The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1865.

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1865.

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We have not had long to wait for additional news
from America, and although the date of the intelli-
gence brought by the City of Baltimore is only one
day later than that of the Canada, it is full of inte-
rest and not without its significance .
its military
and political aspect. The most striking feature is
the message of President DAVIS to the Confederate
Congress, which is remarkable for its undirainished
spirit and the high tone which he assumes in speak-
ing of the prospects of his country. More energetic
legislation is, he says, required by the condition of
affairs, and he recommends the modification of the
Militia law and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus
Act. The latter measure, indeed, be considers to
be indispensable to the successful prosecution of the
war. It will, of course, make a vast difference in
his position, and in that of General LEE, It Will

greatly strengthen their hands, and will remove:
those obstacles which prejudice, selfishness, and- 1
discussion have hitherto put in their way. It will
empower them to impress any number of men they
may require, to enlist the negroes, and take other
active and vigorous steps. The great wants
in the Southern councils ever since the unfortu-
nate moment when General SHERMAN entered
Georgia have been promptitude and vigour.
Unhappily just at that crisis there was disaffection
in the Senate and discontent among the people.
Those selfish interests which can never be wholly
exterminated asserted themselves among the people,
and paralysed the efforts of their truly patriotic
readers. The Peace Conference did great good by
arousing once more the old feeling of unity and de-
termination throughout the Confederate States.
The people, whatever their malcontent, could not
submit tamely to the humiliating terms offered by
the North, who dictated the terms of a conqueror
without a conqueror's right. On the subject of this
Conference we learn something from the Southern
President's Message. It appears that the Confede-
rate Commissioners proposed to get over LINCOLN'S
objection to treat with the Richmond Government
by a military convention between the two principal
Generals. LINCOLN did not at first accede to this,
but after a time General ORD, commanding the
army of the James, asked for an interview with
General LONGSTREET, and told him that LEE would
be granted an interview if he had the requisite
authority. LEE therefore wrote to GRANT on the 2d
of March, proposing a conference on the subject of
the suspension of hostilities. But the Northern
General refused, on the ground of not having any
such authority. 'No choice, therefore, says DAvis,
remains to the people of the Confederacy, but to
fight out the contest to the last. " They can have
little love for Union who supposes it possible they
would ever consent to purchase, at the cost of de-
gradation and slavery, permission to live in a
country garrisoned by their own negroes, and
governed by officers sent by the conqueror to rule
over them." Not less strong is his language of
encouragement, provided the people respond to his
call. He does not, indeed, attempt to deny that
the crisis is urgent, and with the frank and straight-
forward candour with which he has always dealt
with his people, he admits that Richmond is now in
greater danger than it has been throughout the war.
But he adds, " Though the country is in danger,
calamities will be averted and triumph secured by
fortitude, courage, constancy, and endurance."
Men and money are both required for the success-
ful conduct of the war ; both exist in the country,
and both should, therefore, be forthcoming for the
cause. With regard to the financial embarrassments
which still continue to be felt, he hopes that
Congress will devise measures for making coin within
the Confederacy available for supplying the army.
Two million dollars in coin will, it is said, supply the
Carolina armies during the remainder of the year.
With the monetary difficulty thus disposed of, and
the scarcity of men provided for by the enlistment
of the negroes, the two great hindrances to the Con-
federate leaders will be satisfactorily removed.
In contrast to the Message of President DAVIS to
the Confederate Congress, we have the brief ac-
count of a speech made by President LINCOLN to a
crowd at Washington, in which he declared his be-
lief that the end of the war was at hand, that the
South was reduced to the last extremity, and
that if the slaves would fight for their masters
it would be an argument in favour of
slavery. Mr. LINCOLN'S opinions appear to have
undergone a rapid change between the 4th and 17th
of March. The desponding tone of his address on
his re-inauguration as President was most remark-
able, and he expressly asserted that no man could
foresee the end of the war. But, in a fortnight, all
is changed. The Confederacy is at its last gasp,
the negroes will not fight, and the war is coming to
an immediate conclusion. We suspect that the
North, so far from having nearly gained their object,
is in a more critical position than ever. Should the
Southern people respond to DAVIS'S appeal, as they
no doubt will, LEE will be free to act with a vigour
and a concentration of purpose which he has never
been able to command before, while the wide range
of his authority will enable him to be virtual
Dictator.

It is evident that some important movement is in
contemplation, for unusual activity was prevailing
in both armies, and so remarkable was the move-
ment among LEE'S troops that the army of the Po-
tomac was under arms for two days. It was thought
that the Confederates had ruined some of the Fede-
ral works, and an attack was expected ; but whether
there was any reason for this supposition beyond
mere conjecture is not stated. The Richmond papers
suspended publication on the 16th, owing to the
absence of their workpeople upon military service.
They might possibly have been engaged in the re-
moval of property previous to the evacuation of the
city, or they may have been summoned to take part
in other business. It is quite manifest that LEE has
some serious movement in contemplation, and pos-
sibly its result may affect the destiny of the war.
SHERMAN is said to be moving on Goldsborough,
having now open communication with Wilmington.
He has completely desolated the eastern portion of
Southern Carolina, burning everything before him
after the humane fashion of Federal warfare. It is
noticeable that the Federal Government is said to
contemplate the withdrawal of twenty-five thou-
sand marines from the navy for land service. This
does not look as if the Northern ranks were very
well supplied with recruits. The Confederate General
FORREST has arrived at Macon, Georgia, with 15,000
cavalry, so that we may expect he will soon appear
upon the scene of action. JOHNSTON is concentrat-
ing his forces at Raleigh, where SHERMAN may look
for serious resistance. Raleigh is the capital of
North Carolina—_a central position of importance,
round which the railways radiate in various direc-
tions. It is not likely that JOHNSTON may make a
stand there, and offer a vigorous opposition to the
invader's further progress.

gha thea
in banks
to of
The last mail told us of
the damage wantonly
since
inflicted by the Federais in flooding
the James River Canal. They
suffer a similar misfortune themselves by the sudden
breaking up of the ice on the Susquehanna, famous
for its poetical associations. Some millions of
dollars' worth of property has been destroyed, and
the petroleum works in Pennsylvania have suffered
greatly.
The next mail, which may be expected within a
few days, may very likely bring us important intel-
ligence; but, as matters at present stand, the friends
of the South have no cause for despair, nor the
partisans of the North for exultation. It is
probable that the very reverses which the
South has suffered may be the means of
its salvation, since they have aroused its
latent energies. DAVIS and LEE are leaders worthy
of a free and determined people, and the rumoured
resignation of the former has its rise, no doubt, in
the wishes of Northern allies. He is not the man
to abandon his post in danger, and all wise and
patriotic Southerners must desire to retain him at
the head of the Confederacy.

Affairs in Prussia are approaching a crisis, and
the Government will soon be put upon their mettle
to Carry 014 theix chtrighed nilemee and to make a

stand against their vehement and vigorous oppo-
nents. Times are indeed changed since we hailed
in Prussia the triumph of constitutionalism, spread-
ing its beneficial influence at home, and presenting
an example that foreign nations admired and emu-
lated. The debate on the Budget sufficiently shows
the state to which things have come, and indeed it
may be safely and surely predicted that we shall
soon hear of a crash somewhere. People will not go
on for ever tamely submitting to their liberties being
outraged and their rights trampled upon ; and even
the lethargic Prussians must be roused by the un-
scrupulous conduct of their Government if a change
does not take place very shortly in the tactics of
Herr BISMARK and his coadjutors. It has come to
something when the Ministers openly declare that
they refuse to resign whatever happens, and set the
assembled Chambers at defiance. General VON
RooN's speech is quite a masterpiece in its way, and
aptly represents the policy of Ministers at present.
It deserves an attentive consideration, and may be
studied with advantage by all those who wish to in-
form themselves concerning the prospects of the
future. The General's tone was insulting in the
extreme, and the numerous dissentient remarks that
interrupted his discourse plainly showed that the
patience of his audience was severely tried. He
began by attempting to bully the Chamber by de-
claring that they were endeavouring to make
a political question out of what should be
a military and technical affair. Having laid
down this premise, he drew a conclusion very
convenient to the Government, but very ob-
noxious to the Chamber. He went on to affirm
that the constitutional rights of the Crown were
being assailed, and that it was a monstrous thing
to propose to vote the taxes annually. "You want
to add to your power at the cost of the Crown ;
gentlemen, this will never be suffered." (Loud cries
and tumult.) Those who have sneered at the
prophecies of good judges will now see their mis-
take in persisting in the belief that matters would
right themselves in Berlin, and that the storm would
blow over without the power of the Crown or the
places of the Ministers being sacrificed. Such an
indication of feeling as was exhibited during this
debate can not be mistaken, and it is quite impos-
sible for the present feeling to be continued without
it creating a struggle for supremacy that may
assume fearful proportions, and, indeed, convulse
the whole state of the social atmosphere. The
General's remarks about the Ministers would be
amusing, if the occasion that called them forth were
true. He boldly declared that they were told to
resign, but declined to do so. " Our seats, believe
me, are no easy chairs ; we should take your advice
to-morrow could we hope to see the vacancies filled
up by competent successors." This is, certainly,
one way of getting out of the difficulty, and the
ingenuity of these place-mongers must be admired
by all crafty and inveterate statesmen who put
office before everything. It is really refreshing to
notice that when the General went on to declare
that the King placed confidence in them, a voice
called out, " The country places no confidence in
you." But what mattered it to the sublime devo-
tion and fervent loyalty of the speaker and his
friends, whether or not the ignorant men who
listened to him approved of his policy or not. It
was, indeed, perfectly plain that his mind was made
up, and that the pleasure or displeasure of the Cham-
bers and the country was a matter of perfect in-
difference. Really it would almost seem as if the
Government had made up their minds to provoke
the Assembly into doing or saying something that
might furnish pretext for summary proceedings.
As for dissolving the House, the General said
that party organisation was too stTong for them as
yet. This is clearly a contradiction in terms, be-
-cause the object of a dissolution should be to ascer-
tain what are the sentiments of the country, and
what party is preferred to represent the interests of
the nation. We are informed by the plain-spoken
orator what will be done if a better feeling is not
manifested by the Chambers. Sensation and uproar
very naturally followed the announcement of the pro-
posed policy to break through the organisation of
party, and get at the people themselves. The people
are not very likely to profit much by the intervention
of the Government. As for the final threat of
adapting the result of the elections to the interests
of the country, it is only what has been all along
surmised by very competent judges, and the Gene-
ral's much vaunted ultimatum fell very flat on his
auditors. Perhaps the only words of truth that fell
from the lips of this audacious and arrogant speaker
were those with which he wound up, when he sai d
that, " for the Government it was no longer a ques-
tion of right but of existence." There was a method
in the seeming madness of this daring and defiant
address, and the meaning of the enigmatical pro-
ceedings of Ministers will doubtless soon be disclosed.
Heri WICHOW very properly animadverted upon
the extraordinary conduct of the officials. He told
them that there was a NEMESIS in history,
and that if a rupture was brought about by Govern-
ment they would have to pay the penalty one day.
He also very truly stated the exact posture of
affairs, by reminding the House that the Ministers
had caused the confusion of things from which they
were now suffering, by spending money not appro-
priated by the House, and hence the desire that had
been expressed to vote the taxes annually arose from
the idea that the interests of the country were being
sacrificed.

There are none so deaf as those who will not
hear is, however, an adage, the truth of which can
not, be gainsaid, and assuredly Herr VON BISMARK
and his friends is an ample verification of it. Loud
cheers greeted the spirited assertion of Herr
WRCHOW, that menaces would not terrify them—
" It is we who have taken our stand on the rock of
right, and depend upon it you will find us
in the breach whenever the constitutional
rights of the country are imperilled." It
will, indeed, be a pity if the people of Prussia
suffer themselves to be intimidated by the grasping
conduct of unprincipled statesmen, and thus lose
their prestige among the nations of Europe. A
heavy responsibility now rests upon the representa-
tives who have to hold the rights of the people
against powers and principalities in the face of
overwhelming obstacles. The good wishes of all
lovers of freedom will go with them to their arduous
endeavour, and if they succeed will indeed rejoice.
One of the moderate party also spoke out with much
warmth, and thus displayed the feeling of the
House. Dr. SIMSA'S earnest words must have
struck terror to the minds of the Ministers, and the
best proof was that General BONN felt obliged to
explain some of his language. It was not so easy,
however, to give an answer to this query,—General
BONN speaks lightly of the House and of its exist-
ence, but is the Cabinet formed of more durable
material than the country ? Such a state of things
as has been indicated by this debate cannot last
without a momentous turn being given to affairs,
and hence all eyes will turn with expectancy to
Berlin, and watch anxiously for intelligence from
that quarter. It may not be long before the wrongs
of Denmark are avenged in the misery and confu-
sion that will prevail in Prussia, and even now,
indeed, there is the beginning of the end to be
traced in the dissensions and strife that are shaking
to their foundations the time-honoured institutions
of the land.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA,

M. Gounod's " Faust. e Margherita,"

The new season at Covent Garden commenced
last evening under the happiest auspices. Yesterday
having been the Third Court held by her Majesty
in person, at Buckingham Palace—the third since the
lamented commencement of her Majesty's widow-
hood—early though the present date in the London
season is as yet, the house last night presented alto-
gether a most brilliant appearance. In spite of the
weather, the attendance was very considerable. But,
turning from the audience to the entertainment, that
also was in many ways remakable. The perform-
ance set down by Mr. Gye for the First Night, pre-
sented a combination of attractions. There were
two debilts to begin with—a soprano and a contralto
—Mdlle. Berini, from Milan, and Mdlle. Honore,
from Moscow. And both of these debuts wer3 suc-
cessful. Again, as the hero of the night, of the
First Night of the Season, there was that yet King
of Tenors, Signor Mario—still King amongst them
all when he happens to be in good voice, as he
did most happily prove to be last evening.
To crown all, the opera selected for the
inaugural night of the season, was that most popular
among all modern operas, Gounod's Faust e Mar-
gherita. Incomparably, notoriously—the most popu-
lar. Not the greatest work by any means, of course,
neither the grandest, nor yet the loveliest of the
world's lyrical masterpieces ; but, beyond all doubt
of it, among modern operas, we repeat, the most
popular ! And for that—matter claiming for it, as
we have but just now intimated quite frankly, and
also not very surprisingly claiming for it, as
we do, no exceptional pre-eminence, or priority,
or precedence among works of art, many of
them holding far loftier rank as chefs d'ceuvres
among musical compositions—who can wonder, in-
deed, at the exceeding popularity of the Faust of
M. Gounod ! To begin with—the theme selected
by him is so matchlessly attractive ! Meaning, of
course, not in any way the mere libretto of
Messrs. Carre and Barbier—a libretto much of
a piece with the general run of produc-
tions of that proverbially feeble class —but
meaning rather by 'the theme" of the opera,
the ideal Faust of Goethe, the ideal Faust-and-
Margaret of the Teutonic Shakapere.
,Even through
the hazy verses of Carre and Barbier, the luminous
and haunting Drama of the great German Poet is
clearly discernible ! Thanks, this, of course, to the
vivifying genius which somehow appears to be
more or less peculiar to all great musical com-
posers, for inasmuch as it enables them—when
supplied with no more than the veriest dry
bones of a libretto—to create a soul under the ribs
of death ! As with the rest of them, so is it
here with M. Gounod in regard to this five act
lyrical drama of Faust e Margherita. For— thanks,
we repeat, exclusively to himself in thus having
wedded his lovely music, if not to immortal words,
at any rate to the immortal idea of Goethe—What
Five Acts they are ! What Five Acts in the mere
picturesque distribution of the various incidents in
this tale of love and terror, in this wonderful
shadowing forth of the passionate and the beautiful !
In immediate evidence of which, observe the mere
symmetry and completeness of effect produced
by the distribution of the incidents in these
Five acts of Gounod's Opera ! The Student's
Chamber constituting the framework of the first
act, an act rendered enthralling by the apparition
of Mephistopheles, by the transformation of Faust,
by the dream-picture of Margaret at her Spinning
Wheel. The Market Place being the region given
up to the occurrences of the second act with all its
fluctuating throngs of soldiers, citizens, students,
maidens, matrons, children, old men—touched to
its completing beauty and its crowning interest
by the first meeting of Faust and Mar-
garet. The Garden Scene—the exquisite garden
scene—forming the back-ground, as it wero for the
filhng in of the picture presented to view by the core,
the heart, the central passion of the whole drama-I-the
pretty coquetries of Gretchen,and the warm-blooded
wooing of her by the demon-haunted student !
Act the Fourth running out the tangled thread of
their destinies to a More tragical issue— Outside the
Church first of all—afterwirds Inside the Church—
within view of the very sanctuary. Finally, and in a
manner perfecting this wonderfully picturesque and
symmetrical adaptation to a lyrical form of Goethe's
marvellous dramatic poem, for the Fifth Act
we have The Prison Interior—the granite walls of
the dungeon melting away at the very close, reveal-
ing the apotheosis, as one might say, of Margherita,
or rather the spectacle of her soul being borne
heavenwards through the starlit empyrean upon the
wings of angels, after the famous picture of the death
of St. Catherine ! It is by means of the arrange-
ment thus symmetrically of his materials, but above
all by the embedding those materials—the frail text
of his libretto that is—in the amber of his music,
that M. Gounod has won for his Faust its amazing
popularity. And in regard to the general excel-
lence of the music of the opera, it must be allowed
to be at the very least somewhat significant that
every fresh prima donna ambitions as one of her
most cherished aspirations the achievement of a
triumph in Margherita While, among the roles of
Mario, the representation by him of Faust is admit-
tedly one of the very noblest of his impersonations.
As we have said, moreover, last night was one of
his lucky nights—in other words, the great tenor
was throughout the evening in really splendid
voice, singing just as nearly as possible to per-
fection. The impression produced by Madlle.
Berini's Margherita, although it awakened no en-
thusiasm, gave very complete and thorough satis-
faction to one of the most fastidious audiences in the
world. Madlle. Honote's success upon her first ap-
pearance as Siebel, it should be added, was quite as
genuine and in its way also quite as unmistakeable.
In the absence of M. Faure—now unhappily for
London opera-goers, detained in Paris by his pro-
fessional engagements—we had the best of all
possible substitutes for him as Mephistopheles in
Signor Attri, who—speaking thus, of course, not by
any means in dispraise, but, on the contrary, applying
the words as a very panegyric—we would say sang
and acted throughout diabolically ! Signor Gra-
ziani being still the Valentine, Madame Anese the
Marta, and Signor Tagliafico the Wagner,
they :sustained their reputations last evening
simply as a mere matter of course. The noble
Orchestra of the Royal Italian, and the equally noble
choruses, marshalledns they still are respectively bythe
baton of M. Costa, in their turn also sustained their
reputations. Listening to the Chorus of Old Men
in the Second Act, Nei di di riposo, who can ever
fail to recognise the ineffable touch of genius—not
of talent merely, but of true genius—in that
quavering, subtle, senile masterpiece ! The glo-
rious, massive pomp of the great choral chaunt,
Deponiam it brando pealed forth as magnificently
as ever on the return of Valentine. As to the
delicious, gyrating, haunting melody of the
Waltz in the fourth scene of the second act—
to the chorus of dancers Come la brezza—it never
went with a more resistless swing than last night—
that exquisite melody, the echoing of which towards
the close of the fifth act we regard as the truest and
loveliest touch of genius in the whole opera ! Namely,
in the dungeon scene, where the dying Margherita,
while she is besought in an agony of remorseful
tenderness by Faust to fly with him from her im-
prisonment, herself the while recalls dreamingly,
hesitatingly to mind, the occasion of their first
meeting in the market-place—her soft lamenting
reverie as she sings, being, as it were, coiled round
and twined about by the haunting accompaniment
of that lovely long-remembered waltz ! It is impos-
sible to listen to it unmoved. It is a thought, a
fancy, an emotion, marked with the recognizable
sign manual of genius ! Merely thinking of it now
--it is as if we kissed the maestro's hand in the
remembrance! At the conclusion of the opera
(some time after midnight!) the National Anthem
was given, according to annual custom upon the
Opening Night, but (this not according to custom)
simply in full Chorus, that is, without any solo
whatever. A more auspicious opening night alto-
gether could hardly have been desired. It gives
noble promise for the whole season, and fills us,
above all, with high hope in regard to the Africaine!

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE.
QUEENSTOWN, March 28.

The Inman steamship City of Baltimore, from
New York on the 18th inst., arrived at Queenstown
at 11.40 p.m. to-day, with 197 passengers, and
$31,000 and £1,500 in specie. She landed 18 pas-
sengers, and proceeded at 11.50 p.m. All well.
NEW YORK, March 18, Morning.

President Davis has addressed a message to the
Confederate Congress, dated the 15th, in which he
says :—" Events have so materially affected the
state of the country as to evince the necessity of
further and more energetic legislation than that
of November last. The country is environed with
perils, which it is our duty to calmly contemplate ;
and thus alone can the measures necessary to avert
the threatened calamity be wisely devised and effi-
ciently enforced. Richmond is now threatened and
in greater danger than heretofore during the war.
Though the country is in danger, calamities will
be averted and triumph secured by fortitude,
courage, constancy, and endurance." The Presi-
dent urges the necessity of legislation to modify the
militia law, and recommends the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act as almost indisperisable to the
successful conduct of the war. " With the prompt
adoption of the measures recommended, and with
the co-operation of the Congress and people in the
execution of the laws and the defence of the coun-
try, the South may enter upon the coming campaign
with cheerful confidence in the result. Lincoln will
accept only abject and unconditional submission."
President Davis proceeds to state that at the peace
conference at. Fortress Monroe the Confederate
Commissioners proposed to avoid Lincoln's objec-
tion to treat with the Confederate Government, by
a military convention of the commanding generals
of both armies. President Lincoln, not accepting
the suggestion, was afterwards requested to recon-
sider his conclusion upon the subject of the suspen-
sion of hostilities, which he agreed to do, but said
after mature consideration he had determined it
could not be done. Subsequently Gen. Ord, com-
manding the army of the James, requested an in-
terview with Gen. Longstreet. Gen. Ord informed
Gen. Longstreet of the possibility of arriving at a
satisfactory adjustment of the difficulties by means
of a military convention. Lee would be granted an
interview on the subject if he had authority to act.
Lee, in consequence, wrote to Grant on March 2
proposing a conference on the subject, stating that
he was vested with the requisite authority to accede
to the proposal for a conference, his power being
only military. Gen. Ord meant that an interview
would not be refused on any subject on which Gen.
Grant could act. "No choice remains, then," con-
tinues the President, " but to continue the contest
to its final issue. The people of the Confederacy
can have but little love for him who supposes it pos-
sible they would ever consent to purchase, at the
cost of degradation and slavery, permission to live
in a country garrisoned by their own negroes, and
governed by officers sent by the conqueror to rule
over them."

The President's Message announces that the
commissioners and officers report that, with
$2,000,000 in coin the armies of Virginia and
North Carolina can be supplied for the remainder
of the year. The measures adopted to raise the
revenue, though liberal, being clearly inadequate to
meet the arrears of debt and the current expendi-
ture, some degree of embarrassment in the manage-
ment of the finances must continue to be felt. Men
and supplies are needed to carry on the war suc-
cessfully. Both are within the country sufficient to
allow success. Sacrifices are still needed in prompt
and resolute devotion, and men and money for the
achievement of independence.
President Davis urges the promptest legislation
for the replenishment of the Treasury and the mo-
dification of the impressment law necessary for the
purchase of supplies.

He recommends Congress to devise measures for
making coin within the Confederacy, available for
suoplying the army.
A steamer from Wilmington has reached Fayette-
ville, and announced that Sherman returning met a
gunboat 20 miles below Fayetteville ascending the
river. Johnston is reported to be concentrating at
Raleigh, where it is supposed that Sherman will
meet with his first serious resistance.
The Herald asserts that Sherman will move from
Fayetteville on Goldsboro. Sherman's recent
casualties are estimated at 1,000 killed, wounded,
and missing, and that of the Confederates at 1,200
men.

Sherman has 3,000 prisoners, and 4,000 white
refugees.
Sherman has completely desolated the eastern
portion of South Carolina, burning everything be-
fore him.

Vast quantities of ammunition and artillery have
been discovered at Charleston.

Sheridan reports on the 15th from the bridge of
the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railway, that
he crossed the South Anna, after destroying the
James River Canal as far east as Grockland, and
marched by the Virginia Central Railroad, at Talle-
vine, destroying 15 miles, as far as Beaver Dam
Station. He also destroyed a bridge over the South
Aiwa River. The Confederates lost three guns dur-
ing an unsuccessful attempt to prevent him from
burning the Central Railroad Bridge over the South
Anna.

Sheridan is reported to be moving on White
House.

Unusual activity prevails in Lee's and Grant's
armies. An important movement is expected.
The New York Times believes that the Confede-
rates have some design upon the centre of Grant's
lines near the Appomattox.
The New York Herald says rumours are current
that President Davis has resigned. President Lin-
coln has delivered a speech, in which he said—"We
must now see the bottom of the enemy's resources.
They will stand out as long as they can draw upon
the last branch of their resources. lam rejoiced
to see the end so near."

Mr. Biglow has been appointed Minister Pleni-
potentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to France.
The New York journals generally confirm the
report of President Lincoln having offered the,
French mission to Mr. James Gordon Bennett.

The Jersey Senate has rejected the constitutional
amendment.

The New York Times states that the Government
is determined to withdraw from the navy 25,000
marines for land service.

A great freshet has occurred on the Susquehannah
River in Pennsylvania. Frightful destruction of
property has been caused ; bridges, railroads, dwell-
ings, storehouses and barns being swept by the
flood. The City of Harrisburg and Oil City are
submerged. Great suffering prevails among private
individuals. It is is estimated that the damage done
amounts to some millions of dollars.
Money easy—Gold, 1651. Exchange on Lon-
don, 1331. Stocks tending downwards. New
York Centrals, 1051 ; Illinois, 1071 ; Five-Twenty
U. S. Bonds, 1081. Cotton very dull ; Middling
upland, 58c. Flour, wheat, corn, and provisions,
declining. Coffee very dull. Sugar, molasses, and
petroleum dull. Crude petrolum, 32c. ; refined,
55c.

ARRIVAL OF THE BELGIAN.
(Via Greencastle.)
NEW YORK, MARCH 19, 1 a.m.
General Grant telegraphs the following extracts
from the Richmond papers :
The Confederate Congress has adjourned.
The James River Canal is being repaired.
Vigorous efforts are being made at Richmond to
organise coloured troops.
Mobile despatches of the 14th inst. state that the
city was strongly menaced ; 21 of the enemy's
vessels were in sight. Great activity prevailed
among the enemy in the Lower nay. Maury

recommends the inhabitants to prepare for an attack

and has ordered non-combatants to leave.
Southern journals admit that Sheridan's raid has
been very destructive.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
MARCH 18, 11 P.M.
Money easy. Gold, 165 k.
Exchange on London, 183/.
Stocks slightly firmer. New York Central, 106; ;
Illinois, 107 ; Erie, 6541. Five-Twenty U.S.
Bonds, 108/.
Cotton dull. Middling upland, 58.
Flour heavy. Wheat dull. Corn slightly firmer.
Provisions declining. Coffee quiet. Sugar, mo-
lasses, and petroleum dull. Crude, 36 ; refined, 554.

FRANCE.

PARIS, MARCH 29.

The Marquis de la Lavalette, senator, has been
appointed the Minister of the Interior, in place of
l'M' Bondet, whose resignation has been accepted.

M. Bondet has been created a senator.
The Corriere delle Marche announces the arrest at
Vallone, near Smigaglia, of 18 bandits in a house
where they used to conceal themselves. Most of
them had already been condemned for various
crimes.

" A duel," says the Epoque, "between M. do
R— and M. N—, deputies of the same department,
is the subject of the conversation in the salle des
conferences of the Legislative Body. The adver-
saries exchanged two shots, fortunately without
effect."

" The Frankfort Chamber of Commerce," says
the France, " unanimously resolved, in its sitting of
the 25th, to propose to the Senate Baron Charles de
Rothschild to represent that city in the commission
of inquiry on the bank question ordered by the
French Government."

An unpublished volume of poetry by Camoens,
the Portuguese poet, author of the Lusiad, has just
been discovered at Columbra by M. Justin Hauthe-
rot, a French savant.

The Union de l' Ouest has received a warning
similar to that communicated to the Monde for its
recent publication of the alleged conversation be-
tween the Pope and the French Ambassador at
Rome concerning the Convention of the 15th Sept,
The Berlin journals announce the death in that
city of M. Kiss, the eminent sculptor, the author of
the well-known group of the " Amazon struggling
with a Tiger."
BOURSE, March 28.—The market is very firm,
and almost all the principal Securities have an up-
ward tendency. Threes, for the Account, are now
at 67f. 55c. Italian Loan 64f. 95c. Mobilier have
been done at 876 f. 25c. Railway Shares partake of
the general buoyancy of the market, and many of
them have improved considerably. The market
closed as follows :

4f per Cents 66
Do. end month —
3 per Cents. 67 55
Do. end month 67 45
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3520
Credit Fonder 1295 ----
Roman 74

RAIL"

Italian Loan 65
Do. end month 64 85
Ditto Threes 42 25
New Mexican
Russian B9
Austrian: —
Spanish Threes
Rome Debt
Deferred
'AYS.

Orleans
Northern

Cash. Acct.
... 930 ... 932 50
... 1045 ... 1046 75

Lyons and Mediterranean 983 75 ... 983 75
Southern 5BB 75 ... 587 50
Western 560 ... 560
Eastern
Sardinian 3Ol 25 ...

Austrian
433 75 433 75

Lombard
•••

North of Spain 302 50
Saragossa
Ditto to Barcelona —