New-York tribune., 1880-06-28

! and violent statements Of what they were
| doino or about to do: and by persistent
misrepresentations alternating some OF our
| friends and producing resentment In Others
eventually aroused the hostile sentiment when
we wrongly accused Great Britain OF nursing.
He does not discuss the hasy proclamation OF
belligerency but, coming as he assumes tnat
| il did along with so many evidences OF frleDdn-
ness. he thinks that it could not reasonably
he INTERPRETED otherwise than as step taken
in pursuance of on established foreign policy
Auy letter which Mr.. Herbert Spencer
addresses to the American people will be ieau
with respect and interest; though most persons
in this country will doubt whether 1t was worth
while to recall a quarrel which broke OUT
nineteen years ago and has long been fol-
gotten, in order to inquire who began lG'
There is less misconception OF the tacts, on
I this side of the water, than Mr. spencer
imagines. 1t is well known that at the outset
the Rnreasonableness Of the Southern pre-
tensions and the zeal character Of the con-
spiracy for the creation Of s'oVeholdlng
olIearchy were fully recognized broad; it Is
well known also that the mass of the British
peoDle did not sympathize with the fricndh-
ness of the aristOcracy toward the Con-
federacy. And the question whether England
provoked our complaints by her behavior, or
we proyoked her resentment by accusing her
before she had done anything is mainly a
question of dates, not important enough at this
remote day to Justify laborious examination
of old newspapers which after all would
settle nothing. Mr.. Spencer's citations refer
to time so long before the actual outbreak
of war that they cannot be considered OF
houf
state of English sentiment in 1861 by consult
ing an English statesman who knows MS
cOuntrymen much better than we do, and better
tnan even Mr.. Herbert Spencer. At puDhc
meeting in London, June 16, 1858, John Brlght
| said
II we look back little over two years. when the ques'
on Of secession first raised in practical shape
think VIC ,ha be able to remember that when the DeWs
first arrived In England there but one opinion Win
regard to t-that every man condemned the iohV and
the wokedness Of the South and protested against ther
plea they had any grievance which usthed them IN
revOt-and every man hoped that some mode might DC
discovered by which the terrible calamity of war might
| he avoided So long as men believed that there
would be no war long everybody condemned the SOUTH
| We were afraid OF a war In America because
| We knew that one Of the great lndus-
tries OF e. our country depended upon the con-
tnuous reception of its material from the Southern
States. , When the people OF Englaud found that
the North about to resist aud that war was neV
table they turned their eyes from the South which as
the beginner OF tho aud looked 70 the Norh saying
that the North would not resist there could be no war;
and then we should get cotton and trade would go
on M before and therefore, from that hour to this not
few persons In this country who at first condemned
the South have been IN their condemnation OF
the North. . Tho trade interests OF the country
affected our opinion, and fear did then prevent aud
have since prevented doing justice to the people OF
the North.
This, in Mr.. Bright's Judgment. was one
principal cause of the animosity which grew
mn in England toward the Northern States of
tho Union, and he said substantially the same
thing in several other public speeches. But 1t
was not the only cause. In an address at
Birmingham in 1862 he said
When speak 10 gentlemen I'm private upon this mat
ter nnd hear their own candid OpInOn-I mean those
who differ from me this queston-they genorAlly end
by saying that Republic Is too groat aud too power
full and that i better for us-nOt by us meaning
yon but tho governing classes and the policy
OF England-thnt It should be broken up
Aud in a speech at Rochdale in 1861 he
made the following remarks
There is ono more point IL has been said HOW
much better II would mot for tho United States,
but-" for ua that these States should be divided"
recolect meeting gentleman iu Bondst one DAY petoro
the sesson was over. Ho rich man. and one whose
voice Is much heard in the House OF Commons; but his
voice is not heard when his legs but when he s
cheering other spcakers and no said to me: "Aner
all this Il a sAd business about the United Statesi but
sti think It very much better that thcy should bo
spllt up In twenty years or in 1ty years, forget
which IL was" they will bully all Europe"
Mr.. Bright severely censured Members of
Parliament WhO welcomed the Confederate
envoys under the gallery Of the House
of Commons, "shaking hands with them
81 ard congratulatng them if there had
u been some military success on their side, and
receiving them rs If they we're here from the
@most honorable government and with the
q most honorable mission" lie censured Lord
John Russell for declaring at Newcastle IN
1a61 that atbe North was contending for
"empre and the South for independence" and
Sir Robert Peel, Secretary for Ireland. for
q daring TO say to an English audience that he
. wished tho Republic to be divided, and that
u the South should become an independent
GState.n He denounced Mr.. ROebuck for pro-
Dosing the formal recognition OF the Con-
fedcracy, so that the United States, being
divided @might not be able to bully the world"
| and for saving that the men of the South were
| Englishmen, but that the army of the North
was composed of the scum OF Europe"
GPrivilege," exclaimed Mr.. Bright, on another
occasiOn, @Prvege, every morning, with
Vblatant voice, comes into your streets and
curses the American Republic. Privilege has
sbeheld an affecting spectacle for many years
past. 1t has beheld thirty millions Ofmen happy
and prosperous, without emperor without
liking, without the surroundings of a court.
Privilege has shuddored at what might happen
to old Europe if this grand experiment should
succeed"
1t is interesting to remark how differently the
hasty recognition of Confederate belligerency
struck Mr.. Spencer and Mr.. Bright. | have
Il the best reasons for knowing" said MI.
| Rrinht at Rnchdale December 4. 1861. @thAt