Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-12-11
FROM RICHMOND.
xtraots nom southern Papers.

ZEE RBBEL coYeREss.

/ FROM kne ticiu1Qu1 DuIs ~ I7
The Congress of the confederacy re-as-
sembles, and the Legislature of Virginia
meets to-day. With the first of these
bodies we are familiar; despite the secresy
of its secessions, the character of the Con-
gress Is we'll known. The business to be
transacted by It can scarcely be estimated
at its real Importance, The fate Of mill
lions now, and in after generations, dePends
upon the wisdom and energy Of its action, !,
Il adjourned in days of danger it meets
amid dangers which are certainly yet more
serious. If any Parliamentary Assembly
ever existed in which there should be
neither faction nor paFtyit is certainly this
one. The worst men might be purified
the most presumptuOus Eehuked-by look.
log TO the storm that this Congress has "a
stem and weather. Surely all good peo-
pie will say q sincere amen TO the prayer
that their chaplain will offer on this day to
the Almighty Ruler, that he may so en-
tighten their minds with wisdom aud in
spire their hearts with virtue that their
acts may preserve this menaced country
| from calamity, aud lend tts people through
theiF troubles TO Rn age OF peace, order
and independence.
The character of the new Legislature has
oeen long unknown. Frequent appltca-
| tions from this journal to the Secretary of
the Commonwealth have made known the
| fact that the disturbance of the State dur
ing this year have been so great that few
| or no returns OF elections have been made
to the Executive, and consequently no list
of the members could be made until they
brought the evidence Of their election here
to Richmond In their pockets. This Is said
4 to have been the first time since Virginia
was Virginia that such a thing has occur
\ red.
The new Legislature is now, however,
\ known to be one Of the strongest bodies
the state has produced for long time. 1t
has not the amount of windy reputation
which the convention contained, but It has
much more of the real sense and effective
ability of the country. There is reason to
hope that there is sufficient judgement and
nerve In this Legislature to put a stop to
the squaderings of the Treasury by the
Executive, and to eud, at once aud for
ever, all the schemes now in vogue for
erecting in Virginia q military and naval
system in rivalry and Opposition TO that of
| the confederacy. The Legislature mnst
elect The first senators of this State to the
| Congress of the Southern ConfederaCy :
and there is reason 10 the composition OF
the body to indulge the pleasing suppost-
Iion that it is capable of choosing two liv-
ing men, and that it viii not be reduced TO
]
cimens of the mineral kingdom. st
TIM WINTER CAMPAIGN AND THE coNTENDNa
ARMIES.
CFrom the Richmond Enquirer. Dec. II
the reatest Of popular delusions
1 is that of sauinsing winter campaigning
Mt the South 10 be feasible thing, The
North have had to sb.ndop many fAllaeiOus
notious and TO sustain many Christening
hnr Of q f1as
war; but this idea of making long marches
through the South in midwintcr is one
which they still cling to with great fond
ness, and which is destined TO lead them
Into much grief Ii has been said that
.tgoing into winter quarters is an obso-
llete and exploded idea in Europe, and per-
haps it is SO in these molern times, when
the roads over that whole continent have
como TO excel the best streets of American
cities in fineness and excellence, perhaps il
is so in densely populated Europe, where
levery square mile of territory has protis-
ions for a regiment, aud where Il thorough
system of agriculture can supply moder-
ate army with provisions at every step Of
its progress. The necessity Of "going into
winter quarters has ceased in Europe ouly
because their roads have been brought to
perfection, their population has become
denser, and their agriculture has rendered
every acre Of sutEaee prolific OF hutnan and
animal food. But very different is the
case ON this continent
A winter campaign in the North would
be far more practicable than at the South /;
compared with those of Europe, their
roads nre Indifferent but the continual
frost of winter renders them as firm as a
pavement. The winter, too, is more in
tensely cold than Mt the South; but the
low temperature is continuous, and there
is the constant dryness of atmosphere
which freezing weather produces; con-
tinous ice and frost is far more prOpitiOus
to army health and transportation than al
ternate rains, SHOWS, thaws and freezes, he.
Invasion of the North in winter, therefore
would be comparatively q feasible per-
forlnance, rendered more so by the more
dense population aud the more general
= distribation OF food and supplies over the
whole surface of territory. In all these
rcspects the case of the South is different,
The Northeruers nre destined to encoun-
ter much more in a Southern winter cam
paigu than they dream Of in their phIl0s0-
phy. The agricultural industry of ouI
section is employed in the production oi
food to but partial extent. Our greaI
staples of cotton aud tobacco employ, two
thirds of our labor. Few planters are IL
the habit Of raising more than their OWE
consumption of food, except in the districts
unadapted to cotton and tobacco. Take
the South as a whole, leaving ont Kentucky
and Missouri, and it does not more thar
produce its own food. To invade the
South is not, therefore, to invade u eoun.
try dotted all over with magazines and
/ provisions. The invading army mus
bring along and carry with 1t its entire
supplies, both of rations and forage
What the difficulty Of doing this in .Coun'
try where the weather Is always soft, and
almost constant rains keep the roads In i
! state more flt for navigation than travel
WAS experienced by the English during tht
Crimean war, when, at q distance Of only
thirty niIas from nhnndAntlY stored mAga.