The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-26 00:00:00

is altogether anomalous. The QUEEN, as the critic
reminds us, can do no wrong. She is irresponsible,
and as such is lifted above the whole arena of party
conflicts and mat ceavres. "Yet her representative
in Ireland may be a keen partisan, a prominent
Minister. an active political agent, an ultra one•
sided politician, pressing every nerve and muscle
into the political conflict." It is true that the same
union of representative with executive functions
is visible in the heads of our self-govern-
ing colonies, but it is with an important
distinction. The colonies legislate for themselves,
so all the complex machinery of Dublin influence
is out of the question. When representative as-
semblies step between the Viceroyalty and the
people, there is little fear that the popular interests
will not be efficiently protected. In the case
.of
India, again, the delegated dignity is inevitable,
although it is kept in check by the English official
head, which at present seems likely to carry
its interference to an unwarrantable length.
But the arguments on behalf of these distant coun-
tries entirely fall to the ground when considering
a land so near to us as to be veritably part and
parcel of our own country. The cumbrous machi-
nery of Dublin Castle certainly not needed to
interpose between the seat of Government and the
Irish people. So far from the extraneous dignity
being complimentary to the sister kingdom it is
regarded more as an insult, as a proof that Irish-
men are not to be trusted to take care of
themselves, but are still regarded as inhabitants of
a conquered country. One of the pleas generally
brought forward in favour of the maintenance is
that the citizens of Dublin can ill afford to lose the
£20,000 spent annually from the Castle, and the
stimulus to trade consequent upon its festivities.
But to this our author has several answers ready.
He maintains, having certainly no groat partiality
for Lord Lieutenants as a rule, that a groat proper•
tion of this much vaunted £20,000 is not spent
amongst the Dublin traders at all, being either laid
out to the benefit of the imported train, or reserved
for subsequent use when the Viceroyalty is over.
Again, he contends that the Castle establishment,
far from adding to the gaieties of the Irish capital,
in reality detracts from them, by diminishing the
residence of the nobility and gentry in the city.
" Peers," he says, " of higher titles and more ele-
vated station little relish doing homage to one
lower than themselves on the rank-ladder. Those
of adverse politics will not do service to the
man whose policy they disapprove." It is likely,
however much may be said against it, that the
Lord Lieutenacy will yet endure some little time
longer, but it is as well that the topic should be
freely discussed, that the way may be prepared for
the change. The less distinction made between
the Irish fellow-subjects the better, and the more
direct the influence exercised from the central au-
thority the better. In these days of rapid transit
and lightning communication there can certainly be
no need for this costly and unprofitable interlude ;
and if, so far from increasing the peace and pro-
sperity of the Irish capital, it actually proves disad-
vantageous, the sooner the Viceroyalty is sus.l
pended the better.

The Asia has at length arrived with news from
New York to the 13th instant inclusive. She must
have had a stormy passage, for she is three days
overdue. Her news is decidedly in favour of the
Confederates, not only in Virginia, but in Georgia
and Missouri. It appears that General LEE made
a bold attack on the Federal force on the north of
the James River, drove them from two entrenched
lines, capturing ten guns, and gaining a complete
A"^"ner 4h.111 fi VA miles fnetl,.r from
, Richmond. This occurred on Friday, the 8:h. It
would appear that General GRANT was summoned
to Washington on this acceunt, but he returned to
Petersburg by the 11th. General SHERIDAN has
retreated to Strasburg, pursued by the Confede-
rates. During his retreat he destroyed every-
thing in his power, committing all the ra-
vages of war with a fiendish delight in the
savage work of mischief. He reports that
he made the whole country one scene of
desolation—so as to render it untenable for the
Confederate army. He destroyed 2,000 barns and
70 mills, containing all sorts of provisions, stores,
and farming implements. If this be the mode by
which President LINCOLN hopes to secure his re•
election we heartily trust that he may be ignomi-
niously disappointed and utterly disgraced, not
only in his own day but in all time hereafter. It
sickens the heart of humanity to hear of a general
boasting that in retaliation for the loss of a subor-
dinate officer, who was shot by the Confederate
guerillas, General SHERIDAN should destroy the
habitations of the farming people for five miles.
This is barbarity unworthy of a Republic boasting
of Freedom, and of being a pattern for mankind.
Nor is the day of reckoning only becoming darker
in the north for GRANT and his heteroge-
nous army, but SHERMAN in the south
now finds that he has caught a Tartar,
for his rear is completely closed in by the concen-
trating armies cutting off his supplies and closing
all around. His beleagured army is now cooped up
in Atlanta, in his turn, with little hope of a safe
deliverance. In fact, he confesses as much himself,
although he consoles his army with the assurance
that they have plenty of provisions to sustain their
courage. In Missouri General PRICE pursues his
victorious career, and promises to give a good ac-
count of the Federal forces in that quarter. Ile
has proclaimed his intention to remain in Missouri
after he has captured Jefferson, the capital of the
State. The other operations of the war seem by the
present general accounts, for there was little time
for particular datails, to ba in favour of the
South. Indeed, according to some of the
Richmond papers, it is stated that they had
received favourable news from the north of
Georgia, but declined to state the circum-
stances, no doubt for some very good strategic
reasons, the knowledge of which might enlighten
the Yankees farther north, and give. them a hint
as to their own doings in the present rather con-
jectural conjuncture of their fortunes. The im-
pending Presidential election is now the main
point of the war and of the day. Even what may
be termed the preliminary State elections that are
taking place are looked to with the most intense
interest, for the decision in but one of these is
considered as indicative of the final paramount
decision of all. Hence, the elections in Ohio and
Indiana are hailed with acclamations just as the
tide of opinion rolls its wayward course—neither
inclining to any settled state. The election
in Pennsylvania appears to be more in
favour of the Democratic party—only await.
ing the arrival of the soldiers' votes to
decide the contest for that State; Much
as men may treasure up the ambition of their after
life, we do not envy Mr LINCOLN the glory of his
present position, poised on the hours of hope and
doubt in the most critical period of his life. The
coming events of the war for the next three or
four weeks may undo all the victories that he has
garnered up in his fancy, and open to the gaze of
his bewildered and disgusted countrymen the true
character of the man of blood and recklessness
with whom they had been blinded to believe was
the saviour of his country, and the restorer of
that Union, which was, but can never be again.