The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-26 00:00:00

YHE WAR IN AMERICA.

The commercial letters from New York show
that one of the effects of the inflation of the cur-
rency continues to be to keep up the prices of stocks
and to cause orders for purchases to be sent to this
side, the mass of the people, in their complacent
ignorance, being still totally free from anything
like panic with regard to the finances of the coun-
try. At the departure of the present mail, however,
the public mind was very uncomfortable from the
fact that all intelligence from the army of General
Pope since the severe battle at Culpepper Court-
house had been kept back by the War Department
at Washington, and it was consequently appre-
hended that the contest may have been continued
and have resulted in a complete defeat. Business
of all kinds was very quiet with the exception of
the operations connected with the despatch of grtol
and provisions. During the week the shipment&
from New York had been equal to about 160,000
quarters of wheat and flour, and about 5,100,0001 b.
of lard. pork, cheese, butter, and other provisions.
The accounts of the harvest are generally good,
tiea want of hands to gather it is severely felt,
-116'.Thrif, reckoning the cost of wagaa and Llie en-
haneed freight, comparatively good prices must be
obtained to yield a remunerative return. The im-
ports of New York since the commencement of the
present year are stated to have been of the aggre-
gate value of £21,440,000, against :e17,740,000 in
the corresponding period of 1861 and ,V 48,400,000,
in 1860. The exports exclusive of specie have been
£16,700,000, against £16,000,000 in 1861, and
£11,000,000 in 1860. Hitherto a large proportion
of the balance between imports and exports at
New York has been provided for by consignments
of cotton from the South, but this year, since the
Ist of Tanuary, specie has had to be sent, and the
amount has reached £7,400,000 against only
£640,000 in the corresponding interval of 1861.
The letters on this occasion comprise several from
persons in a position to furnish perfectly trust-
worthy news regarding the South, and from these
it appears that the tales circulated at New York of
the city of Richmond being decimated by pestilence
were unfounded, the place being healthy and well
supplied with common food, although some especial
articles were scarcely to be had at any price—tea,
for instance, having advanced to £3 per sterling per
lb. An expectation was current among many per-
sons that should Pope be defeated General Jackson
would forthwith march on Washington. In rela-
tion to the position and prospects of the army of
General M'Clellan, the following particulars are
given in a letter, dated August the 10th, from one
of the Federal officers to a friend in London
"August 10, 1862.

" The Federal corps to which I belong has been,
in the field since the 3d of May, and has suffered
greatly from sickness. We have only fought one
pitched drawn battle with the enemy, in which we
had a heavy loss in killed and wounded ; by a sin-
gular anomaly both sides retreated after the battle.
We heard that the enemy had been largely rein-
forced, and the enemy heard the same of us, as we
have since ascertained from prisoners. The battles
before Richmond lasted seven days, and the sun
never shone upon more terrible fighting. Both
sides included, 51,000 men were killed and wounded,
as admitted in the official despatches of both armies.
Our General, 111,Clellan, fought bravely and dis-
puted every yard of ground, but he was clearly
overpowered and beaten, and the city of Richmond
disengaged. We are now collecting a large army
to the north of Richmond, about a hundred miles
distant, of which we form a part, and we shall, pro-
bably, march upon Richmond early in September,
provided the enemy offer no objection. M'Clellan's
army is 27 miles south of Richmond, With the
exception of the capture of New Orleans, we have
obtained no solid advantage over the rebels. We
have merely the ground we are encamped upon,
and the war seems as far from being settled as at
the commencement. You must not believe one-half
you read of our Federal victories ; they are either
unfounded, or gross exaggerations. From what I
have seen of the enemy, they are in point of
strategy quite a match for us, and our best chance
is the failure of their resources. For the present
there is a perfect lull in the war, the valorous pro -
pensities of both parties seem somewhat cooled
down, but it is merely the precursor of the storm
that will soon break over us. By reliable accounts
the rebels have contentrated fully 200,000 men at
Richmond to meet us."

MALIGNANT SORE THROAT.—The Registrar -
General for Scotland reports that in the second quarter of
this year ulcerated gore throats and diphtheria were re-
marked in scattered localities, and that in Mid and South
Yell (Shetland) the sore throats were accompanied by an
affectiou of the bands, which raises the suspicion that sore
throat and diphtheria in the human subject is but a variety
of that epidemic disease in cattle known by the name of
murrain or epizootic aphtha, characterizGd in them by the
aphthous and ulcerated mouth and sore hoofs. An intelli-
gent veterinary surgeon has brought under notice a few
cases, in which it was clearly established that the milk of
cows affected with murrain caused aphthous mouths and
diphtheria in children, and fatal aphths49
terTmatuag in
ulcerous affections of the mouth, throat, and windpipe, in
the case of pigs,