The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-21 00:00:00

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had in artillery compensating at first for their de-
ficiency in numbers, the eagerness with which the
Confederates attempted to capture the guns, and
desperate courage with which they did capture
them after the " canister and grape had mowed them
down in winnows"—for they go " with orderly joy
upon the muzzles of our guns; neither French nor
English every charged field batteries with steadier
bravery " the retreat continued by night as

well as by day, through bewildering forest, as wel
_ _

as by roads—the varying fortunes of the fights,

For the Federals themselves made many prisoners,

and captured some guns, the last onset of the even-
ing at the James River itself, the gunboats now tak-
ing part in the affair, all this is plain ; and though
it is a Northern correspondent's account we can well

believe that the Federals fought with all the cou-
rage and firmness possible to retreating men, while
the Confederates followed them up with all the
ardour of men fighting for their fatherland, and
confident in their numbers, their leaders, and their

cause. Most graphically does one correspon.
dent describe the feelings of the part o
the army with which he was mingled
when, emerging from• a forest, the regiments
" debouched into a magnificent wheat field, and the
smoke stack of the Galena was in sight. The gun-
boats had been the heralds of many deliverances
and victories for retreating Federals, well may he
add—" XENOPHON'S remnant of the ten thousand,
shouting ' The sea ! the sea! were not more glad
than we." There were instances of poltroonery, no
doubt; some are specifically mentioned, but we
have no sympathy with those who would detract
from the merits of either a brave assault or a brave
retreat; and, looking at the mere fighting on either
, side, we do not think Englishmen need be ashamed
of their descendants.
The strategical skill of the original arrangements
is quite another question ; but even that is for •
gotten in the more urgent question of the real
character of M'CLELLAN'S present position. That
he is now under the protection of the gunboats
almost seems to assure his actual safety. They
were able to participate in the last battle; they
pitched their shells over the heads of their friends
into the ranks of the enemy, of course with irre-
sistible effect; and as long as M'CLELLAN is so
near to them, nut only is his rear safe, but an ad-
vancing foe must be disordered before it could
reach him. The boats could even silence a Con-
federate battery which was harassing a luggage
train. Still an eye-witness says, " The salvation
of his decimated, exhausted, and depressed army
is a question of supplies and reinforcements, imme-
diate and heavy. If these weary thousands could
get twenty-four hours' rest their safety would be
assured, but if let alone, any cessation of attack and
repulse until the final catastrophe will not be per-
mitted." Happily for M'CLELLAN'S brave army
the repose seems to have been obtained. By the
latest account the attacks did cease ; and backed by
17 gunboats, the General was feeling his way
about seven miles from his camp, till he had lighted
on the Confederate pickets which led to the expec-
tation of another battle.
On the taste of General M'CLELLAN'S 4th of
July address to the army, there will be various
opinions. Ours is, that it is very good American.
M'CLELLAN has given no proof yet that he
is at all above the level of his countrymen
in matters of style. His opponent JEFFERSON
DAVIS, if he does show his country in his despatches
and papers, is, on the contrary, much superior in,
this respect to the Northern men. DAVIS had the
true strength to confess in plain English that the
Confederates were worsted when they really were.
M'CLELLAN seems to invent every conceivable mode
of representing a defeat as a victory. He knows
his men, and his countrymen north of the Potomac
too ; and if they all prefer that their general
should be a special pleader, and exchange the
matter-of-fact style of a WELLINGTON for the
lying rhodomatade of a NAPOLEON, why they must
have their way.
The more serious question is—What can the
North now do ? It proposes to raise 300,000 more
men ; but it remains to be seen whether the sick
and wounded will not prove bad recruiting sergeants;
the South has resorted to conscription, and already
it seems the Press of the North is beginning to pro-
claim that the North must do it also. But M'CLEL-
LAN needs further and immediate reinforcements,
or he must be unable to advance from a position
where he has no retteat but to his gunboats. Gene•
ral BURNSIDE'S army from Newbern, has already
joined M'CLELLAN'S, the General himself going to
Fort Monroe, where the PRESIDENT saw him, and
then went on to M'CLELLAN on the James's River.
The nature of the despatches which brought him
so far, is not known ; it is however n atural
to suppose that M CLELLAN has told that
very large reinforcements, or withdrawing the
army from Richmond are the only alternatives. The
Confederates have adopted the policy of concen-
trating their forces, and staking all on the capital.
The Federals will have to follow their example if
they mean to take the capital. Their armies are
now scattered, for they attempted to form the
famous " Anaconda Coil" around the Confederacy.
Events show that they are not strong enough to
crush it in this way ; and it must now be a very diffi-
cult question for the PRESIDENT, whether he can
make himself strong enough on the James River
for th© capture of Richmond, without losing his
hold on Kentucky, Missouri, Tennesee, and the
Mississippi. He has, indeed, his summer's work
fore him.

The Distress in the Manufacturing Districts is
becoming rapidly more and more serious in its
character. Its increase, more particularly in Lan-
cashire, is becoming indeed of so serious a character
that certain efforts in the way of relief that had
been very recently delayed, out of feelings of deli-
cacy, are now being hastily adventured upon,
with a view to the assistance betimes of those
who are the most alarmingly situated among
the sufferers. Not long since, for example, a
meeting was convened by the hon. and gallant mem-
ber-
tor North Lancashire, Col. J. W. PATTEN—a
mveereyting intended by him to carry out formally this I
led to nothing enterprise. Although numerously attended it I
reason that those
in itseitself, it gat all being done, simply for the
then and there brought together
deemed it advisable, upon reflection, to wait awhile,
in order to see how matters were in the distressed
_oof. t
pa 0
Dr eeamseonnta bml ea
y ap interval.
pear
districts after the lapsep
Strange though such a
under the circuuistanee
was one of the
most generous kind
imaginablee! For it was
actually in deference to the earnest wishes expressed
to that effect by the sufferers themselves , -,
uo
n. man-
fully and most
affectingly besought the •
well-
wishers to hold their generous hands, at least
for a time, to see whether or not the
districts afflicted by the cotton famine ,
1
could contrive to pass through the ordeal by
their own unassisted efforts. In obedience to
these brave-hearted entreaties, the meeting con-
vened a few weeks since by Colonel PATTEN,
then M.P.,
was adjourned indefinitely. Alas! though 8° brief
aia interval has since sped by, the distress in
the manufacturing districts has grown so rapidly,
is still growing so alarmingly, that the reassem-
bling of those who sympathised with Colonel
PATTEN'S practical work of philanthropy, could no
longer be delayed. A considerable number of