The Sun. — 1864-12-05 (London, England)

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.  (From the Times Correspondent.) NEW YORK, Nov. 22.  Prior, during, and for a few days subsequent to the meeting of the Chicago Convention the popular desire for peace was so violent as almost to constitute a mania. The war was represented not only as a failure in the past, but as bound to be a failure in the future. Such was the discouragement consequent upon the tardy discovery that the unparalleled sacrifices of the struggle had been incurred in vain, and that if the war were to last another year demands more enormous than ever would have to be made upon the by no means inexhaustible fountains of the blood and treasure of the people, that a spontaneous conviction seemed to take possession of men's minds that the time had come when, by means of an armistice and a national convention it might be ascertained whether, by mutual concession, the Union might not be reconstructed without further bloodshed. The tendency towards peace was so marked that every body believed that the story of the war, like a good ❑ovel or romance, was about to end happily, and that, all their troubles over, the North and South would live happily for the re. minder of their lives. It looked as if the voice of passion had been silenced, and that reason had re. sumed her sway. And when the convention solemnly adopted a peace platform an impartial observer might have been well warranted in believing that the better half of the Americans wero really deserving of the Democratic liberty of which they proclaimed themselves champions and apostles, and were about to verify the confident predictions of the Sewarde, the G reelings, the Ereretts, and all the philosophers except those of the petticoat and the pulpit, by settling their differences in calm deliberation and sober second thought. But it was all a mistake and a misconception. The appearances were illusory. Time was ono swal'ow, but no summer. The passion of the people for Union a tout prix was as engrossing as ever. The peace mania, so pre• valent, was nothing but a freak of petulance. It was born of impatience and disappointment, and had no dwelling-place in the heart, or hold upon the conscience of the multitude. The capture of Atlanta by Gen. Sherman rendered the Chicago platform unpopular, robbed it of its main plank, and induced its candidate to commit an act of political and pro. fessional suicide. The whisper of peace was overpowered by shouts for the more vigorous prosecus Lion of the war, The appetite for victory was sti. mulated, not sated, by the morsel which Sherman had thrown, and all the brutal instincts of the crowd were excited into madness. Not that the people really desired war, or took any delight in the horrors of the battle-field, or the sanguinary "glory" which their Generals, with Grant and Sherman at their head, were promising to acquire for them ; but that once more they saw in military success a better hope than in negotiation for the restoration of that belayed Union, for the sake of which they are and always have been perfectly ready to sacrifice their credit, their happiness, and their liberty. The triumphant re-election of Mr Lincoln, the great things eNpected of the armies in the field, and the supposed discouragement of the South, consequent upon its alleged want of men end money, have again turned the thoughts of the Northern people towards peace. This time, however, the wind does not blow from the old quarter. It is not discouragement but hope which breaths gentle airs and words of forgiveness. The people do not fear as before that the South is to be the conqueror, but looking upon victory as already within their grasp, they desire to prove that their quarrel is a quarrel of friends and rela. lives with which the outer world has no concern— and that the North at the proper time can be as gene. rous as she has shown herself to be valiant. General Butler—who loves to create a sensation as dearly as if he were a novelist—led the way ; and the great crowd followed, with as much momentum of eagerness as the smaller crowd displayed at Chicago. The assumption upon which this new born hope is founded is that the North is on the point of final conquest; that the South, in American parlance, must speedily " cave in," and that it would be a great, noble, and magnanimous act on the part of Mr. Lincoln to offer not alone peace, but brother. hood, amity, and complete forgiveness to the Southern leaders and people on the sole condition of " Union. The idea was too flittering to Northern pride not to become popular. For more than a week, a very long time in America, it has had possession of the newspapers, the exchange, and the bar-room ; affected the price of gold and food ; in. terfered with the calculations of commerce, and pleased the imagination of the multitude with visions of reduced taxation, cheapened necessaries of life, the disbanding of armies and the relinquishment, now and for all time to come, of such exits. perating projects as forced conscriptions. if any one of cooler temperament ventures to hint a doubt that, after all, the South may not be in the desperate plight supposed, and may, consequently, having quite as much pride as the North, reject all overtures and all offers which do not include the recognition of its independence, the reply is more apt to assume the form of vituperation than of argument, If the obj,_ctor be an American, he is a "traitor" and a" copperhead." Mho be an English. man, he is ignorant and prejudiced, and is but reechoing the sentiments of the British aristocracy, of whom he is doubtless a bribed agent. At all events he is on enemy of " our great country," and not trustworthy in any opinion he may form or any assertion which he may make on an American subject. At the close of last week it was generally believed that Mr. Lincoln, strong in the possession of rem newel power, if not popularity, would make the first overture to the South, by despatching a deputation to Richmond of statesmen whose antecedents were such as would not render them personally distasteful to the Confederate leaders, and whose known attachment to the Union were such as to assure the Northern people that the cause was safe in their hands. Some went so far as to name the gentlemen selected—names that it would serve no purpose to repeat, but of which it may be noted as