The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-12-17
BALTIMORE.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER II, 1858.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER II, 1858.
Tho art of story telling is as old as HOMER
reory nation has had, under various names, lis
,,,oancers. and novelsts, its rdconteurs, and I'M
,,o,jsqtore-all of whom have been held in great
a mr. less honor according to the creative power
they have displayed or to the talent they have
cyinced, in clothing truth with the delightful
,dornments of fiction OF all the stery-tellers in
modern times, we know of none that excel the
Washington correspondents of the newspaper
rress in brilliancy of invention; in the art OF
converting vague hints into astounding facts; or
in hasne the most extraordinary conclusions upon |
,hc ARREST of possible foundations. The Chancc-
Tor OXENsmERN once counSelled his son TO go
.,G,rth and see with how little wisdom the world
twas governed;' but, while we do not doubt
that close observation, even at this day, would
confirm TO some extent, the truth of the Swedish
Minister'S sarcasm we are certainly not prepared
10 admit, with our Washington letter writers,
that all the statesmen of Europe are either knaves
or fools or that the chief province of diplomacy
is TO set Springs to catch woodcocks." The
Federal Capital is, at the present time, crowded
with these epistoary romanticlsts, and the pre-
dominance of the imaginative faculty in them was
never more apparent. Some Of the old painters
were accustomed to produce charming pictures,
NV the use only of the three primitive colorS; but
the Washington letter writers accomplish much
more extraordinary feats They will take two or
three secondary facts, or what passes Tor facts,
and work them up into a narrative of foreign con-
spiracies against the Government of the UNITED
STATES: of proecorates to be established over the
Central American Republics; of interventions in
Mexican affairs, and of outrages, either actually
committed or positively contemplated, upon our
commerce in the Gulf stream. Does Sir WILLIAM
CORE OUsELEY hold confidential communications
with Mr. BUCHANAN?-we are gravely assured
that the object he had in view was to hoodwlnk
the PRESIDENT Does NJ. FELIX BELLY obtain a
charter for ship-canGl across the lsthmnS Of
Nicaragua ?-the American people are straightway
forewarned that the scheme has been projected
bv LOUIS NAPOLEON, and that his purpose is tc
establish for France an overshadowlng influence
in that quarter. If few Spanish ships
of war make their appearance before Vera Cruz
or Tampico, it is intimated that Spain has secre
understanding with England and France, and tina
the design is to establish monarchical govern
ment in Mexico and to place Spanish Prince upoi
the throne. If an English Commander, upon tn
HIGH seas. ventures to question the Captain of al
American vessel, the act is denounced as gros
insult to the National flag. There is not move
ment that can be made by foreign Power ethe
in the Gulf stream, or in the waters of the CarL
bean sea, that is not chronicled suspicious, no
any official explanation which may be given OF til
object of that movement, that is not interpreted b
contraries. IF these fctions were accepted, by tn
mass of our people, as hctions merely, no hari
would arise either to us or to Others but, as the
are very generally accepted as truths, and are quo
ted by indignant, but unrefecting journalists, a
evidences of the grasping disposition of Europea
governments; of their jealousy of the UNITE
STATES, and of their desire to intermeddle in ma
tiers that do not concern them; and as the Amer
can people are kept in constant state of eNcit
ment by these canards, they are mischievous in Il
extreme They not only lead to serious compile
tons which, by the exercise of little commc
sense, might be easily avoided; but they are d
grading to the national dignity. These causele
ISLANDERS and the petty chickering's to which The
give rise; the demands for explanations that thu
frequently call forth, and the half sarcastic respo
ses that they sometimes provoke, have direct tie
dency to bring bout that very condition of thin
which it is the policy of our government to avoi
If we impute sinister motives to other nations, al
persist in charging them, in spite of their solen
protestations TO the contrary, with entertainll
designs they have never formed or if we attem
to exact an aaende honorable for every frivolous
imaginary infringement of doubtful prerogativt
we must be prepared to expect that those we ass
for light causes, or upon suspicion merely, will n
always he in the mood to make the concessions
demand, and may possibly be induced to reply
a manner more curt than courteous. Few of o
readers can have failed TO have noticed, IL
the general tenor of the correspondence fro
Washington, in relation to Central Amerc
affairs. and TO the movements of the SPANS
French and English squadrons in the Gulf Sire;
has been of Il semi-warlike character. Such
ports in spite of the declaration TO the contra
made by President BUCHANAN in his Messa
even where they do not nj6riously aft
commercial enterprise, are well calculated
produce uneasiness in the public mind, and
cmharrass the Government in its relations W
foreign powers. How much more seriously t
is the case when journalists accept these fictiC
for established facts, and argue from them Il
we are drifting unconsciously into war may
readily perceived. In the New York Heratd, t
desire to provoke ill-feeling has been so conspi
Gus of late that it has prompted the Washing
Onion to make the semi-oflcial statement that
Heralds startling discovery of a conspiracy on
part of the English, French, and Spaniards, TOM
war upon the interests Of the UNITED STATES, is
only utterly unfounded in fact; but that, on the c
trary, ''those great European powers concur fl
Gin the line of policy laid down by the UNI
ESTATES, concerning Mexico and Central Americ
Here then, we have an authoritative denial of
the rumors which have had their origin in
fertile brains of the sory-teers, who ply Il
vocation at the Federal Capital, and which h
been so often made the theme of newspaper c.
ment 1t would be, perhaps, useless in us to :
gest TO these industrious correspondents"
proprety of subordnating their imagination
truth and right reason; but we cannot help
leving, nevertheless that the public would
greatly relieved if the Administration
mited to assume the responsibility Of our Fore
Affairs, without mourning the danger Of hi,
policy thwarted by the astounding revelato
of Especial correspondents" or by what the u
calls 'sthe bunders and absurdities'' of such j
nails as the New York Herald.
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CUMBERLAND IrEMs.-The Telegraph underst
that the Mount Savage Iron Company contemI
putting one of their large furnaces in blast S
time during the coming Spring; dependant, sc
what however, upon the action of Congress,