The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-12-27

when this phenomenon recurs that some
thing serious has moved on the spirit of
the lioness. That something Is always
either dyspepsia or danger. In the present
instance it is danger. If our good mother
felt that she was able to bluff Russia ard
to block her progress in Asia 1clthoW the
support of the United States, then indeed
she would not have remembered the Unit
ed States at all, much less appealed to her
for sympathy.
Let not England lay the flattering unc-
ton on her soul that the reasons Of the
dislike cherished toward her by other ma
tions are the reasons which the London
Spectator has recently set forth. Those
are not the reasons at all. Madam Britain
MIA history has long memoryl You
have for generations and centuries laid up
wrath against this day of wrath by
course of unmitigated selfishness which
has at last come home as an evil spirit to
the perch. You now look up and see ON
the branch above you, not bird of prom
Use, not Athena's owl of wisdom, not q
common shadow of the night, but the
smileless visage Of that silent Nemesis
Who never yet has left the unbalanced scale.
OF all this we are heartily glad. This
British wall, hollow and hypocritical, Is
| the most pleasing cry which has come
| across the Atlantic in many year. That
she who has been the modern Rome, the
tyrant of the nations, the oppressor of the
weak, the mistress of unjust conquests,
the promoter of international crimes, the
| butcher of barbarians and the robber in
chief among the nations of the world
should be brought at last face to face with
| Nemesis and be obliged to ask for quarter,
under the specious plea that she has no
friends, is thing to commend itself to
patriotic hope 1t justifies the optimistic
view of the future of mankind.
England asking for friend When
was she ever the friend of body or any
cause save her ownp Show us but one in
stance in all history in which she has
stretched out her hand to succor the weak,
ercept under the motive of devouring
those whom she succors OF course Great
Britain comes to the rescue of the weak.
1t has long been her favorite method. She
rescues the South Africans-and takes
their mines and forests and ivory. She
rescues midland takes it's trades, its in
dustries, it's institutions, its 400, 600, 600 OF
people. She rescues the fellahs-in order
that the khedive may get their crusts and
onions to pay the interest on his bonds.
~
give them king. She rescues the Irish
peasants-in order to gid the dome of st.
Paul's with 1.-THE of their potatoes.
And yet she has no friend!
Britain's Hypocritical Role.
The lion that drives the wolf out of the
sheepfold in order that he may have them
for himself may be admired for his success,
but he ought not to pretend to be friend
| H. l. l, hoe rac
a burglar out of a hamlet in order that be
may take whatever the hamlet possesses
may be a hero, but he is hardly a benefao
tor. The general who invades a country
under the pretense of driving out band
of brigands and then appropriates the
country and subjects it's population to tyr
amy and cruel exactions may be con
uueror, but he is not Christian The
king who makes slaves of an unoffending
people and destroys the residue with the
sword may be great, but he is not a phi
lanthropist.
This is the precise role which Great Brit
ain has played among the nations. She
was created aforetime out of race well
fitted for such destiny. One has only to
remember the audacious pirates and free
| hooters who came to the English shores
how they destroyed the native Britons,
took their country with indescribable ra
pine and butchery and built on the ruins
petty kingdoms; how they isolated them
selves in keeps and castles where they
might fill their maws with meat anc
cheese; how they heated themselves with
strong drinks, and, amid the clang Of
shields, the uproar of savage oaths anc
the reek of the ale that was spilled, plan
ned new ravages and sailed forth in utter
lawlessness to carnage, slaughter and rob
berry. And these are the very virtues
which the philosophic Taine declares have
been preserved in the race to the present
day. Out of such materials has been con
structed the huge pile of British national
ity, and now great statesman, speaking
for himself and for his nation, wonders
why Great Britain has no friends!
In the affairs of this world justice goes
for something, and injustice leaves sting
When was ever Great Britain justp Only
when she has been driven to Justice by the
combination of the nations against her.
What has been her historical course toward
these her colonies in America? Who can
read without burning indignation the
story of the endless wrongs and crimes
which she committed against us in the day
of our weakness? She regarded these states
as an appanage anu our IaunerS as nei
alien serfs whom she might plumber al
her will and despoil of their humble and
free inheritance in the wilderness. Con
slider her eight years of war with our pa
triot sires. We're they not her offspringi
Had they not honored her in the little re-
publics which they built on this side OF
the sea? Had they not treated her with
Difference and recognized her in all fila
sympathies2 And with what rewardp
After 80 years the same thing came
again. She invaded our territories Sec
ond time and sought to destroy us. She
burned our capital and spread dismay
wherever she was able to penetrate. And
in the ordeal of the great day, when the
nation staggered, when civil liberty was
assailed, when republican government
seemed on its final trial before the world,
what did Great Britain dor She sought
every opportunity of entrance to the quar-
rel She awaited herself of every pretext.
She got her hand on her sword for nothing
and was only prevented from drawing ii
and joining the assailants of the Union by
historical forces which she could not con-
troll.
Now in the day of her distress, when
her ambitions pull in one direction and
- ,,,o,,ax, lordc mil In tho othpr yEhpn