Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-01-08

eeptioH-He Treats he Multitude to tn
Balmy" in the BasemeRt-D Destruction Of The
Richmond Toater-History Of the BuadiRg-
Beauregards Official Report Of Manassas.
RICHMOND, January 2, 1862.
The surrender Of Messrs. Mason and Slidel
is, of course, the principal topic OF discussion
today. The correspondence connected with the
affair is here in type aud will be published in the
Enquirer of to morrow which you will receive,
without accident, in the same mail with this let
ter. The letter of Seward is the most humil-
iating document ever issued from the State De-
partment at Washington. There was a time
when sooner than such an abasemcnt Of the
United States should be made in the eyes OF the
world, the American people would have encouu-
tered the combined powers Of Europe. But the
slippery statesman of +" Sweet Auburn" makes
a virtue of the backing down of his government,
acknowledges that the original act was in viola
ton of the law OF nations, and claims credit for
magnanimity in correcting the fault Why, oh
matchless disciple Of MachiavelE, if the arrest
was wrong, did you order the commissioners to
be kept in close custody-why, if Commodore
Wilkes, instead of having fairly and CALAMITY
entitled himself to the honors of an ovation only
" put his foot in it by an arm d attack on a
defenseless British steamer, did you not direct
the discharge of the commissioners as soOn as
they had been landed at Fort Warren?
The fact is Just this: The Yankees intended to
approve the act of Wilkes and to enjoy the full
! benefit of such a defiance of the European pow
ers, if England had only tamely submitted to it.
!, Seward never would have discovered that an
f outrage had been committed upon international
law, and Messrs. Mason, Sidell, Eustis and
Macfarlane would, in all human probability,
have remained " casemated' till the end of the
t war; but when the British lion begins to growl
e and his paw is uplifted, the affair assumes sud.
denly a very different aspect, and the Secretary
of State finds out all at once that a great nation
like E Pluribus Unum ought to act honestly at
l any sacrifice of mele national pride. A more
, abject exhibition of bluster and trucking has
e never been made in ancient or modern times.
The result, however, ought to surprise nobody.
Lineoln's ominous omission of the matter in his
e message to Congress was in accordance with
7 Stewards advice, and was so construed by all
+ the thoughtful observers of the war.
: VIII England be satisfied with the surrender
of the Commissioners Will the amplest apollo
gy (and Lincoln is quite prepared to make any
thatmay be demanded) prevent her interference
e at this OppOrtune moment to open the southern
: ports and get her SO much needed supply OF
cotton2 This depends wholly on the temper and
feeling Of the masses of her people. Negotia-
: tons and circumlocutions may appease Lord
4 Palmerston-the ministry may, and most proba-
bly, viii, accept the ameRde dhOHOrabie-but il
the people have not very much deceived us, they
S have made up their minds to reopen the southern
trade, and the ministry that thwarts them in ti.
& will as certainly be hurled from power as the
summer s~olstice shall come again in the vieissi
e tudes of the seasons. 1t is only a question o
time after all. But meanwhile the chances are
greatly increased for the indefinite prolongation
of the war, and it is more than ever obligatory
on us to fight it out with energy and resolution
y recollecting that our delieverance will be doubly
dear and immeasurably more valuable if wrought
ont by ourselves.
The new year was signalized yesterday by thC
Is first levee of the President of the Confederate
T States. From - o'clock until 3 a c%ontinou,
stream of visitors poured into the presidentia
c mansion, where they were presented to his e1
cellency by bis aids, General Jones, Col. JOSEPH
Davis and Col. G. w. Gusts Lee. Mrs Presi
dent Davis was not visible, in consequence o.
e a recent interesting domestic occurrence, but tn,
honors of the house were gracefully done by hel
sister, Miss Howell, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. JOSEPH
Davis. During the reception, the fine band o
e the Public Guard discoursed some e~xcellenr
music in front of the mansion. The ceremony
Of reception was very simple and very dull
being confined to the pump-handle m~ovement'o
S the presi lential arm to each person presented, and
his excellencY, though very cordial in his manner
s and apparently in good health, gave signs about
3 o'clock Of being a good deal bored by it
There were no refreshments served, there was
nothing of display beyond the snowy uniforms
; of the high officers of the army and navy, who
went in a body and in full rig, and no chance
e whatever for Jenkins, who would have pro-
3 nounced the whole business " stoOpid' in the
extreme. From the Presidents, the crowd went
to Governor Letcher's, where, in addition to
r shaking the gubernatorial hand, they had the
inestimsble privilege (Which many of them
eargerly embraced) of getting Jolly
over a very big bowl Of toddy, in the basement
story. l think the hOi POLlOi on the whole pre-
feTed the lesser to the greater light, asI am quite
sure the Governor regretted having provided the
liquor, for they grew disagreeably noisy and de-
monstrative toward the bottom, and in one or
two instances at least seemed disposed to honor
the flag of Virginia by assuming the position of
the tyrant on its folds. Sic semper tyrannis-thus
always with whisky
The heavens were illuminated at an early
hour this morning by the light of a big fire,
which in a very short time laid in ruins the Mar
shall theater and several adjoining buildings.
The theater, though a small and poorly decora-
ted establishment, has for forty years been the
principal place of amusement in Richmond, and
some of the finest actors of the day have appear
ed upon its boards. Gilfert was its first mana
ger, during whose administration the elder Booth
f made there his debut as an actor. Subsequently
Cooper, Vanderbilt, Kean, Ellen Tree, Power,
Maeready, Hackett, Mrs. Mowatt and others,
held sway there over the sensibilities of the
play-going public. twenty-five or three years
ago, George Jones alias the Count Joannes, and
father of Miss Avonia-the recent pet of Aus
tralian audiences-leased the building, orna-
mented it at great expense with beautiful ~freseoes
of Brigaldi, christened it the Marshall theater,
and strove to resuscitate therein the " Legitimate
Irah-ma," as he called it, but soon ran off in
debt to everybody, and the business fell into the
hands W. r Blake, the well-knewn comedian.
who, in turn, made his exit ere long O. p, that
is owing the printer" Ten years ago, before
achieving her European fame, Bosio sang there