The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-10-07
THE SPLEEN OF THE ENGLISH PRESS

In our leading article of yesterday, We made q
hort ouotation from recent number of the "Lon-
doo Times" This powerful journal has won for
,elf singular and strongly marked renown.
Sanding conlessedy al the head of the journalism
- Enrope il makes its voice heard and felt all over
,be world. A bold, unscrupulous, and formidable
.dvenurer on the scenes of poitcs-with little con-
sstency, and less conscience, but always armed al
all points in the glittering panoply of dialectics-
!, fights, with its whole prodigious power, first the
battle of one party, and then of another, without
,gssriness, or fear, or mercy--unshackled by any
sense of Justice, incapable of shame, and, we are
houpd TO add, unmndful of truth. On one point,
hovever, the ''Times" has always been sternly
consistent. In its rancor against America, it has
.lwavs been ITSELF Towards the rising growth and
the expanding destiny of this country, il has al
u,.vs shown, in its fixed look, the malignant grin Of
d.rision, or the gloomy scowl Of hate.
OF late, the "Times" land the remark is true of
most of the journalism of Engand) rages against
us more fercely than ever. The denousmer,t Of the
Texan drama is quite too much for its philoso-
INV This is not to be wondered ut. In no
other recent business has John Bull attempted to
interfere SO wholly without any plausible warrant.
In no other has his greedy and rapacious spirit fed
itself on such false and swelling hopes; and in no
other case as in this Of Texas, have these same
homes been SO dashed and scattered by sad and
remedless blunder.
Texas, with all her noble cotton-lands, has fairly
escaped the grasp of English cupidty. Recognised
independence, settled peace, powerful protection,
large pecuniary aid--all were offered to the young
and struggling republic, and all were offered in
vain. She was not to be tempted or invegled into
the meshes of the great British net She was not to
be bought over into British sympathies or British
alliance or British interests She felt that her hope
and her destiny were here with us-and now she is
ours 1t is sad mish'p to England. Given to
England the commercial monopoly Of Texas, and
in few years the Fighting Nabob-the Sir Giles
Oyerreach of the nationsmght have stood forth in
dependent, unchecked, and lordy among his neigh
bors Now, on the contrary, he is "cabined, crib
bed, confined" The very thought of rupture
with US, makes him ahudder in every nerve. Not
that he breads the carnage of the battlefield, or
the aphury smoke of the bat,le-deck. He quails
before the Embargo that war would bring.
Stop to-day the cotton Of America at the Atlantic
seaboard on its way to England, and tomorrow
mighty multitude Of laboring men in England,
brought at one fell swoop to the deadly verge of inn
minent and sure starvation cry out and gnash their
teeth for daily bread Before this dread vision,
the iron courage of the Rulers of England -never
more sedate and stubborn than in the crisis Of a
hard-fought and murderous warts panic-struck
and cowed Even wing timidy, in view of these
things, may be Of good cheer. England may
well hesitate to 60 to war with US, even for Ore
gun. Such war, in the present unprecedented
and portentous condition Of the industrial and So
cia system of England, would be to that great
power yawning gulf of ruin. The British
arstocracy-the "yenitian Constitution" as DIS
raeli calls it-has no heart to enter upon con-
hct, in which the supernatural sword of Famine
the grim skeleton warrior that knows no pity
would fame balefally in the front ranks of it's
foes!
It is this dependence of England on the great sta
pie product of the United States, which so rouses
the British resentment against the measure Of an
nexaton. She seems destined to be foiled in most
Of her recent calculations Cotton-the great staple
Of the agriculture Of the world-the main regula-
tor of the exchanges of commerce---the capital
material Of those vast manufactures with which
the whole air Of England rings--this great product,
which now, spread all the Garth in it's va
rous fabrics forms the clothing Of all the varieties of
the human race-this wonderful gift Of gracious
Providence to man-so vitality necessary to all
manufacturing countries, but grown mainly in
mighty monopoly by our own favored land-the
source Of our wealth in peace and Of our strength
in war-this great staple has now become to Great
Britain, above all other nations, an object, not Of
the highest interest only, but of the most impera-
tive necessity. She wishes to become Independent
of the United States for its production. She has
looked, therefore, to the East for her supplies She
has looked to those extensive fields in Hindostan,
whose wretched people she has conquered and en-
shaved. She has looked to her East India Company
for successful experiment to test the virtues of her
eastern soil and climate. But she has looked in vain
she has employed our cultvators to test the expert
mens for her. with choicest cotton seed and after
hve years of unavang toll and unwearied attention
she finds herself defeated in her wishes Nature re-
)ects her solicitations She refuses to raise fibre in
the East, which can compete with the productions of
our southern savannahs. No wonder, them that with
acknowledge fthe probable result of which she was
no doubt duly advised during the progress of the ex
penment Great Britain has turned her attention to the
helds OF Texas There, she has attempted to obtain
possession or control of cotton region, which might
vie In fertility with our own. She has tried that
experiment also too late. She is disappointed and
defeated also in Texas.
But her resentment against annexation is whet-
'ea TO yet sharper edge by the great diplo-
matte blunder which she fell into in the cal
eulaon and conduct of her Texan negotia-
tons. The election of President Polk struck the
British policy like thunderbolt. As soon as that
election was known, the whole fabric of her hopes
anu an'icipatons topped down with crash. Eng
''a 'eeed TOO securely on The srs Of The phig party 10
prevent anner0fion. 1t so fell out that at the very
moment when British interference to stop the en-
france Of Texas ipto our Union was most vitality