The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-10 00:00:00

THE WAR IN AMERICA.

It is now just possible to discern, dim and indis-
tinct, the proportions of the coming conflict in
America. The fisherman in the Arabian tale who
broke the seal of Solomon saw the column of smoke
which ascended from hisjar gradually take the shape
of a monstrous Genie. So the confusion and debate
which succeeded the first meetings of the Legisla-
ture of South Carolina, six months ago, are now
consolidated into the form of two opposing armies
on the line of the Potomac. Disputation is at an
end, war has begun, and the course of events hasso much defined itself that the eye may even pene-
trate a little way into the darkness of futurity.
The most important news brought by the steamer
is that Washington is likely to be secured to the
Federal Government. Although the advices are
only two days later than the last, it appears that
in that time the capital had been reinforced to such
an extent that a sudden attack of the Virginians
was not to be dreaded. Whether the Southern
Generals serious:y meditated the seizure of the
Federal metropolis it is impossible to say. The
communications between North and South have been
entirely suspended, and it is singular to find that
in that land of railways and telegraphs people at
the North were uncertain whether President Davis
was quietly administering affairs at Montgomery or
reconnoitring Washington from the Virginian shore
of the Potomac. Much less can we determine what
are the Confederate tactics. There are two courses
open to the Southerners—either to advance and give
battle to the North in mass, or to content them-
selves with attacking and reducing the Federal
forts which still remain in their territory. One of
these, Fort Smith, in Arkansas, has just been taken
by the State troops, from which we may conclude
that this State, which a few weeks since declared
for the Union, has now definitively seceded. But
there are others formidable enough which have to
be reduced, and which may call fur all the courage
and skill of the Southerners. Of these the prin-
cipal is Fort Pickens, which has been just rein-
forced. Fort Monroe, near Norfolk, in Virginia,
is also capable of making a long resistance, espe-
cially since it can be supported from the sea by
the fleets of the Union. Now, there are many who
think that the natural course of the Confederated
States would be to possess themselves of these
points, instead of making as it were, an incursion
into territory where the Unionists are likely to be
in full strength. Since, too, the Confederates are
endeavouring by all means to gain a character for
moderation and to appear as fighting only in de-
fence of their own territory, we may presume that
they would not willingly advance on Washington
while it remained beyond the limits of their own
Confederacy. We fully believe that when Fort
Sumter was attacked there was no design to carry
the war so far North. But events may have disap-
pointed all their calculations. The very success of
their policy has 'imposed a military enterprise on
them which it is difficult to carry out and inglo-
rious to shrink from. The proclamation of Mr. Lin-
coln has been followed by the secession of Virginia,
the possession of Harper Ferry and the southern
bank of the river on which Washington is placed.
Every Virginian is naturally tempted to make a
dash at a prize which lies on the very border of the
enemy's country. The consequence has been that
both sides have been drawn on to make the district
of Columbia their battlefield. The Virginians col-
lected in numbers which appeared to threaten the
capital, and the danger roused the North to a mili-
tary enthusiasm which has astonished even those
who know the excitability of the American cha-
racter. But the most important result of this move-
ment is the present condition of the State of Mary-
land. The troops which were poured down from
the Nortb, and particularly the New Englanders,
were looked upon as invaders, ready to destroy the
plantations, liberate the slaves, and ruin, if not
maltreat, the white people themselves. A great
part of the State, including the large and turbulent
city of Baltimore, rose in insurrection, and Gover-
nor Hicks was obliged to head a movement which
has by this time probably ended in secession,
though, as might be expected, a large minority of
the people are firm Unionists. It is perfectly
plain, however, that the Federal armies will pay
no attention to any ordinance of a Maryland
Legislature or Convention. If subjugation is
to be their policy, there must be a beginning made
somewhere, and it will be made in this debateable
land, where Slave and Free Soil intermingle. When
the last mail left it seemed possible that the Mary-
landers might succeed in stopping the march of the
Northern Volunteers from Annapolis to Washing-
ton. But the Secessionists have now lost their
chance. We learn that the troops have been pushed
forward to the capital, where already four New
York regiments had arrived; that the route was
kept open by Federal troops ; and that the capital
was considered strong enough to resist an attack.
Hence, as it seems to us, the Southerners are in
a difficulty. Their policy is, as before, to keep within
their own territory ; but now Washington is in
their own territory. If Maryland have seceded, or
even if, though the Legislature be coerced, the body
of the population be in arms against the Union, it
will become a point of honour with the Confederate
States to come to the rescue of their friends. Per-
haps a success of the Virginians and Marylanders
at Washington would even be a calamity to the
South, as committing it more than ever to a regu-
lar campaign beyond the Potomac, in a country
easily commanded from the sea, and in close neigh-
bourhood with the most populous Northern States.
On the other hand, should the Marylanders resist
the passage of troops, they may cause the Federal
Government much trouble. The North sends men
in sufficient numbers, bat transport is scarce, provi-
sions are few and may be cut off by the insurgents,
and the troops may suffer all that is involved in
an enemy's country.
Something like a regular campaign in this region
is now unavoidable. That it will be _narrowed,
at least for a time, to the eastern part of the Con-
tinent seems likely. The neutrality of Kentucky
so far is in favour of the South. Not only are 021
Confederate States secured from the attack of the

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move quickly, and we cannot help thinking that
every Slave State will soon be found
in hostility to
the North. Already the movement on either side
has passed out of the control of any President or
Congress or Military Commander. Already the two
sections are arrayed against each other to a man. A
month ago the Unionists were a large minority at the
South ; the sympathisers with the Secessionists were
powerful all over the North. Now there is no
majority or minority on either side. In the States
actually at war, every man, either from choice or
necessity, goes with his section of the Republic.
Nor is it, we fear, likely that the war will be re-
stricted to the ends proposed by President Lincoln,
or the means which his military advisers were for
adopting. To blockade the ports of the Seceded
States, to hold or recapture the forts, to collect the
Customs by revenue vessels cruising outside the
harbours, and thus, in time, to bring erring citizens
to reason, were schemes well enough a month ago.
But now that blood is shed, and the most irritable
and vindictive people in the world are in arms
against each other, such half-hostilities will find
little favour. We are so absolutely cut off from
all news of what is passing at the South that we
cannot pretend to speak of the popular impulses
there, except so far as we may divine them from
the well-known character of the Southerners. But
at the North there are signs that the Seceders, if
beaten, may expect little mercy. It may be said
that we ought not to take extreme utterances for
the opinion of the mass; but in these conjunctures
it is the extreme counsel which prevails ; what
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without apprehonßion- the threats of the Repub-
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the slaveholders must be rooted out ; that a hun-
dred John Browns instead of one will now invade
Virginia; that as the "Tories"--that is, the Loyalists
of the American War—were. exiled, and all their
goods confiscated, so the landowners of Virginia and
the. Carolinas must be swept away, to make place
for the brave fellows who have fought under the
Stars and Stripes, and who, on the principle of " the
spoils to the conquerors," so long acted upon in '
politics, are to be in possession of the domains of
the Seceders. Who can say that in another week
or two such doctrines, instead of being confined to
zealots of the Northern pai ty, will not be general
among the levies that are pouring into Maryland ?
The alarm and hatred of the South will then in-
crease tenfold, and a war may be carried on unsur-
passed in ferocity by anything that Europe has
known in later ages. The planting States, the
original Seceders, are secure in their 'remoteness
from the scene of war, but the borderland will
perhaps witness horrors to be remembered for
generations. All that we can do is to keep aloof
from the dreadful encounter. We feel that coun-
cil or mediation might as well be offered to the
hurricanes which sweep over the Gulf of Mexico.
We may receive a little satisfaction from the
assurance of Lord Palmerston that no direct in-
jury to our own finances is likely to result from the
war ; but it is a greater pleasure to be able to
think that not only positive law, but the moral
feeling of the community, will forbid any British
subject to engage in the conflict for the purpose of
private gain. The Home Secretary's declaration
with respect to privateering will have the full
assent of the country ; and when this strife is over
we shall have the comfort of knowing that not one
drop of blood was shed by us.—limes.