The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-16 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morninP*.
This day at Two o'clock . 61
Barometer-29.71.
Wind—S.W. ; light breeze, with showers.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Ting DAL—Morning, 12h. 59m.—Afternoon, lh. 25m.
To-mowlow.-Morning, lh. 43m.—Afternoon, 2h. Bm.

NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS.
C.8.A..—1f paid quarterly, a quarter's notice; if half.
yearly, a half-year's.

-4-^
".
"

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1863.

" STONEWALL" JACKSON, if not quite realising the
Yankee dream, in the U-nited State's regard, of
whipping all creation, has again most unmistakably
defeated and even routed yet once more those un-
happy Federals. The Third Bull's Run—for the
incident now related is really but little else—has
this time to be branded on the North American map
at d point close to Chancellorsville. There the
great Confederate Roundhead and his lrcnsides
on Saturday, the second of May, it appears,
made a vigoro-as attack upon the Federal
Right Wing, breaking up effectually at the first
rush General Soettme's division of German auxi-
liaries—driving them back at the point of the sword
and bayonet—turning their retreat into an utter
ro=t at last, until the very arms of the Teutonic
mercenaries were thrown away as incum-
brances to them in their flight—until, in point
of fact, the whole division was swept before its
conquerors in another genuine and unmistakable
skedaddle. Not only, however, was it Gene-
ral SoEttreee's division that fled in complete
rout before General " STONEWALL" JACKSON
and his Confederates upon the morning of the 2d of
May, immediately upon this dashing descent upon
the right wing of the Federals, near Chan-
cellorsville. The contagion of Federal cowar-
dice spread not only from regiment to
regiment, but from division to division—the
division of General DEVEN also breaking
under the shock of battle, flinging down their arms
and running like hares, before the victorious Corfe.-
derates. " Two brigades," we read, " of General
HOWARD'S division alone retired in order, to
the support of whom General HOOKER sent his
own division commanded by General BERRY."
The next sentence of the telegram adding, " the
united and desperate exertions of these troops,
after a most sanguinary struggle, succeeded in
checking the Confederate advance, and pre-
vented General JACKSON from completing his
victory." This is the news brought to us by the
Persia, via New York, with advices from that city
down to the sth inst. And the wording of the last
sentence, precisely as it comes to us from this
source of information, we cannot but think
has about it an especial significance. It was
only, observe, by their united and desperate
exertions, that after a most sanguinary struggle
the Federals succeeded in checking the advance
of the Confederates, and thus, only did they
prevent General JACKSON, the redoubtable and
still irresistible " STONEWALL" JACKSON, from com-
pleting his Victory ! So that from the mouths of the
Federals themselves we obtain the acknowledg-
ment that it Was a Victory. All this, remember,
occurring on the Saturday. Daybreak, how-
ever, upon the following morning, that is
upon the Sunday morning, 3d May, brought the tn.;
of war, For then it was that the opposing forces
appear to have recommenced the struggle
in veritable earnest. The contest lasted
for fully three hours and a half—with
what result it is rapidly becoming almost
unnecessary to answer—the Federals failing hack
—the Confederates pursuing ! Four hours longer
the fight then seems to have been persisted in
with a sort of wild and vague desperation. What
it is, that is precisely meant by the announcement
of the result of this seven and a half hours
hard fighting must remain until further
particulars can be received in explanation
of the enigmatic sentence, matter of dim and
bewildering conjecture. The Federals having
(after the first three hours and a half of
the Sunday morning battle) fallen back, with
the enemy, that is the Confederates, in
close pursuit—fighting having, as we have
said, continued even then for four hours longer
—it reads rather bewildering that, then," the Fede-
rals having succeeded in getting the Conlederates
their front, the conflict was suspended." In their
front ?—they can hardly all those four hours
have been fighting dos-eedes ! Why, having
retreated retreated before the advance of the Federals a
e
end of the first three hours and a half fiehtingt and
having all those next four hours continued the c n.
filet, in order to fight for those four hours longer,
the Federals must therefore have turned at bay
consequently with the Confederates, sword in
hand, " before them' all the while. We
are so accustomed to exaggeration in re-
spect to the frightful bloodshed incidental
to these American battles that we read almost
calmly—because of our hope that here again the
statement may prove to be, as usual, an exaggera-
tion,—we read, because of this arriere pensee of nope
that " the carnage on both sides is described
es being awful "—the precise numbers of their
killed and wounded not being (also as usual) any-
where mentioned in these first telegrams. Ali
kinds of sinister rumours we hear, more-
over, were afloat both at New York and
at Washington rumours not unnaturally
all the more sinister of their kind, because of the
suspicious reticence in regard to the actual facts as
they were known to the superior authorities at
the. Capitol, the reticence singularly and glar-
ingly ominous of disaster manifested at this
juncture by the Federal Government. General
HOOKER'S entire force, it was even beginning to be

whispered about at Washington, had been simply cut
to pieces by the victorious troops of " STONBIVALL "
JACKSON. Among the numerous triumphs won by
the Confederates, this rout of the Federals at Chan-
cellofsville appears to be as unmistakeable as any
yet related in the annals of the war.

The debate in the Upper House last night on the
vexed question of Schleswig-Holstein is full of
interest, and not without importance. It was
opened by the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, who re-
minded the House that more than two years since
he had called the attention of their Lordships to the
critical position of Denmark. He warned them that
although the state of affairs in Poland diverted
men's minds from the present danger, it was still
as great, though not as imminent. The two years
that have elapsed since February, 1861, have been
spent in fruitless negotiation, which, as Lord
ELLENBOROUGH observed, has produced increased
exasperation instead of reconciling differences. But
it would be wonderful if an agreement were arrived
at when the one side will not be satisfied without
the total renunciation of the rights of the other.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH, in his very clear and able
discourse last evening, pointed out the reason for
German designs upon Schleswig. The Diet, he
said, were desirous of getting possession of that
Duchy, because they thought it necessary that Ger-
many should have a navy, and the noble earl very
justly added that he did not know of any State to
which a navy would be of less use. She has little
commerce to protect, and if she had a fleet, it would
be of no great benefit to her. Germany, however,
more especially Prussia, is never very scrupulous
as to her neighbour's goods, if they happen to suit
her ambitious views, as two at least of her neigh-
bours could tell to her sorrow. The conduct of
Germany is therefore not so surprising as the course
adopted by our own Ministers, who appear sud-
denly to have changed their tactics and to be will-
ing to throw the weight of their influence into the
scale against Denmark. Earl RUSSELL in his
speech last night still maintains the principles of
that extraordinary despatch, which was read with
astonishment and indignation by his own country.
men, and, as Lord ELLENBOROUGH observed,
"struck the people of Denmark with the greatest
surprise and disappointment." It is of course diffi-
cult, if not impossible, for foreign statesmen of any
opinions to regulate the complicated machinery of
another State; to enter fully into the grievances of
the people or the perplexities of the rulers, and all
advice, reproof, and comment must, therefore, in a
great measure, deal in generalities. But while re-
gretting that the people of Schleswig do not share
all the advantages to which they consider them-
selves entitled under a free Government, is Lord
RUSSELL going the way to assist the Danish KING
in the difficult and critical task of giving increased
liberty to the inhabitants of a province where dis-
content and disaffection are being industriously
fanned by a foreign agency, The whole tone and
tenour of Earl RUSSELL'S words and speeches are
ill calculated to reassure Denmark, and they
are probably read with satisfaction in Ger-
many. It is remarkable that while the noble
earl speaks loftily of the rights of treaties, and
the duty of Denmark to abide by its engagements
towards Holstein, when he comes to the ques-
tion of Schleswig, he declares it to be an interna-
tional question, although Lord ELLENBOROUGH's
speech might have reminded him of the declaration
made by a Prussian Plenipotentiary to the Diet at
Frankfort in 1823, that the Duchy of Schleswig
lay altogether beyond the influence of the Confede-
ration. Earl RussELL's speech of last night will
be read with surprise and disappointment. It is
evident that, in case of an emergency, the Danes
must look for little help from him, for his inclina-
tions lean too strongly to the side of Gerinan ag-
gression to permit him even to raise his voice in
their favour. The powerful eloquence of Lord
DERBY was never raised in a worthier cause.
Setting aside the questions as to the dates of trea-
ties and terms of negotiations, the noble earl, in
his usual clear and straightforward manner, ex-
pressed the simple state of the case, and ended by a
declaration that it was the policy, as well as the
duty, of this country to interfere for the protec-
tion of Denmark against her German aggres-
sors. With regard to the much-talked of griev-
ances of Schleswig, Lord DERBY asked what they
were. The KING, he said, had broken no engage-
ment. The two chief pledges were that Schleswig
should not be incorporated with the kingdom of
Denmark, and that the Danish and German sub-
jects should be treated equally. The Earl of DERBY,
with that openness and decision which are the dread
of his opponents, said : "My Lords, it is not to
be denied that Schleswig has been made a stalking-
horse for the ambition of Germany. It is not to be
denied that there has been a considerable immigra-
tion into Schleswig; that a considerable number of
German settlers, amounting to nearly one-half of
the population, have settled themselves there; and
they demand equal laws and equal justice. The
points involved are really comparatively trifling
when you look at the enormous and important con-
sequences that may result from any serious misun-
derstanding in regard to them. They amount to
this—that in one village there are a certain num-
ber of Germans, in another a certain number of
Danes, and in a third a mixed population—one
where the German element prevails, another in
which the Garman and Danish elements are
equal ; and, up to the present time, the King of
DENMARK has not been able to arrive at a solution
of the difficulty as regards education in the schools
or service in the churches with respect to the lan-
guage of Germany. There is no other charge
against the King of DENMARK than that he has not
dni
naebs lse
too t
asoolhvise that
sdti ffitcou
solve
toyl
v, e e xi
it.
r e sAs
ri expressingy
ohui
been
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then, to compel him to enter into an engage-
ment which, in his opinion and in the opinion
of his subjects, amounts to a violation of the
integrity and dissolution of the monarchy." To
demand that on these trivial grounds an ancient
monarchy should be weakened and dismembered
is truly, as Lord DEBBY observed, an act of singular
injustice as well as impolicy. The integrity of
Denmark is, as the noble earl well said, a matter of
vital importance to us. Free in her constitution,
tolerant in her laws, sympathising with ourselves
in her aspirations and sentiments, possessing a
brave, daring, and resolute population, willing to
enter into the terms of closest alliance with
us—such an ally is not to be disregarded by Eng
land herself. The language of the noble earl, in
ci
tosn ctlruosithono,nids wfoelrleew,
but
thfy of only nitostiicned,
incoat fromtionofthe
policy which, we may hope, he will support in case
of future complications :—"lt is, then, an act of
policy as well as justice, when ambitious Powers are
pressing Denmark, to protect her from aggression ;
and though GOD forbid the last extremity should
be forced upon us, yet on a question whether the
Danish monarchy should be destroyed and its in-
tegrity frittered away, and, still more, be placed
by collateral means and indirect influences as a de-
pendency of the German Federation, there is no al-
ternative not preferable on the part of England, on
the ground of policy as well as justice, to each a
consequence as the dissolution of the monarchy or
its dependence on the German Confederation. On
that ground I do deeply lament that the noble earl