Prince Napoleon On The War--his Second Letter From The United States

Wasiii.ioton, August VI, 18G1. Tri the letter wtncfe I vvrote you irom New York on the 31st July, I infoimuJ yen of my intention to seu more elosely the politica! men in whose tandi urii placed the political tlestinios of tho Uiíited State, um to examine, if pos.-ilile, tho position of the belHgereot armies, I ivail myself of the suiling of the steatner lo convey to yoii my impresüiop.s. and shall do so wilh au the êinrmhj imposta jion me by mott iirth ftnth in the future cf thé American Nation, and by ine desipe of eeing it emerge quickly irom the crisis in vUiich it s plangeij. It wan on the 4th of August tb at I came here, and I hultedy not at Washington itself,but at Guorgetown, a srnnll city wbieh is a xuburb of the Federal eapitul. Goorgtown hus a most de'ightfu] nituation. The hoiistf which I occupy ia removed trom the noise of' the city, and may jiass ior it vilia. It is well shadèd und quiet. The Bnrroundifig m enery is ruruj nnrl peaceful Mugriificent tteea - real traed of the New World,, remnant ol th old lorest - project thoir gigun'io aliadows over a meadow of u üvely elear green, whieh ialls in a geiitlt? slnpe. At about a tnile dislance, n riftbon ff silverappearatoflowthrougb the foiiage; it is the Potomau, an arm Int thesen, foor tiit.es as widö as thy Khine. On the oppomte shore extend beautifullj wooded hilis whieh, inclitiiiii toward the left, ullovv the spires atul -ooís of tha littlecicy of Alexandrta to be seen in a distaot horizon On the plains and slopen beyond th0 Potomuc are scattered numberless smal! white tapots, and the tops of the great trees are batbed in a whitisb smokt) which relieves admirably the rawisb (OBe of the landscape. The spots are the tents of the Nortbern ariny, of tbe army oí the TTaion, which protecta Washington otl the right shore of thu Potornac. Tbe ivhite smokö i.s that of the bivonaoB of the camp of 2,000. I have eroaeéd ut the rate of thirtv-siS miles the hour, the disianee whicti separates New York from Washington. I have hal the epeetaelo oí those greut worke of Americun industry which aro to oura vrhat the graat citrea of liubjlon and Nineveh were ta ouf towus. Í have crossod ftrrni of the sua with a frightiul rnpidity on two iron reik suspended over the abyas. I liaVti irrived at full team, on the top of immense ed tices, the lower stories of i w.ere occupied by ] eöj Ie nr npplitd to use? PiikioHD to me; then I bave feit the edifice move, and have Lerceived that I was on a steamboat afld ;hat Ihey had run on it the train of earojnst as a bale of cotton woul'l be placed on an ordinary vessd. To vury these splendid luit somewhat f ightful üpectaeles, I have liad along the route tiie si" lit of an army in the field - everywh ere tents, wagons, convoys of sick or wour.ded, dark and soiled uniform?, gloomv and gravu luoee of Boldiers, who, with theirguna between tl eir legs and with indifferent aud sad expi'essiuii, wnteh you as you pass. Ualliu:oi'e gave flif siünewhnt the idea of a besieged citv; as to Wn-hiugtoo, 1 niag:ned mvself', hil traversing it, in a loun iuvadcd, overruil, staini'd by war ut the moment of the passage and snjourn of grent armifcs, or just as, two years ago, in Italy, I have seen Aloxanifrirt, TJreseia, and Militn, The peaoeful Federal city has Bfipenrvd Ui me ulfno.st under tlio aspect of a camp, with stroets eneuin bered with h irses, wagonc, geus, and resounding with the ratUe of drums, vvitb the hoiwes transI'nniK'd iuto hospitals and barrada, tht-ir "pen wirnimvs exposing sc.enes of suit'eiing, iincleaiili.'iesh and disorder. Nreil, as u rest'iig f)laif frort all these things, grand or tcriilile t,r j.aiiitnl not to npeii of a dog-day hbat and ol a Ötitkiin.n dust, ' I fii.d ihysc!' siidiktily at (jiMii-irelown in the mulst ot veruure, in the bosorn of ii.i'i, triAifJtlö üatme, tiikin Irom Is i -oi. trast with the most [nrsaio wo; 'ks of men anly boi e featurue calculated to set utf its pociic beauty. Wewill speak soma other time of picturesque America. At this moment our concern is with América, pohtioal, warlike - -a piey to civil war aud to m0' '" 'üilc revoluti. ns, noither moro nor less than aro the old natiuna of tha ow vvOTid. i wiü „J.: :?;iui tn-lar of the men of the goveru.nea!; b'it tirst, it wfll be well to recall, in a fow wöf ds, Somo facts of cotemporaneous history. You know that the old American parties, loyaüsts, federalist?, whigs, demoerats, know-nothings, alter .sive dislocations, fusión and trüösformatioDB, eoded by being massed iiitu two great divisions, deaiociats and republicans. It is Qselesa to state that these naraea, almost arbitran-, do not at all correspond in America, to the ideas which tliey would repi'esent in Francs. Here the reputilicans are completely demócrata, aid the demócrata entirely republican, in the sense whieli we getieraljy attach to tbose words. Really, the distiiu-ti in botwecii the two parties rests almost exclusively on the manner of regardkig the slavery qnBstion. ïhe domocrats - I speak ut' Dortliern demócrata tor in the Sotiti the slavery interest dominatea aud controla all politics - nceeptslavêry, andseelr, at must, to confiné it to the States wherc it exista. Buchan an and Dcuglas have been thu last huadgof tliat part) to whieh the intcrested adhesión of the South has given, u thesa latter times, a constant and Uiarked preponderacco in the directi.m of affairs. - The pepabliean prty, of later date, without exactly inscribing on its banner the principio of the abolitiou of slavery, has a manifest tendency to seek thut result. The skillful men of the party are far from aokuowledging that pretensión, but its adventurous and reekless members f Ier trtfmtes tcrrihles) do not make auy coiieealineiit of it. Henee t!ie horrors which tbe republicana inspire in the South; henee, in line, the present revolu-. tiou, the South having ipiitt' simply soji.irated from the Union because tliï uominatiou ot' a republiean eándidate, and tho advent of that party to power have ippeared to it to be the inauguratiou of a poücy of which the last word is the abolitiou of slaver}'. Perhapa there is even outsido of this incondiarv quostion a shade of dffferenee between demócrata' aad republicaus in thoir mode of umler-standing tbc poMtiial and social OTgamization of the United Stutes. Tho denyrcrats, do matter huw far advanccd in the ideas wlilu'ú tl'eir name recall, are still attached lo a eertaiu put, to Jefierson, among others, who, quite hostile as he VU to the principies of authority, had nevertheles.s a fund of ideas iu common, with the first and most illustrious fouudera of the repablio -Washington, John Adams, Frardilin - statesuiou uho would pass today for aristocrats of the first order. Thus thu democruts have not drivtai back, biit have rnther yiVhhd to that imüieusu ultra democratie ciuient, (I should say domagogieal, f that expression wt're not uf'rca empioycd 'm a sense which would not eonvey' my idoül, wkich since twentyjears ! - ' ■ tlie pnysiognoiny of the United States, ' i and altcrcd prufonndly the social con - tions of tb e aouutry. It ia that ourrent i which bas, by dogrees, brcüght the principio ut' electioni) to a ridieulously hort utiu - ji!j yem-, foi' examplo, two jears ut wnt (br tlio highcai offices - t'uust! of li ivprnor, Juilge and Iv'jpruaoiitnüvo, It ia tiiit eun-eut wflicli !n oponed fho ! 'U uf elocüon halls to all for.eigier, to tlmt cfowd "!' emiarrauta wlio, almas! uvt'rytílusro, onj'ij lic rigjits of eitizous as ii y.s thuir loot ii.ia touuhudth" soil of the Unitod Statcs-f-a tciiili'iicj nu ''icing ti) 1 1 io coiwervatioli ui tbc Aiii.) Sn.vm lil'j.iil and charlear. , Ji in ibat popular wave whiuii ha drawti , w.ith it tho bigt prestige of F.-i!eml j thority, ui;d?r pretest it' preserving State sovoroifiiily, aud which luis censoquently wcnkeuííd autbority in t!io States tjiuniselves, undor protest cf ■erving Ldiridual iudopendcuce, so tb.it, in oli degrecu of the bierarchj, public office aro conaidored as tho npoil of a mail nurober of men, who disputo about ♦bom and .hare tlipm among themsolves, . nd bo that bonest and onpable oitizong keep aloof through that saniu scd timen tl of self love which would ni'.kc them seek thein hj ano.tb.er eounlry. Tlicse are the, movcments which the political inK'itutions and social habitudes of the Uoited States have follovvod - a movcment whieh is interprcled to tho cyo f the most miperficiul observer by a deplortible cxaggeration of carek'ssness in ruanneru, and hy the almost complete abandinmont of the usagea m::! fornis of the world. It is ander thu adiiiiiiistriitioo of the democratie party that tliis (bvelopment Ims been wrought, for it may be said t hut g'uice Jeffersotiali PresideofBr-Jaokson at their hcl - hava belonged to that pariv. - Then cauio tho republioans, vrho lmw wiahcd to cxaggerate that whieh was ftlready an exceas, and to accclcrato a movcment wbich had already attaiued a frightful robibity. They have just couie into power for the first time with Mr. Lineüln. Likewise all the men wbom. party dancement bas elevated to the bighi'st offices aro new men, strangers for the most part to tbo routine of public business, till groa ter strangers to tliose external fornn wit!i whieh gtatesmen are Rcoustomed to surroar.d the exercise of authoriiy. Tho demócrata had, to a certaio extent, smong them, an uninterrupted tradition, which, although muuh weakened, runs back, howc?er, t some illustrious personagps Tlu republicans have come at the hrst jump anJ witbout anj' appre;iticeship to the government, having everything to learu as diplomáis, íifinanciürs, as administra tors, as economista and as men of the world - all that requires practico and study : - statesmeu are not .mprovised. Mr. Abraham Lineólo is thefirst twB of the repubüean party ; he was iïrst a choolmaster, aftorwarda a lawyer, or rather attorney, then a deputy for two ycars and wis, besides, perfeetly obscure nd unknowii. Wbeo (hen the republiean party was reckoned at the beginoing of this year, and it became known that by aeting unanimously they might have a majori-.y in tho Presidejital eleotioo, tbo leaders assembled for (he (reut and hgi'imaie operalion of divtdtny the ojfici and funda, in the event of sucecss. All went well in regard to what concerned the offices of eerctaries of State, ininibters, diplomatic eovoys, director.', j &i. ; they ag'reed easily. ]iut the great question - the resercd qu03tion - that of choosing a President - provoked sevcral Btorms Eaeli name put forward raised violent protest. Suceess was cndaDgered for want of greement upou whom to n'x tho nominal leadership Then it was that Mr. Seward, present Minister of Foreign Affairs, who, 83 a man of mind and capacity, might have had the greatest claims on befaalf of himself, and did raise the liveliost opposition, said to bis fiicuds : u l'ou mmt have 1 nee plainhj, a man tcho has no enemiei;. I hace the wry ihmg; lel uu takt Lincoln.' And in thiê way it was Sir Abraham l.iwoln has come to smI lumself i the chvrnf Wïftkingt&t, I have told you wlnit Mr Lincoln was before bis eloction. Physically, he is a : giant ; he bas u picasant face wilh a look of cnibarrasüiniüit and tiiuidity ; a slow walk and bis back arolied like thegreater part of tbose raen wbose hcight surpasses the proporliins of human stature. - Futurity will iufórni us whetber lic has nj other merit tlian that of hsvipT no personal enemies as Mr. Sc-ivard said! Tbis latter persoga; ;; ubout fifty f." OÍ age; small in figuro, he basa iittle head on a neck, of which tiie habit of not wearing a cravat sets off the extreme length Jlis tniire pergon denotes etntning and inlelligenc, and aho a Iittle eanceit Like tbc greater part of the Americana of lus schcol, be Bpeaks Snglish eselusively ; he bas travelediu Europe aud possejESes some sterüng qualitics. He is, next to the President, the most important man ín the civil administraron of the United States. I have been present at sessions of the Sonate and House of liepresentattves, I have had poiuted out to ma the most influential men of both parties. Mr. Breckinridge is the Kontuoky Senator, leader of the opposition, whose opinious and wishes are almost equally divided bctween tbc North and ISouth like the people of the State he represen ts. Mr, Sumucr, Massachusetts Senator, acknowledged leader of the abolitiotiists, is au amiable, edueatei man, having traveled much in Franco, the fricad of de Tocqao rille, and very woil versed iu our litcrature. Contrary to what bas been so oftcn writtcn about the tumultuous appearance of tho Chambers, the dress and eeeentric babits of the honorable members, I found in the Suuate aud House of Representativcs an aspect very usual and docent Without the fashion of the great number of white coatf?, which, worn by a number of Western ÍS :..')■., degeoerate, by their extraordinary eut, iuto a species of garment of the middlc ages, we might fiincy ourselves in ono of our Vronoh politieal assemblies I liavc oen no one with bis foet ou bis desk, not tbo least bit of revolver, and L have looked iu vain for thos Iittle blooka of white wood, tho cutling of wbiob with a penknife, pas:üs for oue of the favorite diversions of the statesman, the judgo or the Auicrioan attorney in the exercise of bis dutics. Doubtless, IQ the United States, sorao details of secondai-y moment shock our European ideas and habits; bit I do not ■wisb to dweil ou those details without real importance, which should not blind us as to what is good and great in tbis coupt.ry. declare lo you that arrived in America with prepossesaions exlremely favorable to the ïïmted States, tht reality has proved to Ie f ar beyond tltose prepossestionx, at sight of those immense cyclopiim citics and those maenificent workshops, proportioned to a condition of tliings wbere evcrylhing bas dimensions unkno'.vu to theOld World.. I have found in th United States thal tchich, depité my inclination to admir êverythini, I did nol ezpeet meet wilh, on iie tcordof even the most favor ahhj disposed traveler, and that ie perfect ordo; hontty, tajerneu to he of service, if not wbanity. an habitual intercontact hj áü úatse of society which ncither soil, tOAUids nor cliills amj une. I wiil add tliat T llave been struclc and touclied by the nrdor, insomesor.t vhivalíous, witli wbiclitlie peopla of the north, ontrary tfl thcir most [inmediato and i iiosl Uuperiuus material iuterets, have ihrown themselves uto a war in whieli ! ;! Iwve but one enf - that of ! ting tlie honor of the flig of tho coinmon ' r ., itry, whieh they believe to liavè beon i Outraged by the South, 'l'ls Ls a what [ have sooii, and what I am very happy ti) say asid to repeat. But I must fllso be pertnitted togive, with tlie sanie siuoerity, tln irnpi'ession whioli the ury (I noed i not siy i!) aaperficial contact with íhe politionl men of tho UnioD, asscmbled at : Washington, bas made 0:1 me. I Iiave found tliem, on erer}rstop of the ladder wliich thoy could suooessivc!}' rcaoh, a jealous aiul unbridled democracy, in qi.i'jst of muí suJjicicnUy mediocre to ' intpire nrither envy, hatred eücem nor hve; nrruthiij which woimds the tenlimmt of íj'tilili, once Ütnt it has passed tho hounds of non and conimon senie. Por a long time, in the Unitod States, politica] pareera and public oOicors have ecased to be a vocation in order to become a trade, and one of tho trades the kast esieemed in a country whcre, accor(üng to the lïnc exprossion of de Tocqneville, all lionest profossions are honorable professioViS. Ministerial portlolios, seats of judges, senators anddeputies, the very presidcDtial chair, belong to a liuiited olass of citizens who use Uiem, so to speak like a monopoly. I tliink that in conserjaenco of the cstrangement wlnch public, even municipal doties inspire in men of weight and oapability, the repuhlic of the United Sla'cs is found to possess a government personwl far helow the real worth of the nation. It is plain to cvery one that there is an extreme tertn which cannot possibly bc passed, and that tho evil, by its own exeess, carries within it its reinedv. I do not doubt that. the preseüt crisis, which esposes the wounds of government, its impotence, its inoapacity and its tborough unpopularity, will ba the bcginning of a salutary and regencrative rcaction. I do not pretend to predict the new politieal forra ander which America will pursue the career of her destinies; but this people bas a vitality too i;rcat, a practical sense too po werf ui, resources too vast for us to fear that shfl will not profit wisoly from the experienco of the past; and that, like the uxtinet races, she will not bo iuimovable in her errors. nor, to avoid them, throw herself into the opposite extremo. Tho crisis will pass, the elementa of vitality which America bears within her willgive lier strength to surmonnt it. Soon you will see this country greater, more fuM of future, than ever. I end horc for to-day this letter, already quito long, and promise to send you the reoiainder of it by the next mail.