Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1864-06-17

new TerritoI les on the south and west by
purchase and by war, and now we were
to win still more valuable acquisitions on
the north and east by the gentler modes
of trade. We were granting large IA
vors, and we expected kind Of provin-
cial gratitude IN return which would yield
substantial results.
The calculation was somewhat simple
but it had its influence. 1t ignored the
fact that the provincial gets his political
opinions from the mother Government
ITe is but an adjunct. He may be a
Liberal, but he runs mad over the idea Of
royalty. The sentiment Of devotion to
the British Crown is much more intense
in Cape Town or Halifax than in Pail
Mall or Charing Cross, and the idea OF
separation from the British Government
would shock the nerves of every provin-
cial legislator this side the Atlantic, while
it would be received with the utmost COM
placcncy in the imperial Parliament.
When | say that there is hestancy in
some quarters about acting in this mat
ter Tor fear of the effect, | do not
mean because Of any doubt about the
sufficiency Of the experiment in the par.
ticulars | have mentioned. This free
trade and annexation nonsense has been
knocked out Of our people long ago
Nobody tolcrates such an idea now
The truth is, we have received rude
shock in the last three years in our in
tercourse with foreign nations. We be-
gin to be impressed with the wisdom of
Washington's Farewell Address, when he
said VIC " should constantly keep in view
that it is folly in one nation to look for
disintcrested tavors from another and |
do not know that we should be blamed if
We went further and agreed with Napol-
con that " "nations hate each other -
We discover at last that amid all the
professions of friendship which diplomats
make along with that =" distinguished con-
sideration" which always marks their
intercourse, the London Times hits it
more nearly when it says
" But while the Republic evsrtopping and
ovcrshaiowiGg US, while it stretched its llmbs and
rails ii its tones to the scale Of II giant, it was
impossible but that our sympathy should be
Nea kencd. Wo feel for men, not for giants, for
monsters for madmen, for those altogether out OF
our raugs and species
" Nh Gibson cannot surely demand from US
that we should absolutely wish the United states
to retain their " integrity" or now recover 1t, so
as to make n vast political unity OF the kind Mr.
Bright describes. That would bo to wish our
own abascment and our own destruction.
| have no bitterness of feeling toward
these provinces. Many of their leading
men | know as gentlemen Of great in
telligcnce aud worth. But cannot help
adverting to the miserable failure OF the
treaty in this respect as well as the other.
These provinces, while catching their tone
from the home Government, have tar out
run it in hostile feeling toward us in this
struggle. That Government has behaved
badly enough. We have scored up
against it long catalogue of offenses.-
By and by, when we are in condition to
enforce our demands, we shall take out
our budget and direct the minister at the
court of St. James to present them. |
see by the recent debates in Parliament
that some uncasiness is felt about the
claims W. have against them, and when
Mr.. Adams on several occasions brought
to Earl Russell's notice the damages done
by the British pirate Alabama. he was
answered very curty and with consider
able show of impatieace. 1t will be diff
ferent one of these days,
But the English Government is ex-
ceedingly sensible ; it does not attack
another Power unless quite sure it is con-
siderably weaker. In 1861 the English
opinion was very decided that this south
ern rebellion must end in separation. 1t
then hastened to recognize the Montgom-
cry government as belligerent. Mr..
Adams was on his way with communi-
cations from the Administration just in
stalled in power, but so impressed were
they Of the weakness of this Govern
ment that they treated it with contempt
and made public this recognition on the
very day Of his arrival in London. From
this acknowledgement sprung their po :
er on the sea and the destruction OF the
immense amount Of property catalogued
and presented to the House the other day
by the gentleman from New York. As
this Government has shown its strength,
the British ministry has behaved better
The Alabama escaped while they were
higgling and quibbIlng over the evidences
offered of her character. The Govern
ment at last concluded she ought to be
stopped but did not act upon their con
clusion until it was too late. Had they
exercised half she promptness about thi;
that they did about acknowledging the
rebels as beligerent the pirate would not
now be at large, and our shipping would
have been uninjured.
The Alabama's cruise created seasa
ton on this side the Atlantic, and the III
dignation expressed made the Government
move faster the next time. The Alexan
dra was seized before she got to sea, bu
she was prosecuted SO indiferently tba
an eyewitness writes me that the verde,
was rendered amid a popular hurrah-no
body supposing the Government, was II
earnest in the prosecution. And now
after the case has gone through the forms
of law and been decided by the hlghes
law court, it is said that the " law OF
6cers of the Crown" give the opinion tina
the " foreign enlistment act" needs NJ
amendment, because the strength Of tn
Governments case was not presented a
the trial !
The position of the Government as t.
At. oI,J, last Sontomhor shnws th