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59
THE COUNTRYMAN.
Mr. Seward's Latest Insult to
‘EnglaiSD.—Mr., Seward’s letter to
Mr. Adams, his minister at St. James’,
published for the benefit of Lord
Wharncliffe, and the British nation,
is the most insolent document the war
lias produced. It has not sufficiently :
attracted the attention of our able
editors. What was the occasion of
if? Lord Wharncliffe, and a large
number of English gentlemen, moved
by the sufferings, in yankee prisons, of
confederate officers, and soldiers, and
’the approach of an inclement winter,
subscribe c£17,000 for their relief, and
ask to be permitted to send an agent
to distribute the money’. ‘You will
inform Lord Wharncliffe,’ says Mr.
Sewaid, ‘that his proposition is disal
lowed, and here it is expected that
your correspondence with him will
end.’
But he does not stop here; he
seizes the opportunity to insult Lord
Wharnecliffe, and through him the
British people. The prisoners do not
stand in need of your charity—we
can feed them. Youv offer is insidi
ous, and the pretext of humanity
false. You have derived this fund
from the profits growing out of your
illicit traffic with the insurgents, sup
plying them with aims, and ammuni
tion to carry on the war with us, and
procure for yourselves the immoral
fruits of slave labor, which you so
much covet. Your offer, he snoering-
ly adds, is not too generous and equiv
alent for the devastation of a civil
war which you have promoted, and
protracted. It is an officious inter
vention in our domestic affairs; and
Washington warned us against in
trigue. Lord Wharncliffe, and his
association, in their zeal to overthrow
the United States, have overleaped
discretion, and even the insurgents
will thank their affectionate govern
ment for saving them from this gross
insult.
Was it possible to condense more
insult, in as few words ? And it was
intended for the whole British people,
for Mr. Adams lias, long ago, inform
ed him that the sympathy with the
south has grown to be almost univer
sal. Hence this angry petulance.
He could not insult the British gov
ernment directly ; they have been
but too meek for the past repntation
of that great, and proud nation, who
would not endure, from the first A’a-
poleon, the taunts now wafted over
the Atlantic, by every mail, until en
durance has ceased to be a virtue.
But Mr. Seward is charmed with the
opportunity Lord Wharncliffe has af
forded him, of insulting the nation.
How it will be borne, we know not.
There was a time 1 Think of the
great Chatham receiving such an af
front from a country that was yester
day a colony, and dependency of
England. Not to save the Canadas,
■ which he conquered, would he submit
to it for a day.—South Carolinian.
The Spirit of Liberty.— “We
should remember the battle of Gro-
chow, within view of tbp palaces, and
towers of Warsaw, when the Poles,
with forty-three thousand,fourhundred
infantry and cavalry, defeated one
hundred and ninety-six thousand in
fantry and cavalry of their Russian
enemy, under Marshal Diebitoch, the
hero of the Balkan, and utterly dis-
graced him, after a pitched battle,
which lasted all day, and closed with
the utter rout of the Russian army.
A late writer (Col. Erank Sclialler,
of Mississippi) after sketching this
glorious battle, in a note to Marshal
Marmont’s ‘Spirit of Military Institu
tions,’ remarks : ‘The germ of liber
ty never dies ; and if we, with ad
vantages much greater than those of
the Poles, cannot achieve our inde
pendence, we do not deserve to have
it. But we will most assuredly a-
chieve it, if, mindful of the great les
sons which history teaches, we can
rise above the slimy level of extor
tion, and the greed of gain, shake off
the apathy which now disgraces those
at home, and came back to the glori
ous days of 1881, when all was fer
vor, and patriotic devotion. If we
do so, success is not doubtful foi a
minute ; if not, what mortal man can
tell how long our brave soldiers in
the field will retain that spirit which,
hitherto, has made them the barrier
between us and utter degradation.’ ”
The Meeting at Thomasville.
—“ We have seen the resolutions
read by Judge Love, at the union
meeting, at Thomasville (says the
Times of the 12th) and gather but
two ideas from them. One, the im
possibility of Mr. Davis and Mr. Lin
coln settling our national troubles,
.the other, the necessity to that end of
a convention of the states. The res
olutions oflered by Mr. Burch, we
learn, were the same in principle,
though different in language.
The resolutions were advocated by
Judge Love, Col. Seward, and Mr.
Burch, and were opposed by Maj. S.
B. Spencer, who offered counter reso
lutions, looking to the obtainment of
peace by a vigorous prosecution of the
war.
After the speech of Maj. Spencer,
Judge Uansell suggested that the
governor had called the legislature to
meet, in February next, and as he
thought the whole matter ought to be
lelt to that body, moved that the
meeting adjourn. This was agreed
to, the triends of both measuies vot
ing in the affirmative. We learn that
there was no disturbance in the meet
ing, the discussion having been con
ducted in a gentlemanly, and respect
ful manner.”
Yankee News.—Richmond, Jan.
13.—“ Northern papers of the 11th
inst., have been leceived.
The report of Butler's removal is
confirmed.
A public meeting was held in Phil
adelphia, on the 9th instant, to devise
means of relief for the suffering in-
halitants of Savannah. A committee
was appointed to solicit subscriptions
to purchase, and send a ship-load of
provisions to that city..
Thomas is concentrating his army
at Eastport.
The New York Herald advocates
the union of the armies, north,and
south to force the Monroe doctrine on
the whole extent of this continent,
against England, France, and Spain.
Jackson, Miss., Jan. 17.—Memphis
papers, of the 16th, and Vicksburg
papers, of the 14th, have been receiv
ed.
The American says that Butler’s
farewell address to the army of the
James, is in excessive bad taste, and
reads more like a Mexican pronuncia-
mento, than the address of a New
England gentleman. His removal, it
is said, was made by the president,
at the request of Grant.
Butler tells the troops, in his ad
dress, that he has refused to obey
orders to sacrifice their lives, and that
their wasted blood does not stain hig
garments.
The Missouri state convention, by a
vote of 60, to 4, has passed the ordi
nance of emancipation, abolishing
slavery in that state.
Burnside has tendered his resigna
tion.
The Galt House at Louisville, a
well-known hotel, was destroyed by
fire, on the llth inst.
The union state convention assem
bled at Nashville, or, the llth. Samu
el Rodgeis, of Knox county, was
elected president. A bitter discussion
arose, on the basis of voting. East
Tennessee wanted each county to
have one vote, for every hundred cast
against separation, in 1861. This
was carried, amid intense excitement,
and the convention adjourned.”