The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-25 00:00:00

THE SUN,, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING„TITLY 25, 1861

longed by right, as one may say, to the House
of Commons. And to a member of the
House of Commons it has been given in conse-
quence. But—to an outsider ? No. And it is here
that begins that fantastic change of places which
will conduce, we may rest satisfied, to do anything
but strengthen the already ricketty fabric of the
Administration.

Sir CORNEWALL LEWIS—who is appparently
presumed to possess an Universal Genius—quits the
Home Office to become Lord HERBERT'S successor
as War Secretary. Already Sir GEORGE has shown
himself to be but an indifferent Chancellor of the
Exchequer. He has since then acquitted himself
but questionably of the heavy responsibilities de-
volving upon him in his more recent capacity as
Home Secretary. He now goes to the War Office
without the possession apparently of any one visi-
ble qualification suitable for the conduct of
that department ; an it will be with
no small solicitude that the country will
now observe, in his little regard, how little of a
CARNOT may be made out of an ex-editor of the
Edinburgh. To the vacated Home Secretaryship,
as Sir G. C. LEWIS'S successor will be restored the
very Administrator who had been compelled to
forego, upon the plea of ill-health, the toil and
anxiety inseparable from the discharge of the duties
of that department—to wit, Sir GEORGE GREY,
until now, repairing his jaded energies in that com-
fortable Ministerial sinecure, the Chancellorship of
the Duchy of Lancashire. To that vacated
haven of rest in the Cabinet, is removed,
the Secretary for Ireland Mr. CARDWELL.
But the successor of Mr. CARDWELL in the Irish
Secretaryship, is not to be admitted, as Mr. CARD-
WELL has been admitted in that capacity, to a
seat at the Cabinet Council Board. Sir ROBERT
PEEL being the new Secretary for Ireland, and not
as was at fist anticipated, Mr. CHICHESTER FOR-
TESCUE. It is auspicious for Sir ROBERT PEEL
, that his official career begins as his illustrious
father's began before him—that is, as Irish Secretary.
But—unlike his father—the present Sir ROBERT has
a fair chance of winning popularity among the ranks
of all Liberal Irishmen, and of obtaining for himself
a soubriquet less invidious than that of "Orange
PEEL" upon the other side of Saint George's
Channel. There will still remain to be filled up
two vacated Under-secretaryships the Under-
secretaryship for War in the Lords and the Un-
der-secretaryship for Foreign Affairs in the
Commons. To the latter may we not hope that
either Mr. LAYARD or Mr. BINGLAKE may be
promoted ? As for the former, the choice there
we believe to be still matter of bewilderment to
Lord PAL3IERSTON.

The Etna has brought two or three rather im-
portant items of news from America. General
M'CLELLAN'S division, of whose operations we have
been daily waiting to hear, has attacked the
rebels successfully. Probably this time the re-
ported rout was a real one, as the guns, camp
equippage, and waggons were all captured. The
less of life is said to have been twenty on the side
of the victors, and sixty on the side of the van-
quished. The defeated troops will no doubt join
those of General JOHNSTON, whom General PAT-
TERSON defeated at Martinsburg, and who were
strong enough to prevent a further onward move of
PATTERSON till he had obtained reinforcements.
We presume AP CLELLAN will now move eastward
and northward to place JOHNSTON between himself
and PATTERSON, and thus compel him to fall back
towards Richmond.

In Missouri, where the last accounts had left a
large Secession force victors over a smaller Union
one, the balance of skirmishing is again in favour
of the Federalists. The rebels are mustering con-
siderable strength in that quarter, and the Fede-
ralists doing all they can to prevent a combination
of the enemy's forces. A Col. SMITH seems to have
been even surrounded by the latter, but had, it is
said, routed the rebels who had surrounded him.
The Federalist Generals appear not to confine their
attacks to armed enemies, By order of General
LYON, his soldiers have put down forcibly a Seces-
sion journal in St. Louis—they seized the type, we
are informed, and prohibited the publication of the
paper ! What can brother journalists say to soldiers
who fight against paper enemies ? We suppose
we must take it as a compliment, a confession that
if the sword does not master the pep, the pen would
master the sword.

Another remarkable fact is that a privateer,
bearing the name of the Southern President—the
Jeff. Davis, has made many captures—five vessels,
it is mentioned, that she has sent to Southern ports ;
one of them a brig, the John Walsh, bound from
Cuba to England. Such details wear the appear-
ance of authentic news—it is added, moreover,
that six cutters have sailed in pursuit of the pri-
vateer ? But we in England have certainly a ques-
tion or two to ask. if the blockade be an effectual
one, how did the privateer leave any Southern
port ? And, again, worse than this—since one sly
skipper giving the blockading squadron the slip is
conceivable—how did she manage to send five
vessels for condemnation to Southern ports ? We
confess this is to us a mystery ; that is, on the sup-
position that the rebel ports are really blockaded
from Baltimore to Houston, or the southern limits
of Texas ? Into what ports were the prizes
taken ? If some of them were small coast-
ing craft which could be beached or sent
up a creek almost anywhere, a brig of
the tonnage for a voyage to England could hardly
be so dealt with. The crew of another brig
is mentioned as
vessel from Ne
tured off Cape Hatteras,
before If it a.vtteerreaso,
before mentioned, this we ld
having been brought home by a
wport—their ship having been cap-
tured North Carolina, by a
the same as the one
u seem to show a pretty
active privateering by the
Southerners on the
! Atlantic coast. We shall now see whether the
North itself is not compelled to treat the Southern
as belonging to a
privateersbelligerent. They
privateer's crewhands
have ow in their already.
Will they venture to hang them,.as an example to
traitors or freebooters ? Will they venture to
hang the ceew of the •
Jeff Davis, if they catch
her ..
We cannot doubt they will simply detain
them as prisoners of war.
A letter to a contemporary thus expresses the
thoughts of many Americans on the near future—
" The national army will soon advance to Richmond,
Virginia, and the enemy must either retire or
fight. A great victory on either side will have im-
portant consequences to four millions of our poor
unfortunate people in bondage, which you will not
notice discussed in the newspapars, but it is never-
theless occupying the thoughts of statesmen and
reflecting people generally. A great victory by
the North may exasperate the South to free and
arm the negroes, in hopes of getting rid of the
Northern army, and trusting to circumstances to
enslave the negroes again when peace returns, in
which they will be very much mistaken. A great
victory gained by the South may and will exaspe-
rate the North, then aroused to a terrible energy, to
declare freedom to the slave wherever the Northern
army goes. Gud Almighty is working the slave's
release out of this contest. Not till death stalked in
every
Egyptian family and the first-born were

slain did the Egyptians of old let the oppressed go

Free."

The wonder to us is that the North does not use
the threat of emancipation as the means of a great
victory. Congress might most righteously declare
that those who had broken the Constitution were
no longer entitled to the toleration it gave to an
institution naturally inconsistent with and hostile
to it, and that, therefore, in all the seceding States
the slaves were to be henceforth free. The Border
States could be left then to do as they pleased, or,
if they behaved well, their slaves might be re-
deemed by the Union.

Exeunt—two Church Bills—to be heard of, we
hope, no more. One Mr. ALCOCK'S Commutation
Bill, the other Mr. CROSS'S Amendment Bill, both
equally good—that is good-for-nothing. The
owners of property will certainly never accept Mr.
ALCOCK'S Bill; the country at large will as cer-
tainly reject that of Mr. CROSS. Sir MORTON
PETO stated two facts which will insure its not
becoming law. It will increase largely the area
of Church-rate taxation. Two thousand new
churches, :the worshippers in which now meet their
expenses in the only way honourable men can do,
would be authorised by the bill to levy a rate in the
districts assigned to them, and all the objectors
would be put to the annual trouble of sending
notice that they did not wish to be rated. And this
nuisance in exchange for the simple and natural
plan of the worshippers putting their half-crown or
their half-sovereign into the plate once a quarter.
Taking into account the large towns, and all the
places where Church-rates have been abolished, Mr.
PETO says that 9,000,000 of the population now
exempt would be brought under liability of the
rate. Even Mr. NEWDEGATE declared that the
Voluntary principle was the only one which could
be adopted in the towns. We do not often hear
from the hon. member such good sense on Eccle-
siastical subjects as is contained in the following
remarks—" The bill of his hon. friend (Mr. Cnoss)
was based on exclusion, and would operate to the
destruction of the Church of England if passed into
law. Taking the case of such a town as Birming-
ham, if the bill became law, and if there was an
attempt to enforce its provisions, it would do
more to break up the growing good feeling which
existed than any measure he could conceive ; and it
would have this effect, that it would register the
majority of the population of that town, including
Dissenters, Nonconformists, those who had any per-
sonal difference with the clergy, those who merely
objected to pay, and the poor, in a category which
would be available for those who desired the sub-
version of the Church. They would literally have
formed in every parish of England a register for
the use of those who desired to agitate against the
Church, and that register would be formed at the
expense of the Church itself. He would recom-
mend the friends of the Church of England to take
that warning."
Sir G. C. LEWIS was, no doubt, desirous to get
rid of useless discussion, and to get on with real
business, but we suppose we ought to thank him
for his compliment to the FOurth Estate—he told
the eager speakers that they were really now en-
croaching on the legitimate province of the Daily
Press, for this was a subject which could be dis-
cussed by the newspapers during the whole of the
recess, in a better and abler manner than could be
done in desultory speeches in that House. The
House, in its usual style, indicated its assent
to this view of our functions. We ven-
ture to think, however, that the Press has
already pretty well done its part. It has be-
come now a question, not of argument, but of party.
The fault of this must lie at the door of Mr. DIS-
RAELI and the Tories. He most unwisely pro-
claimed it—Retention of Church Rates—as the
watchword of his party, and they have been so
ill-advised as to follow him in it. After having
had to yield in succession on many questions
of political, religious, and commercial liberty,
it does seem to us something almost like
infatuation for the great Conservative party
to hoist the banner of church-rates, abolished already
as they have been by so many majorities, and sure
to be abolished sooner or later with the full consent
of Kings, Lords, and Commons. It might be
very chivalrous—and a kind of Balaklava charge
was indeed made this session they rode up
to the very guns of Sir JOHN TRELAWNY'S
majority, but how they will retreat from
their position we know not. It is quite
certain they cannot stay where they are, it
is equally certain that they can propose no measure
in which their own party will agree. Honest Mr.
HENLEY pithily remarked, " His hon. friend (Mr.
Calms) recommended that all persons during the
recess should carefully consider the subject, and put
their views in writing, and then they would be able
to see how they differed. He agreed with his hot.
friend that they would see how they differed, and
he thought that the speech of the hon. baronet )13-
posite did not look very favourable as regarded a
compromise." The fact is, it is come to this that
no alternative is now left but for Churchm✓n to
put their hands in their pockets as freely a 3 Dis-
senters do, and to abolish Church-rates for ever.

ELLISON'S SECESSION AND SL-IVEI?1

IN AMERICA.*

We give a prominent place to a brief notice of
Mr. Ellison's book, because it is just what every
reader of the newspapers needs to have at his elbow
at the present moment. Quito apart from the
opinions expressed in it on Slavery, Emancipation,
and the War, in most, though not quite all, of which
we entirely concur, the book has an independent
value as a vade mecum on American affairs just
now. It gives a brief but clear account of the in-
troduction of Slavery into America, and its work-
ings till the present contest; it furnishes exact in-
formation on the successive ccmpromises enforced
by the slaveholders, and broken as soon as they
seemed to press inconveniently on the South. The
battle of parties, their successes and defeats, their
" platforms " and proceedLngs are described, and
the documents of any importance given in full. A
carefully complied history of the details of the
secession movement follows ; then a good
account of the influence of slavery in regard
to the progress of the country, agriculturally, com-
mercially,industrially, educationally, and reli-
giously.
A. discussion on emancipation follows this;
it is right in spin,'e'r,ebutt wpaersthtooultdhaatsswighniothheouNrooruththeronr
army a very dieu
would; we think it might take emancipation in
its train,
at the same time, negro
andt the horrors of servile war.
insurrections,
An appendix gives in full all the long Ameri-
can documents which it is so troublesome to
hunt for in books and old newspapers. We are sure
our readers will find the volume a most acceptable
one in reference to all the facts bearing on the great
American Question.

* Sampson, Low, and Son, Ludgate-hill.

TIIE COMMENCEMENT OF THE END.—The Bight
Hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons gave yester-
day evening his annual dinner to the following principal
officers of the house :—Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bart., Lord
C. Russell, Mr. Erskine May, C. 8., Mr. Ley, Capt. Gosset,
Mr. Waldegrave, Rev. 11. Drury, Mr. Rickards, Mr. Smith,'
Mr. Vardon, Mr. Frere, Mr. A. Jones, Mr. Dyson, Mr.
Gibbons, Mr. Rowland, Mr. Postlethwaite, Mr. Rose, Mr.
Pole, Mr. Gray, Mr, Hodgkin, Mr. W. Rose, Mr. Howard,
and Col, Forester.

LAI EST NEWS.

PARIS, JULY 25.
The Moniteur of to-day publishes a decree ap-
appointing commanders for ten men-of-war.

VIENNA, JULY 25.

An Imperial decree is published to-day, dissolv-
ing the Diet of Istria on account of its refusal to
send representatives to the Council of the Empire,
notwithstanding the repeated requests of the Go-
vernment.

The same decree orders new elections for the Diet.

TURIN, JULY 25.

The Italia asserts that the Minister of Finance
will receive no more subscriptions to the National
Loan after to-morrow evening.

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, JULY 12, EVENING.
(PER ETNA via QUEENSTOWN.)

The House of Representatives had passed a bill
authorising the appropriation of 500,000 men and
500,000,000 dols. for the war.
In the Senate Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, offered
a resolution for the amendment of the Constitution
on a plan similar to the Crittenden compromise.

General M'Clellan's division has attacked the
entrenched camp of the Confederates, numbering
2,000 men, at Rich Mountain, Western Virginia.
The Confederates were routed, and all their guns,
camp equipage, and waggons were captured.
Sixty Confederates and 20 Union men are reported
to have been killed.

General M'Clellan is now moving forward.
The skirmishing in Missouri continues active.
Large bodies of Secessionists are reported to be
joining Governor Jackson, but the Federal troops
are endeavoaring to intercept them.
A vessel just arrived from Newport has brought
the crew of thebrig John Welch, which was captured
by a privateer off Cape Hatteras.
The same privateer had captured five vessels, and
sent them to Southern ports.

Three revenue cutters left New York and two
cutters sailed from Boston immediately, in order to
endeavour to capture her.

By order of General Lyon, Federal troops have
entered the office of a Secession journal in St.
Louis, seized the type, and prohibited the publica-
tion of the paper.

The New Yorh Herald states that President
Lincoln has replied to the resolution of the House
of Representatives calling for the correspondence
with Spain relative to St. Domingo, that it was
not advisable to produce the correspondence at
present.
A severe shock of earthquake has been felt at
Montreal, Ottawa, and Canada West.

The brig Amy Warwick has been captured off
Fortress Monroe.
The Canada has arrived out.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Money easy. Exchange on London—Bankers'
bills, 1061 to 107. Stocks buoyant. New York
Central, 75: ; Erie, 231 ; Illinois Central, 071.
Cotton-market very firm; middling, 151 c. Flour-
market very dull. Wheat-market quiet, but un-
chahged. Corn-market slightly firmer. Provisions
steady. Coffee firmer, and moderate demand.
Sugar unchanged. Molasses held firmly.

NEW YORK, JULY 13, EVENING.
(PER NOVA SCOTIAN, via LONDONDERRY.—BY TELE
GRAPH TO FATHER POINT.)

General M'Clellan has beaten the rebels, and
occupied their intrenched camp at Rich Mountain,
Virginia. Their loss was heavy.

Colonel. Smith has been reinforced at Monroe,
Missouri, and has routed the rebels, who had
surrounded him.

The privateer J. Davis has made several captures,
including the brig John Walsh, bound from Cuba
for England.
Six revenue cutters have sailed in pursuit of the
privatere.
The steamer Tynemouth has arrived. The Ham-
monia sailed to-day for Europe.