The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-09-09
Minister Johnson,s Mission in England


Mr.. Reverdy Johnson, who has been ac-
credited by the United States government as
American Minister to the Court of Great
Britain, gives early premonitory evidence
that he has formed a very exalted esti-
mate of the character and duties of
to elevate our European diplomacy to
standpoint and range hitherto unknown be-
cause previously uninterrupted by our public
servants abroad. Bursting the bonds of red
tape routine and expanding beyond the fools
cap of departmental instructions, Minister
johnson, as we find by the cable reports of his
speeches, addressed to the master cutters and
the corporation Of Sheffield, stands forth not
merely as the personal exponent of the execu-
tive policy of the government in Washington,
but as an individual general ambassador
speaking in the name and on behalf of the
whole American people to the great English
nation.
Obeying an impulse of fraternal inspiration,
Minister Johnson, even before his presentation
to Queen Victoria, and without knowing if he will
be officially acceptable to her Majesty, has got
rid of the great court breaches and shad- bellied
vest question which has presented such con-
slant source of international annoyance be-
tween the governments and proved so exceed
ingly perplexing by its delays and s'unavoida-
BILE circumstances" to the late Mr.. Buchanan
and ex-Minister Adams. By a grand com of
the comprehensive Marylander, and with the
of Of hat, Ia
this knotty point has been resolved, and the
Queen is informed politely, although not in
words, that the court coat tails of American
Ministers in London have been duly prun ed,
upward and inward, to the true democratic
standard-a fact which must have been under
stood by the writer for London journal
when he recently declared that Mr.. Johnson
may, if he so please, appear at Buckingham
Palace in a shooting jacket.
Unencumbered by ''old clo'" Minister John
son, although not yet fully hedged, scared off
in the presence of the English cutters to
consideration Of questions Of the blending of
races, the power of absorption of Anglo Sax
onism, emigrant ethnology where and when
the exiled European leaves his inherited
''vices" and grand Anglo-American alliance,
so that he must have appeared to the hard
ware men as great physical fusionist
likely to weld the nations in a moment, and
drive to court accompanied by his "two single
gentlemen rolled into one" very agree
able visitor to British royalty. In all this
matter President Johnson or Secretary Seward
for M;ntc liz
Sheffield ignored Mr.. Disrael himself, with all
his fine attributes of race just as completely
| as he did both Of them. Our cable report,
dated in London yesterday, indicates that Mr..
johnson also overlooked the presence of Mr.
John Arthur Roebuck, NJ. p, the rather fos-
SLICED Parliamentary representative of Shelf
field, at the cutters dinner, but that gentleman,
in the spirit which has earned for him the
appellation of ''Tear EN- of the House of
Commons, would not be ignored but came out
in language of vehement disparagement" of
our country, just at a moment when, as the
London Times says, cit was the object of all
present to cultivate a feeling of good will"
towards u.s.
After such an incident Mr.. Johnson may
''come down" to practical work. Soon
after his presentation to the Queen he
will find that Downing street is a very
matter of fact place. NJ. Genet who was
sent over to represent the French republic in
America, was an accomplished humanitarian
theorist, and arrived in this country with his
head stuffed with the most benefcent ideas of
the universal identity of man. George Wash
ington, however, classed M. Genet, with the
appreciation of the American people, as
foreign humbug, and dismissed him. Minister
johnson rates as a very accomplished gentle
man, is an excellent good lawyer, is ready,
logical and eloquent in legislative debate, and
an agreeable visitor at Saratoga, SO that we
have little doubt but that when he has the
''wire edge" of his Sheffield diplomacy taken
oil, and becomes sharp as the Worshipful the
Master Cutler himself, he will place the Amer
lean Alabama claims bill, neatly drafted and
carefully footed, in the pocket of his extra court
pantaloons, wait on Mr.. Disraeli in Downing
street, present him with what the deceased
English economist Joseph Hume termed the
''tottle of whole" and demand payment. Should
the Premier reply that Great Britain is not
ready, cannot or will not pay, or talk of
''bill of set off, Mr. Johnson should politely
inform him that he is about to leave England
at once and return to Washington. He will
in that instance, of course, write note of
farewell to the Sheffield cutters and corpora
ton, and report Immediately to Mr.. Seward.
TIE PUBLIC DEBT STATEMENT.-T official
September statement of the public debt of the
United States, published in our columns yes
terday, compared with the exhibit made at the
corresponding period Of 1867, shows very
heavy increase in the financial burden of the
nation. This increase, counting from the LIST
of September of the past year, amounts to
81, s30,9is, and for the month from the LIST of