Year: 1862

expedition. We would recommend, with Mrs
Glass, that the secret be first bagged before any
one is accused of ventilating it.


The English Press ON War or Peace I'm


America.


The English journals received by the Ara
bia seem almost to carry us back to the time oil
the Reformation, or some other remote age, so
old to us is the topic they are all discussing.
The affair of the Trent is still the absorbing
theme, and we cannot help feeling amused at
their anxiety to learn the result of the diplo-
matte negotiations on the subject. For our own
part, it is SO long since we settled the thing, by
the surrender of Mason and Slidell, that we
have nearly forgotten the particulars, and we
are travelling SO rapidly in our career, and his
is not surprising that it should be SO. The
journals in question, and especially the leading
organ of British opinion, display in
the course of their speculations the same
lack of information respecting our country
and institutions as that to which we have been
so long accustomed, and their hostility to the
United States has evidently undergone no
diminution. They all appear perplexed and
befogged about the calmness of the mob, by
which, they are convinced this country is gov
erned in this matter of Mason and Slidell, and
in their surprise at the absence Of hooting,
whooping, bowling concourse of vagabonds
debating terms to the Cabinet at Washington,
they ask, "Where is the mob." Some of them
think that it is now to be found in the army, and
tell their readers solemnly that, however much
the President and Cabinet may be in favor of re-
storing the prisoners to the protection of the
British flag, they can do nothing without con-
sulting the Army Of the Potomac, and if the
latter is against it there is no alternative but
an Anglo-American war.


All this is very entertaining to us who know
the facts, and can appreciate the Righteousness
of the idea of the government consulting the
Army of the Potomac upon questions of foreign
policy, or being coerced by mob. Our trans
atlantic contemporaries have got to learn that
our army is as subordinate and as much under
control as any in Europe, and that the mob
whose terrors they have conjured up and di-
lated upon so freely has a purely mythical ex-
istence There is an evident disposition on the
part of the English press to exaggerate every
thing to our disadvantage, and underrate every
thing in our favor, and we cannot but think
that it desires to see quarrel between the two
countries. 1t is just now throwing ridicule
upon Uur navy; but it cautiously avoids
allusion to the strength of our army. It is
true that our navy is not what it might
have been if our Western and Southern
legislators had not persistently withdrawn every
postal subsidy from American steamers, and
left the monopoly of the mails in British hands.
If it had not been for this we should have had a
large and efficient feet of ocean steamers by
this time; and the only way to get such vessels
is to subsidize them literally. But our navy is
being rapidly increased by the addition of new
steamers and gunboats, and before long we
shall make a very creditable appearance in this
branch of the service. For not referring dis
paragingly to the army the English press has
sufficient reason. We have now seven
hundred thousand men enrolled, and by
next summer we shall have five hundred
thousand veterans. This is an army
greater than England could ever boast,
and with It, whatever hostilities England may
resort to, we shall be able at least to defend
our own ports, and take possession Of and an
mex Canada. We, however, by no means want
to quarrel with England or any other foreign
nation. We have at present enough fighting on
our hands, and it would be folly to provoke
another struggle elsewhere while the Southern
rebellion remains unsubdued.


We are disnclined to believe that the hos
tility shown by England towards this country
since the commencement of the war originated
entirely with herself She has acted under the
influence Of France throughout, and Louis Ma
poleon is still trying hard to make her cats
paw in America, in order that he may carry
out his schemes of aggrandizement in Eu-
rope. 1t would be the most convenient
thing in the world for him to get
Great Britain involved in war with the United
States at the same time that Spain had her
With two such naval Powers out of the way,
and Russia on the verge of revolution, and,
perhaps, insolvency, he could, in alliance with
Victor Emanuel, make war upon Austria, do
what he liked with Germany, and succeed in
overthrowing the balance of power and estab-
fishing that supremacy of France in Europe
which would destroy the greatness and imperil
the very existence of England. 1t will be
we'll if the British press and government
become aware of the objects for which
the Inscrutable of the Tuileries is plotting
when he urges England to accomplish her own
destruction nv breaking the blockade and
provoking a war with this country. Let it be
remembered, also, that this rebellion cannot last
very much longer. The army is at all points
preparing to strike decisive blows, and the
Union victory at Somerset, Kentucky, which
was won on Saturday, is an earnest Of what is
to come. The war over, we shall be formida-
BILE in our strength, and with impulsive spirits
ready to direct it into some new channel. II
would be WELL therefore, in view Of the future,