The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 8, 25 November 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1863.

A very long tivne has elapsed since an English mail brought tidings of such importance as the last has. Nor is it from only one quarter that the intelligence is of a more than ordinarily interesting character. To begin with the struggle goiug forward on the American* Continent. It is certain, that tha Con- ■ federates have sustained very serious reverses, and many who have hitherto placed implicit confidence in their efforts for independencehave begun toenterfcain doubts as to whether the men and money of the Northern States may not, in the long run, prove too powerful for them to contend against. But great as have been the reverses sustained by the Southerners, it seems to us that the end is apparently as far off as ever. If they have been beaten in some places, they have more than held their oyfn in others. Charleston remains untaken,

though reduced to aheap of ruins, and a battle in which 12,000 Northerneis were placed hors de combat has been fought. President' Davis *s a man fnlKof resources, and finding that ik-e strain was becoming too great upon the white population of the States over which he has be-en called upon to preside, he has determined-upon a measure," which, if it succeeds — and it Certainly is v not im- : probable that it will—must once more place the armies .of the .Confederatess ; on a footing, of more equality with those ofthe North than has hitherto been the , case. President Davis proposes to arm half a million of slaves, and as a reward for their "services, they are promised that each shall receive, at the conclusion of the war, his freedom and a grant of land. The measure is a very hold one, and shouid it succeed in the first instance, will probably be had recourse to from time to time, until the eontestis brought to, a conclusion. And then we havse the rumor that the Emperor Napoleon will not much longer be silent as : regards this Tuost lamentable war. It is said that, for certain considerations (the cession of Texas) ; he will recognise the Southern Confederacy, and that fact may mean far more than is at first' sight apparent. • Should France take the course above indicated, who will venture to predict that the arrogance of the Northerners may not lead them ; into hostilities with the first military nation of Huropa, Meanwhile, dis- , content is growing stronger and rnOrH \ widely spread throughout the North, ■ and men's minds are yearning after the days of peace and plenty which they so recklessly cast from them. Cf the final settlement of the questiou in favor of the South we entertain no doubt whatever. It is impossible for the two sections of the Union ever to come together under the same Government they formerly enjoyed, and it is equally impossible for the North to hold military possession of the seceding States. There may be, as a writer recently suggested, two large Republics, and, between them, a few small free States, and this perhaps would prove the best solution of the question, the small intervening territories acting as a barrier between two nations who would otherwise be continually clashing -with each other. Turn we now to Europe, and it will be seen that there again the news is of such a nature as to warrant us in making the assertion that seldom has the Mail Steamer brought out news of such importance. Poland, gallant, longsuffering Poland, is struggling with all h>r energies to free herself from the grasp of the Russian Bear, though we are compelled to acknowledge with but little apparent chance of success. It may be that the English Government, now that Russia has definitely decHned to listen to any amicable discussion by the Great Powers as to her policy in Poland, will by the force of circumstances, be hurried into a war, tut it is not probable. There is no doubt that the English people, or a large section of them, would look with a lenient eye On the conduct of a ministry under whose auspices such a war was originated. We are told by our neighbors on the other side of the channel that we are by no means a military nation ; but whether that be the case or no, the fact is e-crtaiu that Englishmen view with horror and disgust the accounts of the atrocties which the Russian soldiery are daily and hourly perpetrating against the unfortunate Poles, the more so perhaps, because the contrast between their own condition and that of the victims of Russian despotism is so strongly marked That feeling goes a long way to make up for a want of military genius in a nation, and it is strongly at work at the present moment dn EJgland. The comparative failure, or, perhaps, more properly speaking, only partial success of the Emperor of Austria to reconstruct Federal Germany, is another topic of in terest. Prussia stands aloof, jealous, no doubt, of Austria, and unwilling to accept any but the first place in the Councils of United Germany. It may be better for the general peace of Europe, that this movement has not been attended with all the success which some predicted for it. Germany, divided in its military government, or with the machinery of that government so clumsily construe- j ted, that combined action at a given \ moment, is almost impossible is not to i be feared so much as United Germany, which could at any moment briug an i overwhelming army into the field. The accounts from the manufacturing districts of England are of a rather more encouraging character than they have lately been, owing in some measure to the splendid harvest, the heaviest known for many years. ' These topics comprise the most important part of the news by the mail, but we look forward to next one as likely to contain intelligence of even greater interest.