The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-15 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the 7iines' Correspondent.)

NEW YORK, May 1.
General Joseph Hooker—the man who, accord-
ing to his own report of himself, never made a mis-
take in war—whose military judgment is as in fel-
sßour sr
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showingde r at e
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greatestn
lible as the theological interpretation of the socces-
emteirs—erawbhlyo couldfaad haveand taken
wh o otnh the Confe-
derate oonwf en-
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seen—has crossed the Rappahannock
on the way to
Richmond. If he arrives there
in any other charac-
ter than that of a prisoner of war, the world will be
compelled to admit that his proud self-assertion was
but the self-knowledge of genius, and that the
Federal Government has at last found a captain
worthy of the more than Herculean task which
that Government has to perform. But if he be foiled
by superior skill or bravery—defeated by the ele-
ments, or fatally impeded by unforeseen accidents
and contingencies—or if, at the most, he achieve no
greater results than a drawn battle, leaving the
possession of Richmond as remote and forlorn a
hope as it has been at any time within last
twelvemonth—the worlii will in like manner be
compelled to admit that his courage was but rash-
ness, his criticism of others but presumptuous
folly, and his faith in himself but arrogance and
conceit of the most stupendous and offensive cha-
racter. A few days will show the stuff he is made
of. If he capture Richmond he will make himself
the greatest man in America. If he fail, the best
fate his friends can wish for him will be a soldier's
death at the head of his army on the field of battle.
The conduct of the War Department in prohibit-
ing the transmission by telegraph of any information
whatever respecting the movements of the army is
severely commented upon. It is known that Gen.
Hooker has crossed the river, and more than sus-
pected that a great battle has either been fought or
is at this moment in progress ; but the Government
would not so much as permit the mere fact of his ad-
vance to be telegraphed to Halifax yesterday to
meet the Arabia at that port. Nothing can be more
imbecile than such conduct. At the most it only
succeds in keeping Europe and America in ignor-
ance for two or three days, though it is suggested
by those amiable cynics whose maxim it is, " if you
do not know the truth of a thing you ought to
believe the worst," that the information is only
withheld from the public to enable a few friendly
speculators in Europe and America to make money
on the Stock Exchange by knowledge privately
communicated to them. Certainly no wise Govern-
ment would:act in this manner, whatever be the
motives which animate it. In this instance the
public do believe the worst. They think that if
there were good news it would be speedily promul-
gated, and that whether the news be good or bad it
is jobbed in Wall-street by people in the secret.
Yesterday being the Fast day appointed by Mr.
Lincoln for observance throughout all the States
still pertaining to the Union, the people of this city
fasted and humbled themselves in the manner usual
in modern times, both in Protestant and Roman
Catholic countries, by shutting up their shops,
stoles, warehouses, and offices, and devoting them-
selves to recreation and hospitality. The churches
were but moderately filled with devotees; the Aboli-
tionist clergy for once refrained from cursing their
Southern enemies and advocating their extermina-
tion ; the streets swarmed with pleasure seekers ;
the beautiful Central Park, bursting out into the
full loveliness of early spring, was crowded with
equipages, as well as with equestrians and pedes-
trians; the ladies gushed out in a magnificence of
attire only seen in the drawing rooms and ballrooms
of other countries, but which in this it seems to be
considered good taste to display in the public
thoroughfares; the theatres were crammed to suffo-
cation, and the lagerbier saloons and all the other
drinking places with which this money-making, im-
pulsive, and rejoicing capital abounds concentrated
into the space of one evening the ordinary business
of a week. Thus did New York humble itself before
the Almighty,in compliance with the wish expressed
in Mr. Lincoln's proclamation. Thus did one por-
tion of the pious American people confess, in the
worjs of the President, " their sins and transgres-
sions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that
genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon;"
and thus did they " recognise the sublime truth an-
nounced in the Holy Scriptures, and proved by all
history, that those nations only are blessed whose
God is the Lord." Perhaps among the Puri
tans of New England the day was observed in a
manner more in accordance with the repentant
humility that ought to have filled the hearts of a
Christian population, if the Fast were not intended
for a Feast; but certainly throughout this city, as
far as outward show was concerned, the occasion
was one of undisguished merriment and sensual
gratification. The old pride that Mr. Lincoln re-
buked in the proclamation by which the Fast was
appointed seemed as rampant as ever. "We have
forgotten God," said the President; " we have for-
gotten the gracious hand which preserved us in
peace, and multiplied, enriched, and strengthened
us, and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness
of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced
by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become
too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming
and preserving grace—too proud to pray to the
God who made us." Hsd Mr. Lincoln written these
words after a stroll incognito through the streets of
New York yesterday and last night, he would have
truly described the spirit of his people, and perhaps,
being a philosopher, might have found reason to
believe that the Fast was a farce, and that New
York, which thrives so vigorously upon a war ex-
penditure, is not likely to feel the contrition which
he recommends until the misery of war has been
brought to its own door, and the horrors inflicted by

its fleets and armies on the cities of the South shall
become matters of personal experience to the gay,
busy, and thoughtless crowd which has grown or
is growing rich on the misery of the nation.
For the last three days the " returning brave" of
the Army of the Potomac, so urgently needed on the
battlefields of Virginia, have run riot in the streets
of this city. The 7th and Bth Regiments of New
York Volunteers, mostly, if not entirely, composed
of Germans, and forming part of the too notorious
command of General Blenker, arrived on Tuesday,
having completed their term of service, and posi-
tively refused to renew it, whatever inducements of
indulgence any bounty money might be offered to
them. They were received with shouts of welcome
by the Teutonic population and all the floating crowds
of the city. They expressed great dissatisfaction at
the slight put upon them by the War Department,
which deprived them of their alms before they were
permitted to leave Washington. The New York
Times states that this act on the part of the autho-
rities " was mean and discreditable; ono of those
f
stupid and uncceountable blunders which. no man
sense ever falls into, and which
andproves its
the soldiers' feelings." Had the New York Tines
recollected that these were the heroes whose rob-
beries of cow yards and hen roosts, insults to women,
tors to be ignorant of human
and nature
eon
tigu:rotek
streetsle ssgo of
and wanton destruction of property scandalised the
nobler
reeling purpose.
about
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Anyone
astwatheo
osia.
whole country a few months ago, and compelled the
furious
Government, for the sake of public decency, to de-
prive of his command the General who permitted,
if he did not encouragp them, it might have saved
its ire those
same heroes in the" Bowery"
drunkenness, would have praised instead of blamed
the prescience of the Government that minimised
in the
their powers of mischief, and sent them home with-
feovrenain2,
out firearms. Yesterday several other detachments