The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-14 00:00:00

land, and bring the States to the verge of bank+
ruptcy should be waged for nearly four years cer-
tainly never entered the calculations of even the
most prescient of American politicians. However,
facts must be taken as they are found ' • and, looking
back to the time when the Republic last chose its
President, we can only marvel at the vast amount
of evil which the folly and wickedness of man have
been enabled to work within the comparatively
short period which has since intervened. Calling
to mind the circumstances which attended the last
Presidential election, it may well be doubted
'whether the complete severance of the South from
the North was necessary to secure for the latter
that protection which it had a right to demand.
For a long series of years the Dz.mocrats had com-
manded a majority in the State, and the occupants
of the White House at Washington were invariably
men who represented and supported Southern in-
terests. The defeat of Breckenridge, the Democratic

candidate, and the retarn of his Republican op-
ponent, Mr. Lincoln, for the first time threw the
supreme power into the hands of a party which
made no secret of their intentions to attack that
peculiar institution in the South which not tine
justly excites the the abhorence of almost every
civilised State. But to strike at slavery as it exists
in the Southern States was in effect to attack the
rights of property, and the population of the South
would not have been human if they did not take
what they considered the most efficacious means for
the preservation of that which constituted almost
their entire wealth. It was not, however, their fault
that the Republic was rent in twain. Even after
some of the States had seceded, proposals were made
to Mr Lincoln which, if accepted, would have most
probably led to the re-formation of the Union ; but
these proposals the new President, confident in the
power of the Government, refused to accept. Com"
promise was a word which Air Lincoln could not
bring himself to utter, and the only reply vouchsafed
to the Southern delegates was, that they must un'
conditionally acknowledge the supremacy of the
Government, and submit without demur to its de'
crees. Placed in this position, the South had no
alternative but to spring to arms in vindication of
its independence, and before Mr Lincoln had fore
mally entered on office the war began. Then the
issue became different ; it was no longer whether
the Republic should be governed by this or that
particular faction, but whether a new State should
be permitted to establish itself entirely distinct from
that which had previously constituted the American
Union. Day by day the breach widened, and be'
comes more and more hopelessly irreparable. The
North fought for empire ; the South for independ-
ence; and both were equally confident of victory.
And so month succeeded month, and year followed
after year, until again the time has come round for
the State to nominate its magistrate ; and now, 013e°
more, after the lapse of four years, and under Mr:
cumstances even graver than those which attended
the last Presidential election, American politicians
are engaged in that preliminary canvass which de'
termines the particular candidates who will in the
month of November next solicit the suffrages of the
entire people. It is not improbable that the Chicago
Convention will nominate M'Clellan, and that the
majority of the population in the Northern States
will ratify their choice. M'Clellan is a Democrat,
and it he had been elected four years since, instead
of Mr Lincoln, the severance between the North and
South might never have taken place. It is by t?ci,
means certain, however, that his election now
have the effect of bringing the war to an end*
Daring the earlier stage of the war, the Northern
Democrats distinguished themselves from the Ite"
publicans by the moderation of their language, and
by the readiness which they evinced to make con"
eessione to the South, provided the latter would
once more enter the Union. Bat, as we have just
observed, the time when a compromise might have
been effected has long since gone by, and those who
still dream of a re-establishment of the Union 10"
dulge in a vain chimera, the attempt to realise
which must of necessity prolong the war. Much will
depend, therefore, upon the language which Geo.
M'Clellan will hold, when he submits himself for
election, 'whether his advent to office can be hailed
as a sign of approaching peace. The North wisheo
for peace, but it is not yet resigned to that division
of the Republic which is, nevertheless, an accote
plished fact. The South at no time desired hostile'
ties, and will now gladly lay down its arms if per'
witted to do so. But it can only be on one condition.
The Southern States desire to be completely aide'
pendent ; they know that they can secure the
accomplishment of that desire; and nothing safe
absolute political independence will satisfy there:
The proposal now made by the South to the North
is extremely simple—it may be refused or it nal,
accepted, but it cannot be evaded. If the new Free,'
dent, whether ho be M'Clellan or some one else,
should adopt a temporising policy, and endeavour
to coax the South into doing that which it has 13‘201
impossible to wring from it by coercion, the result's
will be as disastrous as if Mr Lincoln, or any other,
uncompromising Republican, was placed at the beau
of the Government. The re.establiehment of the
Union has become an impossibility, and the sooner
that fact is recognised in the North the sooner will
the war be terminated. The Southern Confederacle
is now, and has been since the commencement of
the war, as independent a Power as the Northern
Federation, and nothing really remains for the latter
but to recognise, with what grace it may, the
political entity of the new Republic, and bow NV t,
submission to the unanswerable logic of facts.