The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-08-25


TIE United States would not appear to be view
Cd With much favor on the continent OF Europe.
Mr. Jarsd Sparks, on his return from thence. ad-
dressed meeting OF the Massachusetts, HISTORICAL
Society and spoke ofour national reputation abroad
aon the continent, and especially In Pars,h judged
the reputation OF the United States Wa bad; aud
Ne reuAyked, ut length, on the disposition Of the
parie press. and Of monarchists Eeneraily 70 mag
nifty aaainss us such things eur quarrels, mcbs,
lsus,, and political troubles. There were two
elasses OF niuds-the monArchical and red repub-
i,oans. and both dislike the United States-the lat
ter think our government 10 bad, because the peo-
Pie have 10 more liberty, and the aristocratc cir
cles dislike az because We are republic. In Eng
land the tone Of opposition was widely different
He here found profound respect for the United
states II was considered nation worthy to be
couciiiatsd, worthy Of closer ties with England,
and looked 70 ~ an ally In the future great con-
tssts with absolusism.n
j We are Inclined to believe this 10 . correct &C
eonnt, because there is an indispensable antago-
nism between our Republican forms, and the
principles and interests Of the govsrsing classes
in Europe. The Absoiusist and Republican systems
OF poIity are a. different and irreconciiable as oil
and water The horrors Of the French Revolution
are ever before the eyes Of European kings, and
the possibility Of their own people aspiring to
self.sovern ment ID . vision that not emily hsanss
their night dreams but disturbs their waking
couuse,s. There 10 not . Western breeze, or q
movemest OF the Atlantic tide, Al electric spark
from the Western horizon, that does not threaten
distraction 70 their theories CT government and
perp,sx their souls with "iear Of change" Those
monsters and prodigies which ancient fable as
signed 70 the uninhabited Islands Of the sea, and
Afterwards to the new regions discovered by the
adventurous Geuoese, seem now 10 be transferred
10 European imasinatiops to the great deep 81
American politics, which they regard - little else
than an organized anarchy. 1t IL certainly deep
which does not delight In slumber and repsse; but
wave il ever answering to wave, now clapping its
hands with exuIting and denant glee, and now
threatening, with white-cspped, moving noun
tains, to scale the skies. mo sooner do you set
foot upon American SOIL" said De Tocqueviiie,
"than you arc stunned by . kind of tumult; q con-
fused clamor is heard every side, and thousand
Simultaneous voices demand the immediate salts
faction of their social wants. Everything lie in
motion around you; here, the people of one quarter
of q town are met to decide upon the building of II
church; there, the election of . Representative lie
going on little further, the delegates Of district
are posting TO the town in order to consult upon
some local improvements; and in another place
the laborers of village qnt their ploughs to de-
iiberate upon the project of a road or public
school. Meetings are declared for the sole purpose
Of declaring their disapprobation Of the lise OF
conduct pursued by the government while In other
assemblies the citizens salute the authorities of the
day a. the fathers Of their country"
It 10 scarcely necessary to defend ourselves
from the aspersions cast upon our society by
Interested organs Of European absolutism. The
best vindication We can make, 10 to avoid those
s.ouarreIs, mobs, duels and political troubles,
which, by their righteousness and bitterness
have Injured the Republican cause Throughout
the world. But, at the same time, we may sug
asst that neither the Monarchists nor the Reds o.
Europe are the people to teach America civiza
sion. The annals OF the one are filled with the
most friehtful crimes and cruelties ever commit
ted in the history of mankind, aud the other vii
have TO wipe tho Internal features of the French
Revelation from their faces before We can recos
nize them as having anything In common not with
RepubIicansm, but Humanity.
We are willing to compare our countrymen and
country women with those of any despotism O.
them ALL In intelligence, In manliness OF spirit, il
social ana domestic virtues. There is no such PEG
pie on the face Of the earth in elevation and re
none which stands as high In the scale of cvllza
ton, true dignity aud moral worsh,-so high that
the poisoned arrows of envy aud dstraction cannot
reach them, but fall back on the heads Of theil
miserable assailants. When Paris lectures II,
upon our ignorance Of fashion, Of cookery, CT pc
lite phrases, we receive the reproof with be
coming modesty; but when 1t moralizes upon our
alleged deficiency in the higher and more essential
social qualities, it looks like Sodom and Gomorraf
undertaking to teach the patriarch Abraham the
ways Of Righteousness and purity.
1t IL equally natural that England should be our
friend, as that continental Europe should be our
enemy. We are the same people in language
blood, customs, and legal and political systems,
for England 10 as free a land our own, and the
great European bulwark and breskwater of con
stitutional liberty. We rejoice to hear from Mr..
Sparks that the United States 10 appreciated 1t
deserves In such country.
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