The American war and European Mediation
--The New York correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger, writing under date of Saturday last, says:‘ A day or two ago, on the faith of private letters received by the Africa from eminent commercial and financial authorities in London and Liverpool, I wrote you that a strong effort was making by the "Manchester men" and the English ship-owners, whose interest are most directly affected by the American war, to induce her Majesty's Government to tender to Mr. Lincoln its services as mediator between the Government and the rebels, with a view to the restoration of peace, and that France, if possible, was to be included as joint arbitrator. Letters from other parties, high in the confidence of Downing street, have also been received by some of the Wall street bankers, who, in turn, show them freely to their friends. The impression is, that Lord Palmerston will acquiesce in the views of the cotton spinners and speculators, with or without the co-operation of the French Emperor, and that by the time the next cotton crop is ready to go forward Mr. Seward will receive an important communication from Lord Lyons. But this, it is expected, will be but the beginning of the manœuver.
It is understood, as I said before, that Jeff Davis will accept the proffered mediation, while the Federal Government is expected to reject it. Mr. Lincoln, it is calculated, will thus be placed in a position which will draw upon him the ill will of the "leading European powers," and present Lord Palmerston an excellent pretext for picking a quarrel with us, in order to raise the blockade and procure the necessary supply of cotton for the hungry and clamorous operatives in the manufacturing districts. This plan is well suited to the meddlesome and mischievous genius of Lord Palmerston; and keeping in view the highly respectable authority which has divulged it, there is every reason to believe that the see ret intrigues of the rebel commissioners in London and Paris will all be, as hitherto they have been, directed towards making it a success. The programme, it must be acknowledged, is an ingenious and plausible one; and as soon as the news of the Bull Run disaster is known on the other side, we may expect to see an attempt at once made to reduce its conditions to practice.
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