The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-21 00:00:00

The Seizure of the Florida.

The United States Minister at Rio has addressed
the following despatch to the Foreign Minister at
Brazil :

Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 14.

Excellency
acknowledge T he
Plenipotentiary
undersigned,
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his Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Minister and Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, calling his attention to an alleged
violation of the neutral rights of Brazil and an indignity
offered to her sovereignty by the commander of the United
States eorvetto Wachusetts, in capturing in the harbour of
Bahia an armed vessel calling herself a vessel of war, by
name the Florida, belonging to certain States of the Federal
Union, which are now, and for three years past have been,
in rebellion against the Government of the United States;
but which vessel the Government of the United States de-
clares to have no nationality whatever, and insists that she
was, to all intents and purposes. a pirate.
The undersigned has no official information in relation to
the alleged capture and violation of the neutrality and sove-
reignty of Brazil, other than is contained in the note of his
Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and, he, there-
fore, assumes the statement made by his excellency to be
accurate in all its details; reserving to himself, however,
the right to correct any errors which may have crept into
that statement in consequence of its being merely an ex
parte report from those in authority at Bahia.
The undersigned, before proceeding to consider the very
grave international question to which his attention has been
called, feels it incumbent upon him, as an act of justice to
his Government and country, to make a fow passing remarks
in regard to the claim, that the people in rebellion against
our Government are, in fact, a "belligerent'' power, at war
with the Government of the United States, instead of a
band of traitors in rebellion against the Government to
which they owe allegiance, of which they have always con-
stituted a part, and from which, neither for the purposes
of war nor peace, have they ever been separated.
The facts of the case in regard to their claim to be a
"belligerent" power at war with the United States, are
briefly as follows.—
The great rebellion against the Government of the United
States, by a portion of its Southern people, broke out on
the 12th day of April, 1861; and the knowledge of that
rebellion reached England about the Ist of May in the same
year. Six days after Lord John Russell, the English
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, intimated in the
House of Commons that the British Government would
probably recognise our rebels as a " belligerent" power ; and
in 15 days after the English government had received in-
telligence of a rebellion having broke out within our
borders—a misfortune to which all nations are liable, and
from which England and Brazil have not been exempt—
the Queen of Great Britain by her proclamation recognised
those in rebellion against the Government of Washington
to be a" belligerent" power, and entitled within her ports
to all the privilege of belligerents, and in all respects the
equal of those against whom they were in rebellion. In one
word, Englanct degraded the Government of the United
States to the level of those in open rebellion against its
authority; and elevated our rebels to a position of equality
with a powerful nation, with which it had, and professed a
desire to maintain, the most amicable relations and the
closest commercial and political intercourse. That act of the
Government of Great Britain was as much a casus belli as
would have been the recognition of the independence and
sovereignty of the so-called Confederate States; and it would
unquestionably have been so treated if France and other
European Powers had not immediately endorsed the.;', ass
injustice of England; to which Brez'l at the oarlieot woe
went possible gave her sanction and approval.
It is not assumed by the undersigned that this action on
the part of Brazil arose from any feeling of hostility to a
neighbouring and always friendly Power, which has ever
or
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continent to stand by each otherin defence of an American,
in contradistinction of a European, policy. It was most
probably resorted to, beeauso it was convenient and usual
for Brazil to act in concert with the recognised Powers of
Europe ; but it was, nevertheles a most hasty and ill-
advised proceeding, and grossly and manifestly an act of
injustice to a neighbouring and ever friendly Power. It
is only necessary for your excellency to ask yourself,
what would have been the feelings of Brazil, if in
past years, immediately upon hearing of disturb-
ances and rebellion within the Imperial empire, the Govern-
ment of the-United States, without inquiry into the cha-
racter of such rebellion and in ignorance of its cause orjus-
tification if any, had made hot haste to unite with the Eu-
ropean powers is regarding as belligerents the province in
rebellion, and thereby elevating her rebels to an equality
with the Imperial Government, by giving them similar
rights in her ports as belligerents, and making them the
equals in all respects of the government against which they
were in rebellion? Beyond all manner of doubt, to have
done so would have been considered a flagrant outrage per-
petrated by a great naval power against a weaker but
friendly nation, and an admitted castes belly. Brazil would
unquestionably have so considered it; but if not convenient
to go to war with the United States for the perpetration of
such an outrage, she would have contented herself with re-
monstrating against the proceeding as equally unfriendly
and unjust; and then oalmly have submitted to the indig-
nity, outrage, and injustice which she could not repel.
And this is perhaps what the Unitel States has been com-
pelled to do. Sho could not go to war with all the world,
and at the same time put down a gigantic rebellion within
her borders. To have done so would have secured to her
rebels the triumph of their rebellion, and gratified her ene-
mies by a disruption of that great American power, so im-
portant for the development of constitutional and represen-
tative government, and so necessary for the protection of all
the governments of the continent of Ameriea, against Eu-
ropean interference with their inalienable right to govern
themselves.
Beyond all peradventure, the object of Great Britain, in
recognising as belligerents those in rebellion against the Go-
vernment of the United States, was, if we take her leading
press and the speeches of many of her statesmen in and out
of Parliament as exponents of her purpose—to accomplish
by indirect means what she did not deem it prudent to at-
tempt by a more manly course. She had just as much
right to declare our Government destroyed and the Union
broken up by a recognition of the sovereignty and indepen-
dence of our rebels, within two weeks after hearing of the
rebellion, as she had to give them by proclamation the
rights of belligerents. But she wanted the manhood to do
this in the face of Europe, and the just indignation which
she would thereby have brought upon herself ; and she,
therefore, in the exercise of her discretion, resorted to a
measure which she well knew was a castes Belli, but which
she foresaw we were not in a position to treat as such ; and
the consequence of which she had a right to suppose, as did
our rebels, would eventually be a disruption of the great
American Republic.
Britain is the first naval and commercial power of the
world ; and the other nations of Europe, followed by Brazil
on this continent, very naturally, were led into the adop-
tion of her proclamation, without perceiving its tendency to
throw the better part of our commerce into the hands of our
only commercial rival, without any intention to do the
United States injustice, and without intending thereby to
give aid and succour to our rebels, and protract, and if
possible render triumphant, their rebellion. And yet
such has been the effect of the unjust policy inaugurated by
Great Britain, and thoughtlessly adopted by all the powers
friendly to the United States in Europe, and by her stead-
fast friend, Brazil, on the American continent. But for that
most unjust proceeding, the rebellion in the United States
would have terminated by a single campaign. had other
nations practised towards us a very small portion only of
tho comity and forbearance which we have always extended
towards others, and exhibited that respect for the inter-
national right of Government to deal with rebellion and
civil war as to them seems expedient, for a reasonable time
at least, without interference from abroad, our rebellion
would have been put down more than two years ago, with-
out a tithe of the sacrifice demanded of us ; and there would
then have been no occasion for the undersigned to express
his deep regret at tho untoward event which has called forth
your excellency's note and demanded this response.
The Government of the United States, through the un-
dersigned, has protested against the right of Brazil to con-
stitute her rebels "belligerents," and to concede to them at