The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-17 00:00:00

SALE OF HER MAJESTY'S

Department of the Storekeeocr-General of the Navy,
Somcrset-placf.',loth Dec., 1661.
THE COMMISSIGINTERS for EXECUTING
THE OFFICE of LOUD HIGH ADMIRAL of the
UNITED KINGT2,OIt of GREAT BRITAIN and IRE-
LAND, DO lIKREBY GIVE NOTICE, That on FRIDAY,
the 3d Janti next, at Two o'clock, they will be ready to
receive SeAed Tenders for the purchase of her Majesty's un-
merinelllioned Ships :--

TT here
Lyiug.

Tons.
Portland.-- 1477'
Lively. 1( 80
Pallas.. 051
Spartan 9lB
Pilot
Express 362
Peterel
Pandora.
,Ckrrar no
ley 3r29
Lynx 477
Viper 477,

Tons.
Frolic
Arab.... 4Bl
Daring
Elk.
Tyne 6OO
Electra. 462
Kangaroo
Dispatch ...
Daphne 726
Mariner 4Bl
Fan tome
Vt st i.l . . 913
Cleopatra.... 218.
lfter Two o'clock

Where

Devouport.

Chatham,

if
F No Tender will be received a
of treaty.
Every Tender must be addre
Admiralty, and bear in the 1
'Tender tor the purchase of H.
delivered at Somerset-place.
Persons wishing' to view the
perintendents of lI.M. Dockyar
tor Notes of Admission for that
Catalogues and conditions of
the said yards.

on the day

,ssed to the Secretary of the
left-hand corner the words
.M. Ship," and must also be

Ships must apply to the Su-
ds at Devonport andChatham
purpose.
sale may be had here or at

p 0 YAL NATIONAL LIFE•I3 OAT
INSTITUTION
FOR TIIE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM
SHIPWRECK,
(Incorporated by Royal Charter).
Founded in 1824.—Supported by Voluntary Contributions.
PATRONESS—Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen.
PRESIDENT—Vice-Admiral his Grace the Duke of Northum-
berland, K.G., F.R.S.
CUAIRMAN—Thos. Baring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., V. P., Chair-
man of Lloyd's.
DEPUTY-Cll AIR 111 AN —ThOMIIR Chapman, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.,
Chairman of Lloyd's Registry of British and
Foreign Shipping Society.
APPEAL.
The Committee of Management hive to state that, during
the past year, the Institution has incurred expenses amount-
hag to £6,258 ls. in establishing Life-boat stations on
ferent parts of the Coasts of Eng and, Ireland, and Scotland.
The Institution has also expended on the repairs, stores,
alterations, and inspection of its numerous Life-boats, Boat-
houses, and Transporting-carriages, £3,632 19s*. ; and £1,550
for exercising the Crews of its Life-boats—making altogether
a total of £11.441.
During the past year the Life-boats of the Institution have
been instrumental in rescuing the Crews of the following
Wrecked Vessels :
Schooner Ann Mitchell, of Montrose
Schooner Jane Roper, of Ulverstone
Brig Pallas, of Shields .. .
Ship Ann Mitchell, of Glasgow .
Smack John Bull, of Yarmouth .
Schooner Catherine, of Newry
Barque Niagara, of Shields ..
A Barge of Teignmouth •
Brig George and James, of London
Brig Zephyr, of Whitby • • • •
Coble Honour, of Cullercoats ••
Schooner Eliza, of North Shields ..
Barque Oberon, of Liverpool • •
Brigantine Nancy, of Teignmouth
Smack Wonder, of Teignmouth
Brig Scotia, of Sunderland ..
Sloop Three Brothers, of Goole • •
Sloop Charlotte, of Woodbridge ..
Brig Ann, of Myth
Sloop Hope, of Dublin
Schooner Druid, of Aberystwyth ..
Barque Vermont, of Halifax, U.S. ..
Schooner William Keith, of Carnarvon
Brig Flying Fish, of Whitby
Smack Elizabeth Ann, of Lyme Regis .
Steam Dredge, at Newhaven .. •
Schooner Admiral Hood, of Rochester ..
Schooner Susan and Isabella, of Dundee ..
Schooner Rose, of Lynn
Brig Prodroma, of Stockton ..
Brig Eliza, 01 Middlesborough • -
Brigantine Freia, of Konigsberg ..
Brimortir,
uivacestdr, of south Shields ..
Total .. ..210
For these and other Life-boat services the Institution has
Voted £9OB Bs. td. as re sards. It has also granted rewards
amounting to £203 4s. for saving 245 shipwrecked persons, by
4110 re-boats and other means, making a total of 455 persons
saved from a watery grave on the Coasts of the United
Itindom.
During the present year (1861), the Life-boats of the Insti-
llation have also been instrumental in rescuing the Crews 01
the following Vessels :
Brig Lovely Nelly, of Sealiam
Brigantine Nugget, of Bideford ..
Schooner Prosp,.ct, of Berwick • •
Sloop Thomas and Jane, of St. Ives
A Fishing-boat of Whitburn
Brig Arethusa, of Blyth • • •
Schooner Dewi Wyn, of Portmadoc
Flat Cymraes, of Beaumaris
Schooner William, of Morecambe ..
Smack Gipsy, of Newry .. • •
schooner Margaret Anne, of Preston
Brig New Draper, of Whitehaven
Schooner William, of Liverpool ..
Lugger Nimrod, of Castletown .- •
Brig Providence, of Shields .. • • • •
Brig Mayflower, of Newcastle
Schooner Village Maid, of Fleetwood .. 4
Barque Guy rna, of Glasgow .. • • .. .. 19
Brig Roman Empress, of Shields .. .. 10
Brig San Spirid one, of Galaxlde 2
Schooner Voador du Vouga, of Vianna 8
French Brig La Jenne Marie Therese . .. 6
Barque Perseverance, of Scarborough .. .. 5
Schooner Elizabeth, of Bridgewater 4
Ship Danube, of Belfast • • •• •• •• 17
Schooner Hortensia, of Hanover _ 4
Schooner Oregon, of Stonehaven 4
Brig St. Michel, of Marans .. • • .. .. 8
Spanish Barque Primera de Torreviega (saved ves-
sel and one of the crew) .. 1
Schooner 11urre11, of Penzance (saved vessel and
crew) .. .. 4
Brig Anne, of Plymouth (saved vessel and crew) 8
Schooner Betsy, of Sunderland (saved vessel and
crew) • • • • • • .. .. • • 6
Barque Frederick, of Dublin _ 1
Barque Peace, of London _ _ 2
Luger Saucy Lass, of Lowestoft .. 11
Schooner Fly, of Whitby (saved vei,sel and crew
of four hands) .. • • • • •" • "
Smack Adventure, of Harwich
l'ilot cutter Whim, of Lowestoft .. • .
Barque Undaunted, of Aberdeen .. • • • •
Wrecked boat on Blaekwater liaek, on the Irish
toast saved one man .. • •
Schooner Skylark, of Folkestone ..
Brig Lively, of Clay, Norfolk
Barque Robert Watson, of Sunderland
Schooner Auchincruive, of Grangemouth
. Schooner Friends, of Lynn ..
Schooner Eliza Anne, of Dublin

.. 6
- 3

.. 9
- 5
- 4
.. 11
.. 2

.. 8
.. 6

.. 3
.. 7
.. 15
.. 9
.. 2
6

.. 5
.. 8

.. 3
.. 5
.. 16

.. 2
.. 5
.. 3

- 9
.. 6
.. 5

.. 3
.. 11
.. 7

,
.. 7

.. 6
.. 3
.. 4
.. 8
.. 8
.. 2

.. 4
.. 8
.. 5
- 3

.. 1
.. 6
.. 5
.. 5
.. 6
.. 4

.. 5

Total

..275

The public cannot but sympathise with the vicrorous efforts
Bow being made by this Institution to save the lives of Ship-
evreelied Crews. Their help was never more needed than at
the present time, when, through the extraordinary exertions
the Society has made within the past few years, it has now
nearly One Hundred and Twenty Life-boats under its man-
agement, !or the maintenance ot which, in a state of thorough
efficiency, a large permanent annual income is absolutely
needed, if its humane mission is to be perpetuated.
Donations and Annual Su' scriptions will be thankfully re-
ceived by Messrs. Willis, Percival, and Co., 70, Lombard-
titreet ; Messrs. Coutts and Co., 50, Strand; Messrs. Ferries,
Farquhar, and Co., 10, St. James's-street, London ; by a 1
the Bankers in the United Kingdom; and by the Secretary,
Richard Lewis, Esq., at the Office of the Institution, 11,
John-street, Adelphi, London, W.C.
Payments may be made be Cheques or by Post-office Orders
(crossed), to Messrs. W llis, Percival, and Co., or to the Secre-
tary.

GIVEN AWAY TO NERVOUS SUFFERERS.
HENRY SMITH, M. 1)., of the University of
Jena, has just published, for the benefit of Nervous
Sufferers, a FREE EDITION of his valuable work, THE
WARNING VOICE TO YOUNG MEN (120 pages). A
medical work on the cure of Nervous Debility, Loss of
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neglected, result in consumption, insanity, and premature
death ; with p'.aln directions for perfect restoration to health
and vigour. The book will be sent, post free, secure Rom oh
nervation, to any address, on receipt of a directed envelope
sad two stamps. Address, HENRY SMITII, M.D., a, Berton-
crescent, Tavistock-square, London, W.C.

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Prices : lls. per bottle, or four lls. bottles in one, 13s. Pre-
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LONDON ACENTFL—Barclay and Son, 75, Farrine4on-
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Hannay, 0, Oxford-street ; Butler, 4, Cheapside ; flooner,43,
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THE VIGOUR OF YOUTH RESTORED IN
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This wonderful agent will restore manhood to the most
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This life-restoring remedy should be taken by all about to
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Success in every case is as certain as that water quenches
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Dr. Pilord's Essence of Life is sold in cases, with full in-
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and will he rent to any part of the world, carefully packed,
on receipt of remittance or post-ollice order payable to Prout
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(Entered at Stationers' Ltall.)

ORNAMENTS for the Drawing-room, Library,
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Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of SHELLS,
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PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE
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COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' SCHOOLS,
N--) PINNER —POSTPONEMENT OF DINNE R.—ln
consequence of the lamented decease of his Royal Highness
tlu, Prince Consort, the Patron of this institution, and of the
Funeral of his Royal Highness being fixed for Monday, the
23d inst., the AN FESTIVAL, appointed to
be held on that day, under the presidency GI WESTERN
WOOD, Esq., 3.1. P., is Postponed.
A. F. FOSTER, Secretary.

16th December, 1861

THE CIVIL WAR IN- AMERICA.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER.
Since my lust letter there has been no military or
naval event of importance, though we are all living
in hopes of something happening soon. The ex-
citement caused by the arrest of Messrs. Mason and
Slidell is dying away, as people have made up their
minds either that it was quite right or that England
will do nothing in the matter. If the resolutions
of the House of Representatives be acceded to by
the President, the Confederate " Ambassadors," as

they were called when they were arrested, will be
placed in felons' cells, and it need not be added, as
they are both old men, that they will not long
survive the severities of a Northern climate at this

time of year in infamous confinement. The ground
of this proposition is that Colonel Corcoran and
Mr. Wood, taken prisoners at Manassas, have been
_ _

- -
confined in a similar way by order of the Confede-
rate Government. But it must be remembered
that this act of the hostile Cabinet was intended as

retaliation for the treatment of officers and seamen
of the Confederate navy, who had been tried and

sentenced for piracy, and that Colonel Corcoran,
Mr. Wood, and others were chosen by lot and

placed, man for man, in close confinement under the
peine forte et dare administered to the Confederate
prisoners, with the threat that if the sentence on
them were carried out similar punishments could

bo inflicted on the Federal prisoners set apart as
hostages. The North will provoke some desperate
effort to retaliate again, and as the war goes on it
will assume the character of sanguinary vindictive-
ness, which at first disgraced the conduct of the
forces in Virginia. The confiscation proposals will
rouse the South to the highest pitch of animosity,
and in their anger and despair they will be
capable of deeds which may astonish the world
rather with sorrow than with admiration. There
is no doubt that the development of the naval

power of the North is ably and skilfully conducted
by the Navy Department, and that the most
formidable preparations are being made to
crush out all resistance on the seaboard, and
to destroy the present commerce, if not the
future life, of the revolted Southern cities. How
long the Confederate army can maintain itself
against the urgent cries of the maritime States to
their sons is doubtful, but the Government hero act

apparently on the belief that Bcauregard's forces
will be at last reduced to such a number that
M'Clellan can advance against them with every
certainty of success in his overwhelming strength
and vast superiority of artillery. A new division of
the army has been formed at the other side of tho
Potomac, under Gen. Sumner, who is said to bo au
officer of conduct and experience, though rather
strict, considering the notions entertained by his
meu as to matters of discipiine. There are now
eight divisions between Alexandria and the right of
the Federalists towards Drainsville, in Virginia ; and
I am not at all prepared to admit there are more than
78,000 men there ; but there is a force of some 200
field guns, and an increasing force of cavalry across
the water, and the camps at this side and up in
Maryland are strongly held. There is a certain sort
of movement in the Commissariat which indicates
either uneasiness in reference to supplies, or prepa-
rations for movement. There is still more fortifying
going on. In a ride by a by-path down to the river
the other day I came upon three artful little works
on the top of a plateau, surrounded by a wood. One
was beautifully finished, and armed with five heavy
guns. The others were in the course of completion,
and gangs of men were working busily on the para-
pets. The Confederates do not molest small vessels
running past the batteries close to the Maryland
shore lately, but their forbearance is not to be re-
lied upon, and now and then " the Page" makes a
rush at some luckless schooner and hauls it away
into some secluded creek to eat its oysters or devour
its cargo. So far as I can judge, there is no chance
of an immediate advance, but there are rumours and
predictions and reasons going on all over the town
to the effect that the General must very soon do
something or the North will become angry. The
progress which has been made on the coast makes
him all the more impatient to clutch the full
rewards of all her expenditure, her losses, and her
exertions. A great victory by land is needed for
the prestige of her arms, but the public voice is
silenced by the fear of what would follow a defeat.
A false step, an abortive blow in front of Washing-
ton, might render all her little triumphs in the
South worse than abortive, and lay the North open
to invasion at the very moment when her superiority
was becoming daily more manifest. Slowly, but
surely, her teeth are fastening on the Southern

coast.
The acquisition of Tybeo Island gives additional
importance to the occupation of Port Royal, and
closes up the entrance to Savannah effectually. It
also affords a base of operations against Fort Pu-
laski, which is situate on a sandbank divided from
the island by the sea, a little higher up the tideway
of the Savannah River. Of the fort itself it may
be recollected I gave some description in my account
of a visit to that place with Commodore Tattnall,
but it is to be presumed that the defences and the
armament have been strengthened since that time,
and it will prove no easy matter to take it unless by
continuous vertical fire and the heaviest horizontal
fire at short distances. Tattnall's small squadron
bl
to l
of river steamers must be now shut up inside, and
the abortive attempt he made the other day to force
the blockading
getding awayvese if s
he
indicated an
tention mayh
could,ave ora feint to draw
them under the fire of the forts. The inhabitants
of the city are described to be flying in terror, ac-
companied by their slaves, and the trains are
crowded, it is said, by that sort of fugitive
property
going westward, out of danger. Without admitting
to the fullest extent the testimony of the Co nfe-
derate General Drayton (brother, by the by, of one
of the captains of the United States' squadron
which reduced the works at Hilton Head) in
favour of the loyalty of the negroes to their
masters, there is ample evidence in the correspon-
dence of the Northen papers that the Federalists
will gain little or no aid from the blacks, and that
the hope of servile insurrections entertained by
the Abolitionists are, in the district of Beaufort, at
all events, utterly fallacious. To my mind there
has been by no means such a display of energy as
might have been expected from regularly trained
officers of ordinary ability in connection with the
attack on the works. I do not speak of the neglect
to occupy Beaufort, which is a place of little im-
portance in a strategic point of view, but of the ex-
traordinary apathy which seized on the naval and
military commanders as soon as the fire of the forts
was silenced. With a little dash and promptitude
on their part not one of the enemy ought to have
got away. Where were the gunboats ? Where were
k the armed launches and boats of the fleet ? Allow-

ing some risk in the operation, why did they not
make an attempt to cut in on the flying garrisons
as they were retreating over the deep water pas-
sages which separate the islands they occupied
from other islands adjacent to the main land ?
Something must be risked to gain success. Why,
up to this moment, are the bridges of the railway
between Charleston and Savannah untouched and
in the hands of the enemy ? The Comhahee and
the Coosawatchee, deep, sluggish streams, are
spanned a few miles above Beaufort by long trestle
bridges, eas3ily destroyed; but the enemy have been
permitted, hitherto, to use the immense facilities of
the railroad between these important points un-
molested. The troops aio suffering from fever and
want of properebthing and stores ; but the weather
has as yet been singularly propitious to soldiers in
camp. how they will behave when, if ever, they
enter the State, may not be mistaken, if their past
acts are taken in evidence, for, crediting the blacks
with an immense amount of mischief during the
first moments of their licence, there is no doubt a
good deal of plundering took place on the part of
the soldiert in the early excitement of landing—
and indeed who can wonder, when the rev; chap-
lain who preached to the Roundhead Regiment of
Pennsylvania—a sort of men who are described as
admirable for piety and sobriety—described South
Carolina in his sermon, 'Sunday week, as " this
accursed State in which we worship God ?"

Gen. Sherman has been instructed by the War
Department not only to accept the services of
negroes but to 'employ them on_ the fortifications.
Ho is further enjoined to seize all the crops and
supplies on which he can lay his hands, and to
send to New York its dearly loved cotton, to be
sold for the benefit of Government. The latter
course would seem to inply that the Government
had abandoned the idea of making Beaufort a cot-
ton port, principally became they cannot get cot-
ton there, perhaps ; but at the same time the sop
to New York which is its due for the support given
to the Federal Government by the merchants and
people of the city. Val soon the ports to be
blockaded in the South will be reduced to some
half dozen, for the stoneships, or "Rat-hole squad-
ron," will very effectualy stop up many of the
inlets of ports which vsere places of considerable
traffic along the Eastern coast. It is proposed to
visit the places where the vessels are sunk from
time to time, in order to see that no attempt is
made to clear away the cbstructions. The favourite
idea of the North is to choke the South with its
own cotton and put it under a condenser. Calibogue
Sound, between the Sotthern extremity of Hilton
Island and Dawfusky Island, can be stopped by
sinking two or three vessels, and a similar opera-
tion will close up the entrances to Savannah
through the islands, 'Thus the exit for 400,000
bales, which was the usual export of the city in the
year, representing a valie of nearly four millions
, will be effectually
Beaufort, in North
cs theercl
kine gd atF
eorrndai
nn
da
ny a parincaes
Carolina, are threatened, and an expedition is fit-
ting out against the former port from the fleet and
men at Port Royal, whicl, will probably seize upon
some spot near the port, ;he approach to which is
defended by Jort Clinch, and whatever other works
the Confederates may hove had time to prepare.
Jeffersonville, up the St John's River in Florida,
St. Augustine, Darien, liunswick, are all of im-
portance, and the vast s:stem of inland lagunes
and river outlets which ettends along the coasts is
remarkable for the facility with which the solitary
channels of deep water car be found and destroyed
by sinking vessels in them—a pleasant coast for
the restoration of commerce. By land in the West

the progress of the Federalists has not been rapid,
but the Confederate General Price gives signs of
distress in Missouri, in the characteristic proclama-
tion in which he calls on the State for 50,000 men.

The Federal General Bull is represented to be
making preparations for the invasion of Tennessee,
with the design of attaadeg Nashville, the new
capital of the Confederate Government, but the idea
is in a crude state as yet, Ind there are long marches
and some hard fighting pcssibly, before the project
can be accomplished. The contingent of State
volunteers from the peopleof Kentucky to the Fede-
ral armies in her territory is said to amount to
25,000, in addition to which 9 regiments fr©m Illi•
nois, 16 from Indiana, 17 from Ohio, 6 from Penn-
sylvania, 1 from Michigai, 3 from Wisconson, and
2 from Minnesota, have been poured into the State.
Eastern Tennessee has been left to secession and
itself.

DECEMBER 2.

It may be permitted to me to use the first per
sonal pronoun is stating ray individual impressions
and experience, which are the base of all the little
knowledge I pretend to possess, in reference to the
phases which are changing from day to day in the
course of the contest that is going on in North
America between the leople of the Northern and of
the Southern parts of that which was once the
United States. A few days ago I saw a review of
the regular force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery
outside the Capitol. The American journals de-
scribed it as a fine sight, and, in their usual style,
dashed recklessly at tte figures, and evinced their
customary indifference to arithmetical accuracy. A
force of some 1,100 infantry, 1,800 sabres, and 42
guns, was magnified into a corps of 9,000 men,
with adequate proportions of artillery and cavalry,
and many adjectives that could be applied to an
army in a high state of excellence were lavished
upon the display ; but after all it was not satisfac-
tory, and gave another proof that some fair data of
comparison are necessary to enable men to appre-
ciate the valae of demonstrations of the kind. It is
true that, as compared with the average of volun-
teer reviews, there was reason to place the regu-
lars in a high position, and the jealousy which
exists on the part of the people towards a
regular had its exponent in the way in
which some journals spoke of the occasion and its
incidents. But, after all, volunteer regiments here
could march as well if not better ; the men were not
so fine personally, their movements were loose
without being active. Nellertheless, any one accus-
tomed to soldiering, while finding fault with many
things, judged by a European standard, would in-
finitely prefer risking an engagement with such a
force opposed to equal numbers to taking three
times as many volunteers into the field against the
same enemy. The difference lay in the officers, in
the readiness of the men, and in the air and service-
able look of the troops as they marched past. As
they took ground to the left or right there was no
noise in the ranks of the advancing sections. The
artillery were clean and neat, the cavalry had no
wild abandon of hair and opened collars, though
deficient in straps and setting up; the infantry wore
gloves and buttoned their coats. But though this
was so, the praise, great as it was, of the journals
was by no means what it would have been had the
troops been volunteers. In fact, in the regular army
the press and the politicians recognise a powqrful
enemy, whom they do not seek to flatter, because
they know it cannot bo cajoled. Soon after that
review took place I rode to Great Falls with some
officers of Gen. M•Clellan's staff. Numerous as the
facts have been which have come to my knowledge
respecting the irregularity and lax discipline of the
volunteer army, I could scarcely have imagined
such a state of things existed in any military body
as I found at this post. It must be known that it
is in front of the enemy at an important position,
so close that the men of the outposts on both sides
frequently talk to each other across the river,
which here rushes through a wild, rocky gorge
over and through layers of rock and disjointed
strata, ab )ve which are high, rugged banks, covered
with forest trees. Here in a few wooden houses
and shanties were stationed the small post, consist-
ing of two companies of a Pennsylvanian regiment.
The men were wandering about the banks or were
seated in the dismantled buildings, amid log fires,
, the very incarnation of indifference, listlessness,
and uusoldierly mess. In one of these houses,

were duly honoured by the production of a jug of
water, glasses, and a bottle of spirits which must

have been very high, as they assuredly were very

young. And then our captain told us his story. It
was, in fact, that he was in a state of mutiny, which

he did not understand, ana in a condition of arrest,

under which he was indignant. He bad spent a
lot of money in raising his company. He had
been in a three months' regiment under Patterson,
and when it broke up he went home, and got up
another company in his town. Well, there was
another captain of the regiment at this same post,
who was his senior, and this man had commanded

him to act under the orders of the lieutenant of the

guard. A pretty thing, indeed. He would see
him darned first. " Say damn, captain, and ease
your feelings,"observed an affable orderly sergeant,
who sympathised with his superior's woes. Had
not he worked hard to get his company into
order ? And here was this puppy going to make
little of him before his men. " But I have written

to four people about it—to the General, to the
Adjutant-General, Ito General M'Clellan, and the
Secretary of War"—these were, I think, his referees
—" and I've told them, if they don't explain the
matter in three days, I won't consider myself under

arrest any longer. The idea of being under a
fellow like that ! Why, I could whip six fellows like
him any day!! I'll be d--d but I'll go home, and
all my company will follow ; and I can tell you we
can whip any four companies they can send against
us from hereabouts, I know !" " Aye, that we can,"
murmured the orderly sergeant, approvingly. The
wrongs of this injured centurion did not strike us
as forcibly as he expected. " Would you, captain,

serve as a lieutenant, or under the orders of a lieu•

tenant ?" " Certainly, if I was ordered to do so by
my superior," replied one of my companions ; " I
could get my remedy for the wrong afterwards.'
" Well, then, I won't, if all the Generals in the

world told me. One of them volunteers who knows

nothing about fighting, but goes by his book o

regulaiions! No, Sir-r." In the course of conver.

sation it came out that this gentleman had been a
traveller for a boot and shoe warehouse in New York,

and had even crossed the isthmus in the pursuit o.

his calling, long before the days of railroads. As

an indication of the manner in which he enforced

discipline among his men, we heard casually that a
short time before, in the room over our heads, he
had shot one of his company who had drawn a

knife (" I can show you the knife now," interpolated
the orderly) on a sergeant engaged in arresting
him for bad conduct. The man died in two hours.

The act of the captain has been formally approved
by the Commander-in-Chief, But discipline was
by no means perfect, notwithstanding, for as we
passed the lock of the canal to get down to the
Great Falls the captain pointed out the spot where
one of his men had been drowned a few evenings
previously: He had, it appears, been on duty as
sentry on the lock, which is only a few hundred
yards from the enemy's pickets, and feeling a de-
. .

sire to smoke a pipe, he had walked away from his
post to the nearest fire to light it, and on his return
fell into the canal, and was not missed for several
hours. The enemy often entered into conversation,
we are told, with the Federalists. Once, indeed,

an officer of the Confederates came across the river
and dined in the house which is the head-quarters
of the post, and quietly went back again. Whether
his dinner disagreed with him or not, it is certain
that shortly afterwards a battery of artillery ap-
peared on the opposite bank and riddled the house
with shot. Now, it is in such laxity of discipline,
and in such ignorance of military practice and of
the laws of war that the great difficulties of General
M'Clellan in the management of this army are to
be found. Here was a post which could not be de-
pended on for doing its duty, and yet it is only some
16 miles from Washington, and it had in its charge
the head of the aqueduct which is to supply the city
with water, and important roads into Maryland and
on the flank of the capital. There may be other cases
of similar inefficiency of which General M'Clellan
will never hear, but he may suspect their existence.
No doubt these men would fight well, but in all pro-
bability their want of confidence in their officers,
their lack of discipline, or the disputes between the
captains would paralyse their courage.
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, DEC. 3.
The mail for New York closes in an hour, and I
have but little time to make any comments on the
Message of the President, which I have just heard
read in the Senate. It was listened to with profound
attention and in decorous silence, and as soon as the
clerk had come to the end Mr. Hale moved the ad-
journment till to-morrow. The galleries were
crowded, and on the whole there was an appearance
of greater interest on the part of the public than I
have yet seen evinced in the proceedings of Con-
gress. The senators' chairs were often without oc-
cupants, as the gaps left by the Secessionists in the
rows have been further widened since last session,
and not more than 36 or 37 senators were present,
but the Republicans mustered strong, and on the left
of the Speaker there was a strong muster of mem-
bers. A day of bright sunshine, tempered rather
overmuch by a bitter, frosty wind, tempted many
strangers to the lobbies, but there was no pressure
nor inconvenience in any part of the vast pile of the
Capitol. The impression produced by the Message
in the Senate was satisfactory. Mr. Sumner and
his friends are delighted at the recommendation
to recognise the independence and sovereignty of
Hayti and Liberia, for which they have long been
contending, and an American charge d'affaires will
be brought into official contact with the authorities
of the despised race which 5s not admitted in the
United States to the rights of citizenship. The slave
question is delicately alluded to and dealt with in
the Message, but the President is obliged to point
out that, by virtue of the act of Congress of August
6, 1861, " the legal claims of certain persons to the
labour and service of certain other persons have
become forfeited," and, as those " certain other per-
sons" must be provided for in some way, the Con-
gress is recommended to accept them from the States
which may throw over the claims of these people to
reciprocal duties from their former masters, accord-
ing to some mode of valuation, in lieu of direct
taxes, in which case the "certain other persons'
shall become free. Here comes tbo most important
proposition in respect to the condition of such people.
The President declares that there is an expediency,
amounting to an absolute necessity, to appropriate
money for the purchase of territory wherein the
blacks thus liberated shall be settled in colonies ;
and he suggests that such free coloured people as
are already in the States should be included in
that colonisation scheme, in case they are willing
to go. It is quite certain the North will have none
of them. Emancipation must be followed by expul-
sion, after the absorption of a proportion of negroes
in domestic service in the North; and if the colonisa-
tion is not effected by the voluntary act of the free
blacks, no doubt there will be an amount of influ-
ence brought to bear against them which will force

population of 20,000,000, are engaged in deadly
conflict to reconcile a population of 8,000,000 to the
blessings of their government, and hitherto without
avail, Mr. Lincoln looks forward with confidence to
the time (not beyond the lifetime, as he says, of
those now living) when the principles of govern-
ment which have not been able to stand for 70 odd

years without several severe internal convulsions,

and with one tremendous disruption which may
be final and fatal, will be accepted by no less than
250,000,000 people living under one Uniofi on the
continent of North America. The only thi9o-which
disturbs the tone of cheerfulness and laope that
characterises the document is the state of the foreign

relations of the Cabinet of Mr. Lincoln with the

Governments of certain nations, which may not be
able to resist the temptations to interference offered
by disloyal citizens and " the counsels of seeming
expediency and ungenerous ambition." It is strange

;hat the President should seem to impute to the

owest national motives the conduct of those na-
Lions who have given no " patronage or encourage-

ment" to those disloyal citizens. Mr. Lincoln says
they get " less than they expected." Surely he

might have admitted they had received none at all.
" Moral, social, and treaty obligations" may be
interpreted differently by the advisers of foreign

nations, and it does not appear that they could

be much blamed if they acted " solely and sel-
fishly for the most speedy restoration of com-
merce," provided their acts were compatible with
honour and good faith, with self-respect, and with

,he law which the United States declare is their

final test—the law of self-preservation.

While

,he inlets and harbours of the coast are being

blocked up by the Federal vessels, while the fields

are lying uncultivated, the cotton unpicked, the
slaves, whenever they can, indulging in saturnalia

—it is rather hard to believe, with the President,
that the co-operation of foreign nations with the
United States in these avocations and occurrences

would. tend to the most speedy restoration of com-
merce ; still less, if, as Mr. Lincoln puts it, " the
United States could dare to believe that foreign
nations are actuated by no higher principle," that
there could be any sound argument to show they
would not have advanced it, and many other na-
tional interests, by recognition and interference,
had not the moral and social obligations been sup-
posed to favour an honest neutrality. As to treaty
obligations, the United States, not we, have disre-
garded them, and we have accepted the exigencies
of their position as an excuse for the infraction. It
may be quite true, as the President says, foreign
nations have perceived that the effort for disunion
has caused the interruption of commerce, but in the
main that has been because the North would not
allow secession and free trade. None can blame
them if they fight for power. But they will not
admit they are doing so; and, with our experience
of American politicians, it is difficult to believe that
" one strong nation," such as the United States,

" premises more durable peace, and more extensive,
valuable, and reliable commekee, than can the same
nation broken into hostile fragments." If the one
great nation is uniformly hostile, if its commercial
code is highly protective, if its commercial rivalry
is close and bitter, it requires some facility in ac-
cepting Presidential propositions to admit that a
foreign nation would not get on better with the
fragments than with the whole, either in the way of
war or commerce. Lest we might be tempted, how-
ever, by the disloyal citizens and cotton, Mr. Lin-
coln recommends adequate and ample defences on
every side, and the seacoast line and the great
lakes and rivers are pointed out as objects of
the attention of Congress. To fortify and im-
prove the harbours, &c., and to speedily estab-
lish depots of arms and munitions along the lines,
are the means suggested, and it may be added
that before the President's Message came out at all
a commission of United States officers had been in-
specting and reporting on the condition of the fron-
tier and seacoast lines, and suggesting works of de-
fence. The correspondence with foreign Powers
which was moved for and promised last Session is
now submitted with what are called " reservations"
and the world will be enabled to judge, if the reser-
vations are not very extensive, how far Mr. Lincoln
is justified in claiming for Mr. Seward the practice
of prudence and liberality, and the averting causes
of irritation, in his dealing with the Government of
Great Britain. Compensation is to be made for the
illegal detention of the British ship Perthshire by
the United States steamer Massachusetts, and the
President remarks that " justice requires we should
commit no belligerent act not founded on strict
right as sanctioned by public law." But he does not
allude to the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell—a
matter so important that he could not have omitted
it if there were not weighty reasons for concluding
that it were better passed over in silence. Perhaps
if the President imagined it was an act founded on
strict right and sanctioned by public law he would
have said more about it, and have had a pleasant
paragraph about Captain Wilkes, who is described
in a New York journal as " the great interpreter of
international law." It is expected that the confisca-
tion and slavery resolutions will produce a very
animated debate OR the 10th in the House of Repre-
sentatives, and it is further stated that unless an
advance of the Federal troops take place into Vir-
ginia very speedily the sittings of Congress will be
highly perturbed. All attempts of M'Clellan to find
an unguarded spot in the enemy's line have been
unsuccessful, and although I have great deference
for the opinion of American officers who know the
country, and who say a winter campaign is practi-
cable, I must be permitted to state that the condi-
tion of the roads and camps at this early period of
winter induces me to arrive at an opposite conclu-
sion, founded on some experience in observing the
operations of armies in the field. There is smaller
chance of such operations being successfully con-
ducted when winter arrives in all its seventy; and
that which would be almost impossible for a highly
disciplined and wellorganised army to effect will be
quite bepond the capability of the forces which are
assembled here at present, giving them full credit
for courage, zeal, and endurance.

REINFORCEMENTS FOR CAN ADA.— SOUTHAMPTON,
Saturday.—The steamships Adriatic, Parana, and Magda-
lena are rapidly progressing in their equipment for sea, and
will all sail the latter end of next week. According to pre-
sent arrangements the Adriatic, which is a fine vessel of
3,760 registered tonnage and 1,200 horse power, and will be
co Truanded by Capt. G. C. Nicholson, an officer well known
in the transport service, having commanded the despatch
steamer Telegraph during the Crimean war, will embark
her troops on Thursday morning. She takes out the Gre-
nadier Guards, with Gen. Lord F. Paulet and his staff.
This steamer will take 1,300 men and 72 officers, making
with her crew a total of 1,600 souls on board. The Parana,
Capt. Sawyer, will carry out 1,000 men and 39 officers of
Scots Fusilier Guards, who aro expected to embark on
Thursday morning, and she will immediately go out of
dock into the river. The Magdalena, Captain Woolwarn,
will take 900 men and 39 officers of, it is believed, the 16th
Foot, who will embark on Saturday. The Parana is 3,2(0
tons and SOO horse power, and the Magdalena 2,980 tors
and 800 horse power,

owThesoornesptlolielyse c
was that
be
botha de ready
iffor so, how
could be placed at the service of Govern-
ment, and be made ready within ten days.
The
company was at once taken at its word, and in-
structions were forwarded to have the ships ready
with all possible despatch. Under the able direc-
tion and superintendence of Messrs James Currie,
Thomson, Black, and Ogston, of the Cunard Com-
pany, both ships were put under preparation, and
in eight days from the commencement of operations
they were completely fitted and ready for embark-
ing the troops. This included the fitting up of troop
accommodation for 1,200 men in each of the vessels,
together with stores and every requisite for a
month's voyage. The Australasian embarked her
complement of soldiers on Thursday, and sailed on
Friday. She took out the Ist Battalion of the Rifle
Brigade, numbering 40 officers and 833 non-com-
missioned officers and rank and file, including an
hospital corps of 29 men. She had also on board
seven officers and 254 men of the Royal Artillery,
together with a battery of six Armstrong guns,
with their whole train, consisting of 16 carriages.
The Australasian also carried out 6,000 stand of
arms, in addition to those borne by the troops,
together with 400,000 rounds of ball cartridge.
The Rifles were on the 6th inst., at Dublin, or-
dered to be ready on the 11th. On the 11th they
embarked at Dublin, on the night of the 12th they
embarked on board the Australasian, and on the
13th were under steam on 'their war to Canada.
The Rifle battalion went out under" command of
Lord Alexander Russell, brother of Earl Russell,
and among the officers of the corps were Major the
Hon. J. Stuart, whose brother is already with
Lord Lyons at Washington, as one of his Attaches ;
Captain Lord A. Clinton, brother of the Duke of
Newcastle; Lieut. Lord Edward Cavendish, son of
the Duke of Devonshire; Lieut. the Hon. F. So-
merville, Lieut. the Hon. A. Pennington, and En-
sign Lord Albert Cecil.
In addition to the two ships already named, the
Niagara was on Tuesday last ordered to be fitted
for the conveyance of troops, On Friday she was
inspected and declared ready for sea, and on Satur-
day she took on board 27 officers and 350 men, form-
ing a complete battery of Artillery, along with six
guns; and with these she sailed on Saturday evening
for Halifax. The Niagara took out Gen. Romney,
Col. Kennedy, and Major Shervinton, of the Mili-
tary Train ; together with three officers of the Com-
missariat Department, and Dr. Muir, Inspector-
General of Hospitals, and four surgeons.
On Saturday the Persia was inspected, and pro-
nounced ready for sea. On Sunday she embarked
the Ist battalion of the 16th Regiment of Foot,
which arrived in Liverpool that day from Sheffield
and Weedon. In the early part of the day she
took on board a detachment consisting of four
officers and 118 men of the Royal Engineers, under
command of Captain Magnay. Tho 16th consisted
of 36 officers and 823 men, besides an hospital corps
of 45 men belonging to the battalion, under com-
of Colonel Peacock. Besides those above enume-
rated there were also 70 men of the Commissary
Staff Corps. General Russell, with two Aides-
de-Camp, was on board, going to a command
in Canada, together with Dep.-Assist.-Com.-
General Festing, and Mr. Thorn, of the Military
Store Staff. The two latter were in charge of
the Commissariat and clothing stores. It is grati-
fying to know that all the troops sent out have been
provided with a full assortment of warm clothing.
The embarcation in cad! case was conducted with
the utmost regularity and with great expedition,
under the immediate direction of Commander Ley-
ccster, R.N.; Sir J. Jones, Adjutant Edwards, and
Mr. Black, of the Cunard Company. The troops
and stores were taken on board by the Cunard
steam tenders, and nothing could exceed the orderly
manner in which all the operations were gone
through. One tenser was devoted to the baggage,
and another to the ordnance stores. The Austra-
lasian and Persia both started with full steam, and
both are to try, if possible, to get up the St. Law-
rence, which their commanders expect to be able
to effect. If that is found to be impracticable, they
will go to llalifax.
It may be worth noticing that so ample arc the
resources of the Cunard Company that their ordi-
nary and very extensive trade is not interrupted by
this additional employment. Thus on Sunday
morning, at 9 o'clock, their screw steamer Olympus
arrived from the Mediterranean, and the passengers
were landed by 12 at noon. The Asia, from New
York, arrived yesterday morning at 8.15, and her
passengers were landed by 10 a.m.; and their
steamer Balbeck sailed for Havre at 10 o'clock yes-
terday morning.

SOUTHAMPTON, MONDAY.

Orden were received here this morning that the
troops will embark in the Parana and the Adriatic
steamers, in the dock, on Wednesday, instead of
Thursday, as first arranged. A military inspection
of the ships will take place in the morning of that
day, and the troops are expected to be here by rail-
way and embark at noon.