The New York herald., 1862-05-08


canard from Slidell, together with his wine,
and despatched the wonderful secret to London.
We may expect all sorts of lies and falsehoods
from such sources, and it may be well to know
their value.
The Departure OF Minister Cameron and
His Defence Before the Harrisburg BAN.
quet.
In another column will be found the remark
able, straightforward and plainly spoken
speech Of ex-Secretary Cameron, delivered at
banquet in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, given by
his friends and presided over by the Mayor Of
that city, on the evc Of Cameron's departure
for his new field of labou at St. Petersburg,
which will we'll repay perusal at this time. Mr..
Cameron presided over the War Department at
Washington during tho most trying and critical
hour Of our government. At no previous
time since the close Of the Revolutionary
War has the chief of that department
had one thousandth part of the RESPONSE
bility that rested upon him during the
memorable year Of 1861. One portion of tho
country wildly rushing to arms in their mad
career to destroy the government that had pro-
tected them, with traitors, conspirators and
jobbers swarming around him, the government
robbed of all its war material, and the country,
long accustomed to peace, destitute Of the ma
terial to equip an army, he was called upon
to arm and equip an army to defend the
national capital and to suppress the unholy
rebellion. His task was no ordinary one, and
in discharging his duties whether justly or not,
he has brought upon his head general censure
and the adoption of condemnatory resolution
by the lower house Of Congress His speech,
given elsewhere, in reply to the Congressional
resolution, is rich and spicy, and the best de-
fence that any public official has made Of his
course, completely placing in the background
the lachrymose plea Of the Secretary Of tho
Navy.
Having made his defence, he yesterday set
sail for Europe, and will proceed directly to
st. Petersburg and settle his affairs at the court
Of the Gar. There he will leave Bayard Tay-
lor to look after the duties Of the minister, and
then proceed overland to the Crimea and ex-
anime the famous battle field at Sebastopol;
from there he will cross over to Jerusalem and
pay his homage to the Holy Sspulchre; thence
to the Great Desert and around to the Red
Sea, to view the field where Moses maneuvred
his army and carried on his war operations.
Having satiated his observations in that field,
he will visit the Eternal City, and, like
numerous other pilgrims, obtain an abso-
luton for all his sins, not excepting
those which the Investigating Committee and
Congress have laid at his door. With his skirts
and conscience thus relieved, he will proceed
to Naples, then across to the island of Sicily,
and around to the Archipelago, stopping at
Pass Thermopyle to view the spot where
Leonidas, with his famous three hundred
Spartans, stood; thence to Constantinople and
Turkey, to make thorough examination Of
the harem, and from there to the mouth Of the
Danube. He will then pass up the Danube
and view the wonders of that stream, stopping
short time at Vienna to advise the Austrian
monarch how to raise an army, and from there
cross over to Prussia and pay his respects to
the crowned head of that nation. Remaining
there until he has recovered from the fatigues
of his journey, he will make detour through
the German States, cross over the Alps and
view their natural beauties. With his mind
thus invigoratsd, he will hasten to Paris to
teach the Emperor how to manage his finances.
Spending year and half in thus examining
the Old World, he will return to his native
State Just in time TO- be returned to the United
States Senate, where he will be in position to
settle all the old scores with the Investigating
Committee Of the present Congress
In the meantime his speech at the Harr,s-
burg banquet, In defence of his Official acts a.
Secretary of War, will be working out its in
tended mission here. In this remarkable speech
he has placed on record his reply to the charges
made against him, spiced with an inside history
of the members Of the Investigating COMMITTEES
who have arraigned him quite novel and inter-
esting. He commenced with the outbreak Of
the rebellion, the condition of the War De-
/ partment at the time the President issued
his proclamation for the first troops, giving
concise history Of the circumstances
connected with the appointment of con-
fiding Cummings, along down to the rise
and progress Of the Investigating COMMITTEES,
and the motives that controlled the individual
members, as we'll as those members of Congress
who were 80 loud in their censure, adding q
decidedly racy chapter to the developments
connected with The war. He has shown that
the individual members Of the committee each
had their private axes to grind, and came down
upon him because he would not turn the grind
stone and pat through their jobs-a de-
cidedly interesting state Of affairs, to say
the least-and, taken in connection with
,Lo dovolonn,onta of tha Con0ra ua;opoI
Investigating Committee and the debates in
Congress, it exhibits dcplorable picture Of
the rottenness and jobbery of the republican
Congress and their desperate efforts to use their
position to plundss the government and nation
in its hour Of peril.
viii al fhasa nra4.d a axnoarroa hofaro tLo..,