The Evansville daily journal., 1861-12-24
JnO. w. Forney ON the English DIM
Guilty

Guilty
WAsHIAGTox, Dec. Is, 1861
The English complication comes upon us
in this our hour of tribulation, while We
are engaged in a contest, the magnifcenee
of which no chronicle records. We are in
q struggle which involves our life and our
Iiberty-our happiness as people, and our
existence as a Government We have
| thrown every dollar we possess-our own
lives, and the lives of those we love-iEto
| this struggle. And now, when on the point
of crushing this Infamous serpent Of Sc
| eession, Great Britain appears upon the
scene, and menaces US with destruction. Il
| is as though a strong man, engaged in q
| death-struggle with his foe, finds himself
stabbed in the back By an insidious friend,
/ who takes advantage of his misfortune to
/ consummate his assassination. While other
nations gaze with awe, and most of them with
/ earnest sympathy, upon the conflict of our
/ people with a gang of robbers, England
| helps the robbers, and draws the dagger upon
/ our country.
/ England knows she is strong. This ie
uur hour of weakness, and she may make it
/ her opportunity to strike. She can now be
arrogant and insulting, for now her AFRO
! gaace and insult cannot b0 resented The
| Northern coast is exposed to her large and
/ powerful navy; our towns are not fortified,
| aad che may bring desolation upon our peO-
! pie and our manufacturing interests All
/ this she knows Her armament5 are large
and we'll appointed her army has been in
creased almost to war footing; che is pre-
| pared to throw large bodies of troops into
the Eastern and Northern portions of our
Republic; Canada is filed with armed men,
and the frontiers Of Canada are simply so
many Rarrisons. Our commerce Is at her
mercy. ID the Mexican gulf there is large
British feet, which could render our newly
gained strongholds on the Southern coast
! untenable aud accomplish the destruction
of the brave men at Port Royal, Hatteras,
and Santa Rosa Island. She may break
our blockade, and entirely nullify our expe-
ditionarg operations. With the Potomac
virtually biockaded, aud an immense army
under Beauregard ia our rear, Washington
would probably fall With the Chesapeake
| Bay open to any navy may choose to enter
with a disloyal population lin Maryland;
with enemies along the Virginia and Allan
tic coasts, England could precipitate fear
fltl series of disasters, and, perhaps, with the
aid of the Southern armies, turn the bloody
tide of war upon the Northern States.
It may be in view of all these grave con-
celebrations, and the sad necessities of the
case, that, IN order to avoid a war which
could only end in our discontinue, the Ad-
nnistration may be compelled to concede
the demands of England, and, perhaps, re-
lease Messrs Mason and tSIideH God for
bid but in crisis like this We must adapt
ourselves to stern circumstances, and yield
every feeling of pride to maintain our ex-
istence. Ii this contingency should ever
srriye-and am only specializing upon a
oisagfeenbla possibility then let us swear
mot only 10 ourselves, but our children
who como after ue--to repay this greedy,
insolcnt, ahd cowardly Power with the
retribution Of inst and fearful vengeance.
II England, in our time. Of distress, makes
herself our foe, and offers 70 be our assassin,
We will treat her as foe when We cnn 90 50
uuhammeied and unmenaced by another
enemy.
There are several methods by which TO
boffie England if she is disposed 10 take part
sgainsl The cause OF Civilized Freedom on
this continent if Captain VI likes has erred
It wns only by following British authority.
We can offer TO replace the rebel ENJOYS on
board the Trent and then have that vessel
conv eyed with its conraband" cargo to |
= neutral port, and tried according to the |
British construction of international law |
Or we pan say that no offence was intended |
70 England [ as none was intended) in the |
deteuiIon OF the Trent, but that in arrest |
Ins two notorious trilors bent upon destroy |
,ug cur glorious Government, we felt that |
what We did was precisely " hat England |
would have done under the same circum- |
stances. Or, with these propositions and |
protestations we can offer 10 submit the |
whole case to arbitration of Russia or |
France, or both together.
Should the British Government accept any |
one of these suggestions or explanations, /
the Gaze can readily be adjusted. Should |
she refuse, there can be but one judgment |
pronounced She will forfeit the respect Of
every civilized government on earth. But |
whether she accepts or rejects them, this |
much is written in the Book of Fate-thGt |
II she has attempted to eHabGrrass or 10 dssaI |
The United States in their present mighty /
trouble she has made eternal foes Of all the |
loyal ,aiglloas Of Aaerica and their postersty |
foreoeT.
1--we. do concede the demands of Eng
Iar.d, however, it will only be because We |
! 4ssiEu- aszsash this reiaallinn-as a duty We
owe to mankind It viii be because we |
prefer to master the greater evil, and do not
wish to be alienated from our duty by any |
international and comparatively unimport- |
ant quarrel it viii be because we prefer |
national salvation TO the qualification of any
feeling of nationsl pride. It win be great |
act of self denial. But when we come |
from this rebellion, it will be with mag |
nifcent army, educated and organized, and |
with the sense of this wrong weighing upon
them It will be with a navy competent TO |
meet any navy upon the globe. It will be |
for us, then,,to remember how England was |
our enemy in the day of our misfortune,
and to make that remembrance a dark and |
fearful page of her history, and eternal /
memory in our own.
The New York Sun says that at a certain |
brokers' Office, down town in that city, |
twenty-one tierces of bacon, eight barrels /
,F haaF oDd 4rvo casI1o of gT,oDIdar9 hava