The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNAL

TIMES.—As the Confederacy has copied the prac-
tice of the Union as regards the meeting of Con-
greas, we receive at the same time the Messages of
the rival American Presidents. Mr. Lincoln has
not been prevented by a dangerous illness from ad-
dressing the Federal Legislature in terms that will
satisfy the most extreme zealot of the Republican
party, and Mr. Davis, on the other hand, declares
the unfaltering determination of his Government
to persist in the war, although former victories
have not been able to save the Confederacy from

,
calamities inflicted by the superior numbers et the
enemy. But the Message of the more powerful
magistrate is the document which has the greater
interest for Europe. Mr. Lincoln is now pos-
sessed of an authority within what may be called
his dominions greater than has ever been known
even during his high-handed Presidency. A
year ago the Democratic party was still for-
midable. The city and to a great extent the
State of New York were opposed to the Govern-
ment, if not to the war. Pennsylvania and Ohio
were hostile; the Western States, with Illinois at
their head, were wavering between a peace policy
and the relentless theories of the Republicans. The
President had not been able to abandon the system

of espionage and summary imprisonment which he
had established soon alter his accession. The forts
which wore the objects of such indignation to the
Democrats continue to receive their unwilling in-

mates ; and in some of the larger cities it was doubt-
ful whether a majority of the inhabitants were not as
treasonable in thought as those who were immured
in any Federal prison. Mr. Lincoln's position is
now more secure, and the tone of his Message
shows the effect of the last year's success, both

political and military. Last year he was about to
issue his edict of emancipation amid the doubts and
disapprobation of the greater part of the Northern
people. This year he has no such thunderbolt to
launch, and consequently need not use defiant or
deprecatory language to those who are to judge his
policy. But he thinks that the successes on the
Mississippi and in Tennessee are sufficient-to autho-
rise a" proclamation of another kind. The most
striking feature of the present Message is the am.
nesty which Mr. Lincoln thinks fit to proclaim to
the Southern people. If the obstinate and fierce-
tempered population who have been resisting his
armies for two years and a half will now abandon
the President they have elected, the politicians who
administer their Government, the representatives
whom they have cent to Congress, the generals who
lead their armiese he naval officers who have defended
their seaports and commanded their cruisers, then
they will be allowed to return under the protec-
tion of the United States, with such property as
may remain to them when their slaves are set free.
We know not what effect Mr. Lincoln anticipates
from this proclamation. A year ago he was prepared
with one which was expected speedily to bring the
Confederate Government to ruin. A )ear ago the
more sanguine politicians at Washington actualiy
looked upon the war as nearer its end than they
do now. A grant of freedom to four millions of
slaves must, in their opinion, produce consequences
so momentous that the Southern Confederacy would
be unable to stand the shock. All, indeed, that
the Federals have gained by the capture of Vicks
burg and Chattanooga does not equal what the
more ardent Republicars hoped for from the Pre
clamation of January. But that edict produced no
perceivable effect upon the Southern people, except
to make them snore stubborn in their resistance
than before. We think it. doubtful whether there
is any district of the Confederacy where tre present
proclamation will have a more powerful effect than
the lust. In places that are occupied by Federal
troops it may be that some of the proprietors will
m7ke their submission in order to save their estates
from the grasp of military commanders and the
adventureis who follow in their train; but, in spite
of the hardships the Southern people have under-
gone, the diminution of their numbers, the wretched
state of their finances, and the loss of some of the
most important regions of the Confederacy, there is,
we think, little chance that they will accept the
offers made to them. When a race of men have
been subjected to the trials and excited by the pas
sions of such a war as this, considerations of inte-
rest and prudence have little weight. The whole
man is changed, the temper is made savage, and
the antipathies engendered by a furious struggle
make the prospect of returning to the companion-
ship of civil life with the enemy more hateful than
the utmost which he can inflict. If the South-
ern people bad been urged on by animosi-
ties stronger than any which we Englishmen
have ever felt for a foe, they would undoubtedly
have come back to the Union when they first found
the North resolute in the conduct of the war, and
the European Powers unwilling to interfere. It is
now eighteen months at least since they must have
been convinced that they would have to struggle
'against the whole power of the Northern States,
sithout any help from Franco or England, except
at the most an empty recognition, and with the
Northern President determined to use, if neces-
sary, the arms of the negro against them. They know
that they must undergo a long and doubtful contest,
and that even if they succeeded io achieving their
independence, it must be at the coat of frightful
private calamities, and probably the ruin of that
social system which they eecceled and took up arms
to maintain.. s et, though towards the close of last
year they might have returned to the Union almost
in triumph, with the glories of the Chickahominy
Aid bright, and with Lee and Jackson the most
popular heroes of a reconstructed Union, they re-
pelled ail the advances of the Democrats, saw with-
out wavering the renewed ascendancy of tie party
at the North most hostile to themselves, and obued
a stringent Conscription Act with a readiness un-
surpassed in history. The class of men, too, who
are excepted from the amnesty are precisely those
who are all-powerful in the Confederate States. If
the old men and the women and children wore de-
sirous of ending their privations by reunion, their
wishes would avail little as long as the country is
governed directly by the army, and the army is
under the control of the statesmen and Generals
whom Mr. Lincoln requires to be left to his
mercy. The trials of the army may be great,
but soldiers have seldom. a strong desire for the
termination of a war, unless, indeed, they are en-
gaged in monotonous garrison duties far from the
scene of strife. Tne excitement of the campaign
and the quickening rivalries which it engenders ere
enougn to keep troops in the proper war spirit, as
long as they are not depressed by want or exhausted
by defeats and fatigue. The Confederate soldiers
probably suffer lees trom the privations of the country
than any class of the citizens, for according to all ac •
counts every district is put under contribution for
them, and the defence of the Republic is made para-
mount to every private interest. litsse considerations
can hardly fail to have been present to Mr. Liecoln'e
mind, since they have been obvious to the Northern
press, and present themselves at once to us. We
may, then, presume that his amnesty is rather in-
tended as a demonstration of confidence in Federal
success than a measure likely to have practical con
sequences. Indeed, the other parts of the Message,
as well as the Reports of Mr. Stanton and Mr. Chase,
reveal anticipations of a long war which accord little
with the notion of a Confederate submission. Calcu-
lations us to whether the number of troops to be had
for the money received under the last draught will
prevent the necessity of another combine with Mr.
Chase's statement of the expected state of the finance
in 1865 to convince us that the Government does not
look for an early termination of the war. The Mes-
sage of President Davis gives no sign of yielding,
though it is said to have a tone of despondency.
The loss of an important position, on which Mr.
Davis himself sets a high value, may account for
this discouragement, arid the frustration of his hopes
of European interference have no doubt somewnat
affected him. But the difficulties of the hour do not
appear to suggest any thought, of a reconciliation.
President Davis addresses Himself to the greatest
practical questions which press on him—the want
of men and money. For the present the
latter is the more important, for the Confederate
armies have a respite during the winter,
but the state of the currency admits neither of
delay nor of half measures. Taxation, as a
means of raising money and reducing the present
inflated currency, is recommended by Mr. Davis,
and in the Richmond Congress, composed as it is of
the chiefs of Secession, he will have no difficulty in
carrying through any measures on which he 111 Z
have resolved. However strong the GoTdnma` te
of Washington may be, that of the
Sates at least equals it in authority, eTae
oth o' will
abilities of the leaders equal their.
power,ies es hicle now
no doubt make good the defic
is to
are to be
weaken the Republic. if the
is to be reinforced
with
by another and a more:onto:
eia-d-rincoYoscription, and, E 0
restored by taxation, soAt;
rigid of the Government
be renewed
ar us depends on the s
Court for Divorce anti Matrimonial
fresh
its place among the established institutions of
ivtigspeooefsrris.nitsAhief9 tethlnleseuwinagr spring.•
Causes must now, we suppose, be regarded as having
itahkeecnountry, it is 80 far satisfactory to find that its
oructice cannot be accused of any
de-
lays, That cases of considerable unnecessary
duration
occasionally occur is inevitable fromom
the
fact
should
thatoul d
the evidence brought forward is, and must of neces-
sity frequentlyinbe,faofta recriminatory character, arid
seeks equity must doe
thus involves,
:quaitc.lyou”bilseaismsuaexim‘;
Vance of which is hconfined to the
apply no longer hHeeobwsehro-
sittings of the Court of Chancery is Lincoln's-inn.
It Was one
of h e best among the many good prin-
ciples laid down for the futute guidance of the
Court by the late Imnented Sir Cresawell Crees-