The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-12 00:00:00

The Fall of Richmond,

A Canadian in Richmond writes to the Montreal
Gazette as follows :—" Richmond, April 15.—After
a sharp contest between the ' rebel' army of less
than 50,000 men, and the United States' forces,
amounting to about 115,000, the city fell into the
hands of the latter, the remains of the ' rel9er army
leaving it to its fate, in order to hurry to Danville
and there join the army under General Johnston,
which it failed to do owing to thegreat cavalry force
of the enemy, which headed it off at every road
leading to that point, On the 9th the remains of the
army under General Lee, numbering from 17,000 to
to 20,000 men, was surrendered. For these figures
I have the word of General Alexander, C.S.A.,
Chief of Artillery of the Ist Corps, who is well in-
formed in the matter. lle told me also that the
remains of two divisions of cavalry under Generals
Fitz Hugh Lee and Rosser cut their way out of the
United States' forces, but that Lee returned with a
part of his command on hearing of the surrender of
his chief. As to the gallant Rosser, he is gone, and
they do not know where he is. General Lee has lost
nothing of his reputation by this reverse. He made
a good fight against great odds, and a rapid and
clever retreat. If he had 5,000 or 6,000 good
cavalry he would have got away. His force of that
arm was about 5,000 men, on half-starved horses;
that of the enemy was about 12,000, and the horses
were in good condition. As for this city, from the
Capitol, which is on a fine site in the heart of the
city, you see a waste of ruins from Main-street
to thn river. This is the business part of the
city, and it was set fire by pillagers, half drunk
with " apple jack." The banks are included in the
ruins. Nothing but a long row of blackened chim-
neys now meets the eye where once there was
the stir of business. The fine bridge of the Central
Railroad over the James is also burnt. This was
done by order of the C. S. General commanding
the place. I went to Mr. Davis's office, and found
it to be a good-sized apartment, with a long oval
table, covered with cloth in the centre, and a chair
lined with leather by the side of it. This chair was
the seat of Mr. Davis up to the time he had to quit
the capital. A few large envelopes were lying about,
with the words " C. S. of America," " Official busi-
nes:3" printed upon them. Confederate States bonds
were selling in the street for sc. Only think of
that ! It tells the tale of the fall of this city more for-
cibly than any other thing. Many persons were getting
them as curiosities. Few persons have been able to
come here yet, for it is not easy to obtain a pass.
The city and environs are full of interest, and if the
city was open to visitors, there would be a flood of
them. To many of you, and the officers of the army
in particular, the ground covered by the lines of
defences in front of Petersburg would be of the
greatest interest. It is cut up by a maze of works.
Only two divisions of the Army of the James occupy
the city—the 3d of the 24th Corps, and the Ist of
the 25th Corps (negro)."

THE DEATH OF THE CZAREWITCH.—The particu-
lars which we were enabled to publish last week of the
illness of the late Czarewitch were of great medical interest
in more than one respect. They have interest, as clearly
showing that the disease of which the Czarewitch died was
not of the nature of the • cerebro-spinal meningitis now
epidemic about the Lower Vistula. So far from this death,
which has occasioned universal sadness, being of a sudden
or epidemic nature, the disease had been going on for years,
and would seem to have been serious for three months past.
Though there were unusually acute and painful symptoms
before death of the nature of cerebro-spinal meningitis, the
case was essentially the common one of psoas abscess, with
disease of the bones of the spine. This disease does not
generally terminate with acute symptoms, but is always
liable to do so. In the Ozarewitch's case it originated in
a fall from his horse. It is the more necessary to be ex-
plicit in the statement of these particulars, as there has
been a great amount of fear excited in this country in con-
nexion with epidemic forms of disease on the continent ;
and the telegraphic accounts of the case of the Czarewitch
were of such a nature as to lead to the idea that his death
was occasioned by one of these, an impression which is
entirely removed by our information. The post mortem
examination showed that a tubercular tendency exists
in the constitution of a Royal family likely to exer-
cise a most important influence on the history of Europe
and the world. The case has a more strictly professional
interest, as illustrating the occasionally obscure and varied
nature of the symptoms by which caries of the vertebra)
and psoas alscess are accompanied ; simulating, in turn,
lumbago, intermittent fever, and cerebro-spinal meningitis.
The facts of the case impress us with the importance of a
remark contained in the just published notes of Sir Benja-
min Brodie, though admitting of only a qualified applica-
Von here. Lumbago "is generally supposed to be an
affection of the muscles. lam myself inclined to believe
that it has a more deep-seated origin, and that the actual
seat of the disease is in the lower part of the spinal cord itself,
or at least in the nerves which arise from it."—Lancet.

THE STOCK OF COTTON.—The stock of cotton
continues to be pretty.well maintained at Liverpool,
although it has somewhat decreased of late. Annexed is
the weekly movement of affairs during the current quarter
as compared with the corresponding periods of 1864 and
1863 :

1865. 1864.

1863.

Bales: Bales. Bales.
Week ending April 1 ... 580,010 297,060 295,330
71 „ 8 ... 605,920 ... 309,760 ... 278,000
71 „ 15 600,530 369,240 ... 365,100
17 „ 22 ... 575,480 ... 414,460 413,330
17
_„ 29 520,150 ... 370,760 ... 366,480

May 5 ... 537,010 ... 364,250 356,610
The stock at the commencement of the current month thus
showed an increase of 172,760 bales as compared with May,
1864, and of 180,400 bales as compared with May, 1863.
Although the future is not yet quite free from anxieties,
the "cotton famine," which has so long depressed the in-
dustry of Lancashire, may be clearly regarded as at an end.
IRISH DOGS.—Sir R. Peel has laid before the
House of Commons a Dogs Regulation Bill for
Ireland. The owners are to take out dog licences at 2s. a
year for each dog, with a fee of 6d. for registering au
owner's licence or licences. There will be a penalty for
keeping an unlicensed dog. The occupier of premises
where a dog is kept or " permitted to live or remain" is to
be liable to the licence duty unless he can prove the dog
to be there without his sanction. The account of the re-
ceipts from dogs is to be annually laid before Parliament.
Notices stating the course to be pursued for the registra-
tion of dogs are to be fixed on the outside of all the church
and chapel doors in Ireland or other public and con-
spicuous buildings.
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE POET THoll.—How
SOON WE ARE FORGOTTEN.—The town of Inverury
and the Poet Thom are indissolubly associated in litera-
ture, wherever the language circulates, and many people
who never saw the town or the poet's house wept over the
story of -his life. It is rather remarkable, when such is
the case, that the remembrance of the poet, in the locality
rendered classic by the strains of his muse, should well-
nigh have sunk into oblivion before a quarter of a century
should have elapsed. As an instance, we may state how a
gentleman residing in Edinburgh, a literary divine of high
standing, who knew the story of Thom's life, and sympa-
thised with it, was some years ago delighted in being
appointed one" of a deputation to visit the spot where Thom
wrote most of his poetry. His heart had long craved such
an opportunity to see where Thom had toiled, and sung, and,
above all, to hold converse with the young family of orphan
daughters he had left behind. So, on arriving at the In-
verury station, he hurried up to the town ,and asked at the
first one he met if they could show him where the family of
the late Mr. Thom lived. " No, never heard of the name.'
The same question was asked and answered with the same
barren result, as he went on, and it was not until he had
got beyond the outskirts of the town on the south side that
he could hear where the daughters lived. These interesting
young ladies had the misfortune long ago to lose both
parents—have been brought up mainly under the care of a
grandmother—and have been necessitated to appear during.
the past month in court to give evidence in the case of their
uncle, George Stephen, their sole earthly support and pro-
tector. It is heartrending, for the sake of these young girls,
that so dark a gloom should have appeared to their
cloud
eTa es t
orp re-
children home and hearts at present, when all naturet is astir with
joy. Their future lot wo dare not anticbiepa
; hmaturely re-
children of men of genius who may
moved
enerous people,
.)
a g th Ab
moved by the hand of death are led
ba sort of
legacy to the
nation, and they should be adopt
Journal that first carried the cup of comfort to the
without any doubt in the matter. It
was e erdeen
famished lips of the father of these ladies, a long time ago, in
the shape of a £5-note, and the burst of sterling gratitude
it evoked was ample recompense. Au immediate small
subscription to give these well-educated ladies a start in
the world, I doubt not, would go far at tha present event-
ful period in their history to lift a heavy burden from their
hearts, and tend to give the future a brighter aspect in
their eyes.—Aberdeen Journal.
METROPOLITAN MARKET BILL—In anticipation
of the second reading of this bill, which is fixed for Mon-
day next, meetings have been held in the Camden-road,
Holloway, of the residents of the district, with a view of
opposing the measure. It is alleged that the market area
was expressly reserved for the purposes of the market in
1857 ; that time has not been given to ascertain if the
market's requirements will permit any portion of the space
to be let off for building; and, further, that if the market
do not require the surplus space it is still most objection-
able, on sanitary grounds, to adapt a scheme for placing
the dwellings of the labouring and industrial classes within
the walls of a cattle market.