The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-01-13
THE DAILY EVENING DEPH FRIDAY JANUARY

agement to the Rebel cause. or what Ameri- |
cans consider, with what sound reason may |
well he disputed, that to this alone or mainly |
it was owing that the Rebellion was able to
make head at all. The injuries thus sus-
tanned OF believed to have been sustained, by
the United States do not make their demands
Just; but they constitute an important reason
why England should consider those demands
with the most careful attention, and should
do all that can possibly be done, consistently
with her own rights and true int srests, to heal
the gaping wounds, material and mental,
which, however unintentionally, her hand has
made.
CHARACTER OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
Another consideration, of no trifing i'm
portance, is the character of the American
people. Let any one consider the history
and, above all, the recent history of that ma
ton. There is nothing, in modern times at
least, with which it will not, for moral gran
deur, favorably compare. An insurrection,
formidable not only in numbers, but in
foreign sympathy, and in the possession of
almost all the disciplined forces and material
of war, sprang suddenly into fierce and
ominous life. 1t was no question between
slavery and freedom (thoughthat was colat-
eral issue, but whether the vast dominion
the mighty fabric which was the pride of a free
people, the admiration of the world the erefuge
of liberty, and full of bright promise for the
future of mankind-should stand firm on its
pedestal or be shivered into fragments at
their feet Surprised and betrayed, disarmed
and friendless, the nation never faltered
For long months it encountered with raw
levies the disciplined forces of the South
for long months there poured from every
loyal State the flower of the American youth,
abandoning home, comfort, aud prosperous
industry to meet almost certain destruction
in their countrys cause. In ever-increasing
numbers the unframed soldiers of liberty
pressed forward at her call to fill with their
lives the deadly interval required to redress
the balance of the strife. When
at last the tide turned, and
victory declared for numerical force
submitted to gradual discipline, no
vengefIl exultation marked her advent.
Calmly, firmly, and thoroughly the great
work was done. And when it ceased, the
passionate excesses which have been the usual
retinue of such triumphs were looked for by
the world in vain. The people which had
satisfied SO grandly the test of adversely.
passed still more grandly through the terrible
ordeal of success. Not one drop of blood
was shed in revenge for treachery and re-
bellion more pernicious and worse-founded
than any which the world has seen. In sad
ness rather than in triumph, when the fight
| was done, the nation set itself resolutely to
grapple with the difficulties which the fight
had bred. No lust of military glory, no in
toxication of military success, ruff1ed the
steady current of that benefcent toll Having
saved their country, the vast triumphant
hosts were hosts no more. The transforma-
tion was complete; the fierce and daring
soldier became at once the quiet. industrious
citizen; the Government, full armed for des-
perate resistance or majestic conquest, be-
came the peaceful, conscientious laborer for
a peoples good. Now it is of course possible
that q nation may have shown itself to be the
possessor of so much wisdom and nobleness,
and yet act unjustly towards a foreign State.
But claim, not destitute of all foundation,
and persistently put forward in temperate
and conciliatory tone by the unanimous
voice of nation such as this, can
not be set aside as the product of
mere arrogant impertinence, malignant
hostility, or perverse self-delusion. It
may be claim, in the opinion of those upon
whom 1t is made, quite inadmissible; it cannot
be one which is no fit subject for impartial
adjudication. The American people, thus
calm in judgment, moderate in self-assertion,
just and humane in spite of every tempta-
ton, Jealous for the right, yet merciful to
the perpetrators of wrong, is under the firm
impression, whether we'll or ill-founded, that
| it is bound, in justice to itself, to demand
reparation for certain acts of foreign
power. Upon this reparation, however, it
/ does not insist; 1t only asks that some autho-
rity should be named by both parties who
may pronounce upon its justice. The char
acter of the proposition and of the proposer
alike seem to counsel compliance.
FEELING IN AMERICA TOWARDS ENGLAND.
Another consideration which should inhu-
ence in an important degree Itheldecision of
England upon this question is the feeling
with which she is regarded by the American
people. Vuigarity is not confined to Z urope;
and to envy, disparage, and vilify England is
characteristic of American vulgarity. But to
any one who will look a little below the sur
face, and take his impression of American
opinion from other sources than rowdy news
papers, it must be evident that the great
heart of the nation-the aggregate of thought
and feeling which have made her what she is
-yearns for sympathy and amity with ours.
There is in the people of the United States a
reverence, an admiration, even filial affec-
tion, for the nation from which they have
never forgotten that they sprang, which long
years OF mutual misunderstanding, recrimina-
tion, and suspicion have been unable to sub
DUE. The people of the United States believe,
rightly or wrongly, that we have inflicted
upon them grievous wrong, for which, by
some means or other, it is incumbent on
them if they can to obtain redress; but who
ever has had an opportunity of observing
them at all must see that it is by sense of
justice, and not by an impulse of vengeance
or hostility, that their course is steered; and
that if this dispute could be settled by arbi-
tration, they would, though the decision of
the arbitrator should be in our favor, well
come it with satisfaction as that which would