The New York herald., 1863-01-24
Our Army on the Rappahaaaock-
,.se-ck I'm che NIud.''

Dur Army on the RapPaAsasoch-
.ssack im shs Mud."
Our latest despatch from the RappahannocE,
dated Yesterday, informs us substantially Vat
in c.nseouenee Of the heavy rains aud gVaeral
thaw since Tuesday last the position of our
army NAV be defined in those four expressive
words-"stuck in .he mud" From the delay
in bringing up those pnsntoons, and from the
difficulty Of povipS our artillery through tb,,
mud, the intended surprise Of the enemy has
been defeated; from which We infer that the
army ia again in its old encampw.nts on the
north side of the river.
A week may elapse before the ''sacred soil"
Of Virginia is sufficiently dried or hardened for
the passage Of artillery, and zen then nv we are
by 70 meaEs certain that General Burn
side w,Il advance to battle, though he
may Immediately advance to turn the
ensmy's works. He Is evidently satisfied
that the army of General Lee has been mate
rally diminished to supply more pressing de-
mands for the service Of JEFF. Davis in other
quarters. Accepting, then, this declaration OF
General Burnside as fixed fact, Is 1t likely
that General Lee, with the odds thus rendered
so decidedly against him, will risk another bat
tie to hold the heights Of Fredericksburg: Per
haps he may; but we are more Inclined to the
opinion that he will repeat the strategic move
ments OF Joe Johnston from Harper's Ferry and
Manassas. of Sidney Johnston from Bowling
Green, of General Bishop Polk from Columbus,
of Beauregard from Corinth, OF Huger from
Norfolk, Of Magruder from Yorktown, of Bragg
from Perryvlle, and of Lee himself from An
tietam; that is, we think ii probable that when
General Burnside again advances upon the enc
| my's works he will find them evacuated aud
! the enemy beyond immediate pursuit
| These indicated examples have taught rs tha'
| 4 il an established rule among the rebel gene
! ,als to measure the strength of the army op-
posed to them, and that Unless The chances are
decidedly in their favor they are to slip OF in
the dark, in view of the good old axiom that
He who fights and away,
May live to fight another day.
General Lee having measured the strength at
Fredericksburg Of the Union army opposed to
him, has emained under cover Of his intrench-
ments ever since. With the repuse of our
forces on the 18th December he did not venture
his works, and all the next day with our troops
! between him and the river He thus pract-
cally confessed the superiority Of our army in
the open field; and, accordingly, we apprehend
that with the discovery Of movement intended
to force him ont, to protect his communications
he will take Time by the forelock, and repeat
the trick of mysterious disappearance to parts
unknown.
The DISTRESS IN TRANcE.--The French jour
nails are not permitted to give full details as to
the condition Of the working classes in the
manufacturing districts. An attempt has been
made to solicit private aid for the hundreds Of
thousands of French operatives now almost
starving. but it failed altogether. In France
there exists no mode Of appealing with success
to the public. They are fully aware that the
government controls all matters of public in.
terest, and gives out or keeps back such in
formation as it chooses. in other words, they
are so well aware that the reports made by the
officials are almost always false that they are
not easily moved to sense Of the wants Of any
portion Of the people, or, il made fully cogni-
zant Of cases of extreme destitution, the public
at once assert that it is the affair Of the gov
ernment, and, as it NEEDLES in all other matters,
they justly throw the burden Of relief upon 1t.
Hence the suf1erings Of the operatives in
France have been dreadful as they have not
been relieved, the government having but
scanty means to apply to such purposes A
bold writer in one Of the Paris weeklies has
dared to describe the condition Of the working
classes in the Department Of The Seine Infc-
rieure. He gives some idea of the extent of
the calamity. lie says
There in the Seine Infereure 1900 900 spindlcs
IA 900 loons thrtytwo chutz manufactures aud Gf eco
hand looms. Well in ordinary times, the manufactures
employ 30 600 working men. Nov q days they employ
Scarcely 900. Consequently $1,000 Of work
Each hand loom must occupy man and 4 or
child In all 12S 600 hands Since the crisis five 1eayers
out Of six stand still for want Of work IN other words,
thero about lO2 900 nle OF starvation
Nor 10 those fare much better whose work s either
directly indirectly, connected w the manuiactocs
so that the number OF persons In utter dctutcn round
l,ouan Is recEoped n g,0 ~ thc hisnt CORES on al
the by streets begin 70 swim with Gainished spoctres
In the surrounding country little boys wander up aud
obliged to 20 FAR In order got them that they cannot
come back home until the day after. VI many fc.m.
mune wthered leaves are burned 10 lieu Of wood or COAL
No bed no linen 10 be found there. The children
sleep on a bit Of ro.en straw the garsn!s on plank
This Is narrowing description, and yet il
falls short Of the actual state of misery and
destitution throughout other manufacturing
districts in France. Our readers will under
stand that Napoleon must obtain relief for his
suffering subjects, as to him and him alone thew
look for aid.
Mr. CnAsE's MANAGEMENT OF THE TrfAsrRY.--