In the war of 1812, the American troops burned Newark, Long Point, and St. David's in Canada. The first adjoined Fort George, and its destruction was defended by the officer who ordered it, on the ground that it became necessary in military operations there. The act, however, was disavowed by the United States Government, Mr. Madison being President at the time, and Mr. Monroe his Secretary of State. The burning at Long Point was unauthorised, and the conduct of the officer subjected to the investigation of a military tribunal. For the burning of St. David's, committed by stragglers, the officer who commanded in that quarter was dismissed without a trial for not preventing it.

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Mr. Monroe, in a letter to Admiral Cochrane, said, 'No sooner were the United States compelled to go to war against Great 'Britain, than they resolved to wage it in a manner most consonant to the principles of humanity, and to those friendly ' relations which it was desirable to preserve between the two 'nations after the restoration of peace.'

The war with Mexico, too, was conducted in a humane spirit ; and General Halleck, before he became tinctured with Sewardism, in his treatise on International Law and the Laws of War,' observed: It is sometimes alleged, in excuse for such conduct, 'that the general is unable to restrain his troops: but in the eye of the law there is no excuse; for he who cannot preserve ⚫ order in his army has no right to command it.'

When the wicked Emancipation Proclamation was resolved upon, Mr. Lincoln seems to have ignored the fact that in the discussion with Great Britain, growing out of the first article of the Treaty of Ghent, the American Government had committed itself in the strongest and most pointed manner in opposition to such a policy. Mr. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, in his despatch to Mr. Rush, of Pennsylvania, then minister to the Court of St. James, under date of July 7, 1820, said, in italics: The principle is that the emancipation of enemies'

slaves is not among the acts of civilised warfare;' and in his letter of October 18, 1820, to Mr. Middleton, of South Carolina, the American minister at St. Petersburg, he wrote: The right of putting to death all prisoners in cold blood, and without special cause, might as well be pretended to be

a law of war, or the right to use poisoned weapons, or to 'assassinate.'

The rail-splitter' President pays very slight respect even to the most worthy precedents; he seems to have forgotten— probably he never knew-that Napoleon, although solicited in his Russian campaign, by deputations from villages, to proclaim liberty to the serfs, had refused to resort to a measure which, as he said to the Senate of France, would have devoted many families to death.

Fortunately for the negro race and the world generally, Mr. Lincoln has not had the power of putting his Proclamation in force except in a few instances.

After such evidences of the devotion of the negroes towards their masters as has been given to the world by the circumstances connected with the war in America, it is really time that such men as Mr. Bright and his reverend' satellites should stop their crusade against the institution of slavery in the Confederate States. Even President Lincoln admits that the freed negroes will not work-that they will do nothing but eat, eat.' And why should these ignorant philanthropists (?) applaud him for his emancipation scheme, when he boldly declares that it was promulgated only as a military necessity?' Nor is there any excuse whatever for Mr. Bright's blunders in regard to the cotton question. He said in the House of Commons on June 30 that he knew a little about cotton,' and that, 'professedly,' he had been all his life 'connected with the cotton trade.' He is, then, either so blinded by fanaticism that he cannot see the truth, or he has made wilful misrepresentations to serve his political purposes.

CHAPTER VII.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AMERICAN COTTON-THE POLITICAL HERESIES OF SEWARD AND LINCOLN.

THE cotton question, although so simple in its character, is generally imperfectly understood. This is evidenced by speeches in Parliament, and many articles that have appeared in the public prints. It would seem that persons unfamiliar with the trade have regarded all descriptions of cotton as available for the purposes of British industry. This mistake will be made apparent should the conflict in America continue another year. The importance of the product of the Southern States has yet to be fully appreciated. The King of Commerce is temporarily dethroned, but he will rise again in all his majesty and power. The cleverest exposition of the matter was given a few years ago by Mr. J. B. Smith, the member for Stockport. The following is his text:—

"Everyone seems adequately impressed with the desirableness, ' not to say the necessity, of multiplying to the utmost possible ' extent the sources whence we derive the supply of this raw ' material of our greatest national manufacture. But one branch ' of the question, though a most essential one, appears to have ' been nearly overlooked. We need not only a large supply and a cheap supply, but a supply of a peculiar kind and quality. For practical purposes, and to facilitate the comprehension of the subject by non-professional readers, we may state in general terms that the cotton required for the trade of Great 'Britain may be classified into three divisions-the long staple, 'the medium staple, and the short staple.

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1. The long staple, or long-fibre cotton, is used for making the warp, as it is technically called, i.e. the longitudinal 'threads of the woven tissue. Those threads, when of the finer sorts for all numbers, say above 50's—must be made of long

'staple cotton; for numbers below 50's they may be made of it, and would be so made were it as cheap as the lower quali'ties of the raw material. No other quality of cotton is strong enough or long enough either to spin into the higher and finer ' numbers or to sustain the tension and friction to which the threads are exposed in the loom.

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‹ 2. The medium-staple cotton, on the contrary, is used partly for the lower numbers of the warp (and as such enters largely into the production of the vast quantities of "cotton yarn ' and sewing thread exported), but mainly for the weft, or trans6 verse threads of the woven tissue. It is softer and silkier than the quality spoken of above, makes a fuller and rounder thread, and fills up the fabric better. The long-staple article ́ is never used for this purpose, and could not, however cheap, 'be so used with advantage; it is ordinarily too harsh. For the 'warp, strength and length of fibre is required; for the weft, 'softness and fullness. Now, as the lower numbers of " yarn ' require a far larger amount of raw cotton for their production ' than the higher, and constitute the chief portion (in weight) both of our export and consumption, and as, moreover, every yard of calico or cotton-woven fabric, technically called cloth, ' is composed of from two to five times as much weft as warp, it is obvious that we need a far larger supply of this peculiar 'character of cotton, the medium staple, than of any other.

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3. The short-staple cotton is used almost exclusively for ́ weft (except a little taken for candle-wicks), or for the very 'lowest numbers of warp, say 10's and under. But it is 'different in character from the second description, as well as 'shorter in fibre; it is drier, fuzzier-more like rough wool; ' and it cannot be substituted for it without impoverishing the 'nature of the cloth, and making it, especially after washing or ' bleaching, look thinner and more meagre; and for the same reason it can only be blended with it with much caution, and in very moderate proportions. But its colour is usually good, and its comparative cheapness its great recommendation.

It will be seen, therefore, that while we require for the purposes of our manufacture a limited quantity of the first and 'third qualities of raw cotton, we need and can consume an ' almost unlimited supply of the second quality. In this fact

' lies our real difficulty; for, while several quarters of the world 6 supply the first sort, and India could supply enormous quanti'ties of the third sort, the United States of America alone have hitherto produced the second and most necessary kind.

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1. The finest long cotton in the world is called the "Sea "Island." It is grown on the low-lying lands and small islands ' on the coast of Georgia. The quantity is small, and the price 6 ' very high. It is used mostly for muslin thread, and the very 'finest numbers of yarn-say 100's and upwards; and price, in fact, is of little moment to the manufacturers who purchase it. It usually sells at about two shillings per pound. A quality ❝ much resembling it, and almost if not quite as good, has been 6 grown, as a sample article, in Australia. But of this denomi'nation of cotton the consumption is very small. Another 'species-long, strong, fine, and yellowish-is grown in Egypt, and imported in considerable quantities. An inferior quality -coarse, harsh, bright in colour, but strong-is imported 'from Brazil, and a very small quantity from the West Indies. 'Doubtless if the price were adequate, and the demand here ' very great and steady, the supply from many of these quarters 'might be largely augmented. But it is not of this sort that we need any considerable increase, nor could we afford the 'price which probably alone would remunerate the grower.

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2. Our great consumption and demand is for the soft, white, 'silky, moderately long cotton of America-the quality usually called "Uplands," "Bowed Georgia," and "New Orleans." This used to be sold at prices varying from 3d. to 6d. per 'pound (it is now from 6d. to 8d.); it can be consumed in any quantity, for it is available not only for weft, but for warp, 6 except for the finer numbers. We need and consume nine 6 bags of this cotton for one bag of all other qualities put ' together.

3. It is the insufficient supply, or the higher price of this cotton, that has driven our manufacturers upon the short'stapled native article of India, called Surat. If the price of 'the two were equal, scarcely a bag of Surat would be employed. 'When the price of American cotton rises, owing to an inadequate supply, that of East India cotton follows it at a con'siderable interval-the usual ratio being two to three-and