The Placer herald., 1857-02-21

Perhaps no act of courtesy on the part of
Brother Jonathan, towards the people and
Government Of Great Britain, was in itself
more truly 70! te, and accomplished with
so much delcacy, as the presentation 10 the
Queen at Cowes recently, Of the re-fitted
Arctic ship Resolute. AS is well known this
is one Of the ships sent by the British Gov
ernment in 1852, under Admiral Belcher. in
search of Sir John Franklin Abandoned
10y her officers and crew in the frozen regions
of the far north she subsequently broke her
icy fetters, and after floating some twelve
hundred miles, was picked up as waif by
some Yankee whalers and from them pur-
chased by the Government Of the United
States, thorougy reftted, and sent back as
present to her original owners.
Capt. Ilartstein, of the Navy, took the
ship to England, and did the polite in pre-
sentng her to the authorities Instead of in
trusting the work to Diplomats and inter
meddling -betweens, the Captain like a
sensible man, as he is, declined turning over
the property to any one but Her Royal
Highness the Queen. When the Queen
comes aboard, the Yankee sailor without the
least snobshness makes his speech to her in
the most gallant manner, but all in accord
ance with good taste and common sense
He was neither impudent nor overpowered
to speechlessness in the presence of royalty.
Victoria, who is not only popular with her
own people, but more so with Americans
than any other European Monarch, answered
the Captain with such common sense ex-
pressions and with such dignity as became a
lady, under the circumstances
Now all this is detailed with such nicety
of circumstance, and is read with such aviditv
and apparent interest by the American
public as indicates astonishment
Why aplain straightforward business trans
action should be conducted with propriety,
by an American gentleman and a clever
English woman, should be subject of won
derment. surpasseth our understandings
Why is it that old Mr. Bull is filed with
wonder at one of our moving machines, a
Philadelphia locomotive, or a New York
clipper and why should Jonathan stare like
stuck pig, when the English Queen exhibits
herself as she naturally is-a true good
woman. The truth is, that with our COM
mon origin, religion, language and intimate
commercial intercourse, we are far from com
pretending each other in many essential par
ticulars. Since the rumpus at Concord and
Lexington, we have been very shy of
our cousins over the great water. Geogra-
phically we know more of Great Britain and
her dependencies and should know more of
her people, than they of u.s.
Recently, the editor of the Illustrated Lon
don News, described Baton Rouge,the capital
of Louisiana, as being "on the Mississippi
river, in Kansas" This is very bad, no
doubt, but we should recollect the Yankees
boast: that sour country was spreading so
fast that they couldn't make a map of it,
immigration has been westward, and from
this cause we have become as familiar with
one class of that people, as if we knew them
in their old homes. We speak now of the
Englishman proper, for it scarcely occurs
to us, to think Of the Scotchman and Irish
man as one people, notwithstanding the
identified interests of the three.
The Englishman has fewer preudices about
us, than we of him. He has had his French
wars to fight and the Frenchman to hate,
whilst we have nursed the old sore. lie had
his two regular knock downs with us, got his
eye, that he is so prone to damn, bunged,
and in his dull way walked up to the fact
that Jonathan was crit, thought better of
him, shook hands, called him good fellow
and quit. We consider the English rather a
slow coach, but always rely upon his word,
once it is pledged, and when he made friends
with us it was in good earnest. He looks
upon our successes as his own, our honor as
that Of a near relative.
When Gen. Scott made his landing at
Vera Cruz, the cannon of an English cruiser
belched forth, then and there, in compliment
to our troops. Every American citizen who
has travelled in countries foreign to Great
Britain or the United States, will speak in
praise Of the kindness of the English resi-
dents, and the ready protection they have
received from the officials of that country in
the absence of any on the part of our Gov
ernment.