The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-04 00:00:00

TEE ARMY.

Of the nine Lieutenants of Engineers ordered to'
join the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham
on the 31st ultimo, the first three, Lieuts. Hill,
Nixon, and Castle are commissioned from Wool-
wich, the remaining six Lieuts. Tye,
Brockman, Jopp, M'Clure, Wallace, and Blood—are
from Addiscombe College, when they entered at
the first competitive examination held for admission
to the Indian military services in January last.
The whole nine, however, are gazetted to the Royal
Engineers under the new scheme for the amalga-
mation of the services.
The following officers of the Indian Army joined
the Royal Artillery at Woolwich last week, namely,
Lieut.-Col. Smyth, Capts. Roberts, Blunt, 8r...t0n,
and Second Capt. Campbell; Lieuts. Alexander,
M'Grigor, Stevenson, Berthon, • and Monro ; and
will be followed during the 'present week by Lieut.-
Col. Le G. Bruce, Brevet• Major Light, Capts.
Hutchinson and Lloyd; Lieuts. Barnes Ritchie,
Buckle, and Hunter.

A battery of Armstrong guns was on Saturday
delivered over from the Arsenal, Woolwich, for the
service of the Bth Brigade Field Artillery ; and
two other batteries are in readiness to be issued.
for the same brigade, which is stationed at Alder-
shott.

711 E COTTON STATES OF AMERICA.

A Maine correspondent gives the following ac-
count of the state of things in the seceding States :
The cotton states are in the hands of the mob, and
a reign of terror has been fully inaugurata there,
precisely like that of the old French revolution,
except that little blood has been yet shed, and this
is only because no one has yet ventured, except in
secret, to utter a word against the rebellion. If
any persons should speak in opposition to the pre-
vailing madness, immediate death would follow.
Forced loans of money, and supplies of food, are
imposed on the wealthier classes, who are compelled
to submit under threats of confiscation. And many
such persons are sending off their families, secretly,
to the North, They dare not do it openly. All
business is stopped there ; and while the mob is
moved by a demoniacal rage, and rushing on to
destruction, the better classes are dumb from fear,
and secretly implore protection from the Govern-
ment, which, alas, is not yet rescued from
imbecility.
The history of the world has never yet any page
such as this will be. Many, many times, in many
lands, and in almost every age, men have risen in
rebellion against despotic Governments—the move-
ment being of the people in favour of liberty, and
for the love of it, as against oppression. But this
rebellion arises at a time when the country is more
prosperous, rich, and powerful than ever it was
before ; as prosperous, peace:ul, and happy. as any
nation ever was in any age; and all in the interest
of oppression. The rebels clamour against liberty
and freedom, and in favour of slavery worse far
than any other that the world has ever seen. The
rebellion is of masses, and not of the property
classes at the South. The people run madly,
blindly about the streets crying out against liberty
and in favour of slavery. They are ready to die
for slavery, and to resist the privilege of being free.
Great distress prevails at the South. They are
deeply in debt to the North, and now have no
credit, no money, and very little food, not enough
for four months' supply. They have already sent
to Chicago and New York for flour, and the answer
is, " Send first the money."

The South raises but little food, and this year
they lost their crops ; while at the North all the
crops were better than ever before.

The State of South Carolina issued 400,000 dols.
in bonds, on which to raise money to carry on the
war. An agent went to New York for the money,
and the answer was this :—" The bonds arc not
worth so much as the clean paper was before it was
printed." Immediately after that came the forced
loan of 400,000 dole., and compulsory payment of a
summarv'tax on every slave. This act struck down
at once the value of slave property 50 per cent, and
in many places indeed made it utterly worthless.
A great many people have slaves, sometimes
many of them, but very little money. The
slaves are hired out annually for an annual
sum, the, owners living on the wages up to the
full amount. When the tax was imposed, a great
many slaveholders could not pay without selling
their slaves, and thus a great many slaves were
thrown upon the market for a forced sale—at a time
too, when the entire community was in a state of
utter confusion, and all industrial employments at
an end.
The policy of South Carolina has always been to
fo3ter and encourage slavery ; and as one means of
doing this, slave property was taxed not more than
one-eighth of its just proportion. This sudden im-
position of a very heavy tax on slaves of itself had
an effect to alarm all slaveholders, and to render
that species of property nearly worthless. In some
places at the South slaves cannot be sold at all.
The only hope of success which the rebels have
is in prompt action. Even without opposition they
cannot hold out six months, for an absolute want
of money end food. In the meantime, everything
goes on at the North as usual, except that business
is dull, but not so much so as it was in 1857.8, and
already it begins to revive.
Maine, January 13, 1861.