The New York herald., 1863-09-07

War with England ana Franes-De-
parture Of One or che Angls-Rebel
Rams from tho N1ersey.
It will be seen by our Queenstown CORES
pondence that the event anticipated in our pre-
vious advices from England has already taken
place. One Of the two formidable rebel rams
which was being constructed in tho Mersey
for the "Emperor Of China" has, despite the
circumstances addressed TO the English gov
ernment, been suffered to depart, and Is, NO
doubt, now on her way to our coast. The At
lanta, which was stated to have put into Brest
to repair damages, turns out to be the Florida,
and not federal vessel, as represented; and
there s no doubt Of the fact that several vessels
Of large size are being secretly constructed in
French ports for the rebel navy.
These proceedings must at once be put
. stop TO. Better war thousand times
with the governments which are guilty
of these mean and treacherous acts than
to allow them to continue TO furnish
our enemies with the means of destroying us.
By their present underhand contrivanccs they
secure all the advantages Of . war Of aggres-
sion without any Of its risks A great nation
must not allow its life blood to be drawn from
It by such vampire-like operations. If the ma.
ritime resources Of England and France are
to be thus employed against us, those furnish
ing them must not be allowed to escape harm
less. n
The duty of our government in this emer
genoy is plain. In another fortnight we will
probably have this iron-clad monster thunder
ing at the entrance to our harbor. Whether
the preparations made to resist such attacks
are sufficiently far advanced to be effective re-
mains to be seen. A good deal has, we know,
been done to strengthen the defences ut Sandy
Hook and at the Narrows, and we have at
present on the spot large force of artillery.
But we must not confne ourselves to mere local
efforts Of defence. The danger has to be con-
fronted by bolder and broader measures.
What we propose is this:-As soon as this
Anglo-rebel iron-clad attacks any one of our
Northern forts an embargo should at once be
laid on English shipping to compensate for
the damage that may be inflicted upon US.
All property belonging to purely English
firms here should be sequestrated until set
tlement Of our claims against the British gov
ernment is arrived at. We have already a
heavy bill of damages against 1t for
the losses occasioned to our commerce
by its privateers; for English these vessels
unquestionably are, though furnished with
rebel letters Of marque. BY supplying nearly
their entire crews, by the well established prin-
ciples Of international Law, they become respon-
sible for their devastations. If John Bull Is
determined to aid the rebels in sweeping our
commerce from the ocean we must retaliate
With the seven or eight hundred mil lions in
vested by Englishmen in property in this coun-
try, and an embargo upon such vessels as hsp-
pen to be in our ports, we can easily bring
England to her senses, or amply compen-
safe ourselves for these and the other damages
that may be inflicted upon us by the formidable
war vessels which British shipowners, with the
connivance Of their government, are now
launching against us. The same measures Of
reprisal should be instantly adopted against
France the moment that we have satisfactory
evidence that the iron-clads building in her
ports are intended to operate against us.
Let us impress upon the government the ne
cessisy Of its being prompt and decisive in this
matter. The time for diplomatic remonstrances
has passed by when these rams make their
appearance and the moment for action has
arrived We cannot Afford to have our existence
imperlled by squeamishness as to the means
Of meeting this new danger. II our enemies
will incur the risk Of straining International
law 70 subserve their treacherous aud ambitious
designs, we must not stand upon points Of d.
plomatic nicely to defeat them. bold, vigor-
ous decision on the part Of our government is
all that is wanting TO crush out the foreign con-
spiracy that Ia maturing against us. Let Il rise
equal 70 the emergency, or the country will
hold Il to heavy responsibility,