The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-24 00:00:00

with which all the legislators and generals of the
North may find difficult to deal. We may remark
that President LIVOLN himself appears fully sen-
sible of the difficulties attending what he calls re-
construction, while the dissatisfaction with which
his remarks on the subject were received show how
much inherent difficulty there is in dealing
with the subject about which such opposite
views are held, not only in the South but
in the North. DAVIS and his Cabinet will
probably withhold any concession until they can
obtain favourable terms, and the Confederate Senate
will be very likely unwilling to admit the truth
that the final catastrophe is due in a great measure
to their own perversity and selfishness. There have
been many causes for the gradual decline of the
fortunes which has taken place within the last half-
year—some civil, some military. President DAVIS
himself comes in for a share of the blame, whether
he acted from personal feeling or from a mistaken
belief in the superior ability of HooD when lie super-
seded JOIINSTON. The movement into Tennessee,
the attempt against Nashville, were serious errors.
Supposing it possible that HooD could have routed
THOMAS, gained Nashville, and held the whole of
Tennessee, where would have been the gain to the
Confederacy while SHERMAN was marching un-
checked through the very heart of the South, and
desolating Georgia and the Carolinas? On a chess
board we often see a clever but imprudent player en-
ticed by his less daring but more cautious adversary
into the pursuit of some particular advantage in one
corner of the board, while his king, unheeded, is
open to the dexterous checkmate. The policy of
HooD in invading Tennessee was of this character,
and SHERMAN was not slow in following up his
advantage. Then, when he was crossing
Georgia the same spirit of disunion and
want of energy seemed to paralyse the
powers of the South. Instead of concentrating their
forces and opposing every step of the invader, they
began the system of retreat and evacuation; and so
ill was that system carried out that bales of
cotton xere left at Savannah, though SHERMAN'S
advent had been long expected. Then in
civil quarters the mistakes were no less
The Senate by its tardy majorities of
one proved how little its members were prepared to
sacrifice private interest to the public good. Had
the enlistment of the slaves been decided on a year
ago on proper terms, the Confederate flag might
still be flying over Richmond and Charleston, and
LEE might remain master of the field.

serious.

There are those, no doubt, whose first thought will
be that of rejoicing, prompted by humanity. They
will be full of thankfulness to see the apparent close
of so cruel and bloodthirsty a war, a war which has
shown the worst features of that civil discord which
is justly held to be the most terrible of all the
miseries which can afflict a country. But a peace
which rests on insecure foundations, which is based
on the enforced submission of an intelligent and
united people, has little in it to satisfy the real lover
of his kind. " Order " may " reign in War-
saw," but the result is as disastrous to the one
side as it is disgraceful to the other. Prussia may
gain the port of Kiel, but few Englishmen can
congratulate themselves on the conclusion of the
achievement. War, sad as it is, is not the saddest
page of history. The sacrifice of nationalities is a
sadder one, and he need be but a very superficial
student of the past who knows that the suppressed
revolt of a whole people against their
rulers is the forerunner of internal wretch-
edness and degradation, and the parent
of future wars. It is this result -which we fear in
America. The enforced pacification of the South
gives no hope for the real tranquillisation of the
country. However the mob orators of the North
may talk, the military subjection of the vast states
of the Confederacy is a simple impossibility. If
conciliation is attempted, we may see slavery re-
established in its worst features, just as its death
knell had been rung by the necessities of war. Peace,
real peace, and national prosperity, are as far off as
ever, perhaps further. We have only entered upon
a new act in this eventful drama, of which no one
can foresee the end.

The inquiry instituted by the Poor Law Board
into the case of MICHAEL Gmsox has been con-
tinued and concluded. The jury in their verdict
declared that the death of this man had been greatly
accelerated by the neglect he had received at the
hands of the whole of the officials connected with
St. Giles's Workhouse. The disclosures made at
the last investigation are, if possible, still more
startling than the previous one, and present alto-
gether a fearful picture of union management. It
turned out that on two occasions the Poor Law
Board had issued regulations for the governance of
the St. Giles's Workhouse, but these rules had been
successfully resisted in the Court of Queen's
Bench. Mr. FARNALL stated that the rules
of the Poor Law Board and the Act of Parlia-
ment often clashed in those parishes where
the local aid was carried out. It must appear
evident to those who consider this subject that an
alteration in this would be very desirable. It must
militate greatly against the power of the Poor Law
Board if their rules and regulations can thus be set
at defiance, and one consequence is apparent by the
evidence of the resident medical officer, Mr. BEN-
NETT. He said that the reason why he did not
keep the book according to the form prescribed by
the Poor Law Board, was that he thought the cards
would do as well. It is very evident that no one in

'authority in this union troubled themselves very
much in adhering to the directions given at head-
quarters, and hence arose many of the evils whose
consequences we now deplore. The more these rules
are kept the better, however simple they may seem,
and however unnecessary they may appear to captious
individuals. It is very difficult to understand the
particulars of an affair if some guide and landmark
is not afforded by the certainty of authentic state-
ments, and it cannot be too much insisted on that
in future all books be kept and matters regulated
according to the orders given. In the case of
TIMOTHY DALY it turned out that the book was
not kept, and some excuse was given about the
time it would take to do so. It is to be hoped that
these notable instances will furnish a sufficient
answer to those who think it trivial and unnecessary
to follow the orders given with anything like scru-
pulosity. The whole of this case, as it appears to
the public through the medium of the cross-exami-
nations, must strike the attention of observers, and
shows that many serious errors have crept into tie
workings of the system. Faulty as the construction
of the laws may be, they are not given a chance by
their mal-administration and most imperfect execu-
tion. Mr. BENNETT admitted that GIBSON was "very
dirty," but he said that had the policeman gone into
the ward without having had the deceased specially
pointed out to him he would not have noticed any-
thing. The present master is the only one who has
gone into the wards of the infirmary of late years,
so that we find another instance of the rules of the
Poor Law Board being totally ignored by certain
parties.

•
Mr. BENNE who was examined by M'GEE, said
that he had expressed surprise and indignation at
the state in which the shirt of GIBSON was in, and
also admitted that the man was in a fearful
state. 31`GES declared that Yr, BENNETT