Richmond Whig

The Prospect.

The prospect of a vigorous and triumphant Spring campaign for the Confederate army, says the Selma Reporter, brightens every day. The war-worn veterans of the South have not waited upon Congress, but are re-enlisting by regiments and brigades for the balance of the war, be it long or short. Our armies are in excellent health, and literally chafing for the renewal of the conflict. Well fed, clothed, and otherwise prepared for active duty, they will go forth with unexampled ardor and enthusiasm to the great conflict that awaits them, upon the issues of which are suspended all that makes life desirable. This being the condition of our armies, how cheering is the contrast in looking at those of the enemy. Federal soldiers are not re-enlisting as ours are. Meade's army, it is said, will be composed chiefly of raw recruits, who, of course, will be unable to stand before our sturdy veterans. They are reluctant men, who have been bribed by eight hundred or a thousand dollars, many of whom will never return from their furloughs. We are fighting for country and home—they are fighting for money. Our financial and other difficulties may be, for the moment, greater than theirs, still, we cannot afford to yield; they, however, must give up the contest in despair, for the reason that to prosecute it will not pay, either in one way or another, entailing, as it will, bankruptcy and moral ruin to the extent of its persistent prosecution.

Lincoln has called for five hundred thousand men, who are to be forthcoming by the 10th March. With this addition to his forces, he hopes to finish the job of suppressing the rebellion by early as the 4th of July; but, if we have not lost our reckoning, it will require that amount of men to guard his attenuated lines, which, after all, will be exceedingly vulnerable to our invincible cavalry wherever the fierce riders may precipitate themselves. But we have little idea that the draft will succeed; on the contrary, it is more likely that it will prove a miserable abortion, as the others heretofore made.— The war spirit is at a low ebb in Yankeedom, even under the inspiration of the most extravagant bribes; and when money fails to bring in Yankee recruits, we may well conclude that soldiering has "played out." The draft, however, will be enforced, if possible. It will do Lincoln but little good, while it will facilitate the election of a Conservative President, the campaign being close at hand. "Things are working"—indeed they are.