The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-04 00:00:00

The following letter from an officer on board the
Federal steamship Powhattan, dated off Pensacola,
May 10, appears to give the most authentic news
from that quarter. The writer says,—
" There is now no use in concealing the fact that
the fight here will be one of the most desperate of
the war. Our preparations are progressing rapidly,
and fully justify us in the opinion that Fort Pickens
is almost impregnable. But the gigantic strides
making by Bragg's command may yell prevent us
£ton anticipating a quiet capture of the Navy-yard
and Barrancas, the nossession of which is neces-
sary to the end of hostilities in these parts.
Now, it is on the best authority that I inform
you that the Secessionists ashore muster
10,000 available fighting men, notwithstand-
ing previous estimates. They are scattered
for miles around, and have some of the best officers
in America to regulate their movements. There
are at least six batteries that may open fire on
Pickens now concealed, and of course the exact
places in which they are situated no one of us
can find out. The skill of three United States
military and naval officers has been concentrated to
make these most powerful, and Cummings' Point
ravages on Sumter indicate what a hidden battery
may do. Let it be distinctly understood, then, that
on land at present the Secessionists number at
least five times more than the Federal troops. Take
all our available men from the ships, and you can-
not make up one-third of our enemy's strength.
There have been serious impediments, too, placed
in the water within eight days, and it is now very
doubtful whether—forts left out—ships could go
up to the yard. Then Montgomery and Warrington
are connected by the iron railway horse, and rein-
forcements may be poured in. I mention these
matters only to plainly establish one fact—namely,
we cannot take a permanent and offensive stand in
Florida with 1,500 men. Defend Pickens, hold
Rosas Island, batter down IVPRae and Barrancas,
we may ; but will the American people be satisfied
with this? Let the Cabinet decide whether Fede-
ral forces are concentrated here to defend Pickens
until it shall be made of little consequence ; or to
take the Navy-yard, and make the fort impregnable
in time.

" THURSDAY, May 16, 7 p.m.
" The evening muster of the rebel troops has just
gone on. It was certainly an imposing sight.
There cannot be less than 1,500 mounted men at-
tached to Bragg's command, and patrols of them
ride along the road, French sentry fashion, all day
and night. They evidently begin once more to
think of acting on the offensive. Ten days ago
their pluck was oozing out fast, but fresh arrivals
from Mississippi and Georgia have fired them up
again. I confess that they exhibit no signs of star-
vation, although an unusual temperance among
them proves that specie is scarce. Several pieces of
ordnance have been received from Alabama since
the 2d ; one of them is a tremendous Dahlgren,
said to have come from the Norfolk Navy-yard,
Many pieces of cannon have also been sent down
to the Navy-yard on floats ; but it is worth re-
marking that the enemy is leaving as little valu-
able material there as possible. Indeed, one of
the Mississippi men was heard to say on Friday
last, a horse that runs away once may ran away
again ; and a navy-yard that falls once may fall
again although this is only the remark of a com-
mon soldier, it shows a glimpse of the colour of his
party's thoughts. A private in an army ought to
be as significant as a straw in a river.
" Lieutenant Renshaw, late of the United States
Navy, is trying ti earn a name for smartness. He
has twice fooled' our men-of-war by sending up
night signals according to the rules of the regular
signal book ; but he has only shown his want of
sense by suggesting what might be a rule of the
rebels in fighting times. If he again succeed in get-
ting recognition from the fleet it will either be
because he is aimed at on the yardarm, or on ac-
count of some impcssible annihilation of oir Flag
Lieutenants. At tho same time, all ship's officers
would do well to bear in mind that in Texas and
Florida, resigned officers used the private service
signals successfully. Lieutenant Renshaw is now
Commodore of four Confederate, naval vessels which
may, without exaggeration be dubbed the nautilus
war fleet. He is working hard to make the old
wrecked steamer Fulton fit for his flagship, and if
she be too rotten to suit that purpose, there is no
sound plank in her hull. The United States corvette
St. Louis, whose commander was transferred to the
Brooklyn, is reported as coming in while I write.
She has been to Key West on business':and returns
for further orders. 'rho St. Louis and the Sabine
are giving some trouble to us. Their term of service
having expired many of the men want to go home
and be discharged. The naval law says that having
returned to the United States, sailors and marines
who have served their full period of enlistment,
must be paid off. Hence their fidgetiness, which
would amount to nothing in itself, but for another
circumstance. Brilliant, cunning. Commodore In-
graham, late from the Richmond corvette, is having
it reported throughout the British, French, and
Spanish naval vessels on this station, that the Ame-
rniceanaGttoeLeprntsmetnot
prove
isi
impressing crews for service.
it by a written protest
signed by three deserters from the squadron—
one Englishman and two Baltimoreans—who are
now gunners for Bragg. The majority of the
men in both the vessels named are willing to stay
on board as long as the country wants them. Their
pay is legally one-fourth more than usual, but two
dissatisfied fellows are a greater annoyance than
ten prizefighters."
The Federal bark 1). C. Pierce was sunk by the
Secessionists at Norfolk on the sth.

The Governor of Kentucky had issued a pro-
clamation in which he says :
" I hereby notify and warn all other States.
separate or united, especially the United and Con-
federate States, that I solemnly forbid any move-
ment upon Kentucky soil, or occupation of any port
or place therein, for any purposes whatever, until
authorised by invitation or permission of the legis-
lative and executive authorities. I especially forbid
all citizens of Kentucky, whether incorporated in
the State Guard or otherwise, making any hostile
demonstrations against any of the aforesaid sove-
reignties, to be obedient to the orders of lawful
authorities, to remain quietly and peaceably at home
when off military duty, and refrain from all words
and acts likely to provoke a collision, and so other-
wise conduct themselves that the deplorable calamity
of invasion may be averted ; but meanwhile make
prompt and
an
d
defficientpreparation to assume the
supreme law, of self-defence, and
strictly of self-defence alone. '
Advices from Texas report that General Young
was pursuing Capt. Montgomery and the Federal
troops. The baggage and ammunition trains were
overtaken and seized, with some beeves and horses.
A private telegram from Helena, Arkansas, an-
nounces the explosion of the steamer Kentucky,
and a loss of 20 lives.
In the Honolulu advices we find it reported that
her Majesty's steamer Alert took formal possession,
for the Queen of England, of Forming's Island,
g. 159 20 W., on the
amg all of
a rGnarse
aa
nt
dßritain o was
located in lat. 30 49 N., lon
raisedf amidst aar y
sal nit eh eo
f
field howitzer. The entire ship's company officiated
at the ceremony. The harbour has been termed
" English Harbour," and the p •
oint on which the
settlement is situated was called " English Point."

KONGKONG.—Mr. Thomas J. Callaghan (of the
Irish bar), at present chief magistrate at Hongkong, has
been appointed to administer the government of Labuan
during the absence of the Governor, the Hon. E. Edwards.
Mr. Callaghan has also received authority from the Foreign-
office to act as Consul. General, in the room of Mr. St.
John. It is probable that the two offices may be united,
and a saying thereby effected,—Observer.

Scarcely a month has elapsed since we noticed in
detail the progress of the works connected with the
exquisitely beautiful new gardens of this society at
Kensington. Even at that time it, had been fixed
that the formal opening should take place on the
sth of this month, though it required no ordinary
amount of credulity, or at least confidence in the
activity of the Council and skill of the contractor,
to believe that it could be brought to even a tole-
rable state of completion by August. The un-
usual rainfall of last summer, the almost unpre-
cedented severity of the winter, followed almost
immediately by the strike of the masons and
bricklayers, for a time upset all calculations
as to progress, and, as we have said,
even as recently as a month ago the opening fete
fixed for to-morrow seemed all but impossible. Yet,
in spite of every difficulty, the Council have perse-
vered to the last, and the result of their determina-
tion is shown in the completion of such an immense
amount of work in the last three or four weeks as
literally appears almost incredible. At the be-
ginning of last month the site of the now almost
completed gardens was a mere mass of excavations.
The mounds for the beautiful terraces were•in some
cases only just being raised. The very bricklayers
and stonemasons were up to yesterday at work in
the arcades. A few weeks ago, and only two or
three columns marked the spot where a perfect con-
servatory now stands—long, wide, and lofty enough
to be almost designated a little Crystal Palace.
Even the excavations for the reservoirs were hardly
begun ; the lawns were not tufted, the ornamental
parterres unattempted, the paths still ungravelled,
and, in fact, scarcely marked; and the shrubberies,
which are now forined of thousands of rhododen-
drons in every variety of bloom, were then mere
heaps of planking, and covered with the debris of
building materials of all kinds. Since that time,
then, as we have said, such an amount of work has
been accomplished that the result seems almost
magical. Not that the gardens are by any means
finished, or even nearly complete, in all their ex-
quisite details. The centre reservoir has merely
been bricked round, and therefore only holds enough
water to mark its future purpose. Only two of the

trout streams on the eastein side have been com-
pleted. None of the niches for statuary have been
filled, and only a few of the handsome stone and
marble vases with which the piers of all the terrace
balustrades will be surmounted are yet placed. The
band-houses, too, are not begun ; the stone steps of
the terraces will be represented to-morrow by
,wooden substitutes, and of the beautifully de-
signed balustrade which is hereafter to sur-
mount almost the whole length of lofty
arcade, only a few feet have been put in
position as a specimen of what the general effect
will ultimately be. The recesses for busts will
not yet be filled ; no fountains will play, and
the great cascade which is to fall into the
chief reservoir will not be finished for a couple of
months or so. In addition to all this, also, much has
to be done towards completing the ultimate colour
decorations of the arcades, and above all in carving
their massive stone capitals and basements, only
one of each of which is now cut to show what the
whole will be when finished. It is perhaps not too
much to say that next year's spring will be on be-
fore all this is effected, and before the garden, quite
recovered from the severe winter and the effects of
this year's transplanting, will bloom in all its splen-
dour. Yet, notwithstanding all these drawbacks,
the grounds already look like a miniature fairyland,
and as the visitor's eye ranges over the superb
diversity of lawns and shrubberies, parterres, and
terraces, he will not unnaturally think, when such
effects are produced from little more than half-
finished ground, the coup d'ceil which they must
present when complete will be something unequalled
in the history of terraced gardens. It is almost
impossible to overpraise the simple, exquisite beauty
of this arrangement—the taste and skill with which
the most elegant examples of garden architecture
are introduced, and the effective grouping of the
different kinds of plants, interspersed with vases and
statuary. The parterres, with their winding and
involved paths, inlaid with various kinds of coloured
stone, broken fine, are now all finished, and their
effect is charming, and for once surpasses the expec-
tations formed from the pictorial design on paper.
The great conservatory is also entirely finished, with
its outer verandah facing the south. The whole
interior of this beautiful building is painted with
light, cool, neutral colours, which will harmonise
well with the plants it is to contain, and also with
the light and slender proportions of the structure
itself. The background of this, with its double arcade
and gallery above, is one of the gems of the garden.
On double banks in this conservatory, and along the
wall-side of the semi-circular arcade which extends
from both ends down into the gardens, will be ar-
ranged the flower show of to-morrow. On the suc-
cess of this display we need scarcely add that the
Horticultural Society have spared no trouble ; and we
are told that the exhibition, both for the number,
excellence, and variety of the specimens, will be
the finest that has been seen for many years. In
stove and greenhouse plants, plants of variegated
foliage, orchids, and fruit, the show will be un-
usually excellent. In order to give the best oppor-
tunity of seeing this collection, the gardens are to
be opened to the public at one o'clock. The Prince
Consort, who is to formally open the gardens, with
the other members of the Royal family, will not
arrive till half-past 4. The Royal party will be
received by a procession, formed by the Vice-Presi-
dents and Council of the society, the Royal Com-
missioners for 1851, and the members of the Fine
Arts and Works Committee, &c. Preceded by
these noblemen and gentlemen, his Royal Highness
and party will traverse the main avenues of the
gardens to the front of the conservatory, where the
address from the society will be read and the reply
delivered. In a little parterre on the east side of
the terrace beneath the conservatory the Prince
will plant a Wellingtonia gigantea, given by
Messrs. Veitch and Sons, and at the conclusion of a
prayer by the Bishop of London the gardens will
be formally declared to be opened. After this
slight ceromony, the Royal party will examine at
their leisure the various classes of the flower show,
both in the conservatory and under the arcades, and
after partaking of refreshments, again traverse
the grounds, quitting them finally at six o'clock.
During the remainder of this year, with the excep-
tion of the days devoted to rose, dahlia, chrysan-
themum, and general fruit and flower shows, the
gardens will only be open to the public on Satur-
days. On the other days only the Fellows of the
society will be admitted ; but as these have also
the privilege of passing' in two friends, the attend-
ance is likely always to be fully as numerous as is
consistent with the due progress of the works that
have yet to be completed. Next year, during the
time of the Exhibition, they will be open nearly
every day in the week, at charges in proportion to
the high or low charges to the Exhibition itself.
A great number of tickets have already been sold
for the opening fete of to-morrow, and if the
weather is only moderately propitious, a most bril-
liant assemblage is anticipated.

RETURN OF GERMANS FROM AMERICA. —The
Hamburg jjurnals of the 26th May state that in the last
steamer which arrived in that port from New York were
364 Germans, who had returned home from America, and
they announced that they would shortly be followed by a
considerable number of their countrymen. The reason why
these people returned was to avoid being obliged to take
military service. They add that business is dull in the
United States, and that the manufacturers are doing
nothing.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—It is with pleasure we notice the
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fearful disorders of the digestive function. Cure No. 71,
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.the
high Court of Chancery under a penalty of £5,000 against
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No canister is genuine without the name Barry Du Barry
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City; at 127 High Holborn; and all grow,'

A letter from Turin, dated June 1, says :—Count
Cavour's indisposition, to which I alluded in my
last letter, exhibits the symptoms of all his pre-
vious attacks,—a sudden seizure and speedy re-
covery. He was bled four times within three days,
Last evening he had already recovered, and to-day,
he was expected to leave his chamber. The com-
plaint is congestion of the brain, arising from in-
tense occupation, want of bodily exercise, and
either too strong an appetite or else excessive indul-
g:eirlidcoeiincati bheleedg haspleainsuresofbheicsomwee thlwl-aippohinimte, as well-appointed table.
i
too many of his countrymen, a matter of neces-
sity, It is only when the great man is temporarily
laid low that people seem to realise to its full ex-
tent the power of his ruling genius. Then you hear
surmises and conjectures in an under breath as to
what might happen were the phlebotomist's lancet
to arrive only two minutes too late. There is a Pro-
vidence to take care of insane and drunken men,
says the English proverb ; and there is a Providence
to watch over the destinies of a nation iu a state of
transition. Count Cavour is neither the head of a
majority nor of a minority; so far as the head of the
Administration is concerned, Italy cannot be,strictly
speaking, called a Constitutional country, as, for a
certain period of time, a Ministerial crisis is an im-
possibility. Since in 1854, or shortly before,
Count Cavour undertook to " make Italy" (far
as the phrase is here) he engaged to be
kept in harness till Italy was made. He cannot
think of withdrawing ; no man can even dream of
unseating him. For the last seven or eight years he
has not only been at the head of the King's Cabinet,
holding now two, now three, now even four port-
folios ; he has been the Minister. It muttered not
who was called by him to sit in the Council, or to
seem to share his responsibility. It mattered not
whom he chose to discard, with whom he was com-
pelled to quarrel, whose able co-operation he thought
fit to renounce. It did not even matter into whose
hands he, for a short respite, resigned power. The
master mind in Italy was always one and the same.
Even La Marmora's head was not hard enough to
butt against Cavour's, nor was even Ratazzi's tem-
per sufficiently soft to avoid all collision. One after
another all Cavour's associates fall from or are hurled
from him; he alone stands for ever—for ever, that
is, so long as he wills, and so long as the surgeon's
lancet saves him from himself.

What would become of half-made Italy if Cavour
were suddenly removed? Why, the framer of the
Peace of Villafranca had an instinctive notion that
his Subalpine interlocutor at Plombieres was too
much for him, and thought he should easily have
Italy at his own discretion if he could only drive
Count Cavour from Victor Emmanuel's councils.
Thanks, not to an internal crisis, but to a foreign
overbearing force, Cavour, in 1859, yielded his
seat to Ratazzi, who reigned, but ruled not, for
a few months. Even during those few months
the real leader of Italian destinies was the
gentleman at that time ruralising at Leri. It
was he who inspired the conduct of Farini and
Ricasoli, cheered up . the Emilians and Tus-
cans, forced upon Napoleon the annexation of
Central Italy, when the Emperor was obliged to
acknowledge himself beaten, and had to come to
terms with his adversary, allowing him to resume
the semblance, as he had never lost the substance,
of power. The price exacted for this compromise
was an afterthought on the part of Napoleon, a sur-
prise rather than an oversight on that of Cavour.
The latter's calculations were all correct, but it is
never safe for a man to be too much in the right
unless he be ready and able to back right by might.
Should Cavour be removed by death—for no man
in Italy is absurd enough to think of any other con-
tingency—we should in all probability have a Rica-
soli Ministry. Cavour's only possible successor is
unmistakably pointed out by public opinion. He
would bring high principles, a most unblemished
character, a strong good sense, and stern will into
the King's councils; but for vastness of intelligence,
for extent of resources, few even of his friends give
him credit. His very virtues, his chivalrous hon-
our, his stubborn firmness, his romantic patriotism,
would be in his way; they would unfit him for those
shifts and compromises to which enlarged states-
manship knows when and how to accommodate
itself. There are not many men who know the
medium between bravely " wrestling with fate" and
madly dashing out one's brains against a stone wall.

Conjecture, however, would be very idle in itself
at this present moment, and it can only negatively
illustrate the subject. Count Cavour lives, and
long may he live. So long as the lancet steps in
between him and " congestion," he is not the man
that can be spared. He is the only person who
ever approached the Emperor Napoleon, who may
be said to hold the key of the great riddle of
Europe. Cavour alone hitherto found the means of
making the ambitious schemes of the French auto-
crat subservient to the interests of his own country.
At all points, except one, the larger brain has
always had the better of the stronger hand. The
game is by no means at an end, and the skilful
player must hold the cards to the last rubber.
While the French are at Rome, and the Austrians
garrison the Quadrilateral, Count Cavour is the
indispensable man, to be ousted by Lo opponent, to
be removed by no fatal contingency.
I am sorry to have to add that Count Cavour has
had a restless night; he has lost a great deal of
blood, owing to the loosening of the bandages at
his arm, yet had to be bled again in the course of
this morning. This relapse is only owing to the
Count's imprudence in summoning his colleagues
to his bedside yesterday, on the first symptoms of
improvement, and holding with them a long con-
ference, for which his exhaustion hardly fitted the
great statesman.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, MONDAY.

The idea that "all Ireland" is united in a contest
with England for an Irish interest has something
exhilarating in it to politicians of all classes and
creeds. The union which it has effected is certainly
extraordinary, and a worse grievance would be
welcome occasionally if it produced such an edifying
result. The conduct of the Irish members in the
late division has, upon the whole, given satisfaction.
The division lists have been carefully analysed and
turned every way in order to detect any dereliction
of duty on the part of our representatives. Of the 105
Irish members, 73 voted against the Government
on this occasion, of whom eight had voted with Go-
vernment on the first division on the Paper Duty.
This inconsistency is held to be highly creditable,
and Mr. Bagwell is condemned because, though he
resigned his office as one of the Lords of the Trea-
sury in consequence of the course taken by_ the.eh
Government on the question of the subsidy, which
he condemned, he voted with the Government ifhoer
the abolition of the Paper Duty, a measure which
approved. In the heat of discussioo:
cannot always see that a man may
hact is right, while
sup-
port a Government in doing people here
what tenotnlylvlsG oiwsv majority,ewrnregs an;
—d ofn a
timely,
theseely,
he opposes it in doing
th
Ir. 1 ortescue.
Lord Castlerosse, Lord Proby,
Irish
he
are members
connected voted
withn theth d
There were 17 Irish members absent from the divi-
sion. Mr. Lowry Corry has stated to the Daily
Express that he was prevented from voting
in the minority by illness, which detained him at
Portadown. Mr. M'Cormack and Mr. Richardson
were the only Irish members absent without pairs.
Of the 15 who voted with the Government eight are
Protestants and seven Catholics, and of the 73 who
voted against the Government, 59 are Protestants,
and 14 Catholics. Eight Protestants and nine Catho-
lics were absent.

It is reported that Lord John Browne, one of the
members for Mayo, is to be the new Lord of the
Treasury, in the room of Mr, B' well.