The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-13 00:00:00

suppose) as not only to read this production, but so
to notice it as to demand explanations from those
whose conduct it impugned ! Mr. MOTLEY, in in-
tense disgust, resigned, but the Senate, annoyed at
the PRESIDENT'S folly, would not sanction a succes-
sor, and one of the reasons for tying up Mr. JOHN-
SON'S hands was furnished by this incident. It was
more than a year afterwards before Mr. WEBB, the
present Minister, was confirmed. A glance at Mr.
MOTLEY'S diplomatic correspondence, at his speeches,
and at his conduct through life, refutes Mr.
M'CnacKEN's assertions. If JOIIN LATIIROP MOT-
LEY be not a genuine American, we do not know
who is ; and the two other men with whom Mr.
M'Cn tCKEN associated the Minister are of the same
type—CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS and ANSON BUR-
LINGAME. Mr. MOTLEY has written too much for
the world not to be aware of opinions expressed so
distinctly and in such terse language. For instance,
it may be taken for granted that he advocates
Free Trade. On the 231 October, 1864, he said
in one of his despatches fro;n Vienna, " There is a
strong party in Austria who believe that the old
system of exclusive tariffs, and of what it is the
fashion in many parts of the world to call protec-
tion of native industry—that is to say, tax Ltion
of the mass of consumers of a country for the
benefit, not of the National Treasury, but of a
certain class cf producers—is an error, and a very
expensive one. But the production of beet-root,
sugar, and native tobacco, of spirits, wines, which
could be purchased far more cheaply and of better
quality in foreign countries, has been immensely
stimu'ated by Protection, and the class interested
are too powerful not to oppose with success any
sacrifice of their vested interests." His despatches
abound with paragraphs showing how grossly mis-
informed M'CnacKEN was. The man who "de-
spises American Democracy" says, " In Europe to
be powerful is to be venerated ; to be weak is to be
trampled upon ; therefore, the public opinion of
Europe is, and ought to be, of comparative indif-
ference to us." Again, " I may be over-sanguine,
but a doubt has not yet crossed my mind that the
American Republic based upon Constitutional law,
popular self-government, and the great principles
of reason and justice, will suppress an insurrection
made for the perpetuation and extension of African
slavery, and of the abrogation of the first principles
of freedom ; I expect as much to see the sun set at
noonday as to witness the destruction of our noble
Commonwealth and its dismemberment into a
jarring, warring Europe, without the historical
excuses of Europe." In another despatch he says,
" A contemplation of European politics leads us to
the sincere prayer that America may never be
Europeanized." No one could read his letters with-
out feeling the impression that here is a man who
believes in the " Manifest Destiny." He does not
express it, neither speaking nor ',writing spread-
eagleism; but the idea is not the less conveyed, and
this is he who "despises American Democracy." Nor
is the charge of his thorough flunkeyism less re-
futed by these despatches; but it must be recollected
that we are not defending Mr. MOTLEY from Mr.
M'CHACKEN'S ridiculous attack, but using it as a
means for conveying to our English readers some
idea of the new Minister. In alluding to European
sentiment regarding the war he wrote, " The
opinions held by the influential minority are manu-
factured for them by their public preceptors, who
make up what is called the public opinion of
Europe. Now there was a time when this tribunal
was regarded by us almost with reverence. That
day is, I trust, gone for ever in regard to American
affairs. The result of a final analysis of that opinion
is simply this : It is desirable that the great Arne-
can Democratic Republic should be destroyed ; an
energetic and admirably organized insurrection is
attempting its destruction, therefore that insurrec-
tion should be encouraged in every possible way."
Again, " The thinkers of Europe, so far as I know,
without a solitary exception, and the labouring
classes, wish success to the American Republic.
The dominant classes, with individual and illus-
trious exceptions, together with the idlers, who
are unwilling or unable to form opinions for
themselves, desire the success of those who are
attempting its destruction." lie remarks bitterly on
the opinion prevailing in the upper classes, and con-
trasts their ignorance and prejudice with the more
truthful and generous sentiments of the great un-
represented, voiceless mass of humanity, the toil-
ing millions whose part in life, according to the !„.!
European scheme, which he of ten condemns, is to be
governed and to hew wood and draw water for those
who govern. In his despatch, No. 36, Oct. 5, 1863,
he pays this generous tribute to the English masses :
"The heroic attitude of the working classes of Eng-
land, steadily withstanding the acts and misrepre-
sentations of demagogues, will ever be cherished as
a manifestation scarcely less sublime than the
heroism with which Americans of all classes have
been ready to lay down their lives that their own
country might live ; nor shall we ever forget that
the journalists who have defended our cause among
a host of enemies have been unsurpassed in the
whole history of the periodical press, for know-
ledge, ability, and nobility of sentiment ; that some
of the most eloquent and honoured public men of
England have spoken words which have echoed in
every American heart, and that the loftiest and
most earnest thinkers, both of England and of the
Continent, the true and permanent guides of public
thought, with scarce an exception, have expressed
themselves, in regard to the great revolution now
going on in America, with a wisdom, and breadth of
vision, that do honour to the age." Mr. MOTLEY
received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the
University of Oxford ; and he is well known to the
literary men of England, in the libraries of which
country much of his researches were made. The
appointment will be as well received in America
as here, for Mr. MOTLEY is a genuine representa%
tive, and long and strongly attached to that party
now all dominantlin the Republic.—Anglo-Ameri-
can limes.

DEATII OF EDWARD BATES.—This well-known
statesman expired at St. Louis on Thursday, March 25
aged 75. He was born in Goochland County, Virginia,
Sept. 4, 1793, and remained comparatively unknown be-
yond the State of Missouri, whither he had emigrated,
till 1847, when he was appointed delegate to an In-
ternal Improvement Convention held at Chicago, where
the talents he displayed brought him into public notice.
In 1850 Mr. Fillmore offered him the post of Secretary of
War, but he declined it ; and in 1860 was a prominent
candidate for the Presidency. On the first ballot the
vote stood : —For Seward, 173} ; for Lincoln, 102 ; for
Simon Cameron, 501- ; for Salmon P. Chase, 49 ; and
for Edward Bates, 48. On the seeond ballot Mr.
Bates had 35, and on the third 22, his strength gradually
going over to Mr. Lincoln. After his election, President
Lincoln selected Edwin Bates for Attorney-General, which
post ho resigned in 1E64, when he retired into private life
at St. Louis, whence he never after emerged into active
politics.

A flying machine, it is announced, has recently
been invented by a citizen of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
and the model is said to exhibit great ingenuity. The
wings are 15 feet in length each, and together will cover
900 square feet of sui face.

General Samuel Fessenden has died at Portland,
Maine, at the age of about 85 years. He had been eminent
as a lawyer, citizen, Mason, and politician, and was once
grand master of the Masonic fraternity in Maine. Ho
leaves a large family of descendants, many of whom are
distinguished in the public service, Senator Fessenden
being his eldest son.