The New York Herald Newspaper, February 22, 1869, Page 5

SOUTH AMERICA, ; THE WAR IN PARAGUAY. Defeat of Lopez and His Retreat to the Mountains. ARRIVAL OF BLISS AND MASTERMAN, ‘The United States and Brazil mail steamship Mis- sissipp!, Captain Slocum, arrived at this port yester- day from Rio Janciro and intermediate ports, ‘Messrs, Bliss and Maste:man, the recent prisoners of President Lopez in Paraguay, came passengers on the Mississippi, with orders to report to the De- partment of State at Washington. Full details of the interesting news by this arrival will be found 1a our correspondence below. Statement of Bliss and Masterman—Their Arrest, Torture, Forced Confessions and Delivery to the KlectThe Allied Victorice— Surrender ot the Parnguayans—Retreat of Lopez to the Mountains—Occupation of Asuncion—Minister McMahon. Rro JANEIRO, Jan, 26, 1969, Bliss and Masterman go as passengers for New York by the steamer Mississippi. Your readers are @ware that they were arrested on a charge of con- spiracy,on the 10th of September last, when they Were accompanying Mr. Washburn to the river from Asuncion, to take passage down to Montevideo. The history of their adventures and suilering as relaied by Mr. Dliss is as follows:— Upon their arrest they were taken to the Police OMice, ironed and piaced in separate ceils, At nightiali they were brought forth, meunted upon mules, and, under gird, riddeu eigiteea hours to the encampment of Lopez, where they arrived at noon next day. They were immediately hurried be- fove the miiltary tribunal, where they underwent a protracted examination of twelve hours, alter which they were, for the frst time in tuirty hours, allowed rest and food. The next day they were again cailed beiore the judges, and by tue repeated application of torture were forced to subscribe to all that was ex- acted of taem, ‘They were thea returned to their piace of Lnprisonmeat, an open space on a hiliside, where tley lay, shackled and unsheltered, for a fort- Bight. ‘they were afterwards removed to small siraw huts in the open plain, where they remained uutil their surrender wo Rear Adiniral C. H. Davis on ‘tue 10th of December last. ‘The Wasp arrived at Angostura on the 8th of De- cember. The Admiral opeved communication with Lopez, demanding the surrender of Messrs. Bliss nud Masteriaan. Lopez offered to comply with the demand on condition of their being received as pri- Soners and conveyed to the United States without belag aliowed to communicate with any territory belonging to the allies at war with Paraguay. The Admiral accepted the proposition and ordered Fieet Captain Ramsey and Commander Kirkland, of the Wasp, to proceed to Lopez's headquarters, in the neighborhood of Angostura, and arrange the details of the transfer. They appeured and took seats be- fore the tribunal, which was composed of six judges, three priests and three military officers, and organ- tzed after the most approved inquisitoral fashion, ‘This tribunal had, as before stated, foreed these un- fortunate persons, by the most barbarous treatment and repeated application of torture, to confess ail tuat was required of them, includiag, among other statements, the admission that Miyister Washburn had taken @ prominent part in the supposed con- spiracy—all of which confession they claim to be faise, piol, bames, dates and incidents being purely imayinary, but wrung from tuem as above siated, witi tue tiveat of certain death unless the revelation ‘Was Lull, complete and satisfaciory to the judges and tue tyrant Lopez. Messrs. Biss and Masterman were again called be- fore ihe tnbunal, having beea previously warned Hol toatiempt to take advantage of the presence of tue Unived States officers to deny the truth of their cuafessions or to throw themseives upon their pro- tection. ‘Their written confessions were then read, aud having been oj acknowledged by them, Captain Kamsey Commander Kirkland amixed Sueur ures to the docuinent and the aegotia- tious were completed. On the 10th of December, tueir irons having been removed a few days before, they were put on board tue Wasp, where they were received a8 prisoners and a Baber laced over them to prevent thelr communicating w! unautnorized persons. On the 12th of December General McMahon, who a@pparcutly had not figured in the negotiations and transfer, landed at Angostura aud was honored with tary reception, Lopez's body guard re- ceiving General wheu he landed. The Wasp tien tool’ her dt for Montevideo, where sue arrived on the 18tn of December. On the same day tue prisoners were transferred to the Nagship Guer- riers. She sailed from Montevideo on tue 16th and arrived in [uo Janeiro on the 24th of January. On tae 26th Messrs, Bilss and Masterman took passage ou the Mississippi for New York, wit tastructions to report to the Department of State immedisiely upon \ueir arrival tn the United States, where, doubi- tess, a thorough examination will be made into ail - No ae a of this curious and perplexing ruglio. ‘Sue history of this conspiracy, as given by Mr. Bliss, is as follows—premising, however, that no such taiug as a conspiracy ever existed, at least not 80 far as Mr. Washbura or himseif or Mr. Masteriman Were cognizant of:—in the begianing of the last Pend Beuigno Lopez, brother of Marshal, was de- cted in the fraudulent abstraction of nearly a miiiion of pesos from the national treasury at Asun- cion. He was arrested and arraigned for the oience. Fearing the weil known vengeance of his Lrovuer, he, im order to divert the danger Irom him- sell, declarca that the money was intended for a Tevoludonary movement to overturow the Marsial, aud, to give weight and plausibility to his assertion, nawed a8 accomplices United States Minister Wash- bura, Minister of Foreign Adairs Berges, Dr. Carre- Tas, late Prime Minister iu Moutevideo; Sefhor Kodri- ues, Secretary of tne late Oriental Legation; Letie reira, Portuguese Cousul, aud Co.ouvi Veuancio Lopez, his broticr, and deciared that ir. Masterman ‘Was iniormed of its Workings and that Mr. Bliss was @ecreiary of the organization. With the exception of the Lrotwers Lopez ail the above named persons were living at that time in the American legation, Carreras, Rodriguez and Leite Peretra were de:naad- ed on the 27ta of Juie, 1963. Being informed by Mr, ‘Washturn tnat he could not asiord them protection they leit the legauon and were fimmediateiy ar- rested, July 11, 1908. Carreras was shot on tie 17th of September, Rodriguez has never siace been heard . hom, and, by aramor which came down the river before the lust mail sailed for Kio, it was reported that @ general execution of all tue remaining politi. cai prisoners had occurred since the capitulation at Angostura, and the remainder of the alleged con- Spirators Were auong the number. How true the re- port way be 1 cannot say; yet itis in keepmg with Bome Of the acts of the cruel Lopez. Following a this first success as soon as he conld aceut is forces, the Marquis de Caxtas cacked again on the Lith of December at Villeta, White th i eet engaged the water bacteries in front. ‘The Vataguayans, much reduced in numbers, could not long withstand the doubie dreadfal fire of the allies. They way aud retreated to their second of defences towards Lomas Curaubait. This second victory was pot a bioud- less ove for the allies, however, as they suffered lacgely in the loss of officers men—the reporis coaiicting as regards the number; but 6,000 men may be considered near the correct figure, ‘ihe Leavy ratios, added to the exhaustion of the allies, hoid them in ance irom any further offensive movement antl 21st of Dovember, wheu the Maryuis de Caxias ordered &@ geucral assault apoa the cutire une of the Paraguayan intrenchments, which they carried line by Une, after a severe con- Nct ot turty hours, euding in @ compiete defeat of fie Paraguayan army, @ few only, less thao a hun- d@ od, eapimg and securing themselves within the cviences jounediatvely aroand the headquarters ti Lopez end in the water batteries at An- ostura. = Figii tpon @ simall scale was opt up woul the guih of December, when, previous to @ united assault, & council of war ‘was held in the ailled camp, thoy estunaung that it ‘Would Cost at least 6,400 men vo the place: and to prevent, tf possibie, any further effusion of blood, tucy eent wader fag of truce & proposition to the e@..emy to treat for peace. Orders irom Lopez hav- dug been repetvea to disable th fans and make way for tiemscives a8 best they could, they immediately entertained the proposition, aud after @ plaim atate- Mont of their coudition being placed before them vy We commanding oMicer @ vote was taken by the OLoers, Which waa, Wilh one exception, unanimous fer acceptance, On the sith of abet the garri- son marched out, With colors fying and ali the hon- ors of war, the parole of Ue officers being takeu thas they woul’ not serve again. Lopes Was not present at the capitation, having leit on the séth of December, Ou the lst of January the vanguard of the Brazilian ering entered Asun- clon. On the Sth the entry Was made at eight A M., aud on the 6tn the Al entered. On the 28th of Lopes had toe encampment of Cerro Leon, where, surrounded by a few fighting men, the remnants of his late army, fad 5,000 wounded, he issued a proclamation caili for new patriots, admitting lus late defeats, bu a’mainy that the Cause of the republic () was ro 4 lost. On the same day, however, he retired to the cordillera of mountain passes in the vicinity, where fb iast acconuts We Was reported to Have from 1,609 t .,000 mén ready for the eld. Hisarmy gone, his ‘ist stronghold taken ftom him, his defeat is thorough and compicte, That he may maintata for wocks or perbeps woitha @ guerilla warfare ia pow NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1869.-TRIPLE SHEET. a Pitwe long pase il of the people the B: throughoat all the provinces of iiver Ia Plata is bezinuing to develop tia-It’ in street rere one latier struck the italian on the hat, knocking It off. ‘The Italian abused the soldier in his own languaze, and @ mob of collecting an assault was made wilians and a tigut ensued. The police rere, about 2,000 peopie, received them wil Aneull cries of “Merle a lox macacos”— death Lo the eys—with which Sra voiley of stones Were thrown at the Brazilians, ob! ging them to retreat ma haste. y endeavored to take refuge in the «lwell- ing ie the neighborhood, but were repulsed by the n Much toterest is felt in Rio Janeiro in Brazilian oe as AS eos ees continuing with retreat froin bis capital. It is ‘the w general opiuion of all well informed Amer- icans in tio Janeiro and on the River 1a Plata that General McMahon 1s a gentleman well qualified to understand and appreciate the true state of aifaira in Paraguay, aud that he will neither by ‘omission nor commission” do any act that will bring discredit upon himself as an ofticer or disgrace upon the flag of the country he represents, He remained at the head- quarters of Lopez‘until @ few days vious to the capitulation, when he started for Asuncion, Whea ou the Sth the allied forces oceupied that city it was learned that he had continued on to the eacaumpment of Lopez, m the mountaius. ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. The United States mati steamship Arizona, Captain Maury, arrived yesterday from Aspinwatl, with the following specie Ust:— Dabney, Morgan & © Eugene Kelly & Co Weils, Fargo & Co. Fred. Probst & Co. 4 Isaacs & Ase! Total........ Quiet on the Isthmus—No Mails—The Local ‘Tax Question Appealed to Bogota. PANAMA, Feb, 13, 1869, Panama is particularly barren of news at this moment, No revolution, no smallpox, no yellow fe- ver—nothing, in fact, beyond the shooting of two or three men—has occurred since my last to create the slightest sensation. We have had no arrival from Australia, as that line appears to have been sus- pended; no arrival from Central or South America; no news from anywhere except what bas already appeared in New York. Yhe Thomson Gold Mining Company, who have been working about fifteen miles from Panama for some time past, seem to think they have siruck a sil- ver lead, and their hearts are made glad thereby, though the strike may lighten their purses the first thing they know. On the 11th inst., in the afternoon, a Jamaica nic- ger entered the strong room of the British Consulate and stole $1,200. He was discovered and $1,000 got back from him, On the 7th a homeward bound passenger from San Francisco named Antil was found dead near the rail- Toad station. ‘The authorities have commenced seizing and sell- ing the merchants’ goods at Aspinwall to pay the taxes; so @ case is made, and the whole thing is at last to go to Bogota. Matters appear to be quieting down at Bogota, the sword there being more powerful than the pen. It looks as if the conservative party were crushed out by the liberals. NOVEL BREACH OF PROMISE SUIT. A Man Sues a Woman for §20,000 Damages for an Alleged Breach of Promise of Mare riage. {From the San Francisco Herald, Jan. 23.) ‘The euit of Henry Eitel vs, Lewis and Cynihia Kast, to recover $20,000 damages for an alleged breach of romise of marriage ou the part of Mrs, Kast, was ied in the Fifteenth District Court on Thursday. Ju McCabe briefly stated we case in his open- Bn a vpn hd nee ae Speen ~ romise of marriage against Cynthia Kast, forme: Gynthia Beck. He would show by letters and otuer evidence that they were engaged, and that the de- fendant, Cynthia, broke 0: e engagement and married the defendant, Lewis Kast. ‘ihe defendant, in their answer, simply deny the maxing of an en- gagement. He contended that a woman had no more right to violate a contract of this kind taan a man, and, the engagement being proven, there could be only the simple question of damages. He argued ‘that it was aluwost time that some check was placed upon the women; they had “run wild” long enough, boenipew example suould be set them in the result of case, After @ number of witness had been examined Henry Eitel. the plainti(. wassworn. He was a thin, dapper-looking young ian, and nis manner and ap- pearance he was @ maa who desired to be well thought of by tie opposite sex. He tesui- fled that he knew Mrs. Kast, and was slightly ac- quainted with her husband. There was @ tacit eu- ement between hinself and Mrs. Kast, née Beck, ber, 1506, The time of their mi had been xed on the 3ist of March following. She had get the time three weeks from the next Tuesday evening, because Tuesduy evening was his night out of tne store. The nexi day he procured a marriage license and gave it to her. She wanted‘to keep it, and took it with her. pA reuarked, laughing, tat sie had kept it ever since.) There Was no reason on Lis part why the murriage was not consummated, aud added, king sheepish, “1 did not L sicbtome it” ter.) A letier in Miss Beck's d writing, April 3, 1867, was ideutitied by witness and offered ta evidence. The letter was weil written, aud the composition and expression iadyiike in its tong. The writer stated that she had been thinking over the step she was about to take, and had couciuded it would be a foolish one for both of tiem; that sie Would not be @ suitable wile for him and Know she would regret tue Murriage allerwards; It Was betier Wo think of it now than when it wouid be too laic; she would always tank weil of bim as a friend, but did not love him weii evougit to be his wile; she re- turned a ring he bad given her and repaid some mouey he had loaued her, and thought tiat, upon the whole, they ought noi io weet aguia or Lave any farther correspondence, Upon crossexamiuation the plaintii? testified that the license was procured April 1, 1867; he had beea married beiore, and fis wile was sail living; Judge Dwinelle tad granted theta a divorce. Judge Dwinelie—“it is very likely.” (Laughter). Was divorced from his wile July 30, 1864. The defendants’ counsel ofiered to show that Plainti’ had had numerous marriage engagemenis since that time, uud lad frequently Wreateued ladies With suits of tbls character, but the Court ruled out the testimony. He had given Miss Cynthia @ ring, December 18, 1866, Whica Was considerea an eugagement ring between them; uo oue else knew of ii; they used to together then; ste had not promised ‘to marry im at that time, but “the ring Was considered Lo be an Cigagement rng because it was a diamond” fey geet she anderstood it that way; she did not say it Was au cngagetment ring, but there were other ES wo knew it to own it at the time, Mr. Temple offe ion of dam- ages, that after tuls dificuity occurred he bad veen making himself agreeable to otter ladies. Judge Dwinelle—Weil, geatiemen under sneh cir- cumatances must have some solace. (Laughter.) ‘The Court atlowed the question, however. Witness said be had goue with @ good many ladies; he was not en, bow. Couusel—Are you not engaged now? Witness (empliatically)—No, sir! (Langhter.) A number of Witnesses were examined for the de- fence. | ‘ihe case was tien briefly argued by counsel, ‘when the jury were charged by the Court,and afier a such; she might aut have (Lauguter.) to show, in mil few minutes’ absence in tue jury room’ rewrued a verdict for the defendant. AFFAIRS IN ARKANSAS, [Little Rock (Feb. 10) correspondence of the Chicago f : ‘Thiues—ranteal} . Polttically, the situation 18 as flattering as the most ardent advocate of martial law could desire. Civil law having just been resiored over the last remainm, of the counties of Ashley, Drew and l- Jey, martial law exists only tn the lessons of the Bave in the counties of (i head, aad Crittenden. In all the remaining sections of State ible @ condition of oxisis as in Union, In each and every county com- i In the counties of Green, Crannees and stppl also, though still f martial law, companies having been on all 5 J = been disbanded. Here, too, civil @uchorities have i Mr. James G, Mutow Redempty from an attack of pneumonia for his suaden death was not looked for. has fied severni important offices tn had @ high reputation a4 @ bank oflver, Mr. Carne; Lowell, ABYSSINIA Revisit of Our Special Correspondent to Avyssinia—Meeting with an Acquaintance - Massowab—Journey to Zoutla~Keomny- lee—Desolation of the Sanatarium—Journcy to Seoree and Undel Wells=the Grave of Henry Dafton—Arrival at Rayray—Guddy— Journey to Senutem“Needorkreid,” alias “New York Herald?—Political Newe= Prince Kussat=Policy and Condact-Wags sham Gebazye—War Imminent Between Kuesal and GobazyemA New Rival. Massowau, Abyssinia, Dec. 16, 1868, Among the many svrmises and suggestions that have been made respecting the future weal of Abys- 8inla there is not one of them so near the truth as that which will be found tn one of the June numoers ofthe New York HeRa.p, wherein it speaks of Wagshum Gobazye as the likeliest successor to the throne of Ethiopia. Wagshum Gobazye has had his brief day, however, and a somewhat slow, pining dissolution is his now, other more warlike chiefs having risen their daring neads in a bowent circle round about him, Sailing from Aden, in an Arab kanjeab, in about five days I arrived at Massowah. [ere I found all sorts of people—soldiers, merchants, consuls, parbas, ex-Abyssinian interpreters, and a host of pseudony- mously titled individuals, their combined efforts having a tendency to redeem the large amount of specie ailoat in Abyssinia—the liberal bailings, as it were, of the cumbrons and costly crusade which lately left Ethiopian shores, never to retura, Among the many of these quidnuncs in this excessively hot and dirty pestilential litte port of the Egyptians, I discovered at lus ease, at an inn, while inhaling the fumes irom a Persian calioub, Peter Borce, one of the interpreters who was with us through the campaign, Dusky Peter recoguized me at once, aud like acquaintances meeting aiter a long separation we proceeded to pump each others arms and to embrace—fervor having msen to that plech— uttering our “moshoilabes” and ‘“esmariadeks” like true Orientalists. From the khan stroled the dark-eye:l, digutfied Arabs to gaze at the unusuu phenowenon of two Christians embracing; and could they have inade themselves understood very proba- bly they would have ingatred about my con/reres at the LLPRALD office, Wlich would have been a source of infinite satisfaction to all concerned, Our mutual congratulations over, we proceeded together to our khan, where, after wetting his lips with a peptic decoction, I tried to bargain with Peter to take me to Zoulla and Senafe, He would not charge me for anything; he would like my company capttaily. Was T not of old his warmest friend, when Telamonian Ajax Speedy (the giant, interpreter for the English army, formerly commander-in-chiet of Theodore's army) and myself used to quaif huge horntuls of that delicious compound of fermented honey and arrack? Certainly I was, and many is the time when our en- thusiasm and friendship for the whole army of red- coats and solar topees rose to the epigramiatic fervor, and we shouted, in loudest strains, “Victory or death!” Besides, he, Peter, was about journeying to Axum, and from Axum he intended to go to Lallibullan, the Jerasalemn of Abyssinia and Mecca of Ethiopia. So, without much ado, two days afterwards we lett Massowah, travelling southward for Zoulla, Zoulla, anyone would have known it who had ever boen there or had read the descriptions of its Geheana heat and Tophet aridity, Zoulla was the same, not changed in the least except in its external aspect. No long arrays of snowy bell tents greeted our visions, and no “brandy and cool, sparkling soda water” hung pensile in the perspective. Tents had vanished, they had “silently stolen away” like adream without a particle of definite circumstance attached to their long resting place; the braady and soda water that had been drank by the thousand bottles had long since burst their confinements and evaporated into the thinnest ether, and tie abdomi- dous proportions and jovial faces with the legions of qaizzing come had also somehow unaccountabiy dissolved themseives into dull torgetialness of the scenes Which once knew them, aud trooped away over the horizqp of the azure waters of the Egyptian Sea; bud tenacious memory clung with its inherent im to all these sights, aud by the magic of its powerful percoptibleness peopled the sandy beach of Zoulla with an army of crimson-coated oficers, who looked at us with astonished quizzing giasses and expanded lips. Ah! these were well known characteristics of them, and i was beginuing to open mouth to twit them with sharp words, when lo! my horse stumbled and | was precipitated somer: in the air, aud the iusiou vanished, But the blue Annesiey Bay was still here a reality, Separating tue mainland from the island of Lessee. A few Turkish kanjeabs and Arab xebecs re- placed the mammoth fieets of Old England, aud the beach and the bunders still intact as tbey were when bales and plies of the imported war material cov- ered them, Were now but landing places for foul- mouthed, guttural-voiced Arabs, who had come Nither to endeavor to regain, by the sharpest of trades, a few of the dollars still left in the country by the late expedition. On the low shores stood but two of the brushwood army warehouses, and these were in @ sad, duapidaied condition. Scattered around were tie remnants of the multitudinous bazaars and. the dcbris of a once busy community, vhere were only turee European-looking buildings, muabited by afew French merchauts, who cling to the place ag if loath to leave it, They do, however, quite @ considerable business with die interior, and sell Bombay leezans (=triped cottou cloths used bd. the Lombay natives) and the crimson striped coiton robes wora by the veru monde of Ethiopian society, In return they purchase pantier skins and ivory, and medicinal piants, such as tae kourso—a vermilugal piant—aud gum arabic, which the natives extract from the acucia tree, The rail- road to Koomaylee is exactly as the English leit it; but the cars and locomotives have been supped off long since. A few wheels of Maltese cares are scatiered about here and tuere, enhancing the look of desolation which the place wears, One or two telegraph poles are stil! upright, for a wonder, the natives not having made wer minds up that they have a right to them, because of the sharp shot that rattled about their ears wheu a company of tue Irish regiment started off in pufsurt of the maraud- ing gaog of Sholves who murdered Mr. Meury Dul- ton, the Abyssinian traveller, From Zoulla my dusky chaperone and mysclf started for the sanatarlum aud priacipal depot of the English—hoomayice, It has now resolved itself into its own former dreary solitude, ‘The wild anl- mats, relieved of thelr awe, engendered by the pres- eace of man, Lave come back to their once deserted dens, and make the gioom of the great pass sull more hideous by their melancholy cries. The “defenced, tented cliy has become desolate,” and the “place that knew ft knoweth tt no more ‘Thorns and brambles have shot up spontan: in the parade ground; necties aud briers in a dance around the place of the former headquarte Tue glorious camp ta now & habitation lor wid baboous. The beasts of the Boulla plain meet with the beasts of the mountains; the ‘panther crieth to his mate, the screech owl! for his fetiow;’ the cor- morant and the Egyptian vaiture (nephron perenop- len) poaseuseth it; the upupa and the gorgeous cockatwo trill in union their notes, and the hyena aad the jackal dweil therein. ‘The wiiderness and the solitary 2 18 glad Of the absence of mea,” and cue “desert is rejoicing and biossoiming 4s ile rose.”’ Of the immense mountains of stores nothing is leit to denote of them ever having Leen there—not even a stray yok SE guany bag. What the Engilsi dia not take the Ptlio-Shohoes did, and what the Shohoes left the eagles and the ravens picked up to warnieh thelr ness with, The open quadrangie be tore the hospital and principal quarters of the men bas ews Meg] of its former spruce aud neat ap- pearance. terrific debauch of the last ramy season has covered it with the debris of the moun- tains. An | jotted dowh some notes the pale, veril- cal sunshine iit up the emdruchure to the Great Sorrow Pass, and what with the faint, clear azure ot tne brightest of skies and the varying, endiesd chequer of mountain shadows of every tint, from bi brown. to that of the freshest and brightest verdure, there appeared a multiplicity of ‘effects before the eye, any one of whicu would drive an artist lave frantic raptures. Leaving Koomaybee with far different feelings to those with wuich | entered it in January last as the Special correspondent of the HenaLy with the Abys- siniaa crusade, we—my chaperone and I—siarte| up bap yd for Senafe, and soon we were hemmed in by ther a er of hills of most picturesque con- tour, wi lack nothing bat a limpid streain of ‘Water to make the scene a most romantic one; but its absolute solitude and the awe-striking precipi!- ancy of the mountain worid causes It to rige luto oue of unrivalied aublimity, As in the time of yore, the echoes do not jar on the ear with the crasming reverberations, but with rather a og pe catenation of sounds, as if eloquent of the atlirin, fe ‘wimessed.” e, certainly the hoary 0! kings itive nature’ must have been silentiy astonis! tue eternal gabbie and war of noses thore straugers woke when, with all the circumstance of war, they rolled aud woitered up and down like sinuous streains of red hot avoria Sround their base, and they must have witnessed with a departure of the busy peuple of Anglo- the noiseless F might once more undisturbed review it of time, Soon we canie to the terrible Sooroo Pass—the thnnder and death. The last time I looked Drayerful teciings welling up in my bosom. Worldiy-minded’ reader nould siuile at tho devotional sentiments it must be because the circumstanecs which cailed them cannot, Myseif and servants on return- Senafe were caught by the great soor00 i i E 2 2 E i foods, the very uame of which evoked terror amon Engiish oMfciais, ‘The rain cane dowu while. We Were struggling over boulders in the roaguest part of the cafoo—not in drops as of dew, Hab lu borrouts as if Window in heaven were opoucd, like ba Noah's times, “The rain deseenict and the foods come,” roar and rioting among We gigantic bouidera, ‘eating ‘Tipe rocks (rom thebr founda tions and hnrling them upon our stony ey ote wit stenxth of maduess, sunsing down upon us to swining conduxes, whirlpools revotv! frantically all around us, living sueets of water reatst- lessiy along from up the pass, of p s gravel and nud and trees, walch tossed flap] about uneasily uke despa'ring phantoms caught .. ghastly hell sea, Dead bodi ot drowned oxen, cameis, horses, mules, bales of hay ‘and straw, carts aud telegraph poles with miles of wire attached to them—these were swept past us by the sudden sooroo flood, bh utter misery the rain ceased and the but those who experienced its dangers never vaD oy i torn up, huge roc! ow the pass is ploughed and disinantied pinnaAice fie in heaps oF wreck cal ruin as evidence of the fearful power of the flooas during the rainy seaxon, Nota trace of the road made for the army can be seer any where, We arrived at our ancient camp of Undel Wells the first day. Strange to say I entertained a cersain af- fection for one corner of this camp, and that was the place where my length was measared many a night whue my sleep was haunted with meed of battle dreams. Iam also obliged to confess to a certain Weakness which is belteved all travellers affect, and that is of writing tueir names on certain places. Eleven months ago | mscribed the following above my head on an upright wall of limestone rock:— 2 correspondent of the New YORK HERALD, cam| here January 13, 1868,” and I added to it another piece of self-glorification, very uapardona-| bie, I ho “ Revisited here December 6, 1843, by, orders from the New Yor« Hewauy.” Futui travellers tn these regions will, I dare say, be gl to tind this evidence of one of their country me having been there, | would suggest that those of the present generation who may Visit them dv camp upon the ground occupied by amy tent. It is @ most charming spot, The next morning, it and early, we left Un- del Welis and reached yray Guduy, where we sat down and had our break/ast, which we enjoyed with wonderful appetites, Not the faintest ghost of all the men of the Anglo-Indian army who caimped there troubled us during our meal. [t ts su mark of ih civility in Abyssinia, and the natives, the Shohoe chiefs, mstead of murdering me, hike they did poor Dalton, rather enjoyed wy society than otherwise, is requires the tact and ail that sort of thing, you know, that onty the plastic, irre- pressibie mind of a geawue HERALD special pos- sesses. All sorts of people can be dealt with if you, will ouly take them in their own way. Dufton ‘did’ not, Dafton was an Engiishman. Dafton fell. 1 eavy Dutton for ali that. Nothing would suit me} better tar to be chopped to pieces by Philo-Sho-| boes—quasi piulos, however—and havea battery o: artillery thatder tts booming “farewell” over me and be epitaphed. [visited Mr. Datton’s grave at} Undel Wells, and 1t has been the lot of a New Yor HeeaLp correspondent Lo dress up the littie moun over this humbe author anid iissionery, aud Ax th hea tboard fn an upright state, After breakfast we started with a rapid pace for Senafe, ube second depot of the Bugiisn army. About four P.M. on the second day of our journey from Massowah Peter Bovie and myself arrived upon the higolands of Abyssinia, We 1d the King’s camp, and marched at once for the ground formerly occu. pled by the Major General commanding the station at Senafe, Sir George Maicolmn, K.C. B. On that ground Peter fixed our tent, and, with the romantic laucy of youth, I imagined myseif the commanding general at Senafe, and so in truth was lL. Peter was looked upon by the villagers as simply my setvant, nor, indeed, did I try to disabuse them of the belief, though peruaps it was unkind, ‘There was an old centenarian who recognized me, and well he mignt, the old sceierat, Many a tine had he hobbied up to me aud begged the wherewithal to keep away sup- posed starvation. The natives brought egys and imuilk and azimous bread and chickens and a goat to sell for dollars, such as we generally paid them; but 1 got alll wanted for a dollar, bemgonly a uuit, whereas some ttme ago I would have had to pay a whoie bag of dollars for what I got for one. Upon the strength of that one dollar we had a glorification, I invited the Natb, or Ba- harnagash, or Ras (call him what you will) of Senafe to dine with me, and the old sinner condescended to sit down and eat, thongh not many months ago he would have thought it an insult had any person less than Baron Napier of Magdala, tnvited him. He ate nearly the whole goat himsel!, ‘lo flatter me he said my checks were of the “color of raddy apples,” and iu the tit-for tat styte I sad “his hair was like the shows poe Hermon.” He liked that very much, for thereby he knew | had studied Holy Writ, and he Wasa great scholar in that book. This chief was very anxious to kuow what I wanted in Abyssinia. Did I come to teach Kussai, King of Tigré, the tac- ‘ues of the Feringibees, or did | come to search tor the gold that was reported to exist on the banks of the Blue Nile? Unaccountabiy the mocklag picasantry cs Horace, where he twits his friend I[ccias, recurrea. me:— Tcet, beatis nunc Arabum invides Guzas, et acrem militiam parus non ante devictis Sabo Regibus, “No.” Tassured him I was simply sent by the NeW YORK HERALD to see the country—to see liow it prospered since we had left. “Nedork Raid! Who 1s he?” gaid he, his eyes ex- panded to the utmost with astonishment. “is he king? Has he a big country? I never beard of him, but he must be rich, Nedork Raid I? “New—YORK—HERALD,” sald I, deliberately, “of New York, Uaited States of America.” “Out! Neertok Raid, Neerick, Nited Merica, Ab, yes; now I have got him. Neerick Rald, Neerwk, Nited Merica, 1s he @ big negus (king) ad “Awful big,” said [, solemnly. “He has his young men on every sea and every land—in every corner of ‘the globe, wherefrom he can hear aud Kaow all that ig going on in the same day. Then he gives the news out to his people next day tn a voice of thun- der, and no matter how tar they live from him they can bear him, [f the news is good, tuen people laugh; if the news is bad, people cry.” “AU-a-a-ha-a! Your negus must be a great man! Neerick Raid! Neerwk Ra-ald? 1 will remember bis name,’ said he, i am posliive he will remember the name; and “Neerick Raid” must become & household world in Abyssinia, totally eclipsing the name of Napier, because it came last. From our camp [strolled ont with him to his vil- lage, under the shadows of the huge cilffa that reared themselves in every direction. The craggy Wid hills, interspersed with bare granite rocks, where the siorm had pierced through the soil— etimes in hage rough masses, sometimes in pre- vous bases—upon which the sun, then deciining behind ute western horizon, threw a mellow glory, beigutenod by the =o shadow into Which @ portion Of tue lond Nad already fatien. Arrived at his place, the Kas gathers into his house severai of the grayheaded eldera, where tacy sat down to the rignt and left of me, with the gravest diguily, yet wih eyes beaming with pleasurabie curiosity, After the pros and cons of au introduc- tory couversation had been gone through I look the liverty of mepeempens @ conversation wiich touched upon the politics and state of the country. I think it more desirabie to give you the result of the mforma- ton gained from these elders and from other sources, which I deem more reliable than much I could gain from the oficial presses during the campaign ot the Engitsh army, though endorsed by tae Loaorabie Adjutant General's own hand, It will be remembered that Kussal, Prince of Tigre, chief of the ehiets of Ethiopia, was to recetve certain presents of arms for bis faitatul rendering of aid to te Eagiisn army. The arms which he received coa- sisted of 1,500 muskets (muzzie loaders) and bay- oneta, with which the Bombay and Punjaub iofantry were armed during the campaign. in addition to these inuskets he received two eight-tach mortars, SLX seven-pound cannon, 499,000 rounds of amrouni- tion, much gunpowder and several hundred cannon balls. These were expected to strengtien nia prea tige and merease his power througuout Abyssinia, ‘They did not, however, have the omediate eect anticipated, Kussal not being endowed with the marual ardor of the Kinperor Cheodorus. General Napier vefore he quitied Abyssinia gave exccilent advice to the Prince of Tigre, which he would bave done well to have adopted, He said to hun:—**A spear 18 a good Weapon, it is avery wise one also; but you Kaow It 8 not it to fight with against men armed with guns. Discard your spears, aud tn the day of batile make use of the gans | give you, and you will do well. Your men are brave aud intelligent and quick to Jearn, but taey are not fit to Hgnt against men armed like the Egyptians.” He aiso advised him to send some of his youug men to a Bombay college to learn European Ways, aad that then he need have no fear of the Keyptians if his army were commanded by men who could teach an army t fight. Into his charge he recommended Ps ben ang Pi! omaeres and ene the captives during their tivity, and seve! other chieis who suitered ‘Tapriscument at the hand of Theodore. Kussal, on the spur of the moment, promised taithtuily to do what Sir Robert Napier suggested, Aito Samuel is his favorite, as he was of ‘Theodore, and those chiefs, with distinguished traits about them, have been weil cared for. It is now that he is beginning to bestir himself in adoptin, what Lord Napier ed. Lie ls now living al Axum, but has tad ai wor since we left with tho arch-robver chief, Walda Yasous, of Amba Aleji. Waida Yasous is @ prisoner at Axum in chains, and the citadel Of Awba Aiejit is in Kas. sais hands, gurrisoned by his own musketeers, Walda Yasous’ brother bas been siain in battle, Prince Kussat offered Captain , the interpret. erfor the Englen army, $4,000 year if he would Stay and teach his men the use of muskets and aruy drili before ke jeit Abyssinia. This offer was bruited abroad, even to and adventurers from all countries are flocking here. ‘There are two Englishmen and one Frenchman with Prince Kussat. There was another at Massowah—hall German, half Frenchinan—about preparing to follow the same track to the royal camp at Axum, There are two at Aden see! to & pas. sage wo wah; ono an Englignman nained Colonét Kirkham, formerly Honel in the Chinese imperialist army; the other, strane fo ey, 6 young man named Burns, from Providence, It. 1. gentlemen have an idea that either they will be very useful to Prince Kussat or that the Prince will be useful to them. If they are men they will do well in Abyssint as the is @ liberal master. The continual bugbear and menacing phantom of Kussal's dreains are the Who, as he says, “encroach like & mist upon territory.” ‘The Egyptians are not nearly 80 ready to endronch upon his country a8 they used to be. | ‘The tale of those arms and canaon, waoned and officered by ng ishinen, which bas lost nothing by being repeated, has served tor the nonce As aM éffective clieck agaist auy Arab crusaders, it is reported that ambition has been faithfolly | inealented in Kassai by lis forenga ouicers, and according to Tigrean information ne tateads to ao KometInE Makhamn (very ford. Wiel bait may Ve@ is safely locked In tie bo-ours of tia counsellor | aod in his ows. bie has been trying to v6, a 1 | “ecare”? by the thunder of his guns and volleying muasketry, but pale (aced oMeers don't see it ta t Light; they the thander to have some efect besides ui sound, and without doubt they will, Mf they are of the same stainp as Colonel Kirkhain all the heer os perry and priac®s may as well bide their dimin! and shorn cresis @t once. First of al the Egyptians had better look tot. Their fron- ler posts are very badly defended. The cause of tue terror which Prince Kussat entertained upon hearing of the Egyptian advance was caused ina reat measure by (the great consternation of the hoes on te jus of Zoulla, Both men and women captured by the Arabs and sold and were fearfully mutilated, Not seven out of ten lived after being mutilated, A hole was dug in the sand and the person who had undergone this terrible muula tion was put into It to be either killed or cured. If cared the slave becaie worth ten times the sum he orshe would have fetched as a sound person. Ii the [tan died, well, the slave owner did not ca ere were plenty more to be had. A successl depredation of this sort, asa matter of course, in- spired terror or panic, and panic begets panic, and even Kussal of ‘Tigre felt its tmiuence, But his foreign oiticers will entertain no such fears; there are few persons on the glove who entertain contempt for the Arabs than the English, .Formerly travellers coming from Turkey © and with the silks of Stamboul, sctmetars Damascus and the chibougques from Cairo. had sa tad = of ~~ romance about them. They exaggerated, when countenance’ by their home friends, their intrigues with the Fatl- mas and Suleimas of the harem, and their books teomed with marvellous adventures of a fike nature, ‘Their graphic and forid descriptions of the land of Latakieh tobacco, their med reminiscences of Damascus, bewildering tales of Palestine and the nd, mysterious suolimity of the Dyramids and foter Nile had infused into their whole natures a love for the same kind of mysterious halo which in their eyes tinged the scones in the Orient, Bayard Taylor's travels, or Warburton’s, or Kinglake’s Eo*then,” teem with rosy tibs, One requires rose- colored or blue spectacles to perceive the charms with which they so tavishly daubed those countries, But to an every-day traveller those lands contain the Aithiest and most degraded specimens of the human race, The peopie are iike so many lusif ‘The countries—‘tHeaven save the mark |? they form buc one vast sahara, ‘This prosaic age. though it 1s extremely prosy—hus a goo: deal of sound common sense ia to its compo! sition, and the people are murdering the romance us fast as they ean. Englisamen especially, and nota tithe of thie reverence that the nation entertained for Mos!eudoin before the Crimea can be found. Egypt has become a half-way house to India, Turkey, with its Assyria and Mesopatamia and land of Uz, is about to be ploughed up, and the locomotive wil soon show its contempt for thein when it spurns the bones of the old patriarchs with its wiuged heels. Our oscillaang friend Wagshun Gobazye, who dwelt somewhere in the cis-Magdala country, but who never did show his pleasant face any more than if he had been Grand Liaina of Thibet or the Mikado: of Japan. A feeble mind might still imeline to the belief that he 18 a fabulous being, but then we saw bis uncle, Dajatch Mashesna, him of the long locks, Whose strategy lay in & masterly shitting and osctt- lating from one point of the compass to its opposite, like a ponderous pendelum killing time, and uncles must have nepiews, kin of their flesh and bone, aud so one must conclude that Wagshun Gobazye was a man after all, But no sooner had the English vanished over the horizon of Ethiopia than the vulpine prince shook hiuself out of his lethargy and marched himself to the relief of his uncle, the Dajateh, whom we left in aurance under Wagshun Teierri, ' Gobazye was auc- cessful in his expedition, and the Azubo Gollas, south the salt plains, and the Donakil, were pun- ished severely. Teierri escaped with life, but the poor old Dajatch, plunging hotly into the meiée to avenge the indignities he suffered during his incar- ceration of three months, lost his hfe in tne vattie, and this was the end of Dajatch Mashesha, Twice he has punished the Azubo Gollas since, and ne ap- pas to have the greatest aversion to them, From the Asupo mols country be marched to Da- houte Dalauta, re he ap) to have held the opinion that Magdala would better in his power © all, but for some reason he made not the slight- est attempt to reduce it, and #o left Mustev: enjoy her eyrie fortress as she can, but not without killing a few of the Gatlos whom he ht depre- dating out of their own territory. From aia ho marched through Wadela, Ayna, Lusta and thence through Waag. In the province of Talash, on account of the rebellious attitude of the Beato, he had recourse to the ancient mode of punish- ment formerly adopted by his [aod prototype Theo- dorus—viz.,¢ cru ion and tmpalement-—and the chiefs at Senafe, who have had their information through nomadic tribes and messengers, say that he oe a a : h he reduced renee i sion, people of Waag are very revelliously in- clined, and his own soldiers desert him by the hundreds, After this feat ho had himself crowned Ewperor of Abyssinia. He has had several littie skirmishes in Bemada and Ibaha, in Begemder. At last accounts, two months ago, he was in camp at Samrie, on the Samra river, in the province of Salowa, that his numerous! cavairy might be benefit- ed = the luxuriant grasses of the Saiowa plains. Samrie is about two days’ easy march westward of Antale, Itis said that he looks with an anxious eyo upon the province of Wodgerat, where Amba Alejjt is, and intends to try to get it From bis position at Samrie he can easily swoop down upon tne Amba before Prince Kussai could hasten to the relief; but he dreads coming into aciual war with the Prince because of his cannon, oa which he has cast curious glances, and he boars a good deal of matice to Euro; for tho yor which he imagines Lord Napicr showed this rival Kussal. A war is imminent between the Princo and the Wagsbund. Should eitner win the victor will be the master of all While he is conducting himself with his usnal fare sightedness—yet remaining in confident inactivity, as if victory Was @ coy intstress which could not pleased save at certain periods of the year—a most powerful is ri in the westward which threatens to be @ stinging thorn in his side, Cer- tain of your readers will remember to havo read in one of my latest letters from Abyssinia that the late Emperor Theodorus left an {ilegitimate son, named Dajatchmatch Mashesha, This goung prince disappeared with 300 men just as Lord Napler’s army surmounted Magdala. After incredible fa- trues he passed through the countries south of Gaboit, near the confluence of hena and Bashilo, and avoiding the public route to Kiratza he went suil further south, and, following the river Abal, made 4 detour arouna Lake Tzana and stecred northward for Kwara, his-father's native moun- tains, where he was warmly welcomed by his coun- trymen and at once recognized as their chief, Tho ple forgot their animosities and hurried ander ti banner, thinking, no doubt, that the same good qualities for which his illustrious father was distinguished in early «days would be his eldest son's also. Pajatchinateh Mashesha, though he was villided asa drunken sot and as one more fit to keep company With his cou- cudines, but he turns out to be one gifted with a % many good eo From what {can gather ¢ 1g not cruel at all, being more like Prince Kensan in his disposition, and certainty if What | have heard be true—and there i# no reason to doubt it—his ex- traordinary march from Magdala to Kwara of nearly 700 miles in length, through the Golia nations and throngh many others hostile to him and tue late Emperor, proves him to be @ most persevering mai We may rest assured that he did not conflue him- self to peaceful travels, but mast have enhanced the reputation of his dead father by bold onsets and descents upon villages presi to regard any of Theodorus’ progeny with nomitigabie aversion. He has now gathered about him an army of 5,000 men, and he has adopted some of the tactics of Theodorus by making nocturnal expeditions to the neighboring: provinces of Shire and Tvalkemni. His camp ap- pears to be somewhere near jas él Feet, of the head waters of the Atbara river, one of Cohen rivera yee empties into the Nile, near Gi ia Upper abla. Queen Mustevat has got two cannoy on Magdula, which must probably be some of those timbled down the elif by the English, which they equid not burst. Of Memlek, King of Shoa, there was a rumor in Tigré, sometime in September, that he was dead, but they subsequently heard of hia being alive. The report, at least, wants contirmation, Thave now given you ali the information to be gathered upon che subject of the present stave of Abyssinia, gleaned from a ten days’ residence in the coumtry. it may not be amiss to add that many of the late captives have found their way back again tothe ‘western part, near ra; ond there are two or three now residing at Cairo, Egypt, who aro determined to pi to Abyssinia in te carly spring. ‘The American mission in Egypt sympa thizes with tho virtuous determination. The engl neers of Theodorus, who were brought to Zoulla by the Eaglish army have seattered over the British presidencies Ae = where they have attracted mn wome litt e fish troops left the Highlands of yssinia the itary bands struck ap the well koown tune, “Welt bat the New York HenAaLp correspo leaving it the second time cannot find it in his heart to sing such words, for, with all the troubles hardal and the remembrance of tho toilvome march, the cliserieas inguts and the tropical days, the dou jears and agony that maunted us for weeks, tne mina of man in bo constituied ‘Uhat sorrows are effaced by Jater hapvinoss and joy, aad the recullec- tion of the bright spots and many pleasant cays toatl ows aid ‘and back, enjoyed have already obscured the dark tinus of the long march to Magu (Knox, Ind, (Feb. 19) correspondence of Cincinnatt Cotomercial.) In this place, last summer, @ dimenity between John Chapman and i. 8. Collins resulted in the death of Chapman by 4 pistol shot fred through bie heart by ¢ ns, he (Chapman) having previously fired @ load at Collins, without, however, taking e himself up at the time, bia trial set for next Imy evening, the 17th, devating cin’ at hear kere, and while occu- = was released on bail month at this place. Wednex Collins attended & meeting of Cedar Lake Lvapenn ay onal ying the floor was fired at through ndow, the joad hitting bam in the face, shatiering bis skull aud dashing his brains against the blackboard. The verdict of the coroner's inquest was that the de ceased caine to his death from wounds caused by tif- con buckshot, tired from ® auot gun by an ai- k vu persou. Yesterday James and Frank Cb rested on & charge of committing tio opinion vebng gen rat th vdered age for Killing & 1 man, Aoont Gurty There i end Lire nan fa @ marr wife and several chi dten, ciceient im this viewvty w 4g Une eating Cae 5 APER PRIVILEGES. The Right of Journalists to Discuss Mattcrs ef Public Concern—Impeortaut Judicial De- cision. Jn the libet suit of J. H. Lawrence vs. M. Halstead and others, proprietors of the Cincinnatt Commer- cial, on trial last week im that city, Judge Taft, of she Superior Court, gave a decision upon the ques- fon raised as to the burden of proof which 1s of moore than ordinary interest, It is as follows:— UE QURBSTON STATED. of 0 the oliy, past egeord and the manner in which contracts ic pavements have been made and carried out, and Contain comments on the manner in whieh theas Works have been superintended by tae Street Com- m and refer to the plaiuctiiy un connection with the Seventh street Nicowuo pavement, and, as laut alleges, chi @buses and corruption on ‘he part of the plainaf in the superinvendence and acceptance of the work. Tie peuuion aso alleges ak thee publications Were made maliciously to his jury. ‘ne defendant answers and admits the pubitra- tions, but avers that “in so far as they referred to ‘the plautuf they were made by dcieudants as pablic Journalists of the plamtlif as a pivdiic ofiver in re- gard to matters of pone concert counccted also ‘with the office held by the plainsil, and that said publications were ie honestly, upou information which the defendants then beileved and still beieve to be true, and that each and all of them were made without malice against the plainuil.”” ‘The plainttd has proceeded to oder in evidence the publications complamed of aud otiar publications auade afterwards to show malice; wud now the quea- tion 8 ratsed and has been elaborately argued whether it is incumbent on the plat to proceed wita his evidence to show the falsity ani malice of the statements of the defendants in tho publications compiained of, or whether they sai be presumed to be false aad malicious without proof on the part of the plamuuit, THE GENERAL RULE. Falsehood and malice tn these puviteations are es- senttal to the plaintif’s case, but y neraily, where words are published of & man Which are Libelous per se agntust Lis character, tue law, wich presumes all men honest and of good character Ul the contrary appears by proof, presumes tai the libel ta faise aud melicious without any evidence on the part of hia against whom it has been pablished; and this is @ fair presumption, Whenever a ian has volun. teored to pabish or utter words defauatory of another witout any anch occasion of seli-protection or duly a8 to make Ib Decessary or peruuent for him to speak. TUB EXCEPTION. Bat there is @ class of cases wie form exceptions to the general 4 aud are esson ually diitvrent from those to which I have referred. i iey are cases in which the language published would Ue ibellous and subject to the presumption of fuscvood and malice, but for the occasion upon which it was used, If such language has been used “in (he discharge of some puolic or private duty, whether le. or moral, or in the conduct of his own affairs in taalters where bis interest ls concerned,” “the occasiva prevents the tufereaco of mulice which the law <iraws from unau- thorized communications, avd afocas a qualified de- fence, depending on the absence of actual watice.”* ILLUSTRATION, If a man who has lost gous by theft goes to the house of the person whom he believed to be guilty, taking an oficer with him, and wakes the charge ol theft, and demands that the house be searched, auch a charge, though made in the preseavce of ovher per- sons than those concerned, and tuough mado with more emphasis and vehemeuce tua: was warranted, and though untrue, bas beea lvtd Lo be privileged, if houestly inade, THIS A CONDITIONALLY PRIVILRGRD COMMUNICATION. ‘This ciaas of cases fs admitted, But tc is denied that the present case falls within the exception re- ferred to, or that the circumstances of the present case furnish any vccasion for thess pubhoations. 1 have examined these words o/ the defendants on which this action 1s founded, and tiey appear to me to be directed to a matter of pubic concern, in Which the defendants as well as other citizens of Cincimnats had an interest, In commeniing upon it they were not to be considered as olficiously volun ing to discuss a matier in which they had not eveff'a pecu- niary interest, ln view of the reason on whicli this olass of ex- ceptions tothe general rule t# found ad of the precedents, #0 aa @ brief apport has per- mitted me to examine them, my conclusion 18 that the communications complained of in this petition belong to the class which are properly denomimatedt conditionally privileged, By tiis | mean that the prona facie presumption of matice whitch would exist, from the language used, but for this occasion, ig rebutted, These presumptions are not arbitrary or unreasonabie, but they are founded in the nature of the case, If @ man volunteers to defame another in @ matter in relation to Which he has no duty nor interest, such officious defamation ought to be pre- sumed false and malicious wil he proves its truth, and such ts the law, TUR JOURNALIST'S RIGHTS TUR NAME AS THOSK OF OTHER TAXPAY Ris. But the important public tuteres) involved in the subject of these articles 18 not u matter foreign to any taxpayer of the city; and cue {uct that any elite zen ta found discuasiug it is not open so unfavorable inferences, because it is a legitinviie part of his own business, It may not be au interest so vital to him ‘as his own private property, yet is wright, if it ie net a duty, for him to interest himseif tn it, HOW THK PRIVILEGE IX TO BR USED. But this privilege is qualified and conditional. He cannot use it for pur of revenge nor to gratify personal spite, and a@itacks an individual un- necessarily in such @ discusion his case is no better tuan if he were dealing with a matwr wholly un- privnapet, But the question whether ue has so abu ‘this condiUonal priviiuge ts tv be determined by the jury, not by the court, ‘This privilege t# not very great in a defence against a libel suit, It is no privilege to gratify per- sonal pique or to state anything he does not believe to be true, or to be careless in stauug even that. His publication being on asibject wich, though public, affects the character and good name of a ertizen, he must be fair. He is, in short, ouly entitied to the benefit of the ordinary presumptious by which the law protects every nad While W's attending to lis own business; that he ia ianucen’ Lu! he is shown to be guilty. THE BURDEN OF PROOY ON Tie PLAINTIFY. The consequence is that on the tirst issue made Dy the pleadings the piaintiiT bas Gh burden ot proof; and aithough the defendant has Uc burden of proof on the second issue, vizZ.:—On lis pica of justidica- tion, by averring the truth of tue , yet the plaintu? nvust go forward and produce tie evidence on which he claim @ recovery, Tle case cannot ve divided, 1HE ORDER OF TESTIMONY NOT IMPORTANT. But the mere order in which tue evidence shall be exhibited | do not regard as of muet importance, nor the fact of the plaintitt avsaning the burdea of proof in a case like the present. > after all, the jury are to be governed by the weigitof evidence. A fair prepeaderance of evidenve wil control the decision of the jury. THE TESTIMONY PROCHHY Judge Caldwell desired to know cision would require the plalati’ to p testimony of an aMirimative cuaractor first. He w derstood the defence propowod by gu iio an exur ination of the manger in which tho Seventh stre: Nicolson pavement was coustructed, t should object; but if tt shoald be railed ap ject of loquiry he desired to Know whether the plaiutu? would be required take toe inthative or Ww rebut the testimony Olered by Wie defence vn Uiat subject, ‘The Court thought It was proper for the plaintit to roceed and offer all the Le ito support Ww omatter ie THE TAKING OF NEW ORLCAMS. New Yous, Fev, 20, 1809, To Tits Epiror or rue fenaLn:— In bis communication of this date upon “the taking of New Orleans," your correspor it makes a state- ment which cannot be authenticated, as he states, by any facts connected with the pawage of the forte below that city, We are very wifiing that the “mortar flotilla” should participate, “share and share alike,” tn the distribution of the prize mouey to be awarded for that gallant action, aud We know that Admiral Farragat has always expressed the opinion that those Who served inf are fully eu itied to the it; but we take @xveption the coa- cluding paragraph, Which fssors that “had the versels attemp! to pass the forts without tie aia of the mortar’ fleet every Vvosse would have beca sank of disabled and New Orleans would vot have been ours.” ‘This qyae dixié of the writer is not war ranted by any facta,"’ The bombardment of the mor tar fotilia was dirested against Fort Jackson and did most excellent service, but Fort St. Philip wae beyond their reach, and Admiral Farragut ran that untiet without Uheir assistance and proceeded up New Orieans, We give ail giory to the officer of the mortar feet and readily it Chat they did thele work gallantly; iiknown charsoter a ied achievements at Port Hudson and his unparal Mobile action witkous inortar boats, no one can assert that he would have falied but for ties, On the cousrary it is the optaiea of many he would have run tie eed semen eee rn New ri taken the city Lies co Obatactes than op) dh; up his mind todo a thing he \akes the responsibility aad dues It, WAVAL INTELUGENCE, On the wth ultimo the war vessels attached to the South Atiaitic Squadron were located as follows — The Saget p Guerriere, Rear Atoiral C, BH. Davis was Janeiry, ba Was expected to sail tor Montevideo about the tt tnat, ‘The Untied States steamers Pawnee, Captatn J. M. B, Chita, and the Wasp, Lieutey ont Commander W. A. Kirk t Me The ‘ ebaug, Com- wer ot 10 Culted Staves ner wae at Corre ma. Ltt WAM OX Or hoo Bev deus ihe health of the wguaacon w le