NEWS OF THE WEEK.
TIM text of General Butler's speech of the 23rd of November, which has reached England, was even franker than we imagined. He stated openly that he would compel England to settle the Alabama claims by selling cotton and corn only to France and Prussia, and announced that by settling he meant that England should declare the independence of the Dominion and the West India Islands ; should, in fact, "leave the Western Continent." If England made war, then, "as a Republican and a party man, I cannot forget that people in war time always support the Govern- ment ; " that of the total Democratic vote, 2,000,000 or more, 1,200,030 are Irishmen, who would exult in war with England, and that the result of war would be " the perpetuation of Repub- lican power for a generation." The Tribune and Philadelphia Ledger altogether repudiate General Butler's views on behalf of their party, but it is evident that they will not interfere with his election, perhaps not with his entrance into the Cabinet, and their reception suggests that, after all, Republicans do not differ very much from Monarchists in their unscrupulousness. Between Butler and Bismarck we prefer Bismarck, though we should witness the relegation of both to private life with acquiescent resignation.
