The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-01-26
MeeIness Of tine British Lion.

From the Richmond Dispatch. Jan. o.
The insulting letter Of Mr. Seward,
refusing 20 receive the amount raised
at q far il England for The benefit Of
the Confederate prisoners, and distinct
~ imputiu. % .h- En- i-h The crime OF
being the authors a' all he. trouble in
AmeI ca, g. rec l.rd 10y She London
Times with cgmmcuaahle mscEuess
Not a spark Of resentment or spirit
lights W It's sluggish comments on that
remarkable document The British
Lion Is a designation which can here
after be only ironically applied 10 Great
Britain. The king Of beasts IS not in
the habit Of being bearded IN his den
with impUnity. The patient ass
would be q more appropriate emblem
of q Government which bears anything
that can be upon it, and greatly pre-
fers prOvender TO battle
There was time when the sword Of
England would have leaped from its
scabbard at the slightest Of the provo
cations, now ionumerable, which IL has
receiv ID from the United States But
that day has passed It's chiValry has
fallcn into the sere and yellow leaf
tie people arc 80 brave and manly ss
ever, but the spirit Of irade aud money
getting has deadeued the sentiment
OF honor, and the canker Of a long
peace has eaten out the pith and vital
ity Of military pride Ever since the
downfall Of tae Tory party and tie
predominance in the national councils
Of the commercial interest, national
chivalry has been dead IN England
The Tories, with all their faults aud
errors, were the true representatives If
the British lion That king Of bca. s
disappeared with them II - not POI
sible that he is still IN bis old cage
when Brother Jonathan can poke the
longest kind o pole into 10 every day
without eliciting singleT roar.
We agree for one, with w. a Sew
ard, when he says that England is re-
sponsible for the present cslamities of
this continent, and that our once pros
porous aud happy States are now the
a,enes IF almost unparalleled blood
shed anu misery, the responsibility rests
upon Great Britain. The 8nJi-slsvery
party in the North would have died out
long ago but for the inspirations it re-
ceived from country to which all
Americans were in the habit of looking
for lessons IN civilization and morals
By books of travels, by novels, by songs,
by sermons, by reviews, by newspaper
articles, by Exeter Halls aud political
emissaries, by contributions of money,
by diplomacy, by social and religious
influences; In fine, by every instrument
tally that could be brought to bear
upon the human mind, England has
been laboring for the last thirty years
to propel her whole moral weight upon
the Northern mind, so as to lnstigste
and inhame it 10 sectional hostility
against those States of the Union Ia
which slavery existed The most dis
tInguished Southern statesman, on q
visit 70 her capital, was ostentatiously
EGghted by the nobility, and q
fugitive slave publicly petted by
the same Duchess Of Sutherland
who dispossessed her white 5enantry
in Scotland 10 convert their farms into
sheepwalks. The South never had 8
friend in England TIL this war began
Was all this philanthropy Every
child knows that England hss been the
greatest slave-trader in the world. and
9erself planted the institution here
which suddenly became 50 abhorrent tC
her moral sense Even an idiot car
understand that she only used anti
slavery as q wedge TO accomplish TIE
disruption Of hated and formidable
power, and hence, now that her object
Is accomplished, she preserves a rigid
neutrality, and takes sides Will
neither "belligerent''
Bus the day OF rvtribution viii on,
day come We are beginning 10 thInk
that that day is not tar distant Hel
hold upon the magnificent province o.
Canada Is precsrious, aud her ancient
domination Of the seas may, ere
long, be successfully disputed We
have no doubt she sympaIbizes. with
'the rebellion and wishes that Il
would last forever, but it is only that
her own prosperity may be built up
upon the common ruin of the United
States snd the Contederacy.