The Express.
London, England, 1861-08-09 00:00:00

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LONDON, MDAY, AUGUST 9.

TO OUR READERS.

SPOICTUM IiTELLICI ENC E.

A :ate edition of the Repress in publidled every
evening during the racing resaun, couLtiuing the
remits of the der'. rams.

We have as yet no detailed official account of
the tattle at Bull's Run ; but the additional in-
formation received during the last few days all
tends to show that the earliest accounts of the
engagement published were not only inaccurate,
but, so far as the defeat of the North was con-
cerned, absurdly exaggerated. This was perfectly
natural, as the narratives were those of suttlers
and civilians, who saw and knew nothing of the
action except the retreat, and who appear to have
formed their estimate of the Northern army and
its behaviour in the field from the hurried flight
and terrified exclamations of a mere panic-stricken
mob of camp-followers. Even these accounts,
however, were sufficient to convict the wholesale
sentence—" that 75,000 American patriots fled
" for twenty miles in an agony of fear"—of
being a wanton and malignant fiction. That
any English journal of position and in-
fluence should be capable of making such
a statement in a tone of mockery and exultation is
a humiliation and disgrace to the press of this
country. Such writing proves that, notwithstand-
ing our boasted superiority over the journals on
the other side of the Atlantic, an English organ of
opinion may occasionally equal in rancorous scorn,
selfish passion, and vulgar prejudice, the worst
Rowdy hacks of the lowest New York prints.
Instead of 7.5,000 Northern troops having been
engaged in the action at Bull's Run, it appears
that not half that number were present, and their
gallant behaviour in the field is attested, not only
by the facts, but by the explicit testimony of their
enemies. SUOCLIIS in such an enterprise would
probably have been even to trained troops almost
impossible ; and General Sever is reported to have
reproached himself for allowing the attack to
have been made so soon—prematurely, in fact.
But once begun, the struggle was obstinately
maintained by troops half-fasting and worn out
by a twehe hours' march. An official despatch to
Richmond from the Confederated camp says
that the Northern troops on the left fought
so valiantly, and pressed the Southern forces
under General Jounarosi so severely, that the
issue seemed doubtful. "It was here," the
mime despatch states, " that Colonel Bsteroit's
" Georgian Regiment was posted, which was so
" terribly cut up that a large body of our troops
" from the centre was sent at a critical moment to
" the left's assistance, and turned the tide of the
" battle." When at length obliged to retire it is
evident that the Northern troops soon fell into
disorder. But this, so far from being inexplicable,
is only what might naturally be expected under
the special circumstances of the case. The army
was composed of volunteers, and however well
such troops may fight, it is the most dif-
ficult achievement in the world to bring them
from the field in good order. And most proba-
bly, whichever army had been compelled to retire
would soon have fallen into confusion, and con-
verted the retreat into root. The confusion of the
retreat is, no doubt, a lesson to Volunteers which
ought not to be forgotten either in this country
or America. But the fact that the Southern
army failed to follow up its advantage proves
that the retreat of the Federal army was no:,
as it has been unjustly represented, the flight of
cowards. The nine hours fighting had evidently
inspired the Southern troops with a respect for
Northern valour.

But however imperfect our knowledge of this
first great collision may be, we may predict SONO
of its results with tolerable certainty. It will pat
an end to hollow and deceptive schemes of compro-
mise. The grand controversy between the North
and the South hoe at length reached the point it
has been for years past gradually approaching—
the Wheel ratio cd farce, and the sword having
sow been drawn in earnest, it must be fought out.
The defeat of the Federal forces in this first great
encounter will, however, inevitably tend to pro-
tract the war, and the delay will work to the ad-
vantage cid the North. The Federal States are in
character, position, and means far better able to
sustain a protracted contest than the Secessionists.
The reverse they have experieneed will but rouse
their latent energy, and develops their ample re-
sources, moral and material. It will help
to give to the national struggle of the
North the depth and seriousness it ought
to prises& It will do this by bringing
clearly out, and keeping prominently in view,
the profounder motives and nobler issues—in a
word, the whole moral significance--of the conflict.
We cannot for • moment regret this. Whatever
may have been the immediate amis..* of the ac-
tual appeal to arms„ the real causes and objects of
this war are of supreme gravity and importance.
The Federal States are, in fact, fighting for the
very elements and essence of social order, civic
provenly, and national life. The revolted States
pretend, indeed, according to Mr. firtriars'
ingenious speech, that all they want is to be allowed
to manage their own affairs in their own way. Bret
this Is, as everyone knows, the merest delusion in
the world. So long as their peculiar institution re-
mains, the Slave States must adopt a violent and
aggressive policy or perish. That is the policy
they have adopted and successfully carried
out for years past in the Federal Government :
they gained power, kept it, and used it
for their own ends. But the constitutional

despotism they have enjoyed so long having been
at length constitutionally broken up, they appeal
to the sword. For what purpose ? Ti. gain by
force the criminal and degrading ends they have
hitherto secured by policy. The one object for