is but seldom that any one overt act produces hostilities between
two nations; there exists, most commonly, a previous jealousy and
ill-will, a predisposition to take offence. Trace these to their
cause, and how often will they be found to originate in the
mischievous effusions of mercenary writers, who, secure in their
closets, and for ignominious bread, concoct and circulate the
venom that is to inflame the generous and the brave.

I am not laying too much stress upon this point; for it applies
most emphatically to our particular case. Over no nation does the
press hold a more absolute control than over the people of
America; for the universal education of the poorest classes makes
every individual a reader. There is nothing published in England
on the subject of our country, that does not circulate through
every part of it. There is not a calumny dropt from an English
pen, nor an unworthy sarcasm uttered by an English statesman,
that does not go to blight good-will, and add to the mass of
latent resentment. Possessing, then, as England does, the
fountain-head whence the literature of the language flows, how
completely is it in her power, and how truly is it her duty, to
make it the medium of amiable and magnanimous feeling--a stream
where the two nations might meet together and drink in peace and
kindness. Should she, however, persist in turning it to waters of
bitterness, the time may come when she may repent her folly. The
present friendship of America may be of but little moment to her;
but the future destinies of that country do not admit of a doubt;
over those of England, there lower some shadows of uncertainty.
Should, then, a day of gloom arrive--should those reverses
overtake her, from which the proudest empires have not been
exempt--she may look back with regret at her infatuation, in