The New York Herald Newspaper, February 3, 1862, Page 4

: NuW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3 “1802. NEW YORK HERALD. | net.cot wit wat oar wr soe fortifications there until they show a disposition to AMES GORDON BENNETT, | repent and return to their duty. The commission- EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, ed officers have been discharged from the service, not for participating in the mutinous disposition x a : sox Vasa “ The Politicaland Vinancial Condition of Buvope. Glenoing hastily at the condition of European nations, we find that, both \nsncially and politi- cally, they present many p.ints that contrast days thé State Department continued to delude thé press, and during that time the press zealously sustained what it was deceived inte believing was the position of our a Oe 5 © SE OPTION N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. TER, in advance. sent ty mail will beatthe rp ts my ag ge Smet ny oy md DAILY BEBALD.t1wo centsver copy. onan FRE WEEKLY HERALD. cvery iy (or $Sper annum; the Buropean coary We pereopy $4 annum io any part of Great Briain. ‘on the Lat, Ith amd Slat @/ each thant a en's per copy, or $215 per annum. FAMILY BELALD, on Wednesday, at four cents per mee, Aer OF MUSIC, Irving place.—Iratian Orgra— NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadwey.—Rouxo axp Jo.ixt. WINTER GARDEN, Brosway.—Natap Quaux—Mauaixo ee EBENE'S THEATRE, Broadway.-Ovs Auzui- BOWERY THEATER, Bowery.—Masxx—Casner Ew AND Fark Srak. oBOWSRY THEATRE, Bowery.—Sncex's Naroxat 12008. BARNUM'S AMERICAN MUSEUM, a oS am arg rete siesot Way.—-VOWN IN CLD h-¥-x¥. BRYANTS' MINSTRELS, Mechantcs’ Hall, 472 Broad. HOOLEY’S MINSTRELS, Stays ‘a Broadway.—Ermiorian Sonca, Daxcus ote No 69 MELODEON CONCERT HALL, No. — Sonas, Dances, BoRLusguea, a-cllatinse te eee CANTERBURY MUSIC HALL, 585 Broadway.—Soas, Danoxs, Buatesqves, £0.—MasvLu, THE Nigat Uw. GAIBTIES CONCERT ROOM, 616 Bi DI Room Exvertaiamunre, Haiiees, Pastouiues, Fanci £6 AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 444 Broadway.—Son : uxts, Pawromimns, ‘PORTRAIT Parntee. 2S CRYSTAL PALACE CONCERT HALL, No. 45 Bowery. Buniasauus, BONGS, DANCES, &€.—Cossixu's Fuouie. PARISIAN CABLNET OF WON! _ Open daily trom 10 A. BLS Mees 56 Broadway. NOVELTY MUSIC HA - Sevan Davos aa HALL, 616 Broadway.—Buz.rsquss IRVING HALL, Irving place.—S ‘CASE Quanp ow Vevr Tuan Son ‘cumexoLur Dae i i New ad xi Monday, February 3, 1862. THE SITUATION. Some anxiety was manifested in Washington yesterday, particularly among the politicians, with regard to the supposed hostile attitude of England, @nd the probability of wer arising upon some other pretext than the Trent difficulty, but it is said that the State Department isin receipt of des. patches which Mr. Seward regards as conclusive of ® complete restoration of friendly feelings between the two governments, as well as those of other European States. No army movements whatever have take place recently. The weather and the condition of the roads prohibit any active operations. We publish to-day s letter from Mr. Seward to the Governor of the State of Maine, explaining the reasons why he directed the United States Marshal and other federal officers throughout that State to permit the landing at Portland of British troops, and their safe conduct through the State toCanada. Mr. Seward says-that the State De- partment having been informed by tclograph on the 4th of January that the mail s' Bohemian, bound for Portland, was telegraphed off Cape Race, and that she had on board a number of Bri- tish troops bound for Canada, the despatch in- quired whether the troops should be dealt with by the federal authorities like or- dinary passengers, and the Secretary inti- mated that they should be permitted to pass on to their destination. He was in. fluenced in the matter by the consideration that much suffering and risk, through the snow and ice of # northerlyfvoyage, might be spared to troops by allowing them to travel over the Grand Trunk Railroad, conceiving that when humanity or even convenience renders it desirable that the troops of afriendly nation should haves passage through the territory of another nation, it isa customary act of comity to grant permission, and he cites, as an evidence of this principle, the privilege which the United States enjoy of transporting troops across the Panama Railroad through New Granada, and it is thus deemed only right by our government to accord the same privilege to Great Britain, France and all other friendly nations. Assuming that there was no danger to be appre hended from the passage of the English troops, and assuming farther, that—despite’the ‘popular aspe- tities" manifested in Canada and in the British Isles against this country—Great Britain is still to be regarded as a friendly Power, he saw no reason for withholding permission for the passage of her soldiers and munitions. The Grand Trunk Rail- road, which runs through United States territory, he considers as @ monument of the friendly dis- position of England, and the reciprocity treaty with Canada he regards in the same light. If, however, the State of Maine should have any ob” jection to the instructions of the State Depart- ment, Mr. Seward says that he is perfectly willing to modify them, as the federal government recog nizes the respect it owes to the rights and interests of every State. As the troops never landed at Portland no issue has been raised by the Governor of Maine on the subject; but it will be admitted that the course adopted by Mr. Seward in the mat- ter was magnanimous and segacious. From the measures adopted by the govern- ment with regard to the treatment of the rebel prisoners taken on privateers, who are to be regarded as ordinary prisoners of war, it is exceedingly probably that the lead- fing officers of the Union army in captivity ia the South, including Colonels Corcoran, Lee, Coggswell, Wilcox, Rodgers and Woodruff, will soon be exchanged and returned to their homes. Mr, My and Lieutenant Connolly, of the New York Sixty-ninth, who has just been released fr» Columbia, 8. C., had an interview with the sSdeat and Mr. Seward yesterday on the sub- 5 ‘The bark Trinity left Bostom yesterday for borvecsa Monroe, with 386 rank and file and es | officers, from Fort Warren, to be ex- <m od for an equal number of our soldiers in the hav + of the rebela, ‘Wo learn from St. Loais that some companies of the Vourth Missouri Volunteers having displayed youtiuces feelings and dirobedience of orders, have we a eovercly dealt with by General Hallock. The | | on the part of Congress monse developement of military and neval | apparent policy of our government by authori. | of the men, but for not enforcing discipline in the | ranks. A remarkable letter from Quebec, Canada, will be found in another column. It soems that our neighbors have discovered that our present trou- bles afford them @ good opportunity to realize an old and cherished wish of theire—namely, to annex Maine, and so obtain a winter outlet to the sea. ‘They were disappointed at the surrender of Mason and Slidell, and are now anxiously looking out for some new cause of quarrel. The knowledge of their intentions will doubtless tend to hasten the fortifications of Portland, Maine. If Portland were properly fortified, our- correspondent shows clear- ly enough that war between the United States and Canada would be ruinous to the latter. There are now about 14,000 British troops in the province. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. By the arrival yesterday at this port of the brig E. Baldwin, we have news from Vera Cruz, Mexi- co, to the 6th ult. When the Baldwin left there were sixteen Spanish, three French and two Eng- lish frigates in the port, and about seven thousand Spanish troops in Vera Cruz. The Spanish, French and English flags were displayed in different parts of the town. Business was slmost entirely eus- pended, the majority of the Mexican merchants having left for the interior. A large number of Spaniards had taken passage from Vera Cruz for Havana, having been driven from their places of residence by the Mexicans. Provisions were very scarce, and held at high rates. The British steamship John Bell, arrived at this port yesterday from Liverpool, brought among her cargo 1,648 bales of cotton. To-day the sales of the seized Woperty of the secessionists of St. Louis begin for the benefit of the plundered Union refugees. Elsewhere we give the notice of the sale of some of the property of the expelled United States Senator Trusten Polk. Drafting for the militia has been suspended in Connecticut, it having become evident that the namber required by law will be fully made up by the formation of volunteer companies. Dr. George D. Beebee, of Chicago, a homeopa- thist, has been appointed brigade surgeon in the army. Among the articles found in General Zollicoffer's camp at Mill Spring, Kentucky, were sixty thou- sand pounds of sugar, twenty-six thousand pounds of coffee and twelve thousand pounds of tobacco. General Halleck has seized ex-Governor Clai- borne F. Jackson’s hemp plantation, in Saline county, Missouri, for confiscation. A splendid national flag is to be presented to- day by the !adies of South Baltimore to the Fifth New York Zouave regiment, now stationed on Federal Hill, in that city. John Wills, Esq., of Baltimore, has been selected to deliver the pre- sentation address. General Dix isto be present, and if he does not formally receive the flag on the part of the regiment it will be done by the Colonel in command—Col. G. K. Warren. A splendid drill agi parade of the regiment will also take place. ‘The cotton market continued to be somewhat irregular and unsettled Saturday. The sates embraced about 500 bales, in lots, to spinners, chiefly reimported—pretty much the only kind pressing upon the market—on the ‘dasis of 32c., with some lots reported at 3130. for mid- dling uplands. Flour was quite firm, though less active, the chief demand coming from the domestic trade. ‘Wheat was higher and active, with sales at an advance of 1c. a 2c. per bushel, and for some grades 3c. a 4c. ad- vance was claimed. Corn was quite frm, with sales toa fair extent at 64}(c. a G60. for Western mixed, in store and delivered. Pork was unchanged and active, with sales, for spring delivery, at $13 for now mess, and at $12 8734 » $12 08 for do. on the spot, and at $9 50 for new prime. Sugars were steady, with sales ef 218 hhds. and 1,140 boxes. Coffee was quiet andfirm. Freights were steady, with more offering for English ports and rather more doing. The Threatenings from Abroad. We have reached the crisis of the great strug- gle in which we are engaged. It presents itself und>r two vital aspects—the one offering us the alte. native of crushing out the rebellion ener- getically and promptly, and the other that of afiording the European governments an oppor- tunity of intervention in our affairs, with the double object of dividing this great republic, as a political measure, and of getting at the cotton of the South as s commercial one. In regard to the question of European inter- vention, now again portentously looming up, great fears are expressed that unless our army makes rapid advances, and obtains a series of brilliant and decisive victories, the European governments will, in sixty or ninety days at farthest, break the blockade—an event which must inevitably lead to a double war of the greatest magnitude. From the following ex- tract from the Moniteur, published in our columns on the 4th of July last, it will be seen that, so far back as the middle of June, this very movement which we are now expecting was foreshadowed by the French ministerial or- gan. It says:— It is stated positively that aeyotiations wil! be opened, for the re-establishinent of diplomatic relations between France and Turin. If they should end satisfactorily they will load to the de facto recognition of the kingdom of Italy, compoved of provinces and States which have been placed under the sceptre of King Victor Emanuel, after @yonison which Franco bas aot now to express her opinion, but which have been accomplished under favor of the principle of nou-intervention ized by Eu rope. The resumption of diplomatie relations with Turin ‘would not imply on the part of France,on the subject of the policy of the Italian kingdom, any judgment on the past or any solidarity for the future. It would @ that the de facto government of this new Biate in euficiently established to enable France to keep up with it those international relations which the interests of the two countries imperiously re- quire. France, ty tiny Rg doe not ‘mean to interfere in any way in or domestic affairs ths Nallan kingdom, which romaine the sole futige of ts nes conduct, as it is master of its future and of ws devtinies. ‘She will act towards it as the great European Powers wilt one day do in the American quertion, Ly recognising the new republic of the Southern States when that republic shall have of i ional relations advantageous for the general inte- a Nothing can be clearer or more explicit than the intimation conveyed in the above. jl the letters that have been received from our Paris correspondents from that time down to the pre- sent have gone to confirm its purpose, and the articles that we have published from the French and English journals received by the Africa leave no doubt as to the limit of time which is fixed for carrying it into execution. We are now masters of the situation. We have ® magnificent army of 700,000 men, in- cluding an ordnance force which, if properly employed, will prove the justice of Napoleon’s well known saying, that “Fleaven is on the si of the heaviest artillery,” and cavalry corps of 50,000 men, composed of as fine material as any in the world, the whole recently reorgan. ized in respect to ifs Seid and line officers in a manner to render it equal to the emergencies of the most trying campaigns. We have a navy which, in the number of vessels and sailors daily added to it, is rapidly advancing to the same state of strength and efficiency. Now, all that is wanted is energetic aud vigorous action or governmental expenditure; no probibition of the export of saltpetre or transporting of troops to Canada; no disturbance in the stock journals, and the conclusion that this first des- ‘although undoubtedly it had also the ulterior the anaconda to effectually wind his ceils round and strangle the rebellion, and to compel the European governments to give up all ideas of intervention. All this, however, has got to be done within ninety days. Beyond then we cease to control events. To accomplish the great object which the na- tion has in view—of reconstructing the Union as it stood before this rebellion—it becomes a po- litical necessity and a duty on the part of Presi- dent Lincoln, who has already won the admira- tion and applause of the country by the conscien- tious and conservative course he has pursued, to proclaim, after the first great victory obtained by our arms, that it is his determination and that of his administration to maintain the constitu- tional rights of every State inviolate, and on the return of the rebels to their allegiance to guarantee to them their rights as citizens in the States in which they now exist. Such a pro- clamation, following close on the heels of a, great victory, will prove that the war has not been undertaken from vindictiveness or a thirst of power, as English politicians pretend, and that the position of this country is one of great strength and conservatism, important alike to the cause of good gevernment and to the inte- rests of republicanism throughout the world. The Go ment and the Press in Eng- lai ud the United States. Now that we have before us all the diplo- matic correspondence in regard to the Trent affair, we are enabled to see precisely how much and at what points the newspapers of England and the United States have been at fault in their representations of the policy and the proceedings of the two governments. For the last fifty years there has been no other cor- respondence so important and interesting as this, and certainly there bas hardly been, dur- ing the existence of the press, so many blun- ders, mistakes aud misstatements in the news- paper reports. We have not the slightest doubt that, in both countries, the press was designedly misled by the governnients. The receipt by Mr. Adams of Mr. Seward’s first despatch was the first move in the game of diplomacy, and that de- spatch, as read by Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, in effect settled the whole question and foresha- dowed Mr. Seward’s final despatch, announcing the surrender of the rebel “fellows.” If this first despatch of our Secretary of State had been published in England as soon as it was received there would have been an end of the matter, and we should have had no popular furor market or throughout the country. But, instead of this prudent and peaceful publicity, the tenor of this despatch was so carefully concealed that the London Times, which is understood to be p government organ, announced that it was very unimportant, and that there was nothing in it at all affecting the Trent affair. So the Lon- don Post, which assumes to be the organ of Lord Palmerston’s government, assured its readers that-no such despatch as that said to have been received by Mr. Adams was ever read to Earl Russell; and the Post per- sisted in this assurance long after the date of Earl Russell’s despatch to Lord Lyons detail- ing all the circumstances attending his hearing of Mr. Seward’s first despatch, and giving a synopsis of its contents. The other English journals were in « still greater fog than that which enveloped these government organs, and knew nothing at all about the matter. It is perfectly useless to attempt to under- rate the facilities or the zeal of the London patch of Mr. Seward’s was deliberately sup- pressed and wilfully misrepresented by the English government is irresistible. We believe that the editors of the London journals were perfectly honest in what they wrote; « but the editors and proprietors of the English journals are different persons, and there is little doubt that the proprietors of the Times, Post and other English papers concealed their information of this first pacific despatch even from their own editors, inorder to operate upon the stock market. In this design the English administration was clearly a particeps criminis, design of raising an excitement in order to keep itself in power, and in order to prepare and arm the country for future contingencies, result- ing, it may be, from the Mexican imbroglio, or from an armed intervention in American affairs. That this concealment and misrepresentation were systematic is most evigent. The English government, it appears, sent us only a polite request for satisfaction and the surrender of the rebel “fellows.” The English papers were in- formed, and declared, that the demand was peremptory and insulting. The English govern- ment knew that there was no possible chance of war with this country, having been so inform- ed by Mr. Seward’s explicit disavowal of Capt. Wilkes’ act. The English journals were inform- ed, and declared, that war was imminent. Thus a most’ intense excitement was caused through- out all England, and the government was enabled to ship troops to Canada, augment its army and navy, and prepare itself. During this excitement the English mouey market fluctuated four per cent, and vast for- tunes were made by those in the real confidence of the government. The English press were the victims, but will have to bear the blame of this deceit, unless they unitedly charge it home where it belongs. Some of them, wo are glad to see, already exhibit a disposition to do this; but others—the Times and Post, for instance— are not yet able to see, or are unwilling to openly confess, how miserably they have been swindled by the agents of the very government they profess to officially represent. In this country there are no govern. mgnt organs; but the deception of the press was scarcely less complete and reprebensible than in England. When tho news of the capture of Mason and Slidell was firat announced, the Washington correspond- ents of all the leading journals of the country were informed by the State Department that Captain Wilkes’ act was perfectly legal, aud that the rebels would not be surrendered, no matter what England might do. That this information was designedly false is now evi- dent; for Secretary Seward had previously writ yen to Mr. Adams thet he disavowed the seizure. Deluded by these reports, the loyal journals immediately set to work to put the best possi- -nation meeting, and the seedy aristocrats and goverpment. The people began to regard as inevitable, and to bravely prepare for,® war with England; for pluck is am American characteristic, and never deserts us, however desperate the chances may seem. George Sum- ner, the brother of the very Senator who after- wards defended, in a long oration, the sur- render of the rebels, came out with aletter justifying the government in holding its booty. Edward Everett followed suit in most classical style. General Cass issued a manifesto from Detroit to the same end, and even the Hon, Caleb Cushing had a finger in the pie. All this while Secretary Seward was laughing in his sleeve to see how successful had been his de- ception, and what fools all our editors and statesmen were making of themselves, and was quietly preparing his splendid diplomatic note justifying, upon American principles, the return of the “fellows” who had been the cause of all this confusion. At last the Herat, which, up to that time, had been deluded with the other papers, man- aged to detect the cheat, discovered the true in- tention of the government, and announced it in an editorial, which quieted affairs here, and, arriving in Europe by the Hansa, put an effectual stop to all further agitation there. The other American journals were less fortu- nate or less adroit, and continued to support the sham policy of the State Department for several dayslonger. But if the misrepresentations of the English government were accessory to stock operations, what was the design of this official deception of the American press? We cannot answer this question with certainty; but we are sure that no party will gain much credit for having systematically deluded the news- papers and the people of two great friendly countries, arousing animosities which would never otherwise have existed; stirring up the fires of old, long buried hatreds; causing a great deal of expense, trouble, disturbance and ill feeling —all for no other earthly purpose that we can discover than to operate upon the stock market, secure a further term of power, or win a petty reputation for diplomatic smartness. Tax Worxme Crassus or ENGLAxp QrroseD vo Wak wits Tus Unirep Srates.—It is some- what remarkable, in connection with the Trent affair, that, notwithstanding all the bluster of the English press and the belligerent attitude of the government towards this country, the working classes of England made no really popular demonstration against us. No meet- ings of an actually public character were sum- moned by them to take the matter into conside- ration, and the feeling among them was opposed to the idea of a war with the United States. While the Liverpool merchants called an indig- men about town assembled at Evans’ well known concert hall to listen to a comic song at the expense of “the Yankees,” the working men—the sinew and muscle of England—fol- lowed their usual avocations without interrup- tion. This shows convincingly enough that the agitation was partisan rather than popular, and that the working classes are averse to Great Britain provoking a war with this country: While it is the interest and pleasure of a por- tion of the governing classes to agitate war with the United States, the sober, common sense of the working millions leads them to re- gard the prospect of sucha calamity tn its: proper light; and, so long as the,working classes think as they do, the government will have a formidable enemy to encounter at home, if it is mad enongh to engage in an American war. Rusponsteiniry or tHe Commrrer or Ways axp Means.-A heavy responsibility rests upon the Committe of Ways and Means of the House, whose important duty it is to provide money to carry on the war. Now, how are they performing that duty? Instead of employing their time before the present session of Congress met in inform- ing themselves as to the exact financial and commercial condition of the country, and learn- ing what extent of taxation it could bear, and how the taxes could be most judiciously im- posed, they left all these preparations to be made almost at the last moment; and the essen- tial duty of providing the sinews of war, instead of being the first, is likely to be about the latest action of Congress. The committee could have informed themselves upon all ne- cessary points by consulting with merchants, mechanics and all classes of business men, and thus have come to their work fully prepared to produce a tax bill, to provide for loans and all the other requirements of the time. A great and expensive war was before us; but these gentlemen did not seem to possess the foresight to perceive the fact, or surely they would have made some provision in advance for the onerous duties devolving upon them- That a tax bill was an inevitable necessity, under the circumstances, must have been mani- fest to every one. Taxation is the basis of national credit, and a tax bill no doubt we shall have by the middle of March; but meantime the energies of the administration are crippled for want of money to prosecute the war; whereas, with the immense resources of the nation, abundant provisions for loans could have been made long ago, if the committee were only prompt in the fulfilment of their duty. The whole country looks to them for the means to put down rebellion and restore our former prosperity, and they will certainly be held to a strict accountability. Our Coast axo Frontier Derences.—The threatening aspect which affairs in Europe wear towards this country should admonish us that preparation for any emergency is @ paramount duty. We have an army of 700,000 men in the field to deal with Southern rebellion, and this leaves a surplus population, of the age to bear arms, in the Northern States, amounting to over 2,000,000 more. With such a stupendous avail- able militia we are amply provided for defence; but the Governors of all these States should at once call out a quarter of a million citizens liable to do military duty, and form them into a home guard. This vast body should be drilled, not so much in infantry tactics as in the use of heavy artillery and the management of fort guns. Wherever there is @ fort it should be garrisoned by the companies of militia in turn, in order that every man may learn how to load and fire the guas. When no fort is available then field artillery and guns of heavy calibre ahould be furnished to the men for practice. If eto the North for any emergency that may Bra Commissioned vlligers and private have Leow } sikepgtl the speedy cemulte shat aie expocwd | ties and precedents, gollegted with mac: , arise Richmond Dispatch preaches ® sermon full of pathetic and unctuous piety, comparing the rebels to the Israelites who had left Egypt and journeyed through the wilderness, in the expectation of “the sweet fields of Canaan, beyond the swelling flood of Jordan;” comparing also the “great patriotic souls of this war” to the weary Christian host straggling through this world and looking for- ward with hope and confidence to the rest that remains for them in the other world. The wri- ter concludes that the Southern insurgents are as much the special care of the Deity as the Israelites of old or Christians of modern times, and that His power will help them to conquer at last, and gain the promised land. Now what is the nature of the inheritance hey expect? Is it something new—some- thing they never enjoyed before? Let us gee. “We shall be cole masters of our own rich soil and its unexampled products, and no longer be despoiled of their value by the rapacious commercial vultures of the North.” We had always supposed that the inhabitants of the Southern States’ were com- plete masters of their own soil and its pro- ducts—more so, perhaps, than they ever will be again. If they sold those products to us we gave them good value in return, and our trade with them was a mutual convenience and profit ~to both. If we performed the part of broker to their products, we were merely paid the brokerage, and no thanks to the producer. If he could do better elsewhere he would not send his produce to New York. In what way did Northern commercial vultures rob the South? Did the North compel the South to trade with it? Not at all. Why did not the Southerners, if they preferredit, open direct trade with Europe, as we of the North have been always doing. Was there any necessity to break up the Union for that? But if a profit on South- ern products was of some advantage to New York, was a profit on Northwestern products of no advantage to New Orleans, which has lost the trade of the Mississippi by the war? The truth is that the ‘two sections were adapted to be of mutual service to each other in trade and commerce, while in war, by their union, they would be a match for the world in arms, and their very strength would prevent attack and preserve peace in the Jand; whereas, | by separation from the North, the Southern States are rendered as weak as Mexico or ¢he South American republics; and, by the centri- fugal force of the principle of secession, they are all liable to fly off the handle and be reduced to so many units, with as little co- hesion as a rope of sand. Then, supposing their independence to be achieved, and that they should ever form a compact government, would not the expenses of maintaining a sepa- rate army and navy, which must be far greater than ever were supported by the United States, and a heavy war debt saddled on them, amount to far more than the North has ever gained by their cotton? What does the argument of the blinded journalist amount to but this: that the Confederates punish themselves to punish the North, and to benefit their old enemy, England? For, after all, it is not that Southern men will grow rich by the change, if it ever takes place, but that Northern men will be rendered poor, that gives satisfaction to our amiable rebel con- temporary, who glories in the fact that “the Yankee nation will be at once the most impove- rished and despised of nations—will be shut up to the cultivation of codfish and potatoes, and the contemplation of its own miraculous imbe- cility. Its people will spend their days in cheating one another, and their nights in re- morse that, ia making war upon the South, they ‘cast away a pearl richer than all their tribe.’” Such is the Christian, pious wish of the rebel organ, which forgets that the vast resources of the fertile West, far more valuable than the South, still belong to us, and that neither our commercial prosperity nor our manufactures would be materially affected if every slave State were sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic. It is the South that will be the sufferer by this revolution, if it should be successful, and the most cruel policy that could be pursued to- wards it would be to let it severely alone. ‘Tue Frvrrs or tat War.—During the Revo- lutionary war this country made no insignificant part of history, while it acquired considera- ble fame and military renown all the world over. The war of 1812 added fresh glory to its reputation; but the present rebellion is destined to eclipse them both in the measure of fame we are to gather from it. It has drawn out fresh energies from the people, and elicited evidences of patriotism, self-sacrifice and courage which, perhaps, no other event could have done. It has shown to the world what a gallant people can do, und how a grand army can be impro- vised in defence of justice, the laws and the constitution of their country. And more: it has brought out a new class of men, of which any nation on earth might be proud, in the military and naval professions—our McClellans, Buells, Hallecks, Lyons, Thomases, Schoepffs, Sigels and Shermans in the army, and our Duponts, Wilkeses, Porters, Cravens, Russells and String- hams in the navy. Each and all of these men will have earned for themselves a niche in the temple of fame, where their names will be honored for all time. Srreet CLEanine.—We have-to cal attention to the wretched condition of our streets, which, owing to the bad weather and the want of pro. per cleaning, are almost impassable. The Hackley contract for keeping them in good order seems almost a sham, and we strongly advise that contractor to take a walk round the city, and, as soon as he is convinced of the real state of our public thoroughfardb, set mon to work im clearing the gutters and removing the accumulated deposits of weeks. For some time past street cleaning in New York has been little better than a more pretence, and the Mayor very justly entered a protest on paying the last demand for such questionable services as thosu rendered by Mr. Hackley. When he did pay the bill he did well to make Mr. Hackley un- derstand that if the contract was not more efficiently felfilled in the future he could not rely on @ similar act of leniency. Certainly the city government would be doing very wrong to pay for street cleaning when the streota are not cleaned, and we have no doubt that if this neglect continues the contractor will find it very difficult to obtvin payment of 0 obtain from this im. | ble face upon the matter, and bolstered up the | this course is pursued wa will soon be ready | bis next bill. Let him study the public com venience ond big own intermet by acting ugou | our suggestion unfavorably with our own country at the pre- sent time. While, notwithstanding the with- drawal of 20 many of our population from agri- cultural and other industrial pursutte, to take part in 9 great war, and the expenditure of im- mense sums of money for military and nawal purposes, we have been developing the resources of the country beyond precedent, and ex- periencing « period of universal commercial prosperity, foreign governments have been be- wailing their crippled trade and monetary em- barrassments, and, a8 in the case of Russia, sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of db- mestic discord. In the latter empire, the dis- turbances at Warsaw from time totime have a» sumed a very serious complexion, and the blood shed by Russian bayonets in its streets will not be forgotten by Poland, who eagerly and re- vengefully awaits the day when, either by the liberating hand of France, some general politi- cal convulsion, or the determined efforts of her own people, 8 fatal blow may be given to Rus- sian dominion in the land of Kosciusko. In Russia proper the emancipation of the serfs ie giving the government considerable trouble, and uprisings are constantly apprehended. By the passage of the decree abolishing serfdom in the dominions of the Czar, Russia made a for- ward step in civilization similar to that which England made when she renounced the system of feudalism; and the resem- blance of serfdom to feudalism is 60 close as to separate it altogether from slavery in our acceptation of the word as applied to negroes. The serfs of Russia in Europe were white men, like their lords; there- fore the cimancipation in no way constitutes @ precedeut applicable to the institution of Afri- can slave servitude. Russia has enough to do to maintain her national existence, and she stands on the brink of revolution. It was only the other day that a slight disturbance among. the students at the University of St. Petersburg, in consequence of a change in the college regu- lations, compelled the sudden return of the Emperor to his capital, and we learm that the University has since been closed: and the professors and students perma- nently disbanded. Add to all this uncertainty the fiscal difficulties of the empire, and we have a prospect anything but promising. If we look to France, overlooking a few trifling bread riots, we find the coun- try in a state of repose, but laboring un- der such a severe depression of trade, and such a weighty incubus of taxation and debt, that the Emperor has been forced to resign his active control of the public finances, and to postpone any aggressive movements which he had originally planned. Apart from the failure of the crops, much of the financial and social distréss now prevailing in France is owing to our reduced imports, in consequence of the war and the closing of the Southern markets. In Austria the public treasury is as empty as that of Turkey, where the extrava- gance of the household and the dishonesty of the government officials are still so great as to keep the country in a hopeless state of bank- ruptcy and confusion. Moreover, the Italians, aided by the Hungarians, and probably the French, only await their opportunity to atrike a fatal blow at Austrian dominion. Prussia is stagnating as usual, and the new Italian king- dom is deplorably deep in poverty, although there is hope for both if they do not become martyrs to petty dissensions. Spain is weak, and emerging, snail like, from insolvency, only to plunge herself into fresh difficulties by the war against Mexico, and the Pope’s temporal sovereignty has only a short time longer to live. The address of the Freach Emperor to the corps diplomatique on New Year's day, contained an expression denoting that a serious attempt would goon be made to settle terms for the evacuation of Rome, and the latter is all that is required to convert the seat of the Papacy into the capital of the new Italian kingdom. The fact of the National Roman Committee having placarded bills in Rome, declaring that the issue of Roman consoles by the Pontifical government after a certain date, would not be recognized by the Italian government, as from the moment the Italian Parliament declared Rome the capital of Italy, the temporal power of the Pope legally terminated, goes to strengthen the impression produced by the words of the Emperor: But any change will be pecuniarily to the advantage of the Pope, for he is at present steeped in penury and bent down with debt. Turning to England, we see her cotton milis more or less idle and her trade generally suf- fering severely in consequence of the war in this country. We find her enormous taxation insufficient to meet her expenditure, and her al- ready overburdened population threatened with a worse future. And what if the Sikhs originate another bloody insurrection in India, as they threaten to do? On the whole, we may congratulate ourselves that, even in the midst of war, we are better off than those of Europe, who are at peace. Waar Are Peecepents Worta?—When Cap- tain Wilkes was about to take Mason and Sli- dell off the Trent he proceeded to make certain that he had good precedents in law and history for the act. Accordingly he went into hia cabin and studied carefully all the English au, thorities on international law which his library furnished. He dived into Sir Wm. Soott and devoured Phillimore, and in all the authori- ties he found abundant precedents. to satisfy: him. But, when the discussionfof the question, came up between our government and that of England, to our astonishment it was found that the British government kicked all precedents overboard; they were good for nothing; and the difficulty had to be settled upon an entirely new basis—the American plan. In Earl Ras sell’s letter there-is not even the slightest alla’ sion madeto the legal bearings of the case. Now that we are eadeavoring to crush out that hotbed of this rebellion, the city of Charleston, we again take English precedents for an exaraple of the best method to accom- plish it—that is, by sinking stone vessels in the harbor, a8 the Kénglish did on the lakes and at Boulogse. Bat again the British government fling peocodents to the winds, ignore all their own works, and deny us .the right to use our stone fleet in Charleston entrance. Now, in the Ifbrary of every statesman in the world innu- ‘morable precedents of this mode of warfare are to be found in the books of all writers om international law, ancient and modern—Gro- tus, Vattel and all. Tut it is evident that the | English government is detormiucdgto adopt the