Things in General.
The great object of all the Yankee raids, at this particular crisis, is three fold. First, they hope to starve eight millions of people into submission, as intimated by Seward in his letter of instruction to his Minister at Copenhagen. Secondly, they hope to starve the population of Richmond into the humor for hailing them as deliverers. Lastly and principally, they hope to starve Lee's army, and thereby force him to abandon his position. These are hopeful projects, it must be confessed, and well worthy of the brain that conceived them. The only fault with them is that they are altogether inoperative. These raids may cause a vast deal of private distress; in some instances they have already ruined individuals. But instead of making any man more desirous of peace, they only excite the spirit of vengeance, and stimulate to continued exertion. They make the Yankee name more hated than it was even before the war, and that is the very spirit which we are glad to see excited. They teach the people that war, everlasting war is preferable to submission or even to compromise. As to their effect upon Gen. Lee's operations they will have none whatever. They will not gain Grant an inch of ground or a single advantage. Lee has him by the throat, and he will not release him, let him plunge and kick as he may.In the meantime the truth begins to leak out at the North. The Times, for whatsoever purpose it is not material, so far as we are concerned, has told the truth, in a modified form at least. It has revealed the fact, so carefully concealed by Stanton, that Grant was badly beaten on the morning of the 3d of June, and although the Herald came instantly to the rescue, it was too late. Grant was not nominated at Baltimore, and Lincoln was. Gold went up to 194½, and Grant stock came down to zero with a run. For our own part we are glad to hear that Lincoln has received the nomination. When some enterprising partisan officer of the Revolution proposed to carry off Sir William Howe from the midst of his army, Washington put his veto upon it at once.--He had no doubt that it was feasible; but Howe had conducted the war as stupidly as it was possible for any man to conduct it, and any change whatever could not but be for the British interest. Let him stay, for fear of a successor who might not be quite such an imbecile. So we say of Old Abe.--It would be impossible to find another such ass in the United States, and therefore we say let him stay. We, at least of the Confederacy, ought to be satisfied with him, for he has conducted the war exactly as we ought to wish it to be conducted. He has confirmed those that were wavering, heated red hot those who were luke warms made those zealous who were careless, converted cold indifference into furious passion, and calculating neutrality into burning patriotism. As for the military operations conceived and executed under his auspices, surely we have no right to complain. No service ever had so many blundering officers, and no campaigns were ever conducted with greater stupidity. For these reasons, we are decidedly in favor of Old Abe, and if we could command a million of votes in Yankeedom he should have them all. He has made the South the most united people that ever went forth to battle with an invader; and for that he deserves the lively gratitude of every Southern man. If anything could add to the obligations under which we lie to the Baltimore Convention, it would be found in the nomination of Andrew Johnson; the man of all others most detested in the South, and the most likely to keep together the parties already united in one solid mass for the prosecution of the war. Convinced, as we are, that nobody not in favor of continuing the war could be elected, and that no other would conduct it so foolishly, we go for this ticket.
