he wind. As those
ruffians were mostly removed by time, and the scenes of their labors
became the seats of prosperous and well-ordered communities, so will the
guerrillas of to-day be made to give way by that inexorable reformer and
avenger. Order will once more prevail in the Southwest, and cotton,
tobacco, and rice again yield their increase to regular industry,--an
industry that shall be all the more productive, because exercised by
free men.

The political incidents of 1863 are as encouraging as the incidents of
war. The discontent that existed toward the close of 1862--a discontent
by no means groundless--led to the apparent defeat of the war-party in
many States, and to the decrease of its strength in others. But it was
an illogical conclusion that the people were dissatisfied with the war,
when they only meant to express their dissatisfaction with the manner in
which it was conducted. Their votes in 1863 truly expressed their
feeling. In every State but New Jersey the war-party was successful, its
majority in Ohio being 100,000, in New York 30,000, in Pennsylvania
15,000, in Massachusetts, 40,000, in Iowa 32,000, in Maine 22,000, in
California 20,000. And so on throughout the country. The popular voice
is still for war, but for war boldly, and therefore wisely, waged.

The improvement that has taken place in our foreign relations is even
greater than that which has come over our domestic affairs; and for the
first time since the opening of the civil war, it is possible for
Americans to say that there is every reason for believing that they are
to be left to settle their own affairs according to their own ideas as
to the fitness of things. This change, like all important changes in
human affairs, is due to a variety of causes. In part it is owing to
what we considered to be among our greatest misfortunes, and in part to
those successes which changed the condition of affairs. Our failure at
Fredericksburg, at the close of 1862, strengthened the general European
impression that the Rebels were to succeed; and as their defeat at
Murfreesboro was not followed by an advance of our forces, that
impression was not weakened by General Bragg's failure, though that was
more signal than was the failure of General Burnside. If the Rebels were
to succeed, why should European governments do anything in aid of their
cause, at the hazard of war with us? Our defeat at Chancellorsville,
last May, tended still further to strengthen