The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-07 00:00:00

yet who is really, far more than the Secretary of State, the
director of our foreign policy.
There is much talk about a very grievous scandal in
upper circles which will involve a good many persons of
very high position. Probably the matter will come into the
Divorce Court ; if so, every effort will be made to keep
back the name of one individual holding a very prominent
position.

The crowd at the Royal Academy this week has been
something extraordinary. So great was it that there was
' a regular fight to get to the umbrella department, and
visitors would do well to come without those implements.
The rooms are really a noble gallezy, and the exhibition
is very fine ; but considering the large number of
pictures rejected, it is almost a pity that more
were not hung. There is one very serious
omission from the Gallery—the handrail in front of the
pictures. For want of this the people rub up against the
pictures in a manner that must he most distressing both
to artists and to purchasers. Yesterday I interposed to
save Marcus Stone's picture from something very like
destruction by a portly woman who was bearing down
between the picture and the crowd, evidently in great
haste to " do " the Academy as quickly as possible.
Mr. Philip Hardwick has sent in his resignation as an
honorary retired Royal Academician, so that Mr. Doo
will be the only one retaining that position. Mr. Hard-
wick was a noted architect some thirty years ago.
He built the Euston Square Railway Station, the great
hall at Lincoln's Inn, and other public buildings. He is
now about 76 years old.
Woolner's statue of Lord Palmerston will probably be
placed in the Palace yard during this month. I understand
that the abortive statue of Sir R. Peel which was erected
there, and sent away in disgrace, was melted down in
order to serve for Lord Palmerston. It is a novel idea
that of using up old Ministers in this way. They will
hardly like bronze statues in future, but will prefer
" enduring marble."
Mr. Dickens, lam glad to say, is better. He broke
down from sheer overwork. It may seem but a small
thing to read for a couple of hours for a few nights every
week. Nor is it this which tries him. The real toil is
caused by the fact that these readings have to take place
in all parts of England, and involve long and constant
railway journeys. It is a little singular that Mr. Dickens
should have broken down at his sixtieth reading. He had
sixty readings in the United States, and at the last of
them he felt so knocked up that he declared he could not
have managed another. Unfortunately when he had com-
pleted that number in England there were still forty more
to get through ; so there was no help for it but to disap-
point thousands of persons in obedience to the doctor's
imperative orders.

Your readers will remember that last year Mr. Cooke,
the editor of the Saturday Review, died somewhat unex-
pectedly. He was buried in Tintagel Churchyard, close
by the house which he had erected in one of the wildest
and grandest parts of Cornwall. Wild as it was, it wit-

nessed during Mr. Cooke's time many a gathering of
literary and artistic notables. The old church stands on
the edge of a cliff close to the sea, and being of great age
(it dates from Norman times) it is sorely out of repair.
Mr. Kinsman, the rector,. has for some time been endea-
vouring to raise funds for the restoration of the Church ;
but though his own few parishioners, as well as himself,
have subscribed liberally, the necessary amount has not
been raised. He is now asking the help of the friends whose
acquaintance he made at Mr. Cooke's house. If they
respond, one part of the church will be restored byliterati,
and another by artists, the first writing and the second
painting for him. The idea is good, and if carried out
it will continue the connection betiveen the great world of
London and that far-off village on the shores of "thunder.
ing Bude and Boss."

The Wykehamist dinner this year is likely to be more
than usually brilliant. It takes place on June 16, and
among the " old boys" will be no fewer than three
Ministers—the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Cardwell, and Mr.
Monsell. Sir H. Palmer and Dean Hook are also down
in the list.

The discovery of Keble's letters to Hurrell Froude
has already been announced. The circumstances,
however, have not been mentioned. . The letters
were sought for diligently in the house of Mr. William
Froude, of Dartington, near Totnes, brother of the
historian, but without success. At last an old
cupboard, which had been overlooked, was noticed,
and on this being searched there were found not only
the much-wanted correspondence, but some valuable
diamonds. The letters will, I hope, be incorporated in
the new edition of Sir John Taylor Coleridge's life. They
will supply the information respecting Keble's share in the
Oxford movement, the want of which most readers of the
biography have regretted. Another biography—that of a
man who equalled, if he did not excel, Keble as a poet,
Faber, has been written by Father Bowden, and the proof
sheets are at this present time being corrected at the
Brompton Oratory. The two names I have mentioned
suggest two others, and I may mention for
the information of your readers that the writer
of the exceedingly interesting article in the
Dublin Review on _Dr. Newman is Mr. Henry Wilber-
force, formerly editor of the li'eed•ly Register, and
who, like Dr. Newman, was " a 'vert." These four names
suggest yet another—that of Dr. Pusey—and of him I
may state that the second part of his " Eirenicon " will
be out very shortly. It consists of letters to Dr. Newman
on the "Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception" and
kindred topics. The volume will be published by Messrs.
Parker.

GEN. SHERMAN AND THE SURRENDER
OF JOHNSTON.

General Sherman has written a letter to the
New York. Tribune, in regard to the frequently re-
peated statement that Mr. Lincoln himself was the
author of his terms to the army of General J. E.
Johnston, at Durham, in April, 1865, and we re-
print the essential portion of it, as it is the first
statement that General Sherman has ever made
public in regard to his much-criticised action there.
Alluding first to bis last preceding interview with
Mr. Lincoln, General Grant and Admiral Porter
also being present, Gen. Sherman says :—" I can-
not pretend to recall more than the subjects touched
upon by the several parties, and the impression left
on my mind after we parted. The interview was
in March, nearly a month before the final catas-
trophe ; and it was my part of the plan of opera-
tions to move my army, reinforced by Schofield,
then at Goldsboro, N.C., to Burkesville, Virginia,
when Lee weuld have been forced to surrender
in Richmond. The true move left to him was a
hasty abandonment of Richmond, join his force to
Johnston's, and strike me in the open country. The
only question was—could I sustain-this joint attack
till General Grant came up in pursuit? I was con-
fident I could ; but at the very moment of our con-
versation General Grant was moving General Sheri-
dan's heavy force of cavalry to his extreme left, to
prevent this very contingency. • Mr. Lincoln, in
hearing us speak of a final bloody battle, which I
then thought would fall on me near Raleigh, did
exclaim more than once that blood enough had
already been shed, and he hoped that the war would
end without any more. We spoke of what was to
be done with Davis, other party le tders, and the
rebel army ; and he left me under the impres-
sion that all he asked of us was, to dissipate
these armies and get the soldiers back to their homes
anyhow, the quicker the better, leaving him free to
apply the relaiedy,and the restoration of civil law. He
(Mr. Lincoln) surely left upon my mind the impres-
sion warranted by Admiral Porter's account, that he
had long thought of his course of action when the rebel
armies were out of his way, and that he wanted to
get civil governments reorganized at the South, the
quicker the better, and strictly conforming with our
general system. I had been absent so long that I
presumed, of course, that Congress had enacted all
the laws necessary to meet the event of peace, so
long expected, and the near approach of which must
then have been seen by the most obtuse ; and all I
aimed to do was to remit the rebel army surrender-
ing to me the conditions of the laws of the country
as they then existed. At the time of Johnston's
surrender at Durham, I drew up the terms with
my own hand. Breckinridge had nothing at all to
do with them, more than to discuss their effect, and
he knew they only applied to the military ; and he
forthwith proceeded to make his escape from the
country, a course that I believe Mr. Lincoln
wished that Mr. Davis could have succeeded in
effecting, as well as all the other leading Southern
politicians, against whom public indignation always
turned with a feeling far more intense than
against Generals Lee, Johnston, and other purely
military men. I repeat that, according to my
memory, Mr. Lincoln did not expressly name any
specific terms of surrender, but he was in that
kindly and gentle frame of mind that .would have
induced him to approve fully what I did, excepting,,
probably, he would have interlined some modifica-
tions, such as recognizing hia several proclamations
antecedent, as well as the laws of Congress, which
would have been perfectly right and acceptable to
me and to all parties. I dislike to open this or any
other old question, and do it for the reason stated,