The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-04-20
THE MYSTERIOUS HAND.

l found myself passenger irom
Giberalter TO southampton on one
of the Peninsular and Oriental cem-
panies steamships. With the ex-
ception Of a young English attache,
n personal friend Of mine, the pass
cngers were composed Of British Oh
ficcrs. ordered from home TO JOIN
their regiments, in anticipation oi
war between Great Britain and the
United States. growing out OF what
is called the Trent affair, two
Southern onvovs-namelv, Messrs.
Slidell and Mason-cn route for
England and France, having been
forcibly taken from the British
steamer "Trent" 10y the command
ing officer Of an American man-oi-
war.
/ am invariably sea-sick when on
the ocean. On this occasion, | was,
rs usual. confined to my stateroom,
where / was visited by the young
Enclishman referred to, who, after
sympathizing with my affections,
very kindly said to me, BE careful,
my dear fellow. when you come out
TO the cabin. With the exception
of ourselves all the passengers are
British Officers, ordered home 10
ioin their regiments. War between
the United States and Great Britain,
although aot declared, is imminent,
AMI our fellows have got their fight
ing blood up, and you being the on
lv American on board they viii nat
urally want TO pitch into you, and
viii do so on the slightest .proyoca-
ton. Sc be careful for heaven S
sake"
Twas too sea-sick 10 pay much
attention to my friends warning,
feeling perfectly convinced that no
human pitching in" could be much
worse than the terrible pitching ~
and down Of of the ship, then la
boring in the trough Of a heavy sea
In fact. I very soon forgot all about
it.
In couple of days, however, ]
found myself seated at the dinner
table, Immediately opposite The
Hon. Col. Anneslie, OF the Scots
Fusiliers, his regiment being q por-
ton of the household troops. then
in London After a formal intro-
duction the subject Of the anticipate
ed difficulty between the two na-
tions was introduced by Col. Annes-
lie, by his asking me what | thought
about the great insult Great Britain
had received. l replied that | saw
nothing that diplomacy between
two kindred nations could not rem
edy. The Colonel expressed sur
prise at my remark, adding that nc
nation like Great Britain could sub.
nit to such a slap in the face with.
out drawing the sword. l smiled
and said that a military man would
naturally feel that the ar5itrament
of the sword was the proper meth
Cd of such difficulty, but that
men of peace preferred to resort Il
any other remedy before that o
blood letting. By this time many
of the officers had left their seats
and were eagerly listening to tht
conversation. Much to the horror
Of my young English friend, who II
the kindness Of his heart had takeI
seat by my side, in order to shield
me as much as possible from what
might prove TO be an outburst of in
dignation on the part Of his coutry-
men, / then said
with all due respect for your
sentiments, Colonel, permit nae t0
add that the views which | hold are
sustained by the highest living Eng
lish authority on international law
namely, your own Mr.. Pnillimore
who, in a communication to the
London Times of a recent date
which perused at Giberaltar JUS
before coming on board, says, if my
memory is not at fault, that the
American navel commander was
not only justified in taking from the
Trent" Messrs. Slidell and Mason
but would have been justified in.
carrying the 'Trent" into the port
of New York"
Several officers Immediately Jump
ed to their feet, exclaiming to Col
Anneslie, in tones which indicated
their excited feelings:
Present me Present me !" AZ
Ter which a Captain, whose name
have forgotten, but who must have
stood over six feet in his stockings
said TO me in a tone of sarcasm
which he evidently took no pains to
suppress
Il beg your pardon, but is il not
possible that you have made a mis-
take in the paper 10 which you
have referred =? Instead Of the Lon
don Times, which we certainly had
IN equal opportunity with yourself
TO peruse before sailing, nave you
not been giving us the benefit OF
some article you have been reading
in the New York Times ?"
l told him ! thought not. / per-
ceived, however, that, without an
exception, these gentlemen evident
iy thought had been making 4
fool of myself, and 50 bewildered is
a person from the effects of sea-sick-
ness that | began to fear / he'd,
when Colonel Anneslie. as if to set
the matter rt rest, directed one OF
the junior officers to the Captain 5
cabin and asked him If he had the
latest London Times received at
Giberaltar before sailing. Not n
word was said until the young man
made his appearance with the Lon
don Times in his hand. | was fee
Ole and nervous, and my nervous
ness was augmented by my Eng
lish friend at my side making re-
mark to me in the honesty of his
feeling in low tone. not at all COM
plimentary TO my common sense or
prudence. | felt as if / should have
tainted with joy, as the subaltern. in
handing the paper to Col. Anneslie,
remarked in a suppressed tone. but
sufficiently distinct for me to catch
she words "By Joye. be is richt :
she:e's Phillimoreis opinion p
Mr.. Phillimore's communication
was then read aloud, and the true
character Of n pr;fiSh oar,Iac,a,,