SUNDAY
OCTOBER 19, 1862
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE (LA)

A Talk with a Rebel

South Carolina View of Things.

While strolling around the Union Refreshment Saloon, a few days since, we unexpectedly heard a shout from the surrounding throng. “Here come the rebel prisoners! Here they come!” Finding it much easier to be borne along with the crowd than to stem a current so irresistible as hundreds of excited people, down we went to the cars, with their rebellious burdens, toward the wharf, . . . impelled by a sympathetic curiosity quite as strong as the most excited and enthusiastic spectators. Proceeding over blocks, huge pebbles, or rather boulders, railway tracks, formidable arrays of crinoline, we halted at the car next the engine. The cars having stopped, the swaying multitude paused, the rebels thrust their heads through the windows, and, practically, save the wagging of a few loquacious peanut and lemonade women, there was a complete “rest” a la militaire.

More conspicuous than his fellow prisoners was a young man with a finely chiseled face; searching, intelligent black eyes, and evenly developed forehead, leaning carelessly out of the car window, taking a view of the illuminated Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. Around him and his comrades were the people. Each looked at the other, prisoner and spectator, speechlessly, until the Southron asked:

“What place is that, sir, lighted up?”

“That,” replied a citizen, “is the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, where Union soldiers are fed on their way to and from the war.”

Rebel: It is a very comfortable looking establishment.

Citizen: Yes, it is. Wouldn’t you like to be a Union soldier?”

Rebel: I would have no objection for about a half hour, sir.

Citizen: Do you belong to a fighting regiment?

Rebel: I belong, sir, to a South Carolina regiment!

At this point the pressing, pushing and crowding became so violent, from the anxiety of the people to catch every syllable uttered by the intelligent young rebel, that, fortunately, we were snugly pushed against the cars, directly under the rebel, so that we lost not a word. After a slight pause, another citizen asked the rebel:

“Where are you from?”

Rebel: I am a native of South Carolina, sir, but I enlisted from Macon, Georgia, where I was employed as a clerk.

The name of South Carolina started an enthusiastic Emeralder from his repose, who said: “That is the State we are going to sink.”

Rebel: That may be, sir, but there is not a South Carolinian living who will not gladly sink with her.

To which a sharp but vulgar little boy replied: “Now you are only blowing!”

Rebel: I am a prisoner by the mischances of war, for it is one of the misfortunes of war to become a prisoner, and I hope you will not insult me. We are entirely at your mercy, and ask only that you treat us like men. We have been treated well by your soldiers, and though we don’t expect citizens to act like soldiers do towards each other, yet we do hope that you will not unprovokedly insult us.

Citizen: You shouldn’t mind that remark; it was only made by a boy.

Rebel: Our soldiers always treat your prisoners well, sir.

Citizen: Not in Richmond.

Rebel: In Richmond the citizens may have behaved treated the Federal prisoners badly, but I am sure the soldiers could not do it, for, as far as my observations extend—and it has been large—the soldiers on both sides uniformly treat their prisoners kindly.

Citizen: What division of the rebel army were you in?

Rebel: I was in Gen. A. P. Hill’s division, sir, and Gen. Jackson’s corps of the Confederate army.

Citizen: Then you were in the fight with Pope?

Rebel: Yes, sir, for nineteen days we were either following the Federal army or they were following us, so that there was always fighting from the rear alternately.

Citizen: Then you have seen some service?

Rebel: I have, sir, since the assault on Fort Sumter. After the evacuation of Fort Moultrie I was there and assisted to make it stronger than it ever was. I have been constantly on the field since, and including the last battle of Manassas, where I was taken prisoner by the 107th Pennsylvania Regiment, I have been in fourteen engagements.

Citizen: I should think you were pretty tired of war?

Rebel: Well, sir, I left a comfortable home and entered the Confederate service from sincerity of conviction. I have put up with privations to which I have never been accustomed, but I do not complain, sir.

Citizen: What are you fighting for?

Rebel: I believe, sir, I have been fighting for the maintenance of a great principle. I may be wrong, sir, but that conviction has sustained me for fourteen months before your batteries. We believe that we are right, and that we will be eventually successful. I can’t exactly define the nature of the principle for which we are contending. The statesmen of both sections of our country have not been able to come to a satisfactory conclusion about it. If they had, we should not have been at war.

Citizen: What if you are not successful?

Rebel: Then I don’t care what becomes of me; but I don’t want, then, ever to see South Carolina again. I am sorry that we Americans are fighting against each other. I wouldn’t care the least if our enemies were English, Irish or Dutch.

Citizen: Why, one half of your soldiers, at least, have been forced into the Southern army!

Rebel: That is not true, sir. I went voluntarily; I don’t know anyone who has gone otherwise. There is one of our men in the car with me who told at Harrisburg that he was forced into the Confederate service; and I say to you, in his hearing, that he lies. I have heard your men say the same, when they were taken prisoners, but I believed it to be all stuff. Any soldier, who would say such a thing on either side, is unworthy to bear a musket in any cause; he is a liar and a coward.

Citizen: We hear that your army have scarcely anything to eat, and have no shoes.

Rebel: So far as my observation goes, that is not true. When we have been on long, quick marches, for which some of our generals are famous, we may have suffered some, being far away from our supplies, but that such was the regular condition of the Confederate armies, I believe to be false. . .

The conversation between the parties was here broken by the guards, preparing to conduct the prisoners to the boat for Fort Delaware. We noted them as best we could as they walked along, and were struck with the great variety of attire of soldiers of the same regiment. There was a remarkable identity, however, in their unclean appearance. Not knowing to the contrary, a stranger might have supposed that they had been on a campaign to the great African Desert, where water, from its scarcity, is the traveller’s most precious boon.—Philadelphia Press.

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Looking over some old volumes of the Picayune, we found in the issue of January 6, 1838, the following paragraph:

“The trip between Philadelphia and Baltimore, by the new railroad line, is now performed in six hours. The next we shall hear, passengers will be enabled to go from Washington to New York by daylight.” What was then a supposition is now an established fact.

MONDAY
OCTOBER 20, 1862
THE MACON DAILY TELEGRAPH (GA)

Retaliation a Duty Imposed by God.

From the North Carolina Presbyterian.

Retaliation and revenge are synonymous—the one derived from the Latin and the other from the French. Both have a good and a bad sense, and may be righteous or unjust, lawful or illegal, praiseworthy or execrable. In their original, proper sense, they are synonymous with retribution, retributive justice, visiting upon nay one their sins. And in this sense these acts and the spirit and character which lead to them, are constantly attributed to God in the Bible. In this sense, also, they have entered into every constitution of God, made for, and with, men, both civil and sacred. They are in fact the essence of law, the foundation of Government, the security of order, peace and equity. They characterize the moral law. They were prominent in God’s civil law as announced to Antediluvian nations, (see Gen. 10:6), and in the civil code of the Jews, and not less in the doctrine concerning civil Government in the New Testament.

In the evil sense of these words as implying rancor, implacability, wreaking one’s vengeance, harboring vindictive feelings, the rankling of such feelings in the breast, unforgiving, unrelenting, merciless—they are criminal, unjust and altogether inhuman or devilish—whether exhibited by individuals or Governments.

But in their original sense they accord with every sentiment of justice and benevolence in the human mind, and are so essential to national prosperity and peaceful security of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that their neglect entails God’s curse as pronounced in Adam’s day and often subsequently.

The Holy Ghost, in revealing God’s end in ordaining civil Government, has expressly enjoined revenge, retaliation, retribution as primary and paramount. In Romans, Chap. 18, the higher powers are declared to be ordained of God, so that “whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God and shall receive to themselves condemnation.” “For rulers are a terror to evil doers.” For he is the minister of God, and if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he that beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Government is therefore God’s appointed Revenger or Retaliator, to return evil for evil, upon those that do evil. It is not only authorized, it is required to do this. It is instituted, and clothed with power—with all the power which naturally belongs to each individual citizen, and which is withdrawn from them, and concentrated in it—in order that it may be exercised by it for their common defence. Crimes committed against any of its subjects are committed against the Government, and are to be revenged and retaliated by it. Not to do this is a sin of Government—a criminal dereliction of duty, and will receive “damnation.” The Government becomes the guilty “evil doer.” It brings upon itself the guilt of all the evil it permits to be inflicted unavenged upon its subjects for whose protection and welfare it alone is clothed with their combined right and power of self-defence. Such a Government, if permitted by its people to allow outrages, murders, rapes and wholesale robbery to be perpetrated unrevenged by retaliation, will bring down judgments upon the whole country, and encourage the evil doer to greater iniquity.

This is true of Government in time of peace, and in references to all ordinary crimes. But it is emphatically true of it in a time of war. It alone has power to declare, to conduct, and to determine the character of war. And it is therefore under solemn responsibility to God to employ all its resources in protecting its citizens from the barbarous outrages of an unprincipled and licentious enemy. This is not optional with Government. It is a paramount duty, limited only by its ability and opportunity. Failing to revenge and retaliate such barbarities, Government becomes a partaker and promoter of the inhuman and atrocious course of the enemy.But Government, as the Apostle Peter (1 Pet., 2:18) teaches, is also designed by God to be “the ordinances of man,” and to be instituted and constitutionally limited and directed by a “free” people in the exercise of their “liberty.” And hence it becomes the paramount duty of such a people by all constitutional means, to constrain a timid Government to adopt and vigorously enforce measures of retaliation against a private or public enemy. And failing to do this, it brings upon itself increasing and aggravating horrors.

Such has been the unhappy experiences of this Southern Confederacy during this fearful war, in consequence of the timid policy pursued by our Government, and acquiesced in by the people themselves. The land is polluted, and God dishonored, and justice enfeebled, and our people disheartened and covered with sackcloth and ashes, and our reckless, godless enemies encouraged to courses of unparalleled atrocity by an apparent acquiescence in the justice or necessity of their course.

Let both Government and people awaken then to a proper consideration of the divinity commanded duty of retaliation. Let the recent proclamations of our Government be executed with unflinching severity and impartial justice. Let them be carried into execution in all our borders, and by every General. Let the people come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, and let them feel that in sustaining the Government in this policy of righteous retribution they are sustaining an ordinance of God and may justly expect his sustaining and delivering mercy.

The abandonment f its murderous purposes towards our privateers by the Lincoln despotism in the face of all its proclamations and the recantations of Butler and Pope, are sufficient proofs that the path of stern duty is the path of safety, as it is unquestionably that of dignity and self-respect.

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Hope So.

The Savannah Republican says that Congress, before it adjourned, threw the chain flag and the seal, both of them, overboard. We hope so, and now let them drop the subject. Both are evidently not in their vocation.

TUESDAY
OCTOBER 21, 1862
WHALERMAN'S SHIPPING LIST AND MERCHANTS' TRANSCRIPT (MA)

The Destruction of Whaleships by the Rebels!

In our last issue w stated that ship Ocmulgee, of Edgartown, and four other whalers, names unknown, had been captured off Flores, by the rebel steamer Alabama. We now have the names of those vessels, and also of others destroyed by the same steamer. They are as follows: Ship Benjamin Tucker, of this port, valued with her outfits at $20,000; bark Ocean Rover, of Mattapoisett, valued at $36,000; bark Ocean, of Sandwich, valued at $14,000; bark Osceola, of this port, valued at $17,000; bark Alert, of New London, valued at $30,000; schooner Altamaha, of Sippican,¹ valued at $4,000; schooner Weather Gage, of Provincetown, value unknown. The crews of the above vessels, and the Ocmulgee, have probably all been landed at the Western Islands.

We refer our readers to the shipping table for tonnage, agents, and amount of oil of the above whalers.

Since the foregoing, we have news of the capture and destruction of two more whaling vessels, viz: Barks Virginia and Elisha Dunbar, both of this port. . . both were burned. These two vessels were valued at about $25,000 each. Their crews were put on board the ship Emily Farnum from New York bound for Liverpool, and subsequently transferred to the Golden Land, which arrived at New York on Thursday.

The following are Capts. Tilton’s and Gifford’s statements:

Capt. Tilton says he was overhauled by the Alabama on the morning of the 17th September in lat. 39° 10’, lon. 34° 20’. The pirate showed British colors, but when a quarter of a mile from the Virginia, set the confederate colors and sent an armed boat’s crew aboard. Capt. Tilton was informed that his vessel was a prize to the Alabama, and was ordered to take his papers and go on board that steamer. The pirates then stripped the ship of all valuable articles on board, and at 4 p.m. set fire to the vessel.

Capt. Tilton adds, that on arriving on board the steamer, “I asked the captain to release me, as I was doing no one any harm.” The answer was, “You northerners are destroying our property, and New Bedford people are having war meetings, offering a $200 bounty for volunteers, and sending out their stone fleets to block up our harbors, and I am going to retaliate.” Capt. Tilton continues: “I went on the quarter deck with my son, when they put us in the lee waist with my crew, and all of us in irons with the exception of two boys, the cook and the steward. I asked if I was to be put in irons. The reply was that her purser was put in irons, and his head shaved by us, and that he was going to retaliate. We were put in the lee waist with an old mattress and a few blankets to lay on. The steamer was cruising to the west, and the next day took the Elisha Dunbar, her crew receiving the same treatment as ourselves. The steamer’s guns being run out the side, the ports could not be shut, and when the sea was a little rough or the vessel rolled, the water was continually coming in on both sides and washing across the deck where we were, so that our feet and clothing were wet all the time either from the water below or the rain above. We were obliged to sleep in the place where we were, and often wake up in the night nearly under water. Our fare consisted of beef, pork, rice, beans, tea, coffee and bread. Only one of our irons was allowed to be taken off at a time. We had to wash in salt water. We were kept on deck all the time, night and day, and a guard placed over us. The steamer continued to cruise to the northwest and on the 3d of October fell in with ships Brilliant and Emily Farnum, the former of which they burnt, and her crew with ourselves were transferred to the latter ship after signing a parole. On the 6th inst. I was taken on board the brig Golden Land, of Thomaston, Capt. Smith, from Jersey for New Orleans, who treated us with great kindness.”

The following is Capt. Gifford’s statement: “On the morning of Sept. 18th, in lat. 39° 50’, lon. 35° 2’, with the wind from the Southwest, and the bark holding east southeast, saw a steamer on our port quarter standing to the northwest. Soon after we found that she had altered her course and was steering for the bark. We made all sail to get out of her reach, and were going 10 knots at the time, but the steamer was gaining under canvas alone. She soon came up with us and fired a gun under our stern, with the St. George’s flying at the time. Our colors were set, when she displayed the Confederate flag. Being near us, we hove to and a boat with armed officers and a crew came alongside, and on coming on board stated to me that my vessel was a prize to the Confederate steamer Alabama, Capt. Semmes.

“I was then ordered on board the steamer with my papers, and the crew to follow with a bag of clothing each. On getting aboard, the captain claimed as a prize and said my vessel would be burnt. Not having any clothes, he allowed me to return for a small amount of clothing. The officer on board asked me what I was coming back for, and tried t prevent me from coming on board. I told him I came after a few clothes, which I took and returned to the steamer. It blowing very heavy at the time and very squally, nothing but the chronometer, sextant, charts, &c., were taken, when the vessel was set fire to and burnt. There were 65 barrels of sperm oil on deck, taken on the passage, which were also consumed.

“We were all put in irons, and received the same treatment that Capt. Tilton’s officers and crew did. While on board we understood that the steamer would cruise off the Grand Banks for a few weeks to destroy the large American ships to and from the Channel ports. They had knowledge of two ships being loaded with arms for the United States, and were in hopes of capturing them. They were particularly anxious to fall in with the ship Dreadnought and destroy her, as she was celebrated for her speed, and they were confident of their ability to capture or run away from any vessel in the United States.”

The Admiral Blake of Sippican was reported burned by the Alabama, but she arrived home on Saturday, and Capt. Handy reports that he knew or heard nothing of this rebel privateer. It is possible that some others in the above list may yet turn out safe.

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The Cargo of the Brilliant.—It is stated that the cargo of ship Brilliant, captured by the pirate Semmes, was chiefly the property of British subjects, and much of it was so called on the bills of lading; but as these did not have the Consular certificate attached, the written statement was deemed of no protection. The cargo of the Emily Farnum, on the other hand, was a large part of it protected by certificates under the Consular seal, and this saved the vessel and freight.

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Tacitus says, “In the early ages man lived a life of innocence and simplicity.” Upon this a critic remarks, “When was this period of innocence? The first woman went astray. The first man that was born in the world killed the second. When did the time of simplicity begin?”

WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 22, 1862
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

miscellaneous. 

The Norfolk Navy Yard was not, as has been thought, an entirely barren capture. Four hundred tons of copper, worth 23 cents a pound, have been brought thence to Washington, 5,000 fathoms of chin, and 50 or 60 fine water-tanks were also found there. Little but the walls remain.

A late London paper deliberately suggests to the South to arm the slaves, and to turn half a million of them loose upon the North. It insists that they will fight for their masters, that they are conscious that Mr. Lincoln is not their friend, and consequently would be disposed to obey their owners as their only friends. It says that before February next this horde of armed and excited Negroes can be precipitated upon the North.

The first rifles made by machinery to use the Minié ball, or its equivalent, were made at Windsor, Vermont and Hartford, Conn., for the English Government. The machinery and tools for the armory at Enfield, England, were made at Windsor, Vermont; Hartford, Conn.; and Chicopee, Mass.

Church, the famous artist, painted a picture of Niagara Falls the other day in five hours, for which he received $1500.

Said one student to another, whom he caught winging a scythe most lustily in a field of stout grass, “Frank, what makes you work for a living? A fellow with your talent and ability should not be engaged in hard labor. I mean to get my living by wits.” “Well, Bill, you can work with duller tools than I can,” was the reply.

The abdication of Queen Victoria is again seriously talked of abroad. The Patrie says that the discussion of the measure with her German relatives is the cause of the Queen’s visit to German. The act of abdication—of course, in favor of the Prince of Wales—will, it is said, take place next spring, immediately after the marriage of the Prince with the Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

Letters from St. Petersburg state that Russia celebrated her thousandth birthday on the 20th of September. There were great rejoicings at St. Petersburg and Moscow, but the chief festival was held at Novgorod, where the commemorative monument was uncovered. The Imperial family visited Novgorod on the occasion, and the Emperor’s journey was marked by enthusiastic demonstration of the peasantry.

One of the best things recently done at the War Department is the organizing of a corps of distinguished surgeons at the North, whose business will be to supervise matters after a battle. Indeed, no man should undergo the destruction of limbs unless it be pronounced a necessity in a competent quarter. The direction, also from the War Department, to organize an ambulance corps, may result in greater saving of the lives of our soldiers.

It is estimated that Illinois will produce 20,000 bales of cotton this year, and the crop is now gathering. The variety grown is the upland, principally from seed procured from Tennessee. The quality is excellent, and the quantity per acre, so far as is known, exceeds that of the cotton growing districts farther South. The uncertainty of procuring seed in the early part of eh season prevented many from planting; but the result of this year’s experiment is highly encouraging. Illinois could grow 500,000 bales profitably.

British Faith.

Great Britain is a nation of abolitionists. For half a century the abolition sentiment there has been earnest and aggressive. They have not sought to disguise it under euphemistic phrases, but have inscribed the naked word upon their banners. With an air of sanctimonious self-righteousness they have lectured the Northern States for alleged complicity with the institution of the South. Nor has the pious grief of Englishmen over the sins of erring brothers confined itself to simple expressions of reproof and pity. With true missionary zeal they actively intervened to correct our views and reform our practices. Popular speakers crossed the ocean to teach the citizens of the North the elementary principles of political ethics. They furnished our juvenile libraries with numerous tracts, elaborately embellished with scenes of slaves bound in chains, and bowed down under cruel scourgings. English Lords and Ladies extended lavish hospitality to American champions of the anti-slavery sentiment. The dictates of religion, the sting of ridicule, and the power of fashion have been long and unsparingly employed to arouse the anti-slavery feeling of the North.

When a number of Stages revolted with the purpose of establishing a new government on the distinctive basis of slavery, loyal Americans little expected that Britons would so far belie past professions as to side actively with the rebels. At first they looked confidently for the sympathy of their trans-Atlantic teachers. But instead of cheering words they got contumely and insult.² After the first burst of indignation, they ceased to care for the good opinion of a race, the emptiness of whose philanthropy had so widely misled them.

From the outbreak of hostilities, England, in all possible ways, has given aid to the enemy. British ships have introduced into rebeldom the arms and munitions which alone have rendered a protracted struggle possible. Under specious professions of neutrality, British harbors have offered refuge to lawless privateers, suffering them to sally forth unhindered on errands of destruction. Wherever floats the British flag, the enemies of the United States find sympathizers ready to supply them with the most destructive weapons, and send them onward with the heartiest benedictions.

The outfit of the piratical Alabama is the last triumph of insolence and infamy. A nation professedly at peace, allows her citizens to build a fleet to destroy the commerce of an offending neighbor. The Government was repeatedly notified of the character and plans of the Alabama, and yet the vessel was allowed to sail. The feeble efforts put forth by the civil authority to restrain her are tantamount to connivance at her future acts. The British are directly responsible for every ravage committed by these pirates, for they have furnished the ships, men, guns, munitions and equipments.

We have listened to the teachings of England, and now we are experiencing her practice. Our embarrassments permit her to carry a high hand without present peril. But these repeated acts of treachery to past professions, are not only recorded in High Heaven, but written also in characters of fire upon the American heart. Let her beware.

THURSDAY
OCTOBER 23, 1862
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SENTINEL

A Railroad Battery.

The Jackson (Tenn.) correspondent of the Chicago Times gives the following description of a new railroad battery which has just been constructed:

The ironclad railroad battery is constructed upon a platform car thirty feet long by eight wide. The sides and ends are first constructed of two and one-half inch oak plank, upon which boiler iron is riveted. The sides lean inward sufficient to glance a ball upward; one end is perpendicular, and the other pitched to a sharp angle. The sides are two and one-half feet high. In the center of the car is the circle upon which the gun carriage revolves, and the whole arrangements of the gun are designed with reference to counteracting the recoil at firing.

A 6-inch James rifle cannon is mounted so as to sweep in every direction, and it has already been tested with shell and ball sufficient to prove that all contingencies have been provided for. Others, similar to this one, but designed to carry heavier guns, are about being constructed. This one was constructed at the railroad shop here, under the immediate superintendence of Captain Trecilian, of General Logan’s staff.

I also understand it is the purpose to construct bulletproof cars, with portholes for rifles, to accompany these batteries. Whey they are all completed, and a set of them placed at the ends of each train, or for special purposes are placed at each end of an engine, it may be calculated that attacks on trains or railroad bridges are about over.

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The President’s Proclamation in North Carolina.

The Manchester (N.H.) American of the 14th inst. contains the following:

“A gentleman by the name of James M. Smith, a native of the eastern part of this State, has just arrived in this city, direct from the interior of North Carolina. He has resided in that section for the last seven years, and had previously lived eight years in other parts of the South. He escaped to the federal lines at Newbern. Mr. Smith states that the proclamation of President Lincoln has produced the greatest consternation among the large slave holders of that portion of the State. Indeed, so great is their terror that a large body of them have united in a petition to the Governor, imploring him to use his influence with the Confederate Government to secure the return of the troops belonging to that State, in order that they may be protected from a slave insurrection, which they believe to be imminent. The Governor had also been requested to call a convention of the people, to take measures to bring the State back into the Union, that they might avail themselves of the offers contained in the proclamation. He says that as soon as it was known that the proclamation had been issued, measures were taken to prevent any more of the soldiers raised there by conscription from leaving the State. He is of the opinion that in a very short time the proclamation will be known to the slaves in every nook and corner of the State.

“Mr. Smith also declares that the more intelligent of the non-slaveholders in that locality are greatly rejoiced that the emancipation policy has been adopted by the Federal Government. They believe that the abolition of slavery will be of immense benefit to them, as it will give dignity and respectability to labor.”

How to Pay the War Debt.

At the late meeting of the corporators of the pacific Railroad Company at Chicago, information was given as to some of its results of a most extraordinary nature, and particularly as to the auriferous character of a large section of the country through which the road will pass.³ Without going in to particulars, such as were stated by Governor Evans of Colorado, chiefly on his own knowledge, we may say that the yield of gold consequent upon the working of the mines which will be developed by the actual construction of the road, is supposed to be beyond all calculation. The mountains to be crossed are full of it. All the government has to do, then, is to establish a complete system of mining, that is to say, of leasing the mines and extracting a percentage or royalty from the lessee. This will, in a few years, not only pay the cost of the road, but go far to extinguish the war debt.

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What Would the Negroes do if Free?—The New Orleans correspondent of the New York Times has the following:

“One of the most interesting and significant things in this connection is the fact that a few days ago a ‘delegation of slaves’ belonging to Mannsell White, one of the oldest and wealthiest planters of the parish of St. Bernard below  the city, called to see Gen. Shepley, and asked, as citizens, for an audience of the governor of the state. The request was granted, and these men informed the general that they came for freedom; they said their fellow servants in other places were all leaving their masters, and that they wished also to improve their condition, but that it was not clear to them how was the best way to do so. They emphatically said, however, that they did not intend to labor much if they could help it without remuneration, and they concluded their requests and protests by asking that if they remained peaceably at home they might have fair wages secured to them for their services. Gen. Sheply treated the matter with great consideration, and after conferring with Gen. Butler, permission was granted to these men to make terms with their master, who consented to have a partner in the transaction, and these men have gone to work, not as slaves, but as hired men.”

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A Tough Question and a Lucid Answer.—Question: If your mother’s mother was my mother’s sister’s aunt, what relation would your great grandfather’s uncle’s nephew be to my older brother’s first cousin’s son-in-law? Answer: As your mother’s mother is my elder brother’s first cousin’s son-in-law, so is my mother’s sister’s aunt to your great grandmother’s uncle’s nephew. Divide your mother’s mother by my elder brother’s first cousin’s son-in-law, and multiply my mother’s sister’s aunt by your great grandmother’s uncle’s nephew, and either add or subtract—we forget which—and you will have the answer—“in the spring.”

FRIDAY
OCTOBER 24, 1862
THE CALEDONIAN (VT)

British Perfidy and Piracy.

We are at peace with England and yet our commerce is being destroyed by a British navy. This indirect style of warfare gives the British great advantages. Their commerce is safe, and their steamers running the blockade of the southern ports are unmolested unless caught in the act. The rebels have no navy, either commercial or warlike, and yet, as things are going, we shall soon have a great naval contest on our hands. A whole fleet of iron-plated steamers will soon be afloat, nominally belonging to the Jeff Davis government, not one of which has ever seen a  southern port, but every one built, equipped, supplied and manned in English ports—and that not clandestinely and by stealth, but openly and above board, the English papers freely stating where the vessels are built, when they launch, and when they sail, and chuckling over the destruction they are about to inflict upon our commercial vessels. The Alabama, whose work of destruction is daily reported, was not even bought by the confederates. It is a free gift to them of 290 British merchants. It has taken the name of Alabama, and probably has confederate papers, but it is no less a British pirate craft, designed to prey upon our commerce. And it is believed that for the other gunboats built and building in England for the rebels they pay nothing. The English merchants have so earnestly committed themselves to the success of the rebellion, and are so deeply interested in it that they are willing to risk millions in it, hoping for repayment after the confederacy shall have won its independence.

When it was announced in the Liverpool papers that the gunboat “290” was being built  for the rebels by Laird & Co. of that city, Mr. Adams, our minister, brought the matter to the notice of the British government; that government sent a committee to Liverpool to investigate the matter; Laird & Co. refused to answer questions, and the committee went back to London and reported that they could learn nothing about the vessel. That ended the matter so far as the government was concerned; the vessel was completed, covered with a formidable coat of mail, armed with the best British cannon, furnished with ample naval and warlike stores, and sailed from Liverpool without hindrance, as other pirate vessels have done before her, and as others now building will yet do. Is anybody so weak as to believe that the British government could not have prevented the sailing of the pirate craft Alabama? If that government had been honest in its neutrality, if its ministry were not really acting in the interest Jeff Davis and doing all they dare to promote his success, it would have been an easy thing for them to have ascertained for whom Laird & Co. were building the vessel, or it would have been the natural and obvious thing for them to have instructed their agents to watch and detain her until her real character should be determined and the fullest evidence had been obtained of her legitimate object. The British government fails to exercise ordinary vigilance in these cases only because the men constituting that government desire the permanent division of this Union, and are mean enough to connive at piracy on the high seas as means to that end.

If anything were wanting to deepen our indignation at this meanness and perfidy of the English it is the fact that the fleet they are furnishing to the rebels is used only for purposes of absolute destruction. The pirates of the confederacy can take their prizes into no port; they take the crews prisoners and burn the vessels and cargoes. It is sheer destruction of property, and that not of the United States government, but of private citizens, and this destruction benefits nobody. And this utterly malignant and barbarous process is the work of British vessels, furnished and armed by British citizens, and for the most part manned by British sailors; and yet England puts on a complacent face and protests her neutrality.

There is no lack of vigilance among the British officials when a vessel of our navy enters one of their ports. Not even a ton of coal is allowed to be bought, so tenderly conscious are the English officials in observing the nicest neutrality. When the U.S. gunboat Tuscarora was at Dublin, a short time since, Commander Craven bought a supply of coal, but as soon as the coal lighter came alongside, a British revenue officer appeared and told Craven that he could not be allowed to receive the coal, as it was contrary to the Queen’s proclamation of neutrality, unless he first obtained special permission from the War Office. Comm. Craven applied to Earl Russell for the permission, and was refused. And the very day this act of discourtesy was perpetrated, the Liverpool Post was boasting of the powerful navy England is furnishing to the rebels, and using such language as this: “Of one thing, however, we think we can speak with certainty, and that is, that in the vessels built on the Mersey, the South will have an advantage over the federals in strength of build, equipment and invulnerability.”

These British outrages ought not to be longer borne in silence. Let our government demand indemnity for the destruction of private property by the British pirate ship Alabama, and demand it in a spirit that will compel attention. Better open war with England than to submit to injuries like these. If we are to have a British navy actually against us, let us accept the issue, and out ourselves in a position to strike back. –Springfield Republican.

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Played Out.—The Vermont Cavalry regiment is far from a serviceable condition just at present. Much of the other cavalry is in the same disabled state. The men are exhausted by the great hardships which they have undergone, and by overwork which they are required to do. A majority of the horses re dead or disabled. Capt. Erhart’s company contains only eight mounted men. We have cavalry enough on paper, but in actual service, or fit for it, too few to catch Stuart.—Burlington Times.

SATURDAY
OCTOBER 25, 1862
THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER

Important Slave Case.
From the New Orleans Delta, Oct. 2.

A case of some interest was decided yesterday by Judge Kinsman. A free colored man, named John Montamat, was married to a slave woman, by whom he had two children, one of which died; the other, a little girl about eleven years of age, a bright mulatto, quite fair to look upon, still survives, and was the subject of the present legal proceedings. Montamat, at the time of his marriage, determined to purchase the freedom of his wife from her owner, and in furtherance of that object, had paid $600. In order to secure the freedom of his surviving child, he sent her to Cincinnati, where she was baptized into the Catholic Church. Montamat, the father, subsequently became involved in debt in this city, and mortgaged his daughter as a slave to secure his creditors. The mortgage was foreclosed in February, 1862, and the child of this father was sold to a Mr. Salvoie, at sheriff’s sale. In the present case, Montamat applied for the freedom of his child under the circumstances above detailed. Able counsel had been retained by both parties—Christian Roselins for the defendant and Colonel A. P. Field for Montamat. The Court decided that the girl was entitled to her freedom, and so ordered.

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Payment for Losses.—Great complaint is made of exorbitant claims made upon the government in western Maryland, for losses incurred  by the residents in the late military movements. The government is paying liberally, and it is believed by many, is paying some very unjust demands. A correspondent of the New York World writes that in one case an efficient officer has found a check for any extortion that may be attempted:

“Col. Norton, chief quartermaster of the Fifth Army Corps, has adopted a good plan by which much money must be saved to the government. He has selected a board of three competent officers from among the Pennsylvania regiments in the corps, who have resided upon or very near the Maryland border, and who are therefore familiar with the value of products and property in this vicinity, and the manner of living and farming. To them is referred every claim for personal investigation, and their report is made the basis of settlement, whether it agrees with the claim of ‘the oppressed’ or not.”

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Copper-coated Iron.—The extent to which iron is being used for shipbuilding purposes, especially in the construction of gunboats, gives much importance to the new invention, by which metal may be protected from corrosion. The value of iron in naval architecture is greatly impaired by its extreme sensitiveness to the action of salt water. It corrodes and destroys with it whatever substance may be in contact. By the new process it is covered with copper so effectually that a plate or spike will endure severe abrasion or hammering before the external surface is penetrated. The copper is actually incorporated with the substance of the baser metal. This is done by first placing the iron in acid, to produce a clean surface. It is then immersed in copper, melted at an intense heat. Thus both metals are amalgamated. We have seen ship-bolts prepared in this manner which had been flattened at the point at both sides, without a break in the coating. Several New York shipbuilders, to whom the subject has been submitted, express themselves in high terms of commendation, and are already using copper-coated iron. Seven of them certify, in a published statement, that they were present when three spikes were removed from the water, after being submerged for more than nine months, and yet “appeared perfect as when put in, and stood the test of hammering and straightening to our entire satisfaction.” J. Simonson, who ordered copper-coated spikes for two steamships which he is building for Mr. Vanderbilt, says “they are preferable to copper, as there will be greater strength.” John Englis is using them in the large boat building for the People’s Line, and they are being put into the splendid new freight boat, to run on Long Island Sound. The cost is only one-third the price of pure copper.

Iron telegraph wire, copper-coated, is claimed to be superior to any other, and the iron plates used in building steamers, gunboats, &c., can be coated at a moderate expense.—Journal of Commerce.

Miscellaneous.

The troubles among the miners in Schuylkill county, Pa., who banded together to resist the draft, at one time assumed quite a serious character. The miners threatened to order the government of the State either the alternative of not drafting or of remaining entirely unsupplied with coal from that region. Later dispatches say the difficulties have been adjusted. All is quiet and the men generally are resuming work, which had been suspended for two or three days.

A Memphis dispatch of the 18th inst., says cotton burning still continues in that vicinity, yet large quantities are daily arriving. Gen. Sherman proposes to put hostages upon all unarmed steamers running between Cairo and Helena, to run the same chances as pilots. Something must be done, as firing s now more frequent than ever. Later dispatches say that Gen. Sherman an has ordered thirty secesh families to leave Memphis on account of the recent guerilla outrages on the river.

It is reported that an important seizure has just been made at a wharf in Washington. Thirty tons of lead were about to be shipped to Baltimore, of which no inconsiderable portion was composed of melted bullets, which had been sold at grog shops for what soldiers can buy there.

Commissioner Boutwell has decided that silver plate owned by churches and kept for communion service is exempt from tax.

Drafted men by the thousands are arriving at Harrisburg, Pa., by every train. In addition to the camps of rendezvous established at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, other camps are to be provided at Chambersburg, York, Gettysburg, and other points along the border. Spencer Miller’s Battery from Philadelphia is to be divided into sections and distributed along the border. These preparations will prevent a repetition of rebel cavalry raids. The militia will be armed and equipped at once. In consequence of a deficiency of blankets in the United States Quartermaster’s Department, drafted men are required to supply themselves from home.

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The New Expedition.—It has been supposed that the new military expedition, of which it was reported that Gen. McClernand would have command, was destined for Texas. It is now reported, however, that it is to open the Mississippi river. It would seem that it is an offshoot of the scheme proposed some few weeks since, for a grand concentration of Western troops under Governor Morton of Indiana, who was to finish the war in the Mississippi valley either in ninety days, or in sixty,--we forget which. The present scheme, if correctly reported, seems to have much more shape and consistency than the former, and is said to have been resolved upon in deference to the pressure from the West.

It is now said also that Gen. Hunter is to have command of the expedition, with Logan, McClernand and Lew Wallace as corps commanders. These are all efficient officers, who have done well in service and have the confidence of the West.

¹ Now Marion, Mass’tts.

² Contumely is “Insolent or insulting language or treatment.”

³ auriferous means “gold bearing.”