In the Whig of yesterday was published a letter from Francis P. Blair to Edward Everett, dated August 24th, 1862, the original of which is in the possession of the editor of the Whig. At the time, Everett appears to have been seeking some mission, probably that to France, and had applied to Blair for his interest. In reply, Blair tells him that he should be glad to assist him, but that the interest of Thurlow Weed with Seward is too strong for him.--This is said towards the close of the letter. But it opens with the expression of a fear that the President is too much pressed by other cares to devote much of his time to thwarting the intrigues of Great Britain; which power he accuses of endeavoring to unite the Great Continental Monarchies in an effort to put a stop to the war by dividing what he calls "the Republic." He attributes these intrigues, of course, to the jealousy of Great Britain on the marine and commercial questions. It seems that he and Everett agreed that an effort ought to be made to form an alliance with France, against Great Britain, holding out to Napoleon, in a treaty, (secret if necessary), great commercial advantages and further securities to his dynasty. But if he should refuse, then an offer-quite as tempting was to be made to Russia, which power would, no doubt, come into measures. Blair's apprehensions, it seems, had been roused by a debate in the House of Lords, in which some members indicated a strong desire to get Europe united in a movement to stop the effusion of blood. As he has always been one of the most influential persons about Lincoln, there can be little doubt that the attempt was made upon Napoleon, and that it failed. Whether it was made upon the Emperor of Russia, and whether that potentate is now in alliance with Yankeedom, we cannot say. But we think Mr. Blair was most unnecessarily alarmed. We do not see what better ally Yankeedom wants than England is, and it is the more to the interest of England that there should be no mediation in this matter than it is to
the interest of Yankeedom. Seward knew how the land lay for better than Blair when he told the President, as stated in this letter, that there was no cause for apprehension, that "England was all right," and that "Lord Lyons was our friend abroad, " (that is, the friend of Lincoln, Seward, and the Yankee cause). Lord Lyons, it will be recollected, was then absent in England.
Francis P. Blair has been so long withdrawn from public life that it may be necessary to remind our younger readers who he is. He was the intimate friend and biographer of General Andrew Jackson, and was sole editor for twelve years of the celebrated Globe newspaper, the organ of the Administrations of Jackson and Van Buren. He retired from the Globe in 1845, when Polk became President, having made a large fortune in the newspaper business and by his office as printer to both Houses of Congress. He is the father of Montgomery and Frank Blair.
