The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-09-18

| beyond all other nations in Europe with which
| he was acquainted-that energy which had
| enabled Englishmen to succeed i'm every enter
] prise whether good or bad, in which they had
ever embarked-an energy which made them
| inpatient even when they had altered their
| opinions upon subject if other people did not
at once adopt their views
"They had been talking in that hall the
| other day about the slave trade, and they were
| quite impatient and intOlerant with the rest of
| the world, because they had not all at once
changed their opinions upon the subject WHY.
| twenty years ago England owned more slaves
| than any other country in the world; and fifty
years ago England had almost the monopoly Of
the slave trade; and with regard TO war. Eng
| land. which had not had an invasion that could
| be called such these thousand years or nearly,
had had better opportunity than any people
in the world of remaining at peace yet she
| had not only spent more money upon war than
| any other nation, but she had heaped upon
herself a greater debt than any other nation,
not merely in paying the expenses of her own
| wars but in laying other nations for cutting
one another's throats. Hear, hear And now
| Englishmen were hugging themselves as being
something better than other men, because they
were favorable to peace. They believed that
now at length England had come to her senses
| and that she was pursuing a more pacific and
less aggressive course than heretofore. Let
them divest themselves of the national pride
and self-complacency which had been 80 much
| spoken of by foreigners. He had seen too much
| of that feeling of late He had seen within the
last few months fattery heaped upon English
men-laid ON with a trowel A laugh.
There was no greater danger to be apprehend-
| ed to their character-nO greater barrier to
| their mprovement-than that they should list
en- complacently to that ilattery of their ma
tionality, which was but a vulgar mode of ca
joling the people of any nation. Let them only
! consider how they exhibited their desire Tor
peace Did they present before the people OF
the wtsrie ceieasU 'ngx t,.ssINe ssNNaSss~A -sls
the nations What was the attitude which
they presented ? Not to begin with their stand
ing ornaments at home, what were their posi-
tions on the face of the earth Why, where
was the nation that had ever occupied so many
and such strategetic positions on the surface OF
the globe! They had fortified strong places
and garrisoned them all over the world, to such
an extent that, if war ever should come be-
tween them and any other strong maritime
power, the first step necessary TO be taken
would be to blow up and abandon some OF
them. They had Gibraltar, Malta, and Corfu,
in the Mediterranean. Crossing the lsthmus
of Suez they had Alden. Then came the Maui
ritius which was called the outwork of India
Returning they had military position at the
Cape Crossing the Atlantic westward they
had the powerful fortress of Halifax, ready to
meet all corners Going from the continent
they came to the island of Bermuda, where
they were laying out enormous sums in fortif-
not, and .k h,f tha nthar Aau that no
had heard an argument to induce Parliament
to keep up the notifications of Jamaica. He
should also mention the Notifications of Que
bee which was called the Gibraltar of Canada
But he could not 20 on with the enumeration.
He wished some military man-sOme one who
was competent to the task-would sit down
and calculate how many men would he required
to garrison those places for he believed the
first step necessary in case of war would be
to find an army to defend them, and then TO
find another army to defend our own shores.
Hear hear Now, all those Notifications
might he necessary If be:ng prepared as some
people contended they ought to be- were neces-
sary But it could not be said that such prep
arations were necessary a. matters OF selt-de-
fence ut home. He repeated that there never
was in the history of the world country that
presented such an aggressive attitude as Eng
land did at the present moment; and If any
man, or any set of men, thought that we could
be otherwise than aheayily taxed people whilst
such system lasted he could only say they
used system of arithmetic which he did not
understand. Hear, hear
"Well, then, such being their position, and
such the attitude which they presented abroad,
what was their position at home! He had
been sitting for the last three sessions upon a
committee of the House of Commons for the
purpose of inquiring into the expenditure of the
army, navy, and ordnance, and what had he
ascertained? Why, that they had f6,000,000
worth of warlike stores; hundred line-of-
battle ships afioat or on the stocks between
10000 and 10000 pieces of cannon; 30000,000
musketball cartridges; 10000 pixies; 100000
sand-bags ready for use in their fortifeations--
in short that they were armed in every point,
and ready TO enter upon gigantic scheme Of
warlike operations tomorrow. Then, England
had not TO complain of other countries having
set her the example of preparing for war; for
it was to England that other countries looked
for an example. Why they had shown, in the
discussion in the House of Commons the other
day, that England and France had been run
ming a race, had been playing II disastrous
game of see-saw about these preparations At
VIC uI1c OnC bstnk DtlOW bllc tcNCis diiu ~
other time the other England had been build
ing ships and fortifying her shores, always
quoting France and the preparations making by
France as the reason. And then next session
they saw France making fresh preparations
and exhibiting renewed energy, and quoting
England as setting her the example. And No
it went on Both had been equally TO blame.
He did not charge either with being more cul-
thar, the othar R..f tl,a no DID aav that
il was a question which it behooyed the people
of each country to take charge Of Loud
cheers And it was in order to abate the evil
that they had met there that day. He had
been telling them some home truths with re-
gard 10 Englishmen. He had heard foreigners
say that it was owing 10 their combatiye pro-
pensities that Englishmen were so energetic
that they were naturally combatiye--that it
was in their heads and they could not help it,
that they must be trying 10 snbdue some one or
other Well, then, If such were their natural
inclinations and propensites let them, at all
events look them boldly in the face, and see If
they could not turn them To some better account
than they had hitherto done. Hear, hear
"That very energy which they had shown in
their evil doings must be brought To- bear 10
abate the evil. and there was a task set before
them in that Congress which would employ
their courage and their perseverance, quite as
much as any combats in the field in which they
might be engaged; for they would have to en-
counter sights, and sarcasm, and scorn, and
MISREPRESENTATION, and SANDER; and it was AZ
hard TO meet those difficulties ~ TO face an
enemy in the battlefield II required courage,
and perseverance,, and GOODNESS and dogged
endurance to the end Let them not imagine
there was nothing to be done. He thought
people did not understand the operation Of
those standing armamenis. He had already
alluded 10 the decentralization Of the barrack
system. Again and again he had requested
his friend Mr. Richard, (tbe secretary 10 use