The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-02-17

trtne.
1t is now universally believed that the naa-
! purstion of General Pierce will he the nau-
guration of n new epoch in the history OF the
I country. and Of an entire revolution in the
management of our foreign relations. Under
this impression young America is hopeful.
buoyant and confident-thc venerable hunkers
dubiousan distrustful; while the hard-shelied,
do-nothing. stand-stIll, neutrality conservatives
OF the late WING party. are filed with apprehen
sions of fearful wars upon the land and the
sea: and of authorized illibustering expeditions
into every habitable quarter OF the world; and
of Holy Alliance Of the European powers
against us; and of the bombardment of our sea-
beard Cities and the destruction Of our COM
merce upon the high seas; and OF all the domes-
tic evils of ruin, Distress and anarchy which
such general state of war would be calculated
TO bring upon our present glorious prosperous,
and happy country.
The time is near at hand, however, when the
veil will be removed. and when the foreign
policy Of General Pierce will be unfolded to
the light Of day. In his inaugural address on
the 4th of March next, we may expect salts
factory exposition Of the general policy which
| the head OF the new administration intends to
pursue. We anticipate, in that inaugural,
something more and something better than .
mere formal announcement Of the present hou-
rishing and enviablc condition of our beloved
country, and of the sincere determination Of the
executive to abide by his oath in maintaining
unmpaired the integrity Of the Constitution
and OF his desire to preserve our existing rcla-
tons of peace and amity with the great powers
Of Europe and the rest of mankind. except
ing Billy Bowlegs. on the very best footing
consistent with our national honor and dignity
We repeat. that we expect something little
more to the purpose than this stereotyped rig
marole, in the inaugural Of the 4th Of March;
and this reasonable expectation is based upon
the late Presidential election, the position ofthe
country. the condition Of our neg hbors-upon
the drift of public opinion the spirit of the age,
and the various and multfarious accumulating
evidences around us of manifest destiny
Next in Importance to the question of
good faith upon the compromise measures, and
the preservation intact of the compacts of the
constitution, the question of our foreign rela-
tons entered into the general argument and
the general result of the late Presidential cam
paign The clustering, boisterous, but feeble
and humiliating foreign policy of General Tay-
lors cabinet had left an unmistakeable impress
sion of dissatisfaction upon the public mind.
We were threatened with the exigencies of
war with France upon ptiful quarrel with
Monsieur Poussin, concerning an unlucky
Frenchman's consignment Of tobacco in Mexico
We were in danger Of rupture with Portugal
in the case of the brig General Armstrong
but in the meantime, Sir Henry Bulwer, writing
to that busy British emissary in Central Amer-
ca, Captain Chatfeld, tainted us by declaring
General Taylor's weak Administrations
declaration which was abundantly confirmed in
all of Mr.. Secretary Clayton's diplomacy on
| Central American affairs. Nor is it necessary
here to recaptulate the evidences Of imbecility
which have characterized Mr.. President Fill
more's foreign policy, not only in Central Anne
RIGA, but also in regard to Cuba, throughout the
whole course of his portion of the outgoing
administration. In word, the foreign
policy Of Gen. Taylor's cabinet was not redeem
ed by his successor, but went on from bad to
worse, until we were brought to the degrading
position Of submissive instrument to the
policy Of England and her allics-Sir Henry
! Bulwer or Don Calderon dc la Barca debating
! what we were to do. And this policy of sub
missive neutrality, scarcely less than the sedi-
tious schemes of Seward and his partizans, was
rebuked and repudated in the late election
1t was known to be widely different from
the policy Of the democratic party for it
was feared by many. and urged upon the peo-
pie that. if restored to power, the democrats
would rush blindly and headlong into all the
excuses of fillbusterism and foreign interven-
\ ton. to the utter disgrace and destruction Of
the country. Yet they have been restored to
Iower with an emphasis which admits of no
misinterpretation. The government is called
| upon to abandon the impotent policy Of heggar-
| " neutrality. and to assume an erect direct.
/ and positive attitude, in the whole schedule Of
our foreign relations.
In this view, therefore and from what ap.
pears to be well understood as the intentions
opinions and inclnations of Gen. Pierce we an
ticipate some foreshadowing in his inaugural Of
more marked positive and decisive foreign
policy than that which has distinguished any
administration since the time Of Gen. Jackson.
In the composition of his cabinet we expect to
find also striking indication to the same
purpose. A fortnight more will solve the mys
terry. If the stand-still, superannuated advo-
Gates ofpeacc, amity and neutrality, are not
very much startled and confounded by the d.
rect holdncss and frmness Of Gen. Pierce, We
shall lie very much disappointed. his inau-
puTal does not electrify the country, and warm
even that persecuted class, the /" old fogies,'
| into something like enthusiasm, we shall also
| lave been little too confident 10 our expccta-
| tons