The New York herald., 1862-04-17
The Naval Panic I'm Enss.ua.

In this mornings paper will be- found \ full
report Of the interesting debate which took
place in the House of Commons on the seth
ults in relation to iron-clad vcssels-ofww. It
wilf be seen from it that our transatlantic
cousins are In great alarm at the facts de-
veloped in the recent engagement between the
Merr;mae and Monitor. That event operated
upoa'them like a new revelation 1t toe& out
Of thsm the starch Of their arrogance and self
coneeit, and has left them terribly nervous and
anxious about the future.
This motives of this anxiety are not ezagge-
rated. Never had nation greater cause to feel
troubled In single day it has seen not only
its most cherished illusions and prejud;sss de-
stroyed, but the work of centuNies annihilated
Since the fight in Hampton Roads its naval
supnsmacy has passed ostl Of tbs realm
Of fhets into that of traditions, Alas! that so
mnoh that is pleasant and coDviviss should
vanish with it. No moro at Giilfhall Aanquets
os county dinners will the. toast Of "Our
Wooden Walls" wake the echoes w:fa stento
rian and self-congratulatory cheers.
Il will be seen from what passed in Parlia-
ment that in the coming age. of irsa English
Vaingloriousness still hopes to, maintain its
superiority at sea. We will not stap to discuss
how far this expectation is we'll founded. To
time we may safely leaxe the ISOLATION of the
question. We would observe, however, tlat
| it is but poor evidence Of confidence
in the future when the ground on which the
English Parliament isurged to she recons rue
| ton of its navy by the speakers on this occa-
sion is apprehendeai danger from this country.
Danger of what? We have enough to oscupy
us at home swithou .lseeking 10 carry agg ggession
into the territories of oaAer governments
| Neither are we SO unnatural as to imitate the
example set us Of seeking pretext 70 cut the
throats of our own kindred. John Bull need
! not be afraid Of as. We prefer feeehg him &
| fighting him.
| This fear Of US, however, is mssely put GA
II is not visions of Yankee Merrimacs and Mai
! tors that disturb the slumbers OF our EnS6sl
cousins. They knaw well that it is no
our inteysst to pick quarrel witt
them. But they are not 50 sure Of tn
continuance of the same Pacific disposition
on the part OF their imperial neighbor. Tn
Gallo cock has begun to crow rather lou,
since the news Of the sea fight in Hampton
Roads, and the nerves Of the brsggarts VIII
bullied us when our hands were tied hAv
become painfully sensitive. They have sud
denly awakened to the consciousness of the fac
that whilst they have been theorizing on iror
plated war vessels and batteries France ha
been silently multiplying them. She has 9
present about three timee the force of bot
that England with all her boasted resources i
iron and engineering skill, can commant
Were war to break out between the tw
countries tomorrow, there would be nothln
to prevent the French steaming up the Thame
and shelling and capturing London.
This is one of the first points of the grea
American revolution. II has exposed to tn
maritime governments Of Europe the weakne,
and unreliability Of their present naves.
will soon lay bare, in the same unpleasar
manner, the feeble points Of their politics
systems The ordeal through which d,
mocracy is passing here will necessarily hav
the effect Of purifying and fortifying 1t abroad
Once our domestic troubles are at an end, tb
political anxlesissss Of foreign government
, , peein. Our first war of independence sc
rolling the ball Of revolution in Europe TIL
English and French Journalists and politician
who ore continually sneering at "the fruitio'
character of our present struggle, will, pc
hops. soon discover that il is not entirely ba
) rem y, consequences 10 themselves