, 1862-04-19

shal1ed in the best, if not the only, defensible
position in Virginia. They have occupied the
narroWest part Of narrow peninsula, and in
order to contract still more the line OF opera
tions they have damned the Warwick river,
60 that It has overaown and converted large
part OF the country into swamp land. A letter
in the N. 7. Erening 1bst indicates that the
TWO armies are serenading each other-the
one playing " Dixie" and the other
replying with the 'Star spangled Banner"
1 but 1hls is musical cntertainment cannot last
long. The second siege Of Yorktown may be
protracted and bloody, but it can only end in
victory to the Union arms. The Washing
ton eecesh profess to believe that Gen john
ston can hold his position till he dies Of the
1ntirnlities of age, but as the same creatures
believe that the battle Of Pittsburg Land
ing was rebel victory, their opinion does
not go for much. A pair Of snarling females.
who believe that JEFF Davis is the greatest
man in the world, and that the Rev. Dr. Sy1e,
{who refused to read Bishop Whittingham's j
prayer is such saint, assured 4 lady at my
boarding place yesterday, that they had re-
ceiVcd assurances from Richmond that Beau
regnrd had utterly Eanquished and destroyed
Gen Grants army, that he was noW 1aarchiur
on Cincinnati; and Mey wouldn't believe any
Of your abolition lies
The Merrimac is undoubtedly being held
back as . menace to the naval flotilIa III Hamp-
ton Roads, and is not Intended to risk deci-
siEc engagement, knowing, as the rebels do,
that if #orsted in the encounter, Norfolk must
fall into our hands within q few hours
A new system must be adopted for the Port
Royal frccdmcn-a system which shall have
the characteristics of justice and the authori~
ty OF law: No class Of human beings can be
safely left in the condition Of drift wood upon
the stream Of society, unrecognized by any
laws and amenablc to none. The benevolent
persons who have gone to Port Royal find
themselves comparatively powerless to afford
the blacks the desired help for want Of author
army efhcera. Mr. Pierce is as destitute Of
power in this respect as the negroes thcm-
selves, and hence it happans that army Off
cers drive them around with clubs, reyolycrs,
or whatever comes handy, cheat them of their
raHons and their clothing, and do whatever
else sclGshness, lust and power, unrestrained
by law, may prompt. Ofcourse Gen. Hunter
Will prohibit and regulate as far rs possible
this evil, which is as fatal to the discipline of
the army as it is Unjust and injurious to the
contrabande. Capt. {uow GEM Saxton exer-
ted himself to the utmost to do so, but the
plantations arc sea tered over so much terri
tory tEat it is extremely dilicu1t for an officer
to attend to his usual duties and these extra
ones also. Their must be legislation devised
specially to meet their requirements, and the
agents appointed to superintend them must be
armeu With authority Of the Government else
VIC shall Soon have class Of OUTLAWS and
pariahs there and elsewhere US dangerous to
society as the slave system itself.
Yes, - says some wc1i-mcaning reader,
"tAe everlasting negro question!'' 4 ride
from here to Manassas would convince any
person. however Wearicd with the everlasting
Negro question, that It has so1emn signid-
cance. What has done all this ? is the first in
quirT Of the thoughtful visitor. pctur-
esque and naturally fertile country, which
has been owned BY white men nearly two
hundred years, barren, desolate, stripped
almost 4f ,1--1TS
groves cut down, fences burned, houses
(such as there are) empty or used only as hos
pitfalls for sick soldiers, no food for man or
beast ea7e what's brought from distant States,
deserted camp sites here, there, and every
Where, with bones OF dead horses In the neigh
boring rn1lnes! This is the scene which the
surface Of the ground presents in the cuun-
ties Of Alexandria and Fairfax. What is nm
de1neath The ground need not say, save that
those who have gone. thither from the hospi-
tai exceed those who have gone from the bat
t1e-feld ten to one Virginia had slavery, and
went mad with it, and IN her frenzy sought to
pull down the temple Of freedom and these
are some Of Its fruits Call it sseYeriasting
negro question" if you will, these are It's
fraits-de olation, ruin, poverty, death.
Since Gen. Sfckle6 turned q lot Of slave
hunters out Of his camp there has been mau-
ifcst inclination on the part Of the Senate to
reconsider his nomination and confirm This
would probably have been done last week had
not his name meanwhile been recalled by the
President. What significance is to be attach
ed TO this act know not.
Senator Doolttle, Of Wisconsin, made some
remarks yesterday intended to be personal to
myself, but which failed to be so for the rea-
son that he made mistake at the outset
Which was fatal to his conclusions Inasnuch
as have since received no:e from Mr. Doc
little Withdrawing the imputa'i ians, and propos-
ing, without any solicitation on my part, to
omit them from his printed remarks, it is un~
necessary for me to make any reply