GENERAL SUMMARY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 81, 15 January 1863, Page 3

GENERAL SUMMARY.

(From the Home JS'cn;s, October 26.) M’Cleix.vn has won his first victory, and it is but justice to say that he appears to have done his work with ability. Ho conducted his troops out of Washington with such celerity as to come upon the Confederates, if not exactly by surprise, certainly before they expected him, or were quite ready for him. Upwards of 8,000 Federal troops bad surendered to Jackson at Harper’s Ferry before he crossed the Potomac ; and it is now clear that that G cneral had prepared for any contingency that might arise by keeping open the line of the river at its fordable points about Shephcrd'stown, .and by establishing a position on the Virginian bank. What his ultimate plans were with reference to Maryland is as yet involved in obscurity, fcut, whatever they were, it is evident that he had not attempted any extensive movement when M’Clellan came up with the Confederate troops near Sharpsburg on the 14th September. The promptitude of the Federal General on this occasion offers a striking contrast to his dilatory action on the James Fiver. Instead of waiting for an opportunity, he made it at once. For two days the action lasted with various success ; the Federal a gaining a little upon their opponents at first, and losing on the 15th some of the ground they won on the 14th. That the result was felt to be of no material importance at either side on> the night of the loth is shown in the fact that the whole of the 16th was spent by both combatants ip preparations for the engagement which decide the question of victory on the following

day. From the commencement of the war no engagement has taken place marked by so much endurance and heroism. It must be granted to the Fedorals that they fought with a coolness and intrepidity for which few persons, judging from their antecedents, were disposed to give them credit. The battle lasted from dawn till dark, and at the close, when the two armies ware compelled, by tho coming on of night, to terminate their exhausting labors, tho Confederates withdrew from the field, and prepared to recross into Virginia. They saw that the expedition into Maryland was an error of judgment, and they resolved to abandon it without delay. Their retreat was conducted with perfect order. Stonewall Jackson carried over his whole army ou the 18th, and took up a position on the opposite bank. Their retirement was governed by very sound considerations. They knew, what their opponents did not, that they were only 60,000 strong, and General Lee, apprehensive of being cut olf by a flank movement, resolved not to risk so grave a danger. The armies on both sides had suffered fearfully. The carnage, of which we have no authoritative account yet, is agreed upon all hands to have been tremendous; and under such conditions, it was clearly the wisest course for the Confederates to transfer the scene of the war back into Virginia, where they would find themselves on friendly soil, and with ample resources at their command. We shall, probably, never obtain a reliable return of the losses in any of these tremendous conflicts. All we can say with certainty about them is, that they transcend the experience of the antique world, and that Modern Europe furnishes no parallel to them. General M’Clellan admits, in his official report, that, at Antietam Creek and South Mountain, his loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, amounrcd to 14,730 ; ho declares, at the same time, that he captured 5,000 prisoners, and buried 3,000 more, and he estimates the total loss of tho enemy at 30,000, which lie considers to be rather under the mark. The Confederates, on the other hand, state that their entire loss in Maryland did not exceed from 5,000 to 7,000, while that of the Federals was immeasurably greater V e do not pretend to decide between their assertions. We can only predicate their probable relative value from the tact that, hitherto, the genius of bounce has been most conspicuous ou the Federal side. After several attempts to cross the Potomac into Virginia, in each of which he was repulsed, General M’Clellan at last succeeded in conveying his troops over the river, and taking up a position not far from that of the main body of the enemy. A battle has been daily expected in that quarter for a fortnight; but it has not yet taken place. In the meanwhile, the Confederate General Stuart, at the head of 3,000 men, has recrossed into Maryland, and made a raid into Pennsylvania, where he has occupied Mercersburg and Chambersburg, which latter place surrendered to him, carried away 503 horses, and, advancing towards Gettysburg, has destroyed a railway station and a bridge to prevent M’Clollan from following him. The object of this daring incursion is unknown. Probably it is intended only as a diversion, while graver movements are in preparation elsewhere. Contemporaneous with this daring achievement of General Stuart there has been a desperate battle in Kentucky, where the Confederates are said to have been defeated ; but as the Federal account of the victory is exceedingly mild, and all but dubious, it may be inferred that the result was not very decisive. The people of Kentucky arc apparently favorable to the invaders; and General Bragg is so strongly impressed with that opinion that ho has issued a proclamation urging the North-Western States to make a separate treaty of peace with the South. It is not likely they will do so, nor can they till they declare their iudcpcndance; but all these incidents are more or less symptomatic of a general breaking up. The incessant activity of the Confederates rendered it necessary for the Federal Executive to do something to re-animate its fading -prestige. President Lincoln was rapidly losing his influence. He had disappointed his own party, and dissatisfied every other. The weakness of the Government had become a topic of universal criticism and sarcasm ; and the only course that seemed to promise an accession of strength was the open adoption of what is called the policy of emancipation. The proelamotion in which President Lincoln announced .this new expedient, is undoubtedly one of the most wonderful historical documents on record. He declares that on the first of January, all slaves in States at that time in rebellion against the Federal Government shall be free then and for ever, and, as a natural corollary from this sweeping emancipation, he abolishes the Fugitive Slave Law by the same proclamation. There are several points of view in which this remarkable proceeding will strike the English reader with astonishment. In the first instance, the President, by this proclamation, assumes to himself a function, which if it be resident anywhere in any central authority, is vested in Congress alone. In tho second place, the constitution of the American Federation, ■which President Lincoln was elected to administer, and which it has been all throughout his object to maintain, or restore, recognizes slavery, as an integral element, and the President cannot, of his own act, put an end to slavery without committing a flagrant violation of the constitution. In the third place, slavery is a domestic institution, and its adoption or rejection, its preservation or repeal, rests exclusively with the legislature of each State. In the fourth place, if not one of these reasons existed to show 7 that the proclamation is unconstitutional, and dangerous as a precedent for the exercise of despotic authority in the hands of the chief magistrate, it is preposterous as a measure which the President of the United States, so called, has no more right to decree, nor power to enforce, than the king of tho Cannibal Islands. Even if it were not unconstitutional, illegal, and arbitrary, it is practically a dead letter. President Lincoln begs the whole question when he sets himself up over the Southern States. If he could do that which this proclamation announces, there would be no need to wage the costly war in which he is engaged. It is simply because he cannot do it, or do siiytliing slsc iii tlis Soutlicrn States, that he has embarked in a contest which the

whole civilized world regards with horror. The reception of this emancipation manifesto in the South shows that it has had the effect of closing the door for ever upon negociations for a peace. The Confederate Congress has denounced it to the execration of mankind as u gross violation of the usages of war, and the most fearful reprisals are threatened. The South now feel that it is a fight to the death, and they talk of hoisting the black flag, and literally declaring a war of extermination. So far as mere motives of humanity are concerned, the moment would seem propitious for European interference ; but it may be doubted whether interference at this juncture might not do more mischief than good. The great calamity of the case is, that neither party appears disposed to listen to reason until both are reduced to the stage of ruin, when they can fight no longer, and shall be unable even to resist the offices of friendship. A loose rumor which prevailed for some days of an approaching “modification” of the French Ministry, has been confirmed by the official announcement in the Moniteur of the resignation of M. Thouvenel, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the appointment of Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys in his place. It will be remembered that before the Emperor went to recreate himself at Biarritz, M. Thouvenel submitted to his Majesty’s consideration the draft of a note to the ambassador at Rome, fixing a term to the occupation, and recommending his Holiness to make his arrangements accordingly, especially with reference to the conciliation of his subjects. Nothing further was done in the matter. The Emperor wanted to bathe, and Rome must wait. It had waited so long, th at a few weeks more could not make much difference. In the meanwhile other influences were set to work. As nothing could be done till the Emperor returned to Paris, there was a capital opportuhity for the august lady, who has been, not inaptly, called the Egeria of the Papacy, to improve the situation, And, if report speak truly, the result shows how well she succeeded. It is impossible to exaggerate the probable consequences of M. Thouvenel’s resignation. They may scrioasly involve not only the interests of France and Italy, but the peace of Europe. M. Drouyn de Lhuys is a thoroughly respectable man, and, if he be not a very consistent politician, he has not, as yet, committed himself to any extreme opinions. But he is emphatically a courtier of the coup d'etat, an absolutist in the severest and most plastic sense of the second Empire, and, taking office openly on the Roman question, he is now clearly bound to maintain that lino of procedure against which all the world, except the priests and the Irish Roman Catholics, are crying out. If his appointment left any doubt as to the reactionary course which the Emperor must now be considered pledged to, so far as imperial pledges are in any degree binding, it is dissipated by the retirement of M. do Lavalctte, and the appointment of the Prince de Latour de Auvergne as ambassador to Rome. The prince has rendered himself conspicuous as an Ultramontane, and he represents a policy which is utterly opposed to the spirit of the ago, and the repose of Europe. An attempt has been made hi some of the journals to make it appear that M. Thouvenel's resignation has been occasioned by domestic anxieties, But the alarming condition of Madame Thouvenel’s health does not supply a very satisfactory reason for appointing M. Dronhyn de Lhuys Foreign Minister, and sending the Prince d’Auvergne to Rome. M. Drouyn de Lhuys has issued his diplomatic circular on the Roman question, in which he declares that the Emperor intends to pursue the same policy lie has always avowed, and that ho will continue to devote himself to the grand object of reconciliation between Italy and Rome. The merit of this circular is its utter vagueness. It means anything. But reports are already abroad to the effect that the Emperor really contemplates a final proposal to the Pope, anil that if his Holiness rejects it, lie will then withdraw from Rome. But we have had this farce before, and it must be enlivened by somcncw and more exciting incidents before we can consent to sit it out again.