VII.
ON INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION.
Anumerousdeputation from the Workmen’s Peace Association, headed by Mr. W. R. Cremer, waited on Mr.Lowell, at the official residence in Albemarle street, on the evening of June 6, 1885, for the purpose of presenting to him an address preparatory to his leaving England for the United States. Mr.Lowell, in reply, said:
I have been exceedingly touched latterly by the kindness which I have received here in England from all classes, but never have I been more profoundly touched than by the deputation that has now waited upon me to express the kind wishes of the English Workingmen. I have twice had the pleasure of addressing working men since I have been in England,and I have been gratified to find that, among all the audiences to whom I have spoken, there were none more intelligent. They were exceedingly quick to catch all points and exceedingly agreeable to talk to.You must not think that I have forgotten the part taken by the working men of England during our civil war—I won’t say on behalf of the North, because now we are a united people—on the side of good order and freedom; and on the only occasion when I had an opportunity of saying so—that was when speaking to the provincial press in London—I alluded to the subject. I agree with you entirely on the importance of a good understanding and much morebetween England and the United States, and between the two chief branches of the Anglo-Saxon race. I think you exaggerate a good deal of my own merit in relation to anything of that sort, but I have always had a feeling about me that a war between the two countries would be a civil war, and I believe a cordial understanding between them to be absolutely essential, not only to the progress of reasonable liberty, but its preservation and its extension to other races. (Hear, hear.)It is a particular pleasure to me on another account to meet English workmen. I notice that, however ardent they may be in their aspirations and however theoretical onsome points, they are always reasonable. The individual man may set the impossible before him as something to be obtained, but I think those communities of men have prospered the best who have aimed at what is possible. We see daily illustrations of that, and anybody who has studied the history of France would be convinced that, though England has a form of Government not so free as that country, yet you have made a greater advance towards good will among men and towards peace than France has done. I do not wish you to suppose that I am out of sympathy with what I call the French Revolution—although I consider it an enormous misfortune,which might have been prevented, and France saved from many evil consequences that followed—but the manner in which it took place we ought all to regard.Since I have been in England I have done something, I trust, to promote a cordial feeling between this country and the United States. That has been my earnest desire always, and I hope I have to some extent succeeded. You will allow me to thank you warmly for this address, which I shall always feel to be among my most precious possessions, and I shall carry to the workmen on the other side of the Atlantic the message expressive of your sympathy and hope. I hope the occasion willnot ever arise even for arbitration. I think if we can talk together face to face we shall be able to settle all differences. I am certain that the relations between the two countries are now of a most amicable and friendly kind, and I am sure that my successor is as strongly impressed as I could be with the necessity of strengthening those friendly relations. I trust the necessity for arbitration may never arise between us; I do not think it will.You will again allow me to give you my most hearty and profound thanks for the kindness you have done me and to wish you all manner of prosperity. I trust also that that reign of peace to which you allude may come soon andlast long. I appreciate extremely what Mr. Cremer said as to your sympathy with the Northern States in the Civil War, with whom no one could help sympathizing if they went to the root of the matter. I believe in peace as strongly as any man can do, but I believe also that there are occasions when war is less disastrous than peace; that there are times when one must resort to what goes before all law, and what, indeed, forms the foundation of it—the law of the strongest; and that, as a general rule, the strongest deserve to get the best of the struggle. They say satirically that God is on the side of the strong battalions, but I think theyare sometimes in the right, and my experience goes to prove that.
I have been exceedingly touched latterly by the kindness which I have received here in England from all classes, but never have I been more profoundly touched than by the deputation that has now waited upon me to express the kind wishes of the English Workingmen. I have twice had the pleasure of addressing working men since I have been in England,and I have been gratified to find that, among all the audiences to whom I have spoken, there were none more intelligent. They were exceedingly quick to catch all points and exceedingly agreeable to talk to.
You must not think that I have forgotten the part taken by the working men of England during our civil war—I won’t say on behalf of the North, because now we are a united people—on the side of good order and freedom; and on the only occasion when I had an opportunity of saying so—that was when speaking to the provincial press in London—I alluded to the subject. I agree with you entirely on the importance of a good understanding and much morebetween England and the United States, and between the two chief branches of the Anglo-Saxon race. I think you exaggerate a good deal of my own merit in relation to anything of that sort, but I have always had a feeling about me that a war between the two countries would be a civil war, and I believe a cordial understanding between them to be absolutely essential, not only to the progress of reasonable liberty, but its preservation and its extension to other races. (Hear, hear.)
It is a particular pleasure to me on another account to meet English workmen. I notice that, however ardent they may be in their aspirations and however theoretical onsome points, they are always reasonable. The individual man may set the impossible before him as something to be obtained, but I think those communities of men have prospered the best who have aimed at what is possible. We see daily illustrations of that, and anybody who has studied the history of France would be convinced that, though England has a form of Government not so free as that country, yet you have made a greater advance towards good will among men and towards peace than France has done. I do not wish you to suppose that I am out of sympathy with what I call the French Revolution—although I consider it an enormous misfortune,which might have been prevented, and France saved from many evil consequences that followed—but the manner in which it took place we ought all to regard.
Since I have been in England I have done something, I trust, to promote a cordial feeling between this country and the United States. That has been my earnest desire always, and I hope I have to some extent succeeded. You will allow me to thank you warmly for this address, which I shall always feel to be among my most precious possessions, and I shall carry to the workmen on the other side of the Atlantic the message expressive of your sympathy and hope. I hope the occasion willnot ever arise even for arbitration. I think if we can talk together face to face we shall be able to settle all differences. I am certain that the relations between the two countries are now of a most amicable and friendly kind, and I am sure that my successor is as strongly impressed as I could be with the necessity of strengthening those friendly relations. I trust the necessity for arbitration may never arise between us; I do not think it will.
You will again allow me to give you my most hearty and profound thanks for the kindness you have done me and to wish you all manner of prosperity. I trust also that that reign of peace to which you allude may come soon andlast long. I appreciate extremely what Mr. Cremer said as to your sympathy with the Northern States in the Civil War, with whom no one could help sympathizing if they went to the root of the matter. I believe in peace as strongly as any man can do, but I believe also that there are occasions when war is less disastrous than peace; that there are times when one must resort to what goes before all law, and what, indeed, forms the foundation of it—the law of the strongest; and that, as a general rule, the strongest deserve to get the best of the struggle. They say satirically that God is on the side of the strong battalions, but I think theyare sometimes in the right, and my experience goes to prove that.
[The address, engrossed on vellum, was afterwards transmitted to Mr.Lowellin America.]
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