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yielded its aastut ; at least, no iustance is ■
known to me o( a refusal ; and the United
States, while declining to assent to the pro
position which prohibited privateering, de
clared that the three remaining principles j
were iu entire accordance with their own
views of international law.
No instance is known in history of the
adoption of rules of public law under circum
stances of like solemnity, with like unani
ruity, and pledging the faith of nations with
a sanctity so peculiar. *
When, therefore, this Confederacy was
formed, and when neutral powers, while de
ferring action on its demand for admission
into the family of nations, recognized it as a
belligerent power, Great Britain and France
made informal proposals about the same time
that their own rights us neutrals should be
• guarantied by our acceding, as heligerents,
to the declarations of principles made by the
Congress of Paris. The request was ad
dressed to our sense of justice, aud there
fore met immediate favorable respou«e in
the resolutions of the Provisional Congress
of the. 13th August, 1 SGI, by which all the
principles announced by the Congress of
Pans were adopted as the guide of our con
duct during the war, with the sole exception
of that relative to privateering. As the
right to make use of privateers was one iu
which neutral nations had, as to the present
war, no interest; as it was a right which
the United States had refused to abandon
aud which they remained at liberty to em
ploy against us; as it was a right which we
were already in actual enjoyment, and which
we could not be expected to renounce fla
grante hello against an adversary possessing
an overwhelming superiority of naval forces,
it was reserved with entire confidence that
neutral nations could not fail to perceive
that just, reason existed for the reservation.
Nor was this confidence misplaced, for the
official documents published by the British
Government, usually called “Blue Books,’’
contain the expression of the satisfaction of
that government with the conduct of the of
ficials who conducted successfully the deli
cate business confided to tlicit charge.
These solemn declarations of priuciplc,
this implied agreement between the Confed
eracy and the two powers just named, have
bem suffered to remain inoperative against
the menaces and outrages on neutral rights,
committed by the United States, with in
creasing and progressing arrogrance during
tlie whole period of the war. Neutral Europe
remained passive when the United States,
Wuh a naval force insufficient to blockade
effectively the coast of a single State, pro
claimed a [taper blockade on thousands of
miles of coast, extending from the capes of
the Chesapeake to those of Florida, and eu
circling the Gulf of Mexico from Key West
to the mouth of the Rio Graudc. Compared
with this monstrous pretention of the United
States, the blockades known iu history, un
der the name of the Bwrliu and Milan de
crees, and the British orders iu Council iu
the year 180 b and 1807, sink into insignifi
cance ! Yet those blockaders were justified
by the powers that declared them, on the
sole ground that they were retaliatory ; —yet
those blockades have since been condemned
by the publicists of those very powers as vi
olations of international law; yet. those block
ades evoked angry remonstrances from neu
tral powers amongst which the United States
were the most conspicuous; yet those block
ades became the chief cause of the war be
tween Great Britiau and the United States
iu 1812 ; yet those blockades were one of
the principal motives that, led to the declara
tion of the Congress of Paris in 1856, iu the
fond hope of imposing an enduring cheek on
the very abuse of maritime powers which is
now renewed by the United States iu 1861
and 1862, under circumstances and with
features of aggravated wrong without pre
cedent. in history.
The records of our State Department con
tain the evince of the repeated aud formal
remonstrances made by the Government to
neutral powers against the recognition of
this blockade. It has been shown by evi
dence not capable of contradiction, and which
has been furnished in part by the officials of
neutral nations, that the few ports of this
Confederacy, before which any naval forces
all have been stationed, have been invest
ed so inefficiently that hundreds of entries
have been effected into them since the decla
ration of the blockade ; that, enemies have
themselves admitted in the efficiency of their
blockade in the most formidable manner, by
repeated official complaints of the sale, to us,
of goods contrabanded of war, a sale which
could not. possibly affect their interests if
their pretended blockade was sufficient “ re
ally to prevent access to our coast ;” that
they have gone farther and have alleged
Their inability to render their paper block
ade effective as the excuse for the odious
barbarity of destroying the entrance to one
of our harbors by sinking vessels loaded with
stone in the channel; that our commerce
with foreign nations has been intercepted,
not by the effective investment of our ports,
nor by the seizure of ship? in the high seas
of neutral vessels by the cruisers of our ene
mies whenever supposed to be bound to any
p-dut on our extensive coast, without enqui
ry whether a single blockading vessels was
to b *ouud at such point; that blockading
vessels Lave left the ports at which they
Were stationed for distant expeditions, have
been absent for many days and have returned,
without notice either of the cessation or re
newal ot the biockade; in a word, that every
prescription of maritime law, and every right
o lnentral nations to trade with a belligerent
under the sanction of principals heretofore
uc'versaily respected, have been systemati
cally and persistently violated by the United
Sta‘*-*s. Neutral Europe has received our
strauecs and has submitted iu almost
unbroken silence to all wrongs that the
1 lited iStatcs have chosen to inflict on its
commerce. The Cabinet of Great Britain,
however, has not coutiued itself to such im
plied acqueiecence iu the breaches of inter
national law as results from simple inaction,
but has, iu a published despatch of the Sec
retary of State for Foreign Affairs, assumed
to make a |ch inge iu tho principle enuneia-j
ted by the Congress of Pari-, to which
the faith of the British Government was
considered to be pledged ; a ehauge too im
portant and too prejudicial to the interests
of the Confederacy to be overlooked, and
against which I have directed solemn pro
tests to be made, after a vain attempt to ob
tain satisfactory explanations from the Brit
ish G uvernuicut. In a published despatch j
from her Majesty’s Foreign Otfice, to Minis
ter at Washington, under date of the 11th J
February, 1862, occurs the following pas-!
sage:
“ Her Majesty’s Government, however,
are of opinion that assuming that the block
ade was duly notified and also that a num
ber of ships is stationed and remains at the
entrance of a port sufficient really to prevent
access to it, or to create an evident danger
of entering it or leaving it } and that these
ships do not voluntarily permit ingress or
egress, the fact that various ships may have
successfully escaped through it (as particular
instance here referred to) will not of itself
prevent the blockade from being an effectu
al one by international law.
The words which 1 have italicised are an
addition made by the British Government
of its own authority to a principle the exact
terms of which were settled with deliberation
by the common consent of civilized nations,
and by implied Convention with this Gov
ernment, as already explained, and effect is
clearly to re-open to the prejudice of the
Confederacy one of the very disputed ques
tions on the law of blockade which the Con
gress of Paris professed to settle. The im
portance of this change is readily illustrated
by taking one of our ports as an example.
There is “evident danger” in entering the
port a Wilmington from the presence of a
blockading force, and by this test the block
ade is effective. “ Access is not really pre
vented” by the blockading fleet to the same
port, for steamers are continually arriving
and departing, so that tried by this test the
blockade is ineffective and invalid The
justice of our complaint on this point is so
manifest as to leave little room for doubt
! that further reflection will induce the Brit
Government to give us such assurances as
will efface the painful iinpressiou that. w T ouid
result from its language, if left unexplained.
From the foregoing remarks you will per
ceive that during nearly two years of strug
gle iu which every energy of our country
has been evoked tor maiutaiug its very exis
tence, the neutral nations impartial has becu
practically most favorable to our enemies
aud most detrimental to us.
The exercise of the ntutral right of refus
ing entry into their ports to prizes taken by
both belligerants, was eminently hurtful to
the Confederacy. It was sternly asserted
and maintained.
The exercise of the neutral rights of com
merce with a bclligerant whose ports arc not
blockaded by fleet" sufficient really to pre*
veut access to them, would have been emi
nently hurtful to the United States. It wa*
compi ai san tly abandoned,
The duty of neutral Statfg to receive with
cordiality aud recognize with respect any
new confederation that independent States
may think proper to form was too clear to
admit of denial, but its postponement was
eminently beneficial to the United States and
detrimental to the Confederacy. It was
postponed.
In this view of our relations with the cen
tral nations of Europe, it has been my pur
pose to poiyt out distinctly’ that this Govern
ment has no complaint to make that those
nations declared their neutrality. It.
neither c-xpect nor desire more. The corn
plaint is, that the neutrality has been rather
nomimal than real, aud that neutral rights
have beeu alternately asserted and waived
iu such manner as to bear with great severi
ty on us, and to confer signal advantages on
our enemy.
[concluded next week.]
The Reason why the Federal Loss at
Fredericksburg was so Great. —The
following extracts, taken from a letter writ
ten by a young officer in a North Carolina
Regiment will explain in a great measure,
the reason why the Federal loss at Frede
ricksburg was to great:
“On the hills on the south ridge was post
ed our artillery, and immediately at the bot
tom our men in trenches: consequently, the
enemy advancing would be exposed to the
fire of the artillery and our musketry- For
tunately, just in front of our line of trench
es, there was a small undulation in the
ground, and the enemy advancing would not
oe seen till they had marched over the un
dulation, consequently there was no danger es
the men firing too soon. The Yankees would
march in a perfect line till our first, fire, whea
owing to our nearness, our tire would be so
dreadful that they could not stand it. Fif
teen times did the Yankees charge in front of
our dreadful tire, where part of our brigade
was posted, and every time they would bt
forced back with terrible slaughter. As
soon as the lankees made their appearance
our men would tire from the rear rank, and
when they about faced to fly, give them the
front, aud at only sixty yards. You must
know the tire must uavcbccu dreadful, and
the mortality tremeudous, aud then, after
being repulsed by the musketry, the artillery
would rake them with grape and canister.”
Death or Judge W. W If out. —This dis
tinguished jurist and respected citizen of
Augusta, died iu this city, at 3 o,clo«*. k’
terday afternoon.
lie was a native of Virginia, in which
State he was bora on the 4th of July, 1788,
consequently, he was in the 75th year of his
age.
lie served as a Lieutenant in the war of
181'*.' and 1814, having entered the army
then, we believe,cotempoiaueously with Gen.
Twiggs, who died here a few month* ag<v
He ha; tilled many office* of honor and
responsibility, with credit to himself and hen*
elit to his country. He has been a member
of the Georgia Legislature, Mayor of the
city of Augusta,, and Judge of the'.Superior
Courts of the Middle Circuit of this State
for about nineteen years, and held that
at the time of his death.
He leaves a lar~e circle of relatives aud
friends to mourn his loss.
Wo have thus briefly grouped together for
the present these few facts connected with
bis long eventful aud useful life. Bome
other peu, more capable of doing justice to
his merits, as a soldier, a citizen, aud a ju
rist, must prepare a proper tribute to the
memory of the di.itiguished deceased.—Aug.
Const., 15th.
The Horror* of a Northern I*ri*ou ,
Described by a Yankee Pai>ei:—
The Stttteriiig* of Political Pris
oner*.
. The Columbus (Ohio) Crisis, Gov. Me-'
dary’s organ, which is a “ conservative” pa
per, gives a description of the sufferings of
those of its own party, as well as Southern-1
ers who are*yrested by Lincoln’s minions
as political prisoners. It says :
\Ye speak wholly of thepi*htical prison
of the State, as we know nothing whatever
of what occurs in the prisons where “ rebels
I taken in arms” are kept —that is, the priso
j ner9 of war.
It must not be forgotten that there have
been from six to seven hundred political
prisoners at Camp Chase at a rime, and al
though several hundred have lately been
discharged without trial, there are yet. there
some four hundred. One or two hundred
of these have arrived there within a few days
past from Kentucky and Western \ irginia.
These men are taken from their homes, some
from their beds at night, some from their
homes in day time, and a great many of them
are picked up iu then fields at work, aud
never suffered to see their families before
being spirited off to Ohio and incarcerated
in the celebrated Bastile, which will soon
become as famous as Olrnutz itself.
Our Ohioans are put inro the same prison
with these men from other Stat-s, and from
them we have learned some facts which the
people of Ohio ought to know. Many of
these men have beeu kept in this prison for
over one year, a great many for five, six,
seven, and eight months, without eveu see-
I ing outside, or being allowed to commuui
cate personally with any one, not even wife,
child, father, mother, or stranger.
They are furnished nothing but a single
blanket even these cold nights, unles- they
are able to purchase additional comforts with
money they may be able to command.—
| Many are poor men and unable to purchase.
! They were not permitted to briug along a
chance of clothing. Mauy had on when
seized nothing but summer clothing, and
that has become filthy, w'orn out, aud scarce
ly hangs upon their backs. They have no
j bedding aud are therefore, compelled to sleep
ion the bare boards. They have not wood
enough furnished them to keep tires up all
night aud hence the suffering is intensified
by the cold weather. If they attempt after
uight to walk out in the yard to take the
chills off the dreary night, they are instantly
; threatened to be shot by the guards, as or
dered by those iu command.
Dr Allen, of Columbia county, Ohio, said
be laid of a bare board until his hips were
black and blue. The wood furnished them
is four feet long, and they arc compelled,
each mess to chop it up for themselves, and
the provisions being furnished raw, they
have to cook for themselves. Recollect al
ways, these are political prisoners, against
j whom no one appears as accuser, aud no tri
al is permitted.
The prison has become filthy—awfully so
—aud the rats arc iu droves. If the pris
prisoner? attempt to kill one of these rats
| they are forbidden, and thn ateued with bc
-1 ing shot instautly. Recollect always, as wo
have said above, these are political prisoners,
against whom scone malicious negro worship
per has created ft suspicion of disloyalty, but
whose name is kept a secret, and hence there
can be no trial.
The prison is perfectly alive with lice, aud
no chance is given to escape the living ver
min. A dead mau (one of the prisoner)
{ was the other day carried out to the dead
1 yard, laid there over night, and when visited
iu the morning by other prisoners, who heard
there was a dead man there, they found the
hair oil his head stiff with lice and nits, the
lice creeping into his eyes iu great numbers,
and a* he lay with his mouth open, the lice
were thick crawling in and out of his open
mouth.
Not long since two of the prisoners got
into a scuffle in trying their strength, and
finally into a fight, as was supposed, and
several other persons runned in to part them,
when the guards from the lookout above
fired on them, killing an old man by the
name of Jones; from Western Virginia, aud
, a ball grazing the skull of another, he fell,
and it was su[ posed at first he was killed al
so, another of the balls passed through a
board at the head of a sick man in the hos
pital, and only escaped him by a few inches.
The two men in the scuffle were not hurt.
We might go further, but God knows this
is enough for once. It is enough to make
one’s blood run cold to think of it.
Now, if any one doubts this —if the author
ities at camp or at the State House doubts
—if the Legislature, when it meets, will
raise a committe, we promise to name the
witnesses who, if sent for will, under oath,
prove all this, and as much more, some of
which is too indecent to print in. a newspa
per for the public eye.
Horrible Yankee Outrages.— A lat*
number of the Baltimore Republican con
tains articles from various Northwestern pa
pers aud their correspondents, giving ac
counts of atrocities perpetrated by the Yan
kee armies in Missouri aud other Southern
States, which surpass anything that we have
yet seen or heard ofiu this unparalleled war.
Their own letter writers give these statement*,
and one of themju view of the fiendish acts us
his owu ojuutryuicn, exclaims “If I were a
Southerner, I would never lay down mv
arms while there was a Yankee in the land.”
The outrages that call forth this exclama
tion; and wbi''h are testified to by rarioui
correspondents arc not only tbc wautou des
truction of private property, the burning of
houses, the plundering of women aud chil
dreD «f their clothing, but the violation of
women by officers and common soldiers ot
the brutal hordes who are now overrunning
the South; With the exception of the hor
rid licentiousness of the Seboys, iu the Indi.
an rebellion, the modern world has not, wit
nessed such crime* as are perpetrated on the
South by the Yankee soldiery, according to
confession of their own newspapers and let
ter writers. The Biitiih punished the Seboya
bj blowing them to pieces from the mouths
of cannon, and the world did not consider
its retribution too severe. Surely, a just God
cannot prosper a cause which is supported
by such crimes. —Richmond Dispatch,
The Yankee Ariuy in AoriU Caro
lina.
[From the Wilmington Journal of Monday.]
There are any number of reports afloat
with reference to the numerical force ot the
enemy in the Eastern part of the State. Hu
mor and the “reliable gentleman ” put the
force at and around Beaufort Harbor, and
letween that "place and Newbern and at
Xewbern and in its vicinity at one hundred
aud fifty thousand, ali told. Now, this is
I evidently an exaggeration, and is only sig*
, niaoant in so far as it plainly indicates that
1 the enemy’s force has recently received large
j accession. At the latest accounts probably
; fifty, and certainly sixty thousand would
| cover the whole Abolition force at the points
! named.
But this ii only what was there at the
| last advices. What will soon be there ia
another thing. The enemy’s forces was not
only swelled, but constantly and rapidly
swelling, by accessions of troops from other
quarters, indicating a determination, on the
part of the invaders, to make North Carolina a
principal seat of war, if not the pncipal
seat of war, and main base of operation
j against Richmond, the capture of which city
| within the next four months, is left to be
; essential to the Lincoln administration at
home, us well as to the Yankee government
!abroad.
Burnside had rather a good time in North
Carolina. lie made reputation at a cheap
rate. With a thoroughly appointed and
large army he overwhelmed our .small force
at Newbern and our still smaller force at
[Roanoke Island, and gained very decided ad
vantages for the Federal cause. Perhaps
he thinks he can renew his carter of victory
simply by returning to the scene of his for
i mer easily achieved triumphs; at any rate
' the opinion gains ground in the public
mind as well as iu military circles, that
Burnside i9 quietly moving his army of
the Potomac to North Carolina, leaving on
ly a sufficient force to guard Washington.
The Abolition army already in North Caro
lina is far beyond that which Foster, either
by reputation or position iu the army, is
entitled to command, but until the transfer
is made no officer of higher rank will appear
on the scene in order to keep up the impres
sion that the army injNorfch Carolina is a mere
subordinate affair at the utmost a mere di
visional command. Foster is now apparent
ly the mere clerk for Burnside or Burnside’s
successor. The troops are consigned to Fos
ter for the use of somebody else.
These we say, are the opinions afloat and
to which circumstances give a strong sanc
tion. \\ bother they are correct in all re
spects, we cannot say. We think they are
; not far wide of the mark, but we have the
| strongest assurances that our own military
authorities are fully alive to the exigencies
of the occasion, and that if the enmy steals
a march upon General Lee he will be smart
er than he ever was before, or than we ex
pect him to be at this time.
Asa part of the plan of operations, espe
■ eially if the main war is to be transferred to
Eastern North Carolina, the capture of Wil
i mingtou is, for many reasons, desired by
the enemy, aud recent developments give
confirmation to the report that the Monitor
and Passaic were destined for this port.
But fur the interposition of providence we
| might ere this have had them knocking at
1 our doors.
At the latest dates there were in the har
! bor of Beaufort, N. C. some 50 transports
'and *2l armed vessels. Considering the im
inense supplies and material of war and fa
jci 1 ities for transportation requied by any con
siderable body of troops, we are not sur
prised at the number of transports, but, are
unable to account for the war vessels other
wise than by supposing them destined to
take part in some combined naval and mili
! tary attack upon some point not South of
Charleston. That such attack has not al
| ready been made is, in all probability, due to
| the loss of the iron-clads
_________
Tbe Recent Scout of Stuait’s Cavalry.
The last scout of General Stuart, although little
! has been 3aid about it except in the Northern pa
pers, was very fruitful in its results, He sueceded
i in capturing or destroying & iarge amount of prop
erty, stores, Ac., and ia giving the Yankees a
' “big scare.” The whole force between Manass&i
| and Washington was vailed under arms, and sev
eral thousand men were sent out to catch hirn.—
The object of Stuart’s expedition was to gain in
formation of the position and movements of the
enemy, and by going with his usual daring and
! audacity within then lines and around their army,
, he was eminently successful, and the results <nr@
i considered very important. The only thing re
; gretted is the loss of Capt. John W. Bullock, of
| the 6th cavalry, one of the best and bravest offi.
j cers in the service. lie was wounded at Dumfrea,
while in command of the sharpshooters and gal
i lantly charging a regiment of Yankee infantry.—
j While his friends were bearing him from the field
he was again bit in two places and mortally woun
ded.
After scattering the enemy at Dumfries, Gener
al Stuart went to the Occoquan ; but word having
been sent out of his approach, he found al! the
fords guarded. He determined, however, to cross
at Selectmen’s Ford, in the face of the enemy.
The advance was led by Col. T. L. Rosser, of the
6ih cavalry, who dashed into the stream followed
by Col. Drake, of the Ist, and some fifteen or twen
ty men. The enemy had dismounted and were
drawn up in line of battle. Col. Rosser placing
himself at the head of the lew men near him, led
the charge up in the face of a heavy fire, by file
over a narrow aud rocky ford. The Yankees
broke and were pursued, several being captured.
Gen. Stuart regards this as the most gallant thing
done by the cavalry siuce the war commenced.—
Colouel R. afterwards charged into their camp
aud captured niue auler wagons loaded with the i
best of liquors, boots, luxuries of various kinds, '
and burned their tents aud army stores.
Crucial Stuart then went towards Aldie, accom
plishing uiauy of his characteristic feats, which
have always been so galling to the enemy. He is
the evil genius of ail the Abolition Generali, aud,
next to Jacksou, the greatest bug bear. At; Al
die, Col. Rosser was sent ou a scout into the*val
ley of Virginia, to ascertain the state of things
there. Taking with him oolv fifteen men, he sue
cceded iu going round the most of Milroi’s armv,
aud passed nearly nineteen miles iu front of Gen’
end Jones. Although the country was full of
baud.- trying to capture him, Col. R.“ eluded them
all and alter remaiuiug iusida the iueinv’a lines as
long as he pleased, and started to return. At the
Shenandoah he encountered the pickets of the
enemy posted to catch him, but by a peculiar
siralageui he captured them ali, passed by their
army at night, aud returned safely to camp,‘bring
in<; with him all thelankee sentinels on the route.
This is a true statement of the affair, omitting
some interesting incidents iu the telegt&oh line
already published. It completely shows up the
falsity of the Yankee accounts, and places our
gallant fellows right on the record before the
world.— Rich, Whig Jan. 10,
VI AGON ,GEO KG I A:
Wednesday, January 28, 18t>3,
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.
We regret that we Lave only room for
about one half of the Message at this time,
without depriving our readers of the usual
variety of news item? If is an able docu
menr, and every word has s telling pin pose.
It is sufficient to say that it is approved by
ali and is highly creditable to our worthy
Executive as an able and comprehensive
State paper. It should be read by all
GENERAL ORDKf3 NO. 7
In our columns to-d«y T contain;. 5 information of
great importance to all those iiabie to Conscription.
PEACE PROSPECTS-
We have never entertained any very sanguine
hopes of an early termination of the present war,
nor could we cow, but for the disafiectioos and
dissensions fast growing up and multiplying among
our enemies at the North and West They *t-ein
to he in utter despondency of * successful termi
nation of the war in their favor, and that theie is
no longer a hope that the Fouth can be subjugated.
They are financially beggared and ruined, and to
carry on the war further, they have not the means
or the men willing to sacrifice Themselves in so
desperate a cause. They have begun to count
their graves, as well as the costs. On this basis
aione, we think we may look foi the dying out of
the war ou their part at no very distant day.
Perhaps we are mistaken.
PLANT CORN.
The CbarlesUW Courier says “The planters of
Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the Carolina*, hold
the fate of the country in their hauds. To them
much is given, and of them much will be required.
They must furnish moat of the supplies not only
for the armies in the field, but for the people of all
the Confederate Stales. Great is the responsibili
ty resting upon the planters of these States. We
have Cotton enough on hand for ail purposes.—
Every acre of open ground should be put in grain
of some kind.”
We say, let them plant abundance of corn. What
would our army, and our people have done in some
sections but for the patriotic sacrifice of the cot
ton crop by our planters—particularly in South
western Georgia, where immense crops of corn
were made on millions of acres, which never be
fore produced an ear? Most of them have thrown
it early into market at reasonable prices. But
there are some who are holding on for an advance
of prices, and have “none to sell.” Also some,
not a few, peaked nosed and snub-nosed specula
tors sliding about picking up every bushel that
can be had, for future extortion. But we think
they will be disappointed—at least 60 far as this
portion of the State is concerned.
Firk in Columbus.— A fire broke out in the
Post Office buildiug, about midnight on the 19th
instant, during a heavy rain. The buildiug was
consumed but all the valuable contents of the Post
Office were saved. The second story was oc
cupied as a Boarding house, where nearly every
thing was destroyed. The office of the Columbus
Enquirer was in an adjoining building, and was so
much damaged and deranged as to cause a tempo
rary suspension of the paper.
RICH WOND CORKESPOIN DUNCE
OF iUK JOCR S' aL AND .MKSSESOER.
Richmond, Ya., Jan. 22, 18ti2.
The city is again rife with rumors about French
intervention. It is even said that our indepen
dence has been recognized and that France has an
Embassador here now-. I think it may be asserted
aa a fact that if France has not already intervened
with a view of stopping hostilities and securing
our independence, the day is nor distant when she
will do so.
The most impoitant matter now before Congress
ii a bill reported by the Military Committee, mate
rially changing the exemption act. It providt 8
for the conscription of all white male residents of
the Confederacy between the ages of 18 and 45
except the Executive, Judicial and Legislative offi
cers of the Confederate Government and each of
the State Governments, and also, except such per
sons as the Secretary of War with the approval of
the President, mav, from considerations of public
policy designate. There is strong oppositioa to
the bill. It may, however, pass with some modi
fications The Hon. Mr. Gartrell, of Georgia,
moved to amend the bill by exempting those who
had already employed substitutes.
Congress, it is thought, will be in session till
summer. The question of the currency is the most
difficult and by far the most important that will
engage its attention. Various means have been
suggested to cur tail the circulation of Treasury
Notes and to place our currency on a solid basis.
The one which I think is most likely to meet the
approval of Congress, and it is, I think the wisest,
is this: Compel every passer who holds above a
certain amount of notes to convert them into
funds, and every person to receive them in pay
ment or debts. Let this be done and let each
State assume its just and proportionate part of the
war debt, then the most dangerous disease of
which we are afflicted will have been—if not en
tirely—in a great measure healed.
she Northern democracy are calling loudly for
peace and a reconstruction of the Union, with
such guaranties as the South may ask. It was on
this platform that Col. Richardson was a few days
ago elected to the U. S. Senate from Illinois.—
They should not deceive themselves. Whilst we
desire peace, we will have no reconstruction. The
inau who could for a moment entertain such a
proposition would justly be held as infamous. Out
desolated fiolds, our insulted and outraged women
and children, and the graves of 100,000 of our
brethren, all forbid it.
I'ROM THE 59th GEORGIA VOLUNTEERS.
(.’amp skxr Drkwky’s Bluff, i
January 17th, |1863. ’ \
Ens. Kissinger:— Since the 13th of last month,
tue anniversary of onr glorious victory at Frede
ricksburg, our regiment has been march ing and
countermarching in the vicinity of Richmoud, and
the sound of our reveille and tattoo has been ech
oed at various points along the bluffs of the James.
Gen. Daniel's Brigade which was stationed here,
being ordered to North Carolina, half of onr regi
ment which was out on duty at Richmond, reached
his recently vacated quarters on last Friday and
now for the first time in a month we are all to.
gether. The houses built by the North Carolian
Troops, which we now occupy, are neat aud com
fortable producing a pleasant winter coutrast iu
sight, taste, touch and to tiie virgin woods
and bleak hills of the country and the confiued,
filthy barracks of the city—the abodes of small
pox and vermin and the dispensors of hard beds
and short rations. We begin once more, to
breathe the air of purity and catc{* the odor of
cultivation and although w« miss the songs and
rollicking around .h, A,
rewarded tor these epi, od ,, I®
increased facilities for k U r ~’ “ '*-■
, clean and consequent .1
[ timate relation existing beu e( .- . 1
body, we firmly believe tb I
steal,iieor do any other mean if"’’ ■
the emptiness of his stomach a -
his shirt. The absence of p!" * .9
j the presence of a bad Com* J?* '
I l *ons ol mean whisky an <] i[.
soupj will demoralize the bested I
n.ost of the trespassed on } •>; ■
patches complained of so much ■
i tr aeed to incompetent f nr * '** ' I
* want of clean linen. 0«r k^****'"
j to imagine that a soldier and a wSr' ;
stimulated lor blood b? fi Ui , r l " aj
! Congress, now in session, wii‘f" o ,. '
• error aud study and apply n; .' a .“”
wiser object. We hope too it "v :
soldier is cot a wolf to lire on bio
!eon to live on air, and that t: -
and extra glory is a pour
duranee ot summer’s heat a;,.*
privilege and consolation of til,
grave (thanks to the tender uisrc'J ' I
chanties of city authorities r ‘) v. a
! rades in arms whose dust is too of. ■ '
. harlot8 > garroters, murderers and bW
| terialists say it is a matter of no tr • 1 W
j or m what company vre are >
j instincts of that something within u 3 *
[that we are heirs of immortality, acd
|re relations of God ; rebel again?t -
1 bestial sentiments are disproved j : .... ’
j yard where the hand of affection has •
J evergreen or flower. The splendid m*-
j ol Egypt and Assyria covered with t!. ■ t.
i thousand years, as well as the comptrv.
ones of England, Fi ance or wherever
j * civilized man has pressed demon*n , - . |
■ bodies are not like the beasts that pei.
Jean say whether “Victory” or “Westn
j bey” held the firmest grasp upon > -
Admiral Nelson when with England’?
flag he boro down ou the combined
Spain and France and shattered the
supremacy forever ? “Let vie die ami ,
j among >ng kindred' is the language a! -
ture and Nature’s God. It is the
| and hope of expiring humanity and
ready response in the mercy arid wisdor
! Eternal. Let me, as a soldier, bo r.-JS
jamoug the “unknown and uurti" j
stranger’s corpse be ever taken from a
city hospital to receive the r»u ot
among a people whose hearts have „ J
ened and whose sensibilities } •
by daily scenes of misery. We do iy. 5 9
understood that the Virginians a.c a «
sympathising, but ou the contrary, >
preciated their nobility until we w
wrongs and sufferings. We only mea
much familiarity with blood is cal ’ ite„ j
a heart overflowing with the milk of! ,
uess, into a heart of stone. Risen.!
cipal that but butchers by proses-non n: * n
as Jurors by the Laws of England, the , B
sor’e excuse and the tyrant’s plea
account for the seeming indifferenct ar: '» I
to the wants of the wounded, the d-. g ■
soldiers, which is daily exhibited in R j
Speaking of grave yards reminds 1!
Sunday week we attended Divine ben;
Johns (Episcopal) church which is sum,', j
the oldest cemetery in Richmond. Th* a H
this depository of the dead is five or mx a, ,
beneath its soil covered with oak, s>c-i •» j§
sugar-berry trees repose the slccpi g
of two or three centuries. Many of the ton f |
are of great antiquity but so sunk in t * I
and obscured and obliterated by age, I
impossible to tell who “lies It -. H
search among the tangled gras* and m . . I
era, we found several brown stones tha 1 . k fl
a hundred years ago. The Church is ne
the lonic, Doric, Gothic or C >ri:it• im
urchitecturcj but a sort of Composite—i
of an Indian Council House (the site oft
is said to occupy) and a Dutch barn, ha •
that the wall around it (twenty fee', high; •
from view as you pass in front on Rr\>.
We were more than compensated for t r .
pointment in antiquities in theswee: sit.
choir and the 3plendid sermom deliverer
Rector, the Rev. Mr. Norwood,
A few Sundays ago we attended eerv •
Monumental (also Episcopal) Church,
the site of the Richmond Theatre burn'. *
years ago and where several bundr -d riv
ed in the flames caused bv the doors -
' Jr 'm
the inside. Iu the panic, the doors be
- the crowd pressing on, prevented -
bility of egress. An old negro man st. r
the stage of life and i.s seeu daily on the: J
Richmond who was instrumental in **'• •
valuable lives on that tnemotiible real trag-
Congress aud the Legislature of Up
■ now in session. In one particular at ‘
Members resemble the Son of Man—'
not where to lay their heads. Hod. Mr t-
Ala. Speaker pro Icm. of the House has.:
a bill to increase th# pay of the non co;
officers and privates of our Army. A r
passed both Houses at the last session t/_.
either by delay or the veto of the PreiiJ<? : ■ I
hope the soldier will mark each Member o
who causes the bill of Mr. Curry to nu e;
like defeat. The Pesident’s Message is t!
perceive) a magnificent State piper. * :
and dignified in language, truthfulJn trs
and unanswerable in its “inexorable toe
events.
On yesterday the officers of tie tJt
meeting and on the basis of a certin
Surgeons of Georgia Hospitals, Te ; ’ |
the Secretary of War to remove u- to *
account ot the mortality which ha»
the regiment since our arrival in \ irgi- j|
that arrival, we have lost from death can?-
nesa, about one huudred men —an
each company. Col. Brown who is no*
daut of this Post, we believe will uo *
power to relieve the wants and increase • g
forts of his command. We sincerely
with the absent bereaved. We hope tb-. v
tract some coasolatiou from the fact t: “ l 1
aud grieved perished in a cause sane-5 ■ I
eternal principles of truth, honor, pa * ° - I
and justice. They have peeked, ne. ■- ■
in the blazt of battle with the light c ; I
tory on their brows, but auiid 3 c>t ’“ fe
among the “unknown and unrecorded
that crowd our hospitals.
On yesterday. Major Drewrv w. o -j
mand of the fortifications at the Blu.T -
with the Monitor, Galena, Aristook, R -----
Royal and other gunbcaU ths