The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-25 00:00:00

of the fund raised in New York for the purpose.
The appearance and dress of many of these
women would lead to the belief that they did
not belong to the class usually exposed to such
trials. I could not judge of the justice of the irc-

pression on my mind that the ladies are not as busy
in cartridge making, lint scraping, and uniform

sewing us they are down South ; but I dare say they
are busied with works of charity as much as their
fair sisters. The invective which was formerly

directed against universal suffrage and cognate in-

stitations is now, apparently, employed indenoun-

cing the corruption of contractors, and evil at the
War Department; and one journal openly speaks
of "swindling and plunder" as agencies and results
not unknown in the transaction of business there.

There is also much unsound advice tendered or
forced on the authorities respecting the plan of the

campaign, and writers who are quite ignorant of
war or its requirements demand that the Generals
shall immediately push forward to Richmond with
an army which has neither transport, artillery, nor
cavalry adequate to such an operation. As it was
nearly four months ago, so it is now. The public
are amused by daily assurances that something de-
cisive will take place to-morrow, and "all their
yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusky
death." So the public goes to bed happy in the
knowledge that "it is expected (by some one un-

known, at a place not indicated) that a great battle
will shortly be fought." One effect of these reite-

rated statements must be the concentration of the

enemy on the points in front:of the Federal columns.
Another change which I observed on getting into
the railway train on Tuesday morning was the ap-

pearance of many men in uniform among the pas-
sengers. They were on their way to the camps,

and belonged, apparently, to a respectable class of
citizens—staid, steady people, without the swash-
buckler, gallant, bravado air of the Southerners,
but possibly animated by a proper amount of
pugnacity. When last I travelled this way the
train was filled with office-seekers. At the villages

along the road and in the towns the flag of the
United States is displayed from available points in
wild profusion. Soldiers and Volunteers get in at

every station. On going on board the steam
ferryboat at Philadelphia, I observed over the door
of the saloon a wood-hatchet hanging up, on which
was inscribed, " State Rights fire-axe." Other

passengers observed it, and-smiled. There is less
earnestness and rancour, or more good-nature, in the
North than in the South. The owner of an axe in-
scribed "Federal Union axe" in an Alabama or Mis-

sissippi steamer would have a " mauvais quart
d'heure," or, as it is called here, " a pretty hard time
of it." But as the carriages approach Baltimore

the signs that war was in the land, and that we
were in an enemy's country, thickened, and evinced
most forcibly of all the immense magnitude of the
change which has taken place since Ifirst journeyed
towards the capital. There are many rivers and
watercourses which run across the line of the rail-

way in the valleys between the undulating wood-
lands and pleasant fields of Maryland. These are
traversed by bridges of wocd or causeways on piles.
At each bridge the white tents of an encampment
gleamed through the trees and foliage of the bank,
and groups of armed men turned out to take a look
at the train as it passed. These men are stationed
to prevent the friends of the Secessionists destroy-
ing the bridges. Their presence is significant.
Sentinels are on duty and. pickets are thrown out
as if in the face of an enemy, and by these means
communications are kept open with ',i'ashingten.
At Baltimore itself the evidences of a military oc-
cupation were more striking. For several miles on
the northern side of the city, camps crowned the
knolls and hill, and close upon the river the tents
were so thick that one might imagine the city was
about to be invested by an enemy. The Federal
flag floated from some public buildings, private
houses, and shipping in the river, but there were
some proofs on the walls that "old Abe" was not
popular. The influence of the dark faces which show
that Baltimore is in a slaveholding State begins to be
manifested. The political predilection is determined
by that ingredient of colour. I take up my Balti-
more paper of the day, as lam crossing to the
Washington terminus in one of those horrid
street railway cars. (May I beg of you, paren-
thetically, to save us from that train in our streets?
All comfort and speed will go for ever, and the
thoroughfares will no longer be endurable.) First
I read of a bad practice, not to say an unusual one
in civilised war, which is said, with circumstance, to
exist in the South, and am informed of a gallant
officer whose troop scalped 23 Federalists in a recent
action. This is, we will hope, a flight of fancy.
Next, however, is a plain matter-of-fact statement
that the magistrate of police had the day before
sentenced a woman of colour, who was called " a
plucky darkey,",to be flogged severely for an as-
sault. I wonder what manner of men it is who do
such things. Barclay and Perkin's draymen, why
are ye not at Baltimore ? Here is Haynau esta-
blished by law and cultivated by justice. But as
we now flog our little criminals, perhaps Baltimore
may be right in flogging its darkeys in the nude
wherever it pleases. The streets of the city are
guarded at the corners near the main avenues, by
pickets of soldiers, and the houses are militarily held
at the angles. The inhabitants don't look cheerful,
and in Pratt-street there are still the marks of balls
on wall and window-pane. "They won't try a fight
again as long as the soldiers is here," said the driver
of the train to me.
From Baltimore to Washington the camps in-
creased in number, and as the unfinished dome of
the Capitol came in view, and the spires and domes
of churches and lublic buildings rose on the wooded
shores above the Potamac, the rays of the setting
sun lighted up the canvas cities whose denizens were
keeping watch and ward over the seat of the United
States' Government; and from the dark highlands
across the river, on the soil of Virginia, other en-
campments cropped out from the dense green ; and
on all sides floated the Stars and Stripes, visible
even in the distance on land whence their ex-
pulsion was premised long ago to the faithful. I have
heard the Message read. I have visited some camps
and heard of seine movements soon to take place,
but of all these matters there is no time now to
speak,
as the mail is about to close for the Boston
steamer, and I mud defer the rest of my letter till
the next despatch or mails from Washington. One
think I may mention—the relations which were
almost jeopardised by the use of language and the
condition. Another—the
adoption of a tone not provoked by England are in
a partyni uc
h ofmaocrtei satisfactoryaction
a reg
ai
ing
'ground, and Genera]
Scott will be forced to moved upwards, though he
will do as little as he can till he is ready for decisive
work. Still these movements will amuse the public,
and may possibly produce some actions of greater
importance than it is intended, M'Clelland's column
is this day moving on tower& Beverly, and if Wise
h3lds his Virginians together there, there must be a
collision. It does not appear to the that Beauregard
will be directly attacked at Manassas. The real
base of operations is from Fortress Monroe and
Hampton on Richmond. Of this more by and by.
The civilians and the military are of course divided
in council. The former are for immediate action ;
they want to walk without legs. Tenders are out_
for a thousand
for a million pairs of shoes and
waggons.
o'

tookAAFFRAYo An
MONGa
yNAv nightv i Es.
last--aSt vreernatlo
nd, sotnu rt
hb
ea nNeeews
Border Union Railway, from Hawick to Carlisle, on the
occasion of the fortnightly pay. There were several fights
:n the Bridge Inn. In the last of these John Donelly, a
Scotchman, was killed. The man who inflicted the fatal
blow is supposed to have been a navvie named Vim. Flan-
naghan, who was apprehended on Sunday morning. The
Wined baa been adjourned for a week.