The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-02-22

know this, and England knows 1t, by expert
ence +; bat the brags and bluffs of Lord Palmer
ston's Cabinet and press are by no means 80
important. We can afford to receive them for
what they are worth, and to give them their
just weight in the consideration of the differ
ences existing between us and our transatlan-
tic relatives.
The tone of the British press-liberal extracts
from which we laid before our readers yester-
day are in the last degree both puerile and
insulting. We cannot question the courage of
orr progenitors without rejecting upon our
selves; but there is much in the article OF the
London Post (the official organ of Lord Pal
merston) to show that little confidence is felt
either in the right of English enlistments in the
United States or of the justice of the British
pretensions in Central America, or in the abb
lity of the government, in the event of war, to
maintain it's assumptions. Men do not talk so
grandiloquently of their prowess when they
really possess the genuine article. Besides, it
is in the last degree nauseating to hear the
chief of great State talk Of his ability to
crush, by single blow, his adversary. If
true, the assumption is arrant folly; if not
true, it is disgusting gasconade. If the
United States is 40 competitor for England,
and it is in the power of the latter, in case of
war, to "sweep American commerce from the
seas and lay the whole seaboard of the Union
open to the attacks of the greatest naval Power
in the world" what sense is there in proclaim
ing such wonderful achievements before the
peace of the two countries is seriously me-
naced? Does it make England more powerful?
Does it paralyze our strength? Does it con-
vert history into fiction?
It is all very well to be able to estimate our
strength and resources; but when these are
made in the face of impending or possible col
lisiou, the opposite party ought to be excused
If o. does not fully credit his antagonist with
entire impartiality and truthfulness- We
leave to the British CABINET the question OF
the propriety Of usiug offensive menace az
such a time, and whether 1t is proper for
State like that Of gland to foreclose coa-
froversy by fighting naval and land battles ID
advance Of actual hostilities.
Il would be folly to deny that England is q
great naval Pc ger or to suppose that she will
rot. il the event ola war with us, use her vast
naval resources to intercept and capture our
commerce upon the high seas; but it would be
as fallacious to pretend that she is at all our
equal upon land The time has gone by when
the evils Of war can be- con6aad to disasters
upon the ocean, especially such 81 war as Is
contemplated by the London Cabinst aud
press. The resources Of England constitute
the foundation Of her ability TO carry on war
a. all; aud these resources, happily, are almost
wholly dependent upon her supplies from this
country. That which shall "sweep our COM
merce from the seas" then, win sweep away
the occupation of millions Of her operatives,
and produce civil commotion, If not famine, In
the kingdom. But we are not altogether, we
apprehend, at the mercy Of our kinsmen, even
upon the seas. We, too, have great commercial
marine-a vast population, some noteworthy
energy, and, duly considered, some right to
contest the emf ire of the ocean, even against
the enormous feet of her Majesty" We
have never been swept entirely off this element,
and if it we're not initiating the puerile braga-
docio of the Palmerston mantle toes, we should
unhesitatiDgly assert that two years of war
would find two American to one British vessel
upon the Atlantic ocean, and twenty Ameri-
cans we'll employed and fed on the land to one
Englishman.
But we detest this kind Of statement and as
strtion. 1t is better to leave such matters to
those who may be called upon to settle them
in different and more authentic way. We
cam OF, however, avoid referring, in connec-
tion with the pretensions of our adversaries, on
the present occasion, to the two enormou
fleets" which have for two consecutive years
sailed into and out Of the Baltic, doing little
business in the way of " coast surveys" afford
ing provender for the Palmerston Cabinet aud
press, and theme of abuse to Sir Charles
Napier and other fire eating Admirals of her
Majesty-notbing more. Nor will it be con-
sidered out of place if we point in the spirit of
friendly menace" to the achievements of the
we'll trained armies of England" at Sebasto-
pol and at Kars, making no reference to the
battle of New Orleans, to our campaigns in
Mexico, and half dozen naval engagements
between American and British vessels during
the war of 1912. The efforts and failures of
ner MaJesty's Oincers 70 eAllst SolulerS IOr the
Russian war in England, and the notable
devices of doing little of that relief SER
vice in the United States, and the nervous
anxiety manifested by the Palmerston Cabi-
net to exchange its money and its carrying
conveniences for French and other Contine,
tai soldiers, are not entirely forgotten in t. I
country. Meanwhile, it may be well to men,
ton in this connection-without the slightes
belief that we shall require their services-that
we have two millions Of able bodied men,
regularly enrolled according to law, edu-
cated--not trained and drilled-to the use of
arms; and, what is more, thoroughly indoc
trinated with the idea that it is their duty, a
certain contingencies, to defend the State. 1t
sno exaggeration to cay, this is Power capa-