The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-30 00:00:00

Public Opinion and the War.

On the famous old,battle-fields of Middle Europe
two great rivals are now striving for mastery. As
we read the news of the capture of cities, the over-
running of provinces and states, the conflict of
mighty armies, the terrible slaughter of the van-
quished, and the scarcely less terrible slaughter of
the victors, we cannot but form decided opinions
of the merits of the struggle ; we cannot but' feel
decided sympathies for the one side or the other.
Opinions and sympathies we must acquire; the only
question in the matter is, Shall they be the result of
ignorance and prejudice, worked upon by a succes-
sion of fortuitous circumstances ; or shall they be
the result of reason and judgment, and educated
thought and feeling? We trust the latter, for in
these conflicts of great armies, mighty issues of
human destiny are involved, and we the onlookers
are not merely idle spectators ; we are all in some
slight degree, for good or for evil, co-partners in
the work.

On the Western Continent a terrible struggle
has lately come to an end in the preservation of the
vigoro us life, the vast vital energy of a great, glorious,
and a free republic —in the disinthralment of millions
of slaves —in the overturning of the very founda-
tions of human bondage. Yet people in Europe
were so careless of the questions at issue—they
thought them of so little importance—that they were
constantly reading to Americalessons for disturbing
the commerce of the world, when it was so easy to
preserve the peace by giving to the slaveholders all
that they required ! To a great extent statesmen
and people neglected to study the vital issues of the
war, and honestly gave sympathy, encouragement,
and active aid to a cause the success of which
would have darkened the prospects of the human
race. The strong encouragement which the Con-
federates received in Europe had a decided
influence on the character and duration of the war,
and it was, therefore, a most serious evil.

In the present struggle, let us learn a lesson from
that which has so lately ended. Law and justice,
liberty and progress, will be found involved. -Let us
be earnest--let us be accurate. Let us have good
and clear reasOns for all our sympathies and all our
hopes. Let us also criticise fairly all the parties
engaged in the struggle. All who do this will bene-
ficially influence public opinion, and public opinion
should be made to exercise its utmost influence on
the length, character, and issues of a war which is
about to change the relations of the peoples of a
C outinent. --Anylo-American Times.

THE ABODES OF BLISS.—At the Millenhall Petty
Sessions, Richard Gayton and William Mutum, labourers,
wore charged with poaching, on the 3d inst., on the manor
of one Baron do Bliss, at Brandon. John Wharfe, the
baron's keeper, deposed to having seen the defendants fer-
reting rabbits, and they did not deny that they were so en-
gaged. Seeing the keepers coming up, they ran away,
whereupon Wharfe loosed and set upon them an enormous
mastiff, which pulled one of them down and bit him se-
verely. Then the keepers came up, beat the man violently,
and secured Mutum as he lay bleeding and insensible on the
ground. Tho Suffolk magistrates, in consideration of the
punishment which the men had received from the baron's
keepers and mastiff, mitigated the penalty which they un-
posed upon the rabbit poachers to two months' imprison-
ment, at tlio expiration of which termtheyaro to find :sure-
ties for 12 montlis'_ good behaviour, or to undergo six
months' further incarceration. It did not appear that either
Gayton or Mutum had offered any resistance to their cap-
tors, or that they had any firearms with thorn. Surely
this is a case for tho interposition of Sir George Grey.
Are keepers justified in hounding down unresisting and
unarmed men—albeit poachers —with mastiffs, and in
beating them when caught by their dogs until they aro insen-
sible ? And who is tho Baron de Bliss ? What European
or other potentate has conferred upon him that singularly
happy title ? Has he her Majesty's licence to bear it, or if
it a mere titre de fantaisie ? Is he aware of the amount or
pecuniary damages to which the ferocity of his keepers and
their mastiff will assuredly render him liable if some clover
attorney takes up the case of Mutum and Clayton ?—Pall-
mall Gazette.

EXETER HALL.—'The National Choral Society
will give its last concert this season on Wednesday next.
" Acis and Galatea," and Locke's "Macbeth" music, &c.,
will be performed. The principal soloists engaged ".re
Madame Parepa, Miss Lucy Franklein, Mr. Leigh Wilson,
and Mr. Santley. Madlle. Mariot de Beauvoisi:„ will be
the pianist, and Mr. J. G. Boardman will Keside at the
organ. Full band and cheats of 700 pc,,a9mefs ; con-
'luau') Mr. G. W. Alartiii.