, 1862-10-09
Gbe Grih1ttte.


OUR C0UNTRFss STRENGTH.
When Lord Ellesmere returned to Eng
land, after an extended tour in tho United
States, during which he visited all our
principal cities and traversed the main ar
terics Of communication in the country,
be was fond Of expressing the opinion in
social circles that the Great Re-
public was, judged BY its military
resources, the most powerful nation
on the fsce Of the globe; that in tie num-
ber OF intelligent and hardy men whom it
could put into the field, in the number Of
its horses for cavalry and artillery, IN the
means for provisioning armies, in the me-
chanicd appliances which make armies e.
ftctiyc in these modern days, aud in the
spirit healthfulness and preparatory train
ing Of the people for warlike endeavor,
cur country WAS without an equal He
was sometimes politely, but not unfre-
qucutly ang7i1y reproyed for his shocking
infidc1ity to English prejndices, manifest
cd IN the expression Of opinions like these;
but my Lord adhered to his text with COM
mendable frnness, always telling those
WHO disputed bis confident assertion, that,
when the time camc in which the power
Of the Republic must be made manifest,
the most enyious and unscrupulous Of her
detractors would be siienced by the mag
nifcence Of The spectacle which she would
present.
The events Of the last year have proved
the truth of Lord Ellesmere's predictions.
We may regret that they were not foreign
enemies whose aggressive policy called into
action the slumbering strength Of the
country, and that it is an internecine war
which hiss made that country the wonder
Of the world; but, whatever the cause OF
the struggle, the fact remains that the
United States are not only frst-cEass
Power among the governments Of the
earth, but that they are indisputably the
Power capable Of dominating over all
other powers. We cannot look to Great
Britain for any parallel to what the rebel
lion Is proving. 4 nation Of shopkee2ers
On the land, she has had distinct and war
like class superior to her knifcgrinders,
stocking-weavcrs and bu:tou-makcrs; that
class have exercised dominion On the sea.
In the Crimea she did nothing more than
prove the superiority Of her marinc and the
yorthlessncss of ler land forces. Her
army was contemplate in numbers, and
sul1 more contemplate in performance.
Its leaders we're incap2hfcs, and the rank
and file, in spite Of boasted English beef
and beer, when put to the labor which men
do, died off like rotten sheep. Her conf
neutal campaigns, from Blenheiul down to
Waterloo, were won by her gold rather
than the numbers and hcroism Of her
troops. Take away her navy and she is
not match for Italy today
France, when ID the throes Of the mos
furious revolution Of any age, by tht
operation of system Of conscriptiot
which reached intc every hut AMI
chateau, and that spared nothing
nominally raised two millions Of me-
Tor the public service, almost a ha|
Of whom never took the field Sh
was, with unparalleled hcroism sud dew
ton, and under the lead Of men ofuonal
allc1cd vigor, carrying on contes: agains
all Europe, aud she achieved the
what she Will not tor the next Ger
tury,be able to achieve again But We dous
if she had nj any time over million (
a,,cn i'll tit 11cld. l1er conscripts were q,
tailed by tens Of thousands to the Cover.
mcnt workshops, and there did by compu
sion as soldiers, the tasks that our artisan
are doing for profit. As the ability Of
government to raise men for attack Or d
fense depends as much upon the fcrvs
with which the people love their ins:it
tons and their rulers as upon the numb
Of mon who are able to bear arms, we m:
safely believe that Ff:lncc under the
rectory, and under the impuIsion Of tt
new born Democratic idea, exceeded s
that she could do to-day Her stanlu
army is immense. and her military I
sources in1mcasurable, but Tor prolong'
contest she has not the strength
TIT United States.
Russia, during the Crimean "
when threatened By France, Ed
land and Sardinia, and tormentcl
by the tortuous policy Of Austria, pusl
her consc1ip1ion until the army number
full two millions Of men Her populati
is enormous, and in wealth Of mere III
bers out Of which soldiers may he ma
she is surpassed only BY Cbiaa. But
territory is large, her mechanical
sources arc scanty and imperfect, tue $.
tenn Of se1faom weighs like an incubus "
her vital strength; and VIC shall
when &c point ous what this country
done and Gun still do, that Russia, desk
her millions, is inferior to us.
Ne point, for proof, to what the Sts
composing this Union as it was and
again to be, hare done since the !
begun. In little more than year 1
have sent to the field-actually to
field, not to the Government workshop
distant frontier furtrcsscs-more men
France, under the impulse Of revolution
Juror, or Russia, brleaguered by Il
powerful foes, could 1aise-morc men
Great Britain could now muster to s
her from annihilation-two millions
men, twenty-eight hundred pieces Of I
artillery, and, at moderate conputat
one hundred aud seventy thousand lor
The men are such rs no other country
furnish; they are equipped and arme
TO soldiers ever have been before; /
arc fed and paid better than
rriyatcs Of any ether army that was
marsha1lcd. Behind this force that i
astonishing, is a wealth Of reserves th'
necessary, will swell the number of {
batants to three millions; there are he
without number; f1ol that no armies
exhaust, and the work k-shops in each
tion have but just begun to show thei
pahility for turning out munitions Of
We speak Of the whole country, inclu
both the North and the South in the
putahon; and we contend that the +
of what the two sections have done
cccds all the warlikc endcayors that
world has known since the mythical
Of Xcrxcs made its mark on
history OF the race. Aud when
say that the spirit Of our people is SO
tial that these millions have been gatl
under their respective banners witho1
we're CONSUMPTION, We need not que