The New York herald., 1862-12-13

Gen. Burnside of q decisive engagement near his
base Of operations, Lee will not accommodate
him with such an experiment, but will fight and
fall back until his adversary may be cut of
from his supplies by raids in his rear, or be
checked in his advance with the distribution of
his forces to protect his communications
| Within day or two we may expect to know
whether great battle and Union victory has
opened the way to Richmond, or whether the
advance Of Gen. Burnside is to be disputed at
the crossing Of every stream along his difficult
line Of march. il thus resisted. We are conf
dent that his army. q it il now concentrated,
desires nothing more than q determined stand
on the part Of Lee in his present position.
The Designs or Fra noc Against the Mexl.
can Gov ernment.
Secretary Seward wrote in June last to our
Minister at Paris, Mr.. Dayton, saying that
| France had right to make war against Mexi-
CO and TO determine for herself the cause, but
that she had not the right to raise up in
Mexico an anti-republican government, or one
| opposed to our institutions, aud that above all
| France had no right to m aintain there such .
| government as above mentioned. Mr.. Seward
acknowledges that France had disclaimed all
such designs, and that we were thus bound to
wait for violation Of the assurances made by
the Emperor Napoleon's government, and not
anticipate any such violation. A review of
the proceedings of the French in the matter of
the Mexican expedition will 60 far, We think,
| to prove that Napoleon has violated all his as
| surances to this government upon that subject.
An immense number Of troops, not less than
from sixty to eighty thousand, are either in
Mexico or en- route for that country. A feet
of French iron-clads is now in the Gulf of
Mexico, and our advices from Paris prove
that Napoleon intends making a prolonged
occupation of the country he is invading. Of
course, when he conquers Mexico he will
usurp the government of the captured people.
viii not that be direct violation Of all the
assurances made by France to our govern
ment: Why is Napoleon sending over mate.
rials for railroads, and why is he inviting, as
we are aware he is doing, emigration to Mexi-
CO, unless he intends holding the country!
He must hold it, as ere he shall have con-
quered the Mexican people he will have
spent so much treasure upon the expedition
that the whole resources of that unfortunate
country would fall short Of the demands he
will make for repayment. He will then, as
he has always intended, and as Spain and Eng
land saw at glance, when his representative
laid the matter before them, take possession Of
the country, and will hold it until tho people
Of the United States drive him away
Mr.. Seward states that circumstances tend
to excite misapprehensions and jealousies be-
tween France and this government in spite of
all the prudence we can practise on our part"
This is . very polite way of expressing
our fears of the sincerity of Napoleon's assu-
rances contradicted as they are by his actions.
The immense force Of the expedition is greatly
at variance with the object it purports to ac-
complish, and at a glance it Is evident that
France, taking advantage of our hour of
trouble and discord, intends stealing . hold
upon our continent. When she will have
taken possession of Mexico and established her
authority there, France will certainly have
violated the assurances Mr.. Seward referred to
in his correspondence with Minister Dayton,
and we may deem 1t . matter Of course that
we shall then be justified in demanding from
France satisfaction for having deceived us and
broken her pledges
All this must lead US on to war with France.
Napoleon is too wise and farseeing not to
understand this. and hence we may reasonably
anticipate he will seek to embroil us more and
more with the revolted States and, in fact,
that by aiding them to gain their independence
and form new government he will endeavor
to raise barrier between US and himself in
Mexico. For these evident reasons Napoleon
will, we fear be tempted to aid the rebels; and
to prevent the consummation of any such
desire we must make show of power,
Of strength, both on land and sea, sufficient not
only to put down the rebellion, but to cope
with and defeat all foreign intervention or
armed aid for the South France, we assert,
designs the complete subjugation of Mexico,
and when that is accomplished she evidently
intends keeping possession of country she
would find more profitable than Algeria. 1t is
said Napoleon has vast schemes as regards the
working of the Mexican mines-in fact he will
drain the country to his profit and to the fur
therance of his despotic power in France, results
all in direct opposition to our instincts as peo-
pie, and attempted by this sovereign at time
when we are withheld by internal troubles and
dissensions from immediate action in the mat
ter. For France to send an expedition to this
continent is an insult to the American people,
who must and surely will rule on this side Of
the Atlantic, as France and England, as well as
Spain, will yet learn to their cost We cannot
brook the interference Of any European Power
! on this continent, and those who take aavan-
| tage Of our present troubles to intrude will