highly improbable that they would have ventured on a bloody revolution. But they believed they were masters of the situation; that they had but to speak, and the world would obey. Hence, they defiantly proclaimed: "It is a remarkable fact, that during these thirty years of unceasing warfare against slavery, and while a lying spirit has inflamed the world against us, that world has grown more and more dependent upon it for sustenance and wealth." "Strike now a blow at this system of labor, and the world itself totters at the stroke." It is not wonderful, under this hallucination, that in their schemes of treason they should have attempted to justify themselves on the ground that they were discharging a "duty" in this regard which they owed "to the civilized world."

That the industry of the nations has suffered, and that their internal quiet and peace with us have been imperilled, is unquestionable; but that the world's industry, its trade, its tranquillity, were absolutely tied to the stake which they held, the event has disproved. It is nevertheless true that this belief, begetting the confidence that foreign intervention were a necessity, nerved them to strike the first blow; and it is also just as true, that the foreign aid which they have actually received, by land and sea, during every hour of the war, has enabled them to strike every subsequent blow with more effect, and that without such aid the rebellion would long since undoubtedly have been crushed,

RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN POWERS.

This feature of the case shows the magnitude and bearings of the contest, not only by revealing what has been put at hazard, touching the actual necessities of toiling millions, but it draws into a deeper channel the

RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN POWERS.

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great question of international comity. That the United States, in contest with a rebellion against its lawful authority, provoked by no governmental aggression, as the greatest statesman of the South declared,-a rebellion begun and prosecuted solely for independence in the interests of negro slavery,-should have encountered, under the name of "neutrality," the early, consistent, determined opposition of the great powers of Western Europe, in aiding the rebellion in ships, munitions of war, and in every other way which was possible or safe, presents a view which gives no satisfaction to those who prefer peace to war, and international friendship to enmity.

But the facts cannot be set aside by any sentimental philosophizing. They are written in deeds of blood. They mark every battle-field where lie bleaching the bones of the slain. They are imprinted on every rebel breast work mounted with English cannon. They are seen in every rebel platoon armed with English rifles. They are found on the deck of every piratical cruiser, built in English ports, carrying English guns, supplied with English powder, and manned by English seamen. The tale which these outfits of a "neutral" power tell, is read in the death-cries of our fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers, and is heard in the midnight wail of the homeless widow and the orphan. It is read in the perils which still hang over our national destiny, and in the alternate hope and fear which thrill the hearts of millions, lest, after all the sacrifices made for our national honor and safety, for human freedom at home and for downtrodden man abroad, our national disintegration should fall a prey to foreign jealousy of our rivalship and greatness, through a perfidy as venal as the hypocrisy of the powers which exhibit it is transparent.

THE COMING RECKONING.

It is not in human nature to pass over these things without a settlement. It may come soon, or it may be deferred. That the day of reckoning will come, we have no more doubt than that there is a God in the heavens. The deeds which demand it are imprinted on the memory of this generation indelibly. The impression will be transmitted to the generations to come. In God's own time and manner, whether soon or hereafter, the debt will be paid with compound interest. We but speak, as we verily believe, the common mind and common heart of this nation.

For the depredations upon American commerce committed by English piratical cruisers, we doubt not a demand will be made by our Government. That a record of every case is scrupulously made, we do know. Whether the demand for compensation will be complied with, we do not know. Whether refusal will be made a casus belli, is of no material concern. Full compensation for actual losses at sea would be but as a grain of sand in the scale of accumulated obligations. There are debts incurred which can never be paid in pounds, shillings, and pence. There are duties to be discharged which can be met only by an exhibition of the national power of the United States towards those who have forever blackened their honor in endeavoring to work our ruin; who have, with a meanness and a littleness which no words can adequately express, seized upon the hour of our domestic calamity to cripple the rivalry of our power by division, to humble our honor in the dust, that they might lord it over us, as they have always lorded it over the smaller States of Europe.

adjusted.

In no other way can this balance be

ESSENTIAL DISCRIMINATIONS.

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RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE.

But this is "vengeance," cry the timid and the meek. It is justice, we reply; and a justice which will meet the approval of Heaven. It will conserve the ultimate interests of humanity, and preserve the peace of the world. A nation, to make itself respected, must exact that which is just, and inflexibly hold to the right and the true. If it permit wrong after wrong to be heaped up mountain high, with no effort at redress, it sinks into contempt, becomes the prey of every power, and can never count securely on peace; while, on the other hand, such a course hazards the peace of the world.

The principle of justice is the highest recognized by writers on international law as proper between nations. This they must exemplify in practice. It is on this ground alone that we insist that the United States owes a debt to herself and to humanity, respecting the great powers of Western Europe, which she must eventually discharge. That it is a debt of the clearest justice, we shall not waste words to argue with any one who chooses to dispute it. That it will be cancelled, we have no manner of doubt.

ESSENTIAL DISCRIMINATIONS.

That we have warm friends in both England and France we all know. We honor Victor Hugo, and others of the French Academy. Looking to England, we praise God for her John Bright and her Richard Cobden in her Parliament; for her Professor Newman and Goldwin Smith, among scholars; for her Star and her News of the London press; and for hosts of others. But her Government, her aristocracy, and hordes of her merchant princes, have been our sworn enemies, to the full extent that their selfish interests and their sordid fears would permit. With the

government and the aristocracy, the interest is concentrated in their power; with the trading classes, in the pocket.

As for their opposition to slavery, so demonstrative in days that are past, it was strong, and their weapons were always burnished and ready, so long as slave products were filling their coffers with gold. But when a rebellion arose to make slavery more secure than ever, to expand its area and perpetuate its power, with honorable exceptions they wheeled promptly about in support of the war waged in its interest, and against the Government seeking its overthrow, because their profits from the institution were diminished.

POCKET PHILANTHROPY.

We shall never be at a loss hereafter for an exact standard by which to measure British philanthropy, in a cause where the interests of down-trodden millions are concerned. Its criterion is the pocket. They are for their freedom and elevation, so long as their actual bondage helps the pocket. They are for their slavery and degradation, if their freedom or their efforts to obtain it endanger the fulness of the pocket.

We would not revile our British brethren; we have friends among them, and relatives. But the great Napoleon once said, that they were but a nation of shopkeepers.

While we thus speak, we shall ever honor those, in Parliament and out of it, who have raised their voices for freedom and humanity, and for our right to manage our internal affairs in quelling a foul rebellion without their interference; resisting on the one hand class interests and governmental power at work to reach their sinister ends, and on the other that narrow spirit which measures every