The New York Herald Newspaper, February 18, 1863, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD. | VAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PKOPRIELOR, OFFICE N. W. GORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. Velume XXVIII...... AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway,—Luau, THs Forsacun, WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Henaixtre. WINTER GARDEN, Broadway.—Hawuxr. LAURA KEENE'S THEATRE, Brondway.—farn Onx | Wits Tax Goupax Locks—RaGriar ix. NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Sowery.—Evawwoutn Bess —Biaok Evep Susan—Kine * Ganvense, BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Wayoxning Sreaxix— MorueR Goosr—Canreater or Rover, GERMAN OPERA HOUSE, 435 Broadway.—Josera ix Beret, i BABNUM'S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway,—Minstx Wanuex. Com. Nutz Livina Mirrovotamus, 4c, at all | hours.—Coii rin BawN—Afternoon and Evening. BRYANTS' MINSTRELS, Mechxnics’ Hall, 472 Broad- .—Eraiortas Songs, BuRiesquxs, Daxoxs, &C.—Biack Bricape be WooD's MINSTREL HALL, 514 Broadwav,—Erasort MGS, Danoxs, &0—-RUNMING THK BLOURADE, ee BROADWAY MENAGERIE, Broadway,.—Livixi Avtuats—Panronaine Buseaaxes Comte Meroe aot AMERICAN THEATRE, ANTOMIMKS, BURIRSQUES, PARISIAN CABINET OF Open daily from 10. A. M. till No. (44 Brondway.—Bas tats, WOND) WONDERS, 569° Broadway.a HOOLEY’S OPERA HOUSE, Brooklyn.—} Soncs, Danvus, Buriesaues, Ac pu aad New York, Wedn Our news from the Army of the Potomac, though not very important, proves that active operations are going on. An expedition started for Belle Plaia on Thursday last, to break up smuggling on the peninsula between the Rappahannock and Po- tomac rivers, and to prevent the enforcement of the rebel conscript law. It returned yesterday, having accomplished its aims. The expedition consisted of two squadrons of the Eighth New York eavalry, commanded by Captain Moore; the Second Wisconsin iafantry, Colouel Fairchild, supporting. A portion of the expedition proceeded as far aa Westmoreland Court House, Warsaw, Union, the Hague and Heathaville, and marched about one hundred and fifty miles in five days, bringing back to camp twelve prisoners and a quantity of contra- band goods smuggled across the Potomac; also four rebei mails and a large quantity of bacon. A large quantity of whiskey intended for rebel consumption was destroyed hy our troops. A heavy snow storm was prevailing yesterday. Our news from the Southwest is interesting. By & despatch from Cairo, dated Wednesday last, we learn that @ Union scouting party met a body of the enemy five miles back of Lake Providence, When a warm engagement ensued. Our troops lost a few men. Many rebels were killed, and thirty-two taken prisoners. Ninety horses wore captured. 5 It ia stated in a despatch from Memphis that the robels at Port Hudson are sormunicating with the Gulf by way of the Atchalafaya river. The same despatch says that “‘a million’ bales of eotton are below Heiena, Arkansas, waiting the permission of Gonerat Grant for shipment; but this is mant- featly an error of the telegraph. General Hindman’s rebel army is reported as thoroughly demoralized. Three hundred of his troops were frozen to death during their retreat from Van Buren. Hindman was once ordered to Vicksbury, but his men refused to go. Upwards of two hunired deserters were concealed in the brush twenty miles from Batesville, which town, with a large majority of the people, is in favor of @ permenent occupation of the country by the ook place on the 13th instsnt, near un., between @ detachment of the First cavalry and a body of rebels, the result of which was four dead rebels, a number svounded, five prisoners and a number of horses captured. None of our men were killed. The Cumberland river is twenty feet deep on the Shoals, and is still rising. It rained al! night on Tuesday and all day yesterday, so that the Tiver is likely to reach a high level. The steamer Creole, Couch, master, from New Orleans on the 8th instant, a: yesterday forenoon, ved at this port Her news, though not im- portant, is of considerable interest. The planters of Louisiana are greatiy exercised concerning the continual escapes of their slaves, and havo held an important meeting at New Orleans in reference % the Jahor question, the details of which will be found in our correspondence. The reports con- cerning the escape of the Hurrict Lane are de- nied by an ofiver who saw her, and who says she Was SO iiuch injured as to be unfit for service, The British barkentino Rosalind, of Liverpoot, Gardiner, master, arrived at St. Thomas on the 27th ultimo, from Wilmington, North Carolina, with the following cargo:-—24 bbls. rosin, 268 bbls. Spirits of turpentine, 17: vtton and 25 boxes tobacco. ‘The Rosalind cleared on the isth and ran the Siockade on the 19th ult. CONGRESS, To the Senate yesterday,a joint resolution was fatroduced author & the collection of foreign Portage in coin, The vill reorganizing the Eogi- neer ¢ S was reported back by the Military Committee. The bill to prevent membera of Con- Riess vod agents and officers of the government from taking any consideration for procuring place, office or contracts was Commitsee reporied back Priation Lill without amendm recently adopt passed. The Finance jon Appro- olutions | Cooper to the cole 4 so wars, to ixsne | all seedte! regu ous was I by the | prssed bya | deat, in letters lations ¢ was ddopted requ | was passed. ‘funds was introduced, script aod Times. NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1863. passed. An executive session was held, and the Senate adjourned. In the House of Representatives the Military | Committee were instructed to inquire into the efficiency of the medical department of the army under General Grant, and.to report what legisla- tion is necessary to secure the utmost possible skill and attention in the care of the sick and wounded soldiers. The Indian Appropriation bill A bill relative to the Indian trust A resolution was offered instructing the Committee on the Judiciary to in- quire and report what are the powers and duties of Judge Peabody, of New Orleans, whether pre- scribed by the law or the President, and whether the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy has power thus to appoint civil judges. Objection was made, and the resolution lies over. The | Louisiana election cases were then taken up, and | the report declaring Messrs. Flanders and Hahn entitled to seats adopted by a vote of ninety-two against forty-four. Mr. Hahn immediately entered upon his duties; but Mr. Flanders was absent. The report of the Committee on Elections, adverse to the claim of Mr. McKenzie, of Virginia, was adopted. The Senate's amendments to the bill providing ways and means for the support of the government wero all acted on, and the House ad- journed, THE LEGISLATURE. In the State Senate yesterday some fow tills were passed, among which were those to appro- priate a portion of the Literature fand for the benefit of academies and to apply the proceeds of the State tax to the support of the public schools. The bill to require the Central and Erie railroads to make monthly and yearly reports of their freight business received a favorable report, and was afterwards recommitted for the purpose of hearing objections. A favorable report was also made on the bill for incorporating Catholic churches. The House resolutions inviting General McClellan to visit_Albany as the guest of the State were laid on the table by fourteen yeas to nine nays. The pri- vileges of the floor were voted to General Cercoran. The report of the commissioners on the damages at Quarantine was presented. The bill to extend the time for the collection of taxes was considered in Committee of the Whole and ordered to a third reading. Some local and private bills were acted upon, In the Assembly several bills were considered in Committee of the Whole, but none of them of general interest. A communication was received from the State Comptroller, covering one from Comptroller Brennan, of this city, in reference to some of the city banks declining to pay State tax, on the ground that their capital is invested in United States stocks, which, by act of Congress, are exempt from taxation. General Corcoran, who was present in the Capitol, was, by a vote of the House, invited to a place on the floor. On the appearance of the General he was greeted with applause, and was addressed by the Speaker. General Corcoran made a short but appropriate speech in reply. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. The steamship City of Washington, which left Queenstown on the 5th instant, is due at this port to-day. Her news will be four days later than the advices of the Asia. The British ship Victory, which arrived at this port yesterday morning, from Liverpeol, has on freight 867 bales of rags. A meeting was held in Galway, Ireland, on the 30th of January, to devise means for relieving the people of that city who are suffering from want of employment. Resolutions were passed expreasing & hope that the government would provide useful works to aid them, and especially by enabling them to improve the harbor fer the ‘accommoda- tion of the American steamers, We have dates from Comayagua, Honduras, to the llth of December. The Gaceta Oficial an- nounces the death of Senor Don Victoriano Castel- lanos, Vice President of the republic, on that day. Dispositions were made immediately for the em- balming of his remains and their interment in the Capilla del Sagrario of the Catholic cathedral of the city. A solemn mass was to be performed and @ statue of the deceased erected, in conside- ration of his long and useful public services. Among other obituary notices in the Jamaica papers, we find the name of the late United States Consul to Kingston, Jamaica. The Democrat'c State Convention of Connecti- cut will be held to-day at Hartford, to nominate candidates for State offices. The democratic party of Kentucky will hold their State Convention to-day in the city of Frank- fort. Candidates for Governor and other State offices are to be nominated for the August elec- tion. A macs convention will be held at Indianapolis on the 26th inst., at which Gov. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, will be one of the speakers. The Board of Supervisors met yesterday. A message was received from the Mayor, returning without his approval the ordinance making ap- propriations for the expenses of the county government for the ensuing year, on the ground that some of the appropriations were extravagant. The firat item objected to is one of $39,600 for advertising, and the message recommends that the advertising be given to two papers of largest cir- culation, instead of uselessly squandering money on papers of small circulation, The message next objects to the item of $201,250 for the con- struction of Hariem river bridge, ‘‘that sum being $68,000 more than was asked for by the Bridge Commissioners." Another item objected to is $20,000 ‘to the appropriation for salaries in the executive department.” Supervisor Tweed moved the publication of the veto in the Hsraup, Tran- Supervisor Purdy suggested the Heracp alone, on account of its large circu- lation. It was finally referred to a committec, with power. Adjourned to Tuesday at three o'clock. The Democratic Union Association held their usual meeting last evening. Mr. Norton, Rev. Mr. Benedict, of Buffalo, and Mr. Mahony, of Dubuque, Towa, spoke on the occasion. The attendance was not so large as on former occasions. The Board of Aldermen met yesterday after- noon at one o'clock, President Walsh in the chair. A resolution was offered by Alderman Boole, and adopted, to the effect that the sum of $14,600 is due by George Law for rent of piers Nos. 41,42 and 43 North river, and the sum of $116,950 from Meserole & Donoghue, for the rent of the Peck slip and Grand street ferries, and that the Cerporation Counsel be requested to inform the Board what proceedings have been taken to Tecover the amounts due. The sum of $5,000 was appropriated for the celebration of Washington's birthday, and the sum of $500 was appropriat- ed to purchase from Henry B. Dawson a num- ber of documents relating to the Revolution- ary history of the country. In reply to a resolu- tion of the Board, the Comptroller sent in a com- munication stating that a suit has been commenc- ed against the Peck Slip Ferry Company. The President nominated Aldermen Masterson, Clapp, Boole and Ottiwell a special commitee to ate the alleged frauds in relation to the se of the Fort Gansevoort property. The Boar adjourned to Thursday next, at one o'clock. Inthe Coart of General Y tore Recorder Hoff sury t9 [ocorm the taken by hit to ing trarasotions in the New ¥ Naval Appropriation the Vinanee Comm) have been A fraudulent } House. The | nok by | e pro va | ican. fo A bili to ¢ y system was | ma | jatrodaced prpates eSpigpey to the “Judioiar York butcher, twenty-cight years of age, was convicted of burglary in the third degree, and sen- tenced ito the State Prison for four years and six months. Counterfeit five dollar bills on the Union Bank of Haverhill, New York, are in cireniation, ‘The new steamship Fah-kee, bailt for Wetmore & Oryder, for the China trade, has been purchased by Adatns’ Express Company, and will at once take her place on the line between here and Beau- fort, N. C., and Port Royal, S.C, She leaves for the latter named ports on Saturday, at two P. M. The market for beef cattle was very irregular | this week, and changed some two or three times ; materially. On Monday the market opened very | firm and buoyant, under moderate supplies and a | good demand; but subsequent arrivals unsettled | the market, and caused prices to decline 4c. ® | %c. per pound, at which the bulx of the sales were effected. The market ruled dull and heavy until near the close yesterday, when a more active demand sprang up—superinduced by the indica- tions of a snow storm—and the yards wore speedily emptied. Prices varied from 640. to 9c. a 10%e., but extras sold as high as 12440, The general sell- ing prices were 8c. a 9}4c., and the average about 8240. a 8%c. Milch cows were steady at $25 to $40 a $50. Voals were steady at 4340. to 60. 8 To. Sheep and lambs were more plenty, and 25c. a 37c. per head lower. Prices ranged from $4 25 to $7 ta $8, and $9 for extras. Swine were in steady, fair demand at 50. & 5%c. for corn fed and 4%c. @ 5c. for still fed. The total receipts were 5,275 beeves, 123 cows, 366 veals, 8,543 sheep and lambs and 21,596 swine. i Speculation in stocks and gold was again active yes- terday, and prices were generally higher, with @ conside- abloincrease of business. Gold rose to 15034, closing 168% bid, Exchange rose to 17434. Money was easy at 6 percent, The trade tables for the month of January aud the current fiscal year to date will be found in the money article. There waz a further improvement in tho breadstuffs market ; flour advanced 10c., wheat tc. & 20., and corn te., with # good busimess, particularly in four. ‘The sales of most kinds of provisions wore largo, atgiging prices, and there was more doing in groceries and most , kinds of foreign merchandise at former rates. The cotton market was extremely dull and prices were nominal. Whiskoy was loss active at drooping figures. The freight engagements wero heavier, with some depression in rates in American asc) i The Calm Before the Storm—The G&ther- ing Elements of the Final Struggle. Never, since the bombardment of Fort Sum- ter, has there been such a general and remark- able suspension of active hostilities as that which now prevails, by land and water, around the entire circle of the rebellion. Undér an armistice, authoritatively proclaimed, this sus- pension of battles and skirmishes, raids and surprises, could hardly be fagre complete. We hear no more of daring and successful rebel forays in the rear of the Army of the Potomac; no more of dashing guerilla enterprises in Kentucky and Missouri; no more of damaging rebel depredations upon the trains and transports of General Rosecrans, since the late disastrous repulse of Forrest, Wheeler, Morgan & Company from Fort Donel- son. Nor, from our widely distributed land and naval forces, from the Rappahannock west- ward to the Mississippi, and thence dows that great river to the sea, and thence around the const to Chesapeake Bay, have we heard for several days of any assault upon the enemy beyond that of the chance collision of a scout- ing party. t 1 the meaning of this extraordinary state of things? Are the hostile forges in this war wearied of their work of slaughter, and are they felling to pieces from sheer exhaustion?— or are they voluntarily pausing in expectation of some interposing agencies of a peaceable accommodation ?—or are the Unionists and the rebels, here and there, quietly concentrating their available forces for a deadly and decisive struggie? Let the enormous Union fleets and armies in South Carolina and in front of Vicks- burg, and the Army of the Potomac, and our army of Teunessee, and let the fortifications and forces opposed to them, be the answer. The leaders of the rebellion have concentrated their strength at four points: Ist, on the heights of the Rappahannock in front of Gene- ral Hooker; 2d, at Charleston; 3d, at Vicks- burg; 4th, in Tennessee, in front of the army of General Rosecrans; and upon the repulse or the successful defence of the enemy at these four points depends the important question whether this war will be ended by the present or be transmitted as the legacy of Abraham Lincoln to our next administration. The rebel army of Virginia is charged with the defence of the capital of the so-called “Con- federate States.” General Lec remains behind anticipate any strategy of this sort by prompt and decisive action. We believe that our forces in Virginia, South | Carolina, Louisiaan, Mississippi and Tennessee are fully equal in every case to the work assigned them ; and wo believe, too, that the golden moment for action is at hand. The despondency of Wall street, the revolutionary tendencies of the spoils democracy and aboli- tion fanatics of the North, and the fears and dis- trust pervading the public mind, imperiously demand “military success.” The government has the men and meane and the opportunity to Secure success, and the country has the right to demand it. We are gratified to hear that en- couraging accounts from our military officers in the field, East and West, have created a more hopeful feeling in Washington, and we trust that this feeling will be soon extended to New York, with the news of some decisive Union victory as the opening of the impending cam- paign. William Colorado Je President. William Colorado Jewett bas had his carte de visite taken. This announcement may seem unimportant; but Jewett is no ordinary man, and his carte de visite is no ordinary photo- Braph. The ghosts of the great departed hovered around the opetator’s camera, aud the operator himself was 8 spiritualist of the first water. The consequence was that the shades of those illustrious worthies, déad and ative, who inspire Jewett in his great’ work of mediation, were impressed upon the photographer’s nega- tive, and are distinctly visible in Jewett’s cartes de visite, In one of the pictures before us Napoleon the First stands majestically by Jewett’s sife; in another Luther smiles upon Jewett’s efforts; in a third Melancthon; in a fourth Queen Victoria; in a fifth the Emperor of Russia, and in a sixth Talleyrand, are seen at Jewett’s right hand, in gloomy and im- pressive grandeur, evidently aiding and abet- ting his mediation and mining schemes. Thus, by this spiritualistic photography, we be- hold not only Jewett’s handsome face and ele- gant figure, but are also favored with a fac simile of Jewett’s soul, and learn that it is com- posed of the souls of all these immortals, and that they actually possess and speak through hi ‘a Letter to tho im. We desire to call most particular attention, therefore, to the letter which Jewett has recent- ly addressed to President Lincoln, and which we publisi in another column this morning. We always thought Colorado Jewett a great man; but we now discover that he is half a dozen great men and women rolled into one. Whatever he says must consequently be of the utmost importance, as he embodies in words not only his own private opinions, but those of Napoleon, Luther, Queen Victoria and the rest. He is not merely blowing his own trumpet; but he is himself a trumpet thrangh which em- perors, kings, queens and@ sages declare their combined Wisdom to the world: Thore is not the slightest doubt of the genuine- ness of this last’ spiritual manifestation. Jewett’s letter establishes beyond question the fact that he is possessed. Its solemn tono, its mysterious’ mannerisms, its oracular style, its apparent contradictions and its prophetic warn- ings are but so many proofs that it was dictated by mighty minds, far removed from the realms of common sense. Indeed, its contradictions seem to us the very best evidences of its super- natural origin. The shades of Napoleon and the Emperor of Russia never could agree. Queen Victoria, the head of the English church, would certainly differ upon some points with the reforming Luther. The mild Melancthon and the intriguing Talleyrand are not likely to divide a soul between them without a little controversy. If, therefore, Jewett pitches into the emaacipation proclamation at the com- mencement of his letter and rather favors it at the close, that is only the result of a little diffi- culty between Napoleon, who, as a military ghost, knows that the proclamation will not end the war, and the Emperor of Russia, who is now involved in emancipation his intrenchments, watching and waiting, to re- | troubles of his own, and desires to see us in the sist any attempt on the part of General Hooker to move “on to Richmond.” But General Hooker has found his most serious impediment to an advance in the “sacred soil of Virginia,” which for two months has. been, and still continues, almost as boggy and impassable as the Dismal Swamp. We must have a few suc- cessive days of dry winds on the Rappahannock before even “Fighting Joe Hooker” can move in any direction. In the meantime, as the in- land railroad line from Washington to Rich- mond was abandoned by General Burnside to avoid the danger of having his transportation cut off by rebel forays, why is it that the sixty miles of railroad between General Lee’s army and Richmond should remain unbroken and un- disturbed? Have we no cavalry connected with the Army of the Potomac equal to some such undertaking as that so handsomely carried out by General Carter and his troop of horse- men in East Tennessee? The capture of Rich- mond would be a blow to “the heart of the re- bellion.” The readiest way to reach itis to dis- lodge the intrenched army of Lee,,and the same puddle. If Jewett argues in favor of peace and yet avows himself a war man, Queen Victoria and Luther are at fault. If Jewett urges mediation in the name of Heaven on the one hand, and tries to oust Seward and nominate a new Cabinet on the other, that is a matter for which the contending and opposing influences of Melancthon and Talleyrand are to blame. Jewett cannot help these little muddles. When a man is full of spirits his brains and his pen are equally unmanageable. It will probably surprise many readers that the souls of Greeley, Vallandigham, Louis Napoleon and Mercier are not among those pho- tographed upon Jewett’s cartes de visite. The natural explanation of this omission is that Louis Napoleon and Mercier are represented by Napoleen the First, and that Greeley and Vallan- digham have either no souls at all or souls so small as to be undiscoverable. But, though absent from the photographs, there is enough of these personages in the letter to the Presi- dent. Vallandigham speaks through Jewett against emancipation. Mercier and his master readiest way to dislodge him is to cut him off | speak through Jewett in favor of mediation. from the base of his scanty supplies. The forces of the Port Royal expedition of No- vember, 1861, might have taken Richmond by way of Norfolk while the rebel army was at Manassas; or, had the whole strength of that expedition been directed against Charleston immediately after the capture of Port Royal, we have no doubt that it would have been completely suc- cessful. But the Charleston of February, 1863, is not the Charleston of November, 1861. The intervening time has been appropriated by the rebels in the erection ef a system of defensive works around the city which it will probably require a protracted siege, by land and water, to reduce. Two months hence the pestilence of the surrounding swamps begins to poison the air, so that General Hunter must proceed to business against Charleston or Savannah with- out further delay, or he may be compelled to leave his work half finished, to be commenced again at the beginning, with the return of cold weather. We may, however, hear of the opening of the ball at Vicksburg or Port Hudson before we shall have any news of the bombardmentof Charles- ton; and we confidently expect that, between General Grant and Admiral Porter from above, and General Banks and Admiral Farragut from below, the Mississippi river will soon be entirely reclaimed. But with the dis. persion of the rebels from that “inland sea” in advance of any decisive operations elsewhere, it is to be hoped that the enemy will not again be permitted, as at Corinth, to abandon one position in order to strengthen another, but | that Rosecrans, Hooker and Hunter will each Greeley, and all the radical, abolition, disunion cabal speak through Jewett in his attack upon Seward, and through Senator Sumner when he declares that Seward’s recent patriotic and statesmanlike reply to the offer of French mediation is “the weakest document of the administration” and “an absurdity.” Jewett is the agent of these radicals, and they use him, as the monkey did the cat, to try and get their political chestnuts from the fire. As none of the great men of this country—Washington, Jackson, Webster— appear in Jewett’s cartes de visite, 90 none of their sentiments inspire the party who put him forward to feel public opinion. His inspiration is from foreigners. There is no Americanisin about this mediation movement. We hope that President Lincoln will say as much when he answers Jewett’s letter, The President will answer it, of course, as he replied to Grecley’s letter ashort time ago, and Jewett is not half so great a fool as Greeley. In fact, when all that is mysterious about Jewett comes to be ex- plained, the country will find that he is one of the smartest men of the day, and knows‘how to feather his own nest comfortably and snugly. Mediation may go down; but Colorado mines will go up; and Jewett holds shares in both concerns. Up to the present time his modesty has been his anisfortune. Having managed Colorado as he bas, he might well nominate himseff for the Treasury Department; but he j recommends Robert J. Walker instead. Per- haps, however, he is holding himself back | for some higher object. A person inspired by Napoleon the Great cannot be without ambi- tion. Wo doubt that he would accept the Presidency—and that he could be elected even if he would accept it. The people are not yet sufficiently educated to understand and appre- ciate his merits. But there is an office which Jewett would be willing to fill, and for which we can cordially support him. When the radi- | cal republicans and the peace democrats, ted by Greeley and Vallandigham, and working bar- moniously together, at last succeed in referring our civil war to foreign arbitration, then let us have no ministers or ambassadors from France, Russia and England to decide our fate; but let William Colorado Jewett, the representative, not only of these threo great Powers, but of all other Powers, past, present and to come, be soleoted as sole judge, mediator and arbitra- tor, and dictate our destiny. And let all the people say, Amen! Our Harbor and Coast Defences, We have lowering over us the prospect of a war with one of the most powerful nations of Europe. Are we preparing for such an emer- gency? No. Our harbors are totally unde- fended against the advent of the strongly plated, formidable war vessels of Napoleon, which, in case of a war betweea this country and France, ‘would surely seck to enter our harbors and } bombard our great seaports. Some few-months back we were almost brought into actual con- ‘fict with Engtand; and any one must compre- hend that, had President Licoin decided to hold the Mason and Slidell, the people of the North Woald have thrown up their caps and shouted for war. We were totally unprepared then to repel the assaults of England’s armored men-of-war. Now, when at any moment we may hear that Napoleon has recognized the Davis government, and that our administration considers such an act a declaration of war, we are no more prepared to repel the attacks of France than we were those of England. And yet for months the possibility of a foreign war has been discussed in this journal, and reiterated, demands made by us that our harbor and coast defences should be carefully attended to. We need iron-clad forts to command the narrow channels which ap- Proach our harbor. We need immense and heavily armed floating batteries to render our defence the more secure, and wo should at once, without # moment's loss of time, procure them. We have ample expe- rience of the efficiency of armored forts and batteries. In Charleston harbor our shells rebounded from the hastily and imperfectly iron-clad batteries of the rebels without making any impression upon them. But a few days since one of our most formidable iron men-of-war, the Montauk, fought for hours with the iron-clad Fort MoAllister, and found it almost as invulnerable as herself. We know that Napoleon’ has causéd’ all the forts which tine the’ coaste of France to’ be ‘heavily armored, and that thus he has rendered them impregnable. England is following his example. ‘The rebéle use'all haste in making thoir forts aud batteries wife’ by” puttitig iron i @mor upon them, and it ‘is only we of the North who idly wait for the moment when a | powerful and detormined enemy shall strike us. Are we forsaken by Providence, or are we mad? Will no experience suffice to render us alive to our danger? Our enemies eagerly seize upon all methods to render their attack the more dead- | ly. We await their onslaught with a supineness which is really becoming incomprebensible. We call wpon our administration te take some immediate steps in this matter. We must havo our great commercial cities safe from the at- tack of any enemy who might be taken with the fancy to lay them in ashes. Sinalls forts, heavily clad with iron and armed with our im- mense ordnance, would render our city per- fectly sate. But, then, we must bave those forts, and, until they can be constructed, batteries, however rudely and hastily thrown up, must be made. We cannot remain idle, awaiting, nay, inviting, the assault of an enemy. We must prepare for all contingencies; and if the government cannot attond to this impera- tive necessity the people of New ,York and other seaports must themselves see that pro- per defences are immediately erected. * Amere accident saved us from the fearful havoc whieh the Merrimac would undoubtedly have committed had not the Monitor—a private enterprise—appeared just at the nick of time to save the government from immense loss and the people from shameful reverses. The event should have taught wisdom to our Navy De- partment. It did not, however. The govern- ment should have profited thereby. That it did not we are at liberty to assert, as we now find ourselves upon the point of a foreign war, while our defences are totally inadequate to save us from its direful results. We must, we fear, a6 in the case of the Monitor, put our trast in our own exertions, and leave the government to its blunders and inefficiency. Let the peo- ple, then, take the matter in their own hands, and let us have our harbors and coasts rendered impregnable. Self-preservation is a first law. New York, the second, if not the first, commercial city in the world, is as open to the attack of an enemy | as though iron-clad batteries and forts were | things as yet unheard of. Had we begun two months since to render our harbor safe from all assaults, to-day the thing would have been accomplished. There is no time to be lost. Those who have inaterial interests in the safety and prosperity of this city must look to its | defences. Let us prepare. By so doing we | will the more likely avoid the calamity. Tue Contravanns, axp Waar 13 To Be Done with Takm.—A correspondent of one of the radical journals of this city writes from Cairo in a most lachrymose strain about the manaer in which “the freed” negroes are treated there. ‘There are seventeen hundred of them crowded in the “corral,” and their quarters are in the midst of mud two feet deep, and cleanliness is as much out of the question as it would be in a pigsty. Hence disease of every kind, particu- larly pneumonia, is fast thinning their ranks. Last week over sixty died, and this is the usual | average. Tho writer adds that they are rotting | and dying “for want of exercise,” and he is loud in his denunciations of the “beaihenish State of Iilinois,” destitute of “humanity, decency | civilization, Christianity and sense,” becanse, | with her millions of acres of uncultivated | prairie land, she does not offer the contrabands a home. Why should the blacks starve in Illinois | | when they can be made useful at Vicksburg? General Rosecrans understands the question, He compels the negroes to labor in his | trenches, and thus saves his troops Why ‘io | not the other generals imitate his example? The cutting of the canal at Vic burg ia de ayed for want of men and because the work ia | | the recruiting service for the regiment. nw done by the soldiers, whem fifty thousand | Regpoes ought to be sent there, who would” finish it before the rebels would have time to build fortifications opposite its mouth, below Vioksburg, and so defeat its purpose. Thus could the adult male negroes be made to eara subsistence for their families, instead of being a burthen upon the War Department, already bowed down with a load greater than it can bear. The anti-slavery fanatics will soon find out, if they have not already discovered, how fatal has been their agitation to the unfortunate blacks, as well as to the white race. Tue Corton Quxstion rvrom a France Por or Virw.—If we are to credit the atate- ments in a letter recently received in Washing- ton, from a gentloman who has been visiting the principal cotton manufactories at Lille and other towns in France, the distress said to pre- vail among the I'rench operatives is greatly exaggerated. In Lille and its dependencies, which run 1,200,000 spindles, or a little leas than one-quarter the whole number in France, every mill is: in operation, and there are no workmen out of employ. Of ceurse it is not, denied that in other manufacturing centres, | whore the coarser yarns: or tissues are used, and where. labor enters for much the largest pro- | portion of the cost, considerable suffeting exists. The lack of orders and general cpndi- | tion of uncertainty im their business in these places are, however, attributed by the maau- facturers as much to the French treaty of com- merce with England and the enormous stocks of cloths and yarns whioh had been accumu- lating for years through over manufacture as to the American war. In reply to an inquiry from tho writer as to whether hé was desirous for peace and an opening of the cotton ports, one of them emphatically said:— ASQ man, yes—as @ manufacturor,no. Tho throwing into the markets of ne world @ bi aa roillion of. vg of cotton would cause iinmenso and widespread pertui tion and disaster. The same speculative spirit which has now stimulated @ riso in cotton beyond its value would equally erate, in @ contrary scnse, this supply. Tas result wi ‘a panic, a prodigious fall in the prices of goods, and ruin to manufacturers and merchants holding large stocks of goods. This is the view that we have all along taken of this question, and the conviction of which has led to auch « reaction of sentiment amongst the English manufacturers ond operatives. The latter have learned to appreciate the fact that tho American war hastoned, but did not create, the ordeal of suffering through which, sooner or later, they were destined to pass, and that their difficulties would only be increased by its sud- den termination. The manufacturers, who are growing enormously rich by the disposal of their long accumulated stocks, feel that it would even be better for them to support their operatives for a while in idleness than to assist in putting a premature end to a state of things which assures them both present and future prosperity. Louis Napoleon is no more blind thaa they are to the actual causes of the suffer- ings of the French operatives or to the small chances which exist of peace terminating them; but he makes use of thom asa moana of carry- ing out his political designs: om this continent. Tn this, however, he may overreach himself; for, though the pross is shackled in France, the manufacturors, as @ class, have an interest in. making the true state of the case understood. Should disaster attend his military operations in Mexico, the dishonest course that he is pur- suing in our regard will belp to precipitate that downward course towards which his inordinate ambition is hurrying him. Farat Accipests From Srreer Onsrrvo- ri0xs.-—The finding ot the Coroner's jury which sat upon the inquest in the case of Julia O’Mea- ra, the poor apple woman, who was run over and killed by Engine Company No. 42, has ex- cited very general surprise. There is a law prohibiting the fire companies from using the sidewalks of the city except when, in winter, the centres of the thoroughfares become impas- sable from snow. The Coroner took a super- ficial view of the bearing of this enactment, and, in his remarks to the jury, held that nobody was to biame, the streets being in a bad con- dition, and consequently entitling the fre company to do what waa usual on such océa- sions. They accordingly found a verdict ex- onerating all concerned. Now it seems to us that this is a very curions charge and finding. Blame clearly attaches somewhere—if not to the fire compaay, certainly to the city authori- ties. When the streets are obstructed, as in this case, the firemen should be allowed to use the sidewalks, but it is the business of the city to keep the public thoroughfares free from im- pediments, and, omitting to do 80, it should be held liable for all accidents oceurring through its negligence. The Coroner failed in his duty in not directing the jury in this sense; but the family of the deceased woman have not the less a lega) claim against the Corporation, if they choose to enforce it. THE NAVY. Koken, 2.--Whitoey’s battery Kovkuk bas bad anew connecting valve put on board, and is now nearly ready for soa. She will be compieted next week, and the au- thorities regard her as one of tho most vaiuablo vessels of our iron-clad flect. The statement that sho had net sufficient means of egress from the engine room Is erro- neous. Capt. Rhind will command her. The builtor of this vessel has asked permission to accompany her South, 80 great is bis faith in her efficiency. Joxtata—10, roguine navy built corvette—sailed, for tho fourth timo, from Philadelphia on Monday. It bas now ined that it is the hall with which there is 20 much trouble, and that the imperfections of the ma- chinory are of a secondary character. So the enexies of wood have lost one great plank io their platform. nn f wits vlso a fect that seriously, e that the eleven and Afvocn jue! as monsters in (heir way, wil of twice their size. Contracts for twenty-inch guns, and ox twenty-five and thirty-incb guns. | will at lonat show the progress of war on lard and Firing guns by olectricity te avother of the exper: of the fow days past Commandor Prebl avd wader orders for a0! ‘The headquarters of the Twei'th United States infantry have been transferred from Fort Hamtitom to the tleld. | Lieutenant B. P. Mimmack, regimental Adjutant, and Drom Major Wiliom Lowe, with a drum and fife pe and a detachinent of recruits, passed through Wastin, on Friday morning, Major L. B. Bruen, the janior major of the regimont, remains at Fort Hamilton to superiatenty Six or eight officers of the Fourth United States infan-' try, who for several monthe past have been on reoruiting an storing Re Ni Mass: mont and elsewhere, ment in the Held. § nen | Je, for gore i di: Captato ¥ on Gover oon ee ler, Tecruiting officers 4 Lioutenaut Jobo f mancipatl a ne Virginia Convention, Wamnuwo, Va., Feb. 17, 196. meut Koows as tho “Willey ameudinent,” gross ia the new coustitution of the uo State of West 7 tien treat om the 20UR of 3 yo overwhelmingly ratified. provides (or gradual emageipalion, cvomeucing J) oom