Charlestown Advertiser, May 29, 1861

Two of the chief powers which serve to bind people together are common interests and origin. Between England and the United States, the are identical, and the people of the North are the lineal descendants of the English.

Many speculations have been indulged in concerning the position Great Britain will take on American affairs, though, at the present time, she maintains strict neutrality. Cotton has been king in the past, and the events of the next few months will determine whether it shall be in the future.

That the sympathies of the great mass of the intelligent people of the Mother Country are with the Free States in the present great struggle to maintain the integrity of the Union, there can be no doubt. The politicians, who lead the two great political parties of the land, are making an issue of the matter, purely, we apprehend, for political capital. And probably the sympathies of the Manchester manufacturers will, in a great measure, be determined by their interests. Yet, aside from the interests of the manufacturers and the politicians, the administrators of the English Government have a position to take, and a part to play, which will either bind England and the United States closer than ever in ties of friendship and amity, or alienate them in sympathy forever, and, which may maintain or even diminish the present extent of British dominion in America. By her position in this matter she not only hazards her extent of empire, but also her national prestige.

It is hardly possible to conceive that a nation which for generations has stood foremost in the rank of civilized powers—pre-eminently distinguished for her enlightened philanthropy—will, for a temporary interest, sacrifice an enviable fame, acquired at the cost of treasure and blood, ignore the power of her moral prestige and cover herself with shame, by extending to that relic of barbarism—the Slave power of the South—her sympathy and fellowship, to say nothing of more material assistance.

It is impossible that she will so stultify and malign her past glorious history. A belief may be reasonably entertained, that to maintain her noble position she will submit to sacrifices of material interests, and, if the hand of industry be paralyzed, and the thousands of her industrial population, depending on the cotton crop of the South for support, should temporarily come to want, the same generous philanthropy which now supports the magnificent charities of London, and, but a little while ago, bought the bondman from chains and slavery, will again manifest itself in behalf of her own people, should the evils apprehended come upon them. That the struggle now going on between the North and South has become a war for supremacy, on one hand, and obedience, on the other, is evident, and must result in the entire submission or annihilation of the North or the South. The South can never subdue the North, and should England see fit to aid the Confederate States, to assist them in establishing their independence, and endeavor to force the United States to recognize it, the North, already imbued with the war spirit, might turn its attention to foreign conquests, and, as a retaliatory measure, make an irruption into Canada and create disaffection and rebellion, with a view to the annexation of Canada.

That a project for the annexation of a part or the whole of the Canadas to the United States would meet with sympathy among British subjects is evident from the fact that at the last session of the Canadian Parliament this subject was mooted by a popular and influential member.

The relations of our people with those on the Canadian border have always been harmonious, though the two governments have disputed about boundaries. In the homogeneous character and common origin of the two people[s] also would be found powerful means for affiliation and unity.

A more kindly spirit has ever been mutually cherished between the Canadians and the people of the northern States, than has prevailed among the Puritans of New England and the descendants of the chivalrous Cavaliers of Virginia and the Huguenots of South Carolina. It is not for the interest of England then to engender the animosity of the North. The descendants of the Puritans have manifested the same adventurous disposition that characterized the original stock. Advancing Westward and to the North they have peopled the great States o£ the northwest, founded Institutions which but reflect their New England origin in spirit and design; and they even excel their models in comprehensive usefulness. New England, the North and the West, are one people, with kindred sympathies, a common language and literature with the Mother Country, and they have as much right to expect her sympathy as a child has its mother's affection. And we confidently believe when future military movements shall more fully demonstrate to the English nation the determination and power of the North, and she shall thus be enabled to arrive at a correct conclusion concerning American affairs, her interests and inclination will place her in direct sympathy with the North. Already we have the sympathy of the people of Great Britain; and the government, in our opinion, will soon mirror their sentiments.