14 Boston, it touched me keenly. [Applause.] Ho replied: “Don’t be impatient, remember that Paul Jones, with a sailing ship on the coast of England, put the whole British navy at defiance for many months, and wandered up and down that coast, and worked bis will upon it, [applause,] and England had no naval power to contend with, and had not 2,500 miles to blockade. I remember that in the French war, Lord Cochrane, with one vessel, and that was by no means a steamship, held the whole French coast against the French navy. And so it has been done by other nations. Letus have a little patience, and possess our souls with a little patriotism, and less politics, and we shall have no difficulty. [Applause, and “ Good.”] But there is one circumstance of this war, I am bound to say in all frankness to you, that I do not like the appearance of, and that is, because we cannot exactly reach it. I refer to the war made upon our commerce, which is not the fault of the navy, nor of any department of the Government, but is the fault of our allies. [Applatfse.] Pardon me a moment, for I am speaking now in the commercial city of New York, where I think it is of interest to you, and of & matter to which I have given some reflection —pardon me a moment, until we examine and see v hat England has done. She agreed to be neutral—I tried to demonstrate to you that she ought to have been a little more—but has she been even that ? [“ No, no, no.”] Let us see the evidences of that “no.” In the first place, there has been nothing of the Union cause that her orators and her statesmen have not maligned— there has been nothing of sympathy or encouragement which she has not afforded our enemies— there has been nothing which she could do under the cover of neutrality which she has not done to aid them. [“That is true.”] Nassau has been a naval arsenal for pirate rebel boats to refit in. Kingston has been the coal depot, and Barbadoes has been the dancing hall to fete pirate chieftains in. [Applause.] What cause, my friends— what cause, my countrymen, has England so to deal with us 3 What is the reason she does so deal with us 3 Is it because we have never shown sympathy toward her or love to her people? And mark me here, that I make a distinction between the English people as a mass and the English Government. [Applause.] I think the heart of her people beats responsive to ours— [applause]—but I know her Government and aristocracy hate us with a hate which passeth all understanding. [Applause.] I say, let us see if we have given any cause for this. I know, I think, what the cause is; but let us see what we have done. You remember that when the famine overtook the Irish in 1847, the Macedonian frigate carried out the bread from this country to feed the poor that England was starving. [Applause.] When afterward the heir to her throne arrived here, aye, in this very house, our people assembled! to do him welcome in such numbers that the very floor would not uphold them rlaughter], and to testify our appreciation of the high qualities of his mother and sovereign, and our love of the English people—we gave him such a reception as Northern gentlemen give to their friends; and his present admirers at Richmond gave him such a reception as Southern gentlemen give to their friends. [Laughter and applause.] What further has been done by us 3 No, I have no right to claim any portion of it. What has been done by the merchants of New York? The George Griswold goes out to feed the starving poor of Lancashire, to which yourselves all contributed, and it was only God’s blessing on that charity that prevented that vessel being overhauled and burned by the pirate Alabama, fitted out from an English port. [Applause.] And to-day, at Birkenhead, the Sumter is being fitted out—at Barbadoes the captain of the Florida is being feted—and somewhere the “ 290,” the cabalistic number of the British merchants who contributed to her construction, is preying upon our commerce, while we hear that at Glasgow a steamer is being built for the Emperor of China—[laughter]—and at Liverpool another is about to be launched for the Emperor of China. Pardon me, I don’t believe the Emperor of China will buy many ships of Great Britain, until they bring back the silk gowns they stole out of his palace at Pekin. [Laughter and great applause.] And even now, I say that our commerce is being preyed upon, by ships in the hands of the rebels, built by English builders. [Cries of “ That’s so.”] Asd I ask the merchants of the city of New York whether it has not already reached the point where our commerce, to be safe, has to be carried in British bottoms. [Great laughter.] Now, I learn from the late correspondence of Earl Russell, that the British have put two articles of the treaty of Paris in compact with the rebels— first, that enemies’ goods shall be covered by neutral flags, and there shall be free trade at the ports, and open trade with neutrals. Why didn’t Great Britain put the other part of the treaty in compact; namely, that there should be no more privateering! if she was honest and earnest? Again, when we took from her deck our two senators and rebel ambassadors, Slidell and Mason, and took them, in my judgment, according to the laws of nations, what did she do but threaten us with war ? I agree that it was wisely done, perhaps not to provoke war at that time—we were not quite in a condition for it—but I thank God, and that always, that we are fast getting in a condition to remember that always and every day! [Tremendous applause, and waiving of handkerchiefs, and cries of “ Good!”] Why is it all this has been done ? Because we alone can be the commercial rivals of Great Britain 1 and because the South has no commercial marine. There has been, in my judgment, a deliberate attempt on the part of Great Britain, under the plea of neutrality, to allow our commerce to be ruined,
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