The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-08 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES,—In the fourth year of the American War
the grand army' of the Federal States will, perhaps,
succeed in appearing before the walls of Richmond.
This, ever since the summer of 1861, has been its
single object. Actuated by motives of which we
cannot judge, the leaders of the new Confederacy,
instead of establishing their capital in the centre
of their territories, fixed it in the frontier State of
Virginia, and within some seventy miles of the
chief military position of their enemies. The pro-
vocation could not be resisted. The earliest and the
greatest efforts of the North were devoted to the
creation of an army for the capture of Richmond.
This force, the first and the largest put by the Fede-
rals in the field, was called the Army of the Potomac,
and by this title it has now for upwards of three
years been familiarly known. But never, during
the whole of this time, could the Army of the Poto-
mac accomplish the purpose for which it was created

by occupying the capital of the " rebe;s." Its first
levies were scattered at the battle of Bull Run in
July, 1861. It was then raised to a far higher
strength, re-organised, re-equipped, and well-disci-
plined by tLe scientific and circumspect M'Clellan ;
but it was again defeated, notwithstanding his skill
and patience. Once more was it recruited, rein-
forced, and intrusted to a new commander, but with
no better fortune. The road to Richmond was the
road to ruin. It mattered not from what base or
under what General the expedition started. It
always failed,. and the best that could ever be said
was, that the Army of the Potomac, after incalcul-
able losses, was substantially " safe." The expres-
sion, indeed. passed into a kind of proverb, for
though the Federal Generals were invariably com-
pelled to retreat, the Confederate Generals as in-
variably failed either to pursue,or take anything by
their pursuit. Neither Lee nor Jackson could de-
stroy the Army of the rotornee, but the Army of
the Potomac could never get te Richmond. Other
Federal expeditions were more bUCCb.
Admiral
Ferragut took New Orleans. The ern,: of the
Sauth-weat,which began by fighting inTenneste2e,is
now fighting inGeorgia. But never cmild the grand
army of the North—that army on which pains and
treasure had been most profusely lavished—succeed
in traversing the few stages between Fredericks-
burg and Richmond, a distance about es great as
that from London to Brighton. Still, the North
clung with unyielding tenacity to its purpose. The
Army of the- Potomac was maintained in full
strength by incessant renewals, and kept unchange-
ably on the same ground with the same object. It
did, indeed, serve for the protection of Washington
at the same time, but its real mission was never
forgotten. Every year saw this great army
newly equipped, commissioned, and commanded.
Every year saw a new General appointed with
the standing order, " On to Richmond." At
last a man has been found to go there.
General Grant is not actually nearer Richmond
than M`Ciellan has been. He ia, in al: probability,
not so near at this minute, after losing half an army, ,
as Butler is; but though he has accomplished only
30 miles out of the 50, he has done this in spite of
the utmost resistance which the best army and the
best General of the Confederates could oppose to his
advance. He hag not beaten that army, but he re-
fuses to consider that army as having beaten him.
He has suffered repulses and losses enough to dis-
courage a less obstinate commander, but he persists
in disregarding them, and in pursuing his course at
any cost. The other day, if the account of his flank
movereent be true, he appears to have thought that
if he could but get to Richmond he would be ee.7.1-
tent to leave the whole Confederate army in his
rear, though the result must have placed him bee
tween two fires, with a strong city in front, and an
army as good as his own behind him, He says in
plain words, but without gasconade, that to Rich-
mond he will go. He has spent 50,000 of his men
in getting half way, but he does not haggle about
cost. His adversary retires deliberately before him,
making preconcerted halts in chosen positions, re-
pulsing every assault, and then retiring afresh. At
this rate Lee will ultimately find himself within the
lines of Richmond, and Grant before them. Then
what is to happen ? Instead of speculating further
on a question involving so many uncertainties, let us
seek information from another narrative which has
been rather excluded from the notice it merits by
the superior interest attaching to the campaign in
Virginia. Virginia has not yet been occupied by
the Federals, but there is a State of the Confede-
racy where an occupation of this character has been
established and matured under circumstances more
favourable to the invaders than would occur any-
where else. Louisiana has been more or less in the
grasp of the North for some time. New Orleans
fell early in the war. The Mississippi and its tribue
taries, intersecting the State, have enabled the North
to take advantage to the utmost of his naval ascend •
ancy. A whole campaign was devoted by Grant
himself to the capture of Vicksburg and the opening
of the mighty river, until at last the Federal gun-
boats commanded the entire stream. Louisiana, in
short, was regarded as " conquered." General Banks
was appointed to govern the State, and it was held
to have recovered even its title to the Parliamentary
franchise. Tho capture of Richmond could do no
more—indeed, would not do halt as much for the
conquest of Virginia as events had combined to de
for the conquest of Louisiana. Well, in this " con-
quered" State, just two months ago, the Governor
set out on an expedition towards a certain
town within his own dominion. It sounds ill
for the tranquillity of his Government to say
that he took with him on his journey an army
of 50,000 men and a strong force of gunboats,
It sounds worse to say that even these forces have
not saved him from a complete defeat in the field
and an ignominious retreat. Yet all this is literally
true. Banks, within the limits of the State under his
own command, has been beaten in battle, and forced
to retreat how he can. In a corner of his province
Velem were rival authorities rejecting his jurisdic-
tion, and owning allegiance to the Confederacy. It
was desirable to upset this rival Government, and,
besides, it was believed the expedition might bring
out large quantities of the cotton supposed to be
stored in those parts. This exploit, if it could be
achieved, would turn the balance of trade in favour
of the United states, and this again would diminish
the export of gold from New York, and so relieye
Mr. Chase from a portion of his embarrassments.
With thee() objects, therefore, Gen. Banks, having
proclaimed a rendezvous at Alexandria on the Red
River about the end of March, advanced, on the Bth
of April from that town upon Shreveport, also on

the Red River, but at some distance up the stream.
He first fell into an ambuscade, and lost upwards
of 1,000 men ; then retreated, and sustained, with
better fortune, a regular attack ; but in the
end retreated again, with the loss of 4,000 or
5,000 men, twenty guns, and the whole of his
train. Then his very transports were attacked, and
his gunboats could hardly protect them. Finally,
ale whole squadron Was placed in a position of the
utmost peril, from which, as we learn to the latest
are only just now hoping to est;,.7e:
telegrams, they,
Banks hitaself re; reoet.ed to have at last succeeded
in reaching New Orleans. Ie was for a long time
by no means certain that he, the " Governor of
Louisiana," and the commander of an army
etuthheting almost as many effectives as Grant's at
Spottsylvatia, had not been taken prisioner in his
own province by a Confedqrate force which was
hardly known to exist. lows if this is the state
of things in Louisiana, what state of things is to be
expected in Virginia, even if Lee should evacuate
Richmond and leave the city to Grant? How are
even "conquered" provinces to bo held if their
" governors fare like Banks ? Certainly, after such
a forcible and timely illustration, we must recognise
the truth of President Davis's saying, that, though
Richmond might he taken, the war could be conti-
nued for 20 years in the State of Virginia alone.
HERALD.—Prudent men pause before they lecture
people. Mr. Gladstone is not a prudent man, and
he has more than once undertaken to rate the
House of Commons for its extravagance. The last
instance wee on Friday night. There was a re-
commendation by Sir L. Palk that justice should
be done to a most meeitorious body of naval
officers at the expense of a I ow thousands. At
this decent proposal, well supported by influ-
ence and argument, the Chancellor of two Ex
chequer hectored. " The Government would give
every attention to the requirements of those who
served the Crown, but they would not be driven one
step in advance. The primary duty of members of
the House of Commons was to check the Government
in their expenditure, but during the whole of the
present session the time spent in attempting to check
the expenditure had been vastly exceeded in the
attempt to induce Government to increase that ex-
penditure." This was pretty sharp, in the face, too,
of the gross outlay on account of the operations
in China, amounting, from 1857 to the close of
last April, to nearly five millions of money. No
wonder that members, thus unreasonably twitted
for their waste of the public fends by a Govern,
went spending seventy millions a year, besides
additional votes for fortifications and other ques-
tionable objects, should feel ill-disposed to enter-
tain Mr. Cowper's vote for one hundred and fifty
thousand pounds towards establishing a new Na-
tional Gallery. The motion of the right hon. gentle-
man, with that strange incongruity so often notice-
able in the conduct and acts of the present Govern..
merit, stood in opposition to the declared opinions of
the Prime Minister in 1860. At that period our
versatile Premier was enthusiastically in favour of
Trafalgar-square for the National Gallery. If the
house would only vote him seventeen thousand pounds
he would take care that every defect would be cured,
and now that the smoke had been got rid of by a
unique act of Parliament of which he himself was the
happy author, we should have the finest site in Eu-
rope rendered a consummate perfection for an exhibi-
tion of pictures. The original building already cost
nearly two hundred thousand pounds of the public
money, and then there were some forty thousand
pounds more for the ornamentation of Trafalgar-
square. These were all considerations why the pre-
sent building should be retained for its definite and
established purpose, and every idea to the contrary
treated as impractical and utopian. It is a pity that
the First Commissioner of Public Works should
have made his noble chief eat bumble-pie in so
conspicuous a manner on Monday night. The Prime
Minister of England has had to undergo too much
of this kind of vassalage of late. We all feel for his
humilit,tions, for the country suffers in them. But
the chastisement dealt to the Chancellor of the Ez-
chequer was still more severe. Mr. Bernal Osborne,
who has a mischievous faculty in raking up bitter
memories, reminded the right hon. gentleman of
his famous diatribe in 1860. It was then we had
that graphic picture of the Public Works Depart-
ment under Whig management, which has immor-
talised the name of Sir B. Hall and his present suc-
cessor. According to Gladstone the conduct of that
office was "characterised by vacillation, uncertainty,
slovenliness, extravagance, and meanness. There
was a total want of authority to direct and guide,
a total want of making up the mind what to do,
and such were the evils of the system that nothing
short of a revolutionary reform would ever be a
sufficient remedy." Surely this was prophetic. We
had the revolution on Monday night. Not the Ra-
dical perversion of the noble Premier, not the silent
vote of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, could pro-
tect the Government from the antagonism of the
house. The proposed expense was deemed unneces-
sary, the proposed change of site undesirable. The
National Gallery is to stand where it is. The repre-
sentatives of the people, in a pretty full house, have
decided this against the Government by a majority
of 52. The arguments in favour of this decision
are overwhelming. In the first place, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had no right on a previ-
ous occasion to catechise the House of Commons on
economy and essay to teach members their duty.
He should have felt his own position. He should
have reviewed the past and forecast the future. As
we Lave said, China and this very vote to come on
ought to have been present in his vivacious aseoe
ninny, mind. The first assembly of gentlemen in
the world have thel'r esprit ifs corps, and no matter
what their party pehoes they do not like to be
collectively rated as so manyschool girls. The cen-
sureore, a just retribu-
tion
yearning. The
of Monday night was, there:
and a prudent and necessary
judgment which Lord Palmerston himseLe had pro-
nounced on the present site of the National eftliery
in 1860 must have forcibly weighed with the house.
At that period there was first a modest call for
thirteen thousand pounds, then for fifteen, and this
was capped by:the final rote for seventeen thousand,
which was carried on the repeated assurances of the
noble Premier that the sum asked for would be
ample for enlarging and improving the National
Gallery so as to make it sufficient for some years for
all the pictures belonging to the nation. But obli-
vious of all this, and having succeeded in making
his venerable relative take a new turn on the matter
—the First Commissioner comes down to the House
of Commons on Monday with the bold proposal of
a summary veto for a hundred and fifty thousand
pounds. This would do for ten years or so, and
then there might be another grant, and then another
and so on, to meet changed views and circumstances.
It is true that to properly house the national collec-
tion on the Burlington site the present pile of build-
ings would have to be swept away, and on the three
and a-half acres a suitable edifice could be reared,
a,-.hich might cost the countrya million orso of money.
This no doubt would perfect the job; and, had
the House of Commons been so unwise as to listen
to Mr. Cowper's hazy scheme, and the noble
n
Premier's rectintai:::l and cajolery, the tax-
payers of the kingdoi2, of whom Mr. Glad-
stone is so nervously tender, would now be in the
the enoenous and useless
direct road to bearing
burden. When Lord John Manner.' described the
proposal as a proof that £17,000 had been raised by
false pretences in 1860—when he made it evident
that the Government were forcibly condemning
themselves, he rendered an adverse vote a necessity.
Ministers may stultify themselves; it is not for the
Legislature to do so, and this with the naked facts
before them ; for in truth there never werestronger
reasons for continuing the collection in the present
building than those which can be adduced now.
The conditions are greatly improved since 1860.
The site is still the same magnificent one it has
always been. There is also room for extension. A
scheme has been prepared according to which, at a
very slight expense, an additional gallery 200 feet
by 40 could be obtained in the rear of the existing
building without buying a single inch of land.
Then, should the barracks be removed and St.
Martin's Workhouse, such an alteration might be
effected as. would render the structure suited to
every reasonable and expected exigency. Of course
the Royal Academy would have to decamp. This
was promised by Lord Palmerston when he suc-
ceeded in raising the £17,000. But it is not a little
remarkable that Mr. Cowper was wholly silent on
the subject of the Royal Academy on Monday night.
For our own part we have always considered the
juxtaposition of our modern pictures with the great
masterpieces of Europe an injustice to our own
artiste. Their reputation is certainly not exalted
by their very close proximity to the national col-
lection. This had better remain where it is, if
for no better reason, simply because it is there.
The situation is admirably central. With the
recent, and destined improvements in Charing-
cross and the neighbourhood, with new railways,
new steam accomodation on the river, and the
completion of the Thames embankment, so valuable
a recommendation will be vastly enhanced. In fact,
there is scarcely a word to be said against the pro-
posal to retain the National Gallery in Trafalgar-
square, and this is the substantive effect of the
amendment of Lord John Manners. On the con-
trary, not one striking or forcible argument can be
urged in favour of the change to Burlington House
—a change involving a large and growing expene
diture of the public money, the violation of former
pledges, and the desertion of an excellent position
for one not half so desirable, and not so free for
extension in regard to the future. The crushing
majority of Monday night, and the equally decided
vote on the International Exhibition building last
session, are sure proofs that the House of Commons
has no confidence in Lord Palmerston and his col
leagues on questions relating to public economy and
the art exhibitions of the kingdom. Monday