The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-02 00:00:00

long the discussion, and as the request chimed with
the observances of the house, it met with ready ac-
quiescence. As, however, the question of recognis-
ing the Southern Confederacy cannot be shelved,
though it may be thus temporarily evaded by one
of the branches of the Legislature, it will not be
considered out of place to review dispassionately the
grounds on which the claims of the infant St to are
based, and the principles which should govern the
conduct of neutral Powers. We do not see what
gaud purpose it can serve to endeavour as it were
to hush up a subject which is ever present before
our minds, and to attempt to postpone indefinitely
the solution of a problem which sooner or later we
will most undoubtedly be called upon to solve. We
therefore sincerely regret, when Lord Campbell sub-
mitted to the House of Lords the advisability of ac-
knowledging the independence of the Southern Con-
federacy, that nothing was evoked beyond a minis-
terial reply. It is notorious that the majority of
persons in England consider that the Southern
States have achieved their independence, and that
the efforts made by the North to effect a reconquest
are entirely hopeless. There are many in the
House of Lords who hold this opinion ; and it is
therefore to be regretted, when Earl Russell
assumed that the enterprise in which the Northern
States are engaged might still be crowned with suc-
cess, that some were not found to point out the
groundlessness of such an assumption. If it be
conceded that the Southern Confederacy must ulti-
mately succeed in establishing its independence,
then the obligation of recognising becomes a matter
for the consideration 6f neutral States. A refusal to
accord the required recognition must consequently
be founded either upon the conviction that the
ultimate success of the Confederates is problemati-
cal, or that, for political reasons, it is more expedi-
ent to defer for a time an official declaration that
the object with which the Southern States have
taken up arms has been, in fact, attained. Let us
briefly consider these several grounds. As regards
the supposed invincibility of the South, it is of
course impossible to prove a negative and demon-
strate that it cannot be subdued. In matters of
this kind, however, certainty is not essential ; and
the first authorities on international law, including
Vattel, DeMartens, and Wheaton, concur in declar-
ing that an infant State is entitled to demand the
recognition of its independence so soon as it can
satisfy neutral States that in all probability it can
maintain itself against foreign aggression. The
Southern Confederacy has sprung from what to
other nations must be regarded as a revolution, be-
cause, even admitting the right of the Southern
States to secede from the American Union, still
they formed part, and diplomatically considered,
continue to form part of a republic still officially
recognised by the rest of the world. It is therefore
right that the neutral States should attach the
greatest weight to the fact that the war to which
the secession of the Southern states gave rise still
continues, and that the established Government has
not desisted from its attempts to reduce to sub-
mission those which it still terms its revolted pro-
-sinces. But no expounder of international law, if
we except Sir George Lewis, has ever enunciated
the proposition that until a war between the esta-
blished Government and those who set its autho-
rity at defiance has been brought to a close, the in-
dependence of the revolutionists cannot be recog-
nised. It is sufficient if those who constitute them-
selves into a new State establish, to the satisfaction
of the world, that, regarded as a matter of proba-
bility, their efforts will in all likelihood prove
successfal. Now, judging from the position of
affairs in America at the end of the second year of
the civil war, it is impossible for any unprejudiced
person not to feel that the re-establishment of the
American Union is the vainest of chimeras. The
circumstance that the Federal Government have
been unable to penetrate into the interior of the
contiguous State of Virginia would in itself prove
that the subjugation of the entire Confederacy is
not within the bounds of possibility. We can do no
more than point to facts, and if, notwithstanding
the experience of the last two years, there are those
who still believe in the possibility of the Federal
Government vindicating its authority in the
Southern States, why, we must decline undertak-
ing the useless task of attempting to alter their con-
viction. But admitting that the Southern Confede-
racy has established its independence, it is suggested
that at the present juncture, it is inexpedient to
recognise that fact. By so doing, it is urged that
we shall not materially alter the relations of the
belligerents to each other, and may give serious
umbrage to the Government of the United States.
Tr,,,t, we would be regarded by the Government at
Washington as having done an unfriendly act is
probable enough; but we do not think that such a
consideration should prevent us discharging such
an act of duty. It is, however, scarcely correct to
entitled
sae that, by recognising the independence of the
South, we should not sensibly modify the relations
of the belligerents inter se and it
h but the
we
the
ld
rest
ewo f
would
uhe
world. We would not, byacknowledging
in-
dependence of the Southern Confederacy,
view
be tit
to interpose between the belligerents,
sbeettping placed in
finoaotmnueeghomtiaotrieonfs with a to theed
favourable position for
restoration of peace. Nor is it ureason ab,e to suppose
that the admis•,ion by the European Powers of the
sovereignty of the Southern Confederacy would
exercise considerable influence in determining the
At present the
course of the Federal Government: .
Government at Washington are disinclined to con-
fessee North may yet
that they are without hope of re-establishing
their authority in the South, since the European
Powers, by their refusal to recognise the new Con-
federacy, in effect admit that t
bring the war in which it is engaged to a success-
ful issue. But if Europe authoritatively pronounced
the American Union to be finally dissolved, the
Federal Government would be forced by circum-
stances to concur in that decisiolie If the bellige-
rents are entirely ignored by the neutral Powers,
there seems every prospect of a protracted war ;
but if, without intervention, the great maritime
Powers of Europe were to declare Southern inde-
pendence to be an accomplished fact, an opening
would be afforded for negotiations which would in
all probability speedily lead to a conclusion of the
war.
HERALD.—Every mail from America may now
be expected to bring us more and more important
news. Like the last act of stirring tragedy, the
great drama that is being played out in the Western
World gathers force and thrilling interest as it
nears the closing scene ; and we, the audience,
await with almost breathless interest the upshot
which may make or mar the history of half a con-
tinent. For whatever may bathe issue of the shock
of battle now about to be delivered, it will be as re-
gards the result of the war conclusive. Never again
will the North be able to resume the conflict with
greater odds ; and believing, as we do, that this, its
last effort, will fail as disastrously as those which
have preceded it, we confidently expect that the
conviction of the hopelessness of its efforts will at
length dawn upon the Northern mind, and enable
the voice of reason once again to make itself heard
in Northern councils. There is not a single gleam
of hope to the Federal cause East, West, or South.
The failure of the attempt on Port Hudson has vir-;
tually settled the question of the freedom of the
Mississippi. Admiral Farragut cannot be in a
position to resume the attack this season. The
utmost his damaged flotilla is capable of is the pro-
tection of the Federal garrisons at Baton Rouge
and New Orleans, and the blockade of the Missis-
sippi and Galveston. And there is even less chance
of reducing Vicksburg. The inundations which
were to starve out the defenders of this position
have, according to the latest accounts, compelled
the Federals to leave their camps, if net to abandon
the siege altogether. The " cut-off" is a failure.
The route by Lake Providence and Tenses River
is impracticable for so large en armament as the
North would have to despatch down the river for
the assault upon Port Hudson. There seems to be
nothing for General Grant to do but to risk another
assault immediately, against all reasonable hope or
to lead back his enfeebled and demoralished army
to Memphis. Even Rosencranz is brought to a
stand-still in Tennessee. At Knoxville and Tulla-
homa there are large armies in his front. South of
the Duck River, and threatening at any moment to
outflank his right, is General Van Dorn, with a
considerable force. Along the banks of the Ten-
nessee River there are hordes of guerillas, and in
Western Tennessee a Confederate army is muster-
ing for another inroad into Kentucky. Chatta-
nooga is safer than Nashville, and Rosencranz,
instead of penetrating into Georgia, has to content
himself with fortifying Murfreesborough and
covering the capital of Tennessee. At Charles-
ton the bombardment is still only threatened;
the great army that General Foster landed
at Hilton Head is demoralised by perpetual
squabbles about the status of the negro ; whilst
the Confederates are employing all their
time in maturing their plans of defence for holding
Charleston to the last against the fire of the iron-
clads, and preventing a repetition of the catastrope
of New Orleans. In Florida Vie first attempt of the
Federals to excite a servile insurrection has signally
failed. A regiment or brigade of negroes, bearing
arms to place in the hands of insurgent slaves, has
been surrounded and captured, and we fear there