to
be enemies.

There needs no better rallying-ground for international amity, than
that furnished by an eminent English writer: "There is," say she, "a
sacred bond between us of blood and of language, which no
circumstances can break. Our literature must always be theirs; and
though their laws are no longer the same as ours, we have the same
Bible, and we address our common Father in the same prayer. Nations
are too ready to admit that they have natural enemies; why should they
be less willing to believe that they have natural friends?"[18]

[Footnote 18: From an article (said to be by Robert Southey, Esq.)
published in the Quarterly Review. It is to be lamented that that
publication should so often forget the generous text here given!]

To the magnanimous spirits of both countries must we trust to carry
such a natural alliance of affection into full effect. To pens more
powerful than mine, I leave the noble task of promoting the cause of
national amity. To the intelligent and enlightened of my own country,
I address my parting voice, entreating them to show themselves
superior to the petty attacks of the ignorant and the worthless, and
still to look with dispassionate and philosophic eye to the moral
character of England, as the intellectual source of our rising
greatness; while I appeal to every generous-minded Englishman from the
slanders which disgrace the press, insult the understanding, and belie
the magnanimity of his country: and I invite him to look to America,
as to a kindred nation, worthy of its origin; giving, in the healthy
vigour of its growth, the best of comments on its parent stock; and
reflecting, in the dawning brightness of its fame, the moral
effulgence of British glory.

I am sure that such an appeal will not be made in vain. Indeed, I have
noticed, for some time past, an essential change in English sentiment
with regard to Amerioar. In parliament, that fountain-head of public
opinion, there seems to be an emulation, on both sides of the house,
in holding the language of courtesy and friendship. The same spirit is
daily becoming more and more prevalent in good society. There is a
growing curiosity concerning my country; a craving desire for correct
information, that cannot fail to lead to a favourable understanding.
The scoffer, I trust, has had his day; the time of the slanderer is
gone by; the ribald jokes, the stale commonplaces, which have so long
passed current when America was the the