The New York herald., 1863-12-25

the bogus confederacy in twain On Thanks
giving Day We had the defeat of Bragg aud th
brilliant victory upon the heights of Chatta
nooga, by which General Grant relieve.
Tennessee To-day we have the inteligenc
that Longstreet is cut off from Richmond, an(
that the railroad arteries Of the confederacy
are severed in most vital point. If'Genera
Halleck handles our forces properly we may
secure all of Longstreet's army-a prize than
which no Christmas gift could be more vel
come to tho country This is certainly some
thing TO be happy about. and. besides this
there is nothing at present in the condition OF
our armies or the condition OF the enemy
which can cast any gloom over our Christ
mas festivities. Our soldiers in the Geld
are we'll disciplined, well armed we'll
equipped, we'll supplied and we'll oficered.
are re-enlisting by whole regiments. Volun-
teers are dooking to the camps by thousands.
There is every prospect before us Of speedy
and glorious termination Of the war. Our
resources are hardly yet drawn upon, and the
capital and industry of the country produce
wealth even faster than this spendthrift admin
istration can throw it away. Down South,
where gaunt Famine walks hand in hand with
War, and where Providence is most severely
Furnishing the crime of rebellion. this Christ
mas must be most miserable. But at the North.
all the soldiers, whether in the field in their
comfortable winter quarters or at home on
furlough. aud all the civilians of every kind
nd kho usp NJ
conscience-stricken shoddy contractors have
really every reason to enjoy. as we have already
heartily wished them-a merry Christmas.
The International FIght-British Fair
Play.
Everybody knows that we adhere TO all the
doctrines of the churches; that all our thoughts
are charitable and our ways just. And, as
the churches deprecate. fights and lighters, so
also do We But that is with the good part
Of US, which predominates on Sundays. Un-
fortunately there is another part, aud with this
other part we sympathize with common NOR
tality-whioh always goes in for Q eight. Some
nice sentimentalist has said that ''lion with
lion herds and pard with pard." and that man
is tho only animal that fights. ALI mistake
No agglomeration of matter possessed Of con-
scious life ever went through existence without
q battle From the ant to tho elephant it is
the same. And as for men, even the most
pious Of us fight Martin Luther was always
ready Beecher fights all the time-in spirit
a kind Of fight, though, in which no hard
knocks are given. Inspired writers, when
they desire to be very clear, use language
that they know all mon can understand
Thus it 10 said that Jacob ''wrestled with the
Lord" And 1t would appear from the con-
ever after Siuos the principle Of fight is,
then, thus universal in animated nature, we
shall perhaps be excused for our deep interest
in the recent great prize 1ght, aud for our
sympathy with Heenan.
John G. Heenan has never won q battle,
and has never been beaten in good stand
up fight that could be called perfectly fair.
His last fight resulted disastrously, not through
any fault Of his own, but through the delibe-
rate and positive determination Of the Eng
lishmen present that he should not win. He.
vas shamefully swindled out Of the prixs By =
men who pretend to be fond Of fair play;
and the London Times, with its immense
says that the Aght YVES fair
one Bells Life gave ao account Of the fight,
by which It seemed that Heenaa was honestly
beaten. True, though twenty-four rounds wore
fought that paper docs not give the particulars
Of any round later than tho seventeenth, and
admits that then 9" all regulation was swept to
the winds" But the Sporting Ne,os makes no
lodges at all, and gives an account in which
tho whole eight is moro. clearly seen. BY that
papers account it appears that upon the
eighteenth round King " was thrown 30 heavily
it was thought he was out Of time" and then
{" tho Kingites broke into the ring, and the re-
nainder of the fight went on amid much disor
der" Heenan was thus deprived of bis chance
by repetition Of what occurred in the fight
with Sayers At time when the fight must
60 in favor of the American, because the Eng
lishman cannot come to time, the Englishman's
friends break tho ring, interrupt the fight, and
30 give the exhausted man timo 10 recover and
come to the scratch again. Such is the game
by which >Heenan has boon beaten in' both his
fights in England, and by which Molyneux was
beaten also, Belps Life. indisposed to speak
against popular sentiment, dishonesty avoids
allusion 10 this matter in It's account
Heenan, after such an interruption, very cvi-
dently lost all heart, and was easily beaten.
Having in his former aght beaten Sayers, he
had to fight tho whole crowd-and here It was
the same thing over. He saw that be could
not win, and gave up the attompt. But by such
defeat be will lose no credit here
OuR PRoonEss IN TIE ARrs--A stranger visit
ing New York at the present time would never
suppose that We were in the midst Of one Of
the costliest and bloodiest civil wars recorded
in history. Not only would he behold on every
side the evidences Of unparalleled commercial
prosperity, but also Of state Of things which
is usually deemed Incompatible with such . life
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