The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-10-17
England's Neglected Opportunity.

We. copy the following from the London
Morning Herald, DERBY organ:
10 one fail to recognize considerable
astutpness in the suggestions OF the Emperor
c. Russia. They can give no offence. The
South is not in q position to take any. Aud
the North will certainly not take his advice
about stopping the fighting amiss, III its de-
light at his moral support OF the Union. be
tween St. PetersbUrgn and Washington there
has always been u sneaking kindness. Ex-
trslies meet, and we can conceive plenty of
reasons, which we do not care to state, why
the Gar should prefer thu l MON intact 10
two equal tOnfeGer*cifs. But We confess to
a feeling of envy. Why has it been left to
the Gar to be the only European sovereign
to make known his feeling for the Americans?
What is he to the President, or the President
to him? The United States are not even his
rivals Their commerce and their shipping
may sweep the world ports and never liz ter
fere with him. They may expand northward
and southwark, eastward and westward, and
il must be years before they can raise boun-
dairy question.
a. To CONNIE rcial ties between the two
Powers, there are positively none. lombard
New York to- morrow, or burn all the cotton
dppots in the Confederate States St. Peters
burgh will not feel the ruin. Raise the
slaves and destroy the cotton plant, and Rus-
STA may still say-"Let the CALLED jade vince,
my withers are unwrung" The case Is very
different with US. We feel every beat OF the
American pulse. The ruin OF the trade Of
the States paralyZts our manufacturing IN
dustry, puts orr mills upon half time, and
deprcsSes every commercial interest III the
United Kingdom. Let the South capture
Washington, and the obs i'll the great cities
OF the North gain the upper hand over the
affrighted aut horities, there Will be poverty
and distress in thousands of English homes.
Let great Northern ornaments sweep down
the Mississippi everywhere proclafmins
freedom to the slaves, and destroying the cot
ton crop, and We have TO meet famine ten
times more terrible than that which swept
I,fu IA cNiI 41 f,Il Snn = a
has been done by our Government to prevent
such eatastrophes? Simply nothing. We are
drifting on into the cotton fsInine rs we drift
ed into the Russian war, and win some OF
the same statesmen at the helm, We stand
by aud fold our arms, while the great game
is being played out, with an effort TO arrest
the tide OF war or TO avert It's falalnitous
consequences.
Itmay be too late 10 interfere now. The
time had passed even before Mr. Seward gave
our statesmen such Il glorious opportunity
for holding their tongues. But surely II is DO
great feat for our Foreign Secretary 10 boast
Of that IN the long interval between the Sc
cession of South Carolina and the first COLI
sion in the field he simply waited on events,
conten ting himself with the pious but some
what selfish prayer that Providence would
keep us out of the quarrel. We are bound TO
the Americans by the cfoststof ties. inc adj
vice that might have come from us would,
perhaps, have been intrusive from ahotaer
power. Yet, so far us we Know, there 10 not
on record asingle offer on Earl Russells part
of friendly offices. The attempt might have
failed. Probably il would have done So
But, at least, the Government would have
done it's duty. 1t would have lifted its hand
against the folly and crime OF q tratricidal war
1t would have shown the Americans, which
ever side was destined to triumph, that we
had come fellow feeling with them in their
trials. 1t would have saved us from the
charge OF rpathetic selfishbess, which is SO
freely urged against us by the American peo-
pie And row Russia has taken the In tia
tive, which ought to have been ours, with
not one 1.-THE Of our interests al stake or one
half of our incentives To action When the
history of the American war comes to be
written, 1t will rebound TO tbs credit of the
Ministry of the time that the Gear could
assume a responsibility which was not per.
mitted 10 the English sovereign, and that
free and enligh tened England watched and
made no sign, while despotic and bal barous
Russia spoke words Of Cancellation and peace.