The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-01 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

The departure of M. Mercier for Richmond, an-
nounced by telegraph, may well affect the Northern
world with strong emotion, if he has really gone
there. The Minister of France is a gentleman who
has never for a moment concealed his belief that

the North cannot succeed in the object it proposes
to itself, and, who naturally regards the loss and in-
convenience caused to France by the prolongation
of this strife as very useless concessions to the pride
and lust of power of the people of the Northern
States, who are neither grateful nor just towards
those who maintain a strict neutrality regardless of
their material interests. M. Mercier has always
acted with the most perfect good feeling and cor-
diality in his relations with Lord Lyons, although
he may not share the English Minister's kindly
sympathies for the country to which he is accredited.
There has been no Trent affair to stir up the
passions of the unbridled democracy of the United
States, or to turn the fulsome eulogiums of France
in which their press indulged into rabid abuse, but
the Minister of France has not been without evi-
dence of the shallowness of friendship which once
nearly astonished the world with a display of its
ingratitude, nor can he have quite forgotten that in
one of h:s Buncombe proclamations Mr. Stanton
insulted his country by calling her "infidel France."
Nevertheless, if M. Mercier has gone to Richmond
to open negotiations—and it may be remembered
that our correspondent in his last letter stated that
the Confederate Congress was reported to be sitting
in secret session to consider the propriety of sending
another envoy to Paris—it will be said, in all pro-
bability, that England has instigated the Emperor
to interfere, and France will at the same time be
threatened with destruction if she attempts to act
as mediator. As yet the story is improbable, but is
not so much so as the report that France was about
to revoke her concession of belligerent rights to the
South in consequence of the recent defeats of the
CuuletlcLtttes. The real natarrof the battle at Pitts-
burgh is more clearly developed by recent confes-
sions and correspondence. Still more clearly will

it be admitted as a Federal defeat if that trouble-
some and utterly useless body, the Congressional
Committee on the Conduct of the War, take it into
their heads, as reported, to make an investigation
into the causes of the Federal "surprise" on Sunday
morning. An army which carries off from 8,000 to
10,000 prisoners and 36 pieces of artillery from the
battle-field, and awaits the enemy in its intrench-
ments, cannot be called "routed and pursued," no
matter what General Grant's instructions may
have been. If General Grant, or any other
General, were prevented by " previous orders,"
which must have been issued in ignorance of the
future, from following a routed enemy, retaking his
guns and prisoners, and occupying his intrench-
ments, the sooner he is sent about his business the
better for the Federal Government. Until the fact
is demonstrated by precise indications it will be well
to withhold belief from the assertion that the Con-
federates are " shut up" in Corinth. There is no
place where they can be so confined, nor any force
capable of effecting it, but it is not improbable their
communications may be threatened very seriously,
and the intelligence that the bridges by which the
railroad from Memphis to the East is cArried over
Bear Creek have been destroyed by a Federal expe-
dition, is in all probability correct. It is stated that
the Union gunboats ascended the Tennessee river
from Pittsburgh at night to a place called East-
port, and landed a party of men, who proceeded
across country and destroyed the bridges across the
swampy river which bears the above name. The
interruption may ba only temporary ; if it be per-
manent it will cut off the Confederates from any
communication except with Mobile and New
Orleans.

There is little additional information in the Ame-
rican papers respecting the battle, but General
Beauregard's despatch may be accepted as an accu-
rate account of what occurred up to the date of the
morning of the second day. His second despatch
declares he merely retired to Corinth, which he in-
tends to hold at his discretion. He has certainly
struck the Federal army advancing into Mississippi
a tremendous blow in the face, and has staggered
them for the time. The Federals admit their ene-
mies won a victory on Sunday, and are reduced to
weak logic to show they were beaten on Monday.
It is now confessed that Van Dora did not reach
Pittsburgh in time to take part in the action. A
paragraph, dated St. Louis, April 14, states that
the Confederates had 123 battalions, or 75,000 men,
engaged; the Federals, reinforced by Buell, must
have had at least equal numbers. The- same
authority estimates the Federal loss at 8,000.
Several of the Federal regiments are openly named
by the New York papers as conspicuous for cowar-
dice, and are branded by name, number, and State.
'Some had only 200, 40, and 17 effectives on Mon-
day, but there are no means of knowing whether
the absentees were hors de combat by their own
exertions or by those of the enemy. An attempt
to carry the position of Corinth in the present
state of the Federals would not be very wise. On
the whole, the effect of the gallant and well-
conceived attack of Generals Johnston and Beau-
regard has, for the time, paralysed the Federals,
but it would not be fair to conceal that the loss
admitted by the Confederates is very consider-
able, and that their Congress has been fain to
mingle with congratulations on its victory natural
expressions of regret for the loss of such an able
and gallant leader as he who had nearly gained a
most signal success by a movement only retarded
by unexpected bad weather. The North is taught
to believe that General Halleck, who has taken
command of the troops, will soon attack the Con-
federates, and " no doubt" will " give them a pretty
severe whipping."

The arrest at Yorktown affords time for histori-
cal research, and it is discovered thtit the position
of the present belligerents very nearly resembles
that of the French and Americans on the one side,
and of Lord Cornwallis on the other, in 1781. Not
a bit of it. There is no parallel on either side, and
no resemblance, except in so far as the ground occu•
pied by the belligerents may be identical in some
places along cue lines. The French under Roclit:m•

with, a singular want of straightforwardness and
consideration towards the man who was hailed a
few months ago as Salrator _Patrice, been deprived
of 10,000 Men, when his plans were all completed
and he had taken the field to execute them. Rightly
or wrongly, -there are suspicions entertained
that:Genesal has.. not been acting -with
perfect loyalty towards his old comrade and recent
commander, and great indignation is expressed
against him by the Staff and by the officers of the
regiments under M'Clellan's orders. These small
elements are not to be disregarded. The most seri-
ous consequence of Mr. Stanton's recent degrada-
tion of General M'Clellan into the post of comman-
der of a corps d'armee may prove to be that the
General cannot rely on General M'Dowell's co-ope-
ration, as he cannot command it, for that officer, as
well as General Banks, is now free to report directly
to the War Department, and to receive orders from
Mr. Stanton exclusively. A New York paper,
" doing history to order," thus discourses of the
first siege of Yorktown, and of the second siege,
which is so singular a commentary on the first.
What would the gentlemen who objected to a three-
penny tea-tax think if they found their great-grand-
children fighting under a tax upon everything for
King Union against King Cotton ?
Says King Union's man,—

"ln the first instance the object of the war was
the establishment of the independent nationality of
the Union against a powerful European enemy; in
the second instance, our object is the maintenance
of the ' integrity of the Union,' against the most
causeless, foolish, and hopeless, and yet the most
formidable, domestic rebellion in the records of any
nation on the face of the earth. In the first of these
two great wars, after five years of a gloomy and
doubtful struggle against superior numbers, re-
sources, and facilities for war by land and sea, the
final issue was decided in favour' of the Union in
the successful siege of Yorktown ; in the present
war, with all the advantages of superior numbers
and warlike means and resources, and after a nu-
merous train of brilliant victories by land and
water, who can doubt the issue of the second siege of
Yorktown ? Surely it will virtually end the war, as
did the first, in favour of the Union. But in view of
the grand results depending upon the siege of York-
town of 1781, how insignificant appear the contending
forces of that day compared with those now gathered
around that famous locality ! The army surrendered
by Lord Cornwallis amounted to 7,000 men ; the
combined forces besieging him consisted of 7,000
French troops, 5,500 American continentals, arid
3,500 militia, amounting in all to 16,000 men. The
killed, wounded, and missing of the British, during
the hot work of a close siege of 19 days, from the
lot to the 19th of October inclusive, were some 552
men ; .of the allies about 300. The artillery em-
ployed in the defenc's of Lord Cornwallis hardly
amounted to 50 pieces, and these were chiefly six-
pounders, and the artillery investing him was
largely composed of six-pounders. Now, with Gen.
M'Clellan's approach to the work of besieging
Yorktown, instead of a resisting force of 7,000, he
finds himself in front of an enemy numbering per-
haps 100,000 men ; and, instead of a little circle of
defensive works, embracing 40 or 50 guns of the
smallest calibres, be finds himself confronted by a
yawning labyrinth of earthworks, extending across
five or six miles, from river to river, and armed
with perhaps not less than 500 heavy cannon, in-
cluding numerous 100-pounders and long range
rifled pieces. And yet we are satisfied that Wash-
ington, in moving upon Yorktown from the north
and west, in conjunction with a French fleet and
army from the east, commanding both rivers and
the peninsula, confident, as he had every reason to
be, of a complete success, was not mere confident
than Gen. M'Clellan may justly feel of repeating
the decisive victory of Washington. That he will
do it we feel entirely assured, and if he should do it
within Washington's limit of 19 days, or within a
period twice as long, the country will appreciate
the crowning glory of this achievement."
The Confederates are well prepared indeed, and
the American papers point with truth to the cir-
cumstance as an argument against the ridiculous re-
strictions on the press, and against the theory that
the enemy are guided in their movements by the
accidental and non-accidental or incidental corre-
spondents of the Northern papers. Had 20,000 men
been sent round to Fortress Monroe in June, 1861,
Norfolk could have been taken, the Merirmac never
could have become the Virginia, and the second lines
of Yorktown would never have existed. The circum-
stantial details of the New York papers which we
have received have no military value whatever.
They state :
" There has been no change in our position since
my last. It continued to rain hard all day yester-
day and last night, and one can form no conception
of the depth of the mud, unless they chanced to
visit Virginia during the latter part of the winter.
The experience of the army thus far on the 'sacred
soil' has been anything but a pleasant one. If we
remain much longer in this mud hole, we shall lose
more men from disease than we would by storming
their batteries at the point of the bayonet. We have
counted thirteen batteries on the river, besides some
they are said to have at the back of these, and they
undoubtedly have a large force to defend them.
Several Southern gentry have come in and taken
the oath of allegiance, and requested our General to
place a ' safeguard' over their property, which was
being appropriated by our troops. I believe their
request has been granted in every instance, although
I think the loyalty of some of them is very ques-
tionable. One of them has five sons in the rebel
army. He tells the same old story of being a Union
man, and his sons were forced into the army. The
rebel gunboat Teazer keeps a constant watch on our
movements, moving backward and forward in the
James river, near the mouth of the Warwick.
Whenever she catches a glimpse of our pickets, she
runs up and salutes them with a few shells. She is
a small boat, and carries only One gun that we can
discover. It would be well for some of our gun-
boats to teach her better manners. As near as can
be ascertained, the force opposed to us at this point
is 43,000, and they are being constantly reinforced.
General Peck discovered the camp fires of eight new
regiments on our left last night, and we can hear
them cheer upon the arrival of every new regiment.
"The exciting event of the day has been a balloon
reconnaisance by General Fitz John Porter on a
scale of rather larger magnitude than was intended.
At fivo o'clock in the morning General Porter took
his place in Professor Lowe's balloon. He supposed
the usual number of ropes were attached to it,
whereas there was only one, and a place in this,
as was afterwards ascertained, had been burned by
vitriol, used in generating gas. Taking his seat in
the car, unaccompanied by any one, the rope was
let out to nearly its full length—the length is about
900 yards—when suddenly snap went the cord and
up went the balloon. This was an unexpected part
of the programme. The men below looked up with
astonishment, and the general looked down with
equal bewilderment. Open the valve,' shouted

' one of the men below. ' I'll manage it,' responded
the general. tip went the balloon, higher, higher.
It rose with great rapidity; its huge form lessened
as it wildly mounted into the regions of the upper
air ; it became a speck in the sky. The wind was
taking it iu the direction of the enemy's territory.
By this time every staff officer and hundreds of
others were looking at the moving speck. It is
impossible to describe the anxiety fait and expressed
for the fate of him, the central object of thought, in
me voevrey
imn oomu
re nil rbe
ce ct
om-
itohgatlef,sasr.la.iwsiabyle.molvtiinsgsesepnectko,
The countenances of our men brighten with hype.
It passes over our heads. Soon it begins to descend
but with a rapidity that arouses renewed appre-
hension. Quickly a squad of cavalry, with Capt.
Locke and Lieut. Al•Quade, of the general's staff,
plunge spurs into their horses, and dash away in
the direction of the descending balloon. The rest
of the story is as I received it from the geneitt'S
own lips. While the rope was being payed outle
adjusted his glass in readiness for his proposed
view of the enemy's territory. A sudden boiind of
the balloon told him in a moment that the rope had
given way. He dropped his glass, heard the call
Open the valve,' made the response gives above,
14114 set About looking fpr the vaive. lie was iensibli
Of being Ifighft "(the gen& Erves'ft-pun hs wall as
the next one), but was not at all nervous. He saw
the wind had taken him over the line of the rebel
intrenchments. Having no wish to drop in among
them, he let the valve take care of itself, and pro-
ceeded to take advantage of his position to note the
aspect of rebel objects below. Crowds of soldiers
rushed from the woods, and he heard their shouts
distinctly. Luckily he was above the reach of their
bullets, so he was not afraid on this score. The map
of the country was distinctly discernable. He saw
Yorktown and its works, York river and its wind-

ings, and Norfolk and its smoking chimneys. A
counter current of air struck the balloon, and its
course was reversed. Its retreat from over rebel-
dom was rapid. He opened the valve, the gas
escaped, and down he came. He could not say how
fast he came down, but it was with a rapidity he
would not care to have repeated. The car struck

the top of a shelter tent—under which luckily no
one happened to be at the time—knocked the tent
into pie,' and left him enveloped in a mass of col-
lapsed oil silk. He crawled out, and found him-
self in the middle of a camp, not a hundred rods
from General M'Clellan's headquarters. ' I came
mounted, you see,' was his remark to Gen. Burns,
who was about the first man by his side. He gave
the details of his aerial;;voyage to General Burns,
who seeing the opportunity of getting off a
joke, t could not lose it. You are a suspicious
character,' remarked General Burns. ' How so ?'
asked General Porter. 'ln the space of half an
hour you have been taken up by a balloon and ar-
rested by a shelter-tent." And you have come
down safe, I see,' broke in Captain Locke, before
the laughter at Gen. Burns's duet of puns ; I came
with this cavalry company to look you up." You
ought to have sent flying artillery after me,' re-
joined Gen. Porter."

While the Federals were picking their steps to-
wards the entrenchments at Yorktown the Confe-
derate fleet made a small demonstration, which is
thus described in the New York Evening Post:—
" Fortress Monroe, April 11.
" The long-expected Merrimac is out last, and
has been lying in full sight of us hero all day, look-
ing black and mischievous as possible, but confin-
ing her warlike demonstration to looks. Will
she fight P' everybody asks. Yes,' seems to be
the general reply; wait until the night closes
down on us, and we shall have her at work
Thus far not a gun has been fired, except two from
the Rip Raps early this morning, when the Merri-
mac first appeared. I was enjoying my breakfast
in the most comfortable manner on the steamer
Commodore, M‘Clellan's flagship, when the signal
of the Merrimae's coining hurried me through the
meal, and I hastened on deck. Far out at the
mouth of James river, just off the short triangle of
Se well's Point, the Merrimac and her companions
were appearing in the hazy atmosphere of the
ukorning— first their misty outlines, then in more
sharply defined shapes,as they gradually approached
down the channel, dignified, mysterious, and ter-
rible. Further in the rear the faint shadow of
smoke arising from several points indicated the
presence of other vessels, whose timorous approach
so far behind indicated a peaceful character; pro-
bably small steamers bearing spectators to the
coming fight. It is a way they have at the South.
It was so at Port Royal,when boatloads came down
from Charleston and up from Savannah to see the
Yankees driven back. They saw how the thing
WAS done there, and I devoutly hope they are to
have a second edition of the same experience here.
On that occasion a vessel bearing the French and
English flags was conspicuous among the fleet of
sightseers, betokening the presence of the Consuls
of the two nations. They have their representatives
here as well. Close along the path by which the
rebels approach are three war steamers, one bearing
the Union jack and two the tricolour of France.
Presuming on their nationality they have ventured
far beyond our pickets, so to speak, and lie in loving
proximity to the rebel vessels, determind to see the
fight at all hazards. A boat has passed between
the two, if my eyes do not deceive me, though from
which the messenger proceeded I cannot tell. In
light of this first beautiful day which has visited
us during the week, thousands of spectators can be
seen gathering on the shore, along the parapets of
the fort, covering the roofs of buildings, crowding
the yards of vessels; everywhere swarming, watch-
ing the progress of events and coolly speculating
on the probabilities. None seem anxious ; few are
much confident. We only watch and wait. But
it is dull, with so little disposition to fight shown
by either side. The Merrimac evidently wants the
Monitor to come further out ; the Monitor is deter-
mined that the Merrimac should venture further
in, and so, like two knights at a tournament, they
measure each other's strength before engaging.
It is an ugly little trap into which the Monitor
would decoy her antagonist before attacking her.
That single turret, with its pair of guns, is no longer
our sole reliance and hope, though I for one believe
them still our main protection, with the addition
perhaps of the yet untried Stevens battery, which
is steaming about. This still retains a little yellow-
coloured cabin, erected temporarily on the after deck,
and looks precisely like a common tugboat, innocent
of war. The Monitor steams leisurely about, her
decks at times covered with men, and again deserted
by all except the look oat or two on the top of the
broad tower. She has not gone at any time to-day
half a mile from the shore, and a shot at her as she

lies would send confusion into the fleet of merchant
vessels at her back. But the Merrimac is yet too
far off for that. Thus far the rebels have the laurels
of the day, one of the gunboats having carried off a
couple of brigs and a schooner, which lay too far out
to be protected withotit a fight, which they were
scarcely worth. As one of them was loaded only
with sutler's stores, the quartermaster hi consoled
for her loss; another had hay; of the third I know
nothing. There has been great commotion among
the shipping here, and they have been flitting to
and fro in search of a safe anchorage. Many of
them have got ten under way, the expected fight not
being supposed to interfere with the movements of
transports. Some have gone out heavily laden with
soldiers for General M'Clellan. If the Merrimac
should successfully follow their track she might in
a few hours avenge Corinth. There is little danger
of this. Had she the hardihood to attempt it she
could scarcely ran the gauntlet of our batteries,
gunboats, and forts, and escape alive.
What she may or will do with the Federal flotilla
is not so easily settled. It is certainly a curious
sight for a people to-witness on their own shores
who were going to dispute with the great naval
Powers of the world the possession of the high seas !
Another account says, under date of April 12

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" This morning the sun peeped out,Coliio"V-44`':;,r ;4;
zon, and soon illumined a clear sky ;
.-‘
was perceptible on the water, which for 4 short L' a
time obscured the vision, but at 7 a.m., it elearta.
up, and instanter the rebel fleet was seen abreast
of Sewell's Point. The announcement of- the ap-
proach of the rebels created no little excitement, as
at the time their fleet appeared running directly
for this point. The signal gun at the fortress was
fired, and in a few minutes the garrison was under
arms; and the artillerists, composed of detach-
ments of the Naval Brigade and Wisconsin Artil-
lery, soon after manned the guns on the parapet of
the fortress. The large fleet of Union schooner
transports which was anchored in the roads, on
seeing the rebel fleet, slipped their moorings, and,
favoured by wind and tide, were soon out of harm's
way. Many of those in Hampton Cove, restricted-
by the narrow and serpentine channels, net being
able to get out of themselves, were assisted by the:
steamtugs, of which there are a number here. The
little Monitor, which has been anxiously a v,-aitin,
the reappearance of the Merrimr.e, on seeieg the
latter approach got ready for action by clearing her
decks, lowering her smotae and steam pipes, slip-
ping her anchor, and in less than 10 minutes was
ready for action. Tho orders from Fleg• officer
Goldsborough were, however; to act, strictly on the
defensive, and to give battW only when
the rebel craft should
approach a cero.iff
given point. The Merrimac find he
jr consorts mean-
-Olio had approached to within, four miles of the
fortress, and there she stopped, having;iis it after-.
wards ,proved, a certain houndarY,'Without., the
range e fighe guns of :the- fort, over' Wial* she
Would napes., he French war steamer Catinaf;
which was *oliered near tho Monitor when the
-kerrimac hoyain-s'lf,,tir,,tind was taking in water
from a Union schooner, took up her anchor,
and, taking the schooner under the protection
of her flag, proCeeded to a point between here and
Newport's News, where she had already been pre-
ceded by the French war steamer Gassendi, and
the British steamer Rinaldo. The steam transports
State of Maine, Mystic, South America, and others
with troops, were in the harbour, but soon moved
to a haven of safety out of the range of the
threatened point. The Monitor, in her defensive
attitude, joined by the Stevens battery Naugatuck,
steamed around in the roads, at times showing their
broadsides defiantly at the rebel fleet. The rebel
fleet seemed to take a cowardly advantage of the
presence of the foreign vessels in the roads, and
kept continually under their cover, so that had our
policy been_on the offensive, we could not have fired
a shot at the rebels without endangering the neu-

tral vessels. Things remained pretty much in
statu quo, the rebel fleet backing and filling, at
times running up to the Merrimac for orders, and
then steaming away. At nine o'clock, a.m., the
rebel gunboat Patrick Henry left the fleet and ran
into Hampton Cove by the inside channel leading
from Newport's News Point towards Hampton
village. At first it seemed to be a manoeuvre to
induce the Monitor to change her position ; and
others supposed the rebel steamer had hostile de-
signs on the Federal camp at Hampton (Camp
Hamilton). The sequel to the problem was soon
discovered, when the rebel craft subsequently joined
by the rebel steamer Teaser, Was seen cutting out
two Union brigs and a schooner, which were at
anchor about two miles from shore. The affair
was deeply humiliating, and no efforts were
made by our fleet to prevent the outrage until
after the rebel steamers were escaping with their
prizes and under full headway for Norfolk, when
the gunboats Octarora and Naugatuck were sent up
Hampton Cove to a point near where the stolen
vessels had been anchored. The Patrick Henry
tewed her prizes to Norfolk, and returned to join
the rebel fleet shortly after 12 (noon). A large
number of rebel excursionists on steamers followed
the fleet down from Nurfolk to see the fun ; but
were doomed to disappointment, as no fight occurred
up to five p.m., up to which time the robe! fleet
confined themselves to the bounds established by
them in the morning. At this time the Monitor .1!:
at her old moorings, but ready for action at any
moment. The flog-ship did not approach the
threatened scene of conflict, but was anchored
several miles down the bay, from which point ull
orders had to be communicated. General Wool,
with his Staff, was busy throughout the day, mak-
ing the most ample preparation to guard against
and meet the assaults of the rebel fleet, The Merri-
mac and her rebel consorts returned to Norfolk from
the roads at half-past five o'clock last evening,
without having induced our fleet, including the
Monitor, to give battle on equal grounds. Moro
leaving, however, she exchanged a few shots at
long ranges with the Union gunboats Octarora and
Stevens battery Naugatuck, the latter lying .at
anchor in Hampton Cove. The practice of the
Merrimac was very poor, her best gun not throwing
a shot over three miles, while her opponents throw
shot over three and a half miles—the Naugatuck,
with her superior 100-pound Parrot gun, throwing
even further."

The next point of attack on the Mississippi is
thus described:—" Fort Randolph is on the cast
bank of the Mississippi river, near the town of
Randolph, Tipton county, Tennessee, about 60 miles
above Memphis, 160 below Columbus, and 180 be-
low Cairo. The position is naturally a strong one:
Th e fort is a rough and incomplete earthwork, con-
structed last fall. It is built upon the Second
Chickasaw Bluffs, more than 100 feet above the
river, and immediately south of Island No. 34.
The lower part commands the three mouths of the
Hatchie river, and empties into the Mississippi, just
above the town of Randolph, at the upper edge of
the bluffs. These bluffs form natural parapets of
batteries, and at this point command a 'view of the
Mississippi river for six miles each way. Our iron
clad gunboats, however, by silencing whatever guns
may be placed on island No. 34, might enter the
northern mouth of the Hatchie out of the range of
Fort Randolph. The town of Randolph, near which
the town stands, consists of half a dozen or so dila-
pidated frame houses, and is approached in the rear
by several good roads ; but the country behind it,
being full of ravines and gorges, is capable of being
fortified to an almost indefinite extent. The posi-

tion, however, is of no manner of use or benefit, ex-
cept to dispute the navigation of the river. It has
no railroad communication,and as an army stationed
tliere would have to depend upon the river exclu-
sively for the transportation of supplies, it would
not require long to cut, it off and starve it out."

THE SHIPBUILDING ON THE CLYDE.—Messrs.
Burns have contracted with Messrs. R. Napier and Co. for
a paddle to be placed on their line between Glasgow and
Belfast. Messrs. J. and G. Thomson have launched at
Govan a screw named the Clydesdale, owned by Messrs•
David Hutcheson and Co., of Glasgow, and intended for the
West Highland trade, The Clydesdale is 500 tons burden,
builder's measurement, and will be fitted with engines of
110-horse power on the inverted cylinder principle, with
surface condensers and other recent improvements. Messrs.
W. Denny and Brothers, of Dumbarton, are laying down
two screws of 600 tons each, for Mr. W. M‘Farlano, wire
proposes to employ them in trading on the Chinese coasts.
Messrs. Denny and Co. will supply each vessel with en-
gines of 100-horse power nominal. Tho Lotus, screw, re.
cently launched from the yard of Messrs. Henderson,
Coulburn, and Co., of Renfrew, has made a satisfactory
trial trip. The Lotus, which will carr/ 700 tons with 10('t.fore and aft of water, is also intended for the China trade.
She is propelled by a pair of inverted diagonal oscillating
engines, and attained on the trial trip an average speed of
131 miles an hour. She is 21011. long, 27ft. breadth of
ummus Ex ECUTION.—The
beam, and 16ft, deep.
A SCENE AT TOE D
states that
L2avemrposo
most extraordinary :Ix/terra:mg
nonf yesterday (Wednesday) r y
scene took place. After Calcraft
bad pinioned the culprit, and the usual officers of justice
appeared on the scaffold, a messenger in breathless ha;to,
and hearing in hie hand a document fn m the railway
office, was observed to he making his way through the
crowd. Instantly the execution was stopped, it being von-
aidercd certain that the man was the bearer of a rcptic-ve
from the Horne Secretary. The document, which was ad.
dressed to the Governor of the prison, proved to be a letter
forwarded to that office by a Mr. Butterfield, of Stamford-
street, Blackfriars-road, and requesting that the Governor
would immediately forward a telegraphic message contain.
ing information as to the last moments of the unhappy
woman. A telegraphic frank was enclosed, with an inti.
mation that the message must be in London immediately
after the execution, as the writer wished to send a report to
the evening papers, which " wont to press" at one o'clock,
The arrival of this request at such a moment caused some
amount of indignation, and the Governor handed the
letter to the reporters present, by whom it was copied,",

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NE TH FATRE-R0 ?AL, ADELPFII.--•
Sole Provrietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.

THIS EVENING, the new domestic drams, entitledDOT :
Messrs. J. L. Toole, Emery, Billineton. Stephenson; Miss
Woolgar, Miss Louise Keeley, Miss H. Simms, Sm._ .

After which (4th time), T fiE PHANTOM. Rutliven, Mr
Dion Boucicault. Messrs. J. L. Tools, Emery, Billington
Paul Bedford, Stephenson, Sefton : Misses H. Simms, K.
Nelly, K. Bland, Laidlaw, and Mrs. Billington.

Commence at 7.