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®ur .foreign Comsponbencc. LONDON LETTERS—NO. I. London, April 13, 1848. My Dear R. —l did not intend to write to you until the Steamer of the 2‘2d, but I have concluded to send you my first letter by the new and superb steamship, “America,” which sails from Liverpool, on her first voyage to our shores, on the 15th inst. She will carry out intelligence of such deep interest, that it has induced me to anticipate the peri od fixed for the commencement of my corres pondence to your new weekly ; and, also, to devote my letter to other themes than those which are to form the staple of my commu nications, viz : matters of Literature and the Arts —all of which have been quite over shadowed in the intense excitement of the past few days. I will not, however, by too long an exordium, withhold from you the one grand item in my budget of news, which is the total failure of the great “Chartist De monstration.” The noble Constitution of Old England is still triumphant. The integrity of her government has been preserved, and millions rejoice thereat! The “ Chartists” made their 4 demonstra tion 1 on Monday last, and a less formidable one you can scarcely conceive of. Indeed, if I should attempt to give you a description of their actual resources as exhibited on that, occasion, you would probably insist that I was quizzing you ; and yet never did I see so miserable and ridiculous a farce as the Char tistgathering on Ivennington Common. It is of course difficult to form a precise estimate of the numbers—of all classes—which were present: but 1 am sure I am outside of the mark when I place the sum total, at twenty five thousand, an estimate which has been exaggerated by some to nearly a quarter of a million. ‘ I had expected to see an imposing assemblage, but never did reality more effec tually put fancy to flight. The mass of the malcontents were ill-clad —and ill-looking men and boys, whose appearance was calcu lated to inspire sympathy and pity rather than fear. The former feeling I really did cherish towards them, though you know me too well to suppose that I could sympathise ■with their misguided and reckless opinions, if opinions they can be said to have, who know no game but “ follow your leader.” You will naturally ask, I suppose, ‘Were there not great and overwhelming displays of government preparation to suppress any at tempt to form the procession V I answer : So far from it, l did not see, at any time du ring the day, a single body of soldiers, and only a few squads of police or special consta bles ! Now when y r ou remember lhat it was arranged that 200,000 men should march from Ivennington Common, through the great veins of the city, and to the very halls of leg islation, to intimidate Parliament into a com pliance with their demands —lhat Feargus O’- Connor and his associates had issued pla cards pledging the Chartists to carry out the plan with their lives—when you remember that in the teeth of all this bravado, with no visible opposition to their movements, only’ a few poor thousands could be mustered, half of whom were impelled by curiosity alone, perhaps—the procession is abandoned and the crowd quietly disperses— do you not behold a sublime moral spectacle ? What else is it than the triumph of principle over passion—of a free government over the de structive tendencies of reckless anarchists T I am a citizen of the United States it is true, and dearly do I love my country —and proud am lof m y birth-right, but I have not wit nessed this grand Chartist explosion, or rath (“r “ flash in the pan,” without being tho roughly convinced that the intelligent masses °f England— the middle and the upper class es prize too highly the liberties guaranteed to them by the iflitish Constitution, to be wil ling rashly to expose them to the horrible re SUM MM MV MASY SASIYYS* suits of Chartist Demonstrations ! English men are aware that they have a noble system of government, and if they cannot help see ing the absolute and pressing need of great national reforms— can they help be lieving that their Constitution will secure these to them by its own legitimate work ings. Influenced by the sentiments of the people among whom I write, I cannot help exclaim ing with them, “ Long live the Queen ! —long live the British p arliament;” and, I would add, long may they live to perfect for the peo ple that glorious sy r stem of government, which is the basis of our own, and which we have added to, but never altered! Sir George Grey r, s bill, for the more ample security’ of the British Crown, will be carried through both houses with an overwhelming majority'. The people of England intend to maintain their government —and if so, who shall say them nay 1 I am persuaded, my r dear R, that Great Britain is not to he revolu tionized, like France, by a mob. The spirit of Englishmen is totally different from that of the French. The former fs sober, reflecting, deliberate—the latter visionary', im pulsive and reckless. Witness, in proof thereof, the result of the ‘ three days 1 in Paris, and the memorable one day', the 10th of April, in London. By the way’ it is rtiost amusing to hear some of the Chartists, themselves, vehemently disavow any intention of resorting to rebel lion ! Oh no! they are as loyal as any, now that the flame of revolution, at first seen darting upward its forked tongue, has been so effectually’ put out —and by r what and By the torrents of human blood shed in civil war I By’ the mere force of physical pow er ? No! but by the moral power of public opinion. This it was that gave the death blow to the Chartist movement, and made its leaders appear to the world and to each other as humbugs! Mr. Feargus O’Connor’s avowal that bis petition was signed by upwards of five mil lions, turns out to be a sheer fabrication ; and the same may be said, with much truth, of the petition itself, for of the two million sig natures actually attached to it, hundreds were mere forgeries, and thousands probably as pitiful and meaningless as the following specimens: “ Snooks,” “ Snob,” “ Pugnose,” “ Carroty’ Poll.” The name of ‘ The Duke 1 was found in no fewer than twenty places; and her majesty, Prince Albert and Punch, were among the soi disant reformers! But I shall weary you. I intended to glance at the condition of the Continent, agitated as it is from its very centre to its remotest extrem ities by wars and revolutions unparalelled in history. I must forbear, however, until my next letter. Business of all kinds is reviving with the quiet succeeding to the fermentation of the past. We have had, what is rare in London, some very charming spring weather. The “tenth” was a day’ of sunshine —too bright, happily, for the consummation of the suici dal purposes of the “ Chartists.” The intelli gence by the 4 America 1 will doubtless pro duce a happy effect on your side of the wa ter —especially in the business circles; and confidence in English funds and securities, will be fully* restored. So may it be, and long may England and America maintain their respective positions, the one the model Kingdom, and the other the model Republic of the world. While I write London has two Sovereigns —Victoria reigns and it rains too. Do not suppose I intend to punish you, but believe me, with my best compliments to your nu merous readers, Faithfully yours, E. F. G. P. S. I have sent you no literary intelli gence in this letter, but shall endeavor in sub sequent communications to keep you advised of all important movements in that depart ment. Adieu. AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT. Our London correspondent not having in cluded in his letter any account of the move ments in Continental Europe, we condense from our files of papers, at present few and incomplete, their leading items of news; from j which it will be seen that the spirit of Revo lution is rapidly’ progressive, and whither it tends, or where it will stop, conjecture may not determine. In Paris there is still tranquility, though we fear it is but the calm preceeding a terri ble storm soon to burst on the heads of her revolutionary citizens. In various parts of France, as at Havre, Troy'es and other places, riots and emeutes have occurred. Denmark and Germany are in open hostil ity, and a very fierce battle was fought on the 9th ultimo, at or near Hensburg, resulting in the defeat of the’ Schleswig Holstein army. The Danes took possession of the capital of the vanquished army. Prussia is to drive the Danes out of Schleswig, and to restore the old dynasty, which, if resisted by Den mark, she, in turn, will be invaded by Prus sia. In Poland there have been no further ri sings. The country is overrun with Russian troops. The Austrians have been expelled from northern Italy. In Bohemia, Sicily, Hunga ry’ and many other countries, the same spirit of revolution exhibits itself, and we ask dai ly, what will happen next ? A question which time must answer. LATEST NEWS FROM MEXICO. By the arrival of the Steamer Fashion at N.Orleans, from Brazos, which port she left on April 30th., we have intelligence of a battle fought at Santa Cruz. It lasted nearly all day and terminated, as a matter o f course, in the total rout of the Mexican forces, which are represented to have been 2000 in number, while the American force was only 700. — Forty Mexican officers and a very large amount of arms and ammunition, were taken by our troops. Mr. Sevier, *our Commissioner, arrived at the city of Mexico on the 15th ult. The Court of Enquiry at that place, was still in session, and it is rumored, that upon its adjournment, another will be called, as Government has still, serious charges to make against General Scott. The prospect of peace is not yet very clear- CONGRESSIONAL ITEMS. The Committee on Foreign Relations have reported to Congress, a Bill for the temporary military occupation of Yucatan—-and the subject very naturally excites a great deal of interest and discussion. Avery important question is involved, and the decision of Con gress in the question, it is difficult to deter mine. A bill has also been introduced by the Committee on Naval Affairs, to provide for the establishment of lines of Government Steamers from Monterey in California, to China and to the Sandwich Islands. HOME INTELLIGENCE. We are pleased to see that I. K. Tefft, Esq., has been elected to the Cashiership of the Bank of the State of Georgia, in place of Anthony Porter, Esq., resigned, and elected to the Presidency of the same Institution. Ac cording to the Republican , this Bank has had the same Cashier, Teller, Book-Keeper and Discount Clerk, for now seventeen years; a fact which speaks well for the ability and in tegrity of those officers. The Annual meeting of the Stockholders of the Georgia Rail Road, was held in Augusta this week. The attendance was large and the proceedings important, but our space will not allow us to chronicle them. The present population of Savannah, ac cording to the census of that city, just com pleted by Mr. Bancroft, is stated at 13,339. 21 Column ercctci) ft Jam. We clip the following jeu d’ esprit from John Donkey's Report of the Acadia’s news, recieved by his express—“ worked through by the combined efforts of Perseverance, and Worsdell’s Vegetable, Restorative Pills.” It is one of the cleverest peices of humor we have met with for many a day.—[Ed. S. L. G. England.— ls in great commotion. The Queen’s baby was up in arms. Collisions had taken place—a Life Guardsman had stubbed bis toe against the palace step; but the whole troops were said to be Victoria’s. France- —The French have taken complete possession of the capital, and intend to make capital out of it. A great’loss of of life had taken place in the abbailoirs , where no less than 3,000 cattle were slaughtered: but this was considered a beef-rending of the Provision al government. Civil war had broken out in the Guard, between the National Guards and the blackguards, in which the sable gentry, notwithstanding their linen to the people, were worsted. The departments each considered the special province of government to be ta king care oi its province. It was frequently said that if Lamartine went into the street he would line it; and that Pages must turn over anew leaf, or leave himself. The Minister of the Interior was Rollin’ quietly along. Napoleon Bonaparte had opened a sau sage-shop in the Rue du Chiens. The Bank of France has caved in. The bankers had all failed—to impose on the people. Holland. —The Hollanders had been cut ting up High Dutch. For the one hundredth time it had been rumored that the Dutch had taken Holland, which is of course false, as it would leave them Neitherland; and would prove too much for Dutch metal. Affairs, es pecially in the canals, were stagnant, and many croakers were heard in the marshes. Setting a Watcii.— One day, in the city of Philadelphia, a fat, jolly young country man, who looked as if he would never need any of Schenck’s Pulmonic Syrup, dropped into Lewis Ladomus’s, in Market near Elev enth, and stared around him. At length he drew from his pocket, what might be consid ed as a sort of compromise between a small clock and a big watch, and asked— “ May I set my watch by your regulator?” “ Certainly,” answered the good-natured watchmaker, and turned to attend to a bevy of ladies who now made their appearance. A regular run of customers engrossed the attention of Ladomus and his clerks, for the rest of the day, and he forgot all about his country customer. In the evening, how ever, after closing time, the countryman’s watch was found on a little shelf near the regulator. The next day he called, de manded the missing article, and it was re turned to him. No more w r as then thought about it, by any body in the store. A week after this the countryman v'alked in the store, evidently in a passion, and cried out— “ See here, Mister, gaul darn me, es you’re any watchmaker. That there regulator’s a nice regulator, mebbe—and then agin, mebbe it taint.” “ Why, what is the matter, sir ? Explain yourself;” said Ladomus, -while customers and others gathered around in consternation. “Matter! matter enough!” said Johnny Raw. “ Dad told me 1o set my watch by your regulator when I come to town. I sot mine by yourn a hull night; and gaul bust me, es she goes a bit better nor she did afore she was sot.” What occurred after, it is difficult to say. but over a half peck of suspender button was found in the store, when the country man left; from which we infer that the by standers must have laughed some. — Donkey. Would’t go to Paradise. —During tin blow upon the Lakes, not very long ago, a passenger was much frightened, and, all in re ality, stood a very even chance of going to Davy Jones’ locker. He believed that all was lost, went below and offered up a feeling pray er, after which he came on deck, but the storm had not abated in the least. At this juncture he met the cook, a worthy descendant of “ Af ric’s sunny fountain,” and a wave of more than usual force striking the boat, he exclaim ed, and at the same time taking his hand. “ Good bye, meet me in paradise.” The ne gro somewhat astonished, replied, “ Thankee, thankee—sir, but I aint g’wine. I sticks to de boat any how.” Colored ladies, says an exchange, may be compared to many roses, because they were born to “ blush unseen.” 7