The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-14 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE AT NIGHT.—" If this
k.) lighting up, and this alone, were shown as the Christmas
attraction, it would be worth a j 'tumor to Norwoo t to see
We can only cordially recommend our readers to see it for
themselves before the Week is out " - Vide Newspapers.
Lighted This Evening from dusk till half-past six.

MO PERSONS SEEKING LANDED
ESTATICS, TOWN AND CUtJATRY RESIDENCES.
tettEEUIOLD AND LEASEHOLD IN VESTM.:ZN TS, AND
PROPER PIES GENERALLY—
To BE HAD GRATIS, at the principal Railway Bookstalls
throughout the kingdom, or at the Auction and Estate Offices,
No. 67, Chancery-lane, London, Messrs. E. and H. Lumley's
"FREE PROTeERTY ECOISTER," containing availed selection
of landed and house properties now in the market, from
the nobleman's mansion, with its manorial domain, to the
cottage with its few acres.
OWNERS OFIPROPERTIES wishing to Sell or Let can em-
brace the °ppm sanity that the medium of this Re9,lsler
affords, by sending the particu'ars of their properties to the
Estate Offices, ti 7, Chancery-lane, London, as the Messrs.
Lumley can in most cases introduce immediate customers
where the property is of an eligible chara ter, thereby avoid-
ing the disadvantages of delay and its attendant incon-
veniences.
THERE IS NO CHAIIDE incurred, unless a tenant or pur-
chaser is introduced throuch 11lessrs. Lumley's Agency,
and then only the natal moderate commission.
Auction and Lant Offices, 67, Chancery-lane, Lotidon.

TE E T H.- IMPROVED MECHANICAL
DENTISTRY.--Professional abilities and great artistic
skill have been most successfully combined in the production
of ARTIFICIAL T.. ETH upon a new principle. The real
value or the perfection of the art of Dentistry will be experi-
enced by all wishing to avail themselves of professional
assistance by consoling M. ALBERT, 34, Great Russell-
street, Bloomsbury. whose experience has enabled him to
effect such admirable, convenient contrivances by artificial
means, and which arc so perfectly efficient,.

ORNAMENTS for the Drawing-room, Library,
,nd Dining-room, consisting of anew and elegant assort-
ment of VASES, Figural', Groups, Candlesticks, Obelisks, Ink-
stands, beautiful inlaid Tables, Paperweights, &0., in Italian,
Alabas -er, Parian, Marble, Bronze, Derbyshire Spar, do.
Imported and manufactured by JA MKS TENNANT, Mine-
ralogist to her kfaiesty, 11% Stand, W.C., London.
Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of SHELLS,
MINERALS, ROCKS, and FOSSILS, which will greatly
facilitate the interesting study of MINERALOGY, CON-
CHOLOGY, ind GEOLOGY, at 2,5, 10, 20, 50, to 100 guineas
each.
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE.
R &LOG Yis given by Mr. TENNAN f. at 149, Strand W.C.

American Notes.

(From the Scotsman.)
[The following notes are in continuation of those
given a few days ago from the diary of a Scottish
gentleman just returned from the Northern States :]
MADISON, WISCONSIN, Oct. —.—We went a little
out of the direct line (from Chicago to Green Bay)
to see Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. It is
beautifully situated. To reach it you have to cross
a lake by a wooden bridge built on piles, and there
are three other lakes round it. Madison was at first
called the City of the Four Lakes—a much prettier
name than the present one, and a much more sensi-
ble one too, as there is a Madison in many other
States of the Union. There is a College here. The
College and the Court-house are built of a handsome
white stone. They are pretentious, and in bad taste.
There is a characteristic story told of the way in
which Madison became the capital of Wisconsin—
some 15 years ago, I believe. After Wisconsin had
been admitted into the Union as a State, there were
great discussions in the local Legislature as to which
town should be fixed upon as the capital, each repre-
sentative being anxious that it should be in his own
vicinity. At last the Governor said—" Gentlemen,
suppose we fix upon Madison. It is not only a
beautiful spot, but there is a great deal ,of unoccu-
pied land round it which the Supreme Government
is ready to sell at a dollar an acre. Let us who are
in the secret buy this land and divide it among our-
selves, and then let us declare Madison the capital
of the State." This proposal was carried by accla-
tion ; and when Madison was declared the capital,
the land round it of course rose immensely in value.
The Wisconsin Legislature does not appear to
have been at any time remarkable for purity. Mr.
E.; one of our party, who had been a member of it,
told us that soon after he had been elected it was
proposed to pay $2,500 to a man who had been em-
ployed on some business by the Federal Government.
Mr. E. objected, because he said that, from the
vouchers produced, it did not appear that the man
was entitled to more than $l9 ; but the other mem-
bers of the LegislattittiaiiV"-We had bCtter give it
him ; this money does not come out of our pockets,
but out of the funds of the Federal Government."
So the man got the $2,500.
BOSTON, October s.—The first negro regiment
was raised in the State of Massachusetts. They
were commanded by a Colonel Shaw, a graduate of
West Point, and of a good family here. The extreme
Abolitionists were very anxious that the black regi-
mentsshould be commanded by blacks, but Governor
Andrew stood firm, and said that the black regi-
ments required not only white officers, but the very
best of these. This regiment was first engaged at
Fort Wagner, near Charleston, where the slaughter
was fearful, particularly of officers. Colonel Shaw,
aniongit others, was killed. When they sent to ask
for his body, the Confederate commander replied
that he had buried him " with his niggers." They
had been thrown all together into a pit. Mr. D.
said that the fact of these black and white men
fighting
alongside one another and being laid in
the same grave had been the first step towards
breaking down the wall of partition here be-
tween blacks and whites. Colonel Shaw's
parents, when asked what their wishes were, said
that, though they longed to look on the body of their
son, they would not for the world have him moved
from the place where he lay among his troops.
Oct. 6.—There has been a great falling off in the
trade of New York lately. A return issued the
other day shows that the receipts at the Custom-
house for September last are less by nearly
$3,000,000 than in the corresponding month of last
year, although the duties are now a good deal higher.
From another return it appears that the annual in-
terest payable in coin of the debt amounts now
to $54,600,000. The Government have gold enough
in hand to satisfy the claims of creditors for some
months ; but the daily receipts at the New York
Customs-house, where, I- am told, nine-tenths of
the duties are collected, do not now exceed $lOO,OOO.
At this rate, when the balance now in hand shall be
exhausted, there will be an annual deficiency of
more than $18,000,000 in coin to be made good
somehow or other. I have never been one of those
who thought the war would be stopped for want of
money to carry it on ; still, the prospects of the
holders of Federal stock do not seem brilliant, un-
less the Government reform their tariff, and frame
one more with a view to revenue and less for the
purpose of protection.
Several of the Chicago houses failed last week,
and more, I should think, must be in trouble,
being heavily stocked with goods laid in when prices
were high (from the inflation of the currency),
which, now that gold has fallen, they can't get rid
of unless at an immense sacrifice. However, these
Western men had a good time in the early part of
the war. When I first came to this country, I was
under the impression that the West had suffered
severely from this war, both from the loss of Southern
markets for its produce and from the heavy tariff.
I am told, however, that before the war broke out,
the Western men, railroads, and States were heavily
in debt. Since the war they have been enabled to
pay a large amount of their debt in a depreciated
currency, very much at the expense of English and
European capitalists, who were large holders of
Western bonds. It is said that the gain of the
Western people in this way has much more than
balanced their loss from other causes.
WASHINGTON, October 22.—Mr. S. took me to
the White House and presented me to the President.
Mr. S. told him that I was from Scotland. Mr.
Lincoln said he liked most Scotchmen whom he
had come across, and thought that they resembled
Americans in several points. I said that there was
this point of resemblance between the two countries,
that each had a regular and general system of
education. I said I had been to his State—lllinois.
Then we talked about the cultivation and growth
of wheat in Illinois, Minnesota, and other Western
States. Mr. S. said, " is a very good friend of
ours (I had not said a syllable to him which could
have indicated whether I leaned to one side or the
other), but we can't agree on the question of the
recognition of the Confederates as belligerents."

The President said, " I suppose really the strongest
argument in favour of this recognition is that, a
Lord Russell says, you can't treat 5,000,000 people
as robbers and pirates." About this point Mr. S. cut
short our conversation, saying that we must be getting
on if we mean to see the contraband camp. After
crossing the Potomac, we passed through a very
extensive series of forts connected by ditches. There
is a triple line of these forts. In the "contraband"
camp, which we passed through there were some
1,600 people. They were in wooden houses in
blocks of four. They were tidily dressed. The
men who are able-bodied are sent either to Work
on the fortifications or to cultivate the land about
Arlington Heights, which used to be the property of
General Lee, but which has now been confiscated.
The women who have able-bodied husbands or
relatives are maintained out of their wages : the
others, and the old and infirm people,
.are kept at
the expense of the Government. We went into
their church. There was a coloured man preaching.
The audience was small, most of them women.
They seemed very attentive. The man was preach-
ing on preparation for death. The women com-
plain that they and their children suffer a good deal
from sickness. The situation, though the camp
stands pretty high, is 'unhealthy in summer, being
near the river. There is a fine view from the heights
across the Potomac into Maryland. This estate
used to be very well wooded, but the greater part
of the wood has been cut down to make soldiers'
huts, and for firewood. After going through the
camp of contrabands we went to Camp Distribu-
tion, where the convalescent soldiers are collected
before they are sent back to the different armies.
Many of the recruits are sent here also. A large
number of men who have got their discharge are
re-enlisting. They delft like returning to ordinary
work after the excitement of a soldier's life.
October 25.—This morning I made acquaintance
with Mr. Fessenden, the Secretary of the Treasury.
He is a quiet gentlemanlike man, more reserved in
manner than any American I have met with yet—
more like an Englishman, in fact. He is much re-
spected, I am told, even by his political opponents.o
After we had talked a little on general topics, he
touched on the financial condition of the country.
He said that if the public debt were the whole of
the burden to be borne he had such confidence in
the resources of the country that he thought they
could pay.the interest without much difficulty; but
that, in addition to this, many of the States and
towns had added largely to their debt in order to
raise a fund to obtain substitutes, and that the pay-
ment of the interest of this debt would add largely
to the amount of taxation. I said I understood that
the city of New York had added $7,000,000 to its
debt in this way, that Boston had added between
$2,000,000 and $3,000,000, and that, if the debt of
this kind had increased throughout the country in
the same ratio, the burden would be very heavy in-
deed. He said he thought the Western States and
cities had not increased their debt to the same ex-
tent as the Eastern, it had been easier to get men in
the West, and that a good deal of the bounty money
had been raised there by voluntary contributions.
If the war were to end soon, he thought they should
do well enough after they had got over the first
collapse, which was inevitable on the return of
peace. He thought the war could not last long
information reached him from all quarters that the
Southern people were getting disheartened. After
I saw he had got into a more communicative vein,
I asked him a question about a matter which has
puzzled me ever since I ,came to this country. I
said, " You have now a lOan out for which you are
paying 7 3-10ths interest in currency (greenbacks).
At the same time, you have 6 per cent. bonds in the
market, the interest of which is payable in gold.
These bonds may be bought at about 105. At the
present price of gold, a man who buys these 6 per
cent. bonds at 105 is getting more than 12 per cent.
for his money. How is it that, with these bonds
in the market at this price, you get people to take
your 7 3-10ths per cent. currency loan at par, as I
see they are doing ?" lie said a large number of
the subscribers to the 7 3-10ths currency loan were
farmers, small tradesmen, and mechanics, who took
the loan as much with a view of helping the Govern-
ment to carry on the war as for the sake of the in-
vestment, that they were a class of people who did
not look much to the rate of interest they were get-
ting, and that brokers and bankers, finding these
securities were easily disposed of, took a consider-
able amount of them for the sake of the small com-
mission they got from the Government, and this
helped to float the loan. I dare say this is the true
answer, and that the people who are now subscrib-
ing to this loan had never thought of investing their
savings before, but had put them by, perhaps in a
drawer.
I think people in England will come round by-
and-by to the opinion that Mr. Lincoln has been a
good deal underrated here. his State papers cer-
tainly are not brilliant productions, and he probably
did-a good deal of mischief at the beginning of the
war by interfering with military operations ; but I
think he understands the temper of the people he
has to govern, and he seems to have plenty of nerve
-two great requisites for a man in his position.

WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 13.

The Royal Mail Company's steamer Tasmanian,
with the above mails, has arrived here. She
brings 58 passengers, including Admiral Pinzon
and suite, from the Spanish fleet at the Chincha
Islands, 51,292,100 in specie, and 3,200 packages
of cargo, consisting chiefly of indigo.
The Tasmanian left St. Thomas on the 30th
ultimo.

A new revolutionary movement has broken out
at Carthagena, ending favourably for the opposition
party. Tranquillity had since been restored. The
Republic of Ecuador was quiet. The struggle in
Santo Domingo continued, but presented nothing
new. It is considered that the Spaniards must aban-
don operations.
Reports from the West Indies represent the crops
to be in a favourable condition.
The Spanish-Peruvian question remains unaltered.
No steps have been taken by the Peruvians. It is
said that the South American Congress interposed
to present war until they have tried what further
negotiations will effect, and thus the matter rests.
At Valparaiso exchange on London, 90 days'
sight was quoted 44d. to 45d. ; at Lima, 37d.
The reports from Jamaica respecting the state of
the crops are generally favourable, and most of the
estates were preparing for operations. The general
health of the island was good, but small-pox con-
tinued to rage more or less in some of the country
parishes. The political news is unimportant. The
House of Assembly had adjourned to Jan. 10th.
Business had somewhat improved, although stil,
limited ; the ruling prices for coffee, ordinary, 475.
to 485., and 525. for mountain. Pimento crop over;
prices paid, 10s. 6d. to 12s. Rum sales small, at
2s. 6d. for 18-proof in bond ; the great bulk held is
duty paid in anticipation of the extra duties. Sugar
L ruled at 16s. for dark ; 18s. to 19s. medium ; and
225. to 235. for fair. Tobacco dull ; no sales. In

the import market, Irish butter realised 17d. Ex-
change on London, 90 days, 1 per cent; ; 60 days,
1 per cent. ; and 30 days, 2 per cent. premium \
The Legislative Council of Trinidad met on the
10th ; the business transacted was unimportant.
Accounts from the sugar-growing districts are of
the most gratifying kind, and the estates preparing
for crop operations. The weather was fine.
At Barbadoes the weather continued favourable
for the planters ; sugar making had partially well. ; the cotton plants were thriving well.
Provisions were plentiful, but prices ruled high.
Fever and whooping cough prevailed, but not to a
great extent. Her Majesty's ship Derwent arriv ed
of
at Barbadoes on the 20th ; the haxboharbour'was fa
shipping. The House of Assembly met on the 20th,