From Europe.
details of the news by the Etna.
spirit of the London press.
great Confederate victory — the Confederates not to be conquered — the demand for intervention — mediation Recommended — the lying Bulletins of the Federal, &c., &c.
The mails of the Etna contain English papers to the 16th ult. The extract which we give below are highly important. The London Post (ministerial) argues disaster to the Federal cause, from the fact that the Orleans Princes left McClellan's army directly after the week's fight before Richmond. It says, ‘"their return presents itself to the eye of the calm observer in the somewhat pitiful light of that of political and military adventurers, seeking to extricate themselves with as little delay as possible from an unsuccessful speculation."’ It adds:
It ought surely to have been the first object of the advisers and guardians of these young Princes to see that, in thus exposing their lives, they did so for some great, clearly defined, and generous cause; that their participation in such a cause should bring with it a certain increase of political, not loss than of moral weight; and that whether the side on which they fought should be victorious or vanquished, they should always remain the gainers of increased personal reputation and of augmented political prestige. In what way can it be said that these results have been secured by the part taken by the Orleans Princes in the civil contest on the other side of the Atlantic? Has their presence in the Federal camp given additional strength to the hopes of their partisans, or to the interests of their own family? Have they, it may be further asked, brought any strength to the Federal Government, in whose ranks they have served? Have the interest of the House of Bourbon been so inseparably associated with the political and commercial tendencies of the Northern as opposed to those of the Southern States, that the young Princes of that House were justified in gratuitously provoking the ill-will of the Confederate Government by joining the ranks of its opponents? Has it conferred any service on the Government of Washington? May it not, on the contrary, rather facilitate the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by France, that two Bourbon Princes have ostentatiously been fighting under the Generals of President Lincoln? We know that for many months past a strong pressure has been exercised on the Government of the French Emperor from the chief seats of manufacturing industry in France, with the view of obtaining from Napoleon III. the recognition of the Southern Confederacy as an independent State. The first principles of common sense must surely teach that the pressure in question would all the more prove successful when the warmest partisans of the Bonaparte dynasty were able to point to the fact that the Princes of the House of Bourbon showed by their acts that they virtually regarded the cause of the North as identical with their own.
A great Confederate victory.
[from the London morning Post]
The details with which we are now furnished of the battles at Richmond confirm to the fullest our previous impressions.
It was a great Confederate victory.
During close on an entire week did the rival armies contend; and at its close the Federal forces had retreated seventeen miles, with the loss, according to Southern accounts, of twelve thousand prisoners, all their siege train, and sufficient supplies to last the Confederate army for some months.
This is not in terms corroborated by Gen. McClellan; but as he concedes that on the 27th of June he was ‘"overwhelmed,"’ and obliged to abandon twenty-five pieces of artillery, it is probable that the account published by the Confederates is (making allowance for possible exaggeration) substantially correct.
At all events, if the Confederates were not victorious, they must be allowed the merit of bearing their reverses with cheerful philosophy, as immediately after the engagement they proceeded to illuminate their capital; whilst the gloom which pervades New York and Washington evinces, on the part of their inhabitants, a very singular mode of appreciating one of the most remarkable strategic movements on record. Decidedly, General McClellan does not deserve the praise which Napoleon bestowed on one of his marshals, when he said that he surpassed all others in organizing and conducting masterly retreats. However, whether predetermined or not, the recent movement has left General McClellan and his army many miles farther distant from Richmond, on the banks of the James river, with a friendly flotilla of gunboats in his rear ready to shell the Confederates should they attempt to force him once more to put in practice his novel principles of strategy.
Mediation Recommended.
[from the London Shipping Gazette.
There seems to be no doubt whatever that the reverse sustained by the Federal before Richmond has been of the most complete nature, and that the losses they have sustained are much greater than was at first supposed.
Meanwhile, the news of the Confederate success at James Island, near Charleston, is fully confirmed. The effect of this intelligence upon the public mind at New York is marked, and we cannot but think unmistakable. Notwithstanding the cry for more men, even for a conscription if necessary, to reinforce McClellan and repair his conclusive defeat, there is a pacific undertone which is gradually stealing upon the public ear and obtaining teners. We read that the questions of foreign intervention and mediation continued to be discussed, and that a public meeting in favor of peace was held at the Cooper institute on the 1st inst., and presided over by the ex-May or of New York. It seems, indeed, that while the idea of intervention excites exasperation, that of mediation is favorably received. But we collect that with the quiet, thinking people of New York the desire for peace is gaining ground, and is gradually displacing the desire for war. We are not concerned to ascertain the cause of this approaching change in the state of public feeling in the North. We point to it merely as an indication of which it seems to be the duty of this Government, in conjunction with that of France, to take advantage, if the opportunity at all fairly offers. We have always felt that this miserable war will only be brought to a close in one of two ways — either by the mutual exhaustion of the combatants, or by foreign mediation or intervention. France and England, as neutral States, having commercial interests which have suffered, and are still suffering, acutely by the prolongation of the war, have exhibited an amount of forbearance almost without example in the history of nations.
They have calmly watched the progress of events, and have waited until important branches of the national industry have been placed in the utmost straits. We may be quite sure that the office of mediator is one which our Government and that of France, whether singly or in conjunction, would gladly undertake. Surely, it would be no reflection upon the honor of either of the contending parties at the other side of the Atlantic that they should refer their differences to the two leading States of Europe, whose interests are closely bound up with the future prosperity of both sections of the Union. The advice that would be tendered could hardly fail to be beneficial. It would, at all events, lead to a cessation of hostilities and of the terrible carnage which is now going on. Sooner or later, we feel persuaded it will come to this, and that the good offices of France and England will be invoked. We earnestly hope that these offices may be resorted to, before one or both parties have placed themselves in a condition from which there is no alternative but national bankruptcy.
The Monetary Phenomena of America.
[from the London times money article, 16th.]
Although the premium on gold at New York has advanced, as was predicted, to 110 and the future financial difficulties of the American Government are immeasurably increased by the defeats at Charleston and Richmond, the crash which is destined to be witnessed may possibly not arrive at its most complete point till a couple of months hence. The immediate effect of the new tariff will cause all the goods at present held in hand to be rapidly cleared, so as to avoid the augmented rates, and the Government revenue will thus, for a short time, be largely swollen; and, in the next place, there will be a sudden suspension of orders for European goods, which will limit the demand for remittances to London and Paris. It will take at least two months before the true results of a total suppression of foreign trade will be properly felt; but as at that time another issue of £30,000,000 of paper will be absolutely requisite, it will be at that date that we may look almost with certainty for the solution of the problem. Singing and shouting upon the current, with Mr. Chase at the helm and no one has any idea of a Niagara at the end. There is not a single publication of any influence in the country which dares to utter a preliminary warning.
The Confederates not to be conquered.
[from the London morning Post, Ministerial.]
It is supposed, however, that another battle has been fought.
The recent defeat of the Federal at Charleston has led to their evacuation of James Island and the suspension of the campaign in that quarter. However shocking it may be to reflect upon the vast destruction of human life in the late battle at Richmond, still even in that fearful sacrifice we herald the harbinger of peace. Thinking men — and there are many such in the Northern States--have long since seen the folly of the enterprise in which their Government has been engaged. But such a defeat as that sustained by the Federal arms at Richmond must go far to convince even the most thoughtless that the attempt to subjugate the South is futile. This has not been one of those battles which tend only to inflame animosity and excite the vanquished to more valorous deeds. This has been no Bull Run, which might be expected to rouse she mettle of the conquered, and urge them in very shame to seek an early opportunity of redeeming their forfeited fame. It has rather been — at least we hope it may prove so--one of those which, if distinguished for its unexampled carnage, has equally been so for having brought to a close the carnage of what might have proved a long cam-
paign. In any event, so far as fighting is concerned, the present campaign has come to an end in America.
Under the broiling sun of Virginia troops can only He down and die. Will they be permitted to do so? Let us hope that the hecatombs which have been offered to the gun and the sword may be the means of saving from famine and pestilence those who survive. Let the war be how ended, and hundreds of thousands of hale and hearty men may once more return to those peaceful avocations from which, in an unlucky hour, they were called. But let the demon of discord still return — let these armies of occupation remain at their posts, and the havoc at Richmond will be as nothing compared with that which will follow in the train of that scourge of camps — disease. Had the Federal army succeeded in taking Richmond, then, indeed, the prospect of a termination to the war would have been distant — With Kentucky and a considerable-part of Tennessee recovered from the Southern Confederacy--with New Orleans in their possession, and the greater portion of the Mississippi at their command, it would have only needed the capture of the Confederate capital to have enabled those who guide American affairs to boast that the rebellion was in a fair way of being crushed. Not that the South would have been nearer subjugation, but that a large extent of territory, with the two most important cities in the Southern Confederacy, could be shown as the prizes of the campaign. Assuming the possibility of conquering the South, then the Federal Government might have been enabled to point with a little complacency (though certainly not much) to the progress which had been made. Richmond, however, it will be impossible for the President and his Cabinet to cajole even those who are most willing to be deceived into the belief that the slightest advance has been made in a work which has already cost close on £200,000,000.
To confess that although but one hundred and fifty miles from Washington, Richmond still stands intact, is to confess the most utter powerlessness to reduce to subjection a Confederacy whose land frontier alone extends many hundreds of miles.--To confess an inability to conquer the neighboring State of Virginia is by implication to admit a similar inability to effect the conquest of a series of States. In fine, to be obliged to admit that, after the lapse of more than twelve months, and with an army of almost incredible magnitude, it has been found impossible to advance more than twenty miles from the sea coast, is to confess that no space of time, and with no armies which even the Federal States can bring into the field, can the vast area of the Southern Confederacy be overrun, much less its people be reduced to subjection.
The London times on Federal lying.
The London Times, of the 15th ult., is quite startled at the amount of lying done by the Federal (at first) about the week's battles before Richmond. It feels itself ‘"obliged to withdraw all confidence in the veracity of the highest officers in the Federal service."’ It laughs at McClellan's ‘"bayonet charges on paper:"’Gradually, also, the facts of General McClellan's great strategic victories will ooze out, and gradually the facts of that victory of the 27th are now oozing out — for even the American Government cannot destroy truth forever, and must be content with the advantages they can gain by putting out a first false impression. Somebody used to say that a lie had done its work if it could live for forty-eight hours. In this instance the falsehood has died a very gentle death. On the 2d of July, then, Gen. McClellan was telegraphed by the American Government to have stated that he had lost but one gun and one wagon, and even this admission was eased off by a false report put about that General ‘"Stonewall" ’ Jackson had been killed before Richmond. Just, however, to prepare the way for the future, it was admitted that the Federal army had retreated 17 miles. On the 5th of July the old story is still repeated, and it is re-asserted with obstinate persistency that ‘"the Federal forces were not beaten in any conflict."’ It is, however, on this date admitted, as a fact which it was impossible any longer to conceal, that General McClellan's division was at first overwhelmed, and that twenty-five pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the Confederates. Two days later a little more is permitted to creep into publicity in New York, and the newspapers are allowed to say, as a Southern version of the Richmond battles, that the Confederates had captured 12,000 prisoners, had got possession of all McClellan's siege guns, and had taken from him supplies sufficient to last the Confederate army three months. If we compare this last report with the first, we probably see, the full effect of the official coloring.
This is a good example of the way in which a great defeat may be cleverly tend down, and the tidings so gently broken as not to shock an impatient people. It is plain now to the meanest comprehension that McClellan was so thoroughly beaten on the 27th, with loss of guns and baggage, that he would have been driven into the river if his gunboats had not been there to protect him. The Government succeeded in falsifying this fact for a short time, and by so doing hoisted the stupid populace over this difficulty into another foots' paradise. But it is only with the scum of the Atlantic cities these tricks can now avail. They could not avert the panic of the New York Stock Exchange, or stay the shiploads of dollars which took flight for Europe, or delay the departure of the Orleanist Princes, deserting a no longer victorious cause, or prevent the people who are running together to make demonstrations against the means by which the war is conducted, or check the increasing sentiment that there is neither plunder nor glory to be obtained by the invading army in the Federal service, and that all who go South are doomed to melt away through pestilence, or to fall by the sword.--Even in America — credulous and simple as we may there seem to be when we say so — truth and honesty would, we believe, be the best policy. It is coming rapidly to this, that the greater the victory announced the more terrible will be the defeat believed in; and the President and his War Minister may succeed at last in so mystifying the American public, that if they really should gain a great victory, the announcement of it will put New York into mourning, and ruin all the speculators for a rise in Government stocks.
Mockery of English distress.
[from the London times, 15th.]
It is to be feared that the general anticipation of a very early prolongation will not be realized.
The members of the House of Commons who looked upon this as a holiday session, and some of whom had fixed the already past 10th day of July as the last day of their labors, will probably have to put off their more pleasant engagements and prepare for a strain of severe and disagreeable work.
We must share the penalty of the madness of that in sensate people across the Atlantic.
Like monkeys grinning and chattering at mischief done in the mere instinct of wantonness, the American people have been triumphing in the distress they have been able to cause in our cotton districts, and their press gains popularity by depicting starvation in Lancashire.
Thank Heaven, the lowest class publications in England would never dare to attempt to emulate such a success here by retaliating expressions of exultation over the fever stricken wretches of the American armies.
We have no readers in this country for such demoniac expressions of joy over human misery.
We believe that we best retain the spirit of our common ancestors when we continue to look with pity across the Atlantic, and with an ardent desire to see a termination of the desolation which now rages.
If, however, it be a pleasure to them to know it, we will not seek to disguise the fact that they have caused us great national evil.
Thousands of industrious English families are at this moment hard pushed by want, because as a nation we have been true to our sense of right, and would not go in our strength and take the cotton which their feeble cruisers keep blockaded.
For the same reason, and in consequence of the strict adherence to that rule of right, more thousands are falling monthly out of employ, and there is a dreary winter coming on. If it be a delight to New York and Boston, and Washington to know this, be their joy complete, for it is a fact.
Our House of Commons before it separates has to make what provision can be made for this evil future that comes striding on.
A demand for intervention.
[from the London Herald.]
The subjugation of the Confederates is quite out of the question.
Is not this at length the desired occasion for recognizing the claims of the Southern States for independence?
The present moment or never, Earl Russell!
The tide is rolling by.--You are playing with the straws on the surface, while the vast raft on which the salvation of both hemispheres of the globe mainly depends, is drifting fast to an all engulfing, irreparable ocean.
For if nobody will interpose, this detestable strife is still likely to continue.
The summons for 300,000 more men does not look like the end. The Confederates are still the victors, and they never can be subdued.
It would take a new levy of a million of troops to conquer them, and successive millions to keep them down when conquered, if even that were probable.
But the whole thing is an impossibility.
The Unionists of North America may still be mad enough to go to perdition for an impossibility.
But the sober business Parliament of England must manage the nation's affairs with common sense, with prudence and humanity, and without any impossibility.
This assembly cannot permit a self willed minister to close the year's sitting without an attempt to put an end to that cotton dearth which is starving our willing work people; their firm resolve may do much in urging a sluggish ministry to find its opportunity for mediation now while Americans themselves are beginning to cry aloud for peace, and while recent events have still more fully proved the conquest of the South to be an object altogether unattainable. The Globe (Palmerston) treats it as a defeat, and says that McClellan after seven days fighting, and terrible loss, has achieved the great strategic advantage of establishing himself in a position which he might have reached without any fighting either by land or by sea, at any time he pleased before the attack of the 27th of June.
