The true Democrat., 1856-04-08

not mine), founding the charge upon nothing
 better than the freedom with which examine
 her pretensions, and the earnest desire expres- sed, as am convinced that my country is right,
 that she will yield nothing to the unjust de-
 mands made upon her. The Senator seemed to
 think that this course of discussion here would
 be considered by England as a determination
 to cut the gordlan knot with the sword So be
 1t, sir if she has the arrogance to view the de-
 bates here as trenchlng upon her rig ghts and hon. or, as menace, to adopt phrase which the Senator used upon that occasion. If the states man and people of England, in that spirit of as- sumption so often displayed in her history, con- meet the free discussion of our cause with the determination to appeal from the arbitrament of reason to that of force let them learn to correct their errors in the school of experience. re- peat what 1 before said-the people of this country desire no war with England. Every man knows the calamities which such a rup- ture would bring with it; and certainly, at my time of life, and with the experience l have had, 1 am among the last to look with satisfac- 1 tlon upon such prospect But we are not to lay our hands upon our mouths, nor our mouths in the dust, lest foreign powers should see in 1 the examination of their conduct foregone determination to engage in hostlltles. 1 agree at least with one sentiment recently advanced by Lord Palmerston, that t" what government has to consider is the justice of its cause and what is befittng the honor and dignity of the country" That, 1 trust will ever be our rule of action and if 1t leads to peace, so much the better; but if to war, we should meet 1t as we may. We find no example, either formerly or recently, in English history of this careful at tention to the feeling of another nation, and of this studied purpose to avoid giving offence by avoiding the discussion of national differences. Why, sir, the people and the press of England are equally violent in their denunclatlonS of our country and her position. l am not going to quote the terms of abuse so lavishly employ ed. They show how improvement follows practice: for in the receipt of similar national favors, we have received none more significant than these.
 The articles from the leading journals, which prove this state of feeling have been every where republished and read in our country, and precious exhibitions they are of good taste and good feeling In one point of view only are they worthy of attention, except as indications of national character, and that is because they are equally indications of that deep rooted sen timent of aversion which animates the public mind in that country towards the United States know it has been apologetcally said here, for apologies are never found wholly wanting, that these publications speak only the feelings of the editors, and not those of the great body of the people. Sir, there is no ioundatl n for this distinction between writers and readers. The great leading papers of London are unerrlng ln- dlcatons of popular sentiment through the ls- land, whether leading or led by it, especially when they are united without reference to party distinctions in questions interesting to the Eng fish people, and this union is now almost with out exception, and is of itself one of the most pregnant signs of the times. Letno one, there fore, object to their examinations here In this branch of the national legislature. They are legitimate sub ]ects, important, indeed, o nves- tigatlon in the CO sideratlon of our atfura with England, as they furnish the means of ;uvesti- gatng the condition of the public mind, and how far it is prepared to approve extreme mea- sures. He who believes that all the London
 journals during a session of Parliament, when the statesmen and politicians of the kingdom are assembled there, strongly advocate views of great questions of public policy unacceptable to the English people, know little of the cause which operates upon public opinion in that country. SLraws they may be in themselves, so far as respects our course or our cause they show the force and direction of the wind.
 Some of the most violent of these papers are the supporters, and under the control of mem bers of the Cabinet; and appreciate their own position too we'll to g ve utterance to a single thought in relation to grave public matters un- acceptable to their leaders. When, therefore, read well turned periods of conciliation utter ed by Lord Pamerston, in the House of Peers, while he holds on with characteristic tenaCity to the last letter of his construction of the Clayton Bulwer treaty, by which he maintains that the engagement on the part of Eng land, that she will not occupy any part of Central America, does not mean what 1t says, but 1t means that she will not occupy any more of 1t than she claimed at the date of the treaty, or in other words, that she will not increase her oc- upaton-when l read this and then turn to the miserable diatribe, pre- eminent for its ar rogant abuse, against the United States, which has recently appeared in his journal, the Morn ing Post, 1 am free to confess that the coarse etusion of the paper more than neutralizes the professions of the peer, and in my opinion speaks more truly his sentiments. In that precious exhibition of British mode ration the world is told that we have no govern ment, and are in pretty much the condition of the Gauls and Germans in the days of Julius Cesar and that we are as much without the pale of European principles as China or Japan, or the African communities, and that we must be dealt with differently from civilized nations. It proposes that the European powers should come to a common understanding how to deal with us, and that France and England should place themselves at the head of this new cru sade of civilizations; that they should watch our coasts and search our vessels, and take men out at their pleasure, upon pretcXtS to be judged by themselves; and, if necessary, this scheme should be carried to the last extremity. And this is the serious proposition of a great London newspaper known to be attached to and SUD- porting the interest of Lord Palmerston. The United States are to be declared political leap- CT, and to be excluded from the company of the sovereign powers of the world.
 have no objection to the indulgence ofthat boasting propensity which makes part of the English character. We have a complete dis play of it at this moment, and are timely warn ed that on the firing of the first hostile gun our commerce is to be swept from the ocean, our seaboard devastated, our allies plundered and destroyed, and, 1 suppose, our national inde- pendence annihilated.
 "Let him not boast that putteth on his ar mor," says the volume of inspiration, no less than the volume of human experience, but him who putteth it off, This fanfarande is all old story. A certain general, named Bur- goyne said in the British House of Commons at the commencement of our urrevolutionary war; that he could march through the colonies at the head of single regiment of dragons; and believe that was the general sentiment of Eng land--it was truly an English one. In few short months the self sufficient orator exchang- ed St. Stephens chapel for the forests of Ame- rca; and placing himself at the head ofa we'll appointed army of seven or eight thousand men he marched into our country few shor miles, and there fulfilled his promise, by an uncondi- tional surrender of his army.
 | When we entered upon our last war with England our flag was contemptuously desgnat- ed as striped bunting, and our armed ships as fir built frgates. But when we came out of it that striped bunting had so often foated over St. Georges cross, and those fir built frigates had as often redeemed their character in des- perate conflicts, and by capturing their oppo
 nents, that even national vanity, in its own de- fence, was compelled to admit prowess of our gallant navy And this exaltatiOn of their own