The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-29 00:00:00

VALETTA, Jan. 24.—Her Majesty's despatch ves-
sel Psyche, 2, Lieut.-Commander A. R. Blane, which
left for Marseilles on the afternoon of the 12th inst.,
conveying Major Clarke, Royal Engineers, Director
of Admiralty Works, returned on the morning of
the 18th, and has now resumed her former moorings
in Sliema Creek. The Chanticleer, 17, Commander
W. H. Fenwick, left Malta on the morning of the
22d inst. for Spithead. The Meeanee, GO, Capt. G.
Wodehouse, left in the afternoon of the same day,
also for Spithead. The Meeanee took as passengers
Mrs. and Miss Wodehouse, Miss Denham, Lieut.
Crowley, 32 soldiers, 7 women, 16 children, and two
Maltese. H.M.S. Victoria, 102, Capt. J. G. Good-
enough, went out of port on the 22d instant
for the usual monthly exercise of target firing,
and will return on the 26th instant. The iron
ships Caledonia, 35, Royal Oak, 35, and Enterprise,
4, left port on the following day for like practice.
The last mentioned ship came out of dock on the
20th inst., and the other iron ship on the station,
the Resistance, was admitted on the 22d. The Cale-
donia is to be docked in the course of the month.
The Cossack, 20, Capt. R. D. White, lately returned
from the coast of Syria, was inspected to-day, the
24th inst., by the Commander-in-Chief. The Fire-
fly, surveying steamer, Commander G. R. Wilkin-
son, which it was at one time thought would be
sent home to be paid off and broken up, will proba-
bly be paid off here. The Skylark, 2, screw gun-
boat, Lieut.-Commander H. R. Swinton, has been
sent from Gibraltar to. Lisbon to communicate with
the British Consul. The following appointments
have been made from the flagship :—A.D.Barnard,
Sub.-Lieut. of the Phoebe, to the Chanticleer; J.
A. Fraser, Sub.-Lieut. of the Enterprise, to the
Caledonia ; G. W. Russell, midshipman, of the
Chanticleer, to the Caledonia. Capt. J. White,
commanding the English screw steamer Memnon,
which arrived on the 20th inst. from Alexandria,
reported that early in the morning of that day he
fell in with the wreck of a vessel at a distance
of about 35 milest south east of St. Elmo Light-
house. The direction indicated being as nearly as
possible in the track of ships between Malta and
Alexandria, the gunboat Tyrian has been despatched
by the Commander-in-Chief to look for the wreck
and bring it into port. I regret to state that the
Malta and Alexandria Telegraph cable, so recently
repaired, has again stopped working. The fault is
supposed to lie about 50 miles nearer Alexandria than
the one which has just been made good. The tele-
graph steamer Hawk, having returned to Malta on
Monday, the 22d inst., immediately commenced
preparations for another expedition, and left again
for the vicinity of Alexandria to-day. Orders have
also been despatched to her Majesty's steamer Peli-
can for her to repair to the scene of operations to
render all the assistance in her power. Capt. J. G.
Goodenough will, we understand, be the new flag-
captain of Lord Clarence Paget on his lordship
assuming the command of the Mediterranean squa-
dron in succession to Vice-Admiral Sir : Robert
Smart, whose time of service expires on the 20th
of April next."
The departure from Greenhithe of the Peruvian
armour-clad steam ram Independencia was an-
nounced at Woolwich on Saturday. It appears that
she was under orders to call at Southampton to ship
300 seamen and officers to complete her ship's com-
pany, and then proceed to her destination. She was
towed down the river in charge of a pilot by three
river steamtugs.
Her Majesty's 17-gun steam sloop Zebra was on
Saturday hauled into basin at Woolwich to be exa-
mined and prepared for service. The Vivid tender,
Commander Timothy Sulivan, was also taken into
basin, after examination and repairs, and will be
provided with a chart-house on the bridge, sug-
gested by her captain :and sanctioned by the Ad-
miralty, as a shelter from the inclemency of the
weather.
The steam store-ship Industry, Staff-Commander
Youel, having been undocked, was on Saturday
taken down the river from Woolwich dockyard by
Commander Dillon, of the Steam Reserve, on trial,
and afterwards went up to Deptford to receive a
cargo of victualling stores for Rio de Janeiro and
Ascension.
The Salamis, 2, paddlewheel despatch vessel,
Commander Francis G. Suttie, under orders to pro-
ceed to China, will sail from Portsmouth about the
10th or 12th proximo, and will call in at Devonport
on her way down Channel. The Salamis was tried
over the measured mile course in Stoke's Bay, near
Portsmouth, on Friday, in accordance with the Ad-
miralty regulations for ascertaining the speed of all
her Majesty's ships prior to their departure from
England on foreign service. The Salamis, on Friday,
drew 10ft. tin. of water forward, and 10ft. 4in. aft,
having six months' stores in her hold, and 166 tons
of coals in her bunkers, and being in all respects
complete and ready for sea. Six runs were made
with full-boiler power, the respective speed of each
run made being 12.721, 14.063, 13.091, 14.342,
13.091, and 14.402 knots ; the mean speed of the
ship at full-boiler power, 13.649 knots ; steam pres-
sure, 251 b. Vacuum—forward engine, 25in. ; after
engine, 26.5 in. Revolutions of the engine—maxi--
mum, 32 ; minimum, 31. With half-boiler power
four runs were made over the mile, with the follow-
ing speeds-10.434, 12.203, 10.055, and 12.203
knots, the mean speed at half power of the ship being
fixed by these figures at 11.224 knots. In trying
the turning powers of the ship, by making circles to
port and starboard, the following general results
were arrived at :—With full power, to port, the
half circle was made in 2 min. 46 sec. and the full
circle in 5 min. 2 sec., the times respectively in turn-
ing to starboard being 2 min. 38 sec. and 5 min. 5
gee. ; with half-boiler power the circle was made to
port in 6 min. 16 sec., and to starboard in 5 min.
59 sec. The trial gave every satisfaction. The en-
gines of the ship are by Messrs. Ravenhill, Hodg-
son, and Co., and are of 250-horse power nominal.
The ship herself has gained some fame by her late
drawn battle with the Helicon in their Channel race
for speed.

The Liverpool, screw frigate, Capt. R. J. Lam-
bert, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning from
the Channel Fleet.

The Oberon, paddle steam sloop, Commander
Verney, which sailed from Spithead a few days
since for the westward, en route for foreign service,
made her number off Portsmouth again on Saturday
as she steamed through Spithead from the westward
and retraced her course to the eastward again with-
out stopping at Spithead.
The screw steam frigate Topaze, 31,
.at Devon-
port, was put in commission on Friday, by Capt.
W. M. Dowell, C. 8., for service in the Pacific. She
burdens 2,659 tons, and has engines of 600-horse
power, in charge of Mr. Andrew M'Farlane. Her
complement will be 515 officers and men.
The screw steam gunboat Rainbow, having been
thoroughly refitted at Devonport, was taken into
Plymouth Sound on Friday last to test her engines
and machinery.
The screw steam frigate Doris, 30, belonging to
the first division of the Steam Reserve in Hamoaze
is ordered to be put in commission at Devonport
for service in the West Indies. She has a burden
of 2,483 tons, and has engines of 800 horse-
power, under charge of Mr. Francis C. Alton.
Mr. Tom B. Read is master, and she will have a
complement of 490 officers and men. She is now in
the basin at Keyham, and will shortly be placed in
dock.

The screw steam tender Dapper left Plymouth on
Friday to join the Britannia at Dartmouth.

An order has been received from the Horse Guards
directing the depot of the 44th Regiment to he held
in readiness to proceed to Dover early next month,
to await the arrival in England of the service com-
panies now on _passage home from India. The
depot of the 56th Regiment is also expected to leave
next month for Portsmouth to join the service com-
panies of the regiment on their arrival in England
from India. A draught of one officer, one sergeant,
one drummer, and 45 rank and file of the depot of
the 84th Regiment are under orders to proceed to
Malta to join the services companies. Lieut. Spreat,
of the Coast Brigade, Royal Artillery, has com-
masenwc oed a tour of inspection of the forts and stations,
II as the detachments of the Coast Brigade, in
the eastern
district.
The whole of the Infantry of the Aldershot

Sir,—ln reply to the annexed Senate resolution passed
December 21, 1865, referred to me by you for report, have
the honour to state : First—That Jefferson Davis was
captured by the United States troops, in the State of
Georgia, on or about the 10th day of May, and by order of
this department has been and now is confined in Fortress
Monroe, to abide such action as may be taken by the proper
authorities of the United States Government. Second—
That he has not been arraigned upon any indictment or
formal charge of crime, but has been indicted for the crime
of high treason by the grand jury of the district of Colum-
bia, which indictment is now pending in the supreme court
of the said district ; he is also charged with the crime of
inciting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and with
the murder of Union prisoners of war by starvation, and
other barbarous and cruel treatment toward them. Third,
The President deeming it expedient that Jefferson Davis
should first be put upon his trial before a competent court
and jury for the crime of treason, he was advised by the
law officers of the Government that the most proper place
for such trial was in the State of Virginia. That State is
within the judicial circuit assigned to the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, who has held no court there since the
apprehension of Davis, and who declines for an indefinite
period to hold any court there. The matters above stated
are, so far as I am informed, the reasons for holding Jeffer-
son Davis in confinement, and why he has not been brought
to trial. Fourth—Beside Jefferson Davis, the following
persons, who acted as officers of the rebel Government, are
imprisoned, to wit : Clement C. Clay, at Fortress Monroe,
charged, among other things, with treason, with conspiracy
in the murder of Mr. Lincoln, and with organising bands of
pirates, robbers, and murderers in Canada, to burn the cities
and ravage the commerce and coasts of the loyal States on
the British frontier; D. L. Yulee, at Fort Pulaski, charged
with treason while holding a seat in the Senate of the
United States, and with plotting to capture the forts and
arsenals of the United States, and with inciting war against
the government ; S. R. Mallory, at Fort Lafaytte, charged
with treason, and with organising and setting on foot pi-
ratical expeditions against the United States commerce and
marine on the high seas. Other officers of the so-called
Confederate government, arrested and imprisoned, have
been released on parole, to abide the action of the govern-
ment in reference to their prosecution and trial for alleged
offences, on their applications for amnesty and pardon.
Among these are G. A. Trenholm, Secretary of the Trea-
sury; J. A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War; J. A.
Seddon, Secretary of War; J. H. Reagan, Postmaster-
General ; R. M. T. Hunter, Senator ; Alex. H. Stephens,
Vice-President ; and sundry other persons of less note.
E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

To the President.
Attorney-General's-office, Jan. 4, 1866.
To the President.—Sir,—l have the honour to acknow-
ledge the receipt from you of a copyof the resolution of the
Senate of the United States of date Dec. 21, 1865. In that
resolution the Senate respectfully request to be informed
upon what charges and for what reasons Jefferson Davis is
still held in confinement, and why he has not been put on
his trial. When the war was at its crisis Jefferson Davis,
the commander-in-chief of the army of the insurgents, was
taken prisoner, with other prominent rebels, by the mili-
tary forces of the United States. It was the duty of the
military so to take them. They have been heretofore and
are yet held as prisoners of war. Though active hostilities
have ceased, a state of war still exists over the territory in
rebellion. Until peace shall have come in fact and in law
they can rightfully be held as prisoners of war. I have
ever thought that trials for high treason cannot bo had
before a military tribunal. The civil courts have alone
jurisdiction of that crime. The question then arises, when
and where must-the trials thereof be held? In that clause
of the constitution mentioned in the resolution of the
Senate, it is plainly written that they must be held in
the State and district " wherein the crime shall
have been committed." I know that many persons of
learning and ability entertain the opinion that the com-
mander-in-chief of the rebel armies should' be regarded as
constitutionally present with all the insurgents who prose-
cuted hostilities and made raids upon the northern and
southern borders of the loyal States. This doctrine of con-
structive presence carried out to its logical consequences
would make all who had been connected with the rebel
armies liable to trial in any State and district into which
any portion of those armies had made the slightest incur-
sion. Not being persuaded of the correctness of that opi-
nion, but regarding the doctrine mentioned as of doubtful
constitutionality, I have thought it not proper to advise
you to cause criminal proceedings to be instituted against
Jefferson Davis or any other insurgent in States or districts
in which they were not actually present during the prose-
cution of hostilities. Some prominent rebels were perso-
nally present at the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania,
but all, or nearly all of them, received military paroles upon
parties surrender
haveed n
the
er o
of the
ultimate
reb
I trhoisneko
ut
thiaotnts foh os
re
el
armies.protec wionhfiloer prosecutions
high treason, I have thought it would be a violation of the
paroles to prosecute
those persons for crimes befoi e the po-
litical power of the Government has proclaimed that the
rebellion has been suppressed. It follows, from whatlhv said, that I am of the opinion that
Jefferor,
i s and
e
other insurgents ought to be tried in some of n av
me of the States or
districts in which they in person e' es
p committed
crimes with which they may be charged. Though active
hostilities
acti e
hostilities and flagrant war have not for some
time existed
between the United States and the insurgents, peaceful
relations between the Government and the people in
the States and districts in rebellion have not yet been
fully restored. None of the justices of the Oupremo