RUSSIA AND AMERICA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 30, 15 January 1864, Page 6 (Supplement)

RUSSIA AND AMERICA.

(From tho Tim*3.)

Whoever recommended the Russian Empersr to send a squadron of frigates to New York may congratulate himself on a great success. Now that it is done we see that it was exactly the thing to do, and almost wonder that it never Qc<?urred before to the astute politicians of St. Petersburg. The resemblances between the United States and*the Russian Empire have not only been remarked by every one who has thought on the present and the probable future state of the world, but they have created a sympathy between the two Powers which is becoming stronger under the influence of calamity, disappointed ambition, and the rebukes of the civilised world. Both in their arrogance and petulance of a few years since, and in their present tone of more limited pretensions, the Americans and Russians hare shown an accord which indicates the gravitation of the two Powers to a permanent alliance. In the palmy days when Nicholas affected to be the arbiter of the Old "World, and the American Presidents were conquering provinces in the New, the constant theme of congratulation between the Republic and the Despotism was the decadence of all powers but themselves, aud the certainty that they would subject all the countries about them, one after the other, to their dominion. They both had enormous territory, and region's still more immense which they could make their own when they would. They were both new Powers, unencumbered with the debts, the traditions, and the inferior social organisation of their older rivals. They had a manifest destinj, and were to fulfil the designs of Providence by plundering and subjugating all who were not strong enough to resist. And who should resist fifty years hence, when the populations of the two aggressive empires should have doubled and trebled in a fashion impossible to the crowded inhabitants of Western Europe. From these dreams Russia was aroused by a war which showed how unable she was to face the Western Powers, which forced her to dismantle a fortress and cede a portion of her territory, and which, if it had continued another year, would certainly have deprived her of valuable provinces. The pride of the United States has still more lately met its fall. The disruption of the Republic, the proof that a large part of the people had ceased to c ire for the Union — nay, had imbibed a strong hatn d against the rest of their countrymen — the gloomy prospect of a lingering warfare, to be ended at the very best only by extirpation of the Southerners, and the ruin of their counti'y — these tilings are weighing on the spirits of the Federal patriots, whose 4th of July ovations used once to paint such a transcendant future. In the hour of common trial the Czar gires his officers the opportunity cf showing his Republican allies how much they sympathize with each other, and resent the ill -will of England and France. Not that the discreet and guard d Muscovites would ever hint that tln-ir visit had a political object, or that t'ey had anything but esteem for Englishmen, Frenchmen, and all mankind. The ■coarser part of the speech-making is left to the New York orators, just as the interpretation of the squadron's visit as the sign of a speedy alliance between the two countries for the punishment of Kuropean perfidy is allowed to be given to the world by the American Press. But there can be little doubt that what has taken place is just what the Emperor foresaw and desired. At the time when both he and his brother Potentate at Washington are carrying on a relentless war against so called ' rebels,' and each is in some trepidation as to the j folly of France, the Czar calls forth an exhibition of the mutual sympathy j between their respective nations. The | time could not have been better chosen, j the success could not have been more complete. The Russian officers are j the lions of the hour. They are j invited everywhere; the British and] French officers remain unnoticed on I board their ships. It is entirely understood that by the usual honors paid to the Czar's frigate is testified the goodwill of the Federal Government and people towards him and the works which his troops are doing in Europe. Republican sympathy rises freely for ! one who is engaged in putting down " rebels." When almost every nation in Europe protested against the Russian atrocities in the spring, Mr Seward declined to condemn ihem. This was but the due return for the Emperor's refusal to interfere in American affairs. The good understanding still prevails. No American can see anything wrong in a Polish war, to which that car:ied on in Virginia and Tennessee bears a strong resemblance. No Russian can desire anything but the success of a Government which he hopes will make a diversion in favor of the Czar whenever that Sovereign's method of dealing with bis Polish subjects is questioned by Western Europe. To what lengths the enthusiasm of the new alliance can lead a Federal audience, is amusingly shown by the reported speech of Admiral Lisovski, at a banquet given to himself and his officers. The health of the Emperor had been drunk with great appkuse, and the Admiral duly returned thanks. The praise which the American speaker lavished on his Majesty was, according to the Admiral, really deserved, He is certainly not only " the benefactor of his subjects," exclaimed the eloquent seaman, " he is the friend of mankind." (Cheers.) From what he has already dpne, from what he is doing every day, he is certainly entitled to the surname whioh once a Roman Emperor claimed, " The

Delight of Mankind." When we recollect that 4 ihese words were spoken to and cheered vociferously by a people who have for eighty years been preach-, ing' to. the; world self government and the right of mankind to be free, we may see how little strength political principles possess, com pared with the impulses or fancied interests of the hour. The support of Russia. is valuable, and therefore all the national traditions concerning nationality and popular rights are forgotten in a moment, and the servant of a despotic monarchy is applauded for saying that the Prince, who 13 now ordering j the massacres and confiscations in j Warsaw, and whose rule has been offi- j cially denounced as a tyranny by the | most conservative Powers in Europe, is the " Delight of Mankind/ That the sympathies of the audience were completely with the Russian Government is made more evident by their reception of General Wardbridge's eloquence. This gentleman, who made the speech of the evening, after telling his hearers that England had, in the early part of the century, been " driven from the ocean" by the Americans, said what is perfectly true, but what has seldom been so openly avowed by American society, — " In the struggle which Russia had in 1854 with France and England, the sympathies of our people were with Russia. J> This assertion was received with cheers and cries of " That's so." His vision of the future was, that " Providence has decreed, that there shall be two great hemispheres, one the Eastern and the other the Western. The one shall be represented by Russia, and the other by the United States." Equally magniloquent was the Hon. Hendricks B. Wright, member of Congress, who said that " there were but two first-class Powers in the world — Russia and the United States — because they were the only two that could from their own resources and within themselves either put down insurrection or resist a combination of all the other Powers of the world." (Applause.) Indeed, the commui ity of the two great Empires, made more sensible by the circumstance that Loth are engaged in "puttingdown rebels,'' seems to be the idea present to every one's mind. It wanted but this bond 10 make perfect the union botweeu the two nations. Each will bid defiance to the world, relying on its just right to destroy every population and devastate every province which dares to disarrange its plans of empire by any such words as "liberty and " independence."