The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-24 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Time; Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, Sept. 0.
General M'Clellan has formally accepted the
Chicago nomination, but explained away the
" platform" of the Convention. He is for union
" at all hazards," but will not, even to restore the
Union, consent to set aside the Constitution of the
United States, or make the abolition of slavery a
sine qua non of discuision's tending to the restora-
tion of peace. He says nothing of the armistice and
convention of the States which was the ruling idea
oQ the Convention. Without repudiating either the
language, the sentiments, or the intention of the re-
solutions adopted by that body, he
puts his own in-
terpretation upon them ; and, if elected, will come
already e
trampled t
o a f n o
oe
de
e d and
was
a Constitution whatunder
foo
into office unpledged to anything but the Union and
e
once
hn
:o C
tohno t
Great
ur
et ai ot
Republic,n—a superseded in one-half Union
and
on the plea of military necessity in the other. Be-
tween Mr. Lincoln and GeneraliM'Clellan there is
little to choose on public grounds, The one would
restore the Union by fire, sword, abolition of negro
slavery, and extermination of the white people ; the
other would restore it by offering the South every-
thing it claims, or can claim, except independence.
That offer failing to conciliate the people or the
leaders, he would be in the same predicament as
Mr. Lincoln, and compelled either to make peace
with an enemy whom he had vainly striven to
coerce or persuade, or carry on the war till one
party or the other was broken and exhausted. To
the South—if it have the strength and the will to
persevere—the difference between the two candi-
dates resolves itself into as little as that between
those renowned musicians—" Tweedle Dum and
Tweedle Dee." The tune is fundamentally the same
—the sole divergence from the score consisting in
the flourishes and the appoggiature.
The Republican party, seeing the danger which
menaces it from divided councils, is rapidly closing
up its ranks. Mr. Horace Greely has accepted
Mr. Lincoln as a pis aller, and will for the future
support him with all the influence at his command.
Mr. Chase will doubtless be found in the Lincoln
ranks when the day of ballot approaches, and every
effort will be made to induce General Fremont to
withdraw. Mr. Lincoln's friends look for help in
every quarter, and despise none that' is offered,
however feeble. Even the pert spinster who de-
livers parrot-like lectures to grey-bearded men upon
the strategy of generals and the policy of statesmen,
and who formerly had no words contemptuous
enough to express her estimate of Mr. Lincoln's
abilities, is paraded in the Republican journals as
having resolved to support his claim to re-election.
Miss Dickinson does not seem to have changed her
opinion of Mr. Lincoln personally, but will support
him, because the party has and can have now no
other choice. " Either the Republican party must
control," she says, "or Heaven will weep and hell
laugh aloud," and other buncombe to the same
effect. Mr. Wendell Phillips has not yet pronounced
on the question; but, if General Fremont should
be induced to retire, will doubtless help the cum
of Mr. Lincoln by his silence, if he cannot advance
it by his vote or his oratory.
Mr. Seward, of course, accepts the pleasant duty
of supporting his chief, and thereby himself, as
Secretary of State for another term of four years, or
20 years, or any longer time that it may take to
make him President of the 34 States. Being at home
in his native village of Auburn, he was serenaded by
a large concourse of his friends and neighbours, in
celebration of the barren, but, as it then appeared
both to Auburn and N
—evr York, the fruitful victory
achieved by General Sherman at Atlanta. The
Secretary made a speech in recognition of the honour,
and in support of Mr. Lincoln and denunciation of
General M'Clellan, h;
which has attracted more than
usual notice and comment, in consequence of the
remarkable assertions it contains and the strange
disclosures which it makes. Mr. Seward is always
genial and joyous, except perhaps when he rings
his little bell to consign a political opponent to
Fort Lafayette or Fort Warren. But even then it
is to be supposed that the grimness is but transient,
and that the originally kindly nature relaxes into
hilarious benevolence towards all mankind—the
aforesaid prisoner not included. His speech at
Auburn partook of all his usual characteristics. It
was hopeful, reckless, indiscreet, and, without
offence, it may be added untruthful. It was " hope-
ful" when he said that under the influence of the
cheering news from Atlanta all the discontent and
despondency of the people had disappeared, and
that the "rebellion" had become a mere eggshell
that would be speedily crushed, "being brittle with
the exhaustion of the vitality within." It was
" reckless" when he asserted that there would be
no draught, " because the army was being rein-
forced at the rate of from 6,000 to 10,000 men per
day by volunteering. e These words were said on
Monday the sth. On Wednesday, the 7th, Mr,
Stanton, who ought to know better than Mr.
Seward, notified to General Dix that a draught will
certainly and speedily be made in every district that
has not filled up its quota under Mr. Lincoln's call
for 500,000 men. Which of the two Ministers is to
be believed—the one who speaks of matters that
are not in his department, or he who Writes i
offi-
cially ? Even supposing tto be true that volun-
teering goes on , brisk y
• 1 the difference
between 6,000
and 10,000 men per day is enormous ; and if the
lower estimate were correct would have pro-
vided in the month just ended no less than 155,000
men. Can Mr. Seward believe this ? Or does any
one in America believe that even one half of the
number has been forthcoming within three months ?
Mr. Seward is much too sanguine. He takes no
and ;
pains to verify his figures, Lenott be
relied
upon for his facts by any one Who desires to ascer-
tain the truth upon competent authority. The in-
discretion of his speech is equally palpable. He told
his audience that it was necessary not only to vote
Mr Lincoln in again as President, but " to fight him
in." lie also admitted that " the Federal capital
was in some sort held constantly in siege by the
rebels," a gloomy truth which seems to have escaped
his lips by acaideat and was not at all in keeping
with the otherwise roseate hues of his oration. Nor
was it less indiscreet, seeing that Mr Lincoln, if he
is to be a successful candidate for the Presidency,
must secure the undivided vote of the Republican
and Abolition party, to proclaim in his behalf that
the Niagara let ter, to " all whom it might concern,"
was to be repudiated, and that the famous procla-
mation emancipating the slaves of the South " for
ever," and declaring the intention of the Govern-
ment to maintain such freedom by the sword, would
become a dead letter as soon as the South should lay
down its arms and consent to re-enter the Union. Is
such the policy of Mr Lincoln as the actual Presi-
dent ? And will Mr Lincoln, as President expectant,
demand the suffrages of his party upon such a plat-
form ? If an affirmative answer be returned to these
questions, Mr Lincoln has changed his mind since
he wrote his letter to Niagara, and will break up
the Republican party. If the answer be in the nega-
tive, where is the dieoretion of his Secretary of State