The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-09 00:00:00

aFORGE HOBSON respectfully invites the
attention of Gentlemen tog is
The new new
ShootAutuming Snits, Coatin
s
Trowierings, and Waistcoatin
£2 18s. to £3 3s. The superfine West of England Woaded
Black Cloths for Beaufort and Frock Coats, £2 15s. to £3 3s.
Excellence with Economy.
GEORGE HOBSON, 57, LOMBARD-STREET.

ALF'RED 'MELLON'S PROMENADE
CONCERTS.
THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.
GRAND ORCHESTRA.

Mdile. FLORENCE LANCIA, Mme. LA RA BAXTER,

and Herr FORMES, every Evening.

- -
On Thursday next, the ITALIAN NIGHT, on which oc-
casion Mdlle. VASCHRTTI (from La Scala, Milan, and other
Continental Theatres), will make her first appearance. On
Friday next, the WE 3ER NIGHT. On Saturday next, a
VOLUNTEER NIGHT, when will be performed BEET-
HOVEN'S BATTLE SYMPHONY.
Commence at 8. Promenade, is. ; Amphitheatre Stalls,
is. 6d. ; Boxes, 2s. 6d. ; Private Boxes, £1 ls., and tOs. 6d.
ConCuctor, Mr. ALFRED MELLON.

THEA TR ke, it° Y AL, HAYM ARK ET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Eackstone.
ITTR EVENTN., the performances will cornmPnoe with
T
THE SUN AND THE WIND. Miss Fanny Wright, the
Leelercqs, tc.
After which, a new Comedy, entitled THE SOE.Villiers,
FT SEX.
Mr. C. Mathews, Mr. Finekstone, Mr. Compton, Mr.
Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Wilidns,
To conclude with PAUL PRY. Mr. C. Mathews.
Commence a 7

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
31anaf,rer—Mr. Edmund Falconer.
. EVERY EVENING, at Eight o'clock, the new and suc-
WOM AN ; or, Love against the World.
cessful comel,
Characters by lessrs. Walter Lacy, Addison, Herman Vezin,
J. Robins, Mrs. Charles Young, Mrs. Weston, Miss Murray,
and Miss Lydia Thomson.
Preceded by, each evening, the new and original farce
entitled TnE FETCFIES; or, The Onconvanience of Sino•le
Life. Tira O'Reilly, Mr. Edmund Falconer ; Mary O'Brady,
Miss Lydia Thompson.
Prices as usual. Doors open at half-past 6, to commence at
7 Box-office open daily from 11 till 5.

NTERBURY HALL CONCERTS,
AND FINE ARTS GALLERY.
Selections from the followin, Operas :—NORMA, TRO-
VATORE, TRAVIATA, MARTHA, UN BALLO IN
MASCHERA. The Comic department comprises the Prince
of Comic Vocalists, Mr. SAM COWELL, who will appear
at Nine and a quarter to Eleven o'clock—Mr. Marshall—
Messrs. Harvey and French, "The Nerves "—Mr. Wood
and his talented Son - and Miss Harriet Coveney.
Musical Director, Mr. Jonghmans.
Admission—Hall, 6c1.; Stalls and Balcony, is.

H E 0 XFORD,
6, OXFORD-STREET.
EVERY EVENING.
A Grand Selectiln from Verdi's new opera, " Simon Boc-
cane7,ra" (now produced for the first time in this country), by
Miss Russell, essrs. C. Greville, Tivoli, Greene, norley,
and Herbert ;also from Verdi's " Macbeth " by Madame
Enderssohn and the entire Company. Full band and chorus.
Conductor, Mr. F. Jonghmans. Varied Comic entertain-
ments by Messrs. M• P. Marshall Sam Collins, Harvey and
French (the Nerves), E. , and W. Randall. Hall,
sixpence; Balcony and Stalls, one shilling. Private Boxes,
10s. 6d.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE•
THIS DAY.—Morning, 4h. 36m.—Afternoon, 4h. 56m.
To-moßßow.-Niorninz, sh. 20m.—Afternoon, sh. 43m.

THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, SEPTEMBER 8, 1861.

THEEMoMETEA, IN THE SHADE.
65—highest since noon yesterday.'
4S—lowest this morning and during tho night.
67—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-30.10.)'1
WlND—Westerly—rather fresh; with fine weather, bul
cloudy. Afternoon—some rain.

SEPT. 9.
THERMOMETER, IN THE 81{A.D11.
67—highest since noon yesterday.
53—lowest this morning and during the night.
63—this day at noon.

BAROMETER--29.97.
WLwn--W,. N.-W.—light ; with fine weather. Some
rain ladt night and this morning early.

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THE SUN•

LONDON, MONDAY, SEPT. 9, 1881

At the commencement of the American civil war
we ventured to tell our Northern friends that, as
abolition of slavery was neither their object nor
their weapon, they had better at once make terms
with the South, and thank it for ridding them of
the disgrace of complicity with slavery. All the
thanks, however, which we and others who told
them the truth was—to be accused of sympathy
with slaveholders, on the ground of English want
of cotton and indifference to the abolition of slavery.
We Englishmen were subjected, indeed, to wholesale
accusations of hypocrisy, because we avowed that
we felt little interested in the strife. It was in
vain that we replied, "Inscribe Aboli-
tion of Slavery' on your flag, and you
shall have our most cordial support."
No ; they would neither avow abolition objects nor
withdraw their accusations against us. On the
contrary, the President not only watched most care-
fully against every emancipating proposal, not
only more than once declared it to be his purpose
to maintain slaveholding institutions in their full
vigour in the Slave States, but was very reluctant
to include confiscation, that is, liberation of slaves,
in a bill providing for the confiscation of rebel pro-
perty.

We think, however, we see some indications o.
the Northern mind itself beginning to waver. The
Government has got, it is true, £10,000,000 of
its loan of three times that amount, and ex•
pects the other two-thirds to be forthcoming,
but it is at the rate of seven per cent., and
there is no proof that the larger part of the
money will be so readily forthcoming as was the
first part. The bankers too are evidently uneasy,
since they have sent a deputation to the Govern-
ment to expedite its action—advice which, if acted
on, might be as perilous as that which prompted
the advance at Bull's Run. But the want of men
is beginning to be felt. The only hope of the North
can be in such a number of well-disciplined troops
as will completely overpower the South, and this it
co nnot obtain. The numbers of the regiments
cannot be completed. Volunteers come in slowly.
Fighting is seen to be a serious business, and the
Yankees—who were ready to pour forth all their
loose hands by hordes, while it was supposed that to
be able to pull a trigger was enough to make a soldier,
and that the Southern levies would run away before
immense levies of such a kind—now that they
have learned that soldiering may mean charging
artillery in position, are by no means so ready to
enlist. The " sublime uprising" has sunk down to
but half successful efforts at enlistment on rather
higher terns. M'CLELLAN does, indeed, seem to
general confidence, and as he is a
have gained
deter mined enforcer- of drill, and of the essential
sanitary and commissariat regulations of camp,
he may, by the aid of the Bull's Run disaster, suc-
ceed in making soldiers of his men; but the worst
is, that now that men are to be transformed into
soldiers, recruits are slow to come forward.
We think the North is altogether in a better
position ; that is for gaining a victory or two. FRE-
MONT seems likely to get some very much needed
reinforcements in Missouri, and his/chief opponent's
for •;e4, those of General PILLOW, are reported to be
denttoralised. BANKS at Harper's Ferry is able again
to art trance, and at Washington all is confidence that
M'Cut :LL 0' is making the "Army of the Potomac"
worthy of the natneof an army. GencralWooL, the
old soldi arw.ho Fen w t broil h theConfederates'military
wrote the letter to General
policy at` first, and 17110
CAS'S which induced him to. resign beraw e
BUCHANAN would not adopt General WOOL'S
ouggestions, which would have prevented secession
'll.q,Pether_thia General WOOL is now is com-
Instead at Fort Monroe, and, though very old, is
11 ,the soldier yet, and is to have his forces
streetrthened. If LINCOLN 'could send him 50,000
men, nod he could advance on Richmond from the
East, While M'CLELLAN came down from the North,
the C, 7ntederates would probably be obliged to

leave the capital of Virginia to its fate, especially
as BANKS seems to be now in a condition to prevent

the Western rebel corps in Virginia from coming up
as they did to turn the scale at Bull's Run.
But suppose the most successful strategy and
fighting on the part of the North. Suppose Rich-
mond gained, Missouri quieted, and Kentucky ob.
liged to follow the lead of its anti-slavery half.
What then ? Would the North have done much
more than retrieved its reputation ? Would it be
I able to go on to the conquest and subjugation of the

Southern States P The armies would be far from
the Free States and on hostile soil. Every step
they took would remove them further from
friendly supplies, and necessitate great care in order
to keep up its communications. The first victories

will be its easiest to win ; but they will be of no
direct avail towards the desired conclusion, that of
the reunion of all the States. The Southerns would

be no less unwilling to submit to the Northern

yoke, but rather the more exasperated against it.
The political difficulty would be increased, and the
hardest part of the military task yet to be achieved.
Would not a demand then arise on both sides for
negotiation ? The South and the North would each
have gained their military honours—Bull's Run,
and the Northern victory yet to come, might cry

quits, and the demand from the North as well as
from the South might be—negotiation, and the
putting an end to the costly strife.
Were the contest one of principle, were it like
the noble struggles in Italy and in Hungary, we
should not say so. Unfortunately, it is the reverse ;
and, as we have pointed out from the beginning, the

real struggle is not for liberty in any shape, much
less in its noblest shape, that of clearing the union
of the curse and infamy of slavery. The struggle
on the part of the North is for neither more nor less
than to remain so big a Republic that it could go
on bullying England and other European countries
with impunity. It is willing to be a Slave Republic
so that it can have the privilege of being a bully Re-
public. In this Europe can, of course, feel no inte-
rest ; but they will probably find also that they
themselves have not enough interest in it to go on
fighting and paying quadrupled taxation for the
requisite time.
On this side the water an opinion favourable
to negotiation and peace between the two sections
of the country is evidently aligng. A man of
the standing and judgment of the right honour-
able JAMES STUART WORTLEY thus expressed
himself at the Cutler's feast at Sheffield :—" They
have now arrived at a point when not England
may interfere, when not England and France to-
gether, not all the potentates of Europe may in-
terfere, but the voice of humanity, and the public
opinion of the world mast interfere to prevent the
further effusion of blood in so senseless and savage
a war. It has been supposed we are influenced in
this country by some feeling against the North. I
appeal to youwhether at the outset, when it was sup-
posed to be a question of slavery against anti-slavery,
our disposition was not to side with the North.
We did not interfere, but our good wishes were
rather with the North. I indulge the hope and
anxious expectation that the able men who conduct
the affairs of the Federalists and of the Confederates
will feel that the time is come when the coercion of
one by the other is improper, and that they are
strong enough to form two great nations, a result
which the people of England would be glad to see.
It is imputed that our desire to side with
the North is overruled by the fear of being
deprived of the cotton of the South. No
such thing. If we look to our own interest we
believe we shall derive great advantage, for our
active and eager search for cotton in other direc-
tions will increase our supply. In the next place,
we believe that if the first NAPOLEON, with his iron
arm, could not exclude our manufactures from the
continent by his carefully devised measures and
his enormous power, neither the slave States
nor the Northern States, nor the American people,
can prevent the cotton from reaching us. For a
time their measures may check and interrupt our
commerce. They may embarrass and distress us ;
but eventually this country will again rise by the
great energies of her trade above the difficulties
created by this senseless hostility."
These sentiments were cheered by a large and
highly respectable and intelligent assembly in
England. If they spreao, they can but have
their influence. But we certainly believe with
Mr. WORTLEY—indeed, we have expressed the
same opinion ourselves—that the permanent inte-
rest of England and her colonies is in the con-
tinuance of a war which would drive cotton cul-
tivation to the free-labour industry of our own
colonies and dependencies.

Amongst our volunteers for national defence we
must number the British Association. Science—
mechanical sience we mean—is every day increas-

ing its importance in respect to the general science
of attack and defence. When battering-rams
brought besiegers hand to band, if we might so say
with lofty walls, and when ships of war blockaded
mouths of harbours, by joining their broadsides till

they presented an impassable mass, the science of
that day performed feats at such close quarters
which even now surprise us ; ARCHIMEDES at
Syracuse will never be forgotten or his fate cease to be
mourned ; and another mechanist actually gained
the surname of the City-besieger through his fertile
devices. But now that attack and defence becomes
a question of miles, and of hurling and resisting
3001bs. shot, we have need of science beyond any-
thing that ARCHEMEDES or DEMETRIUS POLIOR-
,
, CETES could dream of.

Just now the question is one of naval attack and
defence; and iron is the great question. Unlucky
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, with the best intentions, but
ill-advised by an officer which forgot all that was
demonstrated at Kilburn, let us in for a vast navy
built of wood. The proprietors of the batteries off
which the enemies balls rattled as peas would from
the back of a lobster, were wiser ;• they quietly in-
vested for naval defence in iron—and when with all
the deficiencies ascribed to La Gloire, she proved to
be a formidable vessel, then at last our dockyard
authoritiesbegan to rub their eyes ; an iron casing, it
was found, would certainly resist shot for a
time long enough to prove fatal to the ship of
wood, and above all, as Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL ob-
served, "The whole question was contained in this
expression of a good sailor, ' whatever you do for
GOD'S sake keep out the shells." If iron was
not ah3olutely invulnerable to 300-pounders, it was
at least not combustible ; and it was anyhow no
small gain for ships to be safe against shells fitted
with molten iron or other inextinguishable com-
bustibles. So common sense triumphed even at
the Admiralty, and the country whose iron manu-
facturers stand at the head of those of all the world,
resolved to see what it could do in building ships
which should be invulnerable, or as nearly so as
possible. _

But the grand point decided now, the questions
arise to solve which we must call in, not the suc-
cessors of our Nelsons, but of the Grecian Archi-
medes ; and here we have them at the meeting of
the British Association telling us all they know
Shall we have huge ships with many guns, or
smaller ships carrying one or two monster
guns? Shall we have wood backing up iron,