Feeling in England.
Henry Ward Beecher, having returned from Europe, had an ovation, of course, on reaching homes and told the people what he did and said and saw among the big bugs of England, and what was thought there of the wonderful Yankee race. He was introduced to the people of Brooklyn by a reverend admirer as the American who took the British lion by the ears and actually made the royal beast roar in appreciation of the treatment. Beecher, after a characteristic harangue, gave the following impressions as to the state of public feeling in England, which, coming from so prejudiced a source, will probably be considered satisfactory by our readers:‘ In Great Britain Americans are Northern or Southern much more strongly than we at home. --There was a Southern Society all over England. He was sorry to find that the Dissenting Church there was in favor of the South, although a small proportion of its members were in sympathy with the North. The Southern men in England had used much more ability in pushing forward their cause among the people of England than had been shown by the champions of the North in that country. The South had more men, more books, more influences at work, than the North, to gain the sympathy and aid of British people. And yet, in spite of these facts, he believed that the great heart of the British nation was with the North--The commercial men are against us. There is a class, too, there, who have seen its business stopped by the war, which is also not in favor of the North. It demands that the war shall stop at once. The most influential clergymen are also against us. They say that the North is not sincere, and that war, at best, is a sin. They are horrified at the war. The English nobility, as a class, are against us, and for obvious reasons. We are not accustomed to estimate our influence upon European institutions. They feel our tread, and to defeat our influence in England the nobility of that country are fighting us there. They know that the revolution set a revolution going all through Europe, and they now fear the effect we will have in Europe as soon as we have put an end to the war. If a vote in Parliament were taken, there would be five votes to one against the North. A portion of the Government has always been ready to go to war with us. He was happy to say, however, that the sovereign of Great Britain had always been an unflinching friend of the North. Opposition to the North is based upon commercial interest, class, power, and upon the fact that we are too large and strong as a nation. He had been frankly told by a distinguished Englishman that we had been going too strong for them over there, and they must take us down. They are, therefore, glad to have the South do the work for them. They thought we had grown proud with sudden growth — full of threats, &c.,--and they desired to see our power destroyed, at least so far as it effected them. The speaker said that the conservative intelligence of the country was also opposed to the North. He desired to state why this was the case: It was because of the hot-bed of prejudice that forms the basis of all English hate of the American nation. He believed that this was kept in abeyance by the unwealthy, and, to a great extent, the unvoting classes. The men who do not vote have the power of controlling those who do vote. Self preservation taught the privileged class not to goad the unprivileged class to madness.
’ Mr. Beecher continued in this strain for sometime. The common people off England, he said are the allies of the North. They would always stand by the Government, and would never give their sympathy to the South. He referred to the recent action taken by Lord John Russell relative to not permitting any more privateers to leave the dock yards of Great Britain. Parliament dare not vote against the North, for fear of the power of the common people. He read a letter from Cobden, setting forth the idea that the middle classes of England sympathized with the North.
The speaker concluded his remarks by enumerating the names of prominent journals in Great Britain which take sides with the North. They are as follows:
‘ The Morning Star, Daily News, Evening Express, Spectator, Lloyd's Weekly News, Bee Hice, Non Conformist, British Standard, The Freeman, McMillan's Magazine, The Dial, Westminster Review, The Reader, Merchants' Examiner, Mercantile Chronicle, Leed's Mercury, and Carlile Examiner.
’ Among the prominent men on that side are Lord Carlyle, R. Moncton Milne, Sir Charles Lyell, John Stuart Mill, George Thompson, Golden Smith, Professor Caines, F. W. Newman, Dr. Chapman, George Wilson, Dr. Foster, George F. Thompson, Sir S. Lushington, Prof. Nicoll, Prof. Bradley, John Bright, Richard Cobden, Duke of Argyle, Lord Granville, Charles Gilpin, Washington Wilkes, the Mayors of Manchester and Rochdale, Rev. Newman Hall, and Rev. Baptist Noell.
