The late meeting, then, should not be sanctioned by any true Democrat. It was in no sense Democratic; it was in reality an opposition meeting, and only as such will it be looked upon as having any important bearing upon the great questions of the hour, and if rightly interpreted by the administration will exert no evil influence upon the future destinies of this great nation. The methods of gathering war news, early in the conflict, were haphazard. The first reports to reach New York from Southern fields were usually the government bulletins, but they were not as trustworthy as the official bulletins of the European war. On the morning after the first battle of Bull Run, the _Sun’s_ readers were treated to joyous head-lines: A GREAT BATTLE--SEVENTY THOUSAND REBELS IN IT--OUR ARMY VICTORIOUS--GREAT LOSS OF LIFE--TWELVE HOURS’ FIGHTING--RETREAT OF THE REBELS--UNITED STATES FORCES PRESSING FORWARD. But on the following morning the tune changed: RETREAT OF OUR TROOPS--OUR ARMY SCATTERED--ONLY TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND UNION TROOPS ENGAGED--ENEMY NINETY THOUSAND STRONG--OUR CANNON LEFT BEHIND. As a matter of fact, only about eighteen thousand troops were engaged on each side. The _Sun_ had no famous correspondents at the front. It sent three reporters to Virginia in 1861, and these sent mail stories and some telegraph matter, which was of value in supplementing the official bulletins, the Associated Press service, the specials from “Nemo” and “Hermit,” the _Sun_ correspondents in Washington, and the matter rewritten from the Philadelphia and Western newspapers. The _Sun_ was still a local paper, with a constituency hungry for news of the men of the New York regiments. To the _Sun_ readers the doings of General Meagher, of the Irish Brigade, or Colonel Michael Corcoran, of the Sixty-Ninth Regiment, were more important than the strategic details of a large campaign. The _Sun_, like all the Northern papers, was frequently deceived by false reports of Union victories. Federal troops were in Fredericksburg--on the front page--weeks before they were in it in reality; in Richmond, years too soon. But there was no doubt about Gettysburg, although the North did not get the news until the 5th of July. The _Sun_ came out on Monday, the 6th, with these head-lines: VICTORY!--INVASION COMES TO GRIEF--LEE UTTERLY ROUTED--HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT--ALL FEDERAL PRISONERS RECAPTURED--EIGHTEEN THOUSAND PRISONERS CAPTURED--MEANS OF ESCAPE DESTROYED. On April 10, 1865, the head-lines were sprinkled with American flags and cuts of Columbia, and the types carried the welcome news for which the North had waited for four long years: OUR NATION REDEEMED--SURRENDER OF LEE AND HIS WHOLE ARMY--THE TERMS--OFFICERS AND MEN PAROLED AND TOLD TO GO HOME--THE COUNTRY WILD WITH JOY, ETC., ETC., ETC. The “etc., etc., etc.,” suggests that the head-writer was too wild with joy to go into more details.