The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-04 00:00:00

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Ett ›latt

OiVDON, SA.7URDAY, MARCH 4, 1865,

-.0--

Englishmen will learn with regret the fall of that
gallant little city which has for so long defied the
fiercest assaults of its enemies. The Federal flag

now waves over Fort Sumter, where the undaunted
gallantry of the Confederates so often hoisted the
Southern standard, and the moral triumph of the
North is greater even than the material victory.
Charleston was considered for so long to be the
very focus of rebellion ; it had held out with such
unflinching determination, and had been the theatre
of so_ miry scenes in the drama of the war,
that its' fate has been watched with the keenest
interest both in this country and in America. Its
retention was esteemed one of the most striking
sui3fccesses of the Confederates, and its capture one
the most important objects which SHER3IAN set
before him in his redoubtable march. There is
something especially interesting about the defence of
a besieged City.
History, drama, and poetry all bear
-witness to the sympathy which is, almost universally
felt on behalf of those who, like the Knights of ST.
JOHN at Malta or the men of PIIILIPVON ARTEVELDE
in the poet's noble drama, hope against hope, and
maintain their struggle resolutely to the last. Such
endurance has often been crowned with unexpected
success at the last or darkest moment, and the
heroes of the defence have become the victors in-
stead of the martyrs of their cause. Such has not
been the case with Charleston, and the day which
celebrates in the States the re-election of ABRAHAM
LINCOLN brings to us in England, who have watched
the fluctuating fortunes of the Confederacy with
such keen and unabated interest, the full intelli-
gence of the triumphant entry of the Federals into
the city. They have not, however, the full glory of
'subjugating the city. 'Whether from political rea-
sons, or from real inability to hold it any longer,
the Confederates themselves evacuated Charleston.
On the night of the 17th they departed, after de-

......r........
stroying two ironclads, and spiking the guns in
the
fortifications. A disastrous accident accompanied
the process of destruction. Six thousand bales of
cotton, in the upper part of the city, were ordered
0 be burnt, when the flames reached a quantity of
ammunition stores, and a fearful explosion took place,
killing and injuring great numbers, and spreading
the fire in all directions. Two-thirds of the city are
said to have been destroyed, thus leaving another
Moscow in the hands of the conquerors. The explo-
sion apparently communicated the evacuation to
the Federals, who took possession on the morn-
ing of the 18th. They found the city in a lament-
able condition, the upper part having been the scene
of the explosion and the fire, while the lower part
is described as being completely riddled with shot
and shell. The actual value of the town is there-
fore not very great. The chief material advantage
of the victory is its loss to the Confederates.
Supposing the capture of Charleston to precede, as
it is likely to do, the fall of Wilmington, the Con-
federates will be completely cut off from communi-
cation with the outer world. Henceforth, the sys-
tem of blockade-running is over, though it is sug-
gusted that light vessels may be constructed to run
up the creeks. By the abandonment of the sea-
ports, however, the Confederates have resigned
themselves to the loss of regular supplies, and of
the power of turning their cotton to profitable ac-
count. It is not surprising that there should be
great excitement in the North over the fall of
Charleston, so long wished for, or that Govern-
ment and people should unite in demonstrations of
joy and exultation.
But the friends of the Confederates have no oc-
casion to despair, although a long list of reverses
and disasters has been crowned by the fall of their
cherished city. All these successes of the Northern
arms are not due only to the fortune of
war, but forms part of a deliberate scheme which
rightly or wrongly the Confederate leaders have
determined upon. It was some time since openly
announced that General LEE held that the wisest
policy would be to surrender all those cities and
possessions, even Richmond itself, which detained
great numbers of men, and were an encumbrance
rather than a help. If he were free to avail himself
of the services of the whole of the troops under his
command, he could leave the South behind him
and teach the North what war meant. He would
show the speculators and fanatics, who find
war-making so easy at a distance, that it does not
only consist in making profitable contracts and vehe-
ment speeches, in decreeing the expatriation of the
whole Southern people, and in buying off themselves
and their relatives from public service when included
in the conscription. They may have to learn that

there is another side to the question, when fire and
sword sweep through their own cities and desolate
their own hearths and stores. This is the object
which the C onfederate Commander-in-Chief has in
view, and the abandonment of the Southern cities
was a necessary though painful preliminary, even as
in a time of the utmost danger a French General
desolated the fairest province of the kingdom,
choking up the wells, trampling down corn-fields,
and burning the houses, so that the progress of the
enemy might be stayed by the ruin. The evacuation
of Charleston was a deliberate act, having been
commenced three weeks ago, and it is likely
enough to be followed by the evacuation of Wil-
mington, and even of Richmond, which is said to be
imminent. Still the Federals had better not be too
confident of ultimate success. There is an old
French saying, " Se recueille pour mieux sauter,"
and it may be on this that the Confederates are act-
Whether a wiser disposition of their
'orces might not have averted the necessity,
and by arresting SHERMAN'S march at the outset
have reversed the fortunes of the campaign, may be
very fairly questioned. Hood's expedition into
Tennessee was altogether a mistake, and has
cost his country dear. Even had he succeeded in
capturing Nashville and routing THOMAS, the gain
would have been nothing compared to the loss of
suffering SHERMAN to penetrate to the very heart of
the South. He will now probably endeavour to
reach Petersburg, and combine his forces
with GRANT'S, and this anticipation will
probably expedite the proposed evacuation of
Richmond. The Confederates, in their turn, may
concentrate their armies, and, by a decisive battle,
recover their lost ground, and inflict a serious bloW
on the North. We may yet see another battle of
Pharsalia, and the fortunes of war may be reversed.
Should LEE abandon Richmond and penetrate to
Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Northern armies
must necessarily follow him. The Northern
fleet has now done its utmost, and is
henceforth useless for the purposes of war. The
Richmond Examiner says that if SHERMAN cannot
reach the Danville Road, he had better have stayed
at Atlanta, for BEAUREGARD may yet lead him such
a dance over the Carolina swamps as GREEN led
CORNWALLIS. " BEAUREGARD," it adds, "is be-
lieved to be carrying out a deliberate
design, and SHERMAN is near the end of his tri-
umphs." The evacuation of Wilmington, says
another journal, would render 5,000 more men
available, and we cannot but hope that part of
LEE'S scheme consists of the arming of the negroes.
Were he to make his appearance in Pennsylvania
with 100,000 blacks, the fervour of the abolitionists

might cool.
If the recent triumphs of SHERMAN had been
won by the sword, the North would have more
reason to exult ; as it is, the continual system of
retreat and evacuation on the part of the Confede-
rates is too foreign to their national character to
be otherwise than deliberate and for a purpose.

The second reading of the County Courts Equit-
able Jurisdiction Bill may be considered as a satis-
factory thing on the whole, for the measure pro-
ceeds in the right direction so far as it goes, and
inaugurates those reforms in the law which are so
much called for, and yet have been so often and
strenuously opposed. There is so much ado made
about the propriety of not instituting this reform,
and the desirability of that suggestion, that
delay is the order of the day, and procrastination
the thief that steals away the time of the session,
and we find ourselves year after year in no improved
position, and with no prospect of a definite and
decided change. At all events, something has now
been done, and this session—otherwise sp-dult-in
foreign politics and domestic questions-jseems des-
tined to be hereafter memorable for its achievements
and alterations in a legal form. The bill for the
site of the law courts has been successfully brought
through its stages, and now some advance has been
made in the measure of the county courts charges.
So far it is gratifying to witness some exertion being
made to attain the necessary improvement. The
objections that were made to the bill in the House
of Lords last night do not appear upon attentive
consideration to contain much force, and were
by
easily set aside the explanation of the Lord
Chancellor.
It would be an unheard-of thing if
any
legal change took place without many demands
being made and
grave complaints uttered against
its passing into law. Notwithstanding
those t
who hese
diffi-
culties, it is incumbent upon
administera
the law to endeavour at any
risk an I through l
opposition to introduce and carry
out from time to
which the exigencies
time those remedial pleasures

of the nation require, and which experience de-
clares to, be rendered necessary to suit
the tempt 'r of the times, and to con-
duce to the advantages of the community.
Lord ST. LEONARDS opposed the second reading of
the bill on several grounds, the chief of which
being that the County Court Judges were deficient
in a knowledge of the law. He said that the two
branches of the law were quite distinct, and it was
no disparagement to say that those men fixed upon
as referees would not be able to discharge their
duties in an adequate form. This objection is, how-
ever, purely a technical one, and there is no reason
why the difficulties referred to should not be met
and overcome. Besides, it is not always those who
are too exclusive in their attempts who succeed the
best in rendering in the end the most effectual ser-
vice to their profession, and reflecting the greatest
credit on themselves. Lord BROUGHAM and Lord
CAMPBELL were both common law lawyers, and the
former went from a stuff gown to the woolsack.
Many others might be cited who have also proved
themselves capable of performing what Lord ST.
LEONARDS regards as an impossibility. Equity, if
rightly regarded and properly considered, is not more
than the exercise of common sense and the applica-
tion of right feeling. The Lord Chancellor, in addi-
tion to this objection, very aptly observed that he
was sorry so hear the noble and learned lord de-
clare that these judges were utterly incompetent to
administer business in equity, because " he had prac-
tised in the Equity Courts, and was present when
Lord LYNDHURST was suddenly transferred from the
Court of Common Law to the Court of Equity
which he afterwards adorned for so many years."
This was a capital retort, and must hay% impressed
the House with the futility of the objection, which
nevertheless possessed sufficient appearance of
validity to impress and influence many at first sight.
No greater mistake can be made than to
fix in predetermined limits, what may or
may not be done ; it is a safer and wiser cause to
extend the line and enlarge the sphere of
action, to suit the requirements of the case and
answer the demands of the time. The Lord Chan-
cellor humorously observed that he did not regret
the opposition of the noble and learned lord, because
by this means he was certain of having a close
scrutiny into all the provisions of the measure.
This is very true, since it is the surest mode of
acquiring and approaching perfection to sift the
matter over and weigh well the conflicting claims,
prior to coming to a decision that must be final to
a great extent. The noble and learned lord also
declared that he was not aware that the judges
possessed that modesty as to their own capacities,
which Lord Sr. LEONARDS imputed to them, but if
they do, said he, " I advise them by all means to get
rid of it as soon as possible." It is satisfactory to
gather from the Lord Chancellor's speech, that by the
provisions of this bill the County Courts will be put
in the way of attaining that efficiency, and impart-
ing those advantages which they were intended to
do, and the now fulfilment of which as yet has been
a source of regret and a ground of complaint with
many. It is curious to notice also that by one of
the provisions of the statute by which these courts
were first intended, they should apply to equity
as well as to common law, and therefore by those
proposals of this new bill the original purpose will
be carried out to full perfection with increased
power and extended privileges. A system
that works well in any capacity, will in
all probability also work well in another.
There is no reasonable ground of argument put
forward against this measure that can at all justify
its rejection by the House, and, on the contrary, it
is earnestly to be trusted that it will be permitted to
pass into law, as the Lord Chancellor forcibly re-
marked in conclusion. There were many things to
be said pro and con for the bill, but it was im-
portant that it should be subjected to every kind of
scrutiny and anxious care. There are good grounds
for hoping that by the passing of this measure a
real and substantial advantage will be conferred
upon the community, and that the obstacles which
are apparently in the way of its successful working
may be put aside at once and for ever when it comes
to a practical working, instead of being merely the
subject of theoretical discussion into which techni-
cal prejudices will perforce intrude themselves.