The rebels have been disastrously repulsed in two attempts at invasion,
and do not hold one inch of Northern soil. One third of the States
claimed by them at the outset, are gone from them forever: Maryland,
Missouri, Kentucky, are securely in the Union; Virginia we have cut in
two--nearly one half of its territory, by the will of its inhabitants,
now constituting a loyal member of the Union as the new State of West
Virginia--while of its eastern half we securely hold its coast, harbors,
and fortresses, and a considerable number of its counties. Tennessee is
ours, and cannot, we think, be wrenched away. We have New Orleans, and
the uncontrolled possession of the Mississippi river--cutting the
territory of the rebels in two, destroying their communications, and
giving us a considerable portion of the States bordering that river. In
North Carolina and South Carolina we have a hold, from which it will be
hard to drive us. On the Atlantic and Gulf coast nearly every fortress
is in our possession; there is not a port which is not possessed by us,
or else so blockaded that (except in the peculiar case of Wilmington) it
is a hazardous affair for any vessel to attempt going in or coming out;
and the rebels are utterly unable to raise the blockade of a single
port. In fine, they have lost more than one third of their territory
forever, and of the remaining portion there is not one considerable
subdivision over which in some part the flag of the Union does not
securely wave. What title to recognition as an independent power can the
Confederate rebels present to the neutral powers of the world?




SKETCHES OF AMERICAN LIFE AND SCENERY.