The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1866.1

Plumstead, and Charlton are included in the garrison Inquirer thus sclescribes the scene :—" Yesterday
for the purpose of this act, and a regieter of names is the goodly Quaker City welcomed to her hearth-
prepared / stone the Southern loyalists, who, throughout the
l‘laj
at ; weary long years of the late rebellious strife, insti-
or-boye. tnl. le
E.
C.
Governmentiv arde, detectives.c.u. commanding
Woolwich, will commence the usual half-yearly in- gated by their traitorous countrymen and neigh-
spection of his district this morning, when the depot hours, _never faltered in their allegiance to their
brigade Royal Artillery, in command of Col. E. I country and their Government, and, despite the
Wodehouse, C. 8., will be mustered for the occasion. many disasters to the Union cause in the earlier
The paddlewheel despatch vessel Helicon, Corn- campaigns of the war, they could be neither bought,
mander M. Singer, from the Channel squadron, ar- nor coaxed, nor driven from their self-immolating
rived in Plymouth Sound on Tuesday last, and left devotion to the Union ; and though the heart of
again on Friday with men for the squadron. I the North ever throbbed in sympathy for their
The armour-plated screw steamship Zealous, 20, I sacrifices of property and life, yet no aid could
Capt. R. Dawkins, was towed on Thursday from the : then be extended. But yesterday was a day on
Steam Reserve in Hamoaze to her sailing moorings 1 which the pent-up affections could most appro-
off Devonport dockyard, where she will receive her priately be allowed to gush out from the over-
complement of seamen and marines. flowing hearts of their brethren. Thus the city
The crew of the paddlewheel steam frigate Leo- turned out its representative 'citizens in all depart-
pard, 18, Capt. Charles T. Leckie, in Devonport, ments of life to keep step with the many attendant
will be paid off on Saturday next, delegations from all the Northern States, gathered
The whole of the shot, shell, guns, and other War in our city, to do honour and reverence to the men
Department stores belonging to the screw sloop who unflinchingly had welcomed a baptism of blood
Swallow 9, 60-horse power, Master-Commander E. as sweeter than an apostacy from their faith in
Wilds, have been received at the Ordnance stores Republican institutions. The whole city gave evi-
Chatham, and the vessel is now being dismantled dente of its joyful sympathy with the patriotic
previously to being put out of commission and objects of the loyalists. A great display of flags
placed in the third division of the Steam Reserve in and bunting was seen on all sides, flung out to the
the Medway. breeze by those who thus sought to testify their
The screw two-decker line-of-battle ship Rodney, appreciation of the services of the city's guests.
78, 2,770 tons, 500-horse power (nominal), in dock Along the route of the procession the streets were
at Sheerness, has a large number of shipwrights and lined with thousands of enthusiastic citizens,• who
other workmen employed on her in effecting the heartily cheered the leading participants. The
various alterations and making the necessary re- escort was of a character never surpassed in the
pairs to adapt her for a flag-ship for service- in history of our city. The out turning of the Union
China. From the extensive nature of the repairi League, National Union Club, Republican 'mine-
ordered to be carried out, she will be in the ship- ibles, Boys in Blue, Firemen, and other city escorts,
wrights' hands for some considerable time to come. alone would have ranked the procession a great one.
The screw sloop Cameleon, 17, 200-horse power, But a peculiar feature of'honour was the presence
attached to the third division of the Steam Re- of so many high dignitaries of the nation, thus
serve in the Medway, is still in the shipwrights' testifying their absorbing devotion to a cause. An
hands, and is undergoing an extensive repair to unequalled sight in our city was the marching on
both hull and machinery, the alterations and re- foot of ten Governors of States, nine Senators,
pairs now being effected rendering her almost a besides well-known generalsandleading literati. The
new vessel. The whole of the machinery has been entire demonstration was a perfect success, beyond
taken out and removed into the steam factory for all just cavil or condemnation."
the customary overhaul and repair. If the Dumb Convention suppressed with a high
•In consequence of the slackness of work now hand every attempt at oratory, the Convention of
prevailing at the joiners' department in Chatham loyal Southerners suppressed as forcibly all ob-
dockyard, owing to the circumstance of iron being noxious sentiments. Senator Wilson, of Massa-
now chiefly used as a material for shipbuilding, chusetts, was interrupted in his speech, and notwith-
an Admiralty order directs a considerable amount standing the interrupter was a Union soldier he was
of work to be sent to the Chatham yard from the summarily ejected. The Senator's address was as
dockyards at Woolwich and Sheerness, by which follows :—He said that the delegates from the North
arrangement the services of the hired hands now were not there to make platforms, but to meet the
working at the establishment will be retained. truly loyal men from the South. There was, he
The Irresistible, 68, screw, Coastguard line of- said, a sort of organised raidbeing carried ha through
battle-ship, Capt. John Borlase, C. 8., arrived in the country, sshere speeches were made, and boast-
Portsmouth harbour yesterday from Southampton ings as to what was going to be done. (Laughter.)
Water. She will be placed iu dock for repairs and They had thought, in their simplicity, that they
refit. lived in a country where the people were masters of
Intelligence has been received at Chatham of the President, of Congress, and of the Supreme Court,
arrival at Constantinople of the Imperial Ottoman and that they lived in a country where the-voice of
war-frigate Orkhan, Capt. sinned Bey, one of the the people was to be heard and obeyed. But now
newly heavily armour-plated iron frigates built for they were told by the President that he had a policy,
the Sultan at the shipbuilding yard of Messrs. and meant to carry it out. (Laughter.) He could
Napier and Sons, Glasgow. The Orkhan is of 4,222 tell the President, however, that Congress was
tons burden, British measurement, and is the third master of the situation. (Cheers.) Here there was
vessel of the same kind which has been constructed some disturbance in the Hall, some one exclaiming
by the firm for the Turkish Government. her sides that he was .an American soldier, and did not wish
are of the same thickness of iron as those of her to hear the President reviled. There wer shouts re-
Majesty's iron ship Minotaur, 26, 6,621 tons, 1,350 commending his being turned out, which was soon
horse power, and she is pierced to carry 40 guns of done, and then Senator Wilson proceeded with his
heavy calibre. Her armament at present consists of remarks.
16 guns, including one 300-pounder 12-ton gun on People seem to suffer throughout the Union from
the forecastle, 14 150-pounder rifled Armstrongs on the extortion of vendors of food much in the same
the main deck, and one 150-pounder Armstrong on way we do here. The Pittsburgh Commercial sug-
the upper deck. Her engines, manufactured by gests that the price will increase as long as they can
Messrs. Napier and Sons, are of 550-horse power get it. This is the established rule laid down by
nominal, and at the official trial realised a mean market dealers .for exacting exorbitant prices for
speed of 12.75 knots, or nearly 14 statute miles, their commodities. Under this rule the reign of
per hour. high prices will continue as long as the people will
Pending the report to be made to the Board of pay them. Nothing is plainer than this. And it
Admiralty by Mr. L. E. Fletcher, C.E., on the re- is scarcely to be expected that those who profit by
cent boiler explosion at Chatham dockyard, no deci- the arrangement will be the first to modify it. A
sion has been arrived at by their lordships as to the New York paper, for the complaint is a wide-
nature of the further inquiry to be undertaken on spread one, suggests, as the only remedy, that people
the part of the Admiralty into the circumstances exercise some temporary self denial in the articles
connected with the late accident. lel the meantime, of butter, butchers' meat, &c., declining to pnr-
however, the officials connected with the several de- chase or purchasing sparingly till some yielding of
partmeuts concerned have been called on to report prices is effected. This would be sure to remedy the
on the various points on which information is re- evil, but will people adopt it?
quired by the Lords of the Admiralty. The reserve of General Grant is maintained, and
The Bornarsund and Petrel, War department the position he has assumed, or is about to assume,
transports, have arrived at the Ordnance wharf, has given rise to much speculation in the press. He
Chatham, with the guns shot, and shell from the has accompanied the President in his Western tour,
Swallow, Master-Commander E. White. and in all grand occasions has stood by his side.
The Lord Warden, sailing Indiaman, one of Yet although he supported Andrew Johnson by his
Messrs. Green's Blackwall fleet, embarked at Spit- presence, he has carefully abstained from commit-
head on Wednesday the following troops, which ting himself to any political opinions. In this re-
arrived the same afternoon at Portsmouth from Win- spect he has shown a marked contrast to the blunt,
chester, for transport to Madras :—Capt. N. J. outspoken statements of his chief. The general be-
Pauli, 3d battalion 60th Rifles; Lieut. R. C. Robin- lief is that he stands where Henry Ward Beecher
son, Rifle Brigade ; Ensigns Fund, Dick-Lan ler, does, about mid-way between Congress and the
Smith, and Doyle, 3d battalion 60th Rifles ; Staff Executive. By nature he is Conservative in his
Assist.-Surg. Alexander; 3 sergeants, 143 rank and ideas, cool in no ordinary degree, without sentiment
file, 7 women, and 8 children, 3d battalion 60th and without enthusiasm. He disapproves of the
Rifles. The Lord Warden was appointed to sail from course taken by the President in the New Orleans
Spithead for Madras yesterday morning, but up to affair, and the chances are that both parties when
sunset shs remained at anchor, detained by the strong they come to their senses after their wild excite-
south-west winds prevailing in the Channel. ment will find Grant master of the position, having
The steam transport Thames, Captain Pickering; never lost his prudence, nor committed himself to
belonging to the firm of Templey, Darke, and Co., extreme views. Sensible and moderate men will
of London, has completed shipping a heavy cargo then know holy to appreciate the course taken by
of war stores, &c., for Quebec, making a total of this most distinguished officer.
1,576 tons measurement and sailed from Wool- The Union State Central Committee have selected
with-pier by the four o'clock tide on Thursday. the following gentlemen as delegates at large to re-
lies cargo consists of 21 field battery 9-pounder present West Virginia in the Convention Of Southern
guns; 8 24-pounder howitzers ; 10 20-pounder loyalists, called to meet at-Philadelphia, on the 3d
guns; 1 light battery of 6-pounders for the Artil- of September next:—His Excellency, Governor A.
lery Militia, and 5 carronades for the bastion walls ; I. Boreman, United States Senator W. I'. Willey,
7CO sets of harness and various appointments for United States Senator P. G. Van Winkle, General
cavalry; 4,000 boxes of shell ;. a large amount of B. F. Kelley, General I. Hardin Daval, General T.
2oz. shot in tin cases, known as case shot; and a M. Harris, General J. A. J. Lightburn, General D.
number of bale goods from the Tower. She also has H. Strother (Porte Crayon), lion. B.
M. Kitchen,
9 cabin passengers—namely, 6 adults, 2 children, Hon. James Burley, Hon. John Atkinson, lion. W.
and 1 servant. Notwithstanding the advance of the E. Stephenson, Hon. Greenbury Slack, Hon. Edwin
season, it is to be hoped that the passage may be Maxwell, George W. Norton, Jacob ,Hornbrook,
still sufficiently free from ice to admit of the Thames J. C. M'Grew, Nathan Goff, and D. S. Pinnell.
slaking her voyage in safety. At about two o'clock on Sunday :;morning, 26th
August, a train of some 45 cars, loaded principally
with coal oil and hides, stopped at the Narrowburg
(New York) station to wood and water. Many of
the cars contained the oil in huge tanks, two on
each car, holding probably 50 barrels of oil each, in
open bulk; the rest being in barrels upon box cars.
At the end of the train was what is called a " ca-
laboose," or rough carriage for second-class passen-
gers. After stopping here awhile the conductor,
James Fredenburgh, distinctly heard the whistle of
an " extra" freight train, which was following,
closely approaching. He hurriedly ordered the en-
gineer to " start the train immediately," and was
obeyed, but pulling out the valve too far for so
heavy a train, to use a railroad phrase, the train
"broke," or, in other words, the coupling which
bound some of the cars parted, and a portion of the
train stood still on the track. Discovering the acei-
dist eeonnndgt
.i,edr
while
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came upon them, but having slowed for the purpose
of stopping at the depot had very little momentum,
and simply ran the engine under the caboose, and
nearly covered itself up with the debris.
An ex-
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itook place,very
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twenthine
spot where the first explosion occurred, on one side
stood three comfortable country cottages, two of
them belonging to Mr. A. S. Hendricks ; the other
to Mr. Joseph Bevins, the village blacksmith, in
which he and his family resided. The most distant
one was occupied by Mr. Hendricks, while the
lower part of the other was occupied as a joiners'
shop. In the upper part lived Mr. Charles C. \led-
liains, his wife, and two children, the latter aged
respectively about two and a half and five years.
The oil and flame was thrown about in such quan-
tities that before Mr. Williams had time to become
thoroughly awakened the fiery brands were falling in
his sleeping room. Then other explosions were
heard in quick succession, and it was the impression
of all that their houses had been struck and set on
fire by lightning. Mr. Williams sprang from his
bed, seized his two children, and shouting to his
wife to follow him, ran down the inside stairs to the
stoop or porch, with steps which led down by the
side of the house. In his excitement he evidently
never saw that the whole street through which he
wady plunging wag one living mass oh blazing oil

MISCELLANEOUS ANERICAN NEWS.

The following story illustrates the wild doings in
the State of Arkansas. The Jacksonport Era, of
the 11th August, says that a man named 'McKinney,
an overseer hired by a planter in that county, was
stopped on his way to the plantation the Tuesday
'veiling Previous, by four men, who robbed, blind-
' folded, and tied him to a tree. The Era says that
as soon as released he went to Cotton Plant and
obtained a State warrant for the two lie recognised—
Stracener and Berry
were their names—who were
arraigned before Justice L of Cotton Plant.
The evidence for the State was in accordance with
the above facts. But one of the accused parties_
Bcrry—adduced evidence, by which lie proved that
he was at another place at the hour the outrage was
perpetrated. It is believed that the witnesses who
deposed this testimony were the accomplices of
Berry. Upon this evidence both partiesiwerinenreey-
, leased. When the trial was concluded, McKinney
and his friends left Cotton Plant for their homes—.
some in waggons, and some,on horse back. About
five miles north of Cotton Plant the Stracener and
Berry party overtook them. One Eli Staggs, a
brother-in-law to Berry, and a witness for him,
rode up to McKinney and commenced abusing
him, and finally challenged him to a pistol combat,
or duel, on the ground. McKinney readily ac-
cepted, and leaping from his waggon, pistol in hand,
about twenty feet apart, the firing between the
parties commenced. Each party fired three shots,
any one of which would have prosved fatal. Stagg3
received the first shot in the mouth, the next in
the throat, and the third in the breast. McKinney
was shot three times in the breast. When these
shots were fired, the parties turned their backs upon
each other, walked about the sane .3 distance from
the scene, and both fell about the same instant, one
upon his back and the other upon his face, and died
with pistols in hand. This occasioned a (-rood deal
of promiscuous shooting—about twentyb random
shots-_between the respective friends of both
parties. But fortunately no other damarfe was
done.
Philadelphia has lately been living on :sensa-
tions," First, there was the great Union Co_ vention—next, the arrival of the President and his
distinguished supporters, and now we have the pro-
ceedings of the loyal Southern delegates. The

half knee deep; and onward he went, dashing into
the fire in almost a nude state, having on nothing
I;ut his night garment. In travelling through this
sheet of flame one of his children dropped from his
arms, and he went back and picked it up. Ills
determination and strength sustaining him, he
reached a spot where the fire had not yet spread and
fell. He was picked up by his neighbours, and
with his children was taken to a hotel near by,
where, as has been previously stated, the children
both died and have since been buried. Besides the
(tars, oil, houses, shops, and stores which were
swept away, as it were in a moment, the trees,
shrubbery, and garden, full of green things, were
actually burnt to a crisp by the burning oil. The
ties of the track were entirely consumed, awl the
iron rails were bent and twisted in every conceivable
shape by the extraordinary heat. Mon were imme-
diately put on the work, and the next day the road
was again in running order.

The proceedings and findings of the Military
Commission before whom was tried Major Gee,
formerly in command of the rebel prison at Salis-
bury, North Carolina, on the charge of cruelty to
Union prisoners, have just been made public. The
Commission find that Major Gee, while in command
of the prison, failed to provide for the prisoners,
about ten thousand in number, either food, clothing,
rations, fuel, shelter, water, or hospital attendance,
sufficient to preserve health or sustain life, that the
prisoners were not supplied with sufficient water for
culinary purposes, or even for satisfying thirst, or
with food, except in very small or inadequate quan-
tities, and this though an ample supply of water and
wood could have been obtained in the immediate
neighbourhood of the prison. The findings enu-
merate at length the privations and outrages to
which the prisoners were subjected, and say that
the hospital accommodations and medical attend-
ance furnished prisoners when sick were so slight
and inadequate that when once sent to the hospital
of the prison they rarely returned alive, and that
by reason of that failure a large number of said pri-
soners, about 500 a month, whose names are un-
known, died from disease, starvation, and exposure
during the months of November and December,
1864. The Commission, however, on the ground
that the accused.was to blame only for the weakness
in retaining the position when unable to carry out
the dictates of humanity, and that the rebel Go-
vernment were fully responsible for all these in-
humanities and outrages, acquit the accused both
on the charges and specifications. In approving
the proceedings and findings of the Commission,
Major-General John. C. Robinson, commanding the
department of North Carolina, dissents from the
conclusion of the Commission, that the only respon-
sibility of the accused was weakness in retaining the
w.sition as commandant of the prison. He says
that, while the evidence clearly establishes the fact
that the higher authGrities of the rebel Government
were fully responsible for their violations of the laws
and customs of war, Ind the accused was constantly
calling their attentiol to the condition of the prison,
and asking for supples, it is believed that he had
it in his power to ielieve much of the sufferings
of the prisoners tinier his charge. Not only
were prisoners starved, but suffered from want
of water and fuel, ffhich they might have pro-
cured for themselles. Because it was feared
that they might have effected their escape,
prisoners were shot down in cold blood, and the
perpetrators of these murders were allowed to, go
unpunished. There seems to have been more
anxiety to prevent tie escape of prisoners of war
than to preserve their lives.

Pennybaker. The following named officers are ap-
pointed as an auxiliary committee, to act one for
each State, in the order as named :--Maine--Colo-
nel Albert W. Bradbury, Portland, Me. ; New
Hampshire, —; Vermont, —; Massachusetts—
Major-Gcn. Dennis N. Couch ; Corinecticut—
Major-Gen. Wm. B. Franklin ; Rhode Island, ;
New York--Major-Gen. Slocum ; New Jersey—
Major-Gen. Gershom Mott; Pennsylvania—Major-
Gen. Joseph 11. Knipe ; Delaware ; Maryland—
Brig.-Gen. J. C. Sullivan ; Kentucky—Major-Gen.
'F. L. Crittenden ; Missouri—Brig.-General C. B.
Brown ; Tennessee--Major-Gen. Alvin C. Gillom ;
Ohio—Col. Len. A. Harris ; Indiana—Major-Gen.
John Love ; Illinois—Brig. -Gen. Charles Black ;
Michigan Major-Gen. Orlando B. Wilcox ; Wis-
gonsin —Major-Gen. Hobart; Minnesota—Colonel
John Ball ; lowa—Major-Gen. Fitz Henry War-
ren; Kansas—Major-Gen. Hugh Ewing. West
Virginia Durbin Ward, Chairman. Thos.
Kilby Smith, Secretary.
Mr. Oliphant, M. P., arrived at Boston a
fortnight ago, accompanied by two young Japanese gen-
tlemen of high rank, who were sent to England to obtain
an education. They propose to pass their autumn vaca-
tion in a tour through America.

The editor of the San Francisco (California)
0117=3 Letter announces that " Ecce Homo" was written by
Mr. John Hamilton Thom.

Mr. Beckwith, the American Commissioner for
the Paris Exposition of 1867, is making efforts to have sent
to it the model of an American school-house, with all its
app] ia44ces.

General Beauregard has left France for New

York.

TIMES.—The First Lord of the Admiralty will
have something to explain in his first public speech
on the affairs of his department. His statement to-
wards the close of the session that the reserves of
the navy were in an unsatisfactory condition pro-
duced a natural, effect on the public Mind, and has
led to a discussion not easily settled. That the state-
ment was true, literally, is not to be doubted, but the
fact admitted, perhaps, of some explanation, while
something was also to be said in qualification of the
results. We have already observed that our ironclad
fleet did receive very considerable augmentations
under the late Government, and this was doubtless
regarded as the most important object of all. The
chief deficiency is probably in good cruisers of a
smaller class, for which our heavier wooden vessels,
of which we have an ample stock, cannot well be
substituted. As the reader, however, has seen, an
entirely new phase-af, the question has been opened
by the results of 'recent artillery experiments, and
we are led to inqiiire whether our old wooden navy
is indeed so worthless as all theSe calculations,
whether on one side or the other, have hitherto
assumed. It appeared to us, as we remarked this
day last week, that the case has been in. some de-
gree modified; it appears to an able correspondent,
whose letter we published on Saturday, that matters
remain exactly in state quo. We said that the re-
lative capacities of ironclads and wooden ships had
been affected by the production of a gun which
could be carried easily in a wooden frigate, and
which could, beyond all question, send anyi rouclad
now afloat to the bottom. Capt. S. Osborn main-
tains that "a very good gun and superior projectiles
on board a wooden ship do not alter the conditions
of the fight between a wooden fleet and an iron-
clad." So the issue is plainly stated, and can be as
plainly tried. The very essence of an ironclad, as
originally designed, was that it should be impreg-
nable to shot, and this condition was actually se-
cured. When the Gloire was launched she was invul-
nerable. When the Warrior was launched she was in-
vulnerable also: The Monitor was impregnable to the
shot of the Merrimac, and the Merrimac to the shot
of the Monitor. _So long as no improvements were
made in artillery the cannon balls rebounded from
the sides of the new fighting ships as harmlessly as
hailstones, and it was this quality which gave iron-
-clads their importance. Between them and wooden
ships there seemed to be no comparison whatever.
The guns of a timber-built vessel were not only
relatively but absolutely useless, and the ironclad
might do the work of destruction at her leisure.
Even when the power of guns was gradually in-
creased the defensive strength of ships' armour
was increased in proportion, and -each hew target
.represented a ship's broadside impregnable for the
time. Now, however, all this is changed. A gun
has beer manufactured of no immoderate weight or
calibre, but equally portable and manageable, before
which, when charged with a certain shot, any iron-
clad known is just as helpless and as unprotected as
an old wooden frigate before an old 68-pounder.
The sides of the Warrior are simply as vulnerable
as so much basket-work. The sides of a vessel of
twice the Warrior's strength would afford little bet-
ter protection. he turrets of the Royal Sovereign
would be no safer. Armour is no longer an effec-
tive defence against a gun which will soon be one
of the ordinary guns of our sea service. About
these facts there is no question, and we say that
they may materially " alter the conditions of a
fight" between armoured and unarmoured vessels.
A few months ago an armoured vessel was invul-
nerable ; she might now be sent to the bottom by a
single shot. Our correspondent still claims the
advantage for ironclads ; but that much we fully
admitted.. All that he says on this point we said
too. It is only within a certain range, and under
certain conditions, that the wooden vessel can inflict
fatal injury,upon her ironcased antagonist, whereas
the latter can exert an equally destructive power
with fewer limitations. All this is true, but. it does
not affect the main proposition, which is this :
That, whereas only the other day the captain of a
wooden vessel "could not possibly expect to sink an
ironclad, he now knows that such a proceeding is
very possible indeed. Capt. Osborn takes the case of
the Achilles, and the Liverpool, each carrying the new
Woolwich gun and the Palliser shot, and he shows
that the advantage would still be greatly on the
side of the Achilles. No one • doubts it ; but with
the armament which-the Liverpool would now carry
she might send the Achilles to the bottom, whereas
with her old armament she could never have hoped
to do so. Captain Osborn, too, omits the very vital
question of relative speed. Of course the comba-
tants may be assumed equal in this respect ; but
armour, as our correspondent himself intimates, is
apt to be " cumbersome," and if the wooden frigate
were swifter than the ironclad, the "conditions of
the fight" would be altered still more materially.
All Captain Osborn's opinions on this subject are
valuable, and the attentive reader will have discerned
that he inclines not to the absolute protection of a
fighting ship by very ponderous armour, but to the
partial protection of the vessel by such plating as
would keep out shot and shell except at short range
without impairing the handiness or speed of the
ship. But that view of the case opens a very wide
question, and it has led some good authorities to a
conclusion far more faVourable to wooden vessels
than any that we have expressed. Where is the
line to be drawn between the protection coveted and
the impediment condemned ? One of the best of
the American commanders gave it as his opinion
that the armour of fighting ships would not only be
gradually reduced, but ultimately discarded, exactly
like the armour of fighting men. And it was certainly
remarkable to observe, throughout the Civil War,
what a preference the American captains gave to
their old wooden frigates. Admiral Farragut uni-
formly hoisted his flag on board a wooden vessel,
and took his wooden vessels into action against iron
clads and shore batteries with a confidence justi-
fied by the result. In fact, if our correspondent
will review the experience of the last five years, be
may perhaps be surprised to find what very little
proof has been actually given of the helplessness
of wooden ships when engaged with ironclads.
To be sure, the experience is not very extensive,
but Admiral Farragut never lost, we believe, a
single-one of his old frigates, though he fought both
ironclads and shore batteries at twenty yards' range.
The Kaiser was not destroyed at Lissa, though one
300-pound shell, at least, was fairly lodged in her
sides: The Merrimac destroyed the Congress and
the Cumberland, not by shot or shell, but by
ramming. Of course none of these examples prove
that a wooden frigate may not be disabled by the
first shell fired, but as a matter of fact that cata-
strophe has been very often escaped. The Tennessee,
the strongest ironclad built by the Confederates, did
not destroy the Hartford, a wooden frigate engaged
with her at close quarters, but if the Hartford had
carried such guns and shot as were recently tried at
Shoebury she must infallibly have sunk the Ten-
nessee. However, we can assure our correspondent
that we have not the slightest idea of advocating
any retrograde policy in the construction of our
navy. We fully admit, and have already acknow-
ledged, the superiority which he claims for ironclads,
even though they be no longer impregnable. But to
multiply these fabrics so as to reinstate us in our
old maritime strength by virtue of ironclads alone
must be a work of time, while any discovery that
can communicate a provisional increase of efficiency
to our old wooden fleet may well be hailed with
satisfaction. It would be best to have a sufficiency
of ironclads, but, pending that consummation, it is
something to ascertain that we could send even
wooden ships to sea with guns which, at close
quarters, no ironclad could resist.

SPIRIT OF TEM PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We understand th.t her Majesty's Government.
have agreed to give the Imperial guarantee for a
sum of £4,000,000 tc be raised on the security of
the revenue of the confederated British colonies in
NOrth America. Of the sum to be thus raised
£3,000,000 is to be applied to the construction of
the long-talked-of liternational Railway between
Halifax and Quebec, or rather to the junction of
that line with the G mud Trunk at Riviere du Loup.
The remaining 11,009,000 is to be applied by the
Confederated Goverment to the purchase of the
territorial rights of the Hudson Bay Company,
leaving to that comjany still the right of trading
over the territory find holding the trading ports
which are necessary for carrying on its trade. The
delegates from Canada are expected in England
daily to complete the arrangements with her
.Majesty's Government. The governors of the
Hudson Bay Company are, we believe, prepared to
recommend to the proprietors the acceptance of the
£1,000,000. as the purchase-money of the terri-
torial or sovereign tights which they hold under
their charter. We are also informed that the
claim of the cornpaity against the United States'
Government arising Jut of the Oregon question is
likely shortly to be settled, and that the amount to
be received under this head will be somewhere about
£250,000.

In the New York Senate a resolution had been
adopted, welcoming Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States, and General Grant and Admiral
Farragut to the State. This was reconsidered,
and for the avowed purpose of showing that they
would give no honour to Andrew Johnson, his
name was stricken out, and the " President " was
welcomed with " the other distinguished personages
accompanying him." Afterwards an additional re-
solution was adopted welcoming General Grant and
Admiral Farragut by name, but the Senate refused,
by a vote of 7 to 13, to include the name of William
H. &wail In the course•-of the discussion
Senator Low denounced the President in the most
violent language, and MIS followed on the same
side by Senators Kline and Williams, the latter of
whom made a coarse attack upon the President,
and stated that two young men from his office had
been killed in the New Orleans riot. He held the
President responsible for their murder, and " their
blood cries to Heaven for vengeance." Senator
Godard declared the President had attained an in-
famous reputation, and said his object in desiring
to omit the name of the President, was, first; be-
cause he refused to do homage to an individual
whose course could not fail to produce another civil
war ; and, secondly, because he did not desire, by
the mention of that individual's name, to stir up
the dangerous passions of the outraged union men of
the western part of the State. Mr. Lent inquired
what this meant. Was he to understand the Pre-
sident of the United States was not to be protected,
and would not be safe as he passes through the
western part of this State ? Mr. Godard did not
say there was any danger. But if the Senator did
not understand the feeling of the West he did ; and
he would say that they hate that man. • The Pre-
sident could hardly be expected to avoid all allusion
to pending political questions in the speeches lie
made during his recent trip to Chicago. He must
necessarily say something about the condition of the
country, and it would be difficult for him to do this
without indicating his own decided opinion's. The
difficulty with him is that he is too frank ; he can
conceal nothing, and he lets out not only his poli-
tical views, but his own personal and partisan
feelings. In his reply to the welcome by the Mayor
of Trenton, New Jersey, he could not finish with-
out the exhortation, " Now, when the issue has

come, believing, as I do, in the integrity of the
American people, you are invited to come forward,
and at the ballot-box discharge your whole duty."
Secretary Seward also showed that his thoughts
were moving in the same channel, and he thus en-
forced the President's appeal :—"FelloW citizens,
I have just come along with the President in this
my own section of the country. I find things are
not going on exactly
right here. You let the .re-
presentatives of thirty-six Status come to Philadel-
phia, to confer together. I want them to come to
Washington, but they are not allowed to confer to-
gether in Washington. I want to see them
brought into Washington. Will you attend to
that ?"

At a meeting of the soldiers favourable to the
published call for a Soldier and Sailors' Convention
at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 17th of September, held
at Willard's Hotel on Monday
evening, 20th
August, General Durbin Ward being called to the
chair, and General Thomas Kilby Smith having
been elected Secretary, upon motion of General
James B. Steadman the following named offrcers
at Washington until the 15th September :—General
were appointed an Executive Committee to remain
George Y. Este, Col. A. 11, Markland, Col. C. D.