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Show A Perilous Time. The current North American Review pub- jfl lishes what purports to bo a letter written by ;fl Lord Polmerston to our minister at the court of jfl St. James, Charles Francis Adams, in the stormy jfl days of 18G2. ' J H The Review thinks the letter was intended for .'j fl Mr. Lincoln, but was not sent, and intimates that ,H Queen Victoria prevented its being sent. The ;H purport of the letter was that while England was jfl a great friend of the United States, the greatest .'sfl friend this country ever had, intervention might .'fl be necessary if the war degenerated Into an- ffl Without questioning the sincerity of Lord fl Palmerton, it is certain that nearly all the no- billty, aristocracy and the great manufacturers 'jS and merchants of England desired to accept fl Louis Napoleon's proposition that Great Britain and France should intervene in behalf of the !! fl Confederacy. The stern notice of Russia that it fl would esteem such intervention a hostile act had H its influence, the queen exerted all her influence , 4 to prevent such intervention, and the final quietus fl was put upon the scheme when the Monitor . fl demonstrated in Hampton Roads that both the "Jfl Brirtish and French navies were practically worth- ;fl less for all future wars' necessities. jH But the bitterness of England was very great. .fl It was manifested in many ways like the taking JM up of tho Confederate bonds to tho amount of $15,000,000, the building and arming of tho Ala- IS bama, the reception given Henry Ward Beecher H when he went to England to speak for liberty H and the Union. ' H Then the letter shows that Lord Palmerston 'WM had not much Idea of American character. Ho evidently was thinking of the United States as fl he would have thought of. a revelation in Spanish- B America, not of the steady brains that were in control on our side of the sea. ifl But the fact that our government is now doing itfl in Cuba just what Lord Palmerston outlined, fl might make a cause for British interference in ;M the United States is remarkable. We are ,M there because we contracted to be under cer- jfl tain conditions, and the reason is because the :W Cubans wore fast nearing the stage of anarchy m which Lord Palmerton described as something ;fl which would justify Interference. But we are all thankful that the Interference did not come, and we all should be thankful that U. S. Grant was In command at Appomatox. H Wellington would have offered no such terms as, jM Grant offered. 'fl Then we should all be thankful that such a ;fl man accepted those terms as Robert E. Lee, Be- f S tween Grant and Lee the war was settled; . tfte .. rest had but details to attend to, and with many VM of them the work was bungllngly done. ' JM |
