The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The obscure and disjointed fragments of
news which have reached us from the seat of war
in America are made the more difficult to interpret
by the delay of one of the telegrams which ought to
have arrived. The short telegram we published
yesterday announcing that Gen. Hooker had repulsed
the Confederates at Chattanooga, seems to assume
our knowledge of some previous operations, and in
the possible absence of an important link in the chain
of facts it is difficult to speculate with any confi-
dence upon our present intelligence. The news we
publish this morning, however, is not so disconnected
as it seems, and it affords, at least, some probable
explanation of the reported success of Gen. Hooker.
It must be remembered that Chattanooga lies on the
south side of the Tennessee:river, and has no direct
railway communication northwards to Nashville,
whence Gen. Thomas's principal supplies are drawn.
A railway runs nearly due west, and crosses the Ten-
nesseesoon after passing a station called Bridgeport,
and joins the railway from Nashville a little distance
on the other side of the river at Stevenson, Alabama.
The presence of the Confederate army, therefore, in
front and on the right flank of Gen. Thomas, com-
manded the only railroad by which he could com-
municate with his base ; and to-day's telegrams tell
us that the Federal army had. begun to suffer se-
verely from want of supplies. They were holding
on, however, in the hope of reinforcements from
Gen. Burnside, who was supposed to be advancing
towards them from the north-east. It may facili-
tate our readers' conception of the position if they
consider that Chattanooga lies at the centre of a long
line of railway, which stretches from it on the west,
through Corinth, to Memphis, on the Mississippi,
and north-east through Cleveland, Philadelphia,
Knoxville, and Bristol, to Lynchburg and Richmond,
in Virginia. East of Chattanooga a railway joins
the main line from the south, which forms the line
of Gen. Bragg's supports, and west of the town the
Nashville Railway runs into it at Stevenson in Ala-
bama. It is along the three lines of railway east,
west, and north, that all the operations con-
nected with the Cumberland Campaign occur
which are contained in oar intelligence of to-day.
It would appear, first of all, that General
Hooker's forces were approaching Chattanooga
from the north-east on the 24th or 25th, and we
hear soon after that the Federals had succeeded in
reopening river communication westward with
Bridgeport. Yesterday's news is unintelligible un-
less upon the supposition that Gen. Hooker's forces
had been thrown forward in the same direction
along the land and railroad communication south
of the river. Any such movement has been hitherto
prevented by the strong Confederate force which
held the positions of Lookout and Mission Ridge
on the right flank of the Federate; and according
to yesterday's intelligence Gen. Hooker was severely
attacked in his advance of the 28th, but repulsed
the Confederates and forced them to abandon the
positions of Lookout and Mission Ridge. If this
advance has really been so successfully made, it re-
lieves Gen. Thomas's army from the position of a
beleagured force, and breaks up the left of the Con-
federate position. It is strange, however, that Gen.
Bragg should have allowed his left wing to be thus
displaced without some definite purpose, and the
telegrams we publish to-day contain indications
that may explain the movement. It was believed
at Chattanooga, on the 24th, that a large portion of
Gen. Bragg's army was moving north-east upon
Cleveland, in Tennessee, with the view of getting
between Gen. Thomas and Gen. Burnside. General
Bragg, in short, appears from these telegrams to
have been moving round the left wing of the Fede-
ral army, while Gen. Thomas and Gen. Hooker
have been taking advantage of this to advance on
the Confederate left wing and to reopen their com-
munications on the west. If Gen. Bragg can suc-
cessfully carry out his plan, and isolate Thomas
from Burnside, the restoration of the Federal com-
munications with Nashville is of minor importance
to the success of the campaign. Gen. Thomas may
save his army by recovering his communication
with his base and retreating, but his success depends
on his union with Burnside. He cannot expect
considerable reinforcements from any other quarter.
It is said that a Federal force is advancing to him
from Corinth, along the western line of railway
just described, but it has already had to encounter
a powerful Confederate force at Cherokee and Tus-
cumbia, only some 30 or 40 miles along this line of
railway, and no large reinforcements are likely to
reach the Federals from this quarter. Even sup-
posing the ordinary communication restored be-
tween Nashville and Chattanooga, no large supplies
are likely to reach the Federals in that way, while
Confederate bands are here, there, are everywhere
to the north and west of Gen. Thomas's position.
The only real hope lies,,,as before, in the junction
with Burnside's army. The Federal interest ap-
pears to be principally directed now to this point,
and the late movements of General: Les are in-
terpreted as having some reference to it. The im-
pression is that while Bragg throws himself between
Burnside and Thomas a portion of Gen. Lee's army
is detached to attack Burnside's left flank. What-
ever Gen. Lee's objects may be, he continues to keep
the Washington Cabinet and Gen. Meade in entire
ignorance of them. He appears to cross and recross
the Rappahannock at his pleasure, to force Gen-
Meade to retreat or to allure him to advance with
equal ease and audacity. The line of advance and
retreat is the direct railroad across the Rappahan-
nock from Culpepper to Washington. Bealtou is
the first station on the Washington side of the Rap-
pahannock, and it is said that the Federals were
driven back again from this point after a sharp fight
on the 24th. Gen. Lee, in short, advances and re-
tires at his will, and Gen. Meade finds as little diffi-
culty in retreating ewhen he is hard pressed as in
advancing when he is has no enemy in front. One
thing only appears certain out of this confused mili-
tary news—that the fates of the two great Confede-
rate armies are intimately connected, as well as
those of the three Federal armies of Thomas, Burn-
side, and Meade. The Confederates hope to hold
Meade in check until they have crushed Burnside
and Thomas, when they would easily deal with the
Army of the Potomac; while the aim of the Fede-
rals is to overwhelm Bragg, and then to march from
Eastern Tennessee upon the communications of
Lee's rear in Virginia. The result promises to
be more critical to the fortunes of either side
than any previous issue of the war. The
bombardment of the Charleston defences has re-
commenced ; but the Confederates appear to
have turned the time to as good account as the
Federate, and, after the accounts of the utter demo-
lition of Fort Sumter, it is strange to hear that" no
damage was done to the Confederate batteries" by
260 shot thrown by the Federals. Such a result of
a whole day's bombardment from the batteries on
Morris Island and two Monitors does not look very
promising for the besiegers. The war at other
quarters seems to pause for the settlement of the
Tennessee campaigniand the ill-conceived expedition
to Texas appears to be given up. Meanwhile, the
anxiety of the Federals displays itself by incessant,
confused, and contradictory reports of the events at
the chief seat of war, or of changes in their Gene-
rals. " Assertions and contradictions of the re-
placement of General Meade alternate from day to
day," and General Rosencranz, ignominiously dis-
missed by the Cabinet, is enthusiastically received
at Cincinnati, and asserts that he has the private
approval of the President, and that none of the
reports circulated about his conduct have any official
foundation. Under whatever disadvantages the
Confederates may labour, they are free from this
restless distrust of their Generals, and all their stra-
tegy is consequently marked by a firmer head and
a steadier purpose. It is a less disadvantage to walk
barefoot from Bristol, in Tennessee, to Lynchburg,
in Virginia, as some of Lee's troops are said to have
done, than to fight under a different General every
six months, and to know that no one has any confi-
dence in the General of the hour. It. is a strange
sort of invasion which cannot find a leader, and
alternately begs and threatens for soldiers.

POST.—The cheers that shoolt the Guildhall last
night when Lord Palmerston entered the building,
and that were repeated with about.'ding enthusiasm
when the Prime Minister rose l'o address the
brilliant assembly collected within those time-
honoured walls, proved at once both tl:e popularity
of his policy and the increasing tribute of honours
which succeeding years accumulate on tl,:e greatest
statesman of the age. The country is
proud of
him, and his high reputation stands scatheless and
uninjured, whether by the attacks of party 01' thet
petty malignity of scandal. Lord Palmerston, i
is felt by the public, can brusb such libels aside with
the contemptuous strength with and h whic " the lion
of
shakes the dewdrops from his mane," a men
character and integrity feel it to be an insult to
themselves to listen for one moment to the sugges-
tions of the extortioner or the whispers of foul
tongues. This feeling was not altogether foreign
to the desire to
pay the highest personal honours to
ran* misaenthwe hnoamhaes a dn odn
fea
mmeo ro ef
Et hnag en high amongnlisahnmy now living to
the nations. The speech which Lot d Palmerston
made last night contained no revelations, and chiefly
served to show that the policy of the Cabinet
Y. is
-
identical with the feeling of the countr Whether
W
right or wrong, there can be no doubt that the dis-
position of the mass of the people is to hold aloof
from interference in all foreign
Premier did not touch on the questions. The
question of the Con-
gress which has justibeen pro
of the French, because, no
doubt, till a determina-
tionposed by the Emperor
has been arrived at, and
till the answer of her
Majesty has been returned
-inerial neighbour, it is to the proposition of her
a topic unripe for official
11 '` was not possible, however,
to pass over
.ion without t s rongly deploring the
-no in that unhappy country.
hat we had done our

duty by bestirring ourselves in the beginning of this
year to enlist the feelingsland opinions of Europe
in favour of the Poles. That effort was so far
crowned with success. Almost every Government,
great and small, addressed remonstrances to the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg; but the general concord
of earnest representations, and the special interfe-
rence of some of the greater Powers, have alike re-
mained absolutely fruitless • yet, in spite of the
failure of moral force and the proved utility of per-
suasion, there still remains the vague hope that
moral force and persuasion may yet bring about 14
restoration of peace in the East of Europe upon the
principles of equity and justice. For ourselves, we
do not believe in the efficacy of these means. We
think that either the Poles will be utterly
crnsied and trodden out as a nation, or that
their protracted struggle for existence will
ultimately involve other nations in the conflict.
An English Minister, however, has only his duty to
his own country to perform. He cannot make War
for ideas, nor take up national causes from merely
chivalrous motives. His highest prerogative is to be
the exponent and interpreter of the will of the
great majority of his countrymen, and there can
be but few who will dispute that the course of the
Ministry with regard to Poland has been in strict
accordance with the wishes of the people of Eng-
land. It is no doubt very strongly felt that Poland
is a far distant land, with which we have no inti-
mate relation or concern ; that the lighting up of a
great European war is an overwhelming responsi-
bility; that some alliances are difficult and others
dangerous; and that the objects for which we
should have to contend are in the highest degree
indefinite, if not visionary. Such being the pop-
lar sentiment, a Ministry would only court its own
ruin which should attempt to run counter to it ;
and there is every reason to believe that the Ad-
ministration has thoroughly appreciated the weight
of public opinion, and both the difficulties, and
responsibilities 'of the situation. Lord Palmeretee
can therefore only reiterate the fact that Russia line
drawn upon herself the condemnation of Europe'
and can only look to future events for some pco-
Bible chance of effecting a favourable settlement.
In respect to the great American war the position
is absolutely unaltered. The Minister knows of ne
prospect of peace, and still proclaims our steadfast
neutrality. This policy, again, whether in itself
most wise, is no doubt most approved of by the
people of England, and a Cabinet thoroughly pos-
sessed of the will of the public can have no choice)
but to maintain the strict line which has been so
unswervingly observed. Turning, however, from
foreign affairs in their various unpleasing aspects,
it is pleasant to have to record the increasing pros-
perity of our own country. We have indeed
fairly left other nations behind in the race after
wealth. In spite of trials which few could have
borne, our budgets have flourished, and Lord
Palmerston was able to state that the commerce
and material prosperity of the country were never
so great as they are at present. It is deeply felt
that the happy condition of this country is in Ile
small degree owing to the wise and temperate con'
duct of public affairs by the present Administration.
The whole people may be said to have placed their
confidence in Lord Palmerston, and to feel th
whilst he guides the helm, the general welfare je
in the best and ablest hands. That this confidence
is not misplaced is shown by the flourishing state.
of matters at home, and by the general approval
which is accorded to our foreign policy. Wbil°
such is the case the administration of the eminent
statesman who presides over the national council°
will continue to run its beneficent and popular
career.