The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-09 00:00:00

THE SUN; 1.40N)):01N, EDNESDAY EVENING, JU_NI4 9, 1.869,

17 A Z s ON AMERICA:

Those just out for June touch more fully than
usual on American affairs. Blackwood has " Ame-
rican Reasons for Peace" ; the Fortnightly, " Ame-
rican Feeling towards England" ; -Macmillan "In-
ternational Copyright between Great Britain and
America" ; St. Fags, "International Coinage."
The article in Blackwood, to which we have alluded
in a leader, is poor to a surprising degree ; nor that
only, for it is untruthful. Weare accustomed to plau-
sible papers misrepresenting America, but Btackwood
does this so a s to impose only on those sharm.fully igno-
rant of the United States. Putting politics aside,Ehony
is a favourite magazine,and much read in America.
The more the pity ; for such rubbish as the article
in question generates contempt, as well as annoy-
ance that the educated classes in England should
be content to remain so ignorant of the country
that such stuff can be imposed upon them. The
writer may lilies! Senator Sumner to his heart's
content if it eases his mind and satisfies his readers ;
but what he says should at least have a semblance
of truth. Several English papers have followed the
same plan to belittle Mr. Sumner by associating hint
with Senator Chandler, w hereby a great orator, states-
man, and party leader is classed with au individual
who has no such standing, and excites but little re-
spect. The writer might as truthfully, couple in the
same category the Queen of the British Empire
and of the Sandwich Islands, or Mr. Bright and
Mr. Finlen. Whatever may be the opinion held
of Mr. Sumner's celebrated speech, no man can
truthfully describe the Senator himself who does
not speak of him as a great and good man. His hatred
of slavery may have grown into a mania, but can any
one deny that his life has been devoted to a noble
cause ; that this cause has been pursued by him
with consistency, through evil and through good;
in peril, for there was a time in Washington when
a man risked his life who advocated such opinions,
and Mr. Sumner nearly lost his ;—in triumph, for
now he is a ruler in the Senate and in the councils
of his country, even this philippic against England
being inspired by the belief, that England was false
to the emancipation faith she professed, sacrificing
it to the desire of rending the Republic asunder.
Nor is Mr. Sumner a man imbued with a noble
oeject only ; for he has followed it by pure and up-
right means. He is a great orator, which even the
men who most condemn his speech are compelled to
allow ; he is able and most successful ; therefore
chose ha knowing this yet class him with Chandler
and with Robinson, write with malicious untruth,
and are not likely to benefit the periodical in which
such falsehoods find a place. Blackwood discusses
the probable effect of a war much in the same way,
but other papers have surfeited uswith this nonsense.
The paper in the Fortnightly, written by Edward
Dicey, is of a different character. Mr. Dicey con-
demns the speech in no measured terms ; but he
puts it in its proper place as an expressicn of the
American mind. Regarding that feeling he takes
almost an identical view e ith that expressed by us.
He maintains that the attitude of England during
the war was most keenly felt in the New Euglaud
States ; hence in them is to be heard its most bitter
condemnation. These were the States which not only
suffered most in an outraged sentiment, but ie ma-
terial los-;es by the cruisers—although Mr. Dicey
has overlooked this—and their interests are those
chiefly involved in American supremacy in the ocean
carrying trade. The feeling in the West be hold:
to be one of comparative indifference, the South
being almost wholly indifferent. Ile has some
remarks about New Englanders as Americans and
as Englishmen. Of all Americans they most closely
resemble the English ; indeed he maintains they
are identical, with that difference, of coure, pro-
duced by a continental instead of an island -deuce. They would be deeply offended if mistaken
for anything but Americans, while claiming to be
something differing from ordinary Americans. But
this is natural, and has its counterpart in every
country. We all lay the flattering unction to our
souls that our's is the great nation of the earth,
while our own section is the create de la creme of
that nation ; thus we arrive at the pinnacle of
humanity, and we h eve only to go a step further and
assert au individual superiority to place oneself on
the apex. The neighbours dispute the individual's
pretension ; the nation disputes the sectional pret. n-
sion, and the world disputes the national pretinsioe ;
thus I,y as easy stages we come down again. The
Forlii:yhtly makes an assertion we are greatly
inclined to endorse, though not wholly —that
America is tl:oroughly English in the tone of its
sentiment and thought.; that if England takes
a question, and argues it from the same point it
will arrive precisely at the same conclusion at
which America would arrive, and use the same
means for redress. Hence he maintains that if the
English would regard tire illabanza question from
the American aspect they would comprehend the
American feeling; and it is a pity for this reason
that Senator Sumner's speech was not published in
the 'Times or the Telegraph, with an introduction
asking the reader to listen to the orator if he could
as an American, explaining what this meant in a
few brief sentences. Professor Goldwin Smith, in
his reply before the Cornell University, on the 19th
May, said, "If I know anything of the English
people, the Government, to rouse to fierce and una-
nimous resistance has only to circulate that speech
throughout the land." Yet it appeared to Ameri-
cans (notably to Mr. Sumner himself) a very pacific
speech, setting forth the injuries, although in exag-
geration, still calmly and dispassionately. Had an
English Minister made such a speech in the Home
• of Lords after the repeated invasions of Canada
described by Sir Francis Head, claiming not only
heavy damages, but an apology, lie would have
fired the American heart precisely as Mr. Sumner's
speech has that of England, while Americans are
unconscious of having wronged England in the
way Sir Francis describes. There is one remark from
which we entirely dissent. Mr. Dicey says—"lf the
State of New York, for instance, was governed by
an Irish majority, as might well happen, and if
popular opinion was hostile to England we should
have Alabamas sailing from the Empire City, no
matter what Conventions had been entered into
between the Governments of Washington and St.
James." Herein we believe the writer to be altogether
wrong, feeling as we do assured that the Government
at Washington would be as well able to enforce its
orders and the law on New York as on New Or-
leans, or on any other city of the Union, and not
only could, but would loyally do so. If not, the
attitude of America is little less than mere bullying,
for it brings that as a heavy charge against Britain
which, under similar circumstances, must occur in
America, condemning in unqualified terms the in-
fraction of an international and municipal law in
another country which it could not prevent in its
own. Not only is Mr. Dicey mistaken, but lie is
shown to be so by the recent course of the Execu-
tive at Washington with regard to Cuba, andithis is
one of the errors which makes England feel os sore
under these claims, for here it is hell that America
urges intemperately an infraction of law, which,
had the circumstances been reversed, she, in accord-
ance with her usual practice, would have infringed.

Mr. H. A. Burnell, a lay preacher of Wisconsin,
is to spend four months in preaching on the line of the
Pacific Railroad. Ills head-quarters for May was Council
Bluffs ; for June, to be at Denver and Salt Lake City ; and
for July and August at San Francisco.

Professor Austin, of Washington. City, with a
number of assistants, is now at Springfield, Illinois, by
order of the authorities of the United States, for the pur-
pose of establishing a new meridian line, to be called the
" Springfield Meridian Line." One object of the establish-
ment of this line is for the purpose of taking observatfons
during the great solar eclipse to occur on August 7,1.869,
and which will be total in that city. Preparations are now
being made by the authorities at Washington to send out
a complete party of otservation, as this will he the most
complete and interesting eclipse that will occur in America
during this century.
_

Alexander T. Stewart, of New York, has given
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ATJISCELLANEOUS YEWS.

ItZPIt2SENTATION OP NOTTINGT/Alf.

Thirty thou Sand - persons having witnessed the
funeral of Sir Robert Clifton, the electors are now in
a state of excitement as to his successor. Mr.
George Potter has issued his address. He
offers himself as " a working man," and as
" one of the representatives of organised labour
throughout the country, aml the advocate of industrial
associations as a corrective to the enormously grow-
ing, and often misused, power of capital. He
upholds the rights of workmen to combine, but says
that intimidation must be " firmly restrained." He
is an advocate of Boards of Conciliation and the
development of co-operation. He is a supporter of
the Ballot, the religious equality of all Churches, of
a Government system of emigration and reclamation
of waste lands, and of the reform of the land tenure
both in England and Ireland. It is nut expected
that Mr. Potter will meet with much support. Mr.
Digby Seymour, a friend of the late member, is
mentioned as likely to be selected by the Indepen-
dent party. The position of Colonel Wright with
regard to the constituency further aggravates the
uncertainty. It appears that when Mr. Seely, the
defeated Liberal candidate who had the highest
number of votes, commenced to petition
against the elected Conservative member, he
(Colonel Wright) said that he was in such a
wretched state of health that, petition or no petition,
be should resign before the end of the session. Ile
further told Mr. Seely that the doctors said that the
worry of a petition might prove fatal to him. There-
fore, he urged, " Leave me in quiet possession of my
seat for two or three months, just long enough to
satisfy the claims of my party, who have put them-
selves to great trouble to get me in, and I'll resign
at the end of the session or during the session." Mr.
Seely withdrew his petition on this understanding. It
is now proposed that Colonel Wright shall resign at
once, in order to spare the excitable borough the
turmoil of another election a month or two hence.