The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-12 00:00:00

duly honoured and made mention of. Mr. GLAD-
STONE had a welcome duty to perform, and a con-

genial task before him ; and it is an improving
study to dwell upon some of his criticisms and

observations, in order to feel the full force of
the institution which has sprung up among us.

First of all, he held out a noble example for those
around him, to emulate according to their means
and opportunities, when he said, in alluding to the
Army and Navy, that their history was written

not only in the pages of our literature, but in the
hearts of Englishmen. There is no reason to
doubt that should occasion present itself, the
Volunteers would so comport themselves in a crisis,
and sustain their character in any emergency,
that hereafter it might be said of them that they,
when required to defend our shores sod homes—
" have answered the call in a manner to secure
to them the gratitude of their country and the
admiration of the world." Of all the exhibitions
of good-will that have constantly been apparent
since the commencement of this undertaking, their
is none that more strongly impresses itself upon
the mind than the harmony which has reigned
between the Army and Volunteers. Etch has
recognised the peculiar advantages and distinctive
peculiarities of the other, without seeking to trench
upon ground that was not in unison with the
separate duties incumbent upon either. The
Volunteers have allowed themselves as secondary to
the regular troops, while the latter have gracefully
accorded to their " brethren in arms and rivals in
renown," the went of their extra exertions in a
cause which they themselves pursued as an ordi.
nary avocation. Mr. GLADSTONE set no bounds
to the skill and strength that may hereafter be
attained by this voluntary array, when he said,
that still in its infancy it is an " infant HERCULES."
The right hon. gentleman, in hie celebrated manner
of grouping phrases, and of selecting sentences to
express his meaning in the clearest and most
elegant form, observed, that the " material mag-
nitude" and " moral force" of the Volunteers
had been significantly shown in the fact, that
everywhere they had been associated with the time.
honou- ed establishments of the army and navy. A
number amounting to 170,000, which has sprung up
into existence as a body through the spontaneous
will and self-impelled exertions of its members, re.
quires no eloquence to give power to its importance,
and no dexterous manipulation of words to impart
importance to the c.,se. It remains a great fact,
and, as such,has been recognised by many a foreign
potentate and evil-disposed ally. Mr. GLADSTONE
truly said that they beheld in the constitution of
this force a " remarkable phenomenon," and one
that could not well have appeared in any country
but this, nor at any previous time of our history to
such perfection and power. He also set forth in
forcible language the significant illustration thus
afforded of the readiness with which each individual
man would come forward to defend his country, and
also the spontaneous impulse which actuated him
when the occasion presented itselt for exertion.
This independent sentiment pervading the land re-
quires no stimulus from the powers that be, and
all that those who look on have to do is to appre-
ciate and admire. Mr. GLADSTONE could not better
have explained the natare of the facts than by say.
ing that it was " an emphatic expression of the
national character, and a remarkable result of the
character and working of British institutions. But,
continued the right hon. gentleman, with the pre-
science that looks to the one thing needful in the
consideration of circumstances, " Is this Volunteer
power to be permanent ?"' The institutions lof our
country are not transitory but durable, and there-
fore, if it is counted among them, it must show
traces of bearing the brunt of adversity and wea-
thering the storm of fate, not for an age, but
for all time. The right hon. gentleman declared it
his conviction that it might truly be classed in
the noble category, and that it was very desirable
that it should do so for many reasons. First of all,
that we may maintain our true position among
nations without dread of misrepresentation oreabuse,
and also because its preservation conduced to other
ends of a secondary but still commendable nature.
The English are a commercial people, and it is well
that some stirring employments should be jsined to
more mechanical efforts. Another point of great
importance was touched upon by Mr GLADSTONE
in connection with the advantages occurring from
this institution, and that was that hitherto a gap
had been visible in the arrangements of the army
and navy—they were composed of admirable men,
but all taken from the upper and lower classes of
society. The great middle class was not represented
in their conformation, and no one can better appre-
ciate the importance of that element than one who
has studied, like the right hon.gentleman, the con-
ditions of society and the effects of classes. He may
then be considered an authority when he declares
it to be "a great permanent national and social
gain that the creation of the Volunteer force has
united as it has done in perfect harmony every class
from the highest aristocracy of the land to the
lowest ingenious mechanic, who has contributed so
large a share towards making England what she is."
A. better address could not have been made upon
the subject than this earnest and eloquent harangue,
and few can doubt, with the impressions produced
by its perusal, that the Volunteer force is destined
to take and keep its place among the permanent in-
stitutions of our country.

The news brought by the Scotia confirms stilt

'urther our impressions of the result of GRANT and

BUTLER'S united attack upon the Confederate lines

The first intelligence was clothed in bombastic
terms, and we were given •to understand (if we
could have put any faith in Northern first versions)

that the Federal arms had been comparatively suc-
cessful, and that great results had been realised by
the movement. The news, it is trio, left no im-
preseions of a decided victory, but it did not own
to a defeat. 'We now hear that "Grant's repulse
on the 27th inst. was more serious than was at first
represented," and that General BUTLER'S movement
was a complete failure. It seems that GRANT threw
forward three whole corps—the 9th, the 2d, and
the sth—with the view of carrying the Confederate
works covering the South•side Railway. The Con•
federates made a sortie, and succeeded in getting a
strong force between the 2d and sth Corps, so as to
drive back the former in confusion and capture many
prisoners. The Federals admit in this quarter alone
to losing 1,500, so we may fairly add a good many
more in our computation. General BUTLER fared,
as ho deserved to do, still worse. He attacked two
points in the enemy's lines which were considered
weak ; but General LEE knows better than to leave
weak points in his defences. Two brigades were
completely cut off from retreat by the fire of the
Confederate batteries; and as the storm of shot
poured over them they flung themselves o❑ their
feces, to escape total destruction, and in that posi-
tion were captured by the Confederate forces.
During BUTLER'S movement General WEITZEL
assaulted the Confederate position on the
L Williamsburg-road, but was repuls!d, with
the loss of nearly two brigades, Fortune
was certainly not favourable to the Federal arms on
the 27th of October. Three days la' er the Confe-
derates made a night attack on Gn NT and pene-
rated his lined to a considerable ietance on the

left, a fact which does not speak very well for the
vigilance of his guard. The intruders, however,
" failed to make any impression on the centre," and
returned to their own works, taking with them
400 prisoners. This is rather a strange story, and
seems to imply that the repulse of the 27th was
more serious than is stated. All that has been
gained by GRANT'S last movement is that "it has
been ascertained that the country round the South
side railway has been strongly fortified." We
apprehend that the knowledge has been dearly
b..ught. Meanwhile General PRICE is said to be
retreating to Arkansas " w ith the spoils of his late
occupation of Missouri." A somewhat singular
conclusion this to the grand defeat we had heard
of. A routed General does not usually make a
leisurely retreat with spoils, but the American war
has set us some new fashions. Affairs are compli-
cating in Tennessee. HOOD is advancing to join
FORREST, who has large forces in that State, and
was afterwards said to have attacked Decatur, Alas
bama, without success, and to be retreating along
the south side of the Tennessee, but we expect that
the first explanation of his movements was the cor-
rect one, and that the assault upon Decatur was
merely a passing effort. We shall probably hear
of further doings in this State before long. Mean-
while the state of civil affairs in the North is no
more satisfactory to the Cabinet at Washington.
Men are getting heartsick and weary of the
prolonged tyranny which crushes down every
attempt at free thought and free speech, and
are making efforts, if possible, to throw off the yoke
at this crisis. A mass meeting of merchants and
bankers has been held in their great emporium,
Wall-street, at which resolutions were passed, de-
claring that the financial and commercial interests
demanded a change in the Administration. When
the official October statement admits the public debt
to be 2,017 millions, such a movement is scarcely
premature. If this is all that Republicanism can
do for the country, it is time to see what Democracy
is capable of. The war party has, in its turn, held
a meeting at New York, at which General Dix
read an address refusing to support the Chicago
nominee or the platform, which was there adopted,
but his doings were censured in another quarter,
for the Commandant of the New York State Militia
denounced his attempt to supervise the elections as
dangerous to the public peace, and declares that
the militia will, if necessary, prevent interference
wth the popular right. The National Democratic
Committee have issued an address denouncing the
violence and fraud of Mr LINCOLN'S supporters as
unknown in American history, while political riots
have taken place in Philadelphia, and Governor
SEYMOUR is again in colli.sion with the Military
Commission. Affairs are certainly assuming a
threatening asl'ect, and from the determined atti-
tude assumed by the Governors of States, the irrie
Cation of the people and the unscrupulousness of
LINCOLN'S agents, we should Rot be surprised to
hear of serious disturbances at the time of the elec-
tion. What ias result has been we shall know be-
fore long, but if Mr LINCOLN has been successful,
his success has certainly not been due to the Fedea
ral arms, for the whole tenour of the intelligence is
adverse to them. It is probably with a view to the
civil, as well as the military influence of their re•
cent good fortune, that President DAVIS has ordered
a D ly of Thanksgiving for the late victories of the
Confederate arms.

The little town of Deal has just seen an eng

neering task of no slight labour or difficulty brought
to a triumphant conclusion, and another is added
to the long list of our successes and achievements
in this line. Many rare ago an attempt was made
to construct a pier on the Deal shore, but after the
work had been carried on for some time, it was
abandoned, and finally washed away. The project
of commencing another was therefore looked upon
with no great favour by the townspeople, although
the advantages to be derived from such a work
were alone apparent to the least interested; The
sea sweeps heavily along the coast at Deal, and
although the D)wns offer their friendly shelter in
the close vicinity, those who wish to land from
thence must undergo the martyrdom and run all the
risks attending a transit to the shore in small boats,
a feat which it is needless to say is altogether ims
possible in stormy weather. In case of a war Deal
would rise into a position of very great importance,
and therefore the question of a pier concern a wider
circle than its good cit'zins. It is therefore highly
satisfactory to find that Mr BIRCH, who has been
engaged in many works of the kind, and Messrs.
LAIDLAW and SON, of Glasgow, have succeeded, in
spite of all obstacles, and in defiance of all die.
couragements, in achieving their undertaking, and
that a strong and beautiful pier now stretches its
sheltering length from Deal, so that vessels can be
moored in any weather and in any state of the tide.
It is constructed entirely of iron, being 1,100 feet
long and 25 feet wide. It is built in the form of a
T, with a head 120 feet long and 50 wide, and an
abutment 100 feet by 407. It is no less remark-
able for its elegance than for its utility
and is said to be of very great strength,
notwithstanding its slight and graceful appearance.
Those who looked with hesitation and misgiving
on its gradual progress gained hope and confidence
as time went on, and before its conclusion all classes
were loud in its praise. The day of its opening
was a gala day for the town, and the interest of the
proceedings was increased by Mrs. HUGESSEN, the
wife of the member for the neighbouring town of
Sandwich kindly consenting to preside at the
ceremony of the opening. So graceful and kindly
a task was appropriately given to a feminine hand,
and any lady might well he gratified at being asso-
ciated with so valuable and important a work.
Mrs. HUGESSEN discharged her task with all be-
coming spirit, and the spectacle was a most ani-
mated one. In the evening a banquet was held, at
which Lard CLARENCE PAGET, Mr. HUGESSEN,
Mr. BIRCH, Mr. LAIDLAW, and the other gentles
men chiefly concerned in the undertaking met the
principal inhabitants of the town, and mutual con-
gratulations were exchanged. Deal is likely to
profit largely by the increased facilities for landing,
while future passengers will have good cause to
bless Messrs. Bißcu and LAIDLAW for their
enterprise and perseverance,and indefatigable exer-
tion. Such qualities deserve to be crowned with
the success which does not always attend merit,
but which, in this case, has largely repaid the
efforts of the public spirited gentlemen who have
conferred so great boon upon Deal.

PETRIFICATION IN THE GRATE.—An American
paper, the Alonongahela Republican, states that,
in recently removing the remains of the Mercer family
from an old graveyard to Monongahela city cemetery, the
body of one, drowned 21 years ag.), which remained in the
river for 18 days before burial, was found in a state of petri-
fication in a grave filled with water. The feet had fallen off,
but the body had turned to stone; the head, which had
also fallen cff, was petrified, and the hair well preserved.
The body wzs solid, and upon being struck gave out a
dead heavy sound. The petrification was so perfect that
the pores of the skin were distinct, and proportions of the
form were well preserved. The adjoining graves were dry,
and the badies of them had returned to dust.

LIB MURDER AT PLAIsToW.—No particulars
have been made public in reference to the murder. This
morning. at eleven o'clock, the prisoner will be placed before
the magistrates at Ilford. The police who searched the
marshes found a shovel and the wooden hant'le of a hatchet,
about 12 inches long. They were covered with water, but
there were still marks of blood upon them. These were
found within fifteen yards of the scene of the murder, and
about thirty from the spot where the head was found,