The Sun. — 1864-06-08 (London, England)

GALLANT EXPLOIT OF AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.—Nov. 18, 1863.—We drove the enemy to-day from his advanced lines in front of Knoxville, close under his works. This sortie was the occasion of one of those dashing feats of individual gallantry which demands a passing notice. A breastwork was charged by our infantry. They winced under the galling fire of the enemy and wavered, when Captain Stephen Winthrop, formerly captain in her Britannic Majesty's 22d Foot, who had joined our ranks and was on duty in Alexander's Artillery Battalion, stationed several hundred yards from the scene of conflict, mounting his horse and dashing across  the plain—the only horseman in the melee—rode in advance of the wavering line up to the very works of the enemy. A hundred rifles were lowered upon him, but he moved on, and rallied the wavering line; the work was carried, and Winthrop borne away with a Minie ball through his shoulder, his sword scabbard broken by another, and the point of his sword cut off by another. His escape was miraculous, but he is doing well, and will soon again report for duty. —Richmond Enquirer of Feb. 16, 1864.  A NICE STATE OF THINGS (according to " Man. hattan").—Look at our position truthfully, and you will see that I have described it. There are many of our citizens who have long foreseen the gloomy state of that which is about to come upon us. Look at the gold market. Up, up--nearly at its highest point again. In vain the Government buys largely of exchange, and throws it upon the market at a losing price to keep down gold; it has no effect. Gold rises, or rather greenbacks are going down. All kinds of merchandise is rising. Merchants refuse to sell goods at any price, and will not until the fight in Virginia between Grant and Lee is settled one way or the other. This makes consumers and manufacturers anxious to buy. Shoes that cost in 1860 1 dol. sc. now sell for 5 dole. Boots made for 5 dole. now sell for 12 dole. It is so with every article that is sold. If this goes on few will be able to wear boots and shocs. We shall have to step into sabots as they do in Holland, though wood is so high that a pair of wooden shoes would cost about 3 dole. 50c.  Everybody talks about the gloomy prospects. Men  shake their heads and say, " What are we coining to?" Others see hope in the prospect so cheeringly and so constantly announced in the daily papers when Grant shall have captured Lee. But this has been so often repeated that it is an old story. Tens of thousands have left this city for the country —within 200 miles of New York—in order to live cheaper. Of these thousands are returning to get a foothold in the city. They find food higher in the interior than here. It is almost impossible to get board anywhere. Proprietors are afraid of the rise in articles. Everything is adulterated. Powderedu s t a rwhite that sugarsells cheap by the s unsafe t buy,o A heavy white b ton, is mixed • with sugar, and sold for genuine, so s that to use the article in tea or coffee, or in " icecrearn cue is liable to die by means of the tr:in ' eral substance left in the stomach. Fortunes are still made in Wallstreet on paper. Tested by sterling* bills or (void the prof ts fly elf. The • • nt' mininr, schemes and bubbles swell out into magnificent proportions. Men without a dollar have become rich by mining stocks. All w io aro interested in the places of public amusement are getting rich. Those pLiees are crowded every night. It seems as though cur citizens throng to them to dri;-e away care, and I judge it is so, because the more foolish the amusement the larger the crowd. If Jack the Giant Killer was played at Nib:o's it would draw crowded houses every night, especially if the actors could sing an allusion to oar great giant Grant. Murders keep up to the average standard. Not a day passes without one or more murders,  In addition to the legacy of io,ooor. made by M. Meyer beer to the Aesociatiouo► Musical Artists, a donation of a similar amount has been left by him to the Associa•ion of Dramatic Authors and Composers, as announced by lame. Meyerbecr in a letter to M. de Saint-George, the president of that institution.