The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-23 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

FINS DAY.—Morning, 6h. 30m.--Afternoon, 6h. 50m,
To-moßuow.-Morning, 7h. 15m.—Afternoon, 7h. 39m,

71-
441 P: re 6
Ll/4
grod, ii*N- nit

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1863.

As usual the previous news from America turns
out to require very considerable revision. Instead
of the immediate future of the Federals being, as
we were told. by themselves, so very couleur de rose,
they prove, on the contrary, to be exceedingly
bloolcoloured, General LEE'S army, so far from
being in full retreat, is now, we learn, in stronger
force than ever in the invaded territory, and in a
far stronger position than that occupied at the last
encounter between the belligerents at Gettysburg,
His eumoured retreat across the Potomac into Vir-
ginia is found to have been no retreat whatever
from the soil of Maryland. All that he has done in that
way he has done manifestly with the utmost prudence
and deliberation. Getting his sick and wounded
oat of further harm's way, he has certainly had
them quietly conveyed across the river in the direc-
tion of Martinsburg, sending thither, together with
his invalids, very large supplies, and vast quantities
of booty, the fruits of his daring raid into Penn-
sylvania! Otherwise, true to his fame for consum-
mate generalst ip and for heroic determinatiow, he
has kept his whole army well together, and having
coolly selected the strongest position he could very
well have chosen anywhere in those parts, he has
there, upon a line almost parallel with the sweep
of the South Mountains, though upon the opposite
side of the Antietam river, drawn up his forces in
the utmost state of preparedness for his antagonist.
His front, extending altogether over a distance of
some half a dozen miles, stretches almost due North
along the western bank of the Antietam from
Bakersville to—(0 name of dreadful omen)—Funks-
town ! Five miles in the rear of this position, he
holds, completely at his command, an easy passage,
to and fro, across the Potomac at Williamsport. At
any moment, upon any emergency, under any
circumstances he can retreat with his whole army,
not hurriedly, or precipitately in a disastrous panic,
but quite calmly and deliberately, into Virginia.
Thither, already, as we have said, having prudently
passed over the whole of his unneeded supplies, and
all the enormous booty he has contrived to carry
away from Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Meantime, what, it may be asked, is the actual
situation of things with the Federals ? And, as
easily as it can be asked, it can be answered. The
enemy at the gates, to begin with ! And that
enemy in greater strength than ever—LEE having
been reinforced not only by BRAGG, but by BEAU-
REGARD. New York the scene of a formidable riot!
Confusion at the Council Board, where Mr. SEWARD
is stated to have abruptly evidenced an incli-
nation to transtorm the whole policy of
the Goverment _,suggesting, smoug other
4, sensation"
changes, the proclamation of a general
amnesty, the suspension of the Confiscation Act,
and the revocation,
by the PRESIDENT, of his
notable act in respect
to emancipation. So that, in
that case, the whole bra d • g„a °close talk about the
" ninety days" would have at once to " cease and de-
termine !" The Confidence of the South would have to
be directly appealed to! The utter and ignominious
failure of the entire series of
military arrangements
entered upon by the Nort'n, since first the war com-
menced, would virtually have to be acknowledged
ty the Federal Government.
The !Byrne
nauseating " humble pie" recommended to poor little
JOHNNY by Doctor BELGIUM, aceordi •
ng to the
whimsical cartoon in the current number
of Punch would have to be consumed, with
as wry a
face, we might be certain, by that unfortunate Old
ABE ! Yet actually, while such are the
propositions seriously talked of, over the coun.
cil board at Washington, a popular newspaper
at New York can evidence the extraordinary
effrontery, extraordinary even for a Federal, discern.
able in so consummate a specimen of tautological
bounce, as where it is actually observed " in view of
the fact that the work of putting down the rebellion
may b 3 said to be substantially accompli.hed, tht
question crises what policy should be pursued to
accomplish the speedy and harmonious restoration of
the Union . l'fnis, with General LEE, strengthened
by the reinforcements recently sent to him by
BRAGG and BEAUREGARD, awaiting the perillous
advance of MEADE in a position of the Confederate
General's own choosing With the confidently-
reported capture of Vicksburg, still, even by
these last accounts, in no one particular
borne out ! With a Federal General and
his staff captured outside the lines of the
Northern force at New Orleans, and New Orleans
itself in some jeopardy! With the position of the
besieging force under General BANKS, in front of
Port Hudson; becoming every succeeding day more
and more precarious ! With all ~Indiana startled
into an alarm almost amounting to a panic, by a

sudden and daring invasion of it, by some six thou-
sand adventurous Confederates ; an invasion so
unlooked for, that the Governor of the State
(MORTON) was clamouring, when the last accounts
left, for 50,000 men to repel the invaders! While
all these things are going on flagrantly, undeniably,
disastrously all around them,and is the very midst of
them, the above quoted braggart organ of the more
infatuated believers in the cause of Federalism, can
coolly babble about the completion by the North of
the triumph now already (according to its absolutely
ludicrous phrase, under the circumstances) "sub
stantially accomplished !" How substantially, may,
perhaps, be a trifle better understood, when the next
adviebs from America acquaint us more distinctly
with the actual proposition© recently sub-
mitted by Mr. SEWARD to the Cabinet
Council at Washington with the result
of the late formidable riot at New York
—with the response vouchsafed to Governor
MORTON by the alarmed citizens of Indiana—with
the precise situation of General BANKS'S besieging
force, last heard of as rather critically placed in
front of Port Hudson—with the determination of
the uncertainty as to the capture, or not, by the
Federals, of Vicksburg—above all, with the upshot
of the great battle, known to be imminent on the
13th instant, between the army of the North under
MEADE, and the army of the South under LEE,
somewhere between Williamsport, and Booties-
borough.

If any
n hopeuldfinally
lingered in the minds of some that
Russia
listen to the voice of mediation
w
and conform to the wishes of the Three Powers, so
far as to moderate the coarse of policy that she has
adopted, that hope will be dispelled on perusing the
Russian reply to the French despatch. Prince
GoRTsCHAROFF appears to have cast to the winds
all idea of conciliation in his remarks, and to have
studied only to give vent to the just expression of
his own indignation concerning the wrongs of
Russia. He even turns round and accuses France
of being one of the causes of this revolution that
now engages so much attention. Thus he expresses
himself :—" The Polish emigration, taking advan-
tage of its social relations, has there organised a
vast conspiracy destined in one direction to mislead
public opinion in France by a system of defamation
and calumnies without example; in another to
foment the disorders of the kingdom, either by the
tenor of a secret committee, or by inspiring a
belief in an active external intervention in favour of
the most violent ideas of the insurrection." This
paragraph exhibits a tolerable amount of assurance
even for the Russians. In the first place, if the re-
presentations that are made and the reports circu-
lated are calumnies, why do not the Cabinet of St.
Petersburgcontradict them openly and disprove them
effectually P It is patent to the world that these
sad details of suffering, these scandalous accounts of
persecution, are all unfortunately too true. Why has
no official despatch appeared contradicting the man-
ner in which the conscription for the army wus
taken ? Because the circumstances were as they
Were recorded. The terror of a secret committee
referred to so emphatically can hardly equal the
terror of Russian rule, and no forfeiture can be
more severe than the penalty exacted by the indig-
nant conquerors of Poland in case of offences com-
mitted. The allusion to an " active external inter-
vention" is simply impertinent, and will no doubt
be received as such by the French EMPEROR and
his Ministers. It is quite enough for the Emperor
of all the Russias to exercise unlimited sway over
his own dominions without attempting to extend
that arbitrary rule over foreign nations. He is now
issuing his imperial decree, and sending forth his
august mandate to France. From henceforth her
cities are not to afford a refuge for the Poles who
are driven from their own land, nor are her tillers
to take any interest or exercise any interference
with the political prospects of Poland. This would
seem to be the gist of the voluminous dispatch that
has been forwarded to the Cabinet of the Tuileries.
What effect it will have there remains to be seen, but
the spirit of the French nation will not be
faithfully represented by its rulers, if a tame reply
be given to so arrogant and unwarranted a com-
munication. The temperate tone in which M.
DROUYN DE LHUYS made his remarks has been
totally ignored in the dispatch, and he is distinctly
told to look at henna for the cause of the conflicts
of which he affects to deplore the consequences.
Prince GORTSCIIARoFF says that the French in-
fluence is the " moral cause that tends to prolong
the painful state of things of which the French
Government expresses a wish for an early cessation
in the name of peace and humanity. We are
strongly disposed to believe that it will not permit
its name to be abused to the advantage of revolu-
tion in Holland and Europe." These are strong
terms in which to address a friendly state; they
are disrespectful ones to a country like France, and
the style in which the dispatch is written is un-
worthy of a great Power like Russia. It would
seem as if she gloried in retrograde movements, in
going back to the days of barbarity and savage in-
tolerance, from which PETER the GREAT did so
much to rescue her. It seems to make Prince
GORTSCHAKOFF indignant that it should be sup-
posed that Russian policy can be judged by the stan-
dard of other countries, French, English, and Aus-
trian. Russia is to go on unmolested in her course,
conquering and to conquer, the terror of all who
oppose
and the exterminator of all who
impede
progress.say There seems no hope of any
good being effected by mediation, when we find
such sentiments as these expressed in the despatch.
Alluding to the measures adopted with regard to the
improvement of the social condition of Poland, it is
said, " Experience has proved to demonstration how
illusory it would be to rely on the efficacy of these
combinations for the moral pacification of Poland,
before material order and respect for authority have
been re-established." This is quite conclusive as to
the mode in which the Russian Government intend
to proceed. It means that they will tread down
the country beneath their feet with the iron heel of
conquest, they will crush all aspiring hopes of inde-
pendence, and then will amuse themselves by talk-
ing of remedial measures for the people of Poland.
We hear that the Emperor of RUSSIA has reserved
his decision on later developments of these mea-
sures; which means, in plainer terms, that they are
put aside for consideration sine die. The "provi-
sio pacification" is wholly rejected, even in idea,
and Prince GoRTSCRAEDFF altogether repudiates
the notion of it.
themselves could nut definesa y s the
theFerheanrcahe t Ge
re vn
fe r
enume
he n
at
negotiation between "a legally constituted Govern-
ment, snpp rted by a regular army, and
on terrorism, a secret
committee, based
crimes, and served by binds of rebePlsro
dispersedce edi n g bi yn
the forests." There is no argument in this ; be-
from the most civilised
cause all nations,
to the most eavage, can understand perfectly what
is meant by a cessation of hostilities, and it is
strange that, in this instance, the difficulty
Would
seem to rest with the " legal" and " regular" &el.
sion of the combatants. We are told that the
necessity of order, the dignity of the EMPEROR,
and the sentiments of the Russian people, can allow
only one course—that is, "the submission of the
insurgents." It is most deplorable that so unwise
and unfitting a reply should be given to a request
that was made in good part, and merited a better

reception. Such a despatch as this referred to is far
mare likely to " prolong and envenom" the course
of affairs than any plan proposed by the three
Powers, which Prince GORTSCHAKOFF has so per-
emptorily refused to entertain. There is an im•
patience and an irritability manifested in the tone
of this reply that is only too apparent throughout,
and which argues the worst for the cause of justice
and the hopes of peace. The fact is, that the Rus-
sians will not own themselves in the wrong; they
will persist in maintaining their predetermined
course; they will stop their ears like the deaf adder,
and refuse the suggestions of wisdom and the
warnings of well-meaning advocates. Experience
may teach them a sterner lesson in the time to
come, and, when too late to retract, they may regret
the day when, in the plenitude of pride and the
intolerance of tyranny, they so ill appreciated the
friendly counsels and earnest appeals of the Powers
of Earope.

The feats of ropewaikers have ceased in our day
to be anything extraordinary. Since the marvel-
lous performances of BLONDIN were celebrated
across the Atlantic, and were even said to be ficti-
tious from their daring, we have had such crowds
of aerial acrobats and flying men that it would be
difficult for any of them to renew the excitement
which was at first called forth by the American
adventurer. Our eyes are greeted at every turn by
announcements of the wonderful performances of
male and female BLONDINS, of ropewalking at
fabulous heights, and kindred exploits whose dis-
tinctive feature is their extreme likelihood of break-
ing the performer's neck. In their eagerness to
court popular favour and to obtain profit these un.
fortunate performers seem to be running a race for
danger, and trying who can go nearest to death
without actually coming within his grasp. The
familiarity of the scene and the risk render them
indifferent; each thinks the chances are in his or
her favour, each tries to secure the favour of the
manager and the applause of the public by some
venture more startling and perilous than his
rivals, and so the game goes on. It was not

difficult to foretell, as many did foretell, the conse-

quence of such a state of things. The old proverb
about the pitcher and the well is too often verified
in the case of the performers of extraordinary feats.
The keepors of wild beasts have too often paid the
penalty of their temerity with their lives, and the
rope or the ropewalker's nerves are no less
treacherous than the lion or tiger's half-subdued
ferocity. It is melancholy to read, as we often do
read, in the narrative of some fatal disaster, that
the sufferer had expressed a disinclination to go on
the rope, or a doubt as to its security, end we not
unfrequently find that he or she has previously ex-
pressed a belief that an accident would sooner or
later occur. This conviction may be founded on
observation as well as on conviction, for the risk to
the most accomplished of the fraternity is terribly
great. BLONDIN himself, though looked upon as
nearly as safe at his familiar attitude as other per-
eons are on terra firma, is by no means out of the
category, and the hosts of imitators whom his suc-
cess has called forth Ni ere certain to furnish their

tithe of sacrifices. Seldom, however, has the pub

lic mind been startled by a more painful and
melancholy case than that occuring at Birmingham
a few days ago. It is not very long since the most
famous of the female BLONDINS fell from her rope,
and, after weeks of dreary suffering, was discharged
a helpless cripple from one of our metropolitan hos
pitals, to be a burden on the family she was pre-
viously supporting. A few subscriptions were raised

'or her benefit, and she passed out of sight among

the crowds of poor and struggling sufferers in the
heart of this great city. No matter, the public must
be amused, and plenty more are ready to take her
place. But increased numbers bring also increased
danger. All cannot equal BLONDIN in their cool-
ness, skill, and caution, though all who please may
run the same foolhardy risks. Accordingly, but a
short time since came another disaster, the news of
which probably served to add great zest to the ex-
citement of looking on such sport. Another tra-
gedy occurs at a shorter interval, and a woman, the
mother of a young family, thecantributor to the sup-
port of her aged father, falls dead 'at the feet of her
husband. A speechless protest against that ruthless

love of sport and excitement which is willing to
sacrifice everything to the gratification of the
moment. As a proof of the recklessness encouraged
by these dangerous performances, we learn that the
rope upon which the poor creature had to walk was
so old and worn that her husband was compelled to
splice it at one part. The very point on which life
and limb depended was thus neglected, with fatal
consequences, for it was the snapping of the rope
which led to the catastrophe. But the public are
getting used to these things now, and it was not
considered worth while to stop the fete because an
accident had happened to an acrobat. The lifeless
body was carried away, and the amusements of the
day went on. They had already cost a life, so it
was as well to have them to the full. But the
callousness inspired by such scenes does not extend
to those who hear of it at a distance, who think
with horror of the wife falling dead at her husband's
feet, of the little motherless children vainly waiting
her return. The question remains—Are such
things to be allowed to continue? Is no restric-
tion to be placed on these senseless exhibitions,
which imperil life and limb for no possible end but
the gratification of a morbid love of excitement. So
far as the display of skill goes, it is evident that all
the feats could be gone through at a few feet from
the ground ; that BLoNDIN might carry his stove
and cook his omelet, and the host of his imi-
tators might wrap their heads in sacks,

tie their hands and feet, and go through any
other variations of their irrational programme at a
height which should exhibit their agility without
running the risk of breaking their necks. But the
excitement would be gone, and pleasure-seekers of
the present day cannot be satisfied without a large
introduction of the " sensation" element in life as
well as in fiction. Crimes, disasters, and accidents
must flavour real life as well as give a pungency to
novels and dramas, and to see a performance with-
out " hairbreadth 'scapes and snares" would be no
amusement. This taste affords a curious contrast
to the professing humanity of our age, which can
scarcely endure that felons should undergo ,their
just punishment, and has a helping hand
for every form of human misery. How is
the prevalence of such a degrading and cruel taste
consonant with this? Let us boast no more of our
humanity while such things are tolerated. Let
us talk no more of the Roman and the gladiator
butchered to make his holiday, while we can find
pleasure in such spectacles. It ic time for legisla-
tive interference. It is evident that it is vain to
trust to the caution of the unhappy performers, to
the discretion of the managers of such fetes, and
above all to the taste and humanity of the sight-
seers. The catastrophe at Birmingham teaches us
a striking lesson as to the effect that such spectacles
have upon public taste and feeling. Their ten-
dency is in every way evil, and as no disaster, how-
ever appalling, seems likely to effect a reform, let it
be henceforth stipulated in the licences of owners of
public places that they shall allow no sport directly
dangerous to human life. " A human life having
succumbed," Says CHARLES READE, satirically, in
his "Never too Late to Mend," something will pro-