The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-29 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AME.RICA.

(From the Speeia?Gorespondent of the Thus.)
NEW YORK, JAN. 14.
It is r,ot because New York is a good place to
learn the news or to hear the truth that I date my
le;.,ter from the commercial metropolis of the United

states. In effect Washington is for the moment the
heart of the moneyed interest, and it is there the

war is to be decided, not by the shock of armies,

but by the contests of the people who have money
with those who have it not and want to get it. I
um, may I be permitted to say, by no means a be-
liever in the omnipotence of gold or credit in war.
The sinews of war cannot be of much avail unless

there is heart, brain, and bone to give them force,
direction, and leverage. France has proved it, old
Fritz demonstrated tt long ago, England in the
midst of her millir,naire extravagance showed it, the
history of all 'nations fighting for honour, liberty,
and life hrt's recorded it. But there is a time when

the sayin-g is true, and a case wherein the words
are applicable, and that time may come, and that
case may arrive when the love of gain is greater

44:hIn the love of country, and when the only army

that lives and moves and has its being in the field

when the country calls for help is the noble army

of contractors. Here is the great heart, the active

brain, the strong bone of this big American people

so wearied, so feeble, so broken that the question,
in which they have only looked to one aide, and on
which they have only heard one argument, seems

us though it were to be carried into regions where
neither capitalists nor statesmen, nor the Grccculi
esurientes of the political world can follow it. The
negro Victor Emmanuel has thrust his head in be-
tween the combatants at the American Solferino
and the peacemakers of Villafranca. It would ill be-
tome me to say that the retirement of Mr. Cameron
from the Cabinet into the frigid seclusion of St.
Petersburg was in any way foreshadowed in the
vaticinations which have been so much resented by
the American press, but assuredly it looks as if the
dissolution of Mr. Lincoln's Government is but inau-
gurated by the deposition of the Minister of War,
and the quarrel between the Republicans and Con-

servativemasses,which lie between nerolatry or mg-
ger-worship and Secession, is finding its first fruits
and its early development in the act which stops up
the bunghole of a brigadier's command with Cassius
Clay, and fills the North American Embassy at St.

Petersburg with Mr. Cameron.
It is weeks since I ventured to say what was
Coming, and the jeers with which the prediction

was received here did not subside before it was

-verified. Heaven knows it was in no spirit o
exultant prophecy that the words were written,
but, if men will set flue to a magazine with a short
fuse, it requires little knowledge of gunpowder to
affirm as they light the match that some of them
will ba blown up. With Mr. Cameron others must
go. The President is putting his foot down with
a vengeance, and, if it comes to a struggle between
Mr. Seward and Mr. Stanton, no one can predict
what sacrifices of men and measures may not be
made ere the factions take up the issues. It is
proved, indeed, that in international questions the
North American Demos is as mild a creature as
over felt the dominant knee and spur of the con-
queror. There is scarce a man in broad America
who can in his heart and of his word support as an
abstract act of right the surrender of the unhappy
Southern Commissioners and their secretaries. Un-
fortunately, in the abstract public opinion has been
against it since it took place, just as it menaced
unheard of wars before it, in case Great Britain
asked for the surrender. The menaces are now in
paulo postfutui-unz. I am sure Ido no injustice to
the popular sentiment from as very high up to as
very low down as can be found in a Republic, when
I n sat r t that the general feeling with regard to Eng-
:land in the matter of Slidell and Mason is, that she
took an opportunity to make a demand which would
have been resisted had America been strong, and
that, right or wrong, the United States mean to be
avenged for the concession forced upon them, not
by a sense of justice, but by a consciousness of their
own weakness, whenever and if ever they have the
chance. If there be injustice done to them in that
expression, their own words, written and spoken,
are alone to blame. But, at least, let us admit
that Demos feels the reins and bows his neck
to the yoke. Mr. Lincoln is willing to enter for
the prize of facile submission to necessity. But
can Mr. Welles stay if Mr. Cameron goes on his
watery way ? Is the majority of the Congress, which
is rapidly becoming an Opposition, to gain its posi-
tion by the sacrifice of its principles ? And, in pro-
portion as the acts of Congress savour of black re-
publicanism, is the President to leaven his Cabinet
with the harm of the old democracy ? Thera are
100,000 men at the south side of the Potomac, but
there are also 30,000 around the capital, and if you
embarrass the Government and annoy the generals,
tied insult the army, you may be ms de to feel that
the Frankenstein you have created is strong enough
to be your master, if not your destroyer. In all such
times there arises, or is developed, for the mere pur-
pose of being exterminated, as it were, a Girondin
school, who say that " black's not so black nor white
eo very white." They end in feeding the hopper,
and. are ground out between the upper and nether
millstones. The President, who had no particular
wish for such a fate, is evidently seeking to
strengthen himself by attempts to conciliate the
Democratic party, and they are all pleased at the
selection of Mr. Stanton as War Minister, not so
much on account of his political views as because of
his well known integrity. The charges of pecula-
tion, corruption, and venality which have been made
against the heads of the army and navy administra-
tions have touched the public mind and have been
denounced in the Congress. No Government in Eu-
rope could stand against such imputations ; but here
they are made so generally against all sorts and con-
ditions of men that either the foundations of society
are rotten or the moral sense is wanting. Americans
complain loudly that they are misrepresented by fo-
reigners. They, in fact, depict themselves in blacker
colours than any stranger could venture to use ; but
they lay them on thick and deep in the fulness of
their knowledge. It is only this week that a New
York alderman delared he had bought up the whole
State Legislature at Albany on a particular question
with 8,000 dole. This statement in the council was
greeted with laughter. And a paper with a large cir-
culation in the same city within a few days,observed
that such words as "liar" should be reserved for the
exclusive use of the rowdies of the back slums and
of members of Congress. As to corruption in high
places, I have heard nothing else for months back ;
not that all are venal, but that men in high office,
and with peculiar means of making fortunes for
themselves and their friends by corruption, have
done so notoriously. But it was not on account of
any such statements as these that Mr. Cameron was
requested to resign ; it was because he took ground
in reference to the slavery question which rendered
unity of action with the President and with Gen.
M'Clellan impossible. His sentiments strengthened
and encouraged the Abolition Opposition in Con-
gress, and the demand made on the President by
the people of his own State--Kentucky—to remove
him, was a welcome pretext, and gave an excuse
for Mr. Cameron's dismissal.
MONDAY, Jan. 13.—The New York Times this
morning suggests that the English public should be
made acquainted with the views really entertained
by Mr. Seward in reference to Canada, and asserts
that the general belief—which your correspondent
is said to have done so much to confirm—in reference
to Mr. Seward's hostile designs on that great depen-
dency, has already very aeriously impaired the
friendly relations of England and the United Stases.
There is nothing which could afford -the person
appealed to greater satisfaction than the corrobora-
tion of those feelings between the two empires, and
between kindred races which are pursuing a common
object by different but not opposite paths, and he
would gladly indeed aid in dispelling any erroneous
impression at home regarding the vie ws ofAmerican
statesmen. Mr. Seward in 1857 wroto a series of
letters to the Albany Evening Journal, describing
the incidents of a tour made through Canada and
along the coast of Labrador in search of health and
fishing, and in one of these he says that, having pre-
viously entertained the idea that Canada Was soon
to be taken in by the Federal Union, he had (Aug.
22,1857) dropped the opinion m a national conceit) ,

•
.tia had arrived at the conclusion that British Ame-

rica could neither be con queredby the United States

nor permanently held by England. He i,ldicates

his belief to be that British America wi become

a sort of Protestant and civilised Russia, and

calla on the United States " to propitiate and secure
the allegiance of Canada while it is y3t young and
incurious of its future." It is but fair to give Mr.
Seward's precise terms. As the impression referred

to does certainly exist, it would be worth while to
inquire how it originated, and it will be found, in all
likelihood, that it has been mainly created by the
language and windy menaces of certain journals
which declare themselves to the world as Mr.

Seward's organs and the exponents of his policy.
That Mr. Seward; lino pictere, has a respect and ad-
miration for England, which does not extend, how-
ever, either to the Government or the social sys-
tem of the country, I have reason to believe.
His sympathies, probably, are rather with the
England of Cromwell and Milton than with the
later England of George 111. and Lord North ;
and, although he has not unsuccessfully courted
the Irish and Catholic element in the United

States, he is rather of the Protestant and

Puritan type, and would, at the Battle of the
Boyne, have been assuredly found wading after King
William. The spirit unmistakably shown by all
classes of the people of Canada recently has created
respect for them, instead of irritation against them,

and we see and hear no more of the threats which

were rife in the more violent papers here a short
time ago. Meanwhile, Mr. Seward has, it is said,
telegraphed instructions to the United States autho-
rities to permit the British troops to proceed into
Canada by Portland if it is so desired—a strange
act, which is certainly more than courteous, and is
of excessive civility. Mr. Seward is said to have de-
clared that the United States would not permit them-

selves to be forced into a war with Great Britain, no
matter what happened; it looks as if he were resolved
to inaugurate a contest of compliments. The Ameri-
can press, so far as I have read, passes over the in-
telligence in silence, or with brief and ambiguous
comments, but the New York Times grumbles
audibly at the order, and deprecates the idea of
lightening the next English Budget. By the last
accounts, the troops at Halifax were by no means
comfortably situated. Some were still on board the
ships, and the weather was not at all agreeable. The
apprehension or uncertainty respecting the Rinaldo
must exist till there is decisive intelligence that she
has reached Bermuda, St. Thomas's, or England.
Capt. Hewett had an excellent master on board, and
if, as is likely, he could not run for Halifax in the
wind and sea which prevailed, he might have
vielded to the wishes of the Commissioners, and have
borne away for Europe; but he was short of coal,
and not Well off for provisions. Mr. Slidell would
in all probability press him to make for a British
port, and if the Rinaldo ran south of the Georgia
shoals (which have only 15 feet of water in parts,
and would bring her up in such a sea as was run-
ning), she might have some difficulty in hitting on
Bermuda. If blown off the coast, it would be no
easy work to make Halifax against the westerly
and south-westerly breezes which have been lately
blowing. I understand the Rinaldo proved very
uncomfortable in a breeze of wind off the coast of
Georgia some time ago, and that the crew were all
standing by, axe in hand, to cut the masts at one
moment till the gale abated. I confess it will be
very agreeable to hear that she is in safety. rhe
Pensacola has at last moved, and she ran the fire of
the batteries before daybreak on Sunday morning
without being hit, having dodged down very judi-
ciously the night before, so as to make her start
when the Confederate gunners least expected her.
They have proved wretched gunners, notwithstand-
ing all their practice, and even sailing vessels have
run the gauntlet with impunity. The Pensacola
will prove a very formidable addition to the flotilla
at Fortress Monroe, where the expedition under
General Burnside has at last arrived. There will
be some delay before it proceeds on its final desti-
nation. I doubt if the exact place to be attacked
is yet determined, but it is plain, from the character
of the vessels and the nature of the stores and
victualling, that some position not very far from
Fortress Monroe is to be attempted ; and in all
probability the land forces will disembark on the
banks of some of the rivers in the rear of the
right flank of the Confederates, and menace
Richmond by the great watercourses which run up
towards it. The town of Suffolk, which is in rear
of Norfolk, and holds an important position on the
railway communications, might be seized, if the
Federalists defeated the Confederates under Huger
at Norfolk. The expedition is not at all suited for a
demonstration against any strong sea-coast city ; it
could not reach New Orleans, Mobile, or Savannah.
It is too small to attempt Richmond directly, but
is largo enough to make its mark on Wilmington,
Brunswick, Beaufort, or Fernandina. The latter
is too fur for its reach. Beaufort is defended by
the formidable works of Fort Macon, and Wilming-
ton is said to be well covered by batteries up the
Cape Fear River. The North is hungering for
something to be done.
By this time you are aware, that dangerous as it
is to essay prophecy, I was not very much in error
when I stated that before the year closed a tre-
mendous financial crisis would come upon the
United States. The Bank committees from New
York, Boston, and Philadelphia are sitting in
conclave with Mr. Chase and the Finance Com-
mittees of both houses of Congress, but their
proposals are by no means palatable to the Go-
vernment, and as the latter are all-powerful now
the banks will run the risk of defeat and over-
throw if they enter the field against the Secre-
tary of the Treasury. There are doubts whether
Congress has e. right to make notes of the proposed
issue of 150,000,000 dole. a legal tender ; but the
Attorney-General and other lawyers of repute have
given their opinion in support of the power, and,
as the country will sanction the course which will
open the most facile mode of escaping from their
difficulties, the banks will scarcely be able to resist
such a measure if once adopted. A national cur-
rency is distateful to the banks, which are at the
same time anxious to do all the banking business of
the Government and to do away with the sub-Trea-
sury. To-morrow will enable us to know more about
the matter, which is only one phase of the embar-
rassments and difficulties which settle down on the
Government every day. Nothwithstanding the
denials which appear in the Ministerial organs there
can be no doubt that a large and increasing phalanx
in both Houses of Congress view the policy of the
Government and of the Commander-in-Chief with
dislike, which is not suppressed in private, and finds
such external outlets now and then as the speech of
Mr. Roscoe, Conkling, Mr. Hale, or Mr. Thomas, or
the hints and innuendos of the tribune. The cla-
mour for an advance is only kept down by the fear
of failure, and of the subsequent consequences to
the criers. A bad state of feeling is growing up
between the Congress and the military authorities,
and I am given to understand. 'that within the
last few days an altercation occurred between
Senator and Colonel Wilson, Chairman of the Mili-
tary Committee of the Senate and Aide-de-Camp
to the Commander-in-Chief, and the latter, in the
presence of the President, which led to the re-
signation of the former. The Senator censured
the inaction of the army in terms which General
M'Clellan resented, and the President took the oc-
casion to r epeat the assurances of his confidence in
the Genera J, and of his submission to his judgment
in matters relating to the conduct of the war.
TUESDAY, Jan. 14.—The Burnside expedition has
sailed from Fortress Monroe, and all the newspapers
affect to know a great deal about it, and to suppress
their knowledge on public grounds. The secret has
been we 11 kept, but I venture to anticipate some
expressi on of dissatisfaction at the result. Already
one regi4xtent is taken from the force of the expe-
dition
by the grounding of the vessel on which they
were embarked, and the wind to-day is not very
favourabli 3or kindly. The vessels steered out to sea,
so that any operations up the rivers close to Fortress
Monroe, :as at one time supposed, are not likely at
present.. The force is too small to effect any great
object. If any political economist or financial re-
former desires to see how money goes is the United
minimum of results, let him
appropriations or estimates for the
sSttuadtyestred lipstord of produces
pr the
up
army, find be happy.
The Qoyernment io not going to pewit its cur.