The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-15 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, RINE 15, 1865.

province of Corrientes, President Mitre issued the

'ollowing :-
6 PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

TO HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMEN.
"Fellow countrymen,—At a time of perfect peace, and
in violation of the faith of nations, the Government of

Paraguay has declared war against us by invading our
territory with an armed band, treacherously seizing two
steamers of the Argentine squadron and firing on our de-

'enceless people.

" The gauntlet having been thrown down to us without
our seeking it, even after we had done as much as pro-

priety would permit to avoid the strife by preserving that
neutrality which has been the rule of our politics, we shall
now answer war with war ; and we shall do this with all
the energy and power which is befitting the glorious ante-
cedents of the Argentine nation, now so grievously

wounded in its honour and attacked in its stability,,
"Fellow citizens ! Relying opportunely on the manliness
of the Argentine people, and on your invincible decision,
the country has until now strictly kept itself in peace, faith-
fully preserving its neutrality, because it was certain that
when the moment of danger arrived all, without exception,
would come forward to occupy their posts round the na-
tional banner, resolved to comply with their sacred duties.
" Argentines ! The moment has arrived. In the name of
the country and by the authority of the law I call upon you
to take your places as citizens and soldiers of a free State
whose banner has been always accompanied by justice and
victory- .

"Fellow countrymen, I can safely assure you of victory,
because I feel a confidence in the powerful elements that
the nation can raise up, under the help of Providence, with
your courage and patriotism.

" After this noble effort peace will be more solid, more
glorious, and more productive, and you will be able to con-
tinue with greater energy the work of progress in which
you have been interrupted by an aggression as barbarous
as it is traitorous.

" For my part, it is unnecessary to tell you that I shall
discharge the important duties which the country and the
Constitution in these circumstances impose upon me, and
trusting in that Heaven which protects the justice of our
cause, as well as in your generous patriotism, I shall not
rest until I restore to you the peace which has been trea-
cherously torn from you—until I see vindicated as is befit-
ting the honour of the Argentine nation.—Your fellow-
countryman and friend,
" Buenos Ayres, Aprill6." "MITRE.

Besides the foregoing, President Mitre and his
Cabinet have proclaimed the Republic in a state of
siege, in conformity with the 86th article of the Con-
stitution. They have likewise called out the National
Guard over the whole Republic—ordering the Mi-
nister of War to see that each province furnishes its
contingent. Another decree is published, simul-
taneously with the preceding, which enjoins imme-
diate enrolment in the province of Buenos Ayres of
eight battalions of the National Guard Infantry,
with 500 stand of arms to each battalion. Of these,
four battalions are to be for defence in the country
districts, and four in the city. Following this is
another notification by the President and Minister
of War, declaring the National Army of cavalryand
infantry belonging to Buenos Ayres province to be at
once officially organised. Concurrent with the pub-
lication of these documents the Minister of Finance
has handed over to the War Department the sum of
10,000,000 paper dollars (130 of these may be con-
sidered as equal to a pound sterling) for the purpose
of carrying on the campaign. _ .

The National Government has therefore not lost
a moment in setting forward active preparations for
a war that has been forced on it—not by civil or social
disunion within its boundaries, but by what every
impartial person considers the unjustifiable aggres-
sion of a neighbouring State.
While I am writing this letter there is a fleet of

10 Brazilian war Pteamers, with 2000 men on board.

on their way up this river to Paraguay. In a few
days the Brazilian admiral, with five steamers more
and an additional 1,000 men, is expected to follow,
unless, indeed, the new alliance of Brazilians and
Argentines should change the programme. From
the fact of Lopez being on his way down the river
to meet his enemies, I have no doubt we shall soon
hear of a brush.

To explain the 1 ationale of South American poli-
tics is as much out of my own power as it has been
of every person with whom I have conversed during
my some years' residence in this part of the world.
Speculation and prophecy on political matters are as
rife here as they are with you in England, if not
more so ; and, although I do not pretend to be an
expert in either, I shall give you a few items that
are freely discussed among us.
Some predict that the joined forces of Brazilians
and Argentines will soon " whip" Lopez and the
Paraguayans, as foreshadowed in General Mitre's

proclamation, while others surmise it as extremely
probable that Lopez would not have attempted a de-
scent into Argentine territory unless he had an under-
standing with General Urquiza, Governor of Entre
Rios, and former President of the Argentine Repub-
lic. A few wiseacres who assume to be in the confi-
dence of the Argentine Cabinet aver that a very pal-
pable difference of opinion existed between Mitre and
Urquiza on the subject of the recent war in Uruguay,
and this, too, while Urquiza professes before all the
world to give his loyalty to the Argentines. The
geographical fact of Uruguay, Entre Rios, Cor-
rientes, and Paraguay being on the same side of our
river might lead to an inference that the leaguing of
all these—should such a thing come to pass—may
result in very serious damage to the opposite side of
the Argentine Republic.
For reasons which I do not at present deem ex-
pedient to record, although disclaiming any status
among the soothsayers of whom I have just written,
I am afraid that this war will not terminate as
speedily- or as satisfactorily as General Mitre in his
proclamation anticipates ; but, the present scene
of martial operations being at a distant corner
of this vast Republic, they are not likely to interfere
materially with the progress of the antro-Argentine
Railway or the Etcheguray colonisation scheme in i
Cordoba. When the civil war between the Argen-
tine National Government, under General Urquiza,
and the Buenos Ayreans, under Mitre (which ex-
isted from 1858 to the end of 1861), was at its
fullest height, the colonies of foreigners at Baradero,
San Jose, Esperanza, San Carlos, and San Geronimo
were never more peaceable, prosperous, and flourish-
ing than in these troublesome times. It would be
wrong, however, to infer that trade and commerce
do not suffer enormously from the wars that seem
as if they were indigenous to South America. The
export and import returns supplied by the Custom-
house in all the Argentine Republic prove how ma-
terially the blessings of peace augment the revenue.
Of this we find a very striking example in an extract
which I subjoin from a recent number of our Eng:
lish newspaper, the Buenos Ayres Standard:—
"From 1861 to 1864 there was a steady annual increase
of about 20 per cent., or 73i per cent. difference between
the first and last-mentioned years which would show that
we double our commerce in four years. The import and
export duties average 15 per cent. ad valorem; and the fol-
lowing returns are given in Buenos Ayrean paper-money,
of which $l3O may be taken as par value of the pound
sterling :-1861, $90,863,878 ; 1862, $118,019,302 ; 1863,
$136,935,392 ; 1864, $156,004,853. It will be observed
that the greatest increase was in 1862, being the first year
of peace after the battle of Pavon (September 17, 1861) ;
but the flattering change was not a mere temporary re-
action, as we see it well maintained up to the present.
Some idea of the wealth of the country may be formed when
we seo the Customs' revenue of Buenos Ayres alone for last
year amount to £1,200,037 sterling, about equivalent to £1
per head of the population of the Republic. Although the
Customs' report for 1864 is not yet published, we may con-
clude from the aboverevenue returns for the same year that
the total value of imported and exported goods exceeds
eight millions sterling, their relative proportion being—im-
ports, five ; exports, three. France, England, and Belgium
make up more than half of our trade, England being first in
imports, Belgium in exports, but France exceeding either
in the aggregate. Our exports are gradually resolving them-
selves into one item of wool and sheepskins, which now re-
present 60 per cent. of the total."

APRIL 28.

The Argentine National Government is following
up the acts emanating from its Cabinet by sending
to the seat of war the steamers Pavon, Buenos Ayres,
and Pampero, in convoy ofa number of small ships,
having about 1,000 men on board. But oT what use
can these be, even with the ten steamers, and 2,000
Brazilian troops, against the force of Lopez.
General Urquiza has declared his concordance
with the Argentine National Government, and has
announced that he is collecting all the troops of his
province to aid them. This step has caused much
satisfaction to those parties who up to the present
having been in doubt of his policy.
Another event has given great pleasure to all
people who know the necessity of immediate action
on the part of the Argentines in this war. As soon
as the news had arrived in Buenos Ayres, noisy
crowds, with bands of music, paraded the city, and
one of these groups came to General Mitre's house.

Their shouts of " Muera Paraguay " and " Viva la
Republica Argentina" were, of course, treiriendous.
Bat the General advanced to the door, and, waving
his hand for silence, thus addressed them :.

" Fellow Citizens,--,I do not like such noisx demonstra-

tions. I prefer working to talking or shouti-ag. Go to your
homes, get ready to be mustered in the barracks within 24
hours, on march in 15 days, and within the walls of Asun-
cion in three months."

Besides the troops and the 'impregnable fort of
Humayita already mentioned, the Paraguayans have
a fleet of 21 steamers, besides three brigs of war, and
a number of flat boats, carrying one Armstrong 80-
pounder each. Of these ten have been built at
Asuncion, some have been recently purchased, and
others lately ',captured from the Brazilians and
Argentines.

Of tie Paraguayan army I take the following
account from the Buenos Ayres Standard :
"At a rough estimate the land forces may be set down at
60,000—veteran troops, 18,000; militia on active service,
22,000 ; reserve, 20,000, They are distributed in the fol-

lowing order :—infantry, 45,000 ; cavalry, 10,000 ; artillery,
5,000 ; and compose four corps d'armee—army of the North,
in Matto-grosso 8,000 men ; grand army to invade Corri-
entes and Rio Grande, 26,000 ; 3d corps at Cerra Leon,
12,000; frontier garrisons, 14,000. The Ist is commanded
by Colonel Barrios, brother-in-law to Lopez, the 2d by
General Robles (the only brigadier in Paraguay), the 3d
under the immediate command of President Lopez, and the
4th under various commanders in different places. The
estimates of artillery are dubious and contradictory, from
300 to 500 field-pieces and battery guns; the chief officer
is Colonel IN inter, who served under General Guyon in
the Hungarian campaign. We understand there are no
English officers in the service, except Surgeon-general
Stewart and his corps of army doctors. There are about
30 Englishmen employed in the arsenal of Asuncion."

May on the passage from Halifax to Bermuda. The
Medea was commissioned at Portsmouth in Sep-
tember, 1861, by Commander Preston, and has been
employed on the North American and West India
Station. She called at Plymouth to land the inva-
lids, and it was expected that she would leave in
the afternoon for Portsmouth, where her crew will
be paid off, and she will be put out of commission.
The Medea left at Bermuda the Terror, Niger, and
Liffey, the latter ship had just arrived from Colon.
Vice-Admiral Sir James Hope, K.C.8., was ex-
pected at Bermuda about the middle of June, en
route for Halifax. The Pylades was at Halifax and
the Bulldog at Vera Cruz.
The iron paddlewheel steam vsssel Antelope, 3,
Master-Commanding Alfred Thomas, which arrived
at Plymouth on Sunday evening, brought 29 inva-
lids and 22 supernumeraries from the West Coast
of Africa, including Mr. Lawton, engineer, her
Majesty's ship Sparrow ; Mr. Smart, assist.-
engineer, Snipe; and Mr. Sedgwick, assist.-engineer,
Pioneer. The invalids are in charge of Dr. Mullan,
Vindictive. She left Jalla Coffee April 7th ; Ascen-
sion, April 29th; St. Vincent, May 18; and Madeira,
June Ist. Lieut. Allingham, who commissioned the
Antelope at Woolwich in 1861, died at sea on the
11th May; he had been employed nearly nine years
on the West Coast of Africa. The Antelope left at
Ascension the Lee, Griffon (homeward bound), and
Wye, bound for Sierra Leone ; at St. Vincent, the
Zedra ; and at Madeira an Italian frigate, 53 days
from Rio de Janeiro.

The Armstrong and Whitworth Committee, of
which Major Dyer, Royal Artillery, Assistant-In-
spector of Ordnance in the Royal Arsenal, is secre-
tary, completed their lengthened and fatiguing trials
on Saturday last at the Woolwich butt. The two
competitive 70-pounder guns fired on that day the
last course, terminating the appointed 3,000 rounds
each, with charges of 101 b. of powder and service
shots, and are both without blemish. They were on
Monday shipped for transmission again to Shoebury-
ness, where they will be fired at an elevation of six
degrees to try if the accuracy of the guns has been
affected by the severe course of trial which they have
undergone.

It was stated on Monday at Woolwich that Mr.
Parson's system of strengthening the old cast iron
guns, by the insertion of a homogeneous metal tube,
has received the sanction of Government, and that
some of the waste guns will shortly be handed over
to him for that purpose. Mr. Parson's system is
somewhat similar to that of Major Palliser's, which
has been attempted for some time past with partial
success at Woolwich. Mr. Parson's method, of which
a most successful trial was recently made in the pre-
sence of the Emperor of the French, as detailed in
The Sun of the 6th inst., consists of boring out the
breech end of the gun, and fitting in a tube which is
secured in its place by the breech-plug. In the 68-
pounder cast iron gun the lining tube is made up of
an inner tube, surrounded by hoops, shrunk, forced,
or screwed on, and then turned to the proper size.

The lining tube has a breech-plug of its own, which
is for the purpose of preventing the explosive
gases getting between the end of the lining tube
and the breech screw, and by acting on its larger
area endangering its security. The cost of the
appropriation of the old guns on this principle, it is

stated, will be very small, and the consequent sav-
ing to the country in being enabled to use up the
enormous stock at present utterly useless will be

immense.

The following appointments have been made at the Ad
miralty :—Capt. Matthew Connolly to the Fisgard, addi•
tional, for service in the Pallas ; Commander Wm. Jardine
to the Constance ; George 11. Allen, master, to the Hima-
laya; Lieut. Arthur R. Blane to be Lieut.-Commander of
the Psyche, vice Sterne, promoted ; Lieut. Geo. F. Lyon,
Lieut. William Parsons, and Lieut. Richard P. Pardon, to
the Constance, commissioned ; Lieut. Robert S. Hunt,
Lieut. Hon. E. L. V. Mostyn, and Lieut. C. Walker to the
Octavia, commissioned ; Lieut. Ralph L. Turton, Lieut.
Samuel Pulley, and Lieut. G. A. W. Birch to the Arethusa,
commissioned; Sub-Lieuts. Arthur F. Gresley and Mal-
colm IDNeile to the Constance ; Sub. Lieut. Wm. S. Leo
to the Arethusa; Sub-Lieut. Harry F. H. Hallett to the
Octavia ; Wm. F. E. Freeland, Ferdinand Beauclerk,
Amyard Ileggard, and A. D. Fanshawe, midshipman to
the Constance ; Leonard Ensor and Edward A. W. West,
midshipmen, to the Arethusa; Geo. H. R. Willis, James E.
Russell, Fred. A. Moysoy, and Edward A. Fryer, midship-
men, to the Octavia ; the Rev. A. Buckley, chaplain and
naval instructor, to the Scout, commissioned; James R.
Anderson, surg. to the Fisgard, for Greenwich Hospital ;
Benjamin Browning, surg., additional to the Canopus ; J.
W. Dobbin, surg„ additional, to the Victory ; P. M. Roe,
surg., additional, to the Black Prince ; Robt. Humphreys,
surg., additional, to the Medusa ; Alan Colins, surg., addi-
tional, to the Edgar ; H. P. Shanks, paymaster, additional,
to the Fisgard ; G. V. Wright, assist.-surg., to the Arethusa;
Henry N. M. Sedgwick, assist-Burg., to the Octavia;
Matthew Trevan, assist.-surg., to the Constance ; Josiah
F. Kynsey, assist.-surg., to the Orptes ; Cornthwaite H.
Rason, assist.-surg., to the Prince Consort ; Francis H.
Browne, assist.-surg., to the Achilles; Hugh B. Edwards,
assist.-paymaster, to the Gladiator ; James N. Robinson,
assist.-paymaster in charge, to the Medusa ; John F. Rule,
assist.-paymaster, to the Britannia; John London, chief
engineer, to the Black Prince, vice Tucker, promoted;
Andrea Douglas, chief engineer, additional, to the Indus,
for service in the James Watt, vice London ; Ossian L.
Carlisle appointed chief engineer,:additional,:to the Cumber-
land, for charge of engineers of the Orestes, on that ship
being paid off ; James Bowles, clerk, to the Hastings ; G.
F. M. Kent, clerk-supernumerary, to the Fisgard ; Capt.
Reginald J. J. Macdonald to the Arethusa, Capt. Edward
K. Barnard to the Constance, Lieut. Edward Pilkington to
the Constance, Lieut. Joshua Cole to the Arethusa, Lieut.
William H. Hall to the Octavia, Malcolm de S. Edyo, mid-
shipman, to the Constance ; Seaton Wade, surgeon, to the
Asia; Wm. R. Fabian, chief engineer, to the Arethusa;
Robert O. Reynolds, chief engineer, to the Octavia; Joseph
H. Ellis, chief engineer, to the Constance ; John Lowrie,
engineer, to the Arethusa ; James Jones, engineer, to the
Octavia ; Hugh Duncan, engineer, to the Constance ; Robt.
Crosthwaite, to the Asia, for the. Fancy, vice Jones ; James
C. Saunders, to the Indus, for the Gannet, vice Duncan ;
Arthur Shanks and Geo. M‘Leod, first-class assist.-engi-
neers, to the Octavia; Chas. D. Thomas and Chas. M. John-
son, first-class assist.-engineers, to the Arethusa ; Laurence
Steele and Joseph Sharpe (B), first-class assist.-engineers,
to the Constance; J. Copplestone, second-class assist.-engi-
neer, to the Constance; C. F. Halford, second-class assist.-
engineer, to the Arethusa; Henry Scott, acting second-
class assist.-engineer to the Octavia ; Albert J. B. New-
man, acting second-class assist.-engineer, to the Asia, for
the Echo, vice Shanks; Lieut. R. H. Swinton to be lieut.
and commander of the Skylark, his appointment to the
Charon having been cancelled ; Lieut. J. D. V. Butler, to
the Octavia ; W. B. Goldsmith, master, to the Himalaya ;
E. M. S. Claremont, midshipman, to the Arethusa; G. L.
Atkinson, midshipman, to the Octavia ; W. Horn, second
master, to the Skylark ; J. L. Whitney, assist.-surg., to
the Impregnable; Frank E. Croome, assist.-clerk, to the
Fisgard, as supernumerary ; W. Ironmonger, engineer, to
the Skylark ; and T. M. Thompson, first-class assist-en-
gineer, to the Skylark ; Capt. Charles F. Hillyar, to the
Octavia, commissioned.; Lieut. Hilary M. Carre, Lieut.
George T. G. Purcell, Lieut. Charles S. Cardale, Lieut.
George Edward Price, and Lieut. Charles R. Harris, to the
Excellent ; John Thompson, master (additional), to the
Asia, for service in the Enchantress; and Lewis T. Jones,
midshipman, to the Constance.

ENGLISH AND ARAB HORSES.—A Cairo letter
contains an interesting account of a match between
Prince Halim and an English gentleman named Ross to
test the powers of endurance of English and Arab horses.
The Prince chose a white stallion named Alsissa, brought
from Syria about two years ago, and which he rode him-
self, while Mr. Ross selected a five-year-old mare named
Beechnut, exported from England seven months back,
and ridden by a Mr. Thomson. The conditions were that
the two horses should hunt the gazelle in the desert
during a period of seven days, and if one of them gave in
the survivor should be the winner, unless they both died
on the same day, in which case the owner of the English
horse should receive the stakes. The match was for
£l,OOO laid by Prince Halim against Mr. Ross's £lOO, or
odds of ten to one. The hunt commenced in the desert at
two hours' ride from Cairo, at half-past five on the morn-
ing appointed; the two horses proceeded at a walk for five
hours, at the end of which time Beechnut began to mani-
fest some uneasiness. At eleven a gazelle was started, and
brought down after a gallop of about five minutes. Half
an hour later the Prince and Mr. Thompson turned about
to return to their encampment, the English mare some-
times walking and sometimes trotting, when, after pro-
ceeding for an hour and a half, Beechnut began to waver,
and Mr. Thompson, seeing that she was about to fall,
alighted ; the mare advanced a few steps further, and then
fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. After remaining
for twenty minutes beside Beechnut, the Prince and Mr.
Thompson left to obtain assistance at the camp, the mare
being still alive at their departure. Five hours later an
English veterinary surgeon, accompanied by a dromedary
bearing water, arrived at the spot where she had fallen,
when she was found to be dead, while vultures were
already attacking the body. An examination of the mare
by the surgeon showed that she had died from fatigue, as
the whole body was contracted from a difficulty of respi-
ration. Prince Halim's horse Alsissa, in the meantime,
showed no signs of exhaustion, and continued to hunt
during the three following days. The weight carried by
Beechnut was list 81b, and that by Alsissa 12st 41b.—
Gatignani.