THE WAR IN AMERICA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 26, 6 January 1864, Page 3

THE WAR IN AMERICA.

(Prom the Saturday Review.) The tide, of success seems to have turned . once more in favor of the South. The decisive defeat pfJJß.os?ncranz by Bragg threatens, to .undo i all ithe work -of .the Federal armies in Tennessee ; and Burnside, far from being able to repair the disaster, appears to have placed his troops in a position from which it may be very difficult tqmove them withlsafety. . It is not to be wondered at that the Northern press should turn against its rulers in the hour of so unexpected and serious a reverse, and should exclaim against the iocompetency of those who have thrown away so many, of the fruits of the patience and* perseverance^ of ; v the North. The and infelicity of the interfer|nce exercised by ; the Cabinet of Wash- * mgton is illustrated by the revelation that th« abortive expedition of General Franklin was undertaken by orders from headquarters, in defiance of the opinion of General Banks. And certainly the mis. fortunes of the Federals 'do nbt'Jcome singl^J- On every side, ;and-^at; every point there is some success more ox less for tlxe Cosfederate3y. and sbtne:Tepaise or; discomfiture of their ; ; adversaries^ The siege^F Charleston :is said to have been suspended ; and 'tiie suspension jtbe siege, when the advent of autumnal storms makes every moment precious, is : a con-i fession of present^failure which will render the ultimate captitre of the city far more difficult and' teaious, If not impost Bible. The intelligence from the Mississippi is little less discouraging to th« North, for not only does the river appear io.be closed " to commerce by jucrillß^ibtut |fprtified

polnls v are "again •- beia <* ©ecu pi ed ; by j the Confederates; >a/id the advance of the Northenv troons into the country of the Ked rirer on tne western aide of th« Mississippi h« v been c^iepWed by two serious defeats. North Will bo scarcely ;less surprised than Europe is to find the Confederdtes, after alt their. Jpsseji, and in spite pt ;• the Severe^strainv which ■ a two years' :war has placed on their resources, and; number*, still {springing up at ; the most remote points of their enormous territories, victorious, and in pos* session of forces which even have the superiority of numbers over their opponents. • ■■■':""y\ ;';,.-'■, \. Both combatants are fully aware of the importance of the crisis which will, arise in the ensuing spring. In May 1864,: the three years' volunteer^ forming the greater part of the Federal army, will be entitled to their discharge. ! The"' recent draft, though it has brought few conscripts intp> the ranks, has produced, at an enormous expense, a considerable number of recruits in the character of substitutes ; but even if tHe President sdece'eae'd '; in /"raisi ng 300,000 men, a newly -enlisted army would .be far less -efficient than the force which has been trained by two or three years of war. The new levies are, as they arrive in the field, incorporated with the existing regiments, which will consequently more be reduced to skeletons, if the old soldiers claim their discharge in May. Even if the Government devises means of overcoming the difficulty, the Confederates will in- the meantime be encouraged to persevere in their resistance, and the lapse of seven months affords ample scope for accidents and changes of fortune. They will certainly not be alarmed by the strange suspension of the Habeas Oorpus through the whole extent of the United States. The expansion or contraction of constitutional liberties in America concerns foreigners as little as the physical alternations of frost and thaw ; but it may. be permitted to remark that a nation which describes itself through a thousand speaking, trumpets as the most prosperous and united in the world, might be supposed capable of governing itself by some less stringent machinery than the rude contrivance of martial law. The Confederates who are more immediately intoreted in the condition of their implacable enemies, will probably conjecture that Mr Lincoln's proclamation udmits the failure of the first draft, and prepares; the way to the enforcement of a second. It will be an amusing circumstance if the Corporation of New York once more buys off its, unwilling contingent, at a price which can scarcely fail to be increased by the rising market for substitutes. The repuhlication of Mr Seward's Circular to the Consuls once more exemplifies the perverse mistake, or misrepresentation which pervades ail American speeches and writings. The Secretary or State, addressing, through the Consu's, the commercial classes of Europe, or rather of England^ — proposes to convince them that the shortest way to arrive at peace is "to withdraw support and favor from the insurgents, and to leave the adjustment of our domestic controversies exclusively with the people of the United Stajes." As it can hardly be supposed that Mr Seward hopes to convince the builders of iron-ships who may have accepted orders from the Confederates, lie must be understood to insinuate that the mercantile body in general has not left the adjustment of American controversies to those v.-horn they properly concern. ft is utterly absurd to say that English traders have had either the will or the power to influence in the smallest degree the fortunes of the American war. To those whom he professes to address, Mr. Seward's advice is simply unmeaning ; but the reflux operation of a Federal opinion ma v not be equally innocuous. Theie seems to be no doubt that the universal exultation which prevails in the North is combined with a vague purpose of quarrelling with England, partly to avenge imaginary offences, and also with an ulterior plan of annexing Canada. Mr. Seward perhaps may rot wish, like Mr. Sumner, tp infuriate his country men by misrepresentation ; but it is unw rthy of a statesman to sanction, in formal State papers, a vulgar and dangerous delusion. If it is true that European statesmen have officially predicted the failure of the Northern, enterprise, it Is intelligible .' that' the /Secretary of State should recapitulate for their information the progress of the invading armies % ' but it is utterly untrue that the insurgents have, been.- enabled to protract their resistance by means of the sympathy or aid which they have received from abroad. In a certain sense, customers require the sympathy and aid of dealers. Butchers and bakers render housekeeping possible, and ladies, are forced to procure their finery from millifers and dressmakers; but in the ordinary sense of words, purchased services are not called aid, nor is there any connexion between sympathy and selling. The Confederates have not received a gun or a bayonet without paying its full value, with an additional "percentage to, coyer the risk of the blockade ; Slid precisely the same sympathy and .aid, has been afforded,, on a scale tenfold larger, to the Federal Government itself. ;Mr Seward cannot seriously believe' that the insurgents have derived any benefit from the good will with which tbeir heroic resistance has:been "contemplated by a part of the community, which; according to Lord Russell's con-jecmre;-is not evetf^a niajprity. The Government of Richmond lias shown its estimation *of official sympathy by withdrawing its diplomatic, agent; from London— a m easu re which see ms para-, doxical if its hopes of success depend on the continuance of the present relations between England and the Confederacy. ; It is a backward step in civilization if peace and war are henceforth tadepend on words. If i freedom of ■speech Jsno longer permissible in Ep^laad, some check ought in ;''■; common / iaif riess^ttTße inipjosed^n Aniencan:eloiiuenc|. ..Mr^n^j^i'speech' alone" is '%titkrly-ji^Y^amuion^^^liiEijig- : tish. disquisitions on^^ Secession puttdget^er, and il is more wilfully: hostile and; offensiye ; yet even his studied malignity omits thepopular ;■; scheme of dismembering the British-Empire. ' Not a week passes without^a'written or 'spoken- proposal for the annexation of Canada, and yet the Chairman of the "Committee of Foreign Relations thinks that the" most urgent duty of ihe/preßent gto: stimulate ithe anitoosity of his countrymen to Englaod. Mr Seward's "geniefal object" is more ■intelligible, for: it "is i unfbnuntately^ true that English: politiciaris -are -in^ the habit of accommoaating-t their preconceived ppinions^tp -; the ; «purse: of oeyents; f Even ' 1 hje- fpends of the, Confederate -cause adm i t that "Vicksburg is tafceri/ ' md :\ that Charleston Js, ->. pr was . inj danger*"- -Less 'partial obseryerfl ihave, from the begirriiihg" of th 6: war s i'beeh^prepared to learn from experience, ihe^ ; resourceß of: tnV'ppmblitaniß. i If the : cjbniplcte

re-copquefrtf of the Southern States reopened the cotton trade, the manufacturers of Lancashire would resume iheir industry . without wasting time in sentiuieatal regret for the defeat of a gallant struggle- for independence ; and the Gpvernment^would not heMtate to allow that, if the war was over, there could no longer be belligerents to claim di»puied priTileg«.' Acquiescenoe in facts is the simplest result of common sense, although a change of judgment according to circemscances is often denounced by brawlers as appstaoy. It is not even impossible that Englishmen might welcome th e termina -. tion of the civil contest, if there were not a risk that; iri the present' temper of the Federal population, peace at home might precipitate the foreign war' which ; Mr Sumner is using all his exertions to fender ineyitable. The Northern Americans; are under a twofold delusion in believing that they have been wronged by England, and that, by some abnormal Western dispensation, war is. ;.on_- their Continent, the most effectual cause of general prosperity. It would, perhaps, not he an unmixed evil if Air Chase's currency and the conscription were to correct the popular error; by collapsing before Mr Sumner and his admirers are at leisure to force a rupture with England. 'In -the meantime, it is satisfactory to observe that Canada seems likely to interpose some difficulties in the way of the conquest which is: to follow the reduction of the Confederacy.