310 VENEZUELA AND AFTER 



eluded, &quot;there is no calamity which a great 

 nation can invite which equals that which fol 

 lows a supine submission to wrong and injustice 

 and the consequent loss of national self-respect 

 and honor beneath which are shielded and 

 defended a people s safety and greatness.&quot; 



The shock that was propagated through the 

 English-speaking world, and far beyond its 

 bounds, by this message of President Cleveland 

 had no parallel since the seizure of Slidell and 

 Mason a generation in the past. Two facts 

 contributed much to the intensity of the dis 

 turbance. The existence of anything like a 

 serious difference between the British and the 

 American Government was absolutely unsus 

 pected outside of a very small circle of public 

 men; and the President was believed by both 

 his friends and his foes to be so resolutely pacific 

 in his attitude that only the most imperious 

 exigency could change it. The message re 

 vealed a disagreement so grave as to have moved 

 even Mr. Cleveland to thought and speech of 

 war. Nor was anything reassuring to be found 

 in the action of Congress; for both houses, 

 without opposition, adopted the measure that 

 the President recommended, and with the new 

 year a commission of distinguished Americans 



