The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-26 00:00:00

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there also. The militia of the North is vastly
greater than that of the South. It has the small
regular army at its disposal, and when the ships
are recalled from foreign countries, and those
awaiting completion fitted out for service, the
North will be omnipotent by sea; Its chief strength
in a quarrel with the South, if it does not mean to
march through the wavering Border States to a
useless military conflict with the scattered towns,
endless forests and swamps of the cotton
States, will be its navy. With little or
no bloodshed it can blockade all their ports,
can annihilate their customs, and compel
them to personal taxation, poor as they are,
to raise any money •at all. If the Go-
vernment at Washington does not act from mere
irritation, it will in all probabilty do its chief
work by sea. This would also be less offensive to

the border states ; who now, can hardly deny the
right of the Government to vindicate its honour.
It has borne with the seizure of its property, and
with the capture of a place guarded by one officer
and an invalid Irish soldier ; it cannot well be
asked to put up with the bombardment of a fort
and the firing on its garrison for forty hours ;
compelling at last its brave commander to strike
the Federal fag.
It is impossible to fOrget, however, that passion
may now take the reins into its own hands. Mr.
LINCOLN, whatever his own desires, may not be
able to pursue any longer the Fabian policy. The
North heartily despises the South, and it may re-
solve to put it down at any cost. Intelligent
Americans, whom we have met with here, think it
will certainly:come to this. The North knows that
if it ruts forth its strength, naval and military, it
can compel the South to submit, and now that the
challenge has thus been given, the gentlemen we
refer to think that it will be accepted and fought
out. If so the issue can hardly doubtful. Double
the militia, the navy, the money, the military
stores, are all with the North; while the South has
only its " Mean Whites,", desperate fellows, it is
true, for soldiers ; few rich to pay them ; not a ship
of war, but it has 4,000,000 of slaves to keep down,
while the North is fighting against their masters.

the war tax upon sugar, mulct the toiling people
of England yearly to the dreadful tune of
£22,000,000. How will the Opposition act
as to the selection of the Amendment ?
Or—for that doubt also still lies open before it—
will the Opposition end all this cantankerous
discussion by moving no substantial Amendment
whatever upon Mr. GLADSTONE'S Resolutions ?
We :believe that up to the present moment the
Opposition is itself undecided as to the course it
shall pursue in this matter eventually. Monday
may put an end at last to these .coy hesitations.
There may appear at length a distinct amendment
upon one of the Resolutions : or this perhaps
more probably--a reservation of the energies of the
Opposition for " the tug of war," when Greek
meets Greek in Committee.

LATEST NE WS.

CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

FALL OF FORT SUMTER.

(From the New York Herald, April 14.)
CHARLESTON, APRIL 12.
Civil war has at last begun. A terrible fight is
at this moment going on between Fort Sumter and
the fortifications by which it is surrounded.
In my last despatch I stated that negotiations
had been reopened between General Beauregard
and Major Anderson. This was done with a view
to prevent an unnecessary effusion of blood.
The issue was submitted to Major Anderson of
surrendering as soon as his supplies were exhausted,
or of having a fire opened on him within a certain
time.

This he refused to do, and accordingly, at
twenty-seven minutes past four o'clock this morn-
ing Fort Moultrie began the bombardment by firing
two guns. To these Major Anderson replied with
three of his barbette guns, after which the batteries
on Mount Pleasant, Cummings' Point, and the Float-
ing Battery, opened a brisk fire of shot and shell.
Major Anderson did not reply, except at long in-
tervals, until between seven and eight o'clock, when
he brought into action the two tiers of guns look-
ing towards Fort Moultrie and Stevens's iron
battery.
Up to this hour (three o'clock Friday afternoon)
they have failed to produce any serious effect.
Despatches received at headquarters from the
various forts report that all is going on admirably,
and no men hurt.
Major Anderson has the greater part of the day
been directing his fire principally against Fort
Moultrie, the Stevens and Floating Battery, these
and Fort Johnson being the only five operating
against him. The remainder of the batteries are
held in reserve.
Some fifteen or eighteen shots have struck the
Floating Battery, but made not the slightest im-
pression upon its iron-cased sides. The Stevens
Battery is also eminently successful, and does ter-
rible execution on Fort Sumter.