The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-05 00:00:00

DEATH OF GENERAL SAN MIG

The Madrid papers of the 30th of May announce
the death of General Evaristo San Miguel. Of
such men as San Miguel Spain may well be proud,
for he was a gallant gentleman worthy of her hest
days. San Miguel was a native of Asturia. He
was born in 1780. He entered the army as a
volunteer in 1808, when, on the signal given on the
2d of May in Madrid, the Spanish people flew to
arms, and soon proved to Europe that the Bayonne
Junta, who basely sold their country to Napoleon,
did not represent the Spanish nation. In a few
years he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel;
joined the army of Cadiz in 1812 ; and was elected
member of the Cortes of that city for his native
province. He was placed on the retired list of the
army after the restoration of Ferdinand VII., who
repaid with the blackest ingratitude the services of
those who had bled in his cause. He founded the
Espectador newspaper a few years after, and was
one of its ablest and, for those times, most coura-
geous writers. When the tyranny of Ferdinand
destroyed all hope of liberty in Spain, be joined the
expedition of the unfortunate Riego in 1820. He
was one of the first victims of the reaction that
soon followed, and was exiled to Zamora in 1821.
Ferdinand was unable to stem the tide of public
opinion ; he tried what dissimulation, in which he
was an accomplished adept, could de. He affected
to yield to what he could not control, and accepted
a Liberal Ministry. San Miguel was recalled from
his banishment, and offered the post of Minister of
Foreign Affairs, which he accepted.

In aceordance with the secret treaty of the Con-
gress of Verona, which declared the hostility of the
great Powers—Austria, France, Prussia, and
Russia—to the establishment of constitutional go-
vernment, and, above all,to the liberty of the press,
as incompatible with the principle of monarchy,
France was charged with putting down at all cost
the Liberal movement in Spain. Each of these Go-
vernments addressed a note to the Madrid Cabinet
in which these opinions were expressed, and sum-
moned it to return to the old system ; and their
ambassadors resident in Madrid were ordered to
demand their passports in case of refusal. San
Miguel, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, replied to
those notes. He declared that the Spanish nation
was governed by a constitution formally recognised
by the Emperor of Russia in 1812; that the Spa.
niards who in 1820 promulgated that constitution,
which had been put down by violence in 1814, were
not perjurers as they were called, but the organs of
the nation's will ; that the constitutional Sovereign
of Spain was in the full enjoyment of the preroga-
tives granted to him by the constitution, and those
who maintained the contrary were enemies of their
country and calumniators; that the Spanishnattiohne
had never interfered in the domestic concerns of
any other country; that the evils of which
great Powers complained were not caused by the
constitution but by its enemies; that the Spa..
nish people never would admit the right of any
foreign Power to intermeddle in their internal
affairs ; and that his Majesty's Government
would not deviate from the line which national
honour and its unvarying adhesion to the constitu-
tion of 1812, and which it had sworn to observe, had
traced out for it. These notes and the answer to
them were submitted. The Cortes, " faithful to
their oath, and worthy of the people they repre-
sented, would not allow the constitution to be altered
or modified but by the will of the nation, arid in the
manner and form prescribed by it." The Ambas-
sadors demanded their passports; they were handed
to them the following day, the 11th of January,
1823, by San Miguel. •

The French Government lost no time in entering
on the honourable office of executioner allotted to it
by the Holy Alliance. Eighty thousand troops,
under the command of the Duke d'Angouleme,
crossed tie Bidassoa, and opened the campaign
which closed with the capture of Cadiz. San
Miguel quitted Madrid when he could no longer
be useful, and joined the bands of Mina in Cata-
lonia. In the warfare of the mountain he greatly
distinguished himself. He was wounded in almost

I'HE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

LIVERPOOL, TUNE 4.

The Canadian screw steamer Jnra, Capt. Alton,
which left Quebec on the 24th ult., and called off
Cape Race on the 27th, has arrived.

A telegraphic summary of her news has already
been published.

The screw steamers Kangaroo and Hibernian,
both from Liverpool, the former from New York
and the latter for Quebec, passed Cape Race on the
25th ultimo. .

The New York World of the 22d ultimo, in its
"situation of Affairs" says—
The army, commanded by Gen. M'Clellan, is now
in the vicinity of Richmond. The pickets of the
enemy were driven across Bottom-bridge on Tues-
day by the troops advancing in that direction. The
rebels attempted to regain the post by the use of
tlTeir artillery, but did not succeed. Our batteries
dopcned fire, shelling the woods each side of the
bridge. The advance under Gen. Stoneman arrived
at the bridge on Tuesday, within eight miles of
Richmond, but found no enemy in force this side of
the Chickahominy, which at that point becomes a
small creek. The country in that locality is fa-
vourable for military operations. Gen. Stoneman
found six pieces of artillery posted upon the oppo-
site bank, but as his purpose was not to bring on
an engagement, he retired one mile from the bridge
and encamped during the day. While driving in
the rebel outposts he had one man killed and three
wounded. The entire army moved early yesterday
morning with the view of making a lengthy march.
What roads they took is not stated, but the head-
quarters of Gen. M'Clellan last night were to be
within a short distance from Richmond, in front of
which city the main body of the rebel army is be-
lieved to be encamped.
Advices from New Orleans, received inWashing-
ton yesterday, state that the vessels of the fleet have
been judiciously distributed—a number under Com-
mander Lee going up the Mississippi as far as
Vicksburgh, for purposes not stated. The docu-
ments received at the Navy Department show that
Capt. Parragut carried out his instructions to the
letter, and that he was most efficiently sustained by
all under his command.

When our forces took possession of Pensacola the
mayor promised, on behalf of the citizens, that they
would conduct themselves peacefully. The rebels
had evacuated the place on learning that our
steamers, the day before, were going to Mobile
Bay, an.a that the squadron and mortar boats would
soon follow.

Commodore Porter left Ship Island on the 7th
last. With the steamers belonging to the mortar
fleet, for the purpose of fixing a place for the mor-
tar vessels to lie and plant buoys for the ships to
run by when they should arrive. Great excitement
appeared to exist within the forts at the progress
of the fleet. There was cause to believe that the
troops stationed at Fort Gaines were leaving to
reinforce Fort Morgan. The Clifton got ashore
under the guns of the latter fort, and fire was
opened upon her without effect. She was soon
placed beyond the reach of danger. The weather
being bad and the coals much reduced the vessels
had left for Ship Island.

Intelligence has been received from the Galena
andWachussett, forming part of Commodore Golds-
borough's expedition up the James River, to the
effect that the former vessel was fired at on Tues-
day by the enemy's cavalry. No damage was done,
and the rebels were dispersed by a single shell from
the steamer. On Monday afternoon a boat went
ashore from the Wachussett with a flag of truce
containing 6 officers and 12 men. The party were
fired upon by some 20 or 30 men, and simulta-
neously the latter were attacked and taken priso-
ners. Two of our men were killed and three
wounded.

The transport steamer Haze, from Newborn,
North Carolina, on the 17th inst., arrived at this
port yesterday. A Union meeting was held at
Shephardsville, Carteret county, on the 10th inst.,
at which resolutions were adopted, declaring it to
be the duty of all Union-loving men to meet and
speak their Union sentiments, and also to take mea-
sures to maintain and defend the constitution of the
United States, and inviting the Hon. Edward Stan-
ley to pay a visit to Shephardsville, &c. The
Union men of Bay river have organised a military
company for the protection of the laws, liberty, and
property of Union men in the neighbourhood, and
for the preservation of iaw and order. All loyal
residents of Craven county are invited to join. The
Newbern Progress states that the State Convention
at Raleigh would adjourn yesterday, and that at
least two-thirds of its members are Union men.
We extract the following later telegrams from
the Quebec and Montreal steamer :
CAIRO, MAY 22.—The steamer De Soto from the
flotilla has arrived, but brings no additional news.
The opinion still prevails that Fort Wright is eva-
cuated. Deserters from the Confederate camp at
Corinth, a week ago, report that Beauregard had
130,000 men, 30,000 of them being held as a reserve
under Breckenridge. The Confederates are suffering
greatly from sickness, an average of about 600 daily
being sent from the camp over the Memphis and Char-
leston Railroad. All the houses along the road were
used as hospitals. Beauregard is continually among
his men, making speeches to them, urging and
making every effort to encourage them. His
troops are subsisting on half rations; salt beef of
miserable quality is issued once a week. Rifle pits
around Corinth command all the approaches to the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and are 13 miles long.
'The Confederates are making extraordinary efforts
to obtain heavy guns, of which they acknowledge
to have had a poor supply.
A special despatch to the Chicago Tribune of the
same date says:—
The captain of the steamers plying • between
Cairo and the flotilla report that there were over
1,000 refugees between New Madrid, and that the
banks of the river are fairly crowded with them,
begging to be taken aboard and carried North.
The deserters who came aboard the Beaton on
Tuesday report that Commodore Farragut's fleet
left Vicksburg on the 17th, their destination being
Memphis,

The Baltimore American of the 23d in its special
correspondence says :

_ -
The headquarters of General M'Clellan's army
was in proximity to Bottom Bridge, over which a
portion of the army has already passed, the second
division having crossed the Chickahominy at New-
bridge, about seven miles further up, and within
eight miles of Richmond. It was rumoured that a
proposition for an armistice for 10 days had been
made by the Confederates, but of course it could
not been entertained. The advance of our army
was understood to be within five miles of the city,
to which point the enemy has fallen back, with but
a slight effort to check our onward movement.

The advance by the way of Newbridge enters i
on the north-west side.
The tug, from the James river this morning,
brings down two very intelligent citizens from
Petersburg, who fled from the city yesterday to
avoid the press gang under the Conscription Act.
They represent the condition of affairs there and the
surrounding country as of a most deplorable cha-
racter. The sufferings of the people seem almost
beyond endurance, and the quantity ofprovisions was
so great that everything had been seized for the
army, and even the soldiers had been on half ra-
tions for a week past, with no prospect of even
this supply continuing for a great length of time.
The Confederate army, or at least a great portion
of it, they represent as demoralised and dispirited
to such an extent that it is only held together by
the most vigorous appliances of military law. Still
the work of conscription was progressing, and the
roads to Richmond were thronged with unarmed
men, old and young, being driven along under
strong armed guards. They represent that 11°
people in modern times have suffered more than the
people of Virginia are now suffering. Every house-
hold is in mourning, with the prospect of an ap-
proaching famine. They also state that General
Beauregard arrived at Richmond on Tuesday. Jeff.
Davis and the military authorities had declared
their intention to fight to the death before Rich-
mond, but strong suspicions were
entertained that
it was really their purpose to abandon the he city
t,
after a short defence at the works surrounding
Large numbers of women and children from Rich.'

mond had arrived at Petersburg, who represented
the distress prevailing in the city as beyond de-
scription.
Threats were made by the soldiers from the Gulf
States that if they had to leave Richmond they
would tay it in ashes before doing s), and great
years were entertained that their threat would be
carried into effect. It would require the greatest
efforts on the part of the citizens to prevent such
a catastrophe.

The number of troops at Richmond and in the
vicinity was generally believed to be fully 200,000,
including the unarmed and poorly armed of the
recent levies, who were having pikes put into their
hands for active service.

The New Fork Times' special correspondent at
Washington telegraphs on the 22d :—" The War
Department has called for no definite number of
troops, but has reopened the recruiting stations
lately closed by order. Nine now regiments will
be raised for special service. Beyond this no for-
mal call has been made on States for volunteers.
The main object is to obtain a reserve to fill up
existing regiments. The radicals exaggerate this
matter."

In the United States Senate, on the 21st, a joint
resolution giving the thanks of Congress to Flag-
officer Farragut and the officers and men under his
command was adopted. The military committee
were instructed to inquire into the expediency of
granting bounty lands to soldiers enlisted for three
months and one year, also for pensions for widows
of soldiers who die in the service. The Tax Bill
was then taken up and a few amendments made,
and the Senate went into executive session.
In the House of Representatives the Confiscation
Bill was under consideration until the adjourn-
ment.

Mr. John Drew, the celebrated Irish comedian,
died suddenly at Philadelphia on the 21st ultimo.
He had just completed a successful engagement of
100 nights, and was about starting for a second tour
to Europe. Mr. Drew was much respected in
Philadelphia.
The New York Times says it was understood that
the Great Eastern would be open to public inspec-
tion during the following week. Some fears were
expressed lest the vessel should fail to obtain a suffi-
ciently large passenger list to authorise a repetition
of its American trip. " That apprehension," says
the Times, "we understand, is groundless. Not
only has there been a lively demand for passage,
but so great is the current just now setting towards
Europe, and to so large an extent have the accom-
modations of other vessels been secured in advance,
that the Great Eastern's room is likely to be entirely
occupied."

The New York bar had decided that there was
no cause for revoking Mr. Edwin James's license as
a member.

A Washington telegram says—
While the 76th New York Regiment was passing
through Washington on the 22d a number of civil
officers, provided with judicial papers, seized two
negroes from the ranks, and soon placed them
beyond the reach of rescue. An effort was made
to arrest six or eight other fugitives, when the
soldiers pointed their muskets at the police,
warning them of the danger of persisting.
The negroes were departing under the protection of
their military friends. There was great excite-
ment fora short time. It would be investigated.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
(Via Father Point.)

NEW YORK, MAY 24, Evening.
Money is abundant. Gold is quoted 3d per cent.
prem. Sterling Exchange, bankers, 114 ; com-
mercial, 113. Stocks dull, United States Sixes
registered 1881, 104.

Cotton firmer, at an advance of lc. per lb. The
sales of the past two days amount to 2,000 bales.
Breadstnffs—Winter red wheat, 1 dol. 15c. ; Chi-
cago, 1 dol. ; Extra State flour, 4 dole. 55c.; mixed
Western corn, 50c. Lard, 81c. Tallow, 91c.
Coffee quiet. Spirits of turpentine steady. Freights
to Liverpool—Flour, 3s. ; wheat, ls.