Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1865-01-03

r1OEFRT i nothing IN nature 50 grand as the ideas
i That originate In the Yankee mind. The per
nsru.l geresi, Of the sublime which ulusrates ii
5is,r--- Of mat extraordinary aud "gataw9mpcu,'
,,,,ls would have furnished Sginus. and Burke
Nth r,uititudiuous aud admirable illustrations. Il Is
ap.tv. surely that the advent q the Yankee nation
va, postponed till after the exit Of those Thi0s9pLc
writers, In any future treatise on the sublime,
We shall never expect to ind any but purely Yankee
examines and aualogeS What, for instance, could
he more sublime than the fayoritS Yankee scheme Of
turning the Mississippi into the Mammoth Cave, and
thus exhausting the Atlantic whereby the boastcd
nov Of Britain would be left dry up the pend,
y,f,. summit, Of oceanic cliffs The nation which
could conceive so magnificent and stuPendous idea
5scer-siuly capable Of giving birth 70 analogousf
roarsaDle projects such setting rivers on ire,
turning fe earth On ueS axis by means OF the water
mower Of Niagara Falls aud altogether beating
..ra.rioD' hollow From the concrete baby show 10
The abstract eagle striding across the comineni,
with one claw on the Aeghauics and the other on tie
Rock Mountains everything 7 y kee, whether rrac-
tical-or iCeal is grand and KAY be permitted to
sav .toplof,ica In this the Yankees have done.
infinite credit 10 their reputation less by the vast
ness Of The original taking and the extraordinary
irstrrmeutalitics which they have employed than
the remarkable character OF the projects they have
conceived Crushing the South in the embrace Of
their huge military auacondal promised to be a
very startling and interesting. spectacle; so
likewise. on smaller scale, was the effort TO
turn the Mississippi and the beIculean labor Of the
Dutch Gap Canal but these are trihing incidents
compared with the last enterprise which was moth
ing more nor less than design to blow ou the bot
drop through, very much 10 the amusement. no
doubt, Of the unsuspectng Aust, ians. This is GER
taplv. o. the correspondent of the New YORK Tunes
very Justly remarks mighty and expeditions way
Of opening and closing battle, and has the merit,
50 pleasing 10 Yankees Of being barren Of danger TO
the expeimeuters. As may be supposed, much of
the description Of the recent operations before vii
mington is devoted this marvellous enterprise
We are told how the iated vessel which waste act
pyrotecnical and explosive part was taken from
.Newbern 10 Norfolk, aud from Norfolk to vii
mngton; how she was called the Louisiana, and wa;
laden with 2l5 tons OF gunpowier, and Commander
Rhinl and a select crew. OF aspiring Yankees: how
she was brought il at the dead hour Of midnight 10
within four hundred yards of tie doomed fort how
she was anchored there, and then set fire by hers
commander ahd crew; and how the ingenious aud
valiant people then got board Of another steamer
and ncontnently skedaddled for twelve miles where
thes watched 9th keen and anticipative euriosie
on the supposed margin Of that perious vortex which
was TO follow the marvellous explosion. So fearful
indeed, we're these amiable and nQpisitive people
tina, they should miss the magnificent spectacle that
although it was not expected to come OF until one
O'Clock hundreds Of them paced the vessels decks
from early in the evening until the moment Of ii e
stunning dsRousHsEt. And the stunning denouement'
tsthrs dssycFibsdi ~