The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-15 00:00:00

greater part of his army in pursuit. At the same
time General WEITZEL discovered that Richmond
had also been evacuated and occupied that
city. It is said, however, by non-offi-
cial accounts that the abandonment of Richmond
was commenced on the previous Sunday, the 26th,
so that LEE would have had time to remove all the
valuable property, the war material, &c. It is
worth notice, as confirmatory of this, that WEITZEL
only mentions capturing cannon and railway stock,
so. that we may fairly suppose that nothing of
greater value came into his hands. A fire broke out
in Richmond which was extinguished, but how it

it was occasioned, whether by the retreating

Confederates or by the advancing Federals, is un-
certain. At any rate, it is a matter of congratula-

tion to both sides that the city has been spared. The

latest despatches received from GRANT Up to noon,
April 5, report that he was still pushing forward in
the hope of overtaking LEE, who is believed to be
north of the Appottomax retreating towards Lynch-
burg. He will continue the pursuit, he says, as long
as he thinks there is any use in it, but General Lee
must have forgotten his ability as a military tactician
if he suffers him to succeed. The greater part of the
success appears to have been owing to SHERIDAN,
who is said to have displayed great generalship.
The districts surrounding Petersburg and Richmond
are full of wounded soldiers, every house being
turned into an hospital. The loss of life, the suffer-
ing, and domestic wretchedness entailed by such a
struggle are fearful to contemplate; and, after all
the excitement, and rejoicing, and mortification,
the dispassionate on-looker may well ask what is
gained? The subjugation of the Southern
people is as far off as ever, and the
prospect of holding in military subjection
an assembly of states, every one of which is as
large as a European kingdom, may well startle
even Yankee temerity. But the point is not yet
gained, and, despite this great reverse, the triumph

of the Northern arms is not yet assured. LEE will
now be able to carry out his threat of carrying the
war into the enemy's country, although his pro-
ceedings will necessarily be delayed by the loss of
his men.

The Virginian slaveowners have been taught a
severe lesson, but one which we always foresaw
they would have to learn if they persisted in with-
holding their slaves from the national cause. The
Federal Negro Recruiting Commission has been
removed from Washington to Richmond, in order
to organise the negro recruiting in Virginia, so that
those slaveowners who refused to take the compen-
sation offered by their own Government will have
their negroes drilled for the Federal armies without
their consent being asked or their loss being paid
for. This is a trouble with which English-
men will not be very ready to sympathise,
as, independently of their persistence in maintaining
slavery, their lack of patriotism richly deserves the
punishment. DAVIS'S plain speaking has been only
too well justified by the event, and the Senate may
perhaps own itself to - have been in the
wrong. But there has been a want of unity
in the Southern councils for some time past,
and Northern gold and influence have been
busily at work. The languid support to the
measures proposed by the Government, the opposi-
tions, the delays, the jealousies, the selfishness, have
all militated against the Southern cause ; and
FOOTE, we fear, was not the only Senator whose
sympathies were in the North. The great origin of
the present reverses was undoubtedly the mistaken
line of action pursued after the fall of Atlanta.
DAVIS committed an error in superseding JOHN-
STONE by HOOD, and a still greater error if he was

;he author of the scheme in despatching the army
nto Tennessee instead of uniting every force and
straining every nerve to arrest the progress of SHER-
MAN. All these mistakes have been bitterlypaid for,
and the result is that after many months' triumphant
resistence to the invaders LEE has been forced to
We must remember, however, that the
evacuation of Richmond was evidently resolved upon
many days before the battle at Petersburg, and
therefore did not depend entirely upon the result of
that struggle. Very likely the next mail may bring
us some modification of the news as at present given;
and since it appears that LEE took with him 2,000 pri-
soners, by the Northern accounts, the battle could
not have been all one way. GRANT has probably
lost many more men than we are yet told, and
it will be necessary to see what the Confederate
accounts say before putting absolute faith
in the present version. In the meanwhile, it is in-
structive to see what turn the thoughts of the
Yankees take in the moment of success. Mr.
SEWARD, in his speech, was kind enough to inform
us that if England would only be just to the United
States, Canada would remain undisturbed ! A fair
promise, truly. The words imply that Canada is
held in terrorem over us, and that, on the first ex-
cuse, they are ready to invade it. This shows what
we may . expect from the North, who evidently
think that we hold them in wholesome fear, and
that the annexation of Canada is only a question
of time. Our statesmen had better take care, lest
conciliation be mistaken for weakness by a nation
which thinks braggadocio to be bravery.

retreat.

Public health is a matter of so much importance
that it seems strange more attention is not paid to
it on all sides, but people are too apt to let it drop
out of mind, and wait until affairs reach a climax
before much heed is paid to them. The practice of
admitting fever-patients into the wards of work-
houses is a very bad one, and cannot be too much
reprehended. Dr. JEAFFRESON has addressed a
letter on the subject to the limes in connection with
an inquiry made into the condition of a patient at
St. Giles's workhouse. The purport of this letter
is so far satisfactory that we learn that there is
ample accommodation for the fever-stricken in the
hospital designed for them. It seems then that
there is [no valid reason existing why the
unfortunate victims to fever should remain
in workhouses, where they cannot be
properly treated, and where the infection may
spread to a great extent. In a subsequent letter
Dr. JEAFFRESON has entered more fully into the sub-
ject of London Fevers, and all that proceeds from
so experienced a judge is well worthy of attentive
consideration. We learn from this communication
that typhus is certainly on the increase in the me-
tropolis, and this is in truth a startling announce-
ment. The number of patients, chiefly sufferers
from typhus, who were admitted into the Fever
Hospital last year exceeded those of any previous
year by a thousand ; yet the first quarter of this year
has already exceeded the corresponding one of last
year by two thousand. All must agree with the
writer of this letter when he affirms that " it
is just time that some official investigation
were instituted in relation to the history
and continued prevalence of so severe an epidemic
at our own doors ! It will be difficult to determine
the extent of the evils with which we are threatened
by the sad revelations here made, and those who are
terrifying themselves by the supposed arrival of
the Russian epidemic had better look at home, and
' boldly face real dangers instead of brooding over
imaginary ones. Dr. JEAFFRESON states that some
localities soon became as familiar to him as house-
hold words after his installation at the hospital. In
searching the back pages of an hospital register he

found that the "same courts and identie,alhousesfur-
nished" sent fever cases when the present epidemic
prevailed. An instance is here recorded which proves
to what a state things have come. A small row of
houses in St. Pancras was assailed by typhus in
1862, and the disease still holds sway there. Thirty
cases of typhus have been sent from there, half of
which came from one house. Surely these facts
attest the importance of an inquiry into the matter,
and prove that want of care and attention are the
chief causes of this scourge of humanity. Ashby-
, street, in the same parish, is a place which has sent
forth scores of patients to the Fever Hospital.
Well may Dr. JEAFFRESON inquire, " What is
being done to render these spots wholesome ?" The
hospital records are sufficiently accurate to furnish
information to the medical officers of health, and
Dr. JEAFFRESON truly states that they could all
get what knowledge they require. In this letter it
is said that the best thing to be done is a " firm ad-
ministration of all sanitary regulations, such as com-
pelling landlords to adopt suitable mdasures. Irthey
were obliged to afford abundant supplies of water to
the infected houses, and also to clean and lime-
white them, it would diminish three-fourths of the
cases of typhus now existing in London." It does,
indeed, seem too bad that, at the present day, when
so much knowledge has been gained concerning
sanitary affairs, that so much negligence should
prevail, and so little account be made of the facts
, ascertained by observation and experience. It will
L be well to examine closely into the difficulties that
impede the progress of would-be reformers, and
militate so greatly against their well-devised efforts
to improve the sad state of infected localities. Dr.
JEAFFRESON mentions one primary obstacle in the
way of the officers of health, and that is the
obstructions that they meet with from the vestries
which appoint them, and which sometimes
go so far as to cut down their salaries
in proportion as they make themselves
too busy. One case is here mentioned which speaks
for itself as to the enormity of the evils that exist,
and the difficulties that lie in the way of removing
it. One vestrymen owns what is here emphatically
styled a " typhus nest," and this is named after
him. Thus the " lives of the poor" are in the
balance with the " vestried interests" of landlords.
The deplorable and disastrous consequences of all
this must be obvious to all, and the suggestion of
Dr. JEAFFRESON is an admirable one, which
says that it will be a great improvement
in sanitary matters when a Bill is passed
to give greater facilities to officers of health; if they
possessed more freedom, and were less dependent
upon local interests, it would most certainiy be a
great point gained. The " main hot-beds of
typhus " are enumerated in this letter, and it is to
be hoped that due attention will be paid to the facts
here set forth. It is not likely that anything can be
done that will prove effectual in the long-run until
some legislative enactments are made, and it is to
be hoped that something will be done even before
the close of the present session_ to improve matters.
The health of the metropolis is too much at stake,
and the vital interests of the community too much
involved in this subject to permit of it being any
longer ignored in the way it has been so unac-
countably hitherto. Now, that Dr. JEAFEERSON has
come forward with such promptitude and energy,
set down the most notable features of the case
for our consideration, it will be a most disgraceful
thing if the same supineness continues, and the
same lethargic course is pursued, which has already
slain its thousands and tens of thousands. As for
those who make money by the wretchedness and
misery of their fellow creatures there can be but
one opinion as •to their culpability, but
why should the law sanction their conduct, instead
of interposing its veto against them ? The condition
of many of our crowded courts and alleys is suffi-
cient to breed pestilence at any time, and it is in-
cumbent on the authorities to see that those who
are willing to make a profit out of such places
should be compelled to put them into such a state
of repair and such a wholesome condition that
their occupants may not inhale poison with the air
they breathe, and their habitations may not virtually
turn into lazarettos, shunned by all who have any
regard for their well-being. This subject is one
which must be taken up without further delay, and
nothing can excuse any wavering or hesitation
when it is certain that the health of the community
is involved in the matter.

THE BURNING MOUNTAINS IN ERUPTION.
VESUVIUS, according to the Avvenir of the 2d inst.,
is now emitting strong columns of flame with greater
fierceness than was observed in the first ebullition. The
subterranean rumbling sound is also louder than before,
and everything combines to induce the belief that an erup-
tion of more or less violence is imminent. However, from
conjecture to certainty there is a wide gulf, and so we
must hope that this prophecy will have no further
fulfilment than that made a month since. Meanwhile, in
regard to ETNA, M. Fouque writes, the eruption is most
active in the four lowest craters ; these throw liquid lava
into the air, and emit a nearly colourless smoke ; the three
superior craters eject solidified lava and black stones, at
the same time pouring out a dense smoke charged with
aqueous vapour and brown-coloured ashes. The three
higher craters produce every two or three minutes a very
loud report, resembling the rolling of thunder ; the four
lower craters, on the contrary, send forth a rapid succes-
sion of ringing sounds, which it is impossible to count.
These sounds follow each other without any cessation, and
are only to be compared to the noise produced by a series
of blows from a hammer falling on an anvil. If the an-
cients heard these noises in former eruptions, it is easily
conceivable how they imagined a forge to exist in the centre
of the volcano, with Cyclops for the master-workman.
The lava is black, rich in pyroxene, and strongly attracted
by a magnet. Since the commencement of the eruption,
the central crater of Etna has emitted white vapours, which
continually cover its summit. Several good photographs
of the eruption have been taken by M. Berthier, who ac-
companied M. Fouque in his explorations; which were by
no means unattended with danger.

THE STATE OF EGYPT.—The following is an ex-
tract from a private letter, dated Cairo,'April 2 :
" Every one knows Egypt is in an exceptional state just
now. In consequence of the emergencies of the great
American war it has become a vast cotton field, instead of
beihg, as in all former times, the granary of the East. This
sudden transformation is not unlikely to bring vast political
changes with it. Multitudes of the fellahs andsmall holders
of land :have been deprived by the present and previous
Viceroys of their land on account of its increased value as
a cotton producing soil. They are, of course, discontented
with the Government, and not well-disposed towards the
Franks, for whose sake they known the cotton is giown.
In addition to this the murrain among the cattle has dur-
ing the last two years swept so many away that distant
parts required to be scoured in orderto provide meat for the
Cairo market. When the supplies fail for several days, as
has been occasionally the case, meat is only to be had at
famine prices, and the scramble before the butchers' shops
is a sight not to be forgotten. In one of these scrambles
several children were crushed to death in the crowd. In
addition, it is a well-known fact that over the whole
Mahomedan world just now there are floating rumours
and predictions of a coming ascendancy, during which the
Crescent is to stand above the Cross, and the faith of the
East is to revive again. As the ignorant populace cannot
reason or look to the future, they think the shortest way
to accomplish these desirable results is, as iu Syria and
Hindostan, to massacre the Christian populations of the
land. The late insurrection in Upper Egypt was partly
political, for the reasons assigned above. and also partly
religious. The fellah joined with the bedaure. Minieh
was the head-quarters of it. An English clergyman, a
friend of the writer, who was at Sioot, saw the steamers
with soldiers come in only just in time to save the bulk of
the Christian population of the place. At the same time
that this was going on in Upper Egypt, the population of
Cairo were in a most excited state; 8,000 soldiers were
suddenly but quietly introduced into the city, and as soon
as the intelligence came that the insurrection at Minieh was
put down the mind of the people seemed to flow back into
its usual sullen, apathetic course again. But who can say
how long this is to last, and would it not be advisable that
England should, as well as France, increase a little the
number of her ships of war at Alexandria and Suez, and
let the ruling Powers here know that they would be called
strictly to an account for any fatal consequences that might
be the result of want of due precaution on their part with
regard to the security of the European population of the
city ?"