The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DEC'EATRER 27, 1862.

v. so at Bull's Run, then on the Chickahominy,l t sees that negroes do not wish to come North
and now again at Fredericksburg, and this last —its great former dread—but that they will work
attempt has been made with all the advantages of well for the support of Federal armies in the
the experience gained in the former failures. South, and garrison fortifications as what we
As they spent a long time after the repulse might term Negro Sepoys, with great success. To
at Bull's Rnn in front of Manassas, and the fact that the negro will work and fight freely
a considerable time after the disaster on the for the North, in the South, we look with some
Chickahominy, at Harrison's Landing—so it is encouragement. If the North will, as they say
not unlikely that they will remain yet awhile on they will, rather fight for ten years than submit to
the Rappahannock. They must be in a pretty separation, then long before that time, war itself
good position for supplies, as they are but ten miles will have left few negroes in bondage.
from Acquia Creek, on the Potomac, to which place We make not the slightest pretensions to the
there is also a rail from Fredericksburg. There gift of prophesy. The ifs, in all war, and in this
seems nothing, therefore, to call them or force them war especially, are too numerous to encourage
from their present position, unless the Confederates prediction. No one can tell what may be the next
were strong enough, and thought it worth while to fit of the most impulsive of peoples. One thing,
turn assailants. however, we may safely predict—that if the North

But will the North not be discouraged ? We
doubt it. Hitherto the policy of the multitude has
been--" overwhelm—crush the rebels." Immense
levies have been made and monster armies equipped,
and it was supposed that the South would be over-
powered as by an avalanche of Northern num-
bers. They will now take a more sober view of
their adversaries. These men, described by a
Southern correspondent to-day as " dressed in every
conceivable kind of tattered garment, some
wretchedly shod, some wholly without shoes," have
proved to be stubborn soldiers. It was difficult—
says the writer—looking at them, and asking why a
a few of these ragged half-starved creatures habi-
tually beat many times their number of well-fed
men, to render any other answer than that recently
given by General JACKSON, in reply to a similar
question,—" It is the will of PROVIDENCE !" With-
out, however, supposing any special intervention of
heaven, it is evident now to the North that the policy
of crushing by monster armies is one that the South
can meet.

have patience to persist in its policy of girdling
slavedom with occupied towns guarded by free
negroes, and the adjacent territory cultivated by
black freemen, the negroes will soon universally
take their freedom if their tyrants refuse to grant
it peacefully.

A certtin Eastern Prince, after listening with
enthusiasm to the long account of the convict sys-
tem of Great Britain, quietly observed that he was
much surprised that such an intelligent people as
the English should take so much trouble with their
criminals, when it would be so much easier to cut
their heads off. The Indian was wrong in his argu-
ment. The object of law is not to revenge itself
upon the perpetrator of a crime, but to deter others
from following the example. When nearly
every branch of the criminal law was punish-
able with death crime was rife in England
and the public considered it a matter of course for
some half dozen men to be turned off at iNewgate
on a Monday morning. But although the country
thus rid itself of a host of criminals, crime did not
decrease, and robberies, with violence, were rife
until a milder and more discriminative law came
into force, which placed a wide distinction between
robberies with violence, and robberies without
violence.

We strongly suspect, however, that all these
disappointments will compel the North to adopt in
good earnest the better policy which they have been
so slow to recognise. They would not make
war on slavery, and slavery has beaten
them ; they have before them the choice of
a thorough carrying out the emancipation
policy, and if, even now, they steadily and
partially do this, we must think they will triumph.
They have, if they like to make them so, four mil-
lions of black Unionists in the South, who can be
converted from being the strength, to becoming the
weakness of the South. It is now demonstrated
that the negro will fight steadily and successfully
as a free man, as well as that he is but too happy to
work for wages. The great power of the Northin
the South has hitherto lain undeveloped. All de-
pends upon the question—will the North use this
power ? It has suffered awfully in life and limb,
heavily in purse for despising the negro. If it
opens its eyes it will now see that the negro, for
whom the South would destroy the Repubilc, is
the only ally by whom it can be saved.

When transportation first came in vogue it was
looked upon by the felon as a greater punishment
than the gallows, and the stories told of the suffer-
ings of the convict in Van Dieman's Land
and Norfolk Island had a goad effect upon
the evil disposed of England. In those days
the convict was turned to account. In New
South Wales the road from Sydney to Bathurst,
which traverses three ranges of mountains is a
memento of what has been done by convict labour.
It was a task of many years, and was not pressed
forward in any hurry, but the solid rook was cut
through, and the intersecting valleys of the moun-
tains crossed by huge embankments. The country
was cleared of timber and the land cultivated, a valu-
able and fertile colony was called into existence by
the labour of malefactors. The system was carried
out in the rough, it is true, and injustice was
done in many instances to the unfortunate
convict. The country was overrun by bushrangers,
and colonists were sometimes murdered, but as a
whole the plan worked well; and it was not until the
colonies had become small states, and had their own
private stock of burglars and pickpockets, that they
objected to receive the contributions of the mother
country. It is not fair to compare the convict
system of England with that of Continental nations.
Other countries,to a great extent, consume their own
produce, whether it be felons or food. England,
on the other hand, owes her greatness and pros-
perity to her intercourse with other nations and to
the extent of her colonies. To develope the re-
sources of these widespread dependencies is a mat-
ter of vital importance to England generally. To
get rid of garrotters et hoc genus omne is of
importance to citizens individually. Both
objects can be be attained by a judicious
employment of convicts. To what did ancient Egypt
owe the gigantic monuments and colossal temples
which remain to tell the history of a departed race
—but to the forced labour of prisoners. Why
should not those who have by their own acts ren-
dered it necessary for the Government of the coun-
try to place them under restraint for the protection
of the community at large, be tuned to some use.
The deaths in Africa are numerous, but officers
and men volunteer for the service without hesitation.
Commercial enterprise, or the hope of distinction
and fame, will lead men to the most deadly climates.
Is it too much to expect of criminals that they en-
counter the same dangers that honest men fear not
to face. The object of penal servitude is not to
revenge the wrong done to society by the offender,
but to prevent the repetition of the crime. It is
absurd for prison philanthropists to talk about the
treatment of convicts and the management of gaols,
and in their morbid notions of charity hold out a
ousts, the garotter, be
premiumwell-ca to
redforv;icgelveLheit limentjGough plain food to keep
him in health, but let him earn all that he eats.
Let his work be measured, and make it a condition
—so much work, so much food, and, if that fail,
cat-o'-
try what persuasion a nine-tails possesses.
Wherever hard work is to be done, let the con-
victs be sent, no matter what climate or distance;
revive the old fear of transportation, but let that
fear be one of strict and severe discipline, with hard
work and small indulgence. There must be no
more abuse of power by incompetent officers
as was too often the case in Australia ; but
justice must be administered with vigour and
a thief must no longer count upon " getting into
condition by a spell in quod." We have great
hopes of the result of the commission of enquiry,
and have no doubt that this last move by those of
the wrong sort will result in a move in the right
direction in the administration of criminal justice.

On all matters connected with Slavery, BUXTON is
a elarum et venerabile 'semen. We must express our
regret, however, that the renown attached to the
name of the half Quaker Father will not descend
to the more pliant son. POWELL BUXTON and
CHARLES BUXTON will be remembered as not merely
different, but almost contrasted men. The son has
laboured hard to prove himself, philanthropically,
" his father's son ;" but those who remember the
father's steady zeal and labours for negro eman-
cipation, will feel that the son, however justly
proud of his father's fame, has little heart in the
same cause. He seems to have caught more of the
maudlin aristocratic whimsiness of Mr. BERESPORD
HOPE, than he has inherited of the manly firmness
for negro rights of FOWELL BUXTON.

It is difficult to make out the exact drift of his
long and confused letter ; but one thing in it is
pretty plain, he wishes to justify other Englishmen,
and therefore himself, in their " Southern procli-
vities." This is the kind of postscript to his ram-
bling letter; the long former part seems to be occu-
pied in showing, as plausibly as he can, the impos-
sibility of Emancipation. ,It is confessedly notori-
ous—the correspondence indeed of Mr. ADAMS with
Mr. SEWARD, just published, notices it—that while
at first England thought the South mad, the feeling
in its favour gradually increased; and it was
coupled with a growing aversion to the North.
We have noticed from time to time the causes of this
—the chief, we believe to be the conduct of the
North itself. It was seen that even with a war on
its hands, its offensive demeanour towards this
country, and its ignominious toadying of France and
Russia, remained unaltered. It was obvious that,
only as compelled, did it make any anti-slavery
movement, and,above all, it was clear that the anti-
negro feeling of the North remained, if it does not
still remain, in all its strength. While the North
thus exhibited itself to the utmost disadvantage,the
South was careful to atone for past misconduct.
Mr: RUSSELL noticed while travelling in the
Southern States, that they were painfully con-
scions of having affronted England and half Europe
times without number in their half century of
domination in the Government of the Union ; and
that they were now anxious to dissipate, if possible,
those impressions. The South had, indeed, begun
the war with the fullest confidence that by with-
holding their cotton they could compel England
and Europe to intervene on their side. Since the
error of such hopes became manifest, the South has
done all it could to conciliate European
good will, and it has enjoyed all the
advantage of the apparently weaker side triumph-
ing in a battle for independence with a much
stronger foe. It was in this way that the feeling
of England turned, and rather quickly, in favour
of the South.

Mr. BUXTON denies that the cause assigned by
Mr. BRIOEIT—" pleasure in seeing a prosperous
Democracy overthrown"—has anything to do with
the general hostile feeling towards the North.
Both are wrong. The language of Tory speakers
too plainly shows how they chuckle over what they
term the " failure of Democracy." It is absurd
enough, since monarchy and aristocracy have made
failures enough in all conscience—but with the
vast majority of us in England who cannot honestly
profess any goodwill to the North itself, the reason
lies not in its democracy, but in the arrogance,
rudeness, imperiousness, and naked selfishness of
the majority of that democracy. There is no
indisposition to revive kindly feeling. The con-
tribution for Lancashire has been cordially wel-
comed as evidence that there is in the North, a
large and respectable class, worthy the esteem and
friendship of all classes here.
Mr. BUXTON attempts to show at length that
there is little ground for hoping to see the abolition
of slavery in North America. We should say the
same if we looked only at the philanthropy of the
North. Ml philanthropy there concentrates itself
on one idea—an idea suspicicusly kindred with those
of NEBUCHADNEZZAR as he surveyed Great
Babylon which he had built—it is no other than
that of exhibiting in a restored monster Union a
model Republic for the imitation of the despot-
ridden nations. But we confess that we have some
hope, now, that this self-glorifying worship of the
Union is turning in favour of the Negro. As we
noticed yesterday, in remarking on the report of the
L Secretary for Ware the North begins to see that it
kmust conquer by negro aid, or that it must fail,'

LOSS OF THE MAIL PACKET COLOMBO.—Besides
the mails already received, one box of letters from the Mau-
ritius, six boxes of letters and 74 of newspapers from Aus-
tralia, only slightly damaged, and 275 boxes from India
and Australia, much damaged, Baled from the wreck of the
Colombo, are now on their way to England, and may be ex-
pected to arrive at Southampton about the 29th or 30th inst.
Further intelligence has been received that 159 more boxes
have been recovered and sent to Point-de-Gallo. They will
be due in London, via Marseilles. on the 12th, end via
Southampton on the 18th of January.

The Marquis of Lansdowne is entertaining a
family party at Bowood. Amongst the company are
Count and Countess de Flahault and Miss Elphinstone de
Flahault, the Earl and Countess of Shelburne, Mr. and
Lady Louisa Howard, &c.

The Earl lielawarr, who has been suffering from
indisposition for some days past, is now much better.

The Countess Cowper is entertaining a select
party at Panshanger, Herts.

Lord and Lndy Southampton have arrived at the
Clarendon Hotel from Whittlebury Lodge, Northampton-
shire.

Lord and Lady Tredegar are entertaining a suc-
cession of visitors at their seat, Tredegar House, Mon-
mouthshire.

Lord Henry and Lady Ulrica Thynne have left
Maiden Bradley for Worthing.
The Baron de Pelichy has left the Brunswick
Hotel, Jermyn-street, for Paris.
Lady Eleanor Balfour and Mr. Balfour have
arrived at Claridge's Hotel from Kelso, N.B.

Sir Culling and Miss Eardley have arrived at
Claridge's Hotel from Bedwcll Park.

Mr. Jules Devaux, of Brussels, has left Fenton's
Hotel for Devonport.
The steam-frigate Pallas, carrying the flag of
Rear 'Admiral Bouet, who now commands the French
squadron in the South Seas, arrived at Valparaiso On the
26th October from Brest. On the follow!'og day Rear-
Admiral Larien delivered up the command to his successor,
and left ou the 28tt :0- r
byFrancethe Duomay-Trottin,
~ae-of-battle ship. The Pallas left Valparaiso on the 31st
October, and arrived at Callao (Peru) 11th ult.

14 TEST NEW S.

DEFEAT OF THE FEDERALS.

(Per China, via Roche's Point, Dec. 27, 2 30 a.m.)

NEW YORK, DEC. 17.

The battle before Fredericksburg on Saturday
was one of the fiercest, and decidedly the most
calamitous, of the war to the Federal army. The
troops fought with the most determined courage,
but General Lee's position on the heights com-
manding the city was impregnable.
The Federal Generals, Bayard and Jackson, were
killed, and General Meagher, of the Irish Brigade,
was wounded.

The Federal attack was repulsed with the heaviest
slaughter admitted to amount to 10,000 men, and,
by some reports, asserted to be at least double that
number.

The struggle was not renewed on Sunday or
Monday, the Federals being busily engaged on both
days in removing the wounded and burying the
dead.

On Monday night, after a short and earnest
council of war, General Burnside issued orders to
recross the Rappahannock. The movement was
safely effected in the darkness, amid a storm of
wind and rain, the Confederates offering no oppo-
sition, and being, probably, unaware of the move-
ment.

The army of the Potomac is now encamped in
Falmouth and the vicinity, and the winter cam-
paign is believed to be at an end.
Went discontent prevails at New York and Wash-
ington. The President is called upon to dismiss
General Halleck and Secretary Stanton.

Lientual DuLn.i" is hiAmed for undertaking a
movement against his own judgment, and which he
is said to hare expressly disapproved in an inter-
view with the President, the War Secretary, and
General Halleck.

General M'Clellan received a telegram from
Washington yesterday afternoon, and left for that
city in the evening. The object of the summons is
not known. It is surmised that he will be again
offered the command of the Army of the Potomac,
and that he will refuse unless he have full power
to carry out his own object without interference
from the War Department or any other quarter.
There is no truth in the report that General
Banks's expedition has landed in North Carolina
and marched upon Weldon and Petersburg. The
flotilla has been spoken on its way to Gulf Mexico.
A body of Confederate cavalry, 2,000 strong,
under General Wade Hampton, entered Dumfries
on Friday, and captured the Federal picket guard,
the telegraphic operators, and destroyed or carried.
off a large quantity of stores.

Gold reached a premium of 33 per cent. yester-
day on the news of the defeat of General Burnside.
Mr. Jefferson Davis has visited the Confederate
army in Tennessee. He made a speech at Knox-
ville on the morning of Thursday last.

General Rosecrans is between Nashville and
Murfreesborough, at the head of a large force,
and General Grant is at Oxford, on the line of the
Mississippi Central Railroad.
The visit of the Southern President has led to a
change in the relative positions of both armies,
and important movements are daily expected to
result.

The Great Eastern has been efficiently repaired,
and is now ready to return to Europe.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.

NEW YORK, DEC. 17 (Morning).

General Burnside with his whole army, has eva-
cuated Fredericksburg, and recrossed theßappahan-
flock.

The movement commenced at dark on Monday
night. The artillery crossed first, and the last of
the infantry brought up the rear soon after day-
light. The heavy rain storm and the darkness
appears to have prevented the Confederates from
perceiving the Federal movement. All the wounded
were brought across the pontoon bridges, which
have been raised, and all communication between
the two shores of the Rappahannock cut off. The
river is rapidly rising.
It appears that the engagement of the 13th inst.
was a general battle, in which all the divisions were
engaged, resulting in the failure of the Federals to
accomplish their object.
The Federal loss is not exactly known. The esti-
mates range from 8,000 to 20,000 killed and wounded.
No estimate is given of the Confederate loss; but
as they fought nearly behind entrenchments, it is
supposed to be comparatively small.
The press generally attributes the Federal defeat
to the bad management of the war department.
Gen. Burnside is but little censured, as the respon-
sibility of his movement is attributed to the Federal
Cabinet, the immediate reconstruction of which is
urged by the press.
The Federal expeditions, which left Helena and
Memphis for the Mississippi, have returned to their
point of departure without obtaining any miterial
result.
Several steamers have been seen south-east of
Cape Hatteras, and passing Port Royal, bound
south. It is supposed that they belong to Gen.
Banks' expedition. It is rumoured that he will
operate in the Gulf, and replace General Butler in
New Orleans.

The report cf troops landing in North Carolina
is not credited. One steamer of Banks' expedition
put into Port Royal disabled, and another has re-
turned disabled to Philadelphia.
Twelve Federal regiments have left Newbern,
North Carolina, it is supposed for an attack on
Weldon.

Three hundred Confederate cavalry have again
dashed into Maryland, and retired after doing some
damage.
President Davis is travelling in Tennessee, where
he has made speeches, stating that he left the issue
in Virginia with General Lee, and that his own
presence was not needed in the south-west. At
Murfreesboro' he declared that Tennessee must be
held at all hazard.

It is said that President Davis will concentrate
his troops on the west bank of the Mississippi, and
will hold conferences with the Confederate generals
in Arkansas.

The Governor of Virginia has addressed a letter
to the Richmond Whig, stating that Virginia will
never entertain any proposition from any quarter
having for object the restoration of the Union, on
any terms or conditions whatever.
The Richmond Examiner considers it extreme
absurdity to suppose that any Confederate State
would listen to the proposal contained in President
Lincoln's Message to Congress.

The Alabama returned to Martinique on the 26th,
and was taking in coal from a British barque in
harbour.

The ship George Griswold is loading with grain
for the Lancashire operatives. The relief fund now
reaches 160,000 dols.
Thy New York National War Committee has
petitioned Congress to authorise the granting of
commissions to private armed vessels to capture
the Alabama, and similar cruisers, and to offer a
reward for their capture.
A resolution has been introduced in the Federal

Congress, instructing the Committee on Foreign
Affairs to inquire whether some method cannot, be
udopted to show the sympathy of Congress with
the Lancashire operatives.

The House of Representatives has adopted a re-
solution, stating that in their juugtnent their
should be no legislation changing the law providing
fur the payment of interest on the public debt in
coin.

Another resolution, authorising the Secretary of
the Treasury to pay in coin the bonded public debt
due previous to January, 1862, was referred to the
Committee of Ways and Mean&
A bill has been introduced reducing the duty on

paper to 10 per cent.
The Committee of Ways and Means have been
instructed to inquire into the expediency of increas-
ing the duty on foreign goods not of prime neces-
sity, so that the importation of foreign goods shall
not exceed the amount of American manufactures
and growth exported, exclusive of specie.
The House of Representatives has endorsed Pre-
sident Lincoln's emancipation proclamation by a
vote of 78 to 51.

Mr. Conway (Republican), of Kansas, has intro-
duced a resolution, in effect, dissolving the Union,
and acknowledging the Southern Confederacy. It
was laid on the table, Mr. Conway alone voting in
its favour.

The steamer Champion, from Aspinwall, has ar-
rived at New York with 700,000 dols. in specie.
The steamers Antonica and Leopard, from Char-
leston on the 22d, have arrived at Nassau.
Plymouth, North Carolina, has been destroyed
by fire.

The Great Eastern has been inspected, and again
declared seaworthy.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

IfI3VT vnP D-t, 16 (Evening).

Money abundant. Gold, 32k. Exchange on
London, Mt. Stocks buoyant. New York Cen-
trals, 103 ; Illinois, 784 ; Erie, 61k. Cotton quiet.
Middling Upland, 67c. Flour, wheat, and corn
slightly firmer. Provisions dull. Coffee, sugar,
and molasses quiet.