The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1865-10-03
letter from Richard Golden.

letter from Richard Golden
We have been favored with the follow
ing extract from letter written IN May,
/ 1864, by the late Richard Golden OF
England, to a French gentleman residing
in Switzerland, upon the subject of the
late rebellion; and, as everything from
the pen of that eminent publicist and
friend of the North must, we are sure,
interest our readers and all lovers of their
country we take pleasure in thus being
selected as the means of laying it before
the public, calling special attention to that
portion relating to France and Mexico
a subject just at this time that concerns
US more than any other of public nature
connected with our foreign relations -
"LoNDoN, May 13, 1864.
"NIy Dear -: In your last letter you
speak uDfavorably of the prospects of the
Northern party in America You do not
know that country, l travelled through
the United States in 1885, and again in
1859, and have been very careful stu
dent Of all that has been passing there
| ought to know that country as we'll as
anybody. Nothing, in my mind, is more
certain in the future than that the North
will destroy slavery, ruin the slave own
ers, and hold possession of the South. The
mistake that the people fall into in Eu-
rope, when they expect the success of the
South, is that they lose sight of the in
herent weakness Of a slave owning CON-
munity, owing to the want of that me.
chanical development which constitutes
the crest power ofmodern society,as COM
pared with former ages. Georgia, or
Mississippi or Alabama, are not modern
communities in their organization and
resources. They are succession of plan
tations, on which slaves do all the work
and containing within themselves all the
different occupations, such as carpenters,
smiths and coopers, and which form dis.
tinct trades in free civilized States. In
fact, Georgia and Mississippi are in the
same state as Western Europe was in the
l4th century. Georgia and Mississippi,
each nearly as large as England contains
each only half million of white inhab-
itants, being less IpopulOus than England
was in the time of the SaxOns.
! "Those whites are surrounded by nearly
an equal numder OF slaves, who are ready
to run away from their masters whenever
the federal armies approach. Thus, ad
ded to the want of mechanical resources
and the absence Of accumulated wealth
and populatation in towns, the South sees
the negro, on whom it depends for the
rude cultivation of the soil, desertiDg its
/ plantations to enlist in the ranks of the
/ invading army. 1t is true that the South
ern whites fight well. They are a proud
naughty community who have a contempt
for Northern industry and for Northern
men, just as all aristocrats have despised
working men. They ale more reckless of
life, more accustomed to the use of arms
aud have that Southern dash and fire
which make them almost irresistible for
time But nothing can compensate for
the disadvantage under which they labor
Nothing can make a community, living
like the feudal community of the 18th
century, a match for the New England
of the 10Th century. The North will
ruin theSouht, not by any oneor halfdozen
decisive battles, but by It's persistence and
by the irresistible weight Of its resources.
And | should not be surprised to see the
South collapse very suddenly; for, having
no social forces at its back, when once it
is fairly beaten in the field, it has moth
ing to fall back upon. If the North
should realize my expectations, it will
;. present itself before the Old World in a
new and most formidable attitude, for it
will have proved itself as great in war as
in peace. 1t is the only country in the
world which, while it is first class naval
power (for its mercantile tonnage is equal
to our own.) can keep 100000 men in
the field. Has your Emperor thought of
all this in connection with his Mexican
expedition | confess | saw with amaze
ment as well as regret the course which
he took in sending an army to interfere
in the internal affairs of that wretcbed
country. 1t reminded me, in It's impoicy
of the expedition of the first Napoleon
from Bayonne into Spain.
''No human being can restore Mexico
to order, or confer on it the blessings of
civilized progress. 1t requires the hand
f of God himself to effect such a change in
that degraded population of halfcastes---
, But does the Emperor know how deeply
= the public sentiment of the United States
is outraged and humiliated by this at
p. tempt of foreign power to set up an EN-
e pire at their door without consultation
S with them How would you Frenchmen
t like to see the Yankees sending an army
to establish republic in Belgium with
Lr,,t nnnr,lA;nr NJ, 2 Snninn thn 4 NOR