THE BRITISH EMPIRE FROM AN AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1692, 10 May 1883, Page 3

THE BRITISH EMPIRE FROM AN AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW.

In reprinting tho following from the San Francisco iVctt»«j^^''i'i J^ * 8 on ty right to say that the sympathies of our contompdmjr are'distjnctly .pro-JSnglish, :— Queeii 'Victories, .injuries, resulting from HW ijejsen^iau'i fortunately appear tofiaVe been of a, \e,ry trifling natute. Th&j, hwlcecl. might, have been qurinised irom the'ffrst repprts.. received, though na&iratfy* 1 tnere was more cause for nnxiety than there would have been had the accident happened to a j;oungcr and moVo active 'person than her Majesty. The fever of excitement into which tho English people wore thrown, , however, has a veryifreat significance. Even after the bulletins \yeic out, announcing that, the 'Qneeri had. only slightly bruised one knee, and was' in no manner of danger, the people continued to crowd the streets of London,' eageily talking over the matter and looking for further tidinijs. Merchants ' hrul bankers ' closed their places of business and hastened to sources of information, and -the newspaper offices were liturally besieged by the anxious multitude. But throughout the excitement only one sentiment prevailed among all classes— a sentiment of the most loyal and .affectionate sympathy, ihe bulletins were read by the mob with heads uncovered, and as each announce* inent grow more cheerful the louder rang,,ont the cheers of the populace. ', It js constantly being said in this country that the English people are tired of Queen Victoria's apparently interminable reign, and would be glad to see it coriie to an end. Their conduct on the present occasion certninly does not confirm this idea. Nor does their exhibition of enthusiastic loyality add weight to tho assertion, so often made, that the British are disgusted with a monarchical form of Governi.x'nt, and are pining for a glorious republic. On the contrary, this trifling accident to her majesty has abundantly shown how dear she is to her subjects, and has at the same time given conclusive evidence th.it the Monarchy is in no clanger of dissolution at the hands of the people. If, however, Queen Victoria's slight accident had been more serious, and hud finally resulted fatally, they who would have been ready to argue that her death, widely, deeply and sincerely lamented as •UjjMyitld have been, would cause disrupUon and disaster to tjic British Empire, are singularly ignorant of the subject on which they would bo glibly talk. The stability of that great empiie rests on the life of no one individual, no matter how influential for good he or she may be. The Britif.li constitution is too well understood, and the machinery of government works too smoothly for the perpetuity of either to be for a moment in doubt. Both are the growth of ages, both has f e been as wisely devised as any human institutions ths world ever saw, and .both are entrenched so strong l y in the approval and sympathies of the great masses of the people that the winds of adversity, the storms of detraction, and the hurricanes of ignorant foreign abuse may spend their force against them, and yet they will remain as unshaken as the rock of nges. Englishmen know, if others do not, tho process by which their liberties weic won, and the constitutional guarantees that render them safe for all time to come. They, furthermore, completely comprehend and value the solidity, the nobility nnd the grandeur of the mighty Empire of which they arc the inheritors, and over which they rule with nn enlightenment and a benfience that asno parallel in history. Great Britain is not in decadence, lias not reached her zenith, and was never more certain of a still greater future than she is to-day. Her sons are occupying many lands and conquering to the ways of peace, trade, commerce and civilization well nigh all the world. Her flag floats on every sea and her ships enter every harbour. Wherever articles of use and comfort arc brought and sold there her emissaries of trade enter. The onward march of such gigantic interests is not turned back by the death of a single personage. The demise of Gladstone and the death of Queen Victoria would both, or eithetof them, be subjects for grief in England but the Empire on \\ hich " the sun never sets," would go on all the same. The loyalty, tho intellectual regard for their institutions, and the appreciation of their vast and widely extended interests is too deeply rooted in Engliohman to permit a siuglo doubt to arise as to the future. The British Empire is to-day strong in all it parts— indeed, it never was stionger. In Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and in numerous other portions of the earth's surface, new Britdins aic growing up that are, at least, as devoted to the old country, as loyal to her flag, and aa closely bound to her interests as are Englishmen themselves. They would spend their last dollar and sacrifice their last life, if needs lie in her defenoe. And oven here in the United States, certain appearances to the .contrary notwithstanding, we are well persuaded that there is a deep, a widely-prevailing and lasting feeling of regard for tho woll-bo-ing of the old country that would make itself felt if tho occasion seemed to demand a di*pliy of men's true feelings. When forces aie at work that stir the depth of men's hearts, the tiuth then comes to the sui face as it does not any other times. Temporarily the exigencies of politics cause us to pander to the Irish vote. We know tlmt Gieat Britain is in no present need of our open and avowed sympathies, much less of our active assistance. But lot tho circumstances change, let dire disaster and danger threaten tho land of our forefathers, and forthwith it will be speedily seen that Mood is thicker than water, and that the vast majority of us are far from unmindful of our Anglo-Saxon 01 igin. The tight little island from which we sprang would not, in an hour of real distress, want for a dollar, or a man to fight for her, so long as American-hot n sons of Btitish sires had the wherewithal to help. Meanwhile, as no such necessity exists, and as our local politics aie peculiar, we pat Paddy on the back, coax him into voting as we may happen to want him to, and fool with and cajolo him to the top of his bent; but he who is deceived into supposing that such signs indicate the true feeling of Aimricans towards the old country, has never measured their pride in beinj; shareis in the glories of the race from which they sprang ; has never studied the history of the longevity of that feeling which in all lands springs from race ampliation, and, in a word, does not realise how much thicker blood is than water. Millions of us are more of Britishers than we would be ready to own tooursehes until a great extremity should arise that would appeal to our sympathies. The friends of Great BrAfai never so numerous, never so wL™y intluential, and never so potential. It is not only still true that " Britannia rules the waves," but that she never held such general sway in men's hearts in many lands as now. As a centre of art, literature, trade, commerce, enlightenment and civilisation her supremacy is in no danger. Her statesman may fall by the way and her kings aud queens may go over to the majority, but the English language, the English commercial instinct aud the English love of fair play, of good morals, of religious faith and of true liberty will conquer the world and live forever, and peiish the day when Americans fail to realise that they are equal partakers in the glories of that universal conquest. That day, we aie persuaded, will never come.

, A Mer^dkn man has a Bible on hundred and forty-two years old. Strange how long a Bible may be made to last byi temperate use, ■ " The Seige of London" is the curious title of Henry James' new story. Tie scene opens, ,\\\ the Theatre Francais during a performance, and two Americans are the first persons presented. One is a* bored person who has been long abroad ; the other is a youth to' whom European civilisation has not ceased to be a novelty, „