, 1862-11-24
The London Times Obtains a
Letter from Richmond,
STATE OF THINGS In TAE REBEL,
CAPITAL.
Letter from a Special Correspond
ent Of the London Times at
the Rebel Capital.

the Rebel Capital.
R1cHToSD, Wednesday, Oct, S. 1862.
THE London TIMES has secured q cores
ponGent in Richmond, who sees things
through q medium that delights the Tor5
organ. We take fer specimen extracts from
letter fljng several columns.1
The spirit Of liberty in the Southern States
Is nore nigh and haughty than in the NoEt;l.
e1n. In the Caroliaas and Firaiuia they hare
a vast multitude Of slaves. Where this is the
cast in aEy part Of tie world, those who are
Tree are hl far the most proud and Jealous OF
their freedom. Freedom is TO them not anlr
~ enjof1ent, but kind Of rauk aad priyi-
lege- Not setting there that freedom, as 10
countries where it Is q common blessing, and
as broad AID general as The air, may be united
with much ahject tell, with great misery, with
all tue exterior of sergitnde, liberty looks
among Them like something taat is mora
noble aHG liberal. I do not mean to commend
the suptrior morality Of this sentinent. which
mas al least as much pride SIS virtue in it; but
/ caauct after the nature Of man. These
people OF the Southern colonies are much
more strongly and With q higher and more
Stubborn spirit attached to liberty than those
TO the n"rlhward. Such. were all ancient
commonHsaltes; 6ucn were our Gothic :luces-
tors; such in cur days the Poles; snch viii
pc all masters Of slaGes- In such 3 people
the hapghtiaess Of domination combines Win
TIE spirit of freedom, forti6es it, ana renders
it in1incihle.
THE WAR WAR OF CLASSES.
The Two races have come into collision: On
one slds IN aristocracy, agricultural, sparselV
se1tled1 given TO field sports, living in the sad
die; on the other, "a democracy which have been
travelling downward for so Yea1s which is nu-
metlealfy tour times as strong as its opponent,
WHICH brtathes only gH atmosphere Of dollars.
and has no aspirations beyond commercial
g5in- Which il the more tit for the conduct
OF tle Rar: II 10 not too much to say that,
but for their gunboats, the Yankees would
before this time, in American phrase, have
been Whipped out Of 1htir boots :" by q pop-
nia1on scarcely more than one-fourth Of their
number. But in the South, in spite of it law
less population, certain rough discipline ID
not impossible, and an incident which ocurred
two days ago in this city has never been at
tempted in the Northern hosts-the execution
by shooting Of two deserfere, and the adniu-
lst1a1lon ot fifty lsshes to third. Such exc
cntlons EaVe already not been nnfrequent in
the sonth; whereas, in the North, after the
defeat Of Pope, hundreds Of deserters crossed
tie Potonlac every night, Of whom 1t il not
improbable that forty per cent, have agaiu en-
listed, accepting the enormous bounties prof
fered by the North If any man desires to
gauge me reckless and extravagant waste
Which has, from the first, characterized eli the
Federal operations in the field, let him notice
the fact THAT On 10th sides the Potomac il is
hard to meet q man oc bog among the a,nphi-
,bious population who has not Federal Jacket.
/ esp or pair OF trousers. It is safe al=o to as
sat that in mere practise. the Federal officers,
naval and military, have fired aYar more
powder than has been expended in anger b;
The South.
PROSPECTS, OF RESTORING TIE UN1os,
The uSshot of this system of restoring The
Union viii readily suggest itaelf TO the rad
er. have travelled tar and wide through V,r-.
GINA; have conversed with meu, Wen,ep,
stripling6 and children, in that S:ate and Ia
Maryland; | have 6een men, formerly sub
stantial aud thriving, Thoee everything has
6een devoured By tha Federals; but never in
one single instance have heard a word OF re-
sounded in regard to iss issrr, sigh bseathed
over the departed Union, ghost Of a desire
expressed in favor Of compromise or recon-
sifucfion. On the contrary, one universal
chorus eeloea through the length and breadth
o. OIL the .1!a. 1ana: nfhe net is broken, and We
votaries, who still believe in imprisoned
loyalty ns existing il the South, might Is
well search In the British isles for man who
desired them to ne annexed to Frauce So
united, go homogeneous a community as the
States Ct the southern eontedcracy finds no
parallel in cur own annals, No war thai
| England las waged for q hundred years has
net With such cordial, unanimous, un1iT;ded
| support. Tie var against the French Rspub-
| nc rad its tA7Fiss Fox; the wer against Rus
s1a us f;ehard GobdeA. There is NJ such
| character in heScurhern States. The victory
| Ct the FedeTals in this ex.sperated struggle
/ Hcanf, rot the defeat-of the Southern armies
-Eot tile possession of Richmond, Charleston
Savannah, Mobile and Ncw Orle.as, which
would nc more lead to n eoIclu :i3r OF the
Vat than tie seizure of the Isle Of a1an. A
federal victory ulesus nothing on earlh but
! Tie cSttFmlnat1on a1l ann,hilAtio OF every
man, woman end caild in tie S31.teru Coz
| 1eaeraey. There is no passion, 10 frenzy, il
IlIe universal language. The intensity Of the
| hate 1ushes the cheek and cl;pc1es the teeth.
| but finds little expression in feeble words, Il
| anything, the xubesance of enimositV is
t more perceptit1e III tie flashing ewes and
eager earnsstness o1 the wotnen; BUT the
settled and unconlucrahle tirnness Of the
men requires notl1hg to bs added to it. The
possibility 1T Richmond'5 falling is calmly dis
| cussed, and preparations have long been made
I Tor euch contingency. Surprise is expressed
tnat the Federal5 have not long ago possessed
| TIC r1se:ves OF several Other southern cities as
veil as New Orleans, The possession OF cap
! different thing from what it used TO be In the
! days Of WNgran1 and Jena. Great suffering
i might be INFLICTED on women and children Il
Mobile and Charleston fell-suffering which
there IS Only too much reason to fear would
pc most acceptable to tie Federals, Judging
!
year aEd nalf. But every considerable city
in the South might be reduced to ashes with
out changing the mood or undermining the
resolution Of the feeblest heart, If any feeble
! heart there be IN the Southern Confederacy.
! INVASION OF MARYLAND.
| It appears to have been Gen. Lees principal
deAlgp, '7hsn he crossed into Maryland, to
srlze Aagref,s Ferry, and to test the spirit OF
the Marylanders by his temperate proclama.
tion: In order to be unn:o.ested in his attack
on Harper's Ferry, he Threatened Pennsylva-
ma from HagerstoWn, throwing Coy. Curtin
| into Mysteries, and animating Baltimore with
the hope that lie would cmancipate her from
the iron tyranny Of Gen. Wool. He had
little serious expectation Of being abIe to
reach Pennsylvania, but If Gen. Pope had
been continued in command, and Maryland
had been more free to act, there eau be nQ
couot that Baltimore and Washington would
nave fallen: But when Mcclellan took the
hesd, and the armg's confidence again eprane
alott, Gen. Lee had no other purpose On the
soil Of Maryland than to capture Harper's
Ferry, Gen. Jackson, after reaching Hagers,
town, tell suddenly and silently back upon
Aarper.s Ferry, and enVcloped It closely upon
every side.
TIE REBELS At AST1ETAM.
At this moment the fame OF McClellan's
early approach, with the design Of reinforcing
Hasper's Ferry, overlook Gen Lee. He IN:
niediate1y threw Gen. G, Hills division oi
from 1e,o00 to Il. goo men back to 3 strong
position upon South Mountain, where, on
September Il, Gen. Mcclellan attacked them
with not less than 1000 men. The South
eznefs fell slowly back bet2r7 this imposing
force, but not without inf1icting Hpon it euc6
loss that it was not till Sept IL tnat McC!cl-
Ian forced on the momeutuous battle OF Au-
tietan Greek. The morning Of the 17Sh
found Gen. Lee strongly posted, but with not
more than 40 600 men when the battle COM
1nerced. For once the Federal papers, which
are IN the habit of representing that thei1
armies are hut handfu15 Of men fighting against
overwhelming hordcs Of rebels, do not claim
that their alleged victory WIS won against su-
per'or numbers of their opponents. How
great the disparity was at the commencement
oi the battle is probably known to Gen. Nc
GleIan. It is believed By President Davis,
whose calm and dispassionate opinion viii
command more respect In England than the
rhaplsodee Of the Federals, that the Southern.
ers were at first outnunbcred more than thsee
to one.
At noon the ubiquitous Jackson threw hiu,-
self and bis division {pcssib!y 12,090 men)
upon the right wing OF the federals, he had
previously forced the garrison Of Harper'e
Ferry to surrender to man, taking all their
arms, munitions OF var, ard cannon; and,
though delayed longer :han was expected, he
arrived soon enough to attack A1cCIellau.
The ground ron in the morning by the fsde-
rails, who were in tremendous force, upon
tfelr right wing, was swiftly recovered, aud
held until Tie end Of the day. At four in the
afternoon, Gen A. P. Hin's division came up
ard Joined the Confederate right. It vas vel