Year: 1861

It is impossible for us, wiio live at such great distance from the theatre of lelbera tions, to comprehend fully the scope and plan of military operations adopted by the able statesmen of the southern confederacy. But so far as we comprehend the plan of operations 1t seems to us well-devsed- The collection of large and gallant army in Virginia to overawe the capital of Lin coin, and at the first attempt on his part to invade the soil of the South, to strikedown his hlreling minions at the outset of their piratlcal and plundering career seems 10 us the very wisest move that could have been made. In this he has anticipated Gen. Scott, whose obvious intention was to seize the strongholds of Virginia, and by crushing the spirit of secession in the Old Dominion tC strike terror into the southern heart, and foster the disattecton of that drivelling class of unionists who would even at this late day perhaps return to the " flesh pots of Egypt"

 But while we approve of the policy of the administration in collecting grand army to meet the enemy on the threshold of Virginia, we are not sure but that the importance of securing the strongholds of the upper Mississippi river has been under rated or overlooked. A large force gath cred in the northern or western portion ot Tennessee, or if approved by the Missou- rans, in that State, would secure us the hearty cooperation of Kentucky and Mis- souri, which States arc now rocking to and fro in uncertainty. We have every req son to believe that, with Maryland. the po- pular sentiment in these States is altogether favorable to the South. The presence oi a fine military force would inspire them with the chivalrous impulses with which our own soldiery are infused, and they would no longer permit their soil to be de. secrated by the tread of myrmidons who are secretly but surely forging for them the manacles of slavery

 To take another view of the subject; such a movement would be polite if the South is to be invaded, for it is more than likely that the Mississippi valley will be one point of attack It is too salient and too wealthy not to attract the avarice of the free booters who envy the luxury of negro slavery, anC who have already been promised our ricl lands and our fair women as the trophies of conquest Should such a movement bt attempted, we would be able to repel tho attack, and the gallant legions of the south west, would cross the Ohio and luXuriatt in the growing States that are abl, to supply the world with the necessaries o life Cincinnati would be forced to disgeorg, the accumulated bacon of Kentucky, anC an army wintered in her bosom would de priye the North most inevitably of tht solid sinews of war. If there is anything in this contest whose power we may justly dread, it is tile grain growing exuberanc' of the northwest. But it is in our power to share this treasury, and if the war opens in earnest, and Kentucky and Missouri arc not false to us, we will cultivate the ac quaintance of the grain growers and pork packers on the north side of the Ohio Fol these reasons we think q powerful army should rendezvous at all early day as far n the Mississippi as practicable, and the frs note of war should precipitate it like al avalanche upon the plains of Ohio, Indiana Illinois and Kansas The robber horle> Of Jlm Lane should be recalled 10 dcfeut their own houses and the conflict should be decided on abolition soil