Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-01-07

ing letter comes from Il source wHich gives
additional importance to its statements. as
the writer speaks Of that which he is in posi-
ton to know.
LoNDoH. 10th December, 1858.
The sudden recall Of the British minister
Is an event of 50 rare occurrence that it can
not pass without It's motives being fully can
va>sed. That of Lord Napier has attracted
much attention here, in diplomatic and par
llamcntary circles. When its cause anu its
consequences are fully undor,to- d in the
United States. it will be source Of real gra-
tliicltiun t. every lover "f thc American
Union, and t, every true lover OF mankind
for 1t removes all doubts as to the position
which the British government intends to
mold towards the friends Of di>union and the
extcndcrs of slavery in the United States.
1t Is necessary. III order t. understand the
position Of things, to % back some fourteen
years, to the days Of Mr.. Calhoun. At that
time the plan of a dissolution Of the Union,
and the formation ofa great slayc-holdng
power, was presented here by friends OF Mir
Calhoun. and some word, then attributed to
Lord A1cllran-parhaIs inclutou>lv utter
ed by him-ar" supposed to have given riso
to the hopes of British sympathy. in which
otuhcrn politicians have 50 frequently In
dugcl.
At various times these projects have been
brOachcd To members of the British govern
ment, and especially in 1851. when strong
deputation OF Southern disuniJnists was in
London, seeking for aid and comfort from
Great Britain. At that time Mr. Abbot
Lawrence was American minister, and enjoy
ed to an unusual degree the confidence OF the
the British ministers, The projects of the
disunilnists, presented to Lord i'ulmcrston.
then Secretary for Foreign Afflirs. were bv
him brought to the knowledge Of Mr.. Law
renee, and the southern embassy, disheartcn-
ed by the coolncss which its disunion scheme
encountcrcd-and alsp by the fate of the
Lopez expedition to Cuba-rcturncd discom-
fitted to the United States.
These schemes We're not however abandon
cd, and various attempts have been made
here to win favor for them while the men
interested in them have sought to produce
the belief in the United States that the senti-
mcnt Of hostility to the extension Of slavery.
50 dear to the populuI Of Great Britain,
was not shared by the government. During
the last winter, Mr.. Mason of Virginia. on
the floor OF the Senate, stated as a fact that
the British government had changed its OPT |
nion on this great question, Anything said |
in so grave body as the [. ;. Senate at |
tracts attention, though probably not much
importance would have been attached 10 the |
declaration OF Mr.. Mason, had it not been
for the known intimacy between him and
Lord Napier. An early occas ON was taken
by the British government to contradict the
assertions Of Mr.. Mason the Duke Of Argyle
declared that he was instructed by Her Ma
testy ministers 81 70 do.
Since then British travellers, returning
from the United States, have spoken with
much feeling Of the language and course of
Lord Napier ut Nashingt n, of the adopt
on of him, in speaking oil tnc Republicans,
)t the low slang OF the southern mem bers,-
md of the almost Offensive manner in which
he made himself the grdtuitous advocate of
the Lecompton Constitution, and necessarily
therefore, the upholder of the fraud and viz
ence in which it was conceived. This last
act has caused deep, and believe, universal
'egret, and has led in high quarters, to cx-
Dressons even of indignation.
Lord Napier has found able friends to sus-
ain him in hIs course, they asserting that he
las only followed the popular current and
aiken the strong side. That the one, all
CONTROLLING policy of the present American
government, is that of slavery extension, and
hat as minister, seeking to maintain
rlcndly relations with that government, it
vas expedient in him to Altter that policy.
To this the reply has bccn:-that it was
III very well for a British minister to court
he government to which he was accredited,
provided, in SO doing, he did not misrepre-
sent his own country by sacrificing any of the
great principles which it cherished that the
,rmes in Kansas We're Of 50 atrocious ma
.ure that no British minister could in anyway
become their apologst, without degrading I
MS own government and one distinguish
ID statcsman-himsolf maker and unmaker |
If ministers-dcclarcd :nat in the ""u. I
course of British diplomacy no Pa'"Wtte' v
could be found for the conduct oil Loiu va t
nicr that To find one it was necessary tosu i
noso a casc-nud that his course IN regard to
lbo K,nsas atrocitv was, ns II Nalsingham,
h. tmbnssador OF Elizabeth in Paris at the i
Ina of the ST. Bartholomew massacre, also [
, ,neosure of court policy, had instead of I
nokin, his hotel a place of refuge for the {
Drotestants, gone about visiting the leaders i
# the assassins, hobnobbing with them. and /
eeringly telling the victims whom he met
hat il was after all but small matter TO
ave their throats cut,
The recall of Lord Napier will il is believ- =
d, show that the British Government has no r
art with those who are seeking To break up .
he American lnion--that it wishes, as the I
british people do, to see that union prosper I
us and happy and that its sympathes are r
18th the men of pure character and noble
ews, who are laboring to revive the sound
Dctrlnes OF W ashington, Jefersonand Frank
n upon the question of Slavery, and to
nancipate their country from the slave a
olding minority which has so long exclusive &
controlled its policy. a