of slavery in the State. It had previously
passed the Senate.

- lt is reported that 150,000 dole_ in specie has been
saved from steamer Golden Gate.

The British steamer Greyhound arrived at Gal-
veston Bay on the 14th November.

A movement is on foot in New York to get aid
for the distressed operatives in France.
The following are extracts from the correspon-
dence between Mr. Seward and Mr. Dayton, the
American Minister at Paris :

Mr. Dayton writes to Mr. Seward, in March, that
at an interview with the Emperor he stated that the
opinion of the Americans was that if France and
England would withdraw their recognition of the
Southern insurrectionists as belligerents the rebel-
lion would collapse at once. If this recognition
were withdrawn, Mr. Dayton believed that as an
equivalent the blockade would be raised at an early
date.

The Emperor replied that the recognition of the
Southerners as belligerents was made upon an un-
derstanding with England that some legal ques-
tions were originally ihvolved, and that he must
consult M. Thouvenel. When the insurrection broke
out the Emperor did not suppose the North could
succeed, and it was the general belief of European
statesmen that the two sections would never come
together again. This belief was the principal rea-
son why the concession of the belligerent rights was
granted.

On Nov. 6 Mr. Dayton writes to Mr. Seward that
M. Thouvenel has just told him France and the
other Powers regretted the war, but had no inten-
tion to interfere.
In reply to Mr. Dayton's inquiry, if France, Eng-
land, and Russia were conferring upon the propriety
of offering mediation, M. Thouvenel said the wish that
the war could be ended, or something be done with
the consent of the belligerent parties, had been and
g had been resolved
was stillFernatnecrtearineseedrv;
ebduitton.ohtehriself the right to ex-
press upon• .
this wish to the parties if it Was thought ad-