of Search. For their respective purposes of mutual antagonism the South and the North have craved Canada and the West Indies; and that antagonism has been about, not Republicanism but Slavery. The incessant bickerings and evil constructions arising from the unequal partnership in the care of the African coasts, in which till now England has done nearly all the work, and has had to endure endless obstruction and insult, have been the result of the insincerity of a slave-holding power pretending to stop a trade which its citizens were organised to promote with great energy. The recent change, by which sincerity has taken the place of false pretence, and friendliness with England has succeeded to counteraction of her efforts, indicates the truth of the case. Now that the Federal Government has shaken off its complicity with Slavery, it sweeps away, by its own spontaneous movement, all the causes of ill blood and ill manners which were involved in the question of searching vessels supposed to be carrying slaves. This is a clearing of the ground for the experiment of extreme interest and importance,—whether a democratic republic is capable of sustaining, more or less well, the international relations which are a part of the every day duty of other nations and their governments.
Thus far, the promise has not been very good, it must be admitted. The determinate admiration of France, under any circumstances, and the unremitting misconstruction of English conduct, spirit, and manners, show an ascendancy of passion over reason which is not encouraging; and again, I do not see any peculiar qualification as a set-off on the other side. But the whole temper of irritability, and the habit of deferring to passion and sentiment, rather than to reason, may be as confidently ascribed to the institution which has corrupted the political life of the republic, as any of the quarrels in the Gulf or on the African Coast about search. There is no very good promise in the utter inability of both South and North to conceive of England and France having any other aim than getting cotton. The Southern citizens see nothing but insanity in our non-intervention, and are certainly still hoping for our aid, which they suppose to be delayed for some cunning reason. The Northern citizens either suspect us of intervention, or regard our endurance of distress for cotton as "eating humble pie;" and there is not much promise in this inability to comprehend that we are bound by international duty, and to perceive the beauty of that obedience. There is no great promise in the evident insensibility to the claims of international duty shown in Commodore Wilkes's act, and in Mr. Wendell Phillips's comment, as reported by the "Times" correspondent, that he hoped to see the day when American commanders might take any man from any ship, without fear of consequences. There is no great promise while the citizens generally suppose, after all explanation, that England has formerly done what Commodore Wilkes did lately. There is no great promise while it is a common thing for legislators, and reformers, and popular speakers to propose to seize, at some convenient time, the territory of some other power, and to annex its inhabitants;—while men who would no more than other people dream of stealing a bank-note, or a book, or a hat, talk openly of stealing other people's islands and colonies. There is no great promise while the American legislature can pass, and the President can sanction, a Merrill tariff, with the avowed object of class profit at the expense of other nations. This symptom is mitigated, however, by the consideration that that tariff bears even more hardly upon American consumers than upon foreign producers; and that it may therefore be regarded as an evidence of ignorance, and therefore as a scandal which time will cure. On the whole, there is no great promise in the evidence of the collective events of the Republic that its citizens have yet to acquire the elementary conception of international i, obligation, and of the principles on which that obligation rests. At present, they clearly no more understand the international morality of other peoples than they perceive any such duty for themselves.
Still, I regard the matter as an open question—whether these republicans can take their place, and an equal place, in the communion of states. If they have till now been borne with, played with, used, and allowed for, as young and way ward, they have not the less been burdened by a great national disgrace and social sin; and, now that the national responsibility for that sin and burden is abjured, a new public morality may begin to grow. The whole question of their capacity for international relations hangs on the point which is all important in every view of republican existence—whether fundamental principles and inviolable rules can be so commended to the national allegiance as to abide securely amidst all changes of men and circumstance. This is the great republican question: if it can be answered favourably, international relations may prosper, with others: if time should afford an unfavourable answer, disorder at home must cause utter wreck abroad, and the American people must be in reality what some of them propose now in ignorant levity to render themselves,—an outlaw among the nations.
Having seen how fast they can learn, when once interested, and how exemplary is their general obedience to principles and laws which have once fairly laid hold on their minds, I hope the best for them. Meantime, England has shown her disposition to be forbearing, and France to be considerate. The Americans must strive in return to be just. If they cannot be so, the consequences will be not only fatal to their particular polity, but perilous to the principles of political freedom, of which they believe themselves to be the apostles.
OUT OF THE WORLD.
PART II.
