The Mason-slidell Arrest

" Uccasional, the asbiDgton correspondent of tho Philadelphia Prest, uses the following strong lnnguage relativo to the complication with England, prociuced by the arrest of Masan and Slifleü : Washington, Doe. 18, 18G1. Tho Iünglish couiplieation comes upou ns in thia our liour of sore tribulation, vl)ilc wo are engaaed in a contest, tho magai-Êcence of which do cbronicle reoords. Ve are in a stroggle which nvolves our liio and our libcity - our hap pinesfl 88 a people, and our existence as a Government, We have thrown evecy dollar we possess - onr own lives, and the lives of tboso we love - into this strugglc. And now, whon on tho po'mt of crusliing tbia infainou? serpent of Seecfsion, Great Britain appcars upon tlse scono, and menaces us with destruction. It isas thougli a strong man, engaged in a deaih-jtrugglc with a foe, linds himself stabbed in the ; back by an insidious friend, who takes advantage of his misfortuno to consnmmate Iiis assassination. Wliile otber i nitiona gaze with awe, and most of theiu with earncst lympathy, pon the conflict of our people with a gang of robbers, England help the robbers, and draws the dagger apon oar country ! England knowa she is strong. This is our hour of weakness, and :4ie mny make ! it her opporfunity to strike. Shc can now bs arrogant and insulting, for now her arrogance and insult cannot bo resenled. The Northern coast is exposed to her large and pnwerful navy ; our tovi;3 are uot lortilied, and she may bring deso1 lation upon our people and our mannfactnring interwti. All this she knows. - ; Her annnments are large and -wcll ap; pointcd ; her army has been ineréaied I almostto a war focting; tic is preparcd 0 throw large bodies ot troops uno me íastern and Northern portions of onr ïepublic; Canada is filled wíth armcd non, and the frontiers of Canada ue imply so uiany garrisons. Our conilerce is at her meroy. In the JMosican ulf there is a largo British fleet, which louíd render our nevtly gained strong ïolds on the Southern coast untenable, nd accomplish tho destruction of the rave men at Port Eoyal, Halteras, and . ''anta Rosa Island. She may break our )lockade, and entiroly nullify our expeitioDary operatioiK. With the Potoïao virtually bloekadrd, and an immense rmy under Beauregard u our rear, Vashington would probably fall. With he Chesapeake Bay open to any navy hat may chooee to enter ; with a , 1 popula t ion in Maryland; with enomies long the Virginia and Atlantic coasts, ïngland could precipítate a fearíul series of disasters, and, perhaps, with the aid of the Soutliern armies, turn lbo bloody ide of war upon the Northern States. It raay be in all these grave consideraions, and the sad necessities of the case, hat, in order to avoida war which could )i:ly end in our discomfi ture, the Adtninstration may be compelled to concede ho demanda of Epglaud, and, perkags, olease Messrs. Mason and Slidell. God orbid ! - but in a crisis like this we must adapt ourselves to stern circuiustances, and yieid every feeüng of pride to niainain our existence. If this coutingeney should ever arrive - and I ani ouly spec ulating upon a disagreeable possibility - thee let us swear - not only to ourselvcs, jut our children who come after us - to repay this greedy, nsolent, and coward y Power with the retribution of a just u-d fearful vengeance. If England, in our time of distress, makes herself our "oe, and offers to bo our assassin, wc will ;reat her as a foe when we can do su untrammeled and uumenaced by another enein}'. Tliero are scvoral methods by which to bafilo England if she is disposed to take pai t against the cause of Civilized Freedom on thrs continent. If Captain Wilkes has erred, it was only by following British authority. We can offer to replaee the rebel envoys ou board the Trmt, and the have that vesscl conveyed, with lts " contrabatid " cargo, to a neutral port, and tried according to the British coustruction of international law. Or we can say that no oflence was iutcn-. do.d to Kncland fas none was intended in the detentinn of tbe Trent. but that, in arresting two notorious traitors bent upon deBtroying our glorious Goverumont. we fult that what wo did was precisely wbat Engluud would Lave dono undcr thc same cireumstances. Or, with tliese propositions and protestations, we can offer to subinit the whole case to the aibi tration of Kussia or Franco, or both together. ÍShould the lïritish Government accept any ono of these suggestions or explanations, the case can readily be adjustcd. Sliould she reluse, tbere can be but one judgment dronounced. She will forfait the respect of every civilizcd Government on earth. ISut wlictlier she accepts or rejects them, this much is writtea in the Book of Fate - that f she has attemptecl to emharrass or to asstiil the United litutes in the ir present mighty trouble, úe has made elernal focs of all the loyal millions of Ameriua and their poslerity forever. If we do concede the demanda of England, howevcr, it wil) only be because we desire to crush this rebellion- as a duty wo owc to mankind. It will be because ivc prcfer to niaster the greater evil, and do bot wiah to be alienated from our duty by an international and comparatively unimportant quarrel; it will be because we prefer national galvation to the gratificatron of any feeling of national prido. It will be a great act of self-dcnial. ]3ut when we come from this rebellion, it will be with a magnificent army, educated and organizad, and with the scnso of this wrong werghing UDOn thcm. It will be witb a navy couinetent to meet auy navy upon tho globe. It will bo for us, then, to remoinber how Bügland was our cnemy in the day of i our misfortune, and to mako that j branca a ilark and fearful page of her ' history, and an cteraal mcmory in our own. Uses of ïuoi.iu.i:. - There s a liUle pliint, Bmall and stunted, growing under ho shado of a hroad-spreadiug oak ; and this littlo plunt values the hado : wbich covers it, and greutly does it Mteem tho quiet rest which its nohlo liiend.s aflíords But a biessing is deeigued for this littlo plant. Once upon a '.itno tbere comes nlong the woodinan, and wilh his sharp ax be feil the oak. Tlie plant wueps, and cries: ' My shelter is departed; every rough wind will blow upon rae, i and every storm will eeek to uproot me!" " No, no," saith tho angel of that flowor ; " will the sun get at thee; now will tho ebower full on thee in moro copious abundanca thun betore; now thy stuntod fnrm tahalí spring up into loveliness, and thy flowor, which could never havo expanded itseli into perfeotion, sha!) now laugh in tho snnshine, and men shall eay, 'How groally hath that plant increased ! how gloiious hath bucome its beauty, throui'h the removal of that which was its ehiidoand its delightl'" JJ3E" Lord I'almerston rccently said in a ppecch that a man ought to know a great doal to acquiro a knowledge of tho immensity of his ignorance.