, 1865-04-11

nothing is known, except that Mr.. Lin
coin, their chosen and real representative,
is not one Of those who Join in the cry
against 'perfdious Albion" That the
ireeholders will fight for a cause is GER
tain but cause means with them, as
with other men, a great temptation, or
an aftront to their honour, or an attack on
their interests. Their honour has not
been assailed by Great Britain except in
type, by attacks not half so v|irulent or
so acid as those made by their own Jour
mails, for the Government as a Govern
mPnt has been steadily neutral, Il has
refused 10 recognize the South, has even
attempted to prohibit emigrantS, arms,
or money from reaching the North, has
actively intcrfered with the despatch Of
steamers to the aid Of the ConttdcratcS,
and has maintai6ed in all correspondence
a studied though somewhat artificial cour-
teSy. The interests Of the freeholderS
are all the other way. They DO not want
the excessive taxation which must follow
the renewal of war, the cessation Of the
demand for their produce, the new de-
mand for their children, the stoppage Of
the emigration which supplies them with
ldDoHtS tiG NV tISlOl Vi CUtISN anu XII
terprise into a maritime war. Still less
do they want the revival of the influence
Of the South, the alternative of maintai0ing
a heavy garrison in the recovered States,
or Of yielding once more to Southern de-
hands for dictatorjal power. They may
want Acadia, and possibly do, but they
do not want it more noW, when but Just
seeing the end of a terrible struggle,
than they did ten years since, when their
strength was unbrokcn and they were
led by the most aggressive knot Of states
men who ever held power over a great
country, the tire-eatcrs Of the South.
There is no proof whatever that their ma
tnre has been suddenly changed, that
they have caught any mad fancy for war,
that they are unwilling, like other people,
and more especially other Englishmen, to
take a long rest after very severe toll.
Ga the other hand, there is proof that
they hold the greater part Of the curren-
cy and the debt which wouId be destroy
ed by reputation, and that they intend
to pay It's interest by a tax, an export du-
ty on cotton, which will be profitIess dur
ing a maritime war. There is also proof
that they can re-absorb any number of
their sons and emigrants who have been
sent to the war, for they did do it after
the Mexican campaigns, the armies and
reserves then on foot disappearing into
society within six weeks. Their natural
instinct when the war is once over will
be that which at such times always breaks
forth in England, to be a little too weary
of strain, to long too ardently for quiet,
to be a little too impatient of preparation,
aud taxes, and drafting, and expenditure,
and worry generally. 1t is not the man
who works the hardest who feels lassitude
least, or is least unwilling to go from one
exertion to another without an interval
Of rest. The true way to Judge these
men is to think of them as average En-
glishmen afflicted with unusual and, till
1860, unbroken prosperity. What under
the circumstances would Englishmen be
apt to do !? Surely TO feel all irritation
soothed by the consciousness of great and
acknowledged success, to turn swiftly,
almost hungriIy, towards their first OBJ
iect in life, the realization of individual
prosperity, and to protest, at first gently,
then anpriIv. that thew neither could nor