The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, EDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 26, E 69.

son at the head of affairs, and being well aware that
this is impossible so long as the Irish Church
question remains unsettled, he is prepared to
make concessions. The same writer says that
Lord Cairns has been despatched to Dublin in
order to conciliate Archbishop Trench, Sir Joseph
Napier, and the rest, with the promise that if the bill
is allowed to pass a second reading it will be mate-
rially modified in committee. " But the Irish Tories
have been so often used and so often thrown over,
formerly by Wellington and Peel, and latterly by
Disraeli and Derby, that they have no longer any
faith left in parliamentary leaders. They cannot
forget that it was by Mr. Disraeli that Lord Cairns
was raised to the woolsack, and that it was owino-
to the same influence, on the break-up of the late
Government, that he was placed in the position of
Opposition leader in the Lords." According to the
above-mentioned correspondent, Lord Cairns is not
likely to retain his leadership for much longer.

"Brief as the experiment has been, it has been long
enough to determine that—to use the phrase current in the
Tory clubs—' the lawyer won't do to lead.' He always
talks fluently and well. Bnt he never says exactly what
those behind him want him to say. They have been so
long accustomed to the jaunty air and off-hand style of
Lord Derby that they do not understand the Calvinistic
ravity and bitter special pleading of the ex-Chancellor.
11.1T.e is no fun about him, aud, IN hat is worse, there is no
social sympathy or political force in him. Ile creates
the impression that he is always speaking from a brief,
and that lie is ready, if his instructions were changed, to
crumple up any number of his platitudes and put .them in
his bag. lie had once the character of being a genuine
fanatic, but somehow the Tory lords have come to think
that his fanaticism has in it a good deal of india-rubber.
Those of them that are really in earnest in their fear of
the Pope or their love of the Church, like the Duke of
Marlborough and Lord Redesdale, will not trust a man of
this kind ; and the fast men of the party regard him
simply as a bore who can neither shoot, bet, yacht, nor
tell who's who behind the scenes. The end of all this is
that when it comes to close quarters on the Irish Church
Bill the waverers on the Opposition benches will look to
Lord Derby, and will take their cue from him."
The London correspondent of the Scotsman says
it is not generally believed that Lord Derby will be
so rash as to move the rejection of the Irish Church
Bill: The noble lord can be self-Willed on occasion,
but, according to this writer, he is not likely to avow
that, on this occasion, he has found a model in Sir
Francis Wronghead, who liked to make up his mind
first, and to hear reason afterwards, " because then
it never did any harm." The stage which the bill
must pass through the Commons on Friday next is
little more than formal. A clause imposing a stamp
duty is to be added, and as that is a money clause,
in respect of its imposing a new tax, it can
be passed only in committee of the whole House.
Hence the necessity of recommitting the bill.
The amendment to be proposed by Mr. Holt onMonday next—that the bill be read a third time on
that day three months—is looked upon as " more
hollow and unreal than any other proceeding on the
part of the Conservatives has been, and
hence the desire of the Conservative Whips tolimit
the debate to a single night." On the Ist of June
the bill will be carried to the Lords, and will, on the
motion of Lord Granville, be read a first time, a. day
being afterwards appointed for the second reading—
probably the 7th. A long and acrimonious. debate
may then be expected, the result of which it is at
present difficult to foresee. Earl Russell is expected
to speak in favour of the second reading; but, sup-
posing the bill passes that stage, very little help is ex-
pected from the noble earl in committee. On the
Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll,
Lord Kimberley, and Lord Romilly will rest the
difficult task of piloting the bill through the Upper
House.

smashers, have made the move of May 1, 1869,
memorable as about equal to a fire or three ordi-
nary moves. The gale continued all Sunday, and
blew bard from the west even on Monday ; vessels
report very rough weather at sea, and come of the
steamers which arrived during the storm, such as
the City of Baltimore and the.iLlinnesota, contained
a thousand passengers each. The Jersey flats be-
hind Hoboken were inundated, and some damage
done there. Among the recent arrivals is the tender
Frolic, absent for three years, waiting en the flag-
ship of the European squadron. She has just come
from St. Thomas's, her crew being all well. W. H.
Mumler has been acquitted. His counsel spoke for
nearly two hours, boldly declaring that he was a
genuine spirit-photographer, that the likenesses
were of real ghosts and not produced by mechanical
agency ; and this is maintained by a photographer
who writes to the Tribune the result of an in-
vestigation, wherein Mr. Mumler used his apparatus
in his studio ; and there, in the presence of his assis-
tants to whom a reward of $5O was offered to detect
imposture, produced the spirit-photograph?. Libel
suits grow apace. Mr. Norvell (what in London
you call the City Editor of our Times) narrowly
escaped a night in gaol at the hands of Fisk, with
Messrs. Lane and Gould, who each bring similar
snits ; the total damages exceeding $1,000,000.
What Mr. Norvell asserted was that they had
' joined in plundering the Atlantic and Great Wes-
tern Railroad Company. The United States Mar-
shal is very indignant at the attempt made by these
gentlemen to defeat the dodge by which they suc-
ceeded in keeping Mr. Samuel Bowles of the Spring-
field Republican in gaol for the night. One of the
deputies of the Marshal in their interest is in-
structed what to do, and he does it, but orders have
been isssued that no arrests are to be made except
on the warrant of the Marshal himself or la's as-
sistant. James Smith has been committed to gaol
for forging the signature of Jay Cooke and Co.,
and defrauding the National Bank of the State of
New York of $9,000, in default of bail $lO,OOO. Mr.
E. L. Plumb, our Consul to Havannah, sailed on
Thursday in the steamer Colombia. His task is
difficult, but he knows the Spanish character well,
and is a man of sound sense as well as firmness.
The filibusters who left in the Perit to cross from
the Florida Keys in small boats to Cuba were under
the command of Domingo de Goicouria, well known
for such expeditions ; indeed he was one of Walker's
gang in Nicaragua. Though the speculators failed
in nicking a sensation out of the departure of that
expedition sufficient to affect the prices of gold and
stocks, yet the savage threats uttered on your side
against poor Jonathan because he asks to be reim-
bursed for the heavy losses indicted on hint in a
very
spiteful and very wilful way through the
means of John Bull, have caused a scare in the mar-
ket. Great excitement prevails to-day, and sensa-
tion rumours are flying about whit.: I write. It
is evident among all the unti tubs told that there
has been a Ferious fall in our bonds on the L talon
Stock Exchange, but why is the puzzle here. If
Senator Stunner's speech is the cause, that fall
should have occurred sooner. The rise in the Bank
rate cannot account for it, and there was nothing in
London, according to our best lights here, to pro-
duce another panic since that most disastrous of a'l
which occurred on the 1i th May, 1866. We have
adopted the waiting motto, and I suppo3e we will
learn the reason in good time ; but-there will be
takensmeloatunte
odfuctkhsem by
yt Wall-street, guess, unless
there is a sharp rally, for people's breath has been
heavy fall. Our Chamber
berquoifek6 ouranenxp
iereccetehd, and
had
dito
annual meeting on Thursday, and among the re-
solutions adopted, congratulated that of San Fran-
cisco on the completion of the railroad between the
cities. Mr. Lowe remarked that the mail has just
arrived in China in 47 days, the most rapid trans-
port ever achieved to New York. Another little
resolution went to the Secretary of War, asking
for some of the two millions of dollars appro-
triated by last Congress for our harbour, to be
applied to removing the obstructions at Hell Gate,
and improving the navigation of East River. The
following gentlemen were elected for the ensuing
year :--President, William E. Dodge ; First Vice-
Presilent, George Opdyke ; Second Vice-Presi-
dent, R. Warren Westcn ; Treasurer, Francis S.
Lothrop ; Secretary, Geo. Wilson. Executive
Committee, Walter S. Griffith, Chairman ; Abiel
A. Low, Samuel D. Babcock, Philo C. Calhoun,
Wilson G. Ilunt, A. R. Wetmore, William M
Vermilye, Charles 11. Marshall, George W. 1.41110,
Jackson S. Schultz; Chairman of Committee of
Arbitration, Joseph O. Low ; Member of Com-
mittee of Arbitration, Joseph Stuart. The Stock
Exchange will not call the speculative shares after
the 11th inst., operations being transferred to the
Long Room. Hereafter there will be at 10 a.in.

a call for Governtneut bonds, bank shares, State
and railway bonds, and investment stocks, con-
!
cluding with a second call of Governments. At
21 p.m. Government and State Bonds will again •
be called, and the separate room will be discon-
tinued. The Sub-treasurer on Thursday sold
$1,000,000 of Government gold. Proposals were
made for $7,030,000. The lowest bid was 135.76,
and the ligheSt 136.22. The awards were as fol-
lows :—llenry Clews and Co, $250,000, at 136.18 ;
$250,000 at 126.20, do. ; $250,000 at 136.22, do. ;
and $250,000 to Adams, Kimball and Moore, at
136.17. The paytuents for this gold were made
yesterday in National Bank currency exclusively to
avoid any disturbance to the market. The Ariel, of
the new line from Copenhagen, arrived with 1,550
emigrants, many of whom go South. Passengers
of this class pour into New York, while every
steamer leaving our ports is crammed with first-
class passengers, and every good berth secured for
weeks, mostly by American tourists going to Europe
for the summer. Some failures have occurred, and
there are rumours of others, among them the dry-
goods house of 11. E. !Abler and Co. Five
seamen have la..en brought from Batavia iu the .New
Orleans for trial, charged with murdering the first
and secon 1 mates of an American whaling barque.
The funeral of Broome Livingstone, only son of
Commodore Livingstone, took place at Grace
Church on Monday. lie died in Germany, in
Brunswick, I believe, last month, and his remains
were carried here for interment. The reports for
last week show 478 deaths (an increase of 58 com-
pared with the preceding week) ; couples married,
192 ; births, 179. At the 30th anniversary of the
Alagdalene Society, held at the institute situated at
the corner of Eighty-ninth-street and Fifth-avenue,
the Rev. Dr. Ward, of the Board of Missions, stated
the receipts of the year to be $6,993 15 ; expendi-
tures, $7,614 62. Present number of inmates, 37.
During the year 131 tvere received ; of these 36
were placed in situations, 30 returned to friends,
43 discharged at their own request, 6 left without
permission, 7 expelled, and 7 transferred tempo-
rarily to hospitals. Mr. George Francis Train has
left the i&votution with Mrs. Stanton after him,
who denounces him as a source of grief to numer-
ens friends and an annoyance to her Self. Mr.
Train calls himself an obstacle ; his practical
truths " made discord among theoretical
reformers. I was in earnest. They were not. The
Revolution is a grand thing; but in my programme
it does not look so large as a peanut on a snow-
drift !" So you see the indefatigable Train has
lost no time in getting into trouble after, to the
inexpressible relief of the Marshalsea and its Go-
vernor, they had routed him out of those snug
eparters. The coroner's jury attribnte to the care-
leksuess of the company the accident on the Long
Hand Railway, tut three of its members dissent,
holding the officials not to be responsible.

WA srt IN C, TON, May 7.

General Le,- has been the lion of the week, and
he leaves to-day for his college at Lexington. Ills
interview with the President was at the :White
House last Saturday, and occupied an hour. It is
described as being. of A dignified and reserved cha-
racter, confined to the condition of the South gene-
rally, and especially in Virginia. In reply to the
President's questions, the General advised giving
the people a separate vote on the disfranchising
clause, as well as on clauses where local interest 3
were affected, and railways and other important in-
ternal improvements are to, be made, llelavours the
Fifteenth Amendment and the recent action of the
Coeservativesat Richmond. In discussing the inter-

view with a gentleman who immediately after had
called on him, General Lee said he was also of
opinion that it was of the utmst importance that
the several States should be brought into practical
relations with the Federal Government at once, in
order to secure representation in both branches of
Congress, and when that was accomplished he was
sure all other questions would readily adjust them-
selves. He said he had informed the President that
be did not look upon the a Inption of the Fifteenth
Amendment with such forebodings as had been
done by leading men of the North and South. He
described the interview as an exceedingly pleasant one,
and the President assured him he would always be
glad to see him. We learn here that Mrs. Lincoln
has taken private apartments in Frankfort, to which
she has proceeded from Geneva. A lady has made a
splendid rush across the Continent. her hasband,
who is an officer at Sitka, was tried by court-
martial for striking another officer, and the pro-
ceedings of the court were foil 'wed almost itn ne-
diaLly by his wife, who hurried from Sitka to plea"
his cause, and arrived by the mail. I hope Major
Woods will get off for the sake of his wife's action,
although this is a bad principle on which to decid f
it is not every man who has a wife who would do
the same, and if he had, it ches not excuse infrac-
tions of law. Chief Justice Chase left on Monday
to hold courts in Virginia, and North and South
Carolina. Consul-General Plumb started the same
day for New York with full instructions. Senator
Sprague has gone to carry on the war in Rhode
Island. He will stay some days in Philadelphia,
and you may know that it is the thunder of
Boanerges when you see scathing denunciations of
corruption, and the prediction that the end of the
Republic draws nigh, as he has declared his int ea-
tion of spending large sums for disseminating
through the press his peculiar views of the situation.
The lion. Walbridge A. Field has taken the oath
of office asAssistant Attorney-General, and will per-
form Judge lloar's work while he isin Massachusetts.
President Grant, accompanied by Mrs. Grant arid
two of their children, and his father-in-law, Mr.
Dent, visited Brady's gallery a few days ago, and
sat for their portraits. The President then pro-
ceeded to the State Department with Mr. J. Ru-sell
; Jones, lately nominated as Minister to Belgium.
Governor Scott, of South Carolina, is here, en route
to Cincinnati. Judge Busteed and General John
Cochrane, of New York, are also here. Mr. Ely,
United States Marshal of Pennsylvania, died ou
Wednesday; but scarcely had the breath left his
body before telegrams began to pour in asking for
his place. The Attorney-General's office was be-
sieged .; Colonel Forney was of course there. George
Leman and Major John Ileistn.ni were the candi-
dates of the Republican sections, as they had been
when the late Mr. Ely received the appointment;
but the President appointed General Gregory, who
commanded the 01st Pennsylvania Regiment dur-
ing the war, and was Commissioner of the Freed-
men's Bureau. The Peruvian Minister, Garci I, has
taken leave of the President; the Secretary of State
accompanied the Minister. The interminable Dyer
Court has adjourned sine die. General Thomas has
left for San Francisco, an I General Terrf for
Atlanta. The finding of the Court has not yet
transpired. The President his been severely pressed
to rescind the order of Secretary Boni, on the Eight
flour Law, but he declines, although the speeches
of Senator Wilson against the ruline. of Judge
Hoar have had the effect of exciting the labouring
men, and the matter has been much discussed is
the Cabinet. Commissioner Delano has made out
a list of supervisors appointed by President John-
son for removal, and he has submitted to the Presi-
dent those recommended for the positions. No
removals for political opinions have been, or will be,
made in War and Navy Departments ; but the dis-
missal of clerks from the Treasury still continues,
and some appointments will there be made.
Mr. E. Curtis has been appointed Secretary
of the Territory of Idaho, vice J. R. How-
lett, suspended under the Civil Tenure Act.
Among the numerous appointments were those of
four women, at a salary of $1,200 each, for the
pleasing office of searching ladies arriving at New
York from foreign parts. Over 700 applications
were made for the positions. Mr.- Robert C. Kirk,
of Ohio, appointed by the President Minister
to Uruguay, had a few days previously been
appointed Minister to the Argentine Republie,
but the order was revoked. Mr. Robert Kirk was
appointed by Mr. Lincoln Minister to the Argen-
tine Republic, and served until about a year and a
half ago, when his resignation was accepted by Mr.
Seward, under misapprehension of facts. About
eightyears ago Mr. Kirk served as Lieut.-Governor of
Ohio. Mr. Welsh, of New York, hasseen the POStlnftS-
ter General on taking a contract for carrying the mails
from New York, Boston, and Baltimore to Europe.
He would have one line from New York, another
semi- weekly from Boston, and a third every fort-
night from Baltimore. Under the recent Acts of
Congress Secretary Cresewell can carry into effect
such a contract. Among those received at the
White House was Dr. Mary Walker in her trousers,
and other garments, of course ; it was reported that
the President would not receive her till properly
dressed, and if this be true he must have changed
his wind, and thinks her costume the correct thing.
Among those who did not get an audience was Gen.
Logan, in company with Mr. Fakens, who claims
to be the commercial agent of the Government of
San Domingo.

THE PROBABLE POLICY OF THE AMERICAN
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN RELA.TION TO
THE "ALABAMA."'
Sin,—lf public opinion is stronger than armies
or navies, the question may appropriately be asked
—What policy will the public opinion of the United
States require the Federal Government to pursue
upon the above question ? Must not the merits of
the question be publicly discussed ? and if so, must
not the discussions secure an amicable settlement
of the points in dispute ? Would not public dis-
cussion have prevented the war between England
and America in 1812 ? Would it not have prevented
the civil war inAmerica? The slaveholders ruled the
South because public discussion on slavery was pro-
hibited. In the Slave States it was a word and a
blow, and usually the blow came first. When Presi-
dent Lincoln made his first call for troops no mem-
ber of his Cabinet advised it. He wrote the pro-
clamation, read is first to Mr. Chase, then to his
Cabinet, and then published it. Now, however,
the case is altered. President Grant and his Ca-
binet, notwithstanding the speech of Senator Sum- •
Der, will carefully look at the state of parties
throughout the country in deciding on their policy ;
and if they do not sail very near the popular feel-
ing the wind will be taken out of their sails. What,
then, would be the popular feeling of the white
people in the Southern States as to the right of
England to acknowledge the Confederacy as having
belligerent rights? Would not Jefferson Davis be
delighted to hold a public meeting at Richmond to
show that England was justified in the course it
ha'l taken ? Is it not likely that enthusiastic meet-
ings of a similar character would be held through-
out the Southern States ? Would not these
i.h
meet-
ings weaken the hold—now not very strongw
the Federal Government has on these States?
South has proved as great a trial to the Federal tGo-
vernment as Ireland has to the British Gov
forernment.
The ex-slaveholders arc chiefly distinguished
their love of power.. Once they wielded the destinies
of the Republic, and they would be de'iolited to do
so again. This is the ruling passion, and the Fede-
ral Government will be slow to take any course
which would call into exercise this pex-slaveholders to a great ext.nt control the f
press'le
i
They
would
banedgtllaide pttollpniltakofetahse States.Stobuetirhern
right to do what it has done in rallyingcry
England's
reference to the Con-
federacy. ft would be a s,tiejoppng- doi this
to the re-
gainings they woul 1
avail
h eonfls
etlhveeisr
ofp o sevie,
err. y
means possible, even t)
the granting legal and social justice to the coloured
population. If these views arecorrect, the present
state of the South will be regarde.l by the Federal
Government as a strong reason for arranging
amicably with England any points now in dispute.
—Yours obediently,
THE FATHER DICKSON OF "Dun."
15, 1869.
Mancht.ster, May

Mr. James Sinclair has forwarded to us a copy of
a letter ho addressed to the Manchester Examiner in answer

to that ill-advised production of Mr. Goldwin Smith,
which, he says, misrepresents American feeling. Imme-
diately after Senator Sumnee's speech he passed through
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wash-
ington, and with his acquaintances and means of obtaining
information, he arrived at the conclusion "that, under-
neath the bluster of politicians and the sensational writ-
ings of correspondents of the American press, there is a
sound friendly feeling towards England, which, if better
understood by us, would prevent much irritation and the
periodical panic we are thrown into about our relatiocs
with that country. Oa passing through the above-named
cities, and visiting many places of public resort, I endea-
voured on many occasions to elicit public opinion on the
most salient points of the speech, and 1 entirely failed to
discover that any importance was attached to it at all,
and 1 dare to assert that there is not the slightest ap-
proach to anything like a feeling of hostility on the part of
the people of America towards this country. When any
expression of feeling is made it is rather that of sorrow
than anger, that Eugland should have inflicted a wrung
upon them when they were in the throes of their
gigantic struggle, but to suggest that war may arise from
the infliction of that wrong, or the impossibility of Eng-
land to acquiesce in the claims set forth by Senator Sum-
ner, you gtt laughed at for your fears, and advised to give
as little heed to the mutterings of the Senate as Lhey do
themselves, as no Government can go to war without the
people, and the pooplo have certainly no inclination that
Way." Mr. Sinclair adds, "I s►n persuaded that if two or
• three cf our statesmen, such as Lord Stanley, John Bright,
and W. E. Forster, were to go to the United States with a
view to the settlement of this question, we would soon see
the end of a controversy that threatens such mischief and
fosters such misunderstanding between two nations who-n
whole interests, commercial, social, and religious, depend
upon peace unbroken by alarms and undisturbed by fears."
Senator Chandler's speech he treats with the utmost con-
tempt, and ho actually heard it delivered. A well-known
Senator told him, it was for the sixth time in five years.
Even the vehemence and gesticulation that accompanied
it could not attract the other Senators, and in America it
is ridiculed and treated with the contempt it deserves.
Though these speeches attracted so little notice in the rail-
way cars and steamboats, the question Mr. Sinclair did
hear everywhere discussed was Free Trade, which
den tly considers to be the question rising into most impor-
tance in the United States. Mr. Sinclair expresses so
comprehensively the feeling now prevailing in America
that we regret we are only able to give it in this abridged
fo:m.

THE IVAI7ING GAME.

(From the Anylo- American Times)

It is strange to watch the effect of a cry from an
influential quarter, when echoed all over a country.
The people often accept it as an axiom, as a saying
embodying concentrated wisdom, deep thought, a
compression of the results of elaborate arguments
and reasoning into a sentence ; in a word, a proverb
it is profane to call in question. The Alabama
difficulty in America has resolved itself into one of
these profound sayings, which the nation feels in-
clined without discussbn to accept—America can
wait. We can understand the boy who replied to
his enraged father's statement that but for time he
would give him a severe thrashing, " Don't hurry
yourself father ; I can wait." we cm understan'l
the debtor playing what BUTLER calls " the wait-
ing game," but we doubt the wisdom of the cre-
ditor in following suit. A hungry man, eager to
have his dinner served, does not ostent ttioasly

parade his ability to wait ; an angry man, sm trting
under a:i insult, must have no small command over
himself if he proclaims his desire to await the ag-
griever's expression of contrition and reparation.
Such cases are better settled at once, or the naughty
boy gets off his whipping, the debtor never pays, the
hungry man's appetite turns to faintness and sickness
before he is served, and the angry man's injury be-
comes lost in the mazes of the controversy which fol-
lows. Time helps the wrong-doer ; burying under
accumulating dust the real injury, and blunting the
sense. If England acted on the, " waiting game "
her r.asaris would be ;sufficiently obvious ; but it
is not easy to understand why America does,
reiterating this saying, as if time was the Re-
public's friend and Britain's foe in the matter.
In the first place, the reasons must be grounded
on the war principle while the nations are at
peace, and therefore in the attitude there is an ob-
vious incouaistency. The object being to damage
the enemy, the Republic must survey the position
as does an Admiral or General with a hostile line
before him. It is the business of a commander in
such cases to accept or force on an engagement if
the balance of probability be in favour of inflicting
on the enemy a greater injury than he is likely to
receive. If (,ur defli.ition of " the waiting game"
be correct, the Republic assumes the position of a
commander, and calculates that in the engagement
involved in " the waiting game" that England
will sustain the heavier loss. If General BUTLER
be interpreted aright by the papers, he considers
that " the waiting game" will eventuate in Great
Britain's being engaged in hostilities with another
formidable power, when the Republic will proceed
to reap the benefit by annihilating her commerce,
or by enforcing such terms as she desires. The ob-
jection we take to such dicta is that people who so
act make a Providence of themselves ; they sketch
out what is to happen to another, and are amazed
to find themselves tumbling into the very trap in-
tended to catch their enemy. The trap is there for
any who blunder into it, and is most likely to re-
ceive the most incautious and reckless nation. Her
MAJESTY'S world-wide possessions, and the proxi-
mity of the seat of her dominion to the great Powers
of Europe, together with the complications gro
ing out of an eventful history and many treaties,
leave the chances against England of first getting
" into a row," but they are qualified by the extreme
caution of her Government and the national desire for
peace. As regards home complications, which means
a rebellion in Ireland, the position is not fully under-
stood in America. Great Britain proper, with its
25,000,000, is the most united population on earth,
its force being wielded like the arm of a single
man. Ireland, with its 6,000,000, is in such a state
that if left without English interference a civil war
would probably result, when the party Americans
suppose to be dominant would be annihilated by
the Irish themselves. If as between the United
Kingdom and the United States the precedent of
the Alabama is to be followed in case of the war of
either with another power, the chances are not so
unequal as to make the prediction safe, that the
PRESIDENT'S Government or the QUEEN'S would first
fall into the difficulty, which might induce it to cry,
Peccavi!" But Americans argue that England, with
:he result of the Alabama experiment before her, dare
not repeat it in case the Republic again found itself
at war. This would be an unsafe position for any
nation to assume, and it would be trusting to the
clemency of an enemy, over whose head the Repub-
lic expressly held that threat. There are thousands
in England who would assert this right, as the " wait-
ing game" would be unfair if the two engaged did
not play it out on equal terms. It means, then,
that future English Alabamas are to prey on the re-
viving commerce of the Union in case she becomes
involved in war, or American Alabamnas to burn and
destroy British merchantmen if England drifts into
hostilities. We confess our inability to see the sense iu
this respect of the " waiting game ;" but it involves
consequences even worse. A nation that deliberately,
arid with malice aforethought, kept in reserve such
a plan of action and put it in force on the opportunity
offering, would simply make a declaration of war;
Bence the logical conclusion of 'the waiting game" is
that the one may attack the other on its going to war
with a third Power. Being evenly matched their great
strength is neutralized, and instead of their strength
exercising the influence it ought legitimitely to
give these leaders in freedom and civilization, they
may sink into a place it would be gall and worm-
wood for either to hold. Aided, their influence
would be overwhelming : with the Alabama ques-
tion open that influence declines to a still greater
extent in the opposite direction; but though this is
the strongest reason Americans give as against
England, yet they cannot apply it to themselves,
forthey seem to be unable to see more than cne
side, of " the waiting game." Viewed from this
point England has the worst of it, and it is more
likely to be fatal to her than to the Republic,
while in the highest degree damaging and dange-
rous to both. But in its other aspects the waiting
game is more injurious to the United States than
to the United Kingdom. First, as regards its credit
—the rise in gold, the fall in the National Secu-
rities following the speeches in the Senate, prove
how weak and sensitive as yet is American credit.
America pays double the interest paid by Great
Britain for loans, yet there is no other nation in
the world with such resources ; indeed it may be