Telegrams from New York contain all manner of political rumours.
Mr. Seward, for example, is said to have recom- mended the President to Offer a general amnesty, to revoke the proclamation of enfranchisement, and to withdraw the Confiscation Act—advice which is in accord with Mr. Seward's habitual contempt for political morals, but has no other pro- bability. If Mr. Lincoln consents to sell the slaves for a treaty of peace, he will well deserve the infamy which will certainly be his lot. Then Mr. Davis is said to have sug- gested that the South should be acknowledged, and one Pre- sident rule both, which is very like advice that Earth and hell should coalesce under the supremacy of the Devil, and is not easy of adoption. Lastly, the Republicans have suggested reunion, provided all slaves are emancipated by 1876, which would be for America the pleasantest of conclusions and is, therefore, the one least likely to happen. Most Of these stories are feelers, put out simply to see which way the wind is blowing. The American papers are always playing that trick, which more than any other disconcerts European judg- ments.
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