The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-09 00:00:00

THE WAR, IN AMERICA.

(From. the Timer
NEW Corr
Yespondent.)
ORK. DEC. 26.
The more the circumstances connected with the
late break-down and reconstruction of Mr. Lincoln's
Cabinet are considered, the closer resemblance do
they bear to a theatrical performance, got up to dis-
tract public attention from matters of more perilous
concern. Nothing emit(' have been more successful
if Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had pre-arranged it
for the purpose. The piece was well timed, and all
the actors thoroughly understood their parts. The
blood-stained heights of Fredericksburg and the
humiliations of defeat were forgotten amid the be-
wilderment with which the people watched the de-
velopment of what a French dramatist might have
called " Le Secretaire d'Etat ; une Comedic de Trois
lours," or which an English playright at this
Christmas time might have produced under the title
of "Father Abraham ; or, Harlequin, Secretary of
State, and the Wonderful Storm of Greenbacks."
The plot, though not elaborate, abounded with un-
expected situation. It opened m 3 steriously with a
secret conclave of midnight conspirators, composed
of senators, headed by Mr. Charles Sumner, the
Abolitionist, all bent on dictating to the Great
Abraham the choice of his servants, and in-
sisting on the " decapitation" (the American slang
for dismissal) of one whom they accused of no longer
losing the ,6 Genius of Africa" (represented by a
his
buxom negress), with the truth and fervour of
early days, when he swore in her behalf to wage an
" irrepressible conflict," and whose destinies were to
be governed by a " higher law" than the law and
constitution of his native land. One of the conspira-
tors proving false crept stealthily away,and informed
ary of the senatorial attempt against his
head. The wily Seward, nothing daunted, deter-
mined to be beforehand with his foes, and, slicing
off his own head with the most perfect grace and
nonchalance, presented it to father Abraham. Then
making his way to a trapdoor leading to the lower
regions of ignominy and disgrace, lithe, lustrous,
and many-coloured as harlequin, be sprung with his
head in his hand through the aperture in a blaze of
blue fire, followed by the more ponderous form of
Secretary Chase, also headless, and scattering
shreds of paper on every side in a regular snow-
storm, such as is seen in theatres, each flake being
a promise to pay, and the whole fall representing
the famous " billion" of dollars of Mr. Thaddeus
Stevens, the Chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means. When the wonder and expectation of
the spectators were at the height, to know whether
Abraham the Magician intended to accept the
double self-sacrifice to the " Genius of Africa," and
when all the little boys in the crowd were straining
their eyes to catch a glimpse of General M'Clellan,
and of the block, the axe, and the executioner who
was to perform the act of decapitation on the dis-
agreeable and greatly hated War Secretary, and on
the sober and respectable General Halleck, who had
never fought a battle except in the law courts of Ca-
lifornia, but who knew so well how to prevent his
subordinates from achieving the victories which were
beyond his own reach, the jocular Magician waved
his hand, and, with a " pleasant imperiousness
—telling at the same time a funny story about some
old woman of the West—replaced the head of Mr.
Seward on his shoulders, commanded both him and
Mr. Chase to emerge from the trap, shake hands
with and embrace their colleagues, go back to their
desks, and save the nation as effectually as they had
saved it before. Here there was another blaze of
light and a grand flourish of trumpets, amid which
the t Genius of Africa" was transformed into a
living resemblance of Mr. Horace Greeley, who
loudly proclaimed that the defeat at Fredericksburg
was, on the whole, a " gratifying circumstance,"
and that it—
Was better to have fought and lost
Than never to have fought at all."

By this time the hisses began to preponderate over
the applause, but the play being at an end the cur-
tain dropped. The object of the managers had been
accomplished. The sad story of Fredericksburg
had become old and stale, the edge of its horror
had been worn off, and the most buoyant, hopeful,

and elastic-minded people in the world had re-
' covered their usual serenity, and went to their
ordinary daily business as pleased as Mr. Micawber,
and equally certain that something would soon
" turn up."
The Americans are in the habit of saying that no
one can understand them but themselves ; and after
such a butchery as that at Fredericksburg it is ex-
tremely difficult to understand the manner in which
it is treated by the President, by General Burnside,
and by all the friends and supporters of the Admi-
nistration. The President, in his address to the
army, is so encouraging as to say that the attempt
was not an error, nor the failure other than an acci-
dent ; and, moreover, that the number of dead and
wounded was " comparatively small." General
Burnside is equally hardy. He quietly assumes the
whole responsibility both of the attack and the
failure, denies that his army is demoralized, and
offers to resign a position for which he admits that
he is not qualified, which he accepted against his
better judgment, to replace a General far more com-
petent than himself, and who, he thinks, ought not
to have been removed. The President, apparently
of Mr. Horace Greeley's opinion that no great harm
had been done, except in the loss of life, quietly or-
ders him to keep his place; and the Republican party,
instead of venting their natural indignation against
the mingled inefficiency and temerity of Mr. Lincoln
and the ar Department, and the Generals whom
they employ, stirs np the eternal question of the
Southern negro, while the Northern negro (poor
pariah and outcast) is starving in the streets, and
gets up a Cabinet imbroglio upon the collateral
issues of Abolitionism. The committee appointed
to inquire into the causes of the failure at Frede-
ricksburg—the most disheartening that has occurred
during the war—simply hear what Gen. Burnside
Gen. Halleck, and others have to say for themselves'
and send in their report without blaming anybody'
some of the Generals, however, are not quite so
lenient, and General Franklin expressly states that
the failure at -Washington to send on the pontoons
which General Burnside ordered and expected was
the cause of the whole disaster ; while General
Hooker as positively affirms that General Halleck
promised to send them in three days, and did not
send them for ten, during which interval Frede-
ricksburg, which might easily have been carried
by a coup (le 1116in9 had been rendered impreg-
nable. Yet good Mr. Lincoln is satisfied, and
steady General Halleck holds on to his posi-
tion like grim death, strong in the support of
the ultra-Republicans of New England, and only
blamed by the great bulk and body of the fernocra-
tie people in the Middle and Western States, who
grieve, and groan, and shake their heads, hopeless
of any remedy until the ballot-box shall give them '
a chance, two years hence, of electing a Democratic
President. But so rapidly do events move, and so
slight are the impressions caused on the American
mind by the gravest occurrences, that this stun-
ning defeat is well nigh forgotten in New
York, and the disgrace all but forgiven.
Could this be the case in any other country in
the world ? The people are so easily depressed
and so easily elevated, and entertain so little vin-
dictiveness, that there is scarcely anything they
will not forgive in their own rulers or in foreign
nations. Indeed it may be doubted whether there
is anything which they will not forgive except the
greatness of England, which they hold to be unpar-
donable, and which they are determined to resent.
It is easy with such a people to assume responsibi-
lity, for no penalties are likely to be exacted. At
least, such seems to be the opinion of General Burn-
side, as well as Mr. Lincoln. Possibly a few more
disasters such as that at Fredericksburg may pro-
duce a different feeling. The camel's back is so
heavily laden that the last exasperating and fatal i
feather may light upon it much sooner than is anti-
cipated, and when that happens it may turn out that
the responsibility so easily assumed may be very
difficult to escape, and may fall with more crushing
weight than has ever been known in the history of
this Republic.
At present there is a lull in the storm. Rumours
of approaching disaster grow louder in the South-
west, but as they are as yet confused end contradic-
tory, and may happen to be baseless, public at-
tention fixes itself upon Washington and the policy