The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The last news from the seat of war in
Virginia prepares tie for the complete failure of
Grant's expedition. The telegraphic intelligence
which we published yesterday announced that the
Federal General was again advancing on the night
of Tuesday, the 17th of May. That which we pub-
lish this morning n-cords the signal repulse of the
attack winch he made on the morning of Wednes-
day, the 18:h. This time the assault was directed
gainst L-e's centre and left. "After a desperate
cot.fltct, taming throughout the torenoon, the Fede-
rats were forced to retreat, with the loss of 1,200 in
killed and wounded." After the wholesale slaughter
of the previous tortnight these numbers may appear
almost irilog, but to an invading force a defeat is,
in one sense, more damaging when the loss is mail.
It seems to show that the position of the enemy
was found too impregnable to be carried by " piling
up men" and marching over their bodies, and that
a timely retreat was dictated by that which is the
oetter part of valour. This inference is confirmed
by the sentence which follows. A counter-attack is
stated to have been afterwards mace by Lee upon
Grant's front, though without success. When we
remember that, according to a New York contem-
porary. a full week before this action, '• the army
or General Lee, befit -d and beaten t every point,
was in full retreat towards Richmond, pursued by
the uncor quereble old Army of the Potomac," the
fact of his becoming the aggressor is sugges-
tive of many refle.ctions. The same authority
endorsed as " absolutely true" the information
that Lieutenant-General Grant " was achieving is
victory which will be crowned with the destruc-
tion or dispersion of the main army of Jeff.
Divis, the occupation of his capital, and his flight
es an outlaw from his exploded Confederacy."
Pending the accomplishment of these decisive
events, we hear that Lee continues to occupy his old
position, about halt way between Washingten and
Richmond, while Grant is not only unable to dis-
lodge him, but has sometimes to act on the defen-
sive. But this is not all. "On Thursday (the 19te)
Ewell gained Grant's rear, and attempted the cap.
tore of the Federal supply trains. The result is
unknown ; but after an hour's fighting, in which
the Federals lost upwards of 1,000 men, the Con-
federates returned to their entrenchments." It
would be premature to speak of this es the finale of
Grant's invasion of Virginia, but our readers will
probably agree with us, that a conqueror, supposed
to be driving before him a "defeated, exhausted, and
demoralised" enemy, was never placed in a more
sewkward predicament. It is true that Mr. Stanton
had undertaken to reinforce him with "25,000 vete•
ran troops ;" but we are not told from whet quarter
these veterans are to be procured, nor is it quite
certain that they will arrive in time to avert a
crushing disaster. The most prudent of the mili-
tary critics at New 'York took care to qualify their
triumphant vaticinations by making them condi-
noire' upon Beauregard having taken part in the
late engagement. If Grant had proved himself more
than a match for the joint strength of Lee and
Beauregard, then the retreat of the Confederates to
Richmond was, they thought, inevitable. They could
not afford, it was argued, to leave Butler in the rear
of their capital without Beauregard to watch him,
and must forthwith fall back to defend it. Anotbk r
paragraph in the telegraph news of to-day shows
i:owut terly theseanticipations have been t.onfounded.
there is stilt some mystery abut Beauregard's
movements, but we know, at alt events, that after
he was beieved to have itined Lee, General Ran-

KM, one of his sutordinates, surprised General
Butler in one direction, while a second detachment
of the same force surprised General Baldy Smith
in another direction. Mr. Stanton hiaszAt ad-
mitted that. the latter wal at first driven back
with some contusion," but saser►kd that the

,track on Butler was " handsomely repulsed."
Trier Gentrat, however, by Mr. Stanton's own
showing," retired"—though "leisurely"—" within
his own lines." The exact nature of this strategic
move went is explainb,d I,y our latest accounts:—
'
Toe Confederates captured General Hickman with
nearly his whole brigine and eight or ten cannon,
and drove the whole Federal force to their intrench.
ments at Bermuda. Toe Federal loss in killed and
wounded is 'admitted to be 2,500." Meanwhile
Be iuregard, so far from having despatched all his
available zroops to theassistance of La-, was actually
in force, on the 21st. of May, in G, n. Butler's imtne•
diate hoot, an was preparing to assault his in-
trenchments. Should tie have been successtul, alt
cause for anxiety about the safety of Richmond will
have been removed, and Lee will no doubt have
been heavily reinforced from Beauregard's army. I.
is now time to glance briefly at the operations of
General Sherman, whose expedition, however in
ferior in magnitude to that of Grant, opened more
hopefully, and excited great expi.otations in the
North. On the 14th of May Mr. Stanton reported
that Sherman had forced his antagonist, Johnston,
to evacuate D :Iton in the Chattanooga Mountains,
though not without a lose to himself of 3,000 in
killed and wounded. On the 16th he was advanc-
ing into. Georgia by rapid marches. On the 17th
tie was still "in vigorous pursuit," his supplies
abundant, and animals f4t.ening oo the pastures
and grain fields. By the 20th he had arrived at.
Kingston and occupied Rome; ny the 21st he had
reached Caseville, and a great battle at Manta was
considered imminent. For the sequel cue must
wait till the next mail, but a very cursory inspec-
tion of the map will show the advantages under
which it will be fought by the Confederates,
Atlanta stands at the junction of three great lines
of railway, communicating with Savannah, Charles-
ton, and the Mississippi. Jr it should fall into
the bands of the Federals, it will no doubt be
a valuable pettier], but in the contrary event
it may turn out that the retreat of Johnston was
a preconcerted plan to draw Sherman away from
his basis of operations, and the "pursuit" of the
latter a suicidal hastening into the trap laid for him.
It is not, beweTer, OD the fare of Sherman's, but
on that of Grant's, enterprise that the fortune of the
war now appears to be suspended. There is no
limit, indeed, to the elasticity of Northern self-
reliance, and there are persons who would not cease
to proclaim the approaching extinction of the re.
hellion though the Army of the Potomac were
annihilated and Washington taken. We speak of
no impossible contingencies. If Beaureg: rd were
to dispose of Butler and gain camp before
Grant's reinforc,ments could reach him, nothing,
we imagine, cou d save the latter from an over.
wheiming defeat. Such a defeat ruin to an array
which has staked eve ry t oing ou victory, arid vas
no defences to fall back upon. Unless Grant Can
maintain a superiority in the field, it becomes a
question whetter he will be able to recrose the
Potomac with more than a remnant of his force.
We know too little of the resent oes at the command
of the Confederates, and have had too many
examples of their comparative weakness for aggres-
.__

„ive purposes, to venture on any prediction lit-this
conjuncture. All that we desire to point out is the
importance of political manes depending on
Supposing Grant's prodigious sacrifice of men to be
fruitlees, and his military reputation to be wrecked,
what will be the probable tffect on public opiuiou
in the. North ? The war party will doubtless b.
longer ? Will the policy forced on
more furious than ever, but will the War party be
dominantpresie
ra
Lincolnany by a section of the Repnblioans
survive the financial and moral collapeo that must
Or will the pacific
great muses, who have "no
follow such a catastrophe?
sentimEnta tha
interest in wrong,” make themselves heard for once
above the din of boisterous passions, demanding
Hirher a change of po:icy or a Changt) of President P
We cannot tell, but we may at least hope, for the
sake of burnaailY, that the wild and ruthless cry,
"On to Richmond," has now been raised for the
last time.

POST.--The County Courts Bill of the Lord
Chancellor, which is to be discussed to-night in the
House of fords, has, in one particular, encountered
an amount of adverse criticism which may have in-
duced the public to overlook in other respects its
great and manifold merits. We, of course, refer to
that section of the measure which proposes to enact
that, after the Ist day of March, 1865, no action or
suit should be brought for the recovery of any debt
or money demand not exceeding £2O, "unless
Within one year after pooh debt or money demand,

or some part thereof, became due and
payable."
The object of the Lord Chancellor, as stated by
himself, was to protect the artisan and the agricul'
tural labourer from the evils of that system of long
credit which generally ended in consigning the
debtor to the county prison and his unfortunate wife
and family to the parish workhouse. Credit, both
in great and small commercial transactions, Is
matter too important and too dependent upon
established habits and customs to be safely dealt
with on mere grounds of favour or benevolence to
a particular class. If the artisan and the agricule
tural labourer have a right to ask Parliament to
diminish the statutory period of limitation from ell
years to one year, surely the small tradesman,
whose interest is quite as great, has a right to be
heard on the other side, and to show, it he can, that
the proposed enactment wou d in reality confer oo
benefit upon the labouring classes. whilst it would
drive those situated as himself to immediate bank"
ruprcy. But the argument may be put even higher.
The small trade-amen is dependent upon the whole•
sale dealer, and the latter upon the importer, for
all articles, such as tea, sugar, and tobacco, which,
though the produce of foreign countries, are
reckoned necessaries of life among all classes of our
population. It credit be disturbed at the basis of
our social system, where the insignificance of
each transaction is more than compensated V
an enormous aggregate of dealings, the shock will
reach the very highest class of merchano, and aD
injury will be inflicted upon the trade of this coun•
try the consequences of which would not fail to tell
upon the very persons for whose special behalf the
law had been changed. But in considering a quo'
tion of this kind we prefer facts to mere arguments,
and we therefore proceed to show the probable beard'
ing of the section upon the London shopkeeper,
who needs not necessarily be a small tradesman,
and whose customers need net belong to the labours
ing classes. We know the case of a tradesman et
the West-end who has every year on his books four
thousand accounts, each for a sum under £2O. 110
rule is to bend out his bias at the end of the year,
and he states that if ne were compelled to collect
them within a twelvemonth he might as well, shat
up shop and retire from business altogether, or wait
tor an inevitable report to her Majesty's Court of
Bankruptcy. In another case the manufacturer of
an article of general consumption, who supplies
several thousand retail shopkeepers, states that if
such a law was obligatory upon him he could not
con linue to carry on his business; that he ended'
yours as far as possible to limit credit, but that the
constant litigation and oppression which would
ensue from the proposed limitation to one year
would deprive him of his customers. But 'be ques-
tion may be viewed in another aspect. Is it kind
or humane to require the working man at all times
and under all cilcumstances to pay that which 1.0
reality amounts to ready money P When wrk le
plentiful and wages are high the labourer ought,
no doubt, to abstain from running into debt ; but
when circumstances are changed, and employment
cannot be obtained, to deny him all means of credit
would be either to send bim to the parish or to induce
him to take part in one of those strikes which eel
end in scenes of outrage and violence. We therefore
say, on behalf of the working man, the small shop-
Ikeeper, and the wholesale dealer, that the proposed
period of limitation is too short, a:though we have
every confidence that the Lord Chancellor, in re'
commending it, was solely actuated by a desire to
protect and benefit a large and deserving class of
his fellow subjec,s. But if one year be too short, is
the old statu ory period of six years too long p We
believe that all controversy in this respect will be
settled by the noble and learned lord accepting two
years as the period during which a debt or money
demand under £2O can be recovered. If this moc11.•
fication be adopted in conjunction with those pro-
'rations which abolish imprisonment except for cer
tain defined offences, fraud, reckless extravagance its
living, &c., the law of debtor and creditor in respect
of small transactions will, no doubt, be placed 00
mach more just and satisfactory footing, and render
the measure worthy of the reputation of its diet'
tinguished author. It is needless to discuss the
" tally-man" grievance, because we perceive that
Lord St. Leonards has given notice of a clause
which will provide an efficient remedy. He pro'
poses that no debt of this kind should be recover;
able unless the order had reeeived the sanction !";
the husband or father. Those portions of the bill
which propose to confer a small equitable jurisdic'
tion upon the county courts are likely to produce
considerable benefit to the public, but the clauses
themselves are so general that little opinion can he
formed of their utility until we see the code of
orders which is to prescribe the procedure. We 10'
tend, however, to return to this subject of equitable
jurisdiction slid to the short system of bankinp'e9
to small debt cases which, we believe, consoiture
two of the moat v,,uab.e and important features of
the Lord Cusaleeilor's measure. The latter "
especially commend to the attention of the coca-
nnitee Low sitting to investigate the operation of
the Bankruptcy Act, 1861.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

------,1,•.- ..... -

BIIIMINGHAM—THURSDAT.
There was an increased supply of English wheat to-dal'
but the demand was slow, and last week's prices advanced
6d to is per quarter. Barley nominally unaltered in prige•
Beans and oats were rather over late quotations. Peas Mill'
—English wheat was sold at 40s to 448 for white, and 368
to 42:4 per 36 stone for red, Barley, new malting, 305 to
38s per qr ; grinding, 18s to 24s Oats, old, 22s to 301'
per 30 stone ; Irish, 18s to 245. Beans, 34s to 40s per qr.
Peas, 32s to 38s per 36 stone.

BURTON. ON- TR
Old white wheat..4lB to 45s I
New do. . 398 to 94s
Malting barley....32s to 35s I
Grinding d0.....26s to 29s

ENT-THURSDAY.

OA red wheat, ..40s to 420
New do. ..37s to 410
Oats 2os to 306
Beans 34s to 42..

MANCHE STE R—THURSDAY.
A very limited attendance at our market to-day, efla
but very lible bu inese doing. Wheat and flour both b°`
for previous quotations. Oats id to Id per bushel dear
Oatmeal at late prices. Beans 6d to le advance. Indite
corn was 3d to 6(1 per qr higher.

BRISTOL—THURSDAY.
A small supply of English wheat, which met a readl
sale, at an advance of Is per qr. oreign more dealt Inci
at prices unobtainable last week. Barley ruled slow, ail
brought late rates. Beans, peas, and Indian corn fully .s
dear, but dull.

EDIXBURGI-1 GRAIN—JUNE 1.
To• day there was a better supply of grain, which sold
at is above last week's prices, with an active demand.
Wheat on the top Os 6d up.... average 2s 3d u.P.
Barley on the top Oa Gd up average Os 5d up. _
Oats on the top 250 d up average is Id dem"
Beans on the top is ed up average 2s 81 uP•
Ave, age Prices.
Wheat. ... 39s ld I Oats.
Barley 345 6d Beans 353 Oci
Total Supply and Sales.
Wheat........ 906 qr 5..,..... Sold 450 qrs
8ar1ey........ 150 qrs Sold 113 rs
B
Oats
rs
eans 73 qrs Sold 73 qrs
Flour sells as follows:—Whites, 37s Od.; extras, 35s Od ;
superfine, 33s Od ; fine, 30s Od.

NEW JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.- --A Parli a tri etr
tary return, moved for by Lord Overstone, shows that be'
twen the beginning of last year and the 18th of May luj
this year, 1,176 new joint-stock companies with liraite'
liability were registered, and ihe total number of ely're:
created reached the enormous number of 13,348,401. There
is, however, some qualification of this statement in a note
i
appended to the return, to the effect that the registrar
joint-stock companies is unable to state how many of b-lo
shares have been really subscribed for. The persons sfil
registered these companies hag only subscribed for 672,3°~a
shares.