GENERAL SUMMARY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 94, 2 March 1863, Page 3

GENERAL SUMMARY.

[From the Some Sews, Dec. 29. j Perhaps the most important item of the month’s news is the offer of England to cede the lonian Islands to the Greeks, on a condition that they are more interested in carrying out than any other party—that they shall establish a sound government. To enable them to fulfil this condition, England has gone a step further : she has recommended Dorn Ferdinand of Portugal for the vacant throne. Dorn Ferdinand has since declared that he is resolved not to accept the

throne. Mr. Elliot has been sent to Athens for the express purpose of communicating with the government of Greece on all matters connected with these proposals, and for aiding them in their progress towards a consummation which, on all accounts, may he devoutly wished for. It may be doubted, however, whether the result will be quite so satisfactory as the English Government seem to have expected. The news of the proposed cession of the lonian Islands has produced not a particle of the enthusiasm that was looked for from its announcement. Instead of being thrown into ecstacies of delight, the Greeks were visibly disappointed and depressed by a piece of intelligence which on the one hand offered them a territory they did not want, and on the other refused them a prince they had set their hearts upon. The effect was certainly unexpected. It w r as supposed that the Greeks made love to Prince Alfred for the sake of the Islands, as roguish fellows make love to the child for the sake of the nurse. No such thing. They wanted Prince Alfred for his own sake; for the sake of the English alliance ; for the sake of consolidating their relations with a country whose laws and institutions they are desirous of emulating. As to the lonian Isles, the dreams of annexation and territorial aggrandisement seem to have passed away. The Greeks have awakened to a full sense of the great opportunity that lies before them, and they are resolved to profit by it. They know what is necessary to their future welfare and independence, and they have good reason to be determined to confine themselves to the pursuit of those practical objects. The passion for extension has burned out its fire. The cession of the lonian Islands is a matter in which the lonian Islands are chiefly interested, and Greece does not recognise in it a compensation for the loss of an English prince, who could not help bringing English influence with him.

It is not easy to foresee the solution of the curious problem now working out among the Hellenic populations. And the last particle of news which has reached us complicates the case still more. "We learn that should England decline the oiler of the throne for Prince Alfred (who is by this time elected), thepeople of Greece will immediately establish a republic. How will that accord with the cession of the lonian Isles ? It is believed that one of the conditions was that the new government should be a monarchy. We may almost venture to predict that if the Greeks proceed to the institution of a republic, the work of a settlement of the country will have to be begun over again. The case becomes still further complicated by the fact that England has yet to obtain the consent of France and Russia to the cession of the islands; which, it seems, they are by no means disposed to grant.

The North American Congress has met, and President Lincoln has delivered his Message. The tone is mild, as might have been expected from the position in which Mr. Lincoln has been placed by the Democratic elections ; and the propositions put forward are of a character which admits of the most convenient interpretation. Remembering how Mr. Lincoln used to address Congress, the bluster and confidence by which his declarations were marked, and the spirit of prophecy that imparted such a zest of omnipotence to every document that carried his sanction, the temperate and accommodating course he takes on the present occasion becomes still more worthy of notice. He is willing to enter into conventions with other Powers respecting the seizure of vessels at sea; lie is sorry that other Powers should continue to recognise the South as a belligerent ; he thinks that the Union must be maintained (for in his-position he cannot venture to think otherwise); he suggests a return to specie payments ; he submits a convention for the purpose of effecting certain necessary changes in the Constitution, and he proposes that compensation should be given to every State that abolishes slavery, and that all slaves that have effected their escape during the war shall keep it. One sees, as Mr. Toole says, “ at a glance,” that this is a Message of words, and not of ideas or of deeds. It is easy to say—return to specie payments, but how is it to be done ? We might as well say here in England—return to the cotton manufactures. As to arrangements with other States concerning vessels, why was it thought not of before ?”and how does it happen that after so many enunciations of American “notions” in that vexed region of international law, Mr. Lincoln is prepared to listen to the voice of Europe ? Then, the Constitution. Mr. Lincoln, who begun his reign by a vow of fidelity to the Constitution, who declared from the beginning that he had no choice but to abide by

the Constitution, who has ever since been doing little else than violating the Constitution,—now asks leave to alter the Constituthat he may fit it to the innovations which he ' has himself introduced. He desires doubtless to legalise his illegal acts, to give a stamp of authority to despotic proceedings, and to obtain a sanction under a new Constitution for his repeated violations of the old. Is this ingenious proposal likely to succeed ? We apprehend not. As toslavery, his suggestions are only so much smoke. Who is to pay the States for abolishing slavery? Where is the money tocome from ? And what need is there forconferring freedom on slaves who, we arc told, have already effected their own freedom ? All this portion of the Message ismere clap-trap, and betrays an uneasy anxiety to patch up matters with the Democrats, by drawing a quiet line of impossible compromise between two extremes.

But even if the Message were of any political value in itself, it comes out under circumstances which would reduce it to waste paper. The Congress that is to supersede the Congress now sitting, and to whom this Message has been addressed, is already elected. Mr. Lincoln speaks to a moribund assembly, whose proceedings either way, pour et centre, are of no earthly importance. Mr.. Lincoln knows this very well, and, therefore, places himself in an easy attitude which leaves him open to any contingencies that may arise. It is like that flexible game of forfeits -which condemns one of the party to stand in the middle of the room, in order that every person present may put him into a new pose.

The dismissal of M‘Clellan from the command of the array of the Potomac has been followed by something very like a collapse of the brave troops that constitute that force. Burnside has evacuated Warrenton, and moved his entire army to Fredericksburg. Here he is some forty miles below Washington, not more than a dozen miles from his base of operations, and within reach of the aid of a fleet in case of emergency. All this is quite prudent, and nobody can justly blame General Burnside for acting so cautiously on the verge of winter. Besides which, he has the satisfaction of feeling that he did his duty to the letter. He was ordered to move on, and he has moved on. But what has come of it ? It will be seen from what follows that the great blow which MT-lelian was disgraced for not striking, is still impending in the air, and likely to be frozen up like the sound of the trumpet in Munchausen’s veracious history. When Burnside reached his destination in the neighbourhood of Fredericksburg, the Rappahannock lay between him aud theenemy. The weather was almost as formidable an antagonist as the Confederates. Snow had set in, and the cold was represented to be so severe that sentries had perished, at their posts. Notwithstanding these difficulties, Burnside crossed the Rappahannock on the 12th December, in several divisions, and, in the midst of a dense fog, attacked the Confederates on the 13th. In two hours the fog dispersed, and the troops on both sides were discovered to be closely engaged,, with varying results. It is said that there were 40,000 Federals engaged ; but there is little doubt that the numbers must have been considerably greater. The strength of the Confederates is not known. The severity of the conflict may be inferred from the fact that there were two Federal generals killed, and five wounded. The firing continued without intermission till dusk. Early in theengagement the Federals experienced a check, which they appear afterwards to have recovered, and driven the Confederates back. Such was the first report by telegraph, which gave the victory, as usual, to the Federals. Subsequent and fuller information describes the engagement as the most disastrous that has yet befallen the Federal cause since the commencement of the war. Instead of gaining a signal triumph, they were defeated at all points. The whole of the two armies were engaged, the Confederates fighting behind entrenchments, in comparative safety, and the Federals falling in masses before their fire. The reports of the Federal losses vary from 8000 and 10,000 to 20,000 ; but the fact that they were utterly broken is placed beyond doubt by their retrograde movement on the night of the 15th, when they evacuated Fredericksburg, and recrossed the river. Nobody blames Burnside, except for following instructions which were against his judgment; but everybody blames Halleck and Stanton, and there is a universal demand for their dismissal. The most significant commentaries upon the whole affair are these two items—that M'Clellan has been “ sent for,” and gold has reached a premium of 33 per cent.