The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-15 00:00:00

•••••••
CHESTER, was on Tuesday called upon to answer for
himself by the Lord Chancellor, when the following
dialogue took place :
The LORD CHANCELLOR—My lord bishop, I am
directed by the house to ask your lordship whether you
heard the question put from the chair ?
The Bishop of WnicuEsTEß—Yes.
The LORD CHANCELLOR-011 which side was it your
lordship's intention to vote?
The Bishop of WlNCHEsTmt—With the non-contents.
The LORD CHANCELLOR—On which side does your
lordship now vote ?
The Bishop of WINCHESTER—With the non-contents.
Surely a very harmless interlocution in itself.
Very plain, for all who listened to it, to understand.
Not in any way that we can at all understand
it a display of arrogance on the part of the
Chancellor—nor yet again in any one particu-
lar that we can perceive degrading or galling
to the sight as the Bishop of WINCHESTER.
Not so, however, thought the Duke of BUCCLEUCH.
Who forthwith rose indignantly to protest against
what he deemed the unprecedented and apparently
in his present view, the unseemly circumstance of
any noble lord being subjected to what the Duke
of BUCCLEUCH termed " so much examination and
cross-examination." The House laughed at the
charge—and no wonder—thus petulantly directed
against the noble and learned lord on the woolsack.
But the Lord Chancellor himself actually went the
length of good humouredly apologising ! For
what ? For having—if really such was the fact—
" added one more to the many irregularities of the
evening." Without doubt the "reply courteous"
thus readily given by Lord WESTBURY to the Duke
of BUCCLEUCH will go far to obliterate from the
recollection of the House of Peers the " reply
irritable" given by the noble and learned lord some
little time back to Lord CHELMSFORD, and after-
wards to Lord CHELMSFORD'S apologist, the noble
Earl, the head of the Opposition.

The conflict thickens in America. The news just
arrived shows all parties alive, in excitement, mov-
ing on ready to move, both politicians and soldiers.
We are now certain of the surrender of New Orleans,
and of the correctness of our conjectures founded
on the few facts which reached us by the telegrams.
General BUTLER did come at the back of the city
by Lake Portchartrain to co-operate with the fleet
stationed alongside and above the undefended city ;
and it was the Confederate, not the Federal Govern-
ment who marched out to a station twenty-five
miles distant. The fleet has since taken Baton
Rouge, about 120 miles higher up the river, a place
of considerable importance, and one in which the
secession feeling is said to have been very strong.
His municipal majesty, the Mayor of New
Orleans seems to have sent the Federal com-
mander, in reply to his summons to surren-
der, a reply worthy, in its mingled shrewd-
ness, and sauciness of Mr. SEWARD himself.
Of course his worship was the nominee of the party
who had taken arms against the Union, although
it is well known that no city in the South had more
Union feeling in it than New Orleans. This natu-
rally resulted from its being the great commercial
emporium. It was the same under a different form
at New York. Either of the two great commercial
capitals were, for a long time, ready to accept
almost any compromise which would prevent dis-

:urbance to their trade. The present Mayor doubt

less, thought it very clever and courageous to make
his reply a Secession manifesto—to boast of their
allegiance being still given to the Government they
had chosen, and the surrender of an undefended city
being an unnecessary ceremony. If the Federals
have acted as vigorously as they did at Nashville, in
Tennessee, they have given the New Orleanists a
provisional Mayor who will preserve civil order,

and be able to hoist the Federal Flag withont
danger of " paralysing his hands." The new
Mayor, too, would also take care that allegiance to
Secession was not maintained by " firing upon
helpless women and children for showing their
pleasure at witnessing the old flag."

There is evidently also anxious movement near
Corinth and Memphis. BEAUREGARD and HAL-
LECK are both old soldiers, the former has probably
the smaller force, but he is in a desperate position,
and is said to have evacuated Corinth and fallen
back to Memphis and the river, probably to have
the aid and co-operation of his gunboats; while
HALLECK is close upon him, with it is said 160,000
men. If he does not rout and capture BEAURE-
GARD'S army, he apparently ought to do it. In the
East, Fort Macon, which was blown up soon after
General BURNSIDE took Newburn, has at last

really surrendered, and BURNSIDE will therefore be
now at liberty to pay his attentions to the Norfolk
navy yard, though he will have 150 miles to march
and some rivers to cross. M'CLELLAN appears to
be still busy on regular approaches to Yorktown;
and BANKS and 111'DowELL cooperating vigor-
ously from the north-west of Virginia.
The politicians are getting warm over the negro
question. Little has actually been done yet ; but
the proposals to confiscate the negro property of
rebels meets with strenuous opposition. The Eman-
cipationists would seem to be a very large majority ;
but, in consequence, the members from the border
States threaten another secession—one from Con-
grEss—and thus to throw the onus of the emanci-
pation measures upon one party entirely. Presi-
dent LINCOLN has no doubt a difficult game to
play ; and all kinds of rumours are rife, but no
faith can be placed in any of them. One thing is
certain—without emancipation reunion could never
be real and solid.

All is over, so far as the English and Spanish are
concerned in Mexico, if we may reiy on the infor-
mation just brought from the West Indies. Ori-
ginally it was only intended to occupy the ports of
the country, and that each Power should redress
its grievances, which were chiefly pecuniary, by
appropriating the Customs dues till the demands
were satisfied. The Treaty between the Three
Powers was as distinct as could well be needed ;
but first the Spaniards practically violated its
arrangements by landing a number of troops be-
fore the other Allies were ready, and acting in a
manner which showed that they hoped to repeat in
Mexico the roguery which had been so successful
in St. Domingo.

We did not alter our course—but France would
not be outdone in a question of soldiers and foreign
influence—she immediately put herself on a level
with Spain in her proceedings, and the Mexicans,
to her great pleasure, no doubt, of the two invaders,
showed an evident preference for the French. The
Spaniards have seen that their original project of
becoming the governing patrons of Mexico was
hopeless; the inhabitants would not have them at
any price. The .e reoo., persist in
their plan of endeavouring to establish a monarchy
in Mexico, or at least, of, what they call, restoring
order; offering
their support to the moderate party.
The English, like the Spanish, withdrew; the French
course being in clear violation of the allied treaty,
which stipulates for non-interference in the internal
affairs of the country.
We certainly cannot defend Spain at first, and
filo French now, in departing from the letter and
the spirit of the treaty for joint and similar action.
Our b
and to make it
felt that business
vie
was to get our money,
0 could not allow ourselves to be trifled
rith.
Mexico by the
M Op occupation of