The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-24 00:00:00

from Spain in 1822 ; bat no one had ever contended for such
a construction of international law. He no* came to the
question, " Is the issue of this contest any longer doubt-
ful?" In discussing this part of the subject, he must first
refer to the ektraordinary circumstance that within the la:t
few days the Confederacy had contracted in London, Am-
sterdara, and Paris a loan which now stood at the top of the
market. The loan rested upon the security of cotton, and,
as it was well known to the subscribers that that security
would perish if the invasion prospered, the position of the
lean must be regarded as an expression of the judgment
of the financial world that the issue of the contest is no
longer doubtful. What were the views of military men ?
In November last the Emperor of the French intimated to
the Government of Washington his opinion that the recon-
quest of the Southern States was impossible ; in the Revue
ties Peux Mendes for the month of October there was an
article, supposed to be inspired by the Princes of the House
of Orleans who accompanied Gen. M'Clellan to the field,
adopting a similar view ; and,as far as our information went,
we did not know that any Northern general was of opinion
that reconquest was attainable. And supposing that in the
abstract such a reconquest was possible, the question for
neutral Powers was,could it be attained by Mr. Lincoln and
his colleagues ? Because, as they had not in their armies any
man who, like the Duke of Wellington, was ;capable of con-
trolling and directing a Ministry, by them must it be accom-
plished, if it was to be accomplished at all. What proof of
capacity had this aggressive Government given to the world ?
Was it to be found in their choice of viceroys, in the super-
seding and replacing of commanders, or in their firm ad-
herence to a principle, and their opposition to slavery ? At
first they vaunted their steady disposition to maintain that
institution ; then the slaves in the lower States were to be
free ; then emancipation was to be extended to all States
which resisted the Federal authority; then a bankrupt
Treasury would buy the slaves at an outlay equal to the pub-
lic debt of our country; and at last a servile war was indis-
pensable. Were these the means by which the broken frag-
ments of the Union could be welded, or 8,000,000 freemen
be reduced to submission. And who was opposed to this
Government ? Far be it from him to join in the encomiums
on the Southern President to which heat or generosity had
led ; but this much might be hazarded of that extraordi-
nary man—that, amply gifted by nature, he had made the
union of political and military excellence his object, and,
in a position of unusual danger, had displayed qualities
seldom united in the same individual. It should be
borne in mind that a new chapter would be opened
in the world's history if on the great theatre of war
in America those qualities to which men had ever pointed
with scorn should triumph over those which had hitherto
been always regarded with admiration. It became an im-
portant question for consideration, therefore, whether the
.Government of Mr. Lincoln could conquer its opponents
when all confidence in it had ceased to exist, and when it
pursued an enterprise in its capacity to bring which to a
successful issue no one had the slightest faith. What better
sign, he would ask, of the state of despair and despondency
to which it was reduced could be presented than the enlist-
ment of negro regiments ? After that and the other evi-
dence which was open to them noble lords on neither side of
the house would, he hoped, refuse to concur with the noble
earl the leader of the Opposition, with the capitalists of
Europe, and with military men generally, in the opinion
that the hazard of conquest in America remained no longer
matter of doubt. At that moment, he might add, and
throughout the war, Great Britain had consuls at the
Southern ports; among others, at Mobile and Charleston.
Their presence there was necessary to protection of British
interests; and the question was coming on for debate in
the Southern Confederacy how far consuls would be permit-
ted to reside in Southern ports who had taken their exequa-
tur from the Government of Washington. What, then, he
would ask, would be the position of this country if, in a few
months, she should be compelled by interests and conve-
nience to adopt the course which self-respect and justice
long ago demanded at her hands. The first ground, then,

on which Great Britain ought to exercise her power of ac-
knowledgment was that, unless she meant to withdraw her
consuls, honour called upon her to proceed in the course
which he advocated. The next ground on which he would
rely was that of humanity. His noble friend the Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, in his despatch in reply to Mr. Mason in
the autumn, had justly stated that the question which was
so much debated on both sides of the Atlantic—the ques-
tion of the right to secede—could not be determined by
foreign Governments; but the inference which his noble
friend had drawn from that proposition was that we ought
not to acknowledge the insurgents. In that inference he
hoped their lordships would not be disposed to concur, be-
cause if they did so, they would then, in reality, be pro-
nouncing it to be their opinion that the insurgents had no
right to secede ; while, on the other hand, by acceding to the
appeal for recognition, they would be giving no positive de-
cision on the point in dispute. The new Government of
France had, he might further observe, been acknowledged
in 1848, but by doing so no opinion as to its title had been
pronounced. It could not be denied—and Mr. Davis in his

recent Message conspicuously explained—that the Confe-
deracy had suffered wrongs, perhaps tuuntootio=o.l
designed, from Great Britain. The French Emperor was
deterred from a course which might have served them by
the influence of this country. We had forced the Confede-
rates to burn their prizes on the water, and had done away
with the chance of their raising privateers. What was even
more serious still, after engaging with the Confederacy by
our negotiator to maintain the principles laid down in the
Treaty of Paris upon public law, we had not, as regarded
the question of blockade, adhered to those principles: Our
partiality towards the Northern States had received an il-
lustration from the despatch of the noble lord dated March
27, 18E2, and which the Government of Washington had
given to the world. In that despatch, while manfully re-
sisting the extortionate demands of Mr. Adams, the noble
lord, as a kind of set •off to his austerity, reminded him that
allowances had been made to the United States in the ardu-
ous war in which they were engaged, and that the public law
had been liberally interpreted in their favour. Let it be
granted that the noble lord was then right in making every
allowance to the Government of Washington and liberally
interpreting the law of nations in favour of the stronger of

two belligerents. Still the inference which he drew was this,
that it now rendered necessary a policy of reparation in the
shape of a recognition of the Southern States. In his opinion
neutrality, so far from being a bar, was a ground of claim to
recognition. A further element in the consideration of the
question was the security of Canada. It was said by some
that whenever the war closed, and in whatever way it closed,
Canada would be invaded, If the Northern arms succeeded
Canada would be endangered by the drunkenness of victory,
and if they failed it would be assailed through the bitterness
of anguish. The security of Canada consisted in the danger
of attacking it, and it would be far more dangerous for the
Northern States to make that attack it they had in their rear
a power which was friendly to England, Canada might be
safe as long as this great civil war raged, but wo had nottlie
power to prevent the close of the war. Other powers would
recognise the Confederacy, and peace would be restored.
From the moment that separation became inevitable it was
obvious we required an ally on the other side of the Atlantic.
If the war exhausted itself before we acknowledged the Con-
federacy, we might be in the humiliating position of finding
both belligerents finally estranged, and having to defend
Canada against the one and the West Indies against the
other. As it appeared to him, the most convincing reason
was that this country was bound by duty to acknowledge the
Southern States. He would not dwell upon the general and
abstract obligation upon neutrals to acknowledge an insur-
gent Power when the hazards of the contest were exhausted.
But in this case there were special circumstances which
ought not to be overlooked. The first was the Lancashire dis-
tress (so long endured and within the last two days meeting
with a more strenuous expression)—a distress which was not
likely to be remedied while the large stock of cotton in Ame-
rica prevented the investment of money to obtain a supply
from otherparts of the world. The Government of Washing-
ton above all others, considering the pledges it had given,
and the debts it had incurred, must find an enormous diffi-
culty in negotiating with the South. As well might we ex-
„pm. h„.„,r„f~~inn nn his own person as
' ask the North to give up their claims on the South. If the
statesmen of Washington, before ordering the ad-
vance across the Potomac, had been able to
foresee the disgrace and the sacrifices which they
were about to bring on their countrymen, they
would certainly have accepted a bloodless peace when it
was offered to them. There could be little doubt that the
obligations of neutrality, of honour, and good faith would
have induced the people of this country to recognise the
South long ago had it not been for certain delusions on the
subject of negro slavery, which had recently been promul-
gated. The only issue, however, which the people had
really any call to take into their consideration was this,
which would be most conducive to the welfare of the negro
—separation or reconquest ? It could easily be shown that ,
reconquest would not be favourable to the noble cause with
which had so long been associated the names of such men
as Wilberforce and Buxton—whose descendants now
scorned to connect themselves with the machinery
which had been set up for prolonging the war, on one
side of the water, by spreading fictions and calumnies on
the other. In the event of separation negro bondage
must be confined within the limits in which it now existed
—there would be no Fugitive Slave Law, and the judgment
of the Southern men—hitherto too often inflamed to passion
by the violence of the North—would be calmly applied to
discover a solution for the question. In the event of reeon-
quest—a servile war, with widespread murder and rapine,
must be the inevitable preface. What security had we that
the slave trade, to which the American flag had too often been
lent, would not be renewed ? It had always been impossible
I for any British Government to obtain the right of searching
greeted American vessels ; but when this war began it was
only other
immediately conceded, but he had heard it rumoured that
when the war was •
over
which
iti wouldch could be at
standonce i n
r e
tthr ae c
wthody.
ofTrhoe
sentiment .
teeo d
no by
ee restoration
cognition was a vague belief that the cause of
freedom would
be
utpr them reconquest of
ttheancientteksetaatecoo3f
Caesar
the of the
would
Napoleon, and it could not be expected that a
But
m
a character with the army at his back flashed with
of
success
ow
would consent peaceably to lay down
the
immense
which he would then wield.
men could resist the
temptation to take possession of the whole Government.
At the time of General M 'Clellan's dismissal it was said that
he could easily have led his legions to Washington and de-
clared himself Dictator, and many censured him for not
taking that course. Whether the Government would adopt ,