The New York herald., 1863-06-30

There can be no longer any doubt that Lee IS
whole army has now crossed the Potomac into
Maryland and Pennsylvania, and that grand
scheme Of invasion of the North Is now fully
developed The Army Of the Potomac, under
General Meade, with Frederick for base Of
operations, is also north Of the Potomac, and a
decisive battle cannot be long delayed.
On the result Of this momentous campaign
hang the destiny of the country and the cha
racter Of its institutions for perhaps q thousand
years. Lees crossing of the Potomac may
prove in its consequences to this republic what
the expedition of the Persian king, under his
generals Datis and Artaphernes, against Athens,
proved to the Athenian republic, to all the re.
publcs of Greece, and in fact to all Europe;
what Alexander's crossing Of the Dardanelles
proved to the Persian empire; Hannibal's cross
ing of the Alps proved FIRST to the Roman re-
public, and finally to his own unhappy country;
what Casars crossing Of tie Rubcon proved
to Rome. or what William Of Normandy's pas
sage Of Dover Straits proved to England. And
the coming battle between the contending
forces may be as decisive In its effects and in
fluences as the battles of Marathon, Arbela,
Zama. Pharsalia and Hastings, or the battle OF
Tours, in which Charles Martel overthrew the
Saracen power and saved Christendom from the
Mahomedan yoke
Alexander crossed the Dardanclles with less
than half Lees army, and conquered all Asia af-
ter defeating in two battles the Persian hosts led
by King Darius. The Greeks. on their own soil
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lead of brilliant general, Mltiades, broken
the prestige of the Persian arms--till that time
regarded a. invincible--and less than twenty
five thousand drove back to their ships one
hundred thousand invaders. Ii was now the
turn OF the Greeks to invade Persia, with Alex
ander at their head. At that time Persia threat
ened all the nations Of the earth with subjugation.
The Macedonian conqueror, with bis phalanx,
defeated Darius at the head of sixty thousand
men, near Tarsus, on the Issus. The result was
the possession Of Syria and all the riches Of Da-
mascus. After overrunning Asia Minor, the
coast OF the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and
Egypt, Alexander returned westward and
crossed the Euphrates, to gain encounter Da.
rius at the head Of far larger army than be-
fore. He met him at Arbela, in Assyria and
again defeated him--this time the defeat being
decisive Of the fate Of the Persian empire A
few days after the battle Alexander entered
Babylon, "the Oldest seat OF earthly empire, y
and thence spread the Greek civilization over
the whole Of Asia. He penetrated even into
India, and conquered Afghanistan, which Eng
land has failed to do in our own times. Alex-
ander did not depend for supplies upon his own
country, but on the countries which bis arms
subdued.
Similar to this, on Q smaller scale, was the
career Of Hannibal, the Carthagenian general,
who, crossing the Straits Of Gibraltar, subdued
all the nations Of Spain, and afterwards crossed
the Alps, hitherto deemed impsssable. and in
vaded Italy. He defeated the Roman General
scipio, on the Ticinus, and afterwards beth
Scipio and Sempronins. on the Trebia. He
afterwards, with fifty thousand men, met at
Canna Terentius and Emllius, the two chief