178 A Century of Science 



It may be urged that arbitration cannot often 

 succeed in dealing with difficulties so formidable 

 as those connected with the Alabama Claims. The 

 questions hitherto settled by arbitration have for 

 the most part been of minor importance, in which 

 " national honour " has not been at stake, and the 

 bestial impulse to tear and bruise, which so many 

 light-headed persons mistake for patriotism, has 

 not been aroused. The London " Spectator " tells 

 us that if the United States should ever repeat the 

 Mason and Slidell incident, or should feel insulted 

 by the speech of some British prime minister, there 

 would be war, no matter how loudly the lawyers 

 in both countries might appeal to the Arbitration 

 Treaty. The two illustrations cited are not happy 

 ones, since from both may be deduced reasons 

 why war is not likely to ensue. The Mason and 

 Slidell incident was a most impressive illustration 

 of the value of delay and discussion in calming 

 popular excitement. The principle of interna- 

 tional law which the United States violated on 

 that occasion was a principle for which the United 

 States had long and earnestly contended against 

 the opposition of Great Britain. A very brief dis- 

 cussion of the affair in the American press made 

 this clear to every one, and there was no cavilling 

 when our government disowned the act and sur- 



