ALABAMA CLAIMS. 43 
themselves into a “fine frenzy.” Ministers and the 
Parliament, instead of manfully taking a stand at the 
outset in opposition to the popular current of delu- 
sion and passion, got alarmed and lost their heads, 
and said and did some things not creditable to the 
British Government. In the United States, on the 
other hand, sundry persons were officiously over-zeal- 
ous on the wrong side; the newspaper press was a 
little flustered; and some things were written and 
published which it would have been better not to 
write and publish; but the public mind maintained 
its equilibrium, content, on the whole, to await the 
progress of the arbitration: while the President, the 
Secretary of State, with his colleagues of the Cabinet, 
and the Congress, remained “perfectly calm,” stand- 
ing always on the stipulations of the Treaty, and 
never believing it would be broken or disregarded 
by Great Britain. 
In my opinion, the contrast at this time between 
the attitude of the British Government and that of 
the American Government deserves a few words of 
commentary. 
It is not uncommon in England to suppose and to 
say that demagogy, that is, factious appeal to popular 
prejudice and passion, is a conspicuous feature of 
political action in the United States. It seems to 
be supposed also that demagogy here pleases itself 
especially with accusations of Great Britain. Mean- 
while, it is complacently assumed that self-possession 
and stability, with unexceptional amiability toward 
the United States, characterize political action in 
