The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-12-28

''The health Of, N. Bright. was received viii
great entbusiasm. HIS speech, In reply. sfter 4
Brief fscknowledgement OF thelf kindriess TO him.
selfs was sutissly devoted - ~ subjsct sf the
var IN America. n That struggle was opsiof the
highest interest TO England and Humanity at
large. flghty;Avs yesn ago they were. .colosies
sprung from shis country, aud already number
ing pop6latioa Of 3 Ss00o, 900 soula ia year
ago they we're he United States Of America,
asd comprissd thirty millions Of people. 10 .s-
riculture and manufactures no country in the
world, except our own, could be placed In com.
rparison with them. They wssx equally distin.
quishsd for their Inventions, their enterprises,
their schools, their pfisons, and their religious
estAblishments The public expenditure Of these
United States was 8S3, ,0OO, 900 year, and tbsy
we're able TO boast an amount Of comfort, pros.
perity, and ab0unding plenty such d no other
country In any aSe has displayed. But there
was snother sidsas While this country secured
tie utmost liberty for the white population, L
held the black population n bondage and deg
radiation. England sowed the seeds of the sla-
very system. Jefferson, two years before the
Destination Of Independence, Issued protest
against the conduct and policy oof the English
Government in preventing the colonists from
forbtdding the importation oefresh negroes from
Africa. Ultimately every State vas iefe ito le-
gislate on Slavery for itseh But the growth of
cotton has increased since that time. and be-.
come an article Of value to an extent which no
man dreamed Of when Jefferson wrote And
this cctton, cultivsted under the Slavery system,
now threatens the overthrow of, that which is q
million times more valuable-the Great Repub.
lie Of the United States. Mr. Bright then re.
ferred to the act of Secession on the part of
the South. NewsPapers say this question Of
Secession was much like that which occurred
when the colonies revoltsd against the mother
country. Tho question In 1880 was whether
corrupt Ministry in Downing street, and a bo.
roughmongeriDg Parliament in Westminster,
should tax 100000 unrepresented 'colonists
without their consent. Now the represent alton
OF the South in the American Legislature was
not only complete, but in excess. Three out of
every five slaves are counted a white men. and
the consequence is that the South has returned
about twenty more members than il had q ma.
tnral right to do. This shows that there was no
similarity between the two cases. Another rea.
son alledged for the Secession on this side ia the
protective tariff. No American, however. At
tributes the dissolution of the Union to that
cause. The South has been dominant during
the whole period since the Declaration Of indie
pendence, and the tariff has existed during that
tlme There have no doubt been occasional
symptoms OF classification, but when Congress
met, twelvemonth ago, to discover how the
Union could be maintained, among all the com.
promises suggested the question Of the tariff was
never referred to- Whatever the influence of
tariff may be, It must also be remembered that
it is as pernicious to the West as to the South,
but the West has not seceeded. The question
is not one of Protection or Free Trade. tits of
different and graver character. For thirty
years Slavery has constantly been coming to the
surface as the difficulty of American politicians.
The object Of the South in seeding is to es-
cape from the votes Of those who wish to limit
the area of Slave territory What course, ask.
ed Mr.. Bright, should England pursue We
should be neutral. We we're neutral in Italy.
but we were not neutral in sympathy; and, al.
though no English ships or soldiers appeared on
the shores Of that country, the sympathy of
England was spoken of in Europe, and did much
to aid the establishment of the free Italian
kingdom. Mr.. Bright then argued that we had
not given similar cordial sympathy to the peo.
pie Of the Northern States Of America, altho'
one or two statesmen, as, for instance, the Duke
of Argyll and Lord Stanley, had spoken with
liberality, fairness. and friendiness Of the Uni.
ted States Earl Russell, however, at Newcas-
tie, had misrepresented the question when he
said the North we're contending for empire and
the South for independence; and the leading
journal, since Lincoln took Office, had not pub
lished one fair, honorable. and friendly article
on American affairs. It was asked, "Why should
there be war? Why this fratricidal strife Why
should the North and South not separate peace
ably ?" Mr.. Bright throughout thought there
were insurmountabls geographical obstacles to q
separation a. well a. strong political objections
If the Northern States had done what some
newspaper writer's advised, and had allowed the
South to withdraw from the Union without m..
king any effort to retain them, We should have
been told that Democracy was failure, that the
Northern Government was guilty of cowardice
and worthy only Of 6nmeasured contempt
These candid friends tell us American freedom
10 gone, the Habeas Corpus act has been suspen-
ded, and laws and liberties have been endanger.
ed. But had not We suspended the Habeas Cor
pus act during the Irish Rebellion Of le4S, and
If an insurgent army ever encamped within
sight Of London what regsrd would Govern
ment have for the personal liberty of the sub
ject in any measure they took for securing the
safety of the Ststei We arc told that it would
be better for US If the United States wore divi-
ded, and Sir Edward Lytton had predicted that
there would ultimately be feur or five separate
nations or federations. The former he consid.
cred mean argument, and, as for the latter, he
would far rather see the whole of the vast oon-
tinent combined in one great confederation of
States where there would be no Custom Houses,
but freedom everywhere, equality everywhere,
law everywhere, and room for the expanding en-
ergtes Of our race. Referring to the seizure of
the Confederate Commissioners, he said he CON.
sidcred the act both impolitic and bad, brt 1t
might turn out to be wholly unauthorized by the
American Government, and in this case there
was NO doubt they would make ample reparation.
No Government had eyinced greater desire to
be guided by wise and moderate counsels in the
construction of cases under the maritime law
It was said this was only one of series of acts
showing III l.wiil on the part Of the North. There
would be irritating incidents in the course of
this struggle. Let US be calm. Rscollect how
VIC were dragged into the Russian war; we drif
ted into it. It cost fl0O, 600 900. II cost the
lives of "A, 900 Englshmen. 1t injured our trade;
| It doubled the armies of Europe, and did not ac-
complish single thing that was promised
Statesmen now said, in explanation, "What
could we do in the frenzy of the public mind at
that time :" Don't let them add to the frenzy,
and don't let Us be driven. Nr. Bright then
| read en extract from Gen. Scott's letter, which
was loudly cheered, and concluded By remind
| ing the meeting Of the large number of English
people who have iemigrated during the last ff
teen yeass to the United States = Only misrep
resentation the most gross, or cslumny the most
wicked, could involve in war people with suct
close ties. In . few years 20, ,OOO, 600 free mel
In the North will be sc, 900 600 or even &c, 900,
900 He prayed it might not be. said among
| them that in their darkest hour of need the Eng
! lish people, from whom they sprung, had look
ed with icy coldncss on the trials and suffering
Of their terrible struggle. ia,.. i3s,ias
PROsPEcTs OF lOvEMENT-Gen. NcClellaI
is Fastening preparations Tor concerted effort
i Remember, say bis confidential friends, that on
ly for elk weeks past has he been In actual DOW
er; that h. knows better than any one else th