The New York herald., 1862-12-17

fm RrrR.., ~ BURNSIDE AND TIE In
PRESTON m Nrv YosS.-Yestsrday IVES .
gloomy day in this city: From SUNDAY 'ne
gloom had been gathering. NO sa'lslaO.Ory !.
news on that day had reached us Of =. 20 e'sn's y
Saturday, and on Monday $he intelligence "'s -,
still meagre. 1t was not till yesterday that ths
truth came to be fully realized-that the
Slaughter Of our troops had been immense, and
the situation altogether so discouraging that it
was necessary to recross the Rappahannock to
insure the safety Of the remnant Of the army.
These facts caused the deepest depression,
mingled with intense indignation and smother
cd murmurs. Everybody seemed to feel that
the best blood of the country had been
shed in vain through the imbecility which
directs our armies from the city of Washington.
Controlling vast resources, such as no other
nation possesses; welding an army and navy
casting into the shade the armaments Of mo-
dcrn times, the government has utterly failed
in the war and failed most Of all in this critical
moment, when everything is staked on the
hazard of the die, and the Powers Of Europe
are watching the progress Of events with
view to q recognition Of the Southern con-
federacy if they can find decent. excuse.
The duty Of the President, under these cir
cumstances, is very plain. He alone is directly
responsible to the country. His Cabinet Minis
ters are responsible indirectly, and will have to
render an account hereafter, rs sure as there is
. God in heaven or an incensed outraged pco-
pie here on earth. Mr.. Lincoln is honest Let
him at once provide for the safety Of the
republic by cutting loose from the radi-
: cal disorganizers who have brought ruin on
the country Let him clear out the depart
ments Of the imbeciles who are mismanaging
the affairs Of the republic in this terrible crisis
Of its fate, and let him appoint honest, conser-
vative and capable men, in whom the country
will have confidence, and who will bring the
war to a speedy and successful issue, instead of
protracting it for the benefit Of greedy con-
tractors, who are bleeding the country to death,
and for the protection of the politicians Mo
see no safety for themselves but in keeping up
q standing army to rcpres, the discomfort Of
the people. The delivery OF the country is in
the hands Of the President, and the people who
elected him will look to him for the proper ad-
ministration of their affairs and the sacrifice of
men in Office who are incompetent to the task
they have undertaken. 1t is the republic and
not the Cabinet that must be preserved. God
save the Commonwealth.
The CANARDs OF THE PHIL.ADEI.PHIA PRESS
ABOUT THE BANKS ExpEprIoN.--When the ad
the Chicago papers set afoat the most extraordi-
nary reports from day to day, which so mystihed
and bewildered the press Of the whole country
and the people that nobody could distinguish
truth from error in future reports from the same
quarter till at length one of the generals Or
dered an arrest, and the attention Of the coun-
try was directed to the guilty party, and the
public learned to discredit intelligence emanat-
ing from sources so unreliable. In the same
way the opening of the winter campaign in the
East is now characterized by similar canords
promulgated for mean purpose, by the Phila-
delphia papers As an instance, we may refer
to the Banks expedition, whose destination
these very journals long since announced, when
it was important to conceal it from the enemy.
They now pretend, when no good object can be
served by the report, that it has landed ut Win
ton, in the Chowan river, North Carolina, with
view to effect junction with Generals Fos-
ter, Peck and Augur, and to make movement
on Weldon, preliminary to the capture of Pc
tersburg, and ultimately Of Richmond This was
too good news to be true, and was the last
thing that was to be expected from the imbe-
cility that rules at Washington The shipping in
telligence in the HERALD OF yesterday morning
exploded the fraud. The vessels Of the Banks
, expedition were met far to the south Of North
Carolina. and no doubt any longer exists Of the
nature Of the fabrications Of the Philadelphia
journals. They sent forth this bogus news
in order that i might be circulated by oiilcf
journals all over the country. They ought to
be marked in future, like the Chicago papers,
50 that every thing they publish may lie received
with very large allowance and telcgraplic
agents ought to be more careful in mulcting
the respectable press Of the country for
dispatches containing such trash.