The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-13 00:00:00

Vicksburg has not attained the object for which
men and money were so lavishly squandered to
Effect its subjugation, and the commerce of the
Mississippi is paralysed. Even the news of the
temporary triumph at Atlanta comes to us with so
doubtful and chequered a character, that it is very

possible the next mail may prove it to be less of a
victory than a dilemma on the part of SHEB,MAN.
Charleston still stands impregnable, with the Con-
federate flig flying over the ruins of Fort Sumter,
and the experience of these years of struggle, while it
has sh,)wn how the North can lavish their treasure
and sacrifice their people to preserve the Union, has
also shown that they cannL t succeed in subduing
the indomitable Southerners. Both sides have car-
ried on the War on a gigantic scale, bringing armies
into the field more in accordance with the cus-
toms of ancient Europe, when every man was a

soldier in time of need, than of the present day.
But numbers have been met by numbers, oppres-
sion by resource, and the resolve to crush by the
unconquerable determination to be free. The
blockade has been set at nought, the energies of
the people taxed to the utmost until the impo-
verished and crippled South can boldly con-
front the arrogant emissaries of the North,
and fearlessly claim her own terms. And
now the end which we have long foreseen
is at hand. The North is growing weary of the
war, and the indication of the Chicago Convention
points unmistakeably to peace. We are told that
the platform, to use a curious Americanism adopted
by the Convention, was the preservation of the
Union and Constitution by conciliation and compro-

rase, and it demanded that immediate steps should
be taken to bring about the cessation of hostilities,
and that a Convention of the States or other similar
means should be adopted. ;The armistice it re-
mains to be seen whether the Confederates will
accede to, since it would give the North the time
they want to recruit their forces and their Treasury ;
but the whole tone of the " platform" is re-
markably pacific. It was necessary, of course, to
profess attachment to the Union, but this very
practical nation are not likely to fight long for "an
idea" when they find their advantage on the other
aide. If anything were needed to indicate still
further the views of the Convention it would be
the selection of a chairman. Governor SETMOUR
has distinguished himself by his resolute opposition
to the tyranny of LINCOLN and his Cabinet, end Hs
election by acclamation to the head of this impor-
tant assembly, prove how highly his countrymen
regard such services. He made a speech of con-
s derable length in favour of peace, and" a re urn
to the principle of the Constitution'? and it is pro-
bably to his influence that we are to ascribe the
significant resolution that any military interference
at the coming elections was to be resisted
if necessary by force. It is a powerful comment
on the tenour of Mr. LINCOLN'S Administration
that such a declaration should be thought neces-
sary, Armed intervention in civil elections is one
of the worst crimes of a despotic Government, but
it is the peculiarity of the American Constitution
that almost any amount of despotism is possible to
the President during his tenure of office. Among
the reforms to be instituted before the "return to
the principles of the Constitution," we should cer-
tainly advocate the introduction of some provision
for restraining the authority of the President when
occasion needed. The new President, if General
NPCLELLAN is elected, is not likely to stand
in such need of checks as ABRAHAM
LINCOLN, but the boasted 'Western Republic
should at least be as secure of its liberties as Euro.
pean constitutional kingdoms. Meanwhile the
great event of the elections remain to be actually
decided, and the importance of the selection can
hardly be overrated. Four more years of bloodshed,
pillage, and rapine, of burning villages and tram-
pled pastures, of desolated homes and laden battle-
fields ; four more years of debt and expenditure,
of failing credit and extravagant financial experi-
ments; of suspended liberty and civil and military
tyranny, and how much will be left of the great
country of WASHINGTON? Neither North nor
South can face such a prospect unmoved, while
England herself shrinks from so dismal a
conclusion to that daring and prosperous career
which she watched with so kindly an interest. Yet
if ABRAHAM LINCOLN is again elected to the
supreme power, it will be a virtual approval of his
policy and of the war. It will be sanctioning the
acts of those men who, while proposing Union
principles, openly avow their wish to see every rebel
hanged, and it will be pledging the whole people of
the N)rth to a continuation of that savage mode of
warfare which has called forth an outcry from all
civilised Europe. General M'CLELLAN is as yet
pledged to nothing, but he is known to be in favour
of peace ; and if his supporters are to be found in
men like Governor SEYMOUR and his associates, his
policy is to be trusted. Let us trust that in this
great crisis of their national history the America❑
people may prove themselves worthy of the race
rom which they sprung.

Colonel NI‘MIIE,Do's remarks upon Volunteers are
always worth attending to, and it will be satisfac-
tory to many to find that he entertains a high
opinion of the present efficacy of the forces. The
gallant colonel entered fully into the subject, and
explained that he had for some time past considered
what were the best means to adopt to secure the
defence of the country. It is at all events gratify-
ing to know that he considers the Volunteer move-
ment to have been the best that could have been
made. We are told that Sir CHARLES NAPIER,
whom his son-in-law truly described as one of the
greatest patriots and soldiers that the world had
Seen, gave it as his opinion that if the country was

to be preserved free from foreign invasion, " it would
be by the action of the people, and all classes of the
people combined." This desideratum is certainly
secured by the present practice, and it is to be
regretted that the veteran soldier did not live to
witness the successful termination which has
crowned the efforts of an undertaking such as he
himself would have delighted in. Still there re-
mains the satisfaction of knowing that we have
fulfilled the letter of the affair of which he com-
mended the spirit, and if we can think that our
departed warriors would have commended the in-
stitution of the Volunteers, it will be an encourage-
ment against the foolish objections and empty
tirades of those who decry its maintenance and
promotion. The words of Colonel M'MTJRDO
are a valuable testimony and a striking incentive
to those who would waver or doubt, be in or out of
the as to the efficacy and the advantages of
their rairnks
efforts; it is a warning to persevere, and an

encouragement to do eo with good cheer. The
Colonel very truly said that the extent of the Volun-
teer force had often excited his astonishment, but
that
he believed its magnitude was in a great
degree owing
to the spread of education among the
people at large: Such, no doubt, may be a very
plausible and probable solution of the difficulty ;
because it is certain that the more the politics of the
present day are understood, and their connection
with other countries recognised, the better know-
ledge will be obtained of the requirements of the
nations, and the more hearty will Le the concur-
rence in any national movement. The chief charac-
teristic of the Volunteer institution has been that it
*prang spontaneously from tha people. in that tact