n trade,
whereby the Rebels beyond the Mississippi must find their powers to do
mischief very materially lessened.

In the mean time, Charleston, whence rebellion had spread over the
South, had been assailed by a large force, military and naval, commanded
by General Gillmore and Rear-Admiral Dahlgren. General Gillmore had
become famous as the captor of Fort Pulaski, under circumstances that
had seemed to render success impossible; and hence it was expected that
he would quickly take Charleston. It is not believed that that very able
and modest officer ever said a word to give rise to the popular
expectation. He knew the gravity of the task he had undertaken, and we
believe, that, if all the facts connected therewith could be published,
it would be found that he has accomplished all that he ever promised to
do or expected to do. He has done much, and done it admirably; and not
the least of the effects of his deeds is this,--that the report of his
guns reached to Europe, and caused the intelligent military men of that
dominating quarter of the world to doubt whether their respective
countries were militarily prepared to support intervention, even if to
intervention there existed no moral or political objections. He has
demolished Sumter, and that fortress which was the scene of our first
failure has ceased to exist. He has completed the blockade of
Charleston, which was almost daily violated before he brought his
batteries into play. We have the high authority of no less a personage
than Mr. Jefferson Davis himself,--a gentleman who never "speaks out"
when anything is to be made by reticence,--that Wilmington is now the
only port left to the Confederacy; and this is the highest possible
compliment that could be paid to the excellence of General Gillmore's
operations, and to the value of his services. Since he arrived near
Charleston, that port has been as hermetically sealed as Cronstadt in
December; whereas, until he began his scientific and most useful labors,
Charleston was one of the most flourishing seaports in the whole circle
of commerce. As to the taking of Charleston, our opinion is, and has
been from the first, that the history of the War of the American
Revolution demonstrates that the Carolina city can be had only as the
result of extensive land-operations, carried on by a power which has
command of the sea. Sir Henry Clinton failed before the place in 1776,
his attack being naval in its character; and he succ