COTLAND.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 92, 22 September 1863, Page 6 (Supplement)

COTLAND.

'(WON OtR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) GLASGOW. 26th July, 1863. The annual Carnival of the Fair has en enjoyed by. the citizens of St. ißgo with more than' ordinary zest, ignificent ' weather has tempted to I'coantry more than the usual nurafof visitors,, and, cariously enough, night into the town a vast concourse j country cousins. On last Saturday ■ » streets of Glasgow, deserted by thefular population, were traversed by s feries of country folks, somewhat (appointed at the .prevalence of shut < »pa^ ■ but determined ta see what sht be seen of city life underithei riial eclipse it suffered. r K The shows;; • season are reckoned, by those ac-; ainted with civic statistics, a great scess, in as far, as unusual numbers ft i unusual splendor of appearance s a proof of the resurrection, of the; [ glories of Jail -square j To such j izens of Glasgow as are domiciled in lithland, a full and particular account 1 ike shows might possess some crest ; but it is only possible to jntion that various leading features re this season been attended to. sißsrs . McLeod, whose waxwork has en a time-honored institution at the ir, have this summer concentrated in sir exhibition extraordinary interest >m showing what they call a true and thentic portrait of Mrs McLachlan, of the Sandy ford Tragedy. batever may be the artistic success of c portrait, 4&e raost who visit it are tisfied, and, without doubt, the enterising exhibitors have fallen upon a t which will coin cappers for them. menagerie present at the fair ex>its a ; specimen of the gorilla, in iich but very partial faitfe is put by litors invited to take tea. with their ttnble relatives. Circuses are nuraers, and one of these, presided over by r. David Prince Millar draws a odly portion of Prince's admirers, le minor establishments would fill a tg catalogue, and, but for the comfort those who remember the fair with jasure, it is apparent that an energetic < ort has been made to defy the : thering blast of the Glasgow New lice Act, especially levelled at the uintebank fraternity who annually vat at the foot of the Saltmarket. prodigious giant, exhibiting himself the Trongate, has "been holding well ended levees, and has been rather iking the faith' of such Scottish triots, as believe a single Scotsman is match for any three Frenchmen, le 'giant is a Frenchman, and mea:es about eight feet in height, with a oportionate development of limbs, d his colossal form is uniform and tive enough to keep in whoksjme fear y contemner of Gallic prowess. A end of my own, whose height and cumference are sufficiently imposing, sms but another "fat boy " beside c huge *' frog eater," whose ysique is indeed altogether astoundj. ' Considerable difficulty was found, is year in accommodating an increasr, number of holiday travellers in a ninished number of steamers. The nfederates have carried away theßothy Castle, the last of a fleet of cliprs, gone the same way,, and the Fair ks bad this season to be transported wn the water in such *' fine fast seaing -steamers'' as the Caledonia, Fort, :. As usual, the beds and bedding all the sea-side resorts fell short oi '. c demand, and I had ocular demon•ation that, at least in the neighboured of Dunooo, frolicksome denizens St. Mungo speot the nights of Satury and Sunday last on the heath and sckens. Gilmore Hill, which is fast coming the ■Cremorne of Glasgow, tracted vast mobs on Saturday last, tent upon witnessing or joining in rious athletic sports. Among the izes talcen, McFaydon, of Glasgow, >k a 220 yards handicap race, whater that may mean, and Mills, known his circle as " Young England,'' ran race of six miles in thirty minutes irty-fivo seconds, beating various ponents in first rate style, and, what is of more importance to him, icketing , L 20 ,. which his artistic edadling had entitled him to. While asgow has thus been attracting the acy, the quiet town of Johnstone — lat is, excepting magisterial brawls,) b been enjoying an : Olympic festival. D last Saturday the/ Annual Gatherg " took place at . which Gavin Tait tried oft the; first prizes for running d leaping. '■ Robert Vance of Paisley, d "^ilJiam kyle of Johnstone, also bwu off.considerable nimblejiess. While upon sporting matters, I may Bntipii that; the;Eoyal Northern Yacht ub Regatta, held this year at Hunter's er in the beginning of the month, has en one of the most successful exhibi)Oß of seamanship ever witnessed in c Clydet ■'" The wind "was light upon th days, and Mr C. T. Cooper carried both the cutter prizes with his yacht ie Surf, jbuilt for him this" spring by r Fyfe ■at'Fairlie, near Largs. The Btest yachts from- the Thames and mthampton came round to claim the ctory ;<- but the* Surf, which promises be an honor to her Builder, walked ray from her fleet competitors^ : The cry Cross, a schooner built this spring so by Mr Fyfe, carried off the jichooher tee ; and the i^j?lus Ccutter, belonggto Rear- Commodore Hou lds worth and ; td&t? built by Mr Fyfe, vi just taken- yA cup at' Queenstown, iere the Surf likewise took ,a prize at

the 'June regatta. ' All' tliese laurels prove that the Clyde is ahead-, of the Thames, Solent, and Mersey in^clipper yacht building — no small brag in these days of rivalry. / Of matters' oflocal importance there has been nothing worthy of chronicling, if I except new revelations concerning the Sandyford murder. Mr Dixon, one of Mrs M'Lachlan's agents, recently took' the town by storm by publishing a new statement made to him privately by the alleged murderess, and in Which she' exonerates Mr Fleming from all blame. She stated that she had never seen the "old gentleman" on the 1 fatal night, and confesses that in a fit 'of delirium, occasioned by drink and laudanum, she' had murdered ' Jessie M'Pherson, without knowing what she was about. She further accounted for the washing up of the corpse by saying that Jessie MVPherson- having got sick from the quantity of drink taken, lay down on the floor in the blankets taken From her bed; and while there vomited what she had drank. Her friend and murderess had kindly washed away the mess, and had attempted to cleanse the blankets, and this accounted for appearances that puzzled the doctors, differing as usual upon the case. She farther said that she had taken in the milk in the morning, a statement which, in the face of the evidence of Mr Fleming, the milk boy, and the- milkman to the contrary^ is a manifest 'lie. In discussing the probabilities of truth contained in this recent confession, it seems likely that the woman, laboring under hysterical fits at the time, had begun to tell the truth at first, but discovering her danger, had attempted to upset what had already been said by palpable lying. This conviction is supported by 'her request to Mr Dixon not to mention a word she had said, and by a more recent denial of having said anything at all ; both of which it will be observrd indicate that Mrs M'Lacklan was at least satisfied that she had said something which she wished she had not spoken. Peter M'Kenzie of the Reformers Gazette, and the Glasgow Herald are both remarkably jubilant over the new confession. The Herald swallows it without a grain of salt ; and the editor of the Gazette is so satisfied that itcorroborateshis own far-seeing wisdom that he proposes Mr Fleming should be invited to a public dinner along with Sir George Grey, Mr Stirling of Keir, the Lord Advocate, 1 imagine, Lord Deas, and most important of all, although not officially announced, Mr Peter M'Kenzie himseif, the sole oracle of the Glasgow press. Rather inclining to trust Mr Dixon's word than Mrs M'Lachlan's, I confess to a complete belief in the convict's alleged confession as made public; but what she i exactly means by it, it is difficult jto conceive, unless the theory I already hinted at be adopted. The fear that what she had rashly said i should come to.light, at least suggests i that bhe had some nefarious story still to tell, and this suspicion finds sudden corroboration in the authenticated fact ' that she has made a new confession to Mr. Sheriff Barclay, which it is expected will completely exculpate Mr. Fleming, and certainly not shoiten the term of her own imprisonment. If it be found that she really is the sole culprit, a strong reaction will set in, in favour of Mr Fleming, whose martyrdom has certainly been most painful. A trial brought to a sudden and ignominious close in the Court of Session may have some interest for such wanderers from the "Rock ''of Stirling as look over your columns. Dr. Rogers, i Chaplain of Stirling Castle, Secretary to ; the Wallace Monument, &c, &c, &c, finding himself aggrieved by what he r^ coned to be certain libellous proceed- j ings on the part of Mr. Dick, Provost of Stirling, pursued that dignitary for the handsome solatium of £5000, and has had awarded him by a sympathising jury of his own countrymen the sum of one shilling sterling. The Rev. Dr. had his case prepared with great care, and must feel that neither his character nor his trouble have been properly appreciated. The Abbey Craig movement by the way, progresses, and when the tower is finished it must have a characteristic and imposing effect. As a contribution from patriotic Scotsmen in your distant land, an auriferous block, with a suitable inscription might be let into some prominent portion of the building, and would, in a befitting way, testify to the warmth of Scotch nationality at the antipodes. The sudden and unexpected death of the Duke of Hamilton, at Paris, in consequence of a severe fall down the j stairs of the hotel where he had been supping, has occasioned considerable regret at Hamilton, where the Duke [ was, of course best known. Death was immediately occasioned by congestion of the brain, to allay which, no remedies were availing. The Emperor Napoleon, to whom the Duke is related by marriage of a second cousin of the Emperor's, was very attentive on hearing of the fatal accident. Both he and the Empress soothed the last moments of the dying nobleman, and the latter, it is stated, aided personally in applying hot Water cloths and other restoratives. The corpse was senttoGt'eenock in the French war steam corvette Dauphin, attended, by a tender, and almost royal honors we: c paid by the French mariners to the relative of their master. i The body was brought ashore at Greenpek on Tuesday Jast amid much ceremony, in which the officers and seamen of the French vessels, and the officers and crew of H. M.S. Hogue, lying off Greenock, took part, On Wednesday the body layin state in Hamilton Palace, j and on Thursday it was with further ceremony conveyed to the grand mausoleum in Hamilton Park. The dead Duke spent so much of :his time on the continent that he was little known in

the neighbourhood' of ' Glasgow, and indeed if men placed in his position -are supposed to have any conscientious trust to perform, he fulfilled^his very bad)£. The Duke was most remarkable for his haughty reserve of manner^and singular beauty of p»rson. His face had all the, chiselled severity of a Greek God, and his appearance and style were altogether refined and elegant. The young Duke is 19 years of age, and from birth and education promises to be even more foreign than his father. Lord Clyde, who does more honour to the proud title he so gallantly won, has had a severe illness at Chatham, where he was residing with his friend, General Eyre. It was reported that the gallant veteran was dead, but happily it is found that he is recover iug, wth some hopes of convaleseute. The Queen, with a touching concern, sent various telegrams to hear how her trusty servant felt. It is observable that since Prince Albert's death, Her Majesty has shown an extraordinary solicitude for all who suffer, and appears to feel some solace for her own loss by comforting those who are tried. The Rev. Dr. Candlish, by the way, has got into sad disgrace, through an unwarrantable attack upon the Queen's orthodoxy. A Cairn has been raised near Balmoral to the memory of Prince Albert, upon which has been cut a very affecting quotation from the Apocrypha. Dr. Candlish thinks a text has been chosen from the Apocrypha in order to <cast odium upon the inspiration of the Bible, and blames either the Queen or her spiritual advisers, for wantonly insulting the religious feelings of the Scottish people. The Scotsman, London Times, and Sattirtlaij Review^ have each in turn assailed the bigotry shown by Dr. Candlish, and the Scotsman has especially abused the ''frantic divine 1 ' by the fiercest invective. Touching church matters, in the settlement of the Dunbog case, .the parishioners have shown that in. Fife the anti-patronage spirit is strongly rampant. Besides other means taken to show hatred and contempt for the inducted clergyman, an effigy, in black coat and white neckcloth, was suspended from a tree on the road to the church, and must have greatly conduced to the solemnity and fitness of the thoughts of those who passed by to worship. The spirit of John Knox evidently lingers iv the *" kingdom," and takes odd ways of expressing itself. Returning again to loyal topics, Her Majesty goes off immediately to Germany, to revisit Saxe Coburg, and refresh her grief amid the scenes of Prince Albert's boyhood. While she goes abroad, the Prince of Wales and the Princess come north to Scotland, the latter, is is alleged, in great need of change of air and repose after the fatigues of the London season. The Prim.ess appears to be introducing continental novelties, for which she deserves thanks. One of these is the desire to throw aside stately ceremonial, and so far mix with the throng, that she spends an occasional morning surveying the crowd in the parks from a bench just like any ordinary mortal. In contrast to the rather solemn regime of tlu English Court, this innovation, will be held to be charming. But recently, the Princess gave the Duke of Cambridge, who was atter,dinjj upon her, an awkward scamper down a steep descent at Aldershott, down which she fled like a sure footed Atalanta, to the amazement of certain titled and less nimbled dames who accompanied the royal party. The Prince of Wales has been giving great satisfaction at Winobledon by shooting with remarkable skill and readiness, his average hits being as good as some of the champion shots. The great Wimbledon " Tir " has been a complete, success this season, the shooting being much superior to that of last year, and the general arrangements were altogether excellent.' The Duke of Cambridge condescended so far to throw aside red tape, that he revietved some 15,0t}0 or 16,000 vqlunI teers present at the rifle festival, and no doubt expressed himself highly pleased with the efficiency of the citizen i troops. It will be a source of regret to the Sawneys located in Invercargiil I to learn, that in the rifle match between i England and Scotland, the Scottish | riflemen suffered an ignominious defeat, j occasioned it is apologetically insisted upon by the strength of the wind blowing. The threatening aspect of continental affairs again gives the riflemen a new importance, which ought to provoke in return a closer attendance at drill, and a greater desire to obtain efficiency. If, as is alleged, the volunteer enrollment has tended to suppress the warlike blatancy of France, the barbaric swaggering of Russia, remains unmoved by the growing strength of our armaments. The joint remonstrance of England, France, and Austria, against the brutal violence employed to suppress the Polish insurrection, has been answered in the haughtiest tone. Prince Gortschakotf wants no interference with the internal government of his master's realm, and he advises the Western Powers to give Do false encouragement to the Polish Chiefs. The document is just such a brutal menace as the late Czar Nicholas would have delighted to dictate, and, proves that the old spirit of Muscovite violence has not passed away with the dead despot. Napoleon now ruralising at Vichey, pauses and ponders before replying to the Czar's manifesto ; but by the day's telegraph it is rumored that France meditates a quiet and sudden blow in favor of the downtrodden Poles. The transport of 50,000 men to the shores of the Baltic in a French fleet, and the safe landing of such a corps would decide the Polish question I it is believed without further aid than i the insurgents conld give, and renewed insolence from the Russian couit will

probable hasten' such an- expedition. ' The triumphant entry of the French troops, into the city of Mexico, has got Napoleon through his Mexican difficulty, and he is quite open to cultivate glory in new fields and " pastures green/ Only one dim spot may be said to cloud his. horizon, and that is, a threat of the New York Herald that as soon as the Union is re-constructed, the Munro doctrine will be vindicated by kicking the French out of Mexico, in the most summary fashion, after which, we are informed: for our own behoof, 'England will be similarly served for, her " professed neutrality. 1 ' Recent Federal successes are alarming the Herald for the safety of the " domestic institution ;*' and by way of withdrawing attention from the growing power and demands of the Republican and Abolitioaists faction, the Democrats again give unoffending England the benefit of its spite* Amid signs of what looks rather like a collapse of the Confederacy, the Northern Democrats, through Mr Secretary Seward, are urging that the confiscations and emancipation proclamations of President Lincoln should be withdrawn ; and the Republican party themselves are preparing some proposal which shall have foe its purpose the complete emancipation of the slaves in 1876. Notwithstanding these friendly advices, Lincoln appears willing to stand honestly by his original decision, and this courageous bearing will probably dissipate the capital for his own presidential ; election which Mr Seward seems anxious to raise out of the crisis. Lincoln, in his recent speech, after the success at Gettysburg, distinctly de-. clared his adherence to the political dogma of human equality, and in case of the failure of the Confederacy, Old Abe seems determined that with its fall, the ugly stain of African slavery shall be wiped out along with it. By the fiies of papers which will reach you by this mail, you will have full accounts of the recent battles in Maryland, and the capture of Vicksburg. Both events have greatly chagrined Southern sympathisers in this country, and the limes will not eveu now credit the fall of Vicksburg, alleged by the Confederates themselves, to be one of ' the strongest places within the old ; Union. That Vicksburg has surrendered, there can be no reasonable ! ground for doubting"; and from the! circumstantial details of the diffi- j culties of the Confederate leaders in the west, by the Confederate correspondent of the London Times, the sudden success of Grant is accounted for. ft is alleged, that 100,000 men are set £ree to operate elsewhere against the Confederates, the first result <f which will be that Port Hudson will be captured by a coup de main within a week, or month ac most. By the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the Confederacy lose the States of Arkansas, Lousiana, and Texas, with the "territories" lying beyond and within the States still left to the South. East of the Mississippi, will the Confederacy of the future be confined. So lar has the Northern invasion wrested five or six States from the South, but Davis has still enough of territory to found an empire on. From the accounts which reach you, it will be observed that after two days of terrific fighting at Gettysburg, lying in Pennsylvania, s.ome eighty miles north-west of Washington, Lee, with the Confederate army, was unable to cut his wry through the Fedeja' line of battle, and on the 4th July, retreated southward to Haggerstown and the banks of the Potomac. The carnage at Gettysburg was frightful, and from the manner in which the Confederates attacked- in close column instead of in line, as the Federals do, the loss of Lee's army must have beeu tremendous. Northern accounts allege the Confederates must have lost in killed, wounded and captured, 30,000 men, and it is not improbable that the estimate may be correct. The rifled Federal cannon by enfilading the close columns of the Confederate troops, laid over " swathes " of killed and wounded, and it is stated that the fighting was fiercer and the carnage more bloody than in any former battle. Between Haggerstown and the Potomac Lee has drawn up his army in order of battle, and on the 13th, Meade, the new Federal commander, was preparing to attack the Confederates. Victory will enable Lee to cross the Potomac, and save his baggage and artillery, but success to th® Federals will endanger the Southern army to such an extent, that but a fraction of it will likely escape to Virginia. Both Lee and Meade are good soldiers, but on the Generalship of one or other will depend the fate of the Confederacy. With a reverse to the South, it is difficult to see how the united armies of Meade, Rosencrans and Gj'ant can meet with effectual resistance, when it is already observed that men are failing the South to such an extent, that Rosencrans is permitted to move unchecked upon Chatanooga, stratagetically speaking, the most important post, in the whole Confederacy. The mail which reaches here to-night or to-morrow will probably decide, whether Lee or Meade have* been successful ; but there is no escape from the conviction, that the expected battle if lost by Lee, will -prove the Waterloo of the Confederacy. Fro.m the report of last night's Parliament, I observe that Sir George Grey has sent away to India for Sikh regiments to quell the Maori revolt at Auckland. Would it not be wiser and more patriotic to send home for drafts of our unemployed, who would gladly undertake military service with the prospect of a free, passage and a settlement in the colony when their services were no longer employed. A colony of military emigrants around the disturbed districts or "Native reserves,"

as they- will bye,-and-by«,be,. limited to, would be the only guarantee for contiuued pe&ce and protection. Among the vessels which have left for New Zealand, the new s.s. City of Dunedittj and the Nelson, ship, with 250 passengers on board, have aaiied. The Daniel Rankine leaves the Clyde on the 15th August for New Zealand, the Aboukir, just home from ' Dunedin is to follow. We expect to hear of the arrival of the Electric at Dunedin by next mail. . "