The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-04 00:00:00

7HE EXISTING FEELING BE7 WEEN
ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

( From the Anglo-American Times)

Although the attitude of England towards the
United States during the Civil War excited surprise,
and great disappointment among Americans friendly
to England, yet the explanation is easy. Supposing
the British to be broadly divided into the oppo-
nents and the advocates of change, and that the
latter favoured the system of government so suc-
cessfully tried in America, while the former con-
demned it, the Union might reasonably have looked
for the support of the one section to counteract
the enmity of the other. They found, however,
that the active hostility of the unfriendly was not
thus frustrated ; indeed that a large. portion of the
party to whom they looked, at least for sympathy,
favoure 1 the cause of the rJbels. The disgust oc-
casioned by a revelation so unexpected induced
the North to condemn the English in a mass, not
only as being inimical, but also as hypocritical. For
a full generation the cause of etnancpation h►]
been a lvocated in Great Britain, and only men
now old, could remember the political strugg'e the
negro .s had caused which ended in the vast sarn voted
for their liberation in the West Indies, and the ex-
penditure of life as well as of treasure on the African
coast iusuppreSsing the slave trade. " Here is a strife
for emancipation more important beyond compari-
son," said the Northerner ; " and yet these men,
educated in aversion to slavery, favour an attempt to
erect an Empire with that for its foundation. Eng-
land professes broad, liberal principles; proclaiming
trial by jury ; no taxation without representation ;
the rights of man generally to be the object for which
they strive. Yet we, engaged here in a contest
based on these rights, meet with vituperation and
misrepresentation, instead of with sympathy, even
from those bound to support us, and with hostility
instead of aid." No En,;lishtnln can deny that this
country favoured the rebellion openly with sympa-
thy, and, as far as safely practicable, with material
• aid.

The reason was briefly given in a recant speech by
Mr. ROEBUCK, who said the Union was growing
too great, and unless divided, would become the
predominating power of the world. The tone
adopted by the " stump" speakers had left a deep
impression in England that the United States was
indelibly hostile. Hence the ail and comfort to
the rebellion, and no feeling was more natural or
more likely to embrace an entire people, Liberal, as
well as Conservative, after such an impression had
been made. However Radical in politics an Eng-
lishman may be, however earnest in his advocacy
of the abolition of negro slavery, still his 'country
comes first,. and he would forward any policy
which added to her security in preference to aiding
foreign emancipators and Liberals. The belief,
then, in the great future of the Union, and
in its hostility to Englan I, was at the bot-
tom of English enmity, and embraced myriads
who otherwise would have favoured the Northern
cause. The fact is that we are always erecting our-
selves into little providences, and must often in
doing so make the angels weep, for if there is a
fantastic trick man plays before high HEAVEN it is
this. The. nation, as a whole, was profoundly
ignorant of* America and American opinion. Its
impressions were altogether erroneous about the
American character, yet taking its foolish impres-
sions as undeniable truth, it invaded the future,
launching into that sea in its bark without a bottom.
Many who sided with the Confederacy knew they
had no right to be there. When asked if they fa-
voured slavery they would indignantly have answered
"No ;" if asked if they favoured the rule of an oli-
garchy they would have indignantly answered "No,"
and they would have denied the desire to see North
America split into hostile nationalities, reproducing
the miseries from which Europe has suffered frcm
time immemorial. liar his side issues, up which
lanes he. endeavours to bolt when pressed—such as
his sympathy with the weaker straggling for inde-
pendence against the stronger fighting for dominion
--such as the right of the one to tax the 'other,
forcing on him his own shoddy manufactures—such
as the violation of States' Rights, though that was
little understood in England—and the English Libe-
ral was left on the brea 1 roa 1 which led to Southern
success, hoping that the strength of England's over-
whelmingly powerful enemy might be neutralized.
Remove from the Liberal this nightmare of possible
humiliation hereafter to his country, the dread of a
domineering and aggressive policy on the part of
the great Republic, and the North would have an
earnest and steadfast ally, for, as a rule, English-
men sympathize with that cause, the more strongly,
the better they unclerstan I it. One effect of the
war was to dispel a cloud of English illusions,
and to make generally known the Republic in a
way that but few had before been acquainted with
it. The geography of the country as well as the
character of the people then came out in a new,
light, and American affairs have ever since taken an
important placetiu,Europe, and are now const tly
discusse lin England. Social prejudices are thus
breaking down, although not an operation to be per-
formed in a day.' The " typical Yankee" is as little
heard of now as the "fiddling., dancing Frenchman" of
yore, and the general run of Englishmen have some
knowledge of American parties, politics, and states-
men. Correspondents from Washington and New
York occupy considerable space in the daily papers,
and most of the " weeklies" devote an article to
an American subject ; clippings from Transatlantic
papers interlard both, and the numerous biographies
and histories of the War, have helped to correct
inaccurate impressions of the country. In discuss-
ing the.exciting questions left by the conflict, the
tendency has been to view them through a party
medium. 'rue Democrats, who desire to preserve the
Constitution intact, to return to things as they were,
and call themselves Conservatives, enlist thereby the
sympathies of the "Tory-party in England, who in a
measure have identified themselves with the Demo-
crats iu America. Oa the other hand, the Liberal and
Radical journals take up the Republie,au cause, and
almost as vehemently as in America maintain its
patriotism, purity, and excellence. It is evi-
dent that there is a growing feeling towards a broad
party identity, basing the superstructure upon a
few principles which can be applied to the altered
eirctuntances of the two nations. Liberty is the
same on both sides of the Atlantic, and the rights
of man, and woman too, mean the same thing,
though they may be sought through different insti-
tutions. A strong sentiment runs through most
nationalities, which, under ordinary circumstances,
can scarcely fail to be intimate where the lan-
guage is the same, and there is a simila-
rity 'in the manner of seeking the same objects.
Danger may arise from one country meddling in
the affairs of the other to forward party ends ;
indeed such may already have been caused. At
any rate, the motives of Foreign Secretaries and
Ambassadors will be open to suspicion as long as
there is any affinity between the national factions.
For instant REVERDY JOHNSON was the Conserva-
tive leader in the Senate, and supported the policy
of his namesake in the White House. Though the
Legislature was Republican, the personal popu-
larity and respect for his Excellency induced the
Senate to sanction his appointment as Representa-
tive at St. James's. He came as the selection of a
Conservative ruler to transact business with a
Conservative Government in England, and Presi-
dent JOHNSON might very naturally intend to do
his party a good turn in strengthening the English
Conservatives by enabling them to meet Parliament
with the announcement that all difficulties with
America had been sAtled. If the Democrats
aclieve th's for their Conservative brethren here
they will have done them a service to be appre-
ciated for many a long year to come ; and although
we have no reason for supposing this to be the case,
some such feeling has given the point for the late
Republican hostility to REVERDY JOHNSON. The
tone of theLiberil pap.n.s in America can be brought
forward in proof of this. One warns the English
Liberals that Mr. JOHNSON is by bir. h and breed-
ing a Southerner, and, being imbued, with the
oligarchical instincts of the South, has never been
trusted by the Liberals in America, and ought
not to be truste I by the Liberals in England ;
indeed the Star has taken its cue from this.
That international feeling should be drifting in this
direction, as it uncl9abtedly is, may, we think, be a