St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1862-06-12
The Coming Time.

Though the ~isest OF US may be at sea
in reference to the result Of the great bat
lie now impending before Richmond. it is
not difficult for even ordinary intelligence
to approximate pretty closely the condition
Of affairs which will come to pass when
this battle has been fought aud won. If
the Federal power shall be unequal to the
task of reducing Richmond, as We honest
" believe it will, it is inevitable that the
va, mus. end. The temper Of the North
ern mind aud the capacity Of the North
ern purse have been pretty severely tried
already. Time and again has it been an
nounced, that the rebellion could live duly
a few days longer. and again and again
has the announcement been falsified. -te
Northern mind is fast becoming suspicious
and distrustfui Of the paper promises Of
the Government. With the defeat of Nc
Clellan before Richmond. will have passed
away tho only rational hope of crushing
the rebellion without utter ruin to the
States which acknowledge the authority Of
the Federal Government. No one need
no told that these States are profoundly
solicitous to reduce the South to submits
sion. The immense sacrifices they have
made and are now making prove this, if
proof was at all necessary. The great
mistake is in surprising. that they are SO
blinded aud reckless, they will be willing
to ruin themselves in orde. to compass the
overthrow Of the South. 1t is very likely
that they love revenge. but they love it
not to their own destruction. When the
unwclcome truth once comes home to them,
that the money they have already lavished,
has been lavishcd in vain, that tho immense
army they have called into existence. has
tried its proves upon Richmond without
effect and has been scattered and cnfecbled
by defeat and the many calamitics of war
they will be unwilling, We apIrchend. to
cndu,e another aud heavier draft upon
their means merely to crafty feeling Of
vindictive hatred, reckless of the ruin
which is certain to ovcrtakc themselves
The defeat of Mcclellan before Rich
mOnd, moreover, cannot he without de-
cisive effect in determining and precipi-
ta,irng European Intervention. Cotton.
which We had all fondly imagined MAS
dethroned, IL still King in Europe,
and rules with imperial power. 1t is
for cotton and . market for their man
utactures that Englsnd and France will
intervene, the first decent pretext they
have. aud If this ii not soon presented.
they will intervene without it. Their
necessities do not admit Of longer delay -
Already. We arc Informed. the war
in this country Is costing England sud
France more money and more suffering
than many q war Of their own. One
third Of the cotton mills in England are
idle. and more than another third are
working short-handed and upon short
tune. Every promise to obtain cotton
from other than American sources has
been tried aud has proved deceptive, aud
day by day the small stock that remains
on hand is rapidly diminishing. The
number Of operatives in England alone
who have been thrown out Of employ
ment aud reduced 10 consequent des,i-
sutton by the interruption of the Amcri-
can cotton supply. is estimated at this
time by reliable Englhh authority at
Eve hundred thousand. and this num-
Der is represented to be fearfully on the
increase The same restitution to the
same extent is existing in France from
the same cause. But England and
France may make common cause with
the Federal Government to reduce the
South to obedience and thus obtain the
object Of their desires. This absurd idea
has become quite fashionable in certain
quarters. Nov. it is certainly possible.
Cor nearly all things are possible, tina.
these Governments may make common
cause with our own, but it is difficult to
discover how they can thus ''obtain the
object of their DESIRES" if this object be
cotton. The Confederate Government
holds . torch to every bale Of cotton in
the Southern Confederaey. II it may
not command victories. no power can
prevent it from burning its cotton. if it
70 determines. Aud this dste rmination,
in certain contingencies, it has
made and is making No secret Of to any
body. Cotton. then, GAN only be Oh
tanned by England and France interven-
ing for peace and upon terms acceptable
TO the South. They have postponed in
terventiun, from time to time, in the
hope that We would soon settle our
domestic difficulties among ourselves. or