The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-10 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPT. 10, 1864.

We are told by the trite old maxim that it is
necessary to hear both sides of a question if we
would know the truth, and certainly if such an
axiom were ever necessary to be boine in mind, it
is especially so in regard to all intelligence received
from the American States. More particularly is
this caution advisable when the news we gather
comes, as it commonly does, from Northern sources,
for the ingenuity with which defeat is turned into
victory—failure into success—a trifling advantage
into a glorious and conclusive triumph—and un-
conditional retreats into strategic movements,
eclipses any transtormation on record. English-
men have long ago learned to take the grand
flourishes of the North at their true value, and
even their own countrymen most, by this time,
appreciate them as they deserve. Such transparent
devices—such flimsy attempts to
Persuade the
public they are rapidly advancing, when in reality
g ground—such falsifications of mill-
they Are losin
tart news,
when the truth must ultimately creep
out, if only through the revelations of returned and
ur ill for the Federal cause.
disabled soldiers—aug
These indications prove not only that the fortune
of war has, on the whole, been unfavourable to the
North, but also that the hearts of the people are
not enough in the cause to render it safe for them
to snow the extent to which they must eventually
suffer, They lack the intense feeling, the unanimity
of sentiment which give vigour to the armies of the
South. While no shuffling or misrepresentation is
necessary in the se ceding States, but the news of
repulse or misfortune only stimulates the energies
of the people, the Northern leaders have too good
grounds for fearing that, as soon as the weight of
the war is really felt by New York, the popularity
of " the Uniou" will be seriously diminished.
Accordingly, every device is necessary to keep up
the existing state of things; and the recent events
at Pet,,:rsburg gave the Federal rowancists a good
foundation for weaving their skilful webs. The
last great feat of which they had to hoist was
the springing of a mine beneath the Confederate
earthworks at Petersburg, an event of which the
English public heard long since through New
York. Seen from a Virginian point of view, it
appears in somewhat different colours, and the
results of the grand strategic movement were any-
thing but satisfactory to the Federal commander,
who lost in the repulse of the attack some thousands
of men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. It is to
great wonder that General GRANT, wearied with
the fruitless nature of his protracted
campaign, and
hopeless of forcing his way into Petersburg by the
ordinary means, should recur to the scheme which

obtained him possession of Vicksburg, and
achieved one of the few successes which
have attended the Federal arms. It is true that
the conquest of Vicksburg has& brought no great
fruits to the Northern cause ; but GRANT'S victory
was the same, and it is not surprising that
resting in despair before Petersburg he should
resort to the old method. His army rapidly melt-
ing away with nothing accomplished, his men daily
losing heart, while their opponents naturally
gathered encouragement from the delay, it became
necessary to give the Northerners long waiting
on the tiptoe of expectation, some wonderful intel.
ligence. Accordingly the underground works were
pressed forward with a celerity and despatch which
surprised the Confederate engineers, and anticipated
their opposing movements ; and on the 30th July,
grand explosion, the tem-
as we know, came the
porary discomfiture of the Confederates, the sub
sequent repulse, the panic of the negroes, and the
terrible slaughter which filled the yawning mine
with dead and dying. The Confederates, more
fearless of the truth than the North, openly affirm
that the troops in the work should not have been
so easily dislodged from it. Only two guns were
blown up out of four within the salient ; and it
is said that if the gunners of the other two
guns had stood firm, and had been sup-
ported by the infantry behind them, no
entrance could have been effected. There is, how-
ever, great allowance to be made for men flying
from so uncertain a danger, and the suddenness of
the explosion might well startle those totally un•
prepared for an artificial earthquake. It was not
many hours bafore the work was again in the hands
of the Confederates, for General GRANT found
himself unable to reinforce his troops, and the negro
regiments, so far from being animated by the vin-
dictive spirit ascribed to them in some reports, took
refuge in the mine itself where they were shot
down without mercy by the Confederates. The
lack of that " attribute of God himself" has been
painfully manifest on both sides throughout the
war, and it ,is one of the saddest reflections that
press on the mind of the observer, that the same
tragedy which is desolating the fertile country is at
the same time degrading and brutalising the people.
The Southerners have certainly borne the palm for
superior magnanimity, if such a word may fairly
be used on either side ; or rather they have shown
less ferocity, while their provocations have rm•
doubtedly been ten times as great ; but they have
not escaped the evil example, and while their mis-
deeds have been few in conparisoie, they have not
sufficiently borne in mind that whateirer the con-
duct of their opponents, they were bound by the
moral code of civilised war. The burning of towns
and villages as retaliation for the atrocities com-
mitted by the North, will not be likely to mitigate
the harshness and inhumanity which the Federals
seem to think must distinguish a general, but it
will inflict much needless suffering. Retaliation
between two contending armies usually means re-
venging the misuse of power on the helpless and
inoffensive, and if such is the spirit in which two
Christian nations are to carry on a war, let us no
longer hear the Americans boast of their civilisation.

The condition of cottages is at all times a subject
that requires consideration, but it is too often put
aside for others of a more exciting character. Yet
rightly understood, few things can more deserve
inquiry and attention, for on the right regulation of
this matter the comfort of many are concerned. It
is besides a reproach to the community in which the
scandalous occurrences take place that are con-
stantly put before us regarding the condition of the
dwellings of the labouring classes. It is some safe-
guard that an act has been passed which invests
the landlord with responsibility as to the state of
his cottages. It is to be hoped that the affair in
which Mr. BURROUGIIES has bE en engaged will be
productive of some good in this respect, and that
the painful exposure to which he has been sub-
jected may be a warning to others of his class
equally careless as to the welfare of their depen-
dents. It is really almost incomprehensible how
persons of education, and accustomed to responsible
positions, can thus neglect their duties and wil-
fully ignore the rights of those who are in a great
measure dependent upon them for all that makes
life desirable. It is not only the health of the
inmates that is affected by the total want of sani-

tary arrangements which appears in many
instances, but the feelings of decency and morality
are violated, and the social condition of the
place must be bad where the provisions are
such as appear in the scanty and ill provided
tenements of the poor. It is well that the inspector
in the instance referred to has been so vigilant,
and, undeterred from the prosecution of his duty
by the position of the defendaant, has made known
a decided dereliction of duty on the part of a re-
sponsible individual. It is to be hoped that the
example thus set will be followed by others, so
that, in some degree at least, the terrors of the
law, most especially as regards its publicity, may
be put in force against such offenders. No terms
can be too harsh to employ in the discussion of
the conduct of those landlords who persist in
and only trouble themselves
lettiEg things alone,
where their own immediate interest is concerned,
as they think; for, in reality, the sanitary state
of the cottage relates to the health of the neigh•
bourhood, and if the condition of the former be
such as shocks inspection, it cannot but be injurious
to the community around. They will incur a fear-
ful responsibility, and have a frightful reflection to
dwell upon, who by their acts of omission and com-
mission in this respect endanger the lives of their
tenants, and invite the ills of pestilence to scatter
themselves around the place in which their property
ties. Such negligence is sowing broadcast the seeds
L of disease in many a fair locality, and woe unto
those who incur this odium. An unfavourable
season, the state of inmates at the time when they
enter into the abode may have something to do
with the propagation and extent of the calamity,
but still they who have the power to remedy abuses
and will - not do it are as much to blam e
whether the evil be escaped or whether its viru-
lence has to be endured. It is sent enactments of well that the Pre-
the law should have been made
putting
them
.11 at the occasion
grounds to know better than
so stringent, bat it is lamentable that
swhhoouldonagrihste for patting
all
force against those
render themselves liable to imputat;on, still lees to
conviction. As we know that unhappily there are
many landlords to keep Mr. BUUROUGHES 1 •
11 coun-
tenance, it will bo well for them to take
heed to their ways, and to endeavour to escape
a Lke catastrophe befalling them. It cannot be
but that the notice that will be taken of this affair
will promote some beneficial result, for there are
many persons who are always impressed by the
excitement of discussion and the stir of unusual
occurrences, who never think of analysing a subject
for themselves, or taking themselves to task as to
whether or not they have properly performed their
duties. The condition of the cottages, which was
the subject of inquiry before the magistrates, was
a disgrace to all connected with them; they appear
to have been totally unfit for habitation, and
nothing short of their immediate removal and the
subatitution of more desirable tenements can at all
reinstate their landlord in the good opinion of his
neighbours and the public 'generally. It is an

abuse of power that ought not to be tolerated, and
by every means efforts should be made to change
the aspect of affairs which permits such out.
rages on the good sense and good feel•
ings of the community. The labourers are
often compelled to reside in unfit places,
because there ere no proper habitations nearer at
hand, and thus it is more incumbent upon country
proprietors than town ones in a great measure to
see that the right and fitting steps are taken that
the poor should be properly housed and enabled to
live decently and correctly. If such cottages as
those that figured in the inquiry were described as
existing in a foreign land, many would exclaim in
horror, and be virtuously indignant, but they do
not look at home for sights that shock propriety,
and a state of things that is an offence to morality,
and an incentive to evil courses. If the term be
unpalateable. it is not at any rate an unprofitable
one, and it is to be trusted that a particular instance
of the want of proper cottages will not be passed as
a nine days' wonder, but that those who are inti.
ately and immediately concerned in the matter
will at once devote their energies to the task, and
render the cottage of an English labourer such a
dwelling as a working man may inhabit who re-
spects himself and desires the respect of his neigh-
bours. This desideratum is one which is earnestly
to be hoped for, and the welfare of the community
depends upon its fulfilment.

The Bath Meeting of the British

Association,

The preparations for the 34th annual meeting of
the British Association are now in a forward state.
Applications for tickets are pouring in from all
parts, and the attendance will be exceedingly
numerous. Amongst the eminent personages who
have already signified their intention to be present
at the meeting are the Earls of Cork, Enniskillen,
and Nelson, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the
Bishop of Oxford, Bishop Colenso, Lady Franklin,
Sir Roderick Murchison, Sir John Bowring, Sir
W. Jardine, Sir Benjamin Brodie, Sir William
Armstrong, Sir E. Belcher, and many others.
The programme of the proceedings for the nine
days, as at present arranged, is annexed :
—Wednesday—Meeting of the general committee
in the Guildhall, at 1 p.m., for the election of sec-
tional officers, &e.; first general meeting in the
Theatre at eight p.m., when Sir W. G. Armstrong,
C. 8., LL.D., F.R.S., will resign the chair, and Sir
Charles Lyell, Bart., M.A., D.C.L,, F.R.S., &e., will
assume the presidency, and deliver the inaugural
address. Thursday—The eight sections will open
at 11 a.m. in the rooms mentioned above. A conver-
sazione in the Assembly-rooms, commencing at 8
p.m. Friday—The sections as usual. Professor Ros•
toe's lecture in the Theatre on "The Cnemical Action
of Light," at 5.30 p.m. Saturday—The sections as
usual, Excursion to Frome, Holwell, and the Vallis ;
excursion to Stanton Drew and Radstock. Evening
banquet in the Guildhall, given by the mayor.
Monday—The sections as usual. Meeting of gene-
ral committee in the Assembly-rooms at 3 p.m. to
decide upon the place of meeting in 1865. Dr
Livingtone's address concerning his explorations in
Africa during the last six years, in Theatre, at 8.30
p.m. Tuesday—The sections as usual. Microsco-
pical soiree in the Assembly-rooms at 8 p.m. The
instruments collected will be insured during their
railway transit for not less than £6,000. Wednes-
day—Concluding general meeting at 3 p.m. in the
Assembly-rooms. Evening banquet in the Guilds
hall, given by Mr Tite, M.P, Thursday—Excur-
sion to Bristol and Clifton ; excursion to Salisbury,
Old Sarum, and Stonehenge.—Bath Chronicle.