The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-24 00:00:00

nent peril. The attack upon Port Hudson on May
27 by the troops of Gen. Banks seems to have been,
characterised by as much impetuosity, to have re-
eulted in a failure as complete, as that of Grant's
army upon Vicksburg about the same time. We
meet here with a melancholy episode in the fate of
a negro regiment of slaves, who have been snatched
from servitude and hounded against their tasters
by the cruel policy of the North. These negroes
we resent on to storm the almostimpregnable defences
of a forlorn hope. The poor demi-savage sprang on
like tigers, gave no quarter, received none, and when
dying fought with their teeth in a frenzy of despair.
Six hundred out of 800 of the Second Louisiana
blacks were put to the sword, 200 escaped by leap-
ing over the battlements. The negroes in arms are
treated by the Southerners as traitors, every one
of them taken alive being immediately hanged.
We can hardly find fault with these persecuted
whites of the South for endeavouring, by sharp
and stern measures, to avert from their country
and their homes the horrors of a servile war.
The news which we expect every day of the
raising of the siege of Vicksburg, and the precipi-
tate retirement from before Port Hudson of the
army which has lost one of its leaders in the death
of General Sherman will complete the picture which
we have long since drawn by anticipation of the
utter failure of the Federal campaign of 1863.
Triumphant on all quarters against an insolent
enemy who had been reckoning on the overthrow'
and dividing the spoils of the South, the Confederate
leaders may not rest content with a defensive atti-
tude, but may think that their turn is come to as-
sume the aggressive, and act upon the suggestion
of their countrymen that it would be well to trans-
fer the war to Northern soil. An invasion of
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio would bring thee
evils of war more home to the feelings and con-
sciences of the men of the North. It would be their
fields now that would be wasted; their villages that
would be burned ; their hearths that would be made
desolate. Such an invasion would add to the disaffec-
tion that has already placed the States of the North-
West in an attitude of hostility to the Government ;
it would suggest a wish for peace even to the trucu-
lent and unfeeling democracy of New England.
There seems every reason to suppose that Gen. Lee
is preparing for an advance upon Washington or an
invasion of Maryland. He is said to have received
such large reinforcements that his army is now
far more than a match for that army of Hooker's
which was defeated at Chancellorsville. A part of
Lee's army has been moved to Culpepper, between
the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, Gen. Stuart
being there with a strong force of cavalry. A Fede-
ral roconnoisance, under Pleasanton, was pushed
across the Rappahannock on Tuesday, June 9, at
Beverley's and Kelly's Fords, north of Culpepper,
but had to recross in haste after a smart engagement,
in which it was very severely handled. Far to the
north, at Leesburg, a party of Confederate cavalry
has crossed the Potomac and terrified the inhabi-
tants of the town of Poolesville, in Maryland. If
any considerable portion of Lee's army should march
in this direction, it will necessitate the hasty retreat
of Gen. Hooker upon Washington, or the capital of
the old Union, attacked in the rear, would become
an easy prey to the Southern invaders. The tidings
from America, however satisfactory to us, are be-
coming almost monotonous in their tenor. On the
part of the nation with which our Government will
persist in maintaining the most cordial relations,
and addresses as if it were sole mistress and arbiter
of the destinies of America, these tidings tell us of
one defeat after another, of disappointment heaped
on disappointment. We hear of victory after vic-
tory won by the great people of which diplomatists
take no more notice than if they lived in Central
Africa near the Mountains of the Moon, a nation
which having passed through so long an ordeal,
and for nearly three years maintaining its freedom
by the sword, has not only a claim to our sympathy,
but a right to demand our recognition of the fact
of its existence.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

,10--
LEEDS-TUESDAY.

The weather here is splendid. To-day there was a
small supply of fresh English and foreign wheat, which
sold at aboat the rates of the previous week. Spring corm.
firm.

LYNN—
Wheat has shot into ear ii
looking most luxuriant. Bar,
very satisfactory.
White ..45s to 50s I Barley ...'....32s to 34a
Red.. ..44s to 45s I Grinding ..26s to 30s
Beans .36s to 38s Oats.. .2os to 24a
New —s to —s Peas —s to —a

'IJESDAY.

in this neighbourhood, and is
.ley, oats, and beans also look