National Republican., 1878-09-13

from each other. Nor Is the free play Of such
q correspondence Of customs, and charscteris-
ties, and ideas intcrfercd with ut tho present
moment by any irrepressible rccollections Of
byRonc dissensions.
We believe, indeed, that somewhat acrid re.
membranes of tho original revolt of the
American colonies against British fiscal usur-
patton are kept up In United States schools
with rather undue emphasis. Boys aud girls
read Of that dispute aS IL 1t were still living
thing, and, IL they only derive their notions
from school books, are probably somewhat sur.
priscd to learn in after life that In England
not only Is no resentment cherished against
the wise and well;justihed rebels who con-
quered their independence, but a general con-
viction prevails, and is not discouraged even
in our school histories, that the Colonists were
right and that the mother country was wrong.
Such Is the fact. Vague jealousy aud mortii.
cation may have fingered long after the reason
was satisfied hut very soon, indeed, after the
Declaration Of Independence the case of
GEORGE III and Lord NORTH was given up
| by the English, and the Americans came to be
| regarded so far ~ their original rebellion was
concerned, rather rs exemplars Of British con.
stitutional principles than as enemies of Brit
ish power.
or the subsequent disagreements between
the two great nations, while some arose from
the irritation often incident to kindred, the
majority were directly or indirectly attributa-
| bic to those prolific sources Of evil, the slave
trade and slavery. In this matter tho course
Of English opinion was rather inconsistent
sometimes pharisaical, sometimes cynical,
sometimes merely spasmodic and unaccounta.
bic. When Britons give up a bad practice they
become infinitely supcrciious from o high
moral point Of view toward those who have not
abandoned II. We discontinued the slave trade
and we emancipatod our slaves earlier than
other people, and thought ourselves highly
superior In consequence forgetting how
recent was our conversion. Yet when the
slavery question led to civil war English
people allowed their jealousy to revive in o
most inconsistent shape, and to large
extent took the side Of the slave party,
| purely, as 1t then appeared, out of lingerin Z
hostility to the great Republic Of Transatlantic
Englishmcn, which, 1t was commonly said,
was too near akin for us to remain on good
terms with it. Many prophesod, and truly,
that were the war once over, the Republic
once restored to unity, and slavery absolutely
a thing Of the past, 1t would be found that
there really were no grounds of difference, and
that none would be ims gined, between the
ancient British kingdom aud the already
venerable British Transatlantic common
wealth. This forecast has been already largely
fulfilled, aud promises to be realized during q
long stretch Of the future.
The two nations are better friends than they
ever were. Sympathy instead of suspicion
appears to have become the ruling first instinct
of our relations. As an expression of this
feeling General GRANT was received through.
out the country by high aud low, rich and
poor, with the most abundant welcome.
We in Liverpool have had our General
GRANT in General FAIRcHILD, not as a pass.
ing visitor, but as quasi fclow-citizen for a
number of years; and he would acknowledge
that, IL he had been distinguished aud es-
teemed Englishman, he could not have enjoy.
ed more of the friendship of the people. May
such state of things be perpetual. In some
points the experience of General .FAIRCHILL
offer marked contrast TO those of his equally
worthy predecessor. While we believe tn,
character of English and American relation,
to be divided from those of lew years ago by
changes much broader and deeper than the
mere lapse of time, we are persuaded that tn,
happy territory of sunny good understanding
which has now been reached will be peacefully
occupied and enjoyed by the two great Eng
lish nations for many long years to come.