ALABAMA CLAIMS. 49 
States encounter more criticism in Great Britain than 
Great Britain does in the United States. 
Moreover, it should be borne in mind that much of 
the inculpation of Great Britain which is perceived in 
the United States proceeds from British immigrants,— 
largely Irish, but in part Scottish and English,—who, 
like other Europeans, are but too prone to come here 
with all their native political prejudices clinging to 
them; who not seldom hate the Government of their 
native land; and who, of course, need time to cease to 
be Europeans in spirit and to become simply Amer- 
icans. And it would not be without interest in this 
relation to see how many of such persons, in the news- 
paper press or elsewhere, say or do things tending to 
cause it to be supposed that opinion in the United 
States is hostile to Great Britain. 
There is one other class of facts which it is proper 
to state in this relation, and particularly proper for 
me to state. 
The successful revolution of the thirteen Colonies 
was an event most unacceptable, of course, to England. 
We, the victors in that contest, should not murmur if 
resentful memories thereof lingered for some time in 
the breasts of the defeated party. I think, however, 
such feelings have ceased to manifest themselves in 
England. It is to quite other causes, in my opinion, 
that we are to attribute the successive controversies 
between the two countries, in which, as it seems to 
me, the greater wrong has in each case been on the 
side of England. I think we did not afford her suffi- 
cient cause of complaint for continuing in hostile oc- 
D 
