The Express.
London, England, 1861-09-13 00:00:00

:sMERIt A.

i11t.,111 Co I,

)

k. 1.. !u.er 29.

The various bewails's'. 44 feeling winch destin-
pah society in great uatitasal junctures wheu the
public interest is stretched to its limiest teesiutt
And an illustration at pre-ent in the reit.-1 states.
Washinntins saw day in la a feverish state of et cite-
ment—a report spreads that the chewy is approach-
ing in form, „nil th, whole con 11111 l uity is alive with
ever enicitiele. As the heart of the %its's!. heats
it. oils its pulsation's throughout the lazed
the spur: subsides, and then follows a .Alll. AU is
it with the speculations aud upiniona which prevail.
The great mass of these are but transient moods,
which cross our path like a flitting shadow, and are
as wow. forgotten. At one time the public ^ill rise
to a high pitch .'f extravagance ; at another it tante
isit's the glouni of despondency. To daguerriotype
this Oa Wile life is to give a very superficial picture of
American society. These variations and extrava-
gaiseas show the weak poiuta of the national Maw:seer,
while the real sterling qualities—thin which have
made the people what they really are—lie beneath
the surfare. Heim no society has so many saiieut
points for ridicule, Of offers greater temptations to
a a riter who wields a pen marked for vivid and
graphic adeariug. But one who judge.. of Ameri-
can institutions and ()pinnies in this 'superficial
wanner will both have and give a very shallow
idea of the real forces which are at work in the
hymen of American society, moulding ite
tem awl guiding its destiny. Mr. Russell, in his
recut leaere on the civil war, is °pee to this cri-
ticism. Those letters are sketchy aud ihtoeivetrus.
They describe objects and scenery with picturesque
Adchty. Nowhere can be found a more correct ac-
mount 44 Forts Sumter and Pickens, or the disjoin-
bon of fumes in runs:mob ; but the !umlaut he
Ihtrgins to generalise, or to trace the actual drift of
opinion, he tails to penetrate into the deeper cur-
rent^ of American life. He often inietakee a
teausieut :1100.1 fur a permanent COUV ic-
bun, and nom a very few or unreliable
facia makes hasty and false generalisations. His
biters are ta.lft• sensational than reliable, and often
what is gained fur rhetoric is last to truth. He
fails, however, in giving a correct idea of Americus
life Rai affairs, not so much from inierepresenta-
bon as by one-sided pictures. Thus when he first
camels. New York the country was in a.pecoliar
state. The eiectiou of Mr. Lincoln had given me-
meanies tiosticumiou, and a large clam of his oppo-
petite in the Empire City, stung by their recent
defeat, in their hour of disappointment fell into a
tone of despair. They west just such language as
he would have heard at previous elections from «
portion of the minority. In this caws there was
more came fur despondency, for the usaustry was
really iu danger. Mr. Russell falling in with this
chow writes home, that intelligent men have last
faith in republican institutions. That he net with ,
such is douhtleos true, hut they are no inure repre-
mutative* of the rail public opinion of America
beau "Altuu Locke" is a type of English politiean
opinion. Then too be indulged in sneers at the
nsereletuts .if New York, representing this city as ,
so deeply immersed hi sonhd pursuits. as to make
the newest. of trade over-ride the lofty sentiments
of patriotism. The peonage iu which he thus holds
up this gnat city to the world is very .tnking, it
lacks mu), one feature to make it a " perfect pie-
ture"—mal that is, truthfulueas. There is a class of
whom what he says is true, but when applied to
New York as a whole it is false.

Again, at the battle of Bull Run. Thin he did
pot sec. At no time was he nearer than three
miles of the actual engagement. The battle was all
over when lie had finished his maudwiebems. Meet-
ing the retreating troops after an ineffectual at-
tempt to stem the nub, he " put his horse into a
trot" to reach Washington to send off his despatches
by the mail at half-past 2 o'clock on Monday after-
noon. Now, no fair-minded American ought to com-
plain at his describing what he saw. He was bound
Lode this. If he saw a cowardly stampede he surely
is not to blame fur telling it. The whole American
press has done the same. But what he dues tell is
an imperfect account of the affair. Front his first
letter a reader would suppose that the panic was
universal, and that there was no pause of any por-
tion of the troops, but that all rushed pell-mail as
fast as horses and legs would carry them to
Washington. But this is not true. A portion
of the army remained at Centreville until the
next morning, and in the night drew off some of
the cannon remaining on the field of battle. In
his second letter he reports what be beam, and here
again he collies in conflict with the testimony of
eye-witnesses. He says there were nu charges,
" there were no desperate struggles," " except by
those who wanted to get away.' Those who saw
the men march deliberately up the hill on the
south side of the Warrington-road under a heavy
fire of artillery, declare from their personal know-
ledge that the men exhibited coolness and bravery.
And these men are justly indignant that a writer
who was not present should publish such things
abroad, so as to be read by thousands who will use
see the counter-statement. It is this fact which
makes Mr. Russell's letters important. They are
read by a large clams of Englishmen who see no
other accounts, and hence he is under the moat
sacred obligations to truth and honour to guard not
only against misrepresentation, but also from par-
tial or incorrect statements. A half picture, espe-
cially if it be the darkest side, sketched with the
graphic power of a brilliant and vivid writer, may
be as false a caricature as a wilful misrepreseu-
tatiou.

For another illusllwtion take the f ollowing : "Cap-
tain Meagher, I am told, yielded to the universal
panic, and was seen un foot at CeutrerWe, making
the best of his way towards Fort Corcoran, with ex-
clamations which implied that for the moment he
recognised the Southern Confederacy as highly bel-
ligerent." Now an English reader would not got a
true idea of the part this officer took in the battle
from this notice. It is true that the letter writer
did meet the captain, but the words "yielding to
the universal panic " is a touch of the writer's pun
which plows hint among those who are running
away, and such is the impression au English reader
would have. The officers of the 69th Regiment,
thinking Wat this notice implied at least a lack of
bravery and fidelity as a soldier, have sent
to the pram under their signatures, a statement of
the facts of the case. Acting as major of the regi-
ment and special aid of the colonel, Corcoran, 'he
rode coolly and deliberately along the line iu front
of the enemy's batteries, from which a tempest of
ball and shell swept the field. While in the act of
delivering thecolouel's orders to prepare the charge,
Captain Meaglier'il horse was torn to by a
*Lamm shot;" then on foot he adr "cheered
awl inspired the men as they curbed upon the
works, and in face of the deadliest fire, with his
heel uncovered, stead his ground, waved his sword,
rallied the 69th in the name of Ireland, when the
regiment was t w ice repulsed, and o as among the last
to bare the fatal spot where so many of his honest-
hearted countrymen were slain." They also say
that in the confusion which followed, and in the
awoke and uproar of the battle, they were
separated from the captain, and did not rejoin
him again until a mile or so beyond the village of
Centreville. Mr. Rumen, iu a note to the Tri-
bune, says he never "alluded to Captain Meagher
but in reference to his appearance at Centreville."
Now, this is just the point of my criticism. This
statement of Mr. Russell is true, but taken out of
its connexion, and representing the captain as
" yielding to the universal panic," this brave and
gallant officer is held up to European gage as joining
in the universal starepsele. It is just this feature
which, characterise„ his first letter on the battle at
Bull Run, that does great injustice to the Federal
army, and this is accomplished, not so much by
stating that which is false in itself, but by narra-
ting partial events and special soenes, and with such
Mooches of the pen as convey to Englishmen an im-
pression which is nut correct.
Again, in his last letter which has reached us,
?...2 'Jukes a statement which is nut true. In sp,.‘ak-