The New York herald., 1862-01-06
The lesson or seventy Years.

| AnauAb tO Tue IOro6lgnt ana OlplOmatc bagu-
city of the administration, all present danger
of war between this country and England
has passed away. The rendition of Messrs
Slidell and Mason removes every pretext for
hostility on the part of the government Of
Great Britain yet the reasons given by Mr.
Seward for their delivery are so In accordance
with American tradition, and involve SO COM
plete y triumph of those principles Of inter-
national law, for which the United States has
ever contended, that the event will be hailed
by every patriotic citizen as great national
victory. Every detail of the transaction, how
ever, from the time of the capture of the rebel
ambassadors, is pregnant with warning to the
American mind, which IL is sincerely to be
hoped may not be neglected. Congress will be
blind indeed if it does not perceive that the
| time has come to throw off the supineness and
| apathy with which we have hitherto regarded
the maritime power Of our transatlantic rivals,
and to put ourselves, as speedily as pos
| sible, in q position to contest tho supre-
macy which the mother country has hitherto
exercised upon the seas Whoever has been
incredulous heretofore, must cease to doubt
now that bitter as the hostility of the govern
ment of Great Britain has always been against
democratic institutions the time must come,
sooner or later, when misunderstanding be-
tween the two countries will assume shape
which may involve us in inextricable diff
culties, If we are not prepared to meet it.
The acknowledgment, in 1888, by the govern
ment of George ILL.,, of the independence of the
thirteen North American colonies, after strug-
gle which had lasted seven years, and from
which only the most indomitable will and per-
severance enabled our forefathers to come out
victorious. was the first serious blow that the
power of England had ever received. The
memory OF the loss to the crown of its bright
est jewels, has ranked in the memory of the
people of that country ever since, and, while
its governments have handed down the task
of vengeance as an heirloom, every succeed
ing generation has treasured up the remem-
brance of the rebuke British tyranny then re-
ceived, as only to be atoned for by our national
overthrow and destruction. Thus the frequent
occasions on which the American people have
manifested courtesy and kindliness have been
invariably followed, on the part Of England, by
some gross indignity, some unworthy and vim
dictive display of ingratitude, calculated to
Illustrate all efforts to establish cordial relations
between nations SO closely allied to each other
by blood In times of famine, we have been
most bountiful in the relief we have afforded;
mishaps to British explorers have been followed
by expeditions from our shores for their relief,
inwhich our navigators have freely perilled their
lives, and our treasury has willingly poured
forth its money; the arrival of the heir appa-
rent to the English throne was made a gala period
of by our citizens, who greeted him with an en-
thusiasm far more fattering in its sincerity than
loyalty ITSELF Yet these outbursts of good will
have in each instance been followed by some
marked affront, and they have never interrupted
for an instant the steady unwavering progress
of inimical British diplomacy.
After the war Of 1912, when it was discovered
that the United States was fast rising to the
position of formidable maritime Power, and
that cotton was becoming king, British states
men, finding it impossible to cripple our ener-
gies by force had recourse, not for the first time
in their history philanthropy The anti-slave-
ry movement which first had its headquarters at
Exeter Hall and the Stafford House, was care
fully fostered by the Court and aristocracy of
England, for the openly avowed purpose of aim
ing death blow at American institutions. The
feeling with which the news Of the riots in
Boston aud New York, consequent upon the in
cendiary efforts of George Thomson the ennis
sary to this country from London abolitionists,
was received in England, must be vivid in the
recollection of those who are old enough to re-
member the events OF that time. Sir Robert
Peel had already declared, in the most emphatic
manner that the twenty millions ofpoundssterling
expended for the liberation of the slaves of Ja-
maica, was cheap price to pay for the perni-
cious effects which that inca ure would create
in the United States, and the shock it would
give to democratic government In fact, tie
Developments of the abolition scheme, as it
was followed up year after year, demonstrated
beyond cavil, that relief of the negro was but
preiext, and that its real deliberate object was
to sow such dissension between the North and
the South as should eventually result in n dis
ruption of the republic. The mission of Capt.
Charles Elliott, known as the ''man with the
white hat" for the purpose of negotiating with
President Houston the acquisition by England
Of Texas, formed part of the plan. in order, in
the day of our calamity, that an extensive cot
ton region might be at her disposal. The fail
ure of this project and the annexation OF Texas
was fearful blow to Great Britain, and the
clearer headed American politicians of the day..
both North and South, well comprehended the
danger that had been averted, and the narrow
ness Of the escape John c. Calhoun, in 1s45,
wrote the famous letter in which the ma
chinations of England were fully exposed,
and the anti-slavery question was put upon its
true basis before the country. Would that the
Southern newspapers who affect to reverence
the South Carolina statesman as their great
apostle would reproduce and ponder over that
letter noWI IL would cover them with confil-