The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-14 00:00:00

for the conduct of Lord RUSSELL at that time, and

the events of the two years in which Reform was
mooted in the House proved, in the first placa, that
he had rather go without it than allow others the
credit of bringing it forward; and secondly, that
he had not the same energy and earnestness in office
as in opposition. If, as Mr. STANSFELD said, the
Conservatives were so averse to the measure, why
did not be and his friends take advantage of the
golden opportunity when they had submitted a bill
on the question to the consideration of the House. We
cannot better dismiss this subject for the present than
in the words of Mr. STANSFELD—gg Reform col-
lapsed, and in collapsing left such Et stain upon the
Liberal escocheon that there was no future for
them until they wiped it away." After touching
on the several important points of foreign policy,
Mr. STANSFELD concluded by stating it to be his
intention to continue the efforts for retrenchment he
began last session—" He adhered now to the course
he then took, and upon the path he then entered he
should unhesitatingly proceed." In this laudable
endeavour he certainly deserves success; and,
should the much desired object be attained of put-
ting a stop to the present extravagant expenditure,
certainly Mr. STANSFELD may lay claim to the
merit of initiating the discussion of the question by
his zeal and energy.

We have had already descriptions, military and
non-military, of the battle of Fredericksburg, but
all from the North, The last one was from a Cana-
dian surgeon well posted on the Federal side of the
Rappahannock, who contradicted all the military
reports of the courage displayed by the Federal
soldiers in their successive attacks, and described
them es a" carnival of cowardice !" We have now
a full-length photograph from quite a different posi-
tion and artist. The long letter which we gave
yesterday from an English correspondent in the
Confederate camp, must give as trustworthy a de-
scription as that of the Canadian surgeon ; and, as
a partisan of the South, he cannot be suspected of
magnifying the merits of the Federal soldiers.
Yet no two accounts can be in stronger contrast
than those of the Canadian and the Englishman, who
were, for the occasion respectively, the favourers
of the North and of the South. The Englishman
on the Southern side confirms, to the letter, those
reports of Northern courage which drew from
the PRESIDENT the formal and hearty thanks to
the army which he has so rarely proffered, and
fully justifies the report of the Generals. The
explanation we take to be that the surgeon,
though truthfully describing what he did see, saw
but a part of the field. Indeed, he could do no
more, since it extended over six miles, and his
part happened to be just that where the regiments
were placed which BURNSIDE himself stated did
not do their part.
Oar contemporary's Special Correspondent, writ-
ing from Confederate headquarters, and having for
days before made himself familiar with all the
lines, and seemingly with each battery of the
Confederates, was certainly in a position to give a
clear and comprehensive view of the whole. Sub-
stantially, as might be expected, his account agrees
with those who looked at the Southern lines from
the other side. From him, also, we have a de-
scription of six miles of Confederate batteries,
encircling the town of Fredericksburg, and much
the strongest on their left, where the Federals could
make no impression at all ; more on equality with
those of the Federals on their right, where con-
fessedly the Federals under FRANKLIN, and the
Confederates under JACKSON, maintained a more
equal fight, the former making many prisoners,
and almost succeeding in turning the Confederate
flank. But the left of the rebels, on which the
strength of the attack was thrown, is described
as really impregnable, and as being such works as
no intelligent General would think of assailing.
He adverts to the satisfaction which LEE must
have felt when he saw his enemy determining to
attack him in the very part of his line in which he
felt complete confidence.

This Southern Correspondent, after a brief ab-
sence at Richmond, arrived just in time to witness
the commencement of the attempt to cross by
pontoons on the Confederate right. He mentions
that the construction of one bridge was intention-
ally not opposed, because it would land the Federals
just where the plain was swept by the Confederate
cannon. He describes the resistance to the forma-
tion of one at the town itself, with little difference
from former accounts, but the Confederates appear
to have thought their opponents had fifteen, or
perhaps thirty bridges, instead of the six which we
know they had. The Confederate batteries did not
open fire at this time, lest they should betray their
position too early. Their game was not yet in the
net. They did not desire to keep their enemy at
too great a distance; they saw that " the enemy
was about to force an attack under circumstances
which would have insured defeat, had the onslaught
been made by the bravest and best-disciplined
troops of Europe," and which, reduced, he adds,
" the rout of the disheartened and loosely coupled
troops of General BURNSIDE to an absolute cer-
tainty." While the left round Fredericksburg was
thus strong, he yet observes, " that even in its
weakest points the Confederate line possessed great
advantages of position." And the whole Confederate
army, from the Commander-in-Chief to the dr Am-
mer boy, understood their position, and were encou-
raged to any requisite exertions by confidence in its
strength. This was the state of things on the 12th•

It was on the 13th that the dreadful work began.
Confident in their strength the Confederates awaited,
mostly concealed by a fringe of woods, the Federal
attack. The defending army did not exceed, we
are assured, 80,000 or 90,000 men, and of these not
more than 25,000 took part in the fight. But then,
the 25,000 were almost indefinitely multiplied by
the skilfully chosen position the writer has de-
scribed. We notice the remark, however, because
he tells us that the Confederate Generals have de-
! sired rather to keep down than to swell the num-
bers of their army. They have already learned to
trust more to efficient, than to monster armies ;
and they think such an army as LEE commanded
that day is a match for an army of any magnitude
which could be brought against them. Several
episodes 0 f the conflict were interesting enough, and
worth the reader's while to turn back to if
The aristocratic name of
have overlooked them.
he should
PELHAM, borne by a steady young artillery offi-
cer of 22, in charge of a
by the
to very near the enemy, was honoured
single gun, advanced
cool courage of its American representative—and
as regards General LEE riding along the front of
his lines, with his Staff, two hours before the en-
gagement, the appropriate description is conceived
to be the "Antique Heroism" ascribed by Marshal
ARNAUD to Lord RAGLAN.
We need not dwell on the "gallantly led and
encouraged' attacks of the Federals on the irn •
pregnable defences of their opponents. After
some little preliminary affairs, one " Southern
correspondent" thus describes the hotter hours of
the battle-field :
" The cannonading now became general along the
entire line. Such a scene, at once terrific and

sublime, mortal eye never rested on before, unless the
bombardment of Sebastopol by the combined batteries cf
France and England revealed a more fearful manifestation
of the hate and fury of man. The thundering, bellowing
roar of hundreds of pieces of artillery, the bright jets of