The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-27 00:00:00

as we have here had them related to us.
General LEE did, only the other day, cause to
be successfully undertaken and carried through,
that latest and almost we might say, that
most daring achievement of the Confederates—the
crossing of the Potomac, the advance into Mary-
land, the approach to within six miles of Washing..
ton! Until the Southern artillery became audible
from the White House—of course to the intense
satisfaction of Mr. LINCOLN, the Federal
President, the President calling himself still (so
absurdly) the. President of the United States.
True that the invading force has withdrawn from
the immediate neighbourhood of Washington, has
retired from Maryland, hes recrossed the Potomac.
But—it has done so with flying colours! Unpur.
sued ! " With immense plunder I" Aieitionai
evidence having thereby been afforded that, when•
soever he lists, General LEE can do pre-
cisely whatioever he lists ! He can send his
troops clean round to the other side of Washington.
He can cause them to cross and recross the frontiers
of the Federal territory. He can despatch them,
as one may say, to fire an ironical
,feu de joie
within hearing-distance from the White
House of Mr. PRESIDENT. He can do all this
while Petersburg is still threatened with bombard.
ment. While GRANT'S army still appears bent
upon striving, even now, to vanquish the main
army of the Confederates. While the Northern
commander still looks—doesn't go, but contents
himself with looking—in the direction of Richmond.
But—what is more than all this--Gen. LEE has again
shown that whenever he wants additional supplies.
instead of troubling the Southern President or the
Southern Ministers about it, he has only to send his
troops and gather in as much as he wants from the
Federals themselves. In effect LEE has within
the last few weeks shown himself once more to be
very much, iedeed, like that Good Centurion in
the Gospel, who; has but to say to his follower go
and ho goeth, come and he cometh, do this and he
doth it.

In spite of the severe criticisms which have been
passed upon it in some quarters, there will be no
dissatisfaction felt that the New Zealand Guarantee
of Loan Bill has passed through the second reading
in the Upper House. It did not reach that stage
without opposition, although the noble lords who
opposed it contented themselves with mere verbal
censure. Some of them found fault 'with the origin
of the war, and some with the principle of giving
assistance to our colonies. Others objected to the
moral guarantee which such a measure would give
to all the acts of the colonists; and again it was
suggested that it would be wise to employ Sikhs
and other Indian regiments rather than English
troops in such a campaign. When all has been said,
however, little doubt can remain that the course
adopted is the best and wisest possible in the present
state of things. Whatever the origin of the war,
whether disputes about land or money, or the natural
antagonism of the races, whether treachery on the
one hand or tyranny on the other were the most to
blame, or whether, as some suggest, the too evident
desire to conciliate the natives produced the very
evil which our authorities sought to avoid—it is
now certain that it must be carried out and brought
to the speediest possible conclusion. It will never
do to lay down our arms and allow the natives the
victory. If we suffer them to defeat us in a
war in which we have really put forth our
power, we may as well give up all hopes of colonise
ing and civilising New Zealand. it may, un-
doubtedly, be wise and fitting to lend a willing ear
to the first whisper of peace, to pity the misguided
but brave and skilful men who are thus wasting
their lives and land in a fruitless struggle, and such
conciliation and mercy Sir GEORGE GREY evinces
every inclination to show. " I should instantly,"
he says, in writing en the subject to the Home
Government, " listen to any reasonable overtures
that the natives in arms may make, and I should
avail myself of any opportunity :hat offers of ob-
taining permanent peace for this colony." But the
New Zealand Governor goes on to say that mercy
itself requires that future contests between the two
races should be as far as possible prevented, and
nothing can be more likely to lead to a total destruc-
tion of the native race than a series of such wars.
There are many tribes who have taken no part
whatever in the present struggle, so that it must
not be supposed that we are engaged in a strife
with the whole nation, but it is imperatively neces-
sary that those lockers-on should see the hopeless-
ness and folly of such a struggle as their associates
have now entered upon. The murder of Englishmen
could scarcely pass without reprisals; if it had been
suffered to do so no life in the colony would have
been safe. When we come to the objection
raised in some quarters to the employment of our
troops in the colonies at all, it is still more
untenable than any grounds for opposition to the
war itself. The much vaunted principle of non-
intervention, which has been already carried to an
extent damaging to our honour and injurious to
our best interests in Europe, would by some among
us be now acted upon with reference to our own
colonies. Our sympathies appear to be narrowing,
until they can hardly extend to those of our own
kin if they are across the seas, Our politicians of
the present day appear to be inclined to rush into
the opposite extreme from the mistakes of their
forefathers, who considered the colonies so much
a part of the mother country that they were
bound to contribute to her expenses. A wiser
and more liberal policy now shrinks from imposing
any obligation upon them, but we can scarcely
acquit ourselves of all obligations. It is granted,
of course, that the colonies are bound to contribute
in men and money to the protection of their coun-
try, and the dwellers in any of our settlements
must certainly have lost some cf the most promi•
nent characteristics of their race if they shrink
from taking their fair share either of expense or
of danger. We have not had to complain of any
backwardness or want of zeal on the part of our
New Zealand colonists, w ho have mustered strongly
in their own defence. Ten thousand volunteers,
who have served with credit and even distinction,
have been raised among them, while a large
part of the expenses of the war have been
cheerfully
borne by them, With regard to the
Imperial troops engaged there, the colony has
undertaken to pay iISS a man from the Ist of
January next year. Wo have certainly, therefore,
no right to assert that the colonists are making
exorbitant or unreasonable demands upon us. If'
the lives of the English soldiers are being risked,
so also are the lives of the colonists. It is their
property which
is CE danger: d, their homes which
are imperilled,
their wayfarers and stragglers who
run the risk
of secret murder. We can fancy,
besides, the injury which' such a state of things is
inflicting on the trade and business cf the colony,
and have, therefore, no right or reason to suppose
that our settlers would lightly or wantonly engage
in such a disastrous strife. It would be an ungra-
cious thing to refuse the assistance of men to our
colonists when they are willing
to pay the expenses
of the war, and especially to a settlement like New
Zealand, which, though thriving and prosperous
in times of peace, is as yet but in its youth. Unlike
the youth of its sister settlements in Australia, its
progress has been slow and gradual, and it can
hardly be regarded as sufficiently strong or populous
to meet the whole brunt of a struggic for life. It
mints besides, be borne in mind tact th© present

measure is not a subsidy, but a guarantee for a
loan, and that it is to be repaid out of the colonial
resources. Under these circumstances it is, cer-
tainly, the least we can do to give our colonists
this temporary assistance, which, we trust, for their
own sakes, will be the last they will require at our
hands.

It is unquestionably a great advantage that some-
thing should be done to alleviate, so far as possible,
the fearful amount of misery that is endured by the
poorer classes during the winter months. Last year
the season was very inclement, it is true, but the
details that constantly met the eye ware frightful,
and it seemed a disgrace to our management that
we should suffer such a state of things to continue.
The difficulties that always attend any attempt to
succour the needy in an official form, are almost ie.
superable, and this, therefore, must be taken as
some excuse for the length of time that elapses be-
fore anything decisive is ever:done. Mr. VILLIERS
deserves credit for the energy he exhibited in push-
ing forward the Poor Relief Metropolis Bill on
Monday. It is satisfactory that he succeeded in his
attempts to get it passed through committee, for
although doubtless there may be many defects in
its structure, still it is a step in the right direction,
and until some decisive steps are taken and some
experiments made, it is impossible to come to a con-
clusion as to how and in what form relief may be
speedily and effectually administered. It must ap-
pear to those who look at this subject in an abstract
form that the chief mistake that occurs in our treat-
ment of the affair is, that too much discussion is
raised on the point. No one can allow the proposal
of another to be carried out without putting in some
proviso of his own. The result is retort and argu-
ment, and too often the eager and excited theorists
lose sight of the practical part of their dispute alto-
gether in their determined opposition to each other's
plans. The result is a sad and serious one. It may
seem ❑othing to those who are at ease to put off this
bill or that measure till a new session, but long be-
fore that period arrives the dark, long nights of
winter have done their work, and cold, hunger, and
exposure have carried off many to untimely graves.
It is always a pity to put off the decision on any
question, and, if possible, to avoid delay, but in a
case that relates to the welfare of the houseless, the
distressed, and the outcast, it is most deplorable that
nothing should be done for so long a time as must
elapse before the opportunity for legislation again
presents itself. Mr. VILLIERS explained that this
bill did not deserve the reproach that had been cast
upon it—that it was introducing a new principle
into legislation—because it happens that there is
an Act now in existence which enforced that " the
property of the metropolis ought to bear the ex-
pense of the support of these poor people." This
measure now introduced is a modification of that
scheme, and therefore offered great advantages to
their view. Certainly something must be done, and
it seems advisable to make trial of any suggestion
rather than adopt the very mischievous p:an cf
doing nothing at all. It will be far better that
scores of those whom the new measure offends are
displeased and put to inconvenience than that one
houseless wanderer shall perish in our streets for
want of aid and assistance. If the broad principles
of humanity came more into play in these matters,
instead of always falling back upon the narrow doc-
trines of routine and the hard, cold measures of
selfish views and interested motives, how much
better it would be, and how much more good might
be effected. Lord R. CECIL'S proposal to limit the
duration of the 13111 to next spring was a very wise
one, and met the objections of many. The noble lord
said he was unwilling to incur the responsibility of
doing nothing to alleviate the distressed cases which
every winter so abundantly presented, and yet that
many did not yet rightly under Stand and fully
approve of the bill. It is always wise to adopt
some half way course of this kind when the case is
of an urgent nature, and all sides deserve credit for
thus comprising:an affair which involved such vital
interests in its issues. Those who look upon the
condition of their poor and E. filleted fellow creatures
with concern, and lament the bitter sufferings
that they are so often compelled to endure, will
rejoice that this measure will now be carried cut.
This session has been worse than profitless, for
much harm has been done to the cause of justice,
and the influence which the English Parliament
ought to exercise has been thrown away, but it is
satisfactory to think that some praiseworthy
attempts have been made to remedy defects in the
working of our home machinery. The passing of
Mr. VILLIERS' bill last night is a ;,sod thing, and
the intelligence must be very gratifying to all who
last year deplored the want of a similar provision
being made for the homeless. It is a step in the
right direction, and nothing can be easier than
to remedy any deficiencies that may be found to mar
the efficacy of its workings or to interfere with the
advantages it ought to impact. Another paint
gained is that, after this decisive step having been
taken, it will not be likely that the subject will be
again so much ignored as it has been. It is always
more easy to go cn in an undertaking than to begin
a new one, and this system of poor relief for the
winter may be considered as fairly in working order.
The hundred objections that are constantly being
raised to these proposals will vanish when once it
is seen that the originators of the scheme are really
in earnest, and that their prejudices are treated
with the indifference that they deserve. The voice
of the starving seemed to cry from the ground for
succour during the last winter's long lapse of cold
and inclement weather, and every death from want
was a reproach on the system of a State that with
with so wealthy a community, could not provide a
shelter for these who were driven forth to perish.
In some degree this scandal has been removed from
our Legislature, and it is to be hoped that success
will attend this endeavour.

Lord Palmerston has signified to the directors
of the East and West Junction Railway Company that he
will be present at the ceremony of cutting the first sod of
the railway by Lady Palmerston on Wednesday, Aug. 3, at
Towcester, five miles from the Blisworth station of the Lon-
don and North Western Railway. The inhabitants of the
district are preparing to give his lordship a hearty welcome.
MEYERBEER'S AFRICAINE'' AT LAST!--The
" Africaine," it is said, will be performed in January next
at the Grand Opera. F6tis the elder, of Brussels, has been
asked, in accordance with the late composer's own wish, to
direct the rehearsals and performances.

A CRINESE EXECUTlON.—Yesterday morning,
May 17, A. King met his fate for the murder of
Mr Dore. The number of Europeans, English as well as
others, who were present showed that the circumstances
attending this murder were not forgotten ; but there was not
the vast mu!titudo which at home usually characterise a
" public hanging,." In the centro of a wide plot of land a
tent was standing, covered with red serge. This was set
apart for the official magistrate. Punctual to a minute, the
mandarins, prison officials, and others in authority arrived.
The prisoner was marched, heavily ironed, between the
police constables, and placed before the inspecting magis-
trate. His appearance excited shouts of ironical applause
from the natives, joined in, we regret to add, by many of
the Europeans present, As soon as all was ready, and an
address spoken to the prisoner by one of the acting manda-
rins, he at once went on his knees. The head representa-
tive of the execution guild then rode up, and raising his
sword as the signal, the executioner's knife fell, and all was
over. The headsman at one cut severed the head from the
body. It fell forward many feet. The blood spurted out,
the muscles of the once animate body quivered and col.
lapsed, and A.'King lay headless and a corpse. The blow
was clean, and before many of the spectators were aware
the man's head was off. There was a general question,
" When will it begin ?" Tho time was kept to a minute.
At 10 precisely the man's head was off, and after duly
looking at the body, and seeing the manacles knocked
off the feet, the officials departed,—§l ingha; ,Recorder.