The New York herald., 1871-02-11

secure-Iis Splendid Diplomacy with
! England.
We cannot too highly estimate the import
ance OF the recent negotiations between Eng
land and the United States. To our mind it Is
tbe greatest governmental achievement since
The formation Of the constitution, and will be
remembered, we think, with such conspicuous
illustrations of what the diplomatists call "high
politics" as the Jay Treaty, the purchase OF
Louisiana, the Moaroe doctrine, the annexa-
tion of Texas and California, and the emanci-
patton of the slaves The more curiously VIC
crticise this negotiation the more thoroughly
| We are convinced of its wisdom. The country
will approve it heartily, and so far as the
administration is concerned II seems to decide
the denomination and, with little care and
resolution, the election Of General Grant
Whatever we may say in our passion
and for temporary political effect the
thinking men of America have long
looked upon our relations with England
as the anxious question. For three gene
ratons we have been on uneasy terms with
England, tive of these generations engaged In
war, while on these occasions tho third has
drifted to the very verge Of battle. Nothing
but some special Providence, for instance, kept
us from venturing upon war about tho Oregon
boundaries, the island of San Juan, and the
surrender Of Mason and Slidell, and we can
easily see how the Alabama claims and the
fishery troubles might throw US into strife at
| any moment So far as fighting is concerned,
we Americans have something Of the old Reyo-
lutionary spirit in our blood. For a new
country we have had our share offghting, and
| scarcely an administration passes over without
some international menace and heartburning.
And of all fighting questions this with Eng
land has been the most popular. Every
political party, every convention, every ca n
didate for the Presidency, has more or less
invested in 1t as attractive political capital.
| When Washington made what w2s called the
Jay Treaty he was stormed at by the talking
men of the republic The thinking men, how
ever, honored him for his courage in saving
the new and crude republic from a struggle
| which might have destroyed the new Union.
Jackson's surprising popularity was based
upon the fact that he defeated the English in
a pitched battle.
Our relations with England have never been
harmonious. We think it is Colerdge who
thus expresses their true nature:-
Alas they had been friends In youth;
But whispering words can poison truth,
And to be wfoth with those we love
Doth work like madness in the brain.
We never thoroughly recovered from the
severity Of the Revolutionary war-the inva-
sion of Maryland and the burning Of the capt.
tai. We have shown since, however, that we
can make war upon our friends and brothers
as implacable as ever waged by England, and
that, perhaps it was all in our Anglo-Saxon
fighting human nature. Tie large infusion of
the Irish element into our citizenship has
intensified our anti English prejudices
and yet all this time prudent and patriotic
men saw that we were Of the one race and
language and civilization; that our liberties
came from Magma Charta that our common
law came from her statesmen and Paria-
ments; that in our literature Shakespeare and
Byron and Tennyson were American as much
as Irving and Longfelow that we had been
brought within speech by the cable that the
influence of great world-embracing journals
like the London Times and the New YORK
HERALD had gone far toward breaking away
the barriers of prejudice and custom and ira
dition, and made London and New York as
one city. Nothing does SO much to bind the
nations in peace as association and knowledge.
The cruel and bitter and overcoming wars
between England and France ended when the
Eranoh Ia hat Tn ~; al, MOI
really brutes who fogged their wives and
recruited armies by a press gang, and went
through the world in strict obedience to the
rules Of the London prize ring while the
English respected the French and became
their allies when they really discovered that
they did not wear wooden shoes and worship
metal images Of saints. We can readily see
how the American Of Punch and the carica-
turists would be in natural antagonsm to the
popular John Bull with his arrogance and pre-
| tension. The true American and Briton are
far different from those drawn by the satrists;
| and between the real men of the two countries
| this conference will finally be held, and, we
trust, lead to a speedy and lasting peace.
! Without specializing upon the probable tenor
| Of the deliberations Of this joint High Com
mission, the emphatic point is that it has been
great triumph for Grants administration
Nothing SO conspicuous and gratifying has
been accomplished since the Jay Treaty. The
President insisted that England should submit
every grievance 10 a commission-even the
Alabama claims and the much mooted question
Of bellgerency, which was perpetual and eff
fectual stumbling block in previous negotia-
tions. He required that the commission
should hold its sessions in Washington. He
held that the fishery differences should be de-
termined by the home government and not by
| the colonial rulers Of the Canadian Dominion