army 'the change of base' is indisputably a change for the
better. Assuming that his position at Atlanta was as
desperate as shortness of supplies and an interrupted line of
retreat could make it, the command of a point near the
sea-coast and free communication with the fleet is obviously
an improvement. At the least the army secures full means of
subsistence, and a point from which further operations may be
commenced. On the other hand, the blow, as far as the
Confederate Government is concerned, is mitigated by the fact
that Savannah has been little used as a seaport since the
capture of Fort Pulaski by the Federals at an early stage
of the war.

"... But the fall of the city is a patent fact, and it would
be absurd to deny that it has produced an impression
unfavourable to the _prestige_ of the Confederacy[1260]."

Far more emphatic of ultimate Northern victory was the picture
presented, though in sarcasm, by the _Times_ New York correspondent,
printed in this same issue:

"No disappointments, however fast they may follow on the
heels of each other, can becloud the bright sunshine of
conceit and self-worship that glows in the heart of the
Yankee. His country is the first in the world, and he is the
first man in it. Knock him down, and he will get up again,
and brush the dirt from his knees, not a bit the worse for
the fall. If he do not win this time, he is bound to win the
next. His motto is 'Never say die.' His manifest destiny is
to go on--prospering and to prosper--conquering and to
conquer."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1197: Dodd, _Jefferson Davis_, p. 233.]

[Footnote 1198: See _ante_, p. 192.]

[Footnote 1199: Mason Papers. Spence to Mason, Jan. 22, 1864.]

[Footnote 1200: _The Index_, Feb. 18, 1864, p. 105.]

[Footnote 1201: _The Index_, March 24, 1864, p. 189, quoting the
_Reader_ for March 19.]

[Footnote 1202: The first Southern meeting in England I have found
record of was one reported in the _Spectator_, Nov. 16, 1861, to honour
Yancey on his arrival. It was held by the _Fishmongers of London_.
Yancey was warmly received and appealed to his hosts on the ground that
the South was the best buyer of English goods.]

[Footnote 1203: The 134 meetings here listed represent by no means all
held, for Goldwin Smith estimated at least 500 after the beginning of
1862. (_The Civil War