The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-16 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 16, 1862.

have but to put the blade in and reap. There, in

NOTICE.

All remittances are, henceforth, to be made to
Mi. JOHN CHAPLIN, at The Sun office, 119

Strand, who has been appointed, 11—
Chancellor, Receiver and 'l' the Lord
otanager of The Sun
newspaper, and 'tile on st an ing debts due in
respect thereof.

~.,,,.
-
...T
,--, ,:, •---4,,,4:110.., &'tl
~ , ...h. ~0,,-,„,...

THE SUN.
LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1862.

Another Federal defeat, is the verdict we must
now give upon the evidence before us. The depo-
sitions of the telegraph on Saturday left little doubt
of it, but Northern reports, now before us in detail,
confirm our first impressions. The precise object of
the Confederates in attacking thus vigorously the
left flank of M'CLELLAN under General CASEY,
we cannot know, and therefore cannot pronounce
on the success of their intentions. But the actual
success of their operations, to a certain extent, is
quite clear. They quite disorganised by their
attack a whole advanced division of the federal
army, and carried off all their guns, nineteen in
number. Lie Northern writers who confess the
ftc,t add, that the North " could better afford the
loss, than they could afford to have the rebels pro-
fit by the gain."
What indeed very much enhances the merit
of the Confederate achievement is that they had no
artillery, while according to the Northern account
itself the Confederates advanced to close quarters

with the guns which were mowing them down with
canister and grape. We read descriptions of the
bravery of CASEY'S weak battalions retiring before
the foe, but we cannot make out that they were
really much the weaker, and supported by their artil-
lery they ought to have been the stronger. Of this
artillery the Confederates in he bravest style re-
lieved them ; and it being just the thing they wanted
they immediately sent the guns and the ammunition
on the Saturday evening to Riohmond. On the
Sunday the Confederates were not strong enough to
hold the half mile in which they had captured the
guns, and carried off or destroyed CASEY'S tents,
baggage, and stores, and after a hard bayonet fight,
as it is discribed, the Federals regained their lost
ground.

The accounts furnished l',Jy. the North seem to in-
vent every posti'oie excuse, yet we cannot see that
nett is much in them. The tremendous storm,
softening the roads, and deluging everything, was
as unfavourable to the action of one party as of the
other. The repeated statement of the weakness of
the advanced regiment only discredits the skill of
the General who so exposed it, and enhances that
of the Confederates, who availed themselves of it to
secure a partial victory, and, what was of such value
to them, several batteries of field guns. We can
see no extenuation whatever of the errors of gene-
ralship on one side, nor anything to detract from
the skill and bravery of the other, which thus in-
flicted by surprise such a defeat and a loss to the
enemy so profitable to themselves.

i The numbers of killed and wounded on each side
we have learned to regard as facts not to be ascer-
tained for months— enormous totals frequently
dwindling down to insignificance is the usual case.
When, however, a Northern correspondent of a
Northern paper thinks 3,000 their probable loss in
a two days' battle, it ought to be somewhere near
the mark. The whole division which was attacked
numbered, he says, 2,000 men. If, therefore, that
division was not annihilated, which does not at all
appear to have been the case, their legs proving
most efficient saviours, the loss must have been
very severe on the second day, the Sunday. This
day's battle was, it must be confessed, the fair trial
of strength, and the North proved the stronger but
not the braver. The accounts of Southern loss, if
correct, would only go to show that the Southerns
fought as well as the Northerns ; but that the latter
were equipped with far more destructive weapons is
incidentally mentioned by the writer of the account
of the battle. Altogether we think the battle
proves what 'so many others have proved, that the
North is the stronger, the South the more skilful.
Its generalship is almost always better than that
of the North.

This is, indeed, confirmed by what we now learn
from Corinth. That BEAUREGARD had good rea-
sons for quitting so stlong a position is quite cer-
tain. They may have been the want of supplies,
and health of the army ; but that he should have
withdrawn every gun in the presence of an enemy
within cannon shot of him, and should have left
him in utter ignorance of the direction he he has
taken is a real marvel. For 60,000 men, at least,
to have left no trace on the road they have taken
when retreating from the immediate presence of a
larger army, is a feat, we should think, almost
'without parallel. We should not be surprised to
hoar of BEAUREGARD and his army where he is
least expected—on the flank of HALLECX-or at i
Now Orleans—even in Virginia itself, though he
he must go a long way round to get there.

The workhouses are just a trifle more accessible
han Boorioboolagah. The latter region may be all
very well for Mrs. JELLABY. We may leave what
the brickmaker in Bleak House would call the
"Pollpry in g"school of charity to benevolent females
as brazen-eyed as Mrs. PARDIGGLE. Like the good
clergyman fresh from S t. Ambrose's College of whom
mention is made in Tom Brown at Oxford as a
great and good hand at Ragged Schools, first of all
in his beloved Alma Mater, and afterwards, and
better still, in the back slums of 'Westminster—we ,
may give up as hopelessly as that gentle-hearted and
earnest-minded ecclesiastic the hope of any of the
ladies of Belgravia being able to penetrate into those
regions of squalor and misery just mentioned. We
may be driven to this and other kindred conclusions
narrowing the field of benevolence to English gen-
tlemen.
But still, even then, there would be left for
the Rattler sex whatever opportunities of this kind
pstchaaert:stemhr,aewyd
hbfeearreinv andd wide in all directions, in every
The inmates
women "most do congre-
gate," throughout the length and breadth of the
United Kingdom.
of those workhouses,
o ages,
it is worth remembering number up altogether in
f all
oE.ti u
nell'nnded t
h nd
d raud Wales alone more
souls than 100,000,
of both
sexes, all of them destitute, almost all of them
uninstructed eithef morally or intellectually.m
The very multitude, this, fitted in a peculiar
and especial manner to receive gratefully, from .' - the
hands and hearts of English ladle C the ministrations
the more earnestly philanthropic amongst them
may be bent upon distributing whenever they may
he happy enough to find a suitable opportunity.
Here, in the Workhouses, scattered far and wide
all over the land, is the opportunity ! The very
opportunity so many benevolent ladies, old and
young, are in search of ! The desired field of their
labour of benevolence is thus, actually within
their reach. Weak though the hands of
these female philauthropistd may be, u harvest
especially suited to their Powers stands there
before them—ripe for the sickle. They

. cry aged, the very help.

those workhouses, are the ---
less, the

__ ourrering in mind and in body, men and

women worn out with the moil and toil of their
hard lives, the bed-ridden, the heart-wearied, the
ignorant, and the utterly neglected. There are
fellow creatures, in fact, without, many of them, a
single personal friend, or near relative, or even
remote connection, left to them in the wide world.
There are those, in effect, who, of all classes in the
community, would be the most grateful for any
token of interest that could be shown in their re.
gard. This is the very division of society, surely, that
the really and practically benevolent among the
Women of England have so long, and, in many
instances, hitherto so vainly, been in quest of.
There is no difficulty in finding its whereabouts.
It is ready to hand in each parish. It has there,
in each parish, its name and its local habitation. It
is that division, each member of which stands upon
the lowest rung of the social ladder—the division of
the classified and ticketed paupers (men, women
and children) grouped together in our Union Work-
houses.

Very recently there has sprung into existence
amongst us a benevolent associatioi of ladies, keep.
ing especially in view the, hitherto, in a great mea-
sure, overlooked and forgotten inmates of the
Workhouses. It is an association designated in plain
words, " The Workhouse Visiting Society." It has
its organ as well its organisation : the latter being
very simple, but, at the same time, very compre-
hensive and well considered—the former, a little
journal * (price sixpence) published by the
the great house of " the Row," the Messrs. LONG-
MAN and Company. This Workhouse Visiting
Society, it should be observed, is in connection with,
if it has not actually a recognised branch of, The
National Association for the Promotion of Social
Science. The President of it, is one of her MA-
JESTY'S present advisers, a Cabinet Minister who is,
moreover, step-son of the First Lord of the Treasury:
the Right Hon. W. F. COWPER, that is, the Chief
Commissioner of Parks and Palaces. So that, while
caring officially for the Parks and the Palaces, Mr.
COWPER shows also in this way that he can take
an earnest interest in the well-being of the Work-
houses, and in the promotion of the moral and
spiritual improvement of their inhabitants. The
laity and the clergy, ladies and gentlemen, lords and
commoners, share in the advancement of that last-
mentioned object—the one great and paramount
incentive to the labours of those who co-operate in
carrying out the humane design of this most
kindly association.

The avowed object of the Workhouse Visiting
Society is defined as" principally
,threefold." First
and foremost its proposal is, " for befriending the
destitute and orphan children in the schools, and
after they are placed in situations." Secondly, " for
tke instruction and comfort of the sick and
afflicted." Thirdly, " for the benefit;of the ignorant
and depraved, by assisting the officers of the esta-
blishment in forming classes for instruction in the
encouragement of useful occupation during the
hours of leisure, or in any other work that may
seem to the guardians to be useful and beneficial."l
Under the first section alone—that relating to the
destitute and orphan children there are " room
• and verge enough"—alas! that such can be avowed
thus with only too much reason—for the dis-
play of this particular kind of benevolence. For,
of these destitute and orphan children now shel-
tered annually in the workhouses of England and
Wales there are, in round numbers, not less than
51,000 altogether—half the whole number of the
inmates of the Workhouses. And out of these
51,000, as saany as 12,000 are literally " orphans."
With a view to the better regulation of the
members of the Workhouse Visiting Society, there
are ten Rules set down, to which ten Rules every
member has, as a mere matter et course, rigidly to
conform. The First of these Rules runs simply
to the effect that "members shall endeavour, by local
action and individual exertion, to interest guardians
and chaplains throughout the country in the objects
of this society, and to obtain their sanction to its
operations, the names of all visitors being submitted
to the guardians and chaplains for approval." The
second very reasonably provides that " visitors shall
attend the workhouses at hours most convenient to
the inmates and officers and shall observe the rules
of the house." The third of these ten rules is one
of great and manifest importance, if only with a
view to the prevention of anything like prose-
lytising —namely, " that visitors shall abstain
from all interference with the religious opinions
of those who differ from them. The remain-
ing seven rules, which it is not here con-
sidered necessary :to particularise, relate to the
practical working of the system upon which the
scheme of this kindly Visiting Society is based. The
practical good already resulting from the operations
of the society has been great. And it is increas-
ing. The "Ladies Bountiful" of the land have
now before them consequently the very opportunity
they have so long sighed for. Will they not avail
themselves of it ? Leaving the natives of Boorio-
boolagah to the Mrs. JELLABYS and the " Poll.
prying" to the Mrs. PARDIGGLES—wiII they not
now recognise the fact of this opportunity.

* " Journal of the Workhouse Visiting Society." Bvo.,
,pp. 30. London : Longman and Co.

Were we good sound Catholics we should regret
nothing more than such exhibitions as those which
have just come off at Rome. To all men of educa-
tion, it must look like an insult to the intelligence of
the age. We are always charged with unchari-

tableness if we assume that the Popery of the pre-
sent day is identical with that of the times of the
Reformation—and, we are most willing to accept
the view that the men have changed if doctrines re-
main the same. Wo wish to regard Roman Catholics
as very much like other men. That is that they
have two personalities—their religious ono, and
their social one; and that like other men the good
sense of the social personality keeps in proper
bounds the natural tendencies of religious dogmas.
But, for this very reason, we expect Roman Catholics
who share the general advance of Europe, to have
put an end by this time to the grosser extravagances
to which the ecclesiastics of every other sect are
in their respective modes equally liable.

Now we should like to know how many edu-
cated persons throughout Europe, those belonging
to the sect itself which has just made the exhibi-
tion included, will not regard the affair much as
the very tolerant correspondent of.a contemporary,
himself a spectator, regarded, it. He was not in.
sensible to the splen•lour of the show. The music
almost overcame him, compelling his feelings to
sympathise. But he could not avoid the impres•
sion that it must in sober moments be characterised
as " humbug," and the very kernel of the whole
eeremon3:A43 tho'great imposition of the day." The
could
oa
u ani
or lty haasyseu
regarded
awriter so undoubtedly does his utmost to maintain
the most charitable feelings he can, and to put the
most charitable construction on everything, that we
n
egrttl the we,
thingh had wemo beanre
favourably.present,
For the humbue of the affair—every bishop
and cardinal present
was fully aware of that. He
knew that the Japanese martyrs—martyrs to inter-
meddling on the conquered • side in politics—were of
no consequence at all in the business, The 50,000
or 80,000 crowns were not paid to

yy—,tich a Pope
iruM tne rant; or iSsecti;, to.
admitted them two hundred years ago, to that of
saneti. The money was spent to gather together a
great ecclesiastical council of Roman Catholics
from all parts of Europe to pronounce, as a last
hope, in favour of the POPE'S temporalities against
the Italians, who refuse to be his subjects, and the
other Italians to whom the POPE'S Italians wish to
unite themselves. To victimise for a yet longer
term of years the unfortunate Romans, to enforce
Papal bondage on the bodies of those who are willing
to let the POPE have their souls—this was the almost
undisguised object of the gathering—an object, but
for which .the Japanese martyrs or criminals, no
matter which, might have remained Beati world
without end. We set aside the real character of the
martyrs, and we must affirm that this making a
stalking horse of their canonization, for a purely
secular, worldly, ambitious object, justly brands the
whole thing with the epithet bestowed on it by the
writer referred to.

Then with regard to the show—that it was a
"great imposition,"few will deny it who look at the
facts and the doings. A very large sum of money
had been paid to dishonour the most splendid tem-
ple in the world with theatrical finery, and 15,u00
wax candles, weighing, it is said, 4lbs each, and in
various other disbursements. All the preliminaries
being ready—the canonization being a perfectly
settled business, a thorough farce, as thorough as
was ever enacted in any theatre, was gone through.
We have all heard of the " Nolo Episcopari,"
by which the aspirants to thousands a year
declare their unwillingness to be bishops; but this
sacred farce beats all that out and out. The suc-
cessor of the Fisherman, in his gorgeous apparel,
being seated on his splendid throne, a Cardinal
comes up and demands that the beati may be cata-
logued with the saints. The POPE replies, that in
so grave a business he must have the "prayers of
the Church for Divine assistance." Forthwith all
present begin to chant a Litany. This over, up
comes the petitioner again, demanding canonisation
" instanter, or instantius." The POPE still hesitates,
and asks for further' and "fervid prayers for the
Holy Spirit's guidance." The musical praying is
resumed. Again the Cardinal petitions this time—
" instanter, instantius, et instantissime,' as if irri-
tated with the POPE or the Holy Spirit," and then
the POPE replies that "assisted by a ray of divine
light he had determined on enrolling the beati in
the catalogue of the saints," and pronounces the
final word " Decernimus," and so the martyrs, or
whatever they were, became Roman Catholic
Saints,

Of the splendour of the show, of the power of
the music, of the appeal it makes to ignorance, we
do not doubt ; but in a day of railroads, telegraphs,
newspapers, and of rapidly approaching universal
education, what are we to say to such huge
impostures as these in the very centre
of Papal Christe9dom—of impostures which
carry their character on the face of them.
That all respectable English Catholics blush for
such performances, we may feel quite sure, although
they are dutifully silent—they can have no effect
but on the peasantry of France and Ireland. Per-
haps the story distilled for them by bishops and
priests, who laugh at it at home, may help ultra-
montanism in the lowest quarters—that it will

cover it with contempt in all others is equally cer-
tain. It must, we should think, be regarded as the
near precursor of the downfal of the temporal

power.

THE MEXICAN INTERVENTION,

/From the Money Market Review.)
As matters stand now, the most probable upshot
of all these complications is the placing of the
Archduke Maximilian on the throne of Mexico, with
some kind of a constitution and a stronger Govern-
ment than Mexico has known for years, sup-
ported by foreign troops. For such an arrange-
ment to be permanent, there ought to be a
large disbandmentof:the Mexican standing army,
the number of which ought not to be allowed
to exceed the present number of Mexican generals,
which is said to be about 15,000 ! If only a tithe of
this allegation be true, it would abundantly account
for the country being always in a state of war.
that the French army has sustained
The report transmitted from America during the
last few days,
a defeat at the hands of the Mexican troops on its
way to the capital, confirms our recent remarks as
to the difficulty of the task which the Emperor Na-
poleon has taken in hand, 'without, as it would
employ, or its cost. But he is now
fully
seem, adequately reckoning the amount of force he
would
e h
committed to the expedition; and, as France
can n
n quietly under a reverse of this
never
ea
rvse to
t
kind, the defeat reported, if it be true, will infalli-
bly be attended with the result of placing the French
in possession of the capital. It is only a question of
time. The cost of this effort, however, and of the
it subsequent occupation, will be so large that we—
with the China war fresh in our memory, which
commenced with an estimate of £500,000, and has
closed at a charge of at least £l7,soo,ooo—have
reason to rejoice that France has thought proper to
drop us out of the arrangement, and to take the
whole of the burthen upon herself. If France
chooses to leap and dance, and perform extravagan-
cies, with a £40,000,000 deficit on her back, and
"with the annual charge of her national debt closely
approximating to our own why we can have nothing
to say against the performance, though we may
wonder at her thoughtlessness. Perhaps it will do
her good hereafter, by cooling her blood. Mean-
while, we have borne the task of providing
national
a year, as the mere interest on the
iodebt,
sufficiently long to feel its sobering
influence ; and the fact that, notwithstanding a
heavy income tax, we have yet, under Mr. Glad-
stone's management, an annually recurring deficit,
is surely sufficient to make us view with pleasure
the prospect of being relieved from a war and a
military occupation of indefinite cost and duration.
It is really very kind of France, for, after all, she
is going jauntily to do in Mexico very much the
same sort of thing which we ourselves had girded
up our loins to accomplish, but with a degree of
reluctance proportionate to our sense of the sacrifice
it would impose on us. France goes to war as
lightly as though it were a ball or a merry-making.
She seems to have not the slightest sense of pecu-
niary responsibilities. We can all point to indivi-
duals amongst our acquaintance who possess exactly
this sort of temperament, hut who, somehow,
always contrive, in the long run, to become familiar
with pecuniary tribulation.

ARRIVAL OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.—His
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has arrived in Lon•
don, on his return from his tour in the Holy Land.

The Queen, with the Royal family, will leave
Windsor Castle for Osborne upon Wednesday next. Her
Majesty still applies herself indefatigably to the discharge
of the duties of her high position ; but it was not to be ex-
pected that her Majesty's overwhelming grief could admit
of any mitigation. Her Majesty has daily driven in the
neighbourhood of the Castle, but is not equal to much
walking exercise, or to any exertion beyond the transaction
of necessary business.

When her Majesty proceeds to Balmoral in
August next, the Princess Alice and her consort will take
their departure for Switzerland. The Queen will not return
from Balmoral to "Windsor Castle till late in the season ;
October is the month at present stated. In November the
Queen will visit Germany.—Court Journal.
Eight vessels have recently left Queenstown with
supplies of arms and ammunition for the Confederate
States, and it is said that there are now three large steamers
in that harbour bound for blockaded ports, nominally with
"general" cargoes, but in reality contraband.
NEITHE'a ONE NOR THE OTHER.—A very dimi•
nutive specimen of a man lately bulicited the hand of a line
buxom girl. "Oh no," said the fair but insulting lady,
"I can't think of it fora moment. The fact is, John, you
are a little too big for a cradle, and a little too small to go
to church with."