Washington telegraph., 1856-05-14

| VI iomehtiDg uincuity between France
and England on the Italian question.
The fol lowing article appears in the
London {. Mercantile and Shipping Ga
zette :"
81 have now made the tour of the
States of North America, and think il
probable | can give your readers some
useful information. / landed at New
York city some ten months ago, and have
spent some time in studying the charao-
ter and customs of these people, and 1
must confess that if 1 had remained ten
years the result would be the same; and
L know very little about them. But upon
one polnt-national pride-men, women.
and children, are all alike and the idea
OF any nation of Europe, or the whole of
them put together, conquering this coun-
try, Is perfectly absurd to them Every
body reads the papers, and good humor-
ed urchln Of twelve years used to rate
me soundly at Philadelphia for our fail
ures at Sebastopol. The best version of
American sympathy was given me a few
days since. ''ANhen the war commenced
the Turks were the weaker power, and
our sympathies were with her. After the
alliance 1t was three against one, and our
sympathes went for Russia but, should
France join Russia tomorrow against
England, our government could not pre-
vent Its citizens from not only sympathi-
zlng with England, but assisting her with
material aid" This [ heard from very
Intelligent man, who, do not think, sus-
pected my nationality; and firmly believed
It, In the South l spent some time upon
the plantations, and many times had long
conversations with the slaves; and always
with the same result. They are much
better satisfied than [ suspected, and
when | spoke of the probability Of war.
L was answered, that '.white folks wouldn't
let nigga fight" "But," said [, '.the
blacks from the West Indies will come
here and help you to gain your freedom"
"W hat black soger come here; let 'em
cum; den massa let's US fight de nigga,
know, and gar almighty we give 'em
gosh y If not in the same language, the
same feeling was ever expressed
L have visited all the national armories,
and although the country is at peace, the
greatest activity prevails all the old arms
are condemned, and by next spring nearly
l,500,000 Mimic rifles VIII be ready for
distribution, besides Colts, Clark's, and
others Mr.. Alger, at Bost0n, Is now en-
gagged on new kind Of gun for the navy.
The range, with solid shot, is nearly Ave
miles, with a shell, somewhat shorter. and
the explosion of the shell renders conda-
grafton certain to 4 great distance. Those
are called, By those at work OF them, the
secret gun. But what the aecret was 1
could not ascertain. Since the war ru-
inors [ have been obseryant Of all and ey-
erything that could give me clue to the
feelings Of the people. This is not diff
cult to come at, for the feeling Is general,
and their confidence is so great in their
own strength that the most difident speak
only of the consequence and result In
company with party Of merchants, most
Of whom were engaged IN trade with
England, broached the war subject, and
was astonished to find them so indilfer-
ent about the consequences. One of them,
largely interested in clipper-sllips, in an
swer to a remark Of mine, that he would
have to lay up his clippers Not bit Of
it, said he, ''they viii make capital pri-
vateers; the government Will furnish guns
of long range; no British man-of-war can
catch them except a steamer, and they
cannot in q good breeze, so we must take
chances "But where will You get your
men ?" 'Where. We have $4,000 en-
rolled fishermen who viii flood our sea-
ports, and [ viii tell you candidly that in
less than sA months after war is declared
there will be 500 Of the fastest vessels In
the world aiioat as privateers, and an Eng
lish merchantmen will not be able to show
herself at sea. What if we lose a few,
We will make it up in the end? Two
steamers were launched a few days since,
each about 1000 tons, built in eight
months, and it is just as easy to build fif-
ty in nearly the same time or less. =
''But your costs are not defended. Re-
member you have no Sevastopol nor Cron-
stadt." ''Nor do we want any. We have
few pretty forts, but should any nation
attempt an invasion, we will meet them
with hands and hearts equal to any, supe-
rior to most !; and we can concentrate at
least 100000 men at any point on our
coast In a few days. Let the alarm be
sounded at this moment, and in a few
hours near $4,000 men will make their
appearance, armed and equipped" j." This
sounds like Dragging, but it is a fact
New York has near that number enrolled
and equipped; every man keeps his rifle
at home. l have frequently met boys of
II, with gun and game-bag starting at
early dawn for the woods, for here they
can shoot game wherever found. War is
argued against by everybody as something
to be avoided, but the idea of backing out
to avoid it does not appear to enter the
mind of any body.
~ Hope writes the poetry of boy.
but memory that of a man. Maa looks for
ward with smiles, but backward with sighs