The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-16 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

SPECTATOR.—The North has fought from the first
for the Union beyond all, pursuing that end with a
zeal which has too often blinded it to ti e plainest
considerations of justice and morals. It has not
abandoned that object yet, but it has begun to con-
ceive of failure as among the possibilities, and con-
sequently to direct its unrelaxed efforts to ends
which, even if the Union be destroyed, may mitigate
the resulting calamity. For conquest its only
chance is emancipation, which must disintegrate
Southern society ; but that failing, or proving too
slow, the North has in itself the power to enclose
the Confederacy within a ring fence of free States.
It is to the double end that its efforts are now all
directed. On the one hand, the hope of action with
the army of the Potomac is obviously not surren-
dered, and Gen. Burnside has been replaced by Gen.
Hooker, an officer who is expected to fight. Mea-
sures, moreover, are taken for raising negro regi-
ments, not so much, we imagine, to supply the place
of white men—for the North doubts negro valour—
but to carry out to the full the policy of emancipa-
tion. A negro regiment in V irginia would be a better
guarantee to the mind of the slave than a ream of
official documents, for it would at once promise him
bread, and show him the means of civilised self-de-
fence. As garrison troops moreover, the sepoys will
relieve the whites, whose strength is now required
for the supreme national efforts, namely, to strike be-
fore June a series of blows which shall either break
up the military power of the South, or, failing that,
shall secure to the North a boundary which shall
leave an imperial future for the free States in-
stead of the slave. A little pamphlet just published
in England contains a map, showing all men with
eyes with what comparative ease this second end
may even now be secured. The North is for defen-
sive purposes almost impregnable, and it is only
necessary (!) to clear the Mississippi and regain
Texas, and the South is reduced at once to the rank
of a second-class Power. The task is still a difficult
enesbut compared with the subjugation of the South (!)
it becomes a mere bagatelle. Towards the Missis-
sippi, therefore, the Federal Government is direct-
ing its strength, keeping, it is true, the army of the
Potomac in position opposite Fredericksburg, but
only to prevent the best Southern army from hurry-
ing to the West, The point of attack is Vicksburg,
and two armies, supported by a fleet of gunboats,
are preparing for the attack —M'Clernand, from
Arkansas, and General Grant, from Memphis ;
while General Rosencranz watches at Shelbyville
the only Southern army which can be at once ad-
vanced to Vicksburg. The mode of attack is not
clear, the papers writing nonsense about a canal
which is to drain off the Mississippi. We presume
the intention is to dig a canal across the promontory
round which the Mississippi runs, and so leave
Vicksburg—which stands on the other side, oppo-
site the point of the promontory—an inland city.
The enterprise, if successful (!) wilt form a canal up
which steamers can pass, and thus make the Missis-
sippi free without reference to Vicksburg guns.
That is possible, and as a temporary expedient would
be almost as valuable as the capture of Vicksburg ;
hut whatever the plan, it is certain that the interest
of the war is beginning to centre here. The free-
dom of the Mississippi must be secured to ensure the
second alternative. It must be secured, moreover, be-
fore June next, for the term of the nine months'
men—nearly half the effective army—expires en
some day in that month, and without the encourage-
ment of victory, the levy of another army will be
beyond the power of a Government which has sent a
million of men to the field. The Mississippi once
cleared, however (!) the North can rest on its
oars, hem in the South by a water blockade cover-
ing three sides of her territory, and a land blockade
on the fourth ; fill up Texas with settlers numerous
enough to revolutionise her State laws, and calmly
await the day when the South shall accept a peace
on the basis of each federation retaining the posses-
sions it actually holds.

LONDON REVIEW.—The sailor, who chose all the
grog in the world and all the tobacco in the world
for two of the three wishes, the realisation of which
was offered to him by the benevolent genius, could
think of nothing further that human nature could
possibly desire, and for his third wish chose "more
grog." If what the newspapers tell us be true, a
change has come over the spirit of the British navy.
A strange yearning for roast beef has suddenly
penetrated and inflamed those rough hearts, whose
march is o'er the ocean wave and whose home is on
the deep. Jack is turning gentleman, and looking
out for the comforts of life. He does not despise
grog and tobacco in the abstract ; he will say no-
thing against them ; they have had their day, and
very good fellows, in their way, have been content
with them. But it is an age of progress, and
sailors, as well as others, must advanee with the
times. He would himself prefer his food tender,
succulent, and with the gravy in it. He will be
always happy to serve his country as before, and if
the deck of one of her Majesty's ships wants swab-
ing, be will swab it. But henceforward it must be
understood that with regard to cookery he bar the
feelings of his kind. He does not wish to thrust
himself forward out of bis place ; the undercut was
no doubt intended by Nature, if not by the Articles
of War, to belong to the boatswain and boatswain's
mate, and far be it from him to interfere with their
prerogatives. But when all prior claims are satisfied,
let the able-bodied seaman have his due. Let it be
roasted not too fast, done to a rich brown, and
let it be served hot. The request 'is really so
reasonable that our Admiralty would have indeed a
heart of stone if they refused it. Hot let it be, replies
Lord Clarence Paget, and brown. A distinguished
naval officer has taken the trouble to invent an
arrangement by which meat is roasted without a
kitchen-range, and his method is to be tried, in the
first place, on a single ship, by way of experiment.
We are prevented, by total ignorance of the sub-
ject of culinary engineering, from explaining com-
pletely the mysterious apparatus in question, further
than by saying that it employs the services of a
steam-jacket, whatever that may be, to
keep the
meat warm. The grand result, however is, that if
it should be introduced into the navy, the bold
mariners of England will, for the future, enjoy roast
beef for dinner for the nine months of the year
during which, upon an average, each ship of the
line is in harbour. Whether the machinery pro-
duces horse-radish sauce by the same process does not
appear. We are inclined, upon a priori grounds,
to believe that it certainly does. But is all this to
be believed ? Is a sea-faring life really to become a
sumptuously-faring one, and are our sailors to be
treated to as generous a diet as our malefactors ?
Can the change be a salutary one? Can eiscipline
be maintained upon roast beef ? Can the forecastle
pay sufficient reverence to the quarter-deck when it
is no worse off in respect of its daily cookery ? Is
Spartan courage, or is it not, the companion of
Spartan diet ? It is a question for the Admiralty
to take into ifs mature consideration. Trafalgar
and St. Vincent were won by men who were glad
e nough to get their rations boiled. If the food which
was good enough for Nelson's crews is not good
enough for the crews of today, is it degeneracy of

race that is at fault, or is it only degeneracy of
digestion ? Certainly, if the ma/leers of Rig; '
who guard our native shores do 1), come sa iou-
addicted to the pleasures of the table, the sue of
our nautical supremacy is set. It is no use ex-
pecting that a sailor who has just been enjoy-
ing a surfeit of the Sunday-side can be in a fit
state to belay a marling-sheet, or taut a bowline, or
andspike a main-jib-boom. Tom Bowling, if he is
to perform the traditional feat of "going aloft"
with any degree either of comfort to himself or cre-
dit to his employers, must have prepared himself
for the task by a judiciously severe regime. A clear
eye and steady hand is surely required for the di-
ficult task of reefing the jury-masts, or any of the
manoeuvres with which Captain Marryat's novels
have rendered us all so familiar. Still, if the ser-
vice will not suffer for it, we wish the sailors well
fed. Within the bounds of reason let them have
all the luxury that steam-jackets are able to afford.
If our humble voice can have any influence over
the eminent naval officer whose tones in the Rouse
of Commons always so ably unite the wisdom of the
minister and the harmlessness of the sea captain,
we would urge Lord Clarence Paget to concede the
eight shillings'-worth of roasting. We only hope
that the British tar will not hereafter look back
with longing eyes at the simple fare of his earlier
career, and, amid the luxuries of a civilised menu,
and the choicest delicacies of the season, pine re-
morselessly for the grog and tobacco of his uncul-
tivated, but not unenjoyable, repasts.
SATURDAY REVIEW.—The great and final effort
of the Federal forces is still impending. Wtile
Wilmington, Savannah, Charleston, and Galveston
are threatened by separate expeditions, General
Banks and Admiral Farragut hope to force their
way past Fort Hudson to complete the great con-
centration of the Western armies around Vicks-
burg. General M'Clernand has returned from Ar-
kansas to the banks of the Mississippi, and General
Grant has moved southward from Tennessee to take
the command of the decisive siege. The project
of turning the Mississippi for the purpose of ren-
dering the river-side batteries of the fortress use-
less has been unexpectedly resumed, and al-
though the reasons of the project have not been
explained, the works have probably been under-
taken by the advice of competent engineers. It can
hardly be supposed that so great an effort has been
made without reasonable prospects of success, al
though the failure of two former attacks is not
encouraging to the besieging army. Yet, if reliance
could be placed on the Confederate statements,
General Grant and his colleagues would seem to be
in imminent danger, not only of defeat, but of de-
struction or capture. It is asserted that General
Joseph Johnstone is defending Vicksburg at the
head of 150,000 men, and all the armies of the
North would be incapable of expelling half that
number of good soldiees from the works of a regular
fortress. During the operations against Vicksburg,
the South-Western States must be denuded of
Federal troops, with the exception of Tennessee,
where Rosencranz remains, at Shelbyville, to the
south of Murtreeeborough. General Longstreet,
whose strength is unknown, will probably avoid a
battle, and content himself with intercepting the
Federal communications to the East and to the
North. The Government 'of Washington under-
stands the expediency of preventing the despatch
of reinforcements from Virginia to Tennessee. The
resignation of General Burnside, and two of his
principal lieutenants, has not yet been explained ;
but the appointment of General Hooker to the
command of the army 'of the Potomac may be
supposed to indicate a forward movement, as soon
as the roads are open. General Hooker may
possibly possess military genius; but, for the pre-
sent, he owes his popularity and the confidence of
the Government to the same propensity to boasting
which was so highly appreciated in General Pope.
A wound opportunely received at Antietam en-
abled General Hooker to assert that the battle
would have been won if he had remained in the
field to the end of the day; and the hypothetical
exploit has deeply impressed the imagination of
enthusiastic journalists. It may be doubted whether
the confidence of the army will be increased by the
rapid change of generals ; and, in addition to other
sources of embarrassment, the Government will
shortly have to encounter formidable expressions
of military discontent. M'Clellan, A/Towel],
Porter, Sumner, Franklin, and Burnside have been
successively sacrificed to the distrust or jealousy of
Mr. Stanton and General Halleck. It is not to be
supposed that the army is indifferent to the fate of
its former leaders, nor will it be satisfied with the
subordination of military interests to political con-
siderations. Unless a decisive success is achieved
during the month of Rbruary, the Government
will scarcely be able to resist the growing demand
for a termination of the war. A Democratic Con-
gress will assemble on the 4th of March; a third of
the army closes its term of service in Juee; and
before that time the premium on go!d will pro-
bably reach 100 per cent. The newspepers have
begun to protest against peace with a vehemence
which proves that the question has been practically
raised; and the Border States, which have hitherto
adhered to the Union demand with increasing ur-
gency the withdrawal of Mr. Lincoln's ill-omened
Proclamation. In Congress, the Democrats have
hitherto defeated the attempt of a moribund majo-
rity to envenom the contest by the enlistment of
negro regiments. The Abolitionists are discredited
not only by the abortive result of their reckless
policy, but by their obvious inaolity to suggest
any further effort of despairing violence. When
public law, common sense, and the American Con-
stitution had once been openly set aside, there was
no longer any intelligible meaning in the demand
for vigour and earnestness. The President can do
nothing more outrageous than to legislate, in his
executive capacity, against property, and even
against the tenure of property in countries which
are not subject to his dominion. The procla-
mation of martial law outside the limits of
military occupation is an extreme example
of that species of vigour which is confined
to the use of extravagant language. At the same
time, the blood of the Federal armies has been
shed like water in the cause of philanthropy and of
Republican supremacy. Any conceivable change of
policy must henceforth be in the direction of pru-
dence and moderation. It is only the most zealous
religious teachers of New England who are not yet
gorged with slaughter. The Democrats, while their
preponderance is still uncertain, profess eagerness
for the prosecution of the war, because they are not
yet fully assured that the tide of popular feeling has
turned ; but their more judicious leaders are perfectly
aware that the conquest of the South is impassible,
and they can scarcely hope, in defiance of Southern
protestations, to restore the Union even by the
largest concessions. In a short time they will have
courage to proclaim the doctrine which two years
since was unanimously professed throughout the
North—that it is neither justifiable nor possible to
maintain the Union by force. The continuance of
a Republican policy will only be rendered possible
by a series of unexpected victories in the field ; but
even if the Federal armies were able to penetrate
farther into the enemy's territory, the repeal of the
ruinous proclamation would only become more ur-
gently necessary.

WANTED, A CHRISTIAN INNKEEPER !—To provide
a Christian home for travelling young men, the
Young Men's Christian Association either establishes a
lodging-house "or at least forms a contract with a Chris-
tian innkeeper." We wish that any branch, home or
foreign, which knows where to find a Christian innkeeper,
would be so good as to publish his address,' for the infer
niation of travellers who are sensitive on the subject of
hotel bills. is there, we should like to know, a Christian
innkeeper anywhere within a mile of Charing-cross ?
If not, we would venture to suggest that a Christian
Hotel Company Limited would possess sufficient novelty
to stimulate the somewhat sated appetite of the com-
mercial word for speculations which seek to promote the
comfort and the happiness of mankind while securing to
the shareholders a 10 per cent, dividend.---baturdely Re-
view.

A QUEER LOT.—On one of the days of the recent
contest for the Speakership at Albany, New York,
the strangers' gallery was filled by a mob, armed, and so
excited that it was impossible to proceed to business. An
American paper says that this pha:anx consisted chiefly of
" the dead-rabbits, the plug-uglies, the shoulder-hitters,
the ballot-box smashers, the five pointers, and the short.
boys,"

List of Meetings of Learned Societies
Next Week.

MONDAY, Feb. 16.

MEDICAL-32A, George-street, Hanover-square, at 8 p.m.
" On the Differences between the Diseases of the Net'.
vous, Circulating, and other ,Systems of the Child. and
Adult." By Mr. Thomas Bryant.
TUESDAY, Feb. 17.
ETHNOLOGICAL-4, St. Marthq's-place, Trafalgar-square,
at 8 p.m. 1. "On the Histor; of the Gipsies." By J.
Crawford, Eeq., President. 2. "A Brief Account of the
Yenadies of the Chingleput District." By Dr. Shortt;
CIVIL ENGINEERS-25, Great George,:treet, Westminster,
at 8 p.m. Discussion on "Drainage of Dundee," and
" Sewerage of Newport."
PATHOLOGICAL-53,Berners-street,Oxford-street, at 8 p.m•
ROYAL INSTITUTION—AIbemarIe-street, at 3 p.m. "On
Animal Mechanics." By Professor Marshall,
STATISTICAL-12, St. James's-square, at 8 p.m,
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18,
GEoLoGicAL--Burlington House, at 8 p.m. 1. "On the
Middle and Upper Lias of Dorsetshire Coast." By C. E.
K. Day, Esq. 2. "On the Correlation of the several
Divisions of the Inferior Ooolite of the Middle and South
of England." By Dr. Harvey B. Hole.
LONDON INSTITUTION—Finsbury-circus, at 7 p.m. " Ver.,
tebrats." By C. Carter Blake, Esq.
SOCIETY or ARTS —John-s rcet, Adelphi, at 8 p.m. "On
the Best Means for Promoting the Growth and Improv-
ing the Quality of Cotton in India." By A. Nesbitt
Shaw, Eeq.