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

obtained him possession of Vicksburg, and
achieved one of the few successes which
have attended th,e 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,
as we know, came the grand explosion, the tem-
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 foar 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 before 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
lscls 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 couutry is at
the same tiros 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 un-
doubtedly been ten times as great ; but they have
not escaped the evil example, and while their miss
deeds have been few in comparison, they have not
sufficiently borne in mind that whatever 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 cf 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
onger hear the Americans boast of their civilisation.

The condition of cottages is at all times a subject
,hat 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. BtiRROUGHES has been 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-

:ary 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
letting things alone, and only trouble themselves
where their own immediate interest is concerned,

as they think ; for, in reality, the sanitary state

of the cottage relatca 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

lies. Such negligence is sowing broadcast the seeds
of disease in many a fair locality, and woo 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 abusee
and
dethwer the will not
do it are as much to blam e
w
evil be escaped or whether its viru-
lence has to be endured. It is well that the pre-
sent enactments of the law should have been made
so stringent, but it is lamthentable that the occasion
putting
ton force
now better than
should
onuldglt on
arisel for i
naputarteioenag,
satiinustlethasosteo
render themselves liable to i
conviction. As we know that unhappily there are
many landlords to keep Mr. BURL OUGUES in cone_
take"
tenance, it will be well for them
c
heed to their ways, and to endeavour tos m
beare
a like catastrophe befalling them. It nnot
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
exciEernent 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 inqui:l- before the magistrates, was
a disgrace to ail connected with them; they appear
to have been totally unfit for habitation, and
nothing short of their immediate removal and the
substitution of more desirable tenements can at all
reinstate their landlord in the good opinion of his
neighbours and tnF, Tt 19 an