The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1870-11-04
The British Mission.

Of the gentlemen mentio ned for the position
ofsMinister Pleuipotentiary to Great Britain,
none has appeared % Gar above his Fellows s
Wendell Phi.lps Possessed Of wonderful pow
ers Of persuasion, yersci in history, . scholar
among scholars, n statesman without po'itic-,
public man known In all countres rs the leader
OF procressionisls, the nomination VI Wendell
Phillips would plesss his e0antrymen. and the
respect Of all nations would be accorded 10 the
new PlenipOtentiary in his extended deld o. OPP
Grafton. .l, ...-. ...,,-, t..- -,.... .-.-.j ..
When we commenced reading the above
from the Portsmouth Chronicle. we rated
our nelghbor rs a first class satirist, hut
our admiration turned to wonder a, we
continued reading. To learn that the sug-
goStion of Mr.. Phillips name was made
I'm GOOD faith. Il has been stated that the
Mission has been offered 10 half n dozen
different individuals, but has been do
clincd. It has. however, been offered to
only two. and we hope hereafter tho Pres
i,lent will have the caution to consult the
persona whom he ncxt decides To appoint.
But the idea of sending Weudell Phil
lips TO England a, representative OF any
body but himself. Is ludcro',s. He Is one
of our most brilliant orators, keen and
dashing. but national scold. q ship with
out rhddcr. compass or ballast. an engine
without governor. kite without tail'
which scars high enough but you never
can tell where II Is going to light. The
one idea of those who advocate the send
inr of such man. seems to be, because
he can talk. So he can, more in one hour
than majority Of men can IN week,
but the class of men to which Mr.. Phil
lips belongs are not distinguished as prac-
.ical men. prophets or statesmen.
TheC Chronicle would do well to refresh
its memory with some evidences Of the
craftsmanship of Mr.. Phillips. and per-
haps nothing better can be found than his
speech mt New Bedford in 1861. Then
and there he declared that he twas sorry
n gun should be fired from SUMTER" that
the slave States had - right to decide the
question of separate government" and
then no added. "who denies them the
right? Standing with the principles Of
&c behind us, who can deny them the
right? What is the matter OF n few mil
lions of dollars. or few forts' 1t is n
mere drop in the bucket of the great ma
tional question. II is theirs just as much
rs ours. / naiaiain on The principle Of
20. hat A6rdhdBI Lincoln has no right 10 a
soldier ia Fort Sinlter.n How far such
utterances differ from the secession prin-
ciplcs of the Old Public Functionary who
declared in his last message that the
Constitution had not delegated to Con-
gross the power to coerce into submission
u State which is attempting to withdraw,
or has actually withdrawn from the Con-
fcdcr.co." perhaps the Chronicle can tell.
But If 1t fails in any of the above quota
tons. II can solve tho difficulty from an
other statement in the same speech.
Hero arc series of States girdling the
Gulf. who think that their peculiar iasti-
mtioas require that they should have n
separate government. They have Alright
to decide that question, without appealing
To You or me-"