The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-29 00:00:00

LONDON,

pool. Vise consider that one of the most felicitous and ;
important results arising from the visit of the Hun-
garian Dictator to our shores has been the enunciation
of the determination of the American people to join
heart and hand with their English kinsmen to repel
the aggressions of Continental despotism, should a
crusade against liberty be proclaimed, by an American
statesman of so much experience and weight as Mr.
WALKER. We have a lively recollection of his
spirited exclamation, that, should such a day of peril
come to England—should the conflict be commenced
between the great principles of despotism and liberty—
" all the vessels of the United States would be
unable to contain the millions of American
citizens anxious to rush to the rescue of their fore-
fathers." These words were no idle vaunting, no
hot-headed declamation, but the open and deliberate
expression of conviction on the part of one of Ame-
rica's most distinguished politicians, to whom both his
and our own country are confessedly indebted in the
highest degree for his exertions to promote commerce,
that great bond of union between the two branches
of the Anglo, Saxon family. A similar friendly, nay
fraternal, vein of feeling towards " the Old Country"
was discernible in Mr. WALKER'S address on Monday
evening, It cannot but be gratifying to all right-
minded men among our fellow-subjects, who ardently
desire that not merely a cold civility but a frank and
cordial understanding should exist between the people
of these islands and of the great Transatlantic Repub-
lic, to hear a tribute of respect to the greatness of the
national character paid by such an authority, and in
such eloquent terms as these :—" It is needless to re-
mark (for it is known to all the world) that England
stands among the foremost in the rank of nations.
Now, what is one of the chief causes of this ? It is,
gentlemen, in the variety of sources from which you
spring. It is that the English blood is a fusion of
the blood of nations. There is, gentlemen, the
ancient Briton, whom CilitiAß failed to conquer ; there
is the Celt, indomitable i❑ courage, overflowing in
genius and generosity ; there are the Scots and Picts,
majestic even in semi-barbarism; there are
the Danes, the noblest offspring of the great
Scandinavian tribe, brave, adventurous, energetic ;
there is, too, the industrious, orderly, persevering,
courageous, and liberty-loving Saxon ; and then last,
but foremost of them all, the chivalrous, the heroic,
the conquering, the godlike Norman, infusing the
great element of courage, intellect, and power into the
blood of England. It is from this fusion of the blood
of these great races that we are apt to attribute the
power and glory of England. It gave us SHAKS..
PERE and MILTON, BACON, NEWTON, and FRANKLIN.
It gave US lIAMPDEN, SIDNEY, -and RUSSELL—glori-
ous martyrs of freedom. It gave us Fox and CHAT-
HAM, the early friends of my country. It gave us
PEEL and WELLINGTON; and greatest of all, by the
verdict of mankind—for he sprang from that race—it
gave us WASHINGTON."
We cannot but regard those who, on either side of

the ocean, would seek directly or indirectly to sow
the seeds of mistrust or envy among " the two
branches of the Anglo-Saxon family" as traitors to
the great cause of constitutional freedom ; for it is on
the intimate union of England and America that that
sacred cause mainly, if not altogether, depends in the
eastern hemisphere. The hour may yet come when
from their united kindred flags salvation can alone be
hoped for. Well may we then unite, whilst invoking
the same great and glorious destiny for our native
land, in the aspiration of this talented and sound-
hearted citizen for his magnificent country—" May
her union be progressive, harmonious, and perpetual.
May her career be one of honour, peace, and glory—
of equity, justice, and good faith."
In a commercial point of view, likewise, the speech
of Mr. WALKER is gratifying and instructive. To
the salutary effects of the reduction, in 1846, of the
high tariff adopted by Congress four years previous,
he bears unequivocal and unhesitating testimony.
That reduction of duties by more than one-half was
productive of extraordinarily beneficial results; the
revenue which was derived from the high tariff of
1842, in its last year, being but 26,712,000 dollars,
whilst that afforded by the more liberal tariff was,
during the year just passed, no less in amount than
50,000,000 dollars. Thus, whilst more than one-half
of the taxes imposed on the people were reduced, the
revenue vs nearly doubled. Who now will Lave
the face to say, in contravention to this conclusive
statement, that the United States have suffered from
the abandonment of high protective duties, and that
they have not gained prodigiously by the adoption of
a reduced tariff ? Tne consequences were, moreover,
perceptible in other departments—the tonnage, for in-
stance, which in 1846 had only reached 2,562,000 tons,
having risen on the 30th of June, 1851, the close of
the last American fiscal year, when the weight had
been lifted from her commerce to 3,870,000 tons ;
the annual average exports having increased rather
more than 55,000,000 dollars, and the difference in
value between the exports in 1842 and 1850 exceed-
ing 82,000,000 dollars. The statistical information
contained in Mr. WALKER'S speech on the resources
of the United States, and the happy consequences of
the aforesaid change in their policy, is of so exceed-
ingly important a character, that we trust to see it
embodied in a more permanent form than can be
afforded by the columns of a newspaper. Indeed, for
the qualities of sound sense, excellent feeling, and
felicitous expression, Mr. WALKER'S address to the
American Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool is so
eminently distinguished, that we wish it in the hands
of every man in the kingdom, and not, least of all, in
those of the deluded Protectionists. They will find in
it some substantial matter whereon to chew the cud,
and meanwhile we make bold to commend to their
consideration the following home truths of the Hon.
Orator : " You consume now some nine or ten
millions quarters more of grain per annum than
you did before the repeal of your corn-
laws. I believe that your population do not eat too
much now, and, therefore, I am compelled to draw
the conclusion that, under the former system, they did
not eat enough." And again, justly stigmatising, as
agrarianism, the taking away from the many for the
benefit of the few—" What was done by your corn-
laws ? W by, it was said they increased one-third the
price of British corn. Now, if that be the case,
looking at the time that they have been in operation,
in increased price, they took from the British people,
for the benefit of a small fraction of the nation, an
amount of money double that of the entire debt af
Great Britain. What then, gentlemen, was the
operation ? That a few individuals interposed, by
law, to take from the rest of the community a por-
tion of their property, their profits, aed their labour,
in order to enrich themselves. Accordingly, to my
notion, this is agrarian." If, gentlemen Protectionists,
you can refute and overthrow the figures and prin-
ciples put forward by Mr. WALKER, we shall believe
tiiat you have some method in your madness—but not
till then.