The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-23 00:00:00

INDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPIIIMBER 22, 1863.

TEE AMERICAN WAR,

A oroweled meeting was held on Monday night in the
Mush :quail at Leeds, in support of the cause of emancipa-
tion in „America, and the neutral policy of the British Go-
vernrr at. The presence of Mr. Forster, M.P. (who pres-
sided) a, and of the Rev. W. H. Channing, from the United
Stat. s, ;imparted an additional interest to the proceedings,
whit were of the most unanimous and enthusiastic charac-
ter.. There were also present on the platform the Rev. G.
IV.. Conder, _Rev. John Adcock, Rev. George Mather, Dr.
Greenhow, rdr. John Jewitt, Mr. Joseph Lupton, Mr. T.
13, Baines, ';lr. Alderman Carter, Mr. Councillor Tatham,
Mr. Councrilor Nichols, Mr. W. Brown, Mr. Thompson,
lir. J. W. Smith, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Da%id Green, Mr. J.
Andrew, and many other friends of the slave.
Mr. J. leurros, in proposing that Mr. Forster should
occupy the chair, stated that but for another engagemen.
the letayor would have been present and occupied that pose
flora. "(Applause.)
at. W. BROWN seconded the resolution, which was car.,
lied with acclamation.
he CHAIRMAN was received with enthusiastic cheering,
an' 1 after a few introductory remarks referring to the mis-
ur .derstanding which existed upon the question of the pre-
af :nt struggle, and of the fear that another evil might be
a dded to it leading to a difference between England and
America, he said—Just allow me to say one cr two words
upon this misunderstanding in both countries. First, as
refsards ourselves. I think that a great deal of ill-feeling
--which I am sorry to see—exists in America, arising from
a consciousness, and in some measure a right-founded con-
sciousness, on their part, that we misconceive this great
struggle in its very principle and in its foundation, and
that we have, if I may so speak, underrated it. (Hear,
hear.) Ido not mean that we underrate it in point
of the numbers engaged in it. We [are quite im-
Tressed. with the tremendous extent on which the war
is carried on. In point of numbers it is greater than
almost any other civil war in any age. (Hear, hear.) We
ate aware also of the immense sufferings which it has caused
in America, and which it has caused also in our own coun-
try) and we are aware of the tremendous loss of life and
money; but many of us, I regret to say, are not alive to the
-tremendous importance of the principle which is at stake,
which is, if I may pat it in just one sentence, simply this,
whether upon the continent of America the principle of
slavery or the principle of freedom shall predominate.
(Cheers.) Now, look back at history, and can you put your
finger upon any war that was ever carried on in which a
greater question was at stake than that? (Cheers.) Many
persons say, "It is no use going to hear you; you are a
strong Federalist." In answer to that I may say that I am
not in every sense a Federalist. (Hear, hear.) lam not
Mind to the faults of the north. (Hear.) lam not blind to
:the inconsistency with which this war has been carried on,
nor am I blind to the words which some of the statesmen
and many of the papers have used towards this country.
(Hear.) But I still remember this, that they are, many of
them, it is true, quite unconsciously, yet that they are,
fighting--and cannot help fighting the battle for freedom—.
against the Southern Confederacy, who, avowedly and de-
terminedly, and without any attempt at concealment, are
fighting the battle of slavery. They tell rue lam fanatical
'upon this question. Ido not feel that I owe an apology
to an English audience for being fanatical on the ques-
tion of slavery. (Hear, hear.) As to whether there
shall be liberty in this world is a question upon which no
man can be fanatical. (Hear.) Of all political questions which
can be brought forward—l will saynothing of philanthropic
considerations—this question of freedom from slavery is the
most important. (Cheers.) There are men—l confess it fills
one with wonder and surprise—men who have done good
service to the Liberal cause in past times, who have fought
hard for that cause, yet who profess that it is fanaticism to
care whether slavery shall or shall not rule over the conti-
nent of America. They go so far as to say that it is possible
that there can be political liberty where there is domestic
slavery. Now, I say that is a great mistake. (Cheers.) If
men would learn the very alphabet of freedom they would
see that wherever there is domestic slavery, wherever the
first political right—a right even above and beyond all po-
litics—the right of man to the disposal of his own body and
the government of his own soul—(cheers)—whore that is
denied by the law, political liberty is not safe. (Cheers.) If
it be possessed by the master class, that class cannot keep it
in safety, and the very words "political liberty" are a farce
an i a delusion. (Cheers.) History proves that it was because
the old Republicans of Rome allowed themselves to be cor-
rupted into domestic slavery that the master class lost their
own liberty—(hear)—and we find that in the South where
the slaveholder had power—to use Carlyle's expression—to
hire their negro fellow-countrymen for life—not merely hir-
ing their labour, but hiring the chastity of the women and
the souls and brains of the men—that is to do what they
would with that honour, mind, brain, and soul—when they
did that to one class they at the same time deprived their
white fellow-citizens of the freedom of speech, the freedom
of the press, and almost of thefreedomof thought. (Cheers.)
There is no more true fact than this, and I do not care if I
am again charged with fanaticism for repeating it, that if
you look at this question calmly and philosophically, you
will find that when the system of domestic slavery is once
admitted in any social fabric whatever, it so fastens itself
upon its framework that it is utterly impossible that it can
live in peace with it unless it masters it. (Hear, hear.) It
must master it, or it will go to war with it, and strive to
break it up. (Hear, hear.) That was the case in America.
Three years ago I looked forward to the future of the
United States with fear and trembling. I did not know
what punishment God would inflict upon them for having
connived at this sin of slavery, (Hear, hear.) Every one
saw that that slave-power had been first stealthily and then
openly endeavoured to master the Union, and to use every
power in the Union for the extension of slavery; that it
hung upon the balance whether the great Republic of Ame-
rica was to be a great Power, for the spread of freedom, as
we in England had hoped, or for the spread of slavery
and its extension and perpetuation throughout the world,
whether the whites of America themselves would not lose
their freedom in selling themselves to the slaveholders of
the South. (Applause.) The freemen of the North took
fright; they found out what was going on. They said,
" This is no mere negro question, it is no mere philan•
thropic question" and it would have been well for them and
for their country if they had felt more strongly the philan-
thropic part of the question, and the just claims of the
negro ; but at least they saw the danger to their country,
and said, " We will not allow this slave-power to go on in-
creasing; we will make head against it, we will take care
that it does not rule us." (Cheers.) What followed ? The
slaveholders, finding that they could no longer wield the
American commonwealth to support the system of slavery,
said, " We will break up and destroy the Union, and set up
a Confederacy of our own." The men of the North, the
patriots of the Union, said, " We will not submit to that ;"
and we, many of us ia England, who were utterly reckless
of money or life when we thought Russia merely threatened
to stop the communication with our Eastern possessions—

who were still more reckless of money and life to preserve

our empire in India—when we know that there is scarcely
one of us in this country, of any party, who would not, if it
came to the dire alternative, use every power he possessed
to keep Ireland as a sister country in union with England

—yet we who know that we have this patriotic feeling and
would undergo the greatest sacrifices before we would allow
our country to be cut to pieces or diminished, or to become
a weak Power rather than a strong Power—we complained
of the North Americans and said to them, " You have
entered upon a wicked war," because they would not
allow the slavehulders of the South, in order to perpetuate
and extend slavery, to break up their country, and make
it a divided, a weak, and almost powerless country instead
of a great and powerful one. (Loud cheers.) I say this,
that I will give many of those who argue thus the credit
that if the same result or anything like it was upon the
issue in England they would be as foremost in desiring
to prevent their country from being destroyed as the moat
ardent and fierce Northerner at this moment. (Hear, hear.)
That is the way in which this dreadful war has come to
Pass. I mourn over that war ; I lament it. I also think it
a wicked war, but I charge the wickedness upon those who
began the war in the worst of all possible causes. (Cheers.)
lam willing to allow that even with them—for a strange
thing is human nature—some of them may have forced
themselves into the belief that they were in a good cause.
I don't pretend to deny the valour of the men of the South;
I will not deny that they
in this war, I will have shown many fine qualities
go even further, and say that it is very
difficult for men, even in a bad cause, to have submitted to
the sacrifices and self-denial which many men in the South
have undergone, without taming out of it purified and better
than when they went in. But while that is the case, I
cannot forget upon which side the right is. (Hear, hear.)
Though I lament more than I can speak the suffering which
is the result of this war, and the crimes which have been
committed on both sides, from the Presence of an influential.
American I cannot but say it would be well if the public
opinion of America were raised more straggly against the
atrocities committed in the Northern States as well as in
the Southern. (Hear, hear.) lam well aware that in a
tremendous crisis like this there are strong terePtations,and
that even Christian and patriotic people find it difficult to
prevent war being carried on other than with that ferocity
which, more or less always accompanies war ; still, great
as are the temptations, Christians must not forget their
duty. Nevertheless, I say, much as we lament this war,
its sufferings and crimes, I do rejoice at what we may now
hope will be the result of it. (Applause.) After many
changes up and down—after it had appeared as if this
slave power would be victorious and triumphant, and that
we should, in this 19th Century, see successful the attempt
to raise a great new fabric, whose corner stone was slavery
—(and such an attempt to retard the course of progress has
not been attempted since Julian attempted to stop the
progress of Christianity)—at last a change has come. Look
for a moment at what would have been the case it' the slave
power had sum:Tied, and we had been left to Mr. Glad-
stone's hope, that in its success would be its failure. I be-
lieve there would eventually have been a failure if the South
had been triumphant. They would have raised against them
the public opinion of the world, and freedom would have
been triumphant evt'nfthelly. because there is a God that
rules the world and not a devil. (Loud cheers-) But ter-
rible as is now the contest it would then have been oven

more terrible, for the slave power would have been stronger,
and now that the contest has come, I rejoice that we can
foresee this result, that, whatever else conies out of it—
whether a restored union, which does not now Peem impoe•

Bible, or a subordinate, hemmed up, weak, slave-holding
republic in the cotton States, this, at least, is certain—the
dream of the slaveholders of a slave empire has disappeared,
and out of the war we shall get this compensation, that on
the continent of America the power and principles of free-
dom will rule, and not the power and principles of slavery.
I think it just arises from our losing sight of the question
at issue that we have treated this American struggle in a
manner which has not unnaturally excited ill feeling in that
country, and I think the more we can hear from intelligent
Americans who understand our country as well as their own,
and who can tell ut facts upon this American struggle, the
more we shall be able to get to a good understanding of it,
and therefore to remove that ill-feeling. (Hear.) I have
now, what I scarcely ever had before, the opportunity of
speaking to an American, and Mr. Charming must allow me
to say a word or two to him, and through him to some of
his countrymen. It may be that Englishmen do not quite
understand the feeling of the Americans, and I think in
America also there is some m isconception and misunderstand-
ing of the action of England. There is a feeling in America if
we may judge by the papers and the statements of the leading
men, that England has done them a wrong, an actual and
positive wrong, which it is their business, almost their duty,
to revenge when they have the opportunity. I say that is not
the case. I dont mean that there have not been men in Eng-
land who have taken the side of the South. There have been
many, especially in what are called the upper classes, but,
after all, it is not for the speeches of men, even if they have
" hon." or " noble" stuck before their names, that the coun-
try must be responsible, nor is it for writing in newspapers
we must be held responsible. Mr. Channing would not
like me to make him or his country responsible for the writ-
ing of the New York Herald. (Laughter.) I don't compare
the IVew York Herald to the Times or Morning Herald—
but I say the Americans should not make us responsible for
anything written in the Times or Morning Herald. (Hear.)
All we ought to be judged by is the action of the country,
and as far as the action of the country is concerned—so far
as we have acted in a national capacity, the Americans have
little or no reason to find fault, and that is what they ought
to bear in mind. (Hear.) They ought also to remember,
when their hearts rankle at any expression made by many
of the upper classes of the country, how their cause has been_
viewed by the great masses of the people. (Hear.) For
every nobleman, for every man who has a title before his
name who has taken the side of the South, there have been
10, 20, and even 100 hardworking men who have taken the
side of the North and freedom. (Cheers.) And they have
done so with every temptation and every inducement brought
to bear upon them to take the other side. They have been
told by ingenious men (I will not say sent for the purpose)
that their sufferings--and many of them have suffered
deeply—have been caused by this war, and that the war has
been caused by the action of the Federals ; and yet such
has been their instinctive feeling—they know what liberty
is—and ill will it be for England when the working men
forget what liberty is—such has been theirinstinctive feel.
ing that they have refused to be misled, and I do say it
will be ungenerous of America to remember anything
against England, when we can point to that large meet-
ing of the half starving working men of Manchester
in the Free Trade Hall—(cheers)—when they took the
lead in saying—" No matter what the sufferings we may
endure, no matter what the sacrifices we may have
to undergo, we will not allow our Government to de-
part from the strict principle of neutrality on behalf of the
slaveholding Confederacy." (Loud applause.) Mr. Chan-
ning and his friends must also recollect that although there
may have been expressions—talk in favour of the South,
there has been no action. There has been talk in the House
of Commons in its favour. I have felt, when in advocating
a neutral policy I stated what I conceived to be the just
claims of the North, I had not got the feeling of the House
on my side; but, on the other hand, if any one tried to get
the House of Commons to press upon the Government to
depart from the principles of neutrality and adopt the side
of the South, the common sense of the House was proved
to be against him. (Hear, hear.) I say, therefore, to the
Americans, as wise men, you must pay little attention to
mere talk or mere writing, you must go by actions, and,
judging them, we as a nation have done nothing against
you. On the contrary, I say, to the credit of our Govern-
ment—and not merely to the credit of the leaders of the
Whig party, but also to the credit of the leaders of the Tory
party, and to Lord Derby especially, who in his speech
against recognition at the beginning of the Session laid
down in language which it was impossible could fail to in-
fluence his party, that any premature recognition would be
a breach of international law—it is, thanks to the action
of the leaders of both parties, that our Government
has resisted the notoriously strong pressure on the part
of France to depart from strict neutrality and recognise
the South—(cheers)—and, therefore, instead of complain-
ing of us, the Americans should remember that, as a nation,
we have in that matter stood their friends. We have done
no more than we ought to have done, but there is no doubt
of it that we had our powerful and influential ally pressing
us to recognise the South, and our Government refused to
do it. (Hear, hear.) lam well aware there is one matter
in which we may appear to have departed from this
neutrality, and that is in the sailing of the Alabama.
That again was not the act of the Government. I think
Earl Russell was caught napping--(laughter)—but I know
he did not wish her to go out, and has done his utmost
to prevent any others following her. I want to say a word
or two on this shipping question. Let us forget that we are
an anti-slavery meeting, and look at this purely as affect-
ing England's interests. I say that as a great maritime
nation—the greatest commercial nation in the world—it is
to our interests more than to those of any other nation that
it should not be international law that ships may sail out of
neutral ports to aid in belligerent operations such as the
Alabama has engaged in, and which those two steam rams
would do if they were not stopped. (Cheers.) I will just
put a case in point. We had a war lately with Russia, and
sent out the best fleet we couli man under the best Admi-
ral we could find, to Cronstadt. Why did we do so ? It was
not that we supposed that the fleet could batter down that
fort. We also knew that in blockading Cronstadt we could
net starve the trade of Russia, because it would only be a
question of cost, and merchandise would be sent through
Prussia by railway. But why we sent the fleet was that we
wanted to make our own trade and commerce safe through-
out the world, and we said, " We will seal up the port of
Cronstadt to prevent the Russian privateers and ships of
war going out and destroying oar commerce." If we were
to allow Alabamas to be the rule of international law for
the future, such a course would have been a pure waste of
money, because, instead of sending out privateers from
Cronstadt, Russia could tend them from New York, Phila-
delphia, Hamburg, Havre, or any other port in the world.
If we allow this to become international law the result will
be that whenever we carry on war we shall be obliged to
do one of two things--either to blockade every large port of
every nation in the world, as well as the ports of the nation
with which we aro at war, or else to give up our commercial
trade and sail our marine under the flags of other nations.
There never was a case in which our interests was more
clear than it is to have this stopped, and my great anxiety
is lest this war should come to an end (which I trust
it will do soon) before we have undone any harm which
may have been done by our letting the Alabama go
out; for, if we do not, depend upon it other countries
will take advantage and use our own precedent against us.
(Hear, hear.) lam glad that there is so large a meeting ;
and I hope you will do your best to strengthen the neutral
policy of the Government on this question of ships. I do
not deny that there are difficulties, which I wish Mr.
Channing to remember, and this is the great difficulty, that
we have always felt it a point of honour not to alter our
laws at the dictation of any foreign country, and although
we see that we must make this matter plain for our own

interests it is not an easy thing to do, but it is so eviden

that I feel persuaded the common sense of the country will
insist upon it. (Hear.) Some people say, " What is the

_ .
difference between sending out a ship of war and sending out
cannon and muskets f" I don't mean to say that we should
supply belligerents with muskets ; but in this case both sides
have got them. Bat cannon and muskets cannot be used

for belligerent purposes until they get into the hands of the
belligerents, and whatever quantity of cannon or muskets
are supplied, either to the Federals or the Confederates,
they are useless until they get on to Federal or Confederate
territory. Consequently, the one belligerent Government
has the chance of stopping, by blockading the ports of the
other belligerent, and he may say if material of war enters
it is their fault from want of power or activity to stop
it. But they cannot guard thus against ships, because
they never go into the ports, and if a neutral supplies
such ships he is taking part in the war, and the only
possible way in which the belligerents can stop this is by
going to war with the neutral. What we have to aim at,
therefore, is to prevent our subjects sending out from our
ports armaments which are to be used for belligerent pur-
poses before they go into a belligerent port. That is the
problem our lawmakers have to solve, and which the com-
mon sense and interest of the country will compel them to
solve. (Hear.) I trust you will strengthen the hands of the
Government in that matter. Efforts have been made to
secure a premature recognition ; they have been fruitless,
and very much owing to the stand which Lord Derby and
others took in the early part of the session. But another
effort is making, not so much in England as by our great
ally the Emperor. We have hitherto avoided interference
against all sorts of temptations ; don't let us be dragged
into it to serve the purposes of the French Emperor.
(Cheers.) To use homely language he has got into a mess
with his expedition to Mexico. (Hear.) lam sorry we had
anything to do with that Mexican business, but we had the
aenee to draw out very quickly. (Hear.) He went on with
it, believing what was said in many quarters, that the Con-
federates were sure to succeed. It now appears by no means
certain that the Confederates will succeed, and he finds him-
self with the new Mexican Empire cn his back, does not
know how to bear the load, and wants to shove the burden
on the English people. (Laughter.) Don't let us take any
part cf that burden, (Cheers.) lam no advocate of the
Monroe doctrine, and think they have uttered a great deal
of nonsense in America respecting it, but it is no business of
ours support the Emperor in his Mexican
e nq in e
it is
ls nothingto else. As to the declaration of the
Mexican people
v
forn
that they desire a change of
government, it
is only a declaration of a few of the people afraid of the
French bayonets, (Hear) I see it stated, though I hope
we shall have an explanation from Government, that we
have something to do with pressing the Archduke Maxi-
milieu to put himself in the position of becoming a French
pensioned Emperor in 31.exico, If an Austrian Archduke

has not got that sense of family pride which would prevent
his accepting the rule of a people by the help of the great
rival of his family, don't let him hereafter be able to say,
"You induced me to put myself in this false position."
The fact is, that the Emperor of the French knows that
when this war is ended he will find it difficult to keep up his
power over Mexico, unless he has a Southern Confederacy
between himself and the Union; so he starts a new idea
for which he wants the French people to go to war.
This idea, as it is expressed in a publication I purchased
in Paris, and which is supposed to be written partly from
his inspiration, is "to counterbalance the Anglo-Saxon
race, and give the Latin race their chance upon the con-
tinent of America." (Laughter.) That may be a fantastic
or a reasonable idea, but it is an idea for which we are not
going to lose any money or blood to carry it out in Mexico.
Therefore I say, if there be, as I believe there are, attempts
at this moment by the Emperor of the French to induce us
now, even at the last hour, to recognise the South, there
never was a clearer case than that our Government, which
has preserved neutrality until this moment, should not be
dragged into it by French intrigue to suit French purposes.
(The hon. gentleman sat down amid loud cheers.)
Mr. T. B. BAINES moved, and the Rev. G. MATHER
seconded the first resolution, as follows :
" That in the measures of the Federal Government in
relation to the negro race, and in the rapid spread and
growth of anti-slavery feeling in most parts of the Northern
States, this meeting cannot but recognise the fact that the
present calamitous war, begun by the slaveholders to per-
petuate and extend slavery, is being overruled by Divine
Providence for its destruction."
The Rev. W. H. CHANNING, on rising to support the
motion, et as received with loud cheers. He observed that
when the echo of their response to the powerful arguments
and earnest appeals of the speakers who had addressed them
was heard in the United States—and it would be heard—
(hear, hear)—the question would come, why is not this
response universal throughout Great Britain? This was
the wonder of wonders to them in America, and the cause,
he believed, was that touched upon by the chairman—viz.,
the misunderstanding of this controversy. He was anxious,
in all kindness, to free their minds from the fog of prejudice,
and to show them how they had been misled and bewil-
dered by the sophistries of those who desired to deceive
them. In order to illustrate this portion of his argument,
he referred to certain statements in the Index, the slave-
holders' organ in England, in which it was denied that the
late J. B. Floyd had done anything to encourage seces-
sion or betrayed the Union, and contrasted it with the
speeches of men in the South who affirmed that the Con-
federacy could hardly ever repay the debt they owed to
him. Adverting to the remarks of the chairman con-
demning the cruelties of the North in conducting warlike
operations, he asserted that there was no war in history
which had been conducted with a greater effort to make
it as humane as possible than the war that had been re-
luctantly forced upon the unwilling people of the North,
and that there was a prevalent feeling in the people and
Governnient of the Northern States to temper its horrors
to the utmost, to wipe them away instantly, to gladden the
whole South with restored peace and prosperity, to raise
up her down-fallen people, and to clasp them to their
breast once more, in spite of their cruelties and atrocities,
as brethren. (Applause.) He did not often quote the
Times—(laaghter)—but in confirmation of his statement
he read an extract from the letter of Charles Mackay, the
New York correspondent of that journal, in which he
admitted that the Northerners had conducted hostilities
in the most "chivalrous spirit." Nothing but the sternest
truth would have extorted that from Charles Mackay or
the London Times. (Applause.) He replied to the alle-
gation that the secession arose from dissatisfaction with
the tariffs, and showed by the votes given that the South
themselves, and not the North, constituted the majority
in favour of these tariffs. He had the votes for the tariff
of 1857, never changed until after the secession. In the.
House of Representatives, answering to the House of
Commons, the Northern votes in favour of the tariff were
60, against it 65. The Southern votes in favour of it
were 63, or three more than the Northern votes. What
was the vote in the Senate, corresponding to the House of
Lords in England ? The votes in favour given by the
North were 14, and by the South in favour 19. The com-
bined votes of the South were 82, and of the North 74.
Never again let them hear that it was the tariff which
was the cause of secession. The rev. gentleman then re-
plied to another objection—viz., that their armies were
mixed and foreigners. In the army of one State of
26,000 teen, 21,000 were native New Englanders and
native Westerners. (Hear, hear.) For every wounded
foreigner he had seen in the American army he had seen
ten natives. He had asked an Englishman who had
been wounded while fighting in the American army
why he had joined the service, and he replied " Why, sir,
I came to strike a blow for freedom," (Cheers.) There were
also in the American army noble-hearted and generous sons
of Ireland, and Germans, and Frenchmen, and their desire
was to strike a blow for liberty—(hear, hear)—and he
thought the notion that the sentiment which actuated those
brave men was not universal arose from misconception.
(Hear.) The war was the result of a carefully prepared
conspiracy by a slaveholding oligarchy. (Applause.) The
civil war was nothing in its conception,and had been nothing
in its career, but a conspiracy by a slaveholding oligarchy to
trample under their feet the most glorious republic which
humanity had ever seen, on which rested the blessing and
hope of Providence. (Applause,) They wished to break
away from the United States in order to establish a vast
slave empire, holding the great lines of communication be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, which should
enable them to dictate terms to the commercial world. They
meant to overlap and to convert the free republic into a
slave empire, (Applause.) The argument which they
used was this, that inasmuch as the constitution recognized
the representation of three fifths of the slaves, therefore the
constitution itself recognized slavery, and the constitut on
carried slavery with it wherever it went. Wherever the
constitution spread, there, under its mighty dome, slavery
was constitutionally established. (Hear, hear.) They did
not simply assert this, but went on to say that constitu-
tionally established slavery was the common law of the land.
He was not exaggerating, but was merely repeating their
own words; and that was not enough, but they claimed
the right to protect property in slaves, just as the people of
England would protect property in horses or mules. (Hear.)
Finally, they carried the question to the Supreme Court,
and there obtained a declaration from a man who was a
shame to his position—the Chief Justice of the United
States—that the negro had no right which the white man
could not overrule. The consequence of that was that free-
dom was gone everywhere. They had not one single inch
of free territory. The slaveholder had simply to take
his slaves into New York, Massachusetts, or Maine,
and sell them as beasts of burden. They were free men no
more, but were all slaves together, and yet the citizens of
Great Britain wondered why they did not let them go.
(Applause.) Let whom go ? (Hear, hear.) Did they mean
let freedom go ? that they should banish and cast aside as
nothing worth those liberties which had been handed down
to them ? that they should put their necks under the feet of
the tyrant of the South and say, "It is constitutional ? "
That was out of the question, (Applause.) The war was
a struggle to preserve the life of the nation by preserving
the integrity of the nation as a free united republic, for the
question was, a universal slave empire on a universal free
empire. (Hear, hear.) The Emancipation Proclamation
of President Lincoln was an honourable and proper proceed-
ing. If ever there was a noble and generous offer, it was
contained in that proclamation. (Hear, hear.) All who
knew President Lincoln, all who had known him from his
boyhood, who had known him as President of the United
States, knew that he fully deserved the sobriquet that had
been applied to him, "There goes old Honesty." (Cheers.)
He was a simple-hearted and a simple-minded man, who
zealously wished to be the organ and representative of the
popular will, to be the people's sovereign, and nothing else,
and when it was demanded from him that he should destroy
the property of the rebels, he issued his emancipation pro-
clamation. (Applause.) That proclamation had been a
most effective instrument. (Hear) Wherever it had gone
it had at once quickened the hearts of that long-suffering,
long patiently-waiting race, who had believed in the power
of the republic to break their chains. (Applause,) He
or cotton
w e rre es
gladlybore testimony to the noble qualities exhibited by the
emancipated slaves. Never did he believe in the possibility
of the combination of so much intelligence and simple-
h
hs
bees sai
rn.
g)h ewlohnrakdtehafeobuvya dfl
reei nye
otnfhetaghtreo n
d
l spi
sr
toshis
pet r
p pai
rt 7 e do
es,
peeoa;tee g (
0
.
duction f
and sugar, and in place of the liberated
slaves being an indolent and dependent race, they were
everywhere active and energetic, and ready to take
their place among civilised men. (Applause.) Those
slaves who had become free and had joined the army, were
conspicuous for their heroism, as if they were anxious, even
by the sacrifice of their own lives, to secure the freedom
plantationsloodane
which was being purchased for them. (Applause.) If he
had time he could trace the results of the policy of the
Federal Government, but he would merely say that the war
was gradually tending towards a successful close. (Hear,
hear,) He wished to express that feeling temperately, for
fhe told them all he thought and felt on the matter they
would say he was rather wild and enthusiastic. He had
by him facts which went to show what had been the im-
mense pins of the Union army, and ho thought those facts
onght to satisfy any man that the war could not end but in
one way, and that was in the complete success of the Union
army. (Hear, hear.) The Confederates claimed at first
1,200,000 square miles. That was soon reduced to 887,000
square miles,
and now it was reduced to 335,000. The Con-
federates originally claimed 121 millions of people under
the sway of oligarchic rule, and that number was now re-
duced to little more than five millions, and of that num-
ber nearly one-half were slaves. (Applause.) If they
could look at the territory which had been reclaimed, they
would see that the Confederacy was now reduced merely to
a portion of Virginia, just the corner touching upon Ten-
nessee, embracing North Carolina, which was actually
trembling in the balance at that moment, resisting the
conscription and longing to return; the inlends of Georgia
and Alabama were entirely with the North. Mississippi
and Charleston were practically recovered, and Mobile
taken, and it seemed to him with all their courage and
indomitable resolution—which he granted as earnestly and
as readily as any friend of the Secession—in epite of all that
the South must see that their cause was gone, and that it
was entirely useless any more to struggle, (Cheers.) It
was said that, nevertheless, it was poseiblo to make a

boundary line. (Hear.) Where would they make it ?
It was not a question of State lines at all—(hear, bear)—it
was a question simply of highlands and lowlands ; a ques-
tion of the planting interest against the farming interest.
It would be easy to prove that Secession had been
entirely in proportion to the prevalence of slavery, and that
being so, how could they draw a boundary line ? (Hear,
hear.) They might think him a rash prophet ; but peace
was spreading over the continent of America, and on that
bow of promise sat a glorified angel of God—universal
liberty. (Loud cheering.)

The proposition was carried amid great cheering.
Alderman CARTER moved the second resolution, as fol-
lows :—‘fhat this meeting most strongly condemns the
building and equipment of ships of war in British ports, to
be employed against a nation with which this country is at
peace, and especially if employed in support of a Slave-
holding Confederacy, as calculated to embroil Great Britain
in war with a friendly Power—and as strongly approves of
the action of the British Government in detaining such
vessels from their mischievous destination, and declares its
determination to support the Government in the neutral
policy it has hitherto pursued in relation to this war
amongst our American kinsmen."
Councillor TATHAM seconded the proposition, and it was
carried.
It was moved by Councillor NICHOLS, seconded by the
Rev. JOHN ADCOCK and carried, that the foregoing resolu-
tions should be signed by the chairman, and forwarded to
Earl Russell on behalf of the enacting. On the motion of
Mr. J. LunoN, seconded by Councillor THOMPSON, a cor-
dial vote of thanks was carried to the Rev. W. H. Chan-
ning for his eloquent and instructive address. In re-
ponding,

The Rev. Mr. CHANNING said that a strange delusion
had taken possession of the minds of the people in this
country in reference to President Lincoln's right hand
man—Mr. Seward. It was said that Mr. Seward was
wishing to create a war with England ; but that was not the
case. (Hear.) Mr. Seward had himself said—" The policy of
the American people is the policy of peace at home, peace
abroad, peace with all nations; the policy of freedom for
ourselves, and in extending the empire in a manner to be
conducive to the ultimate freedom of all classes and condi-
tions of men. (Hear, hear.) Whoever shall wage war
against the American people will find themselves obliged
not only to commit the first wrong, but to become when
they enter the contest, the enemies not only of order, peace,
and progress on the continent, but of human nature itself."
(Applause.) Before sitting down he had great pleasure in
proposing a vote of thanks to the chairman. (Cheers.) He
(the chairman) had once more been a peace maker, and a
peace-keeper between two great peoples. (Hear, hear.) Mr.
Forster was the first, as far as he was aware, to lift up his
voice in Parliament against the recognition of the slave oli-
garchy, and his name was cherished in America with the
dearest affection and respect. (Cheers.) He assured Mr.
Forster that if he would, when the war was over, go to
America, and take with him John Bright on his right
hand and Richard Cobden on his left, he would receive a
most determined and earnest welcome. (Cheers.)

The proposition was seconded by Mr. ANDREWS, and
carried amid reiterated cheers,

The CHAIRMAN, in responding, said that while he was
obliged to them for the kind manner in which they had re-
ceived him, which after all was no new thing—(laughter)
—he was still more obliged to them for having gone to
that meeting, and for having enabled it to be such a suc-
cess. That meeting had been a greater success than most
anti-slavery meetings, for it had been just such a meeting
as was likely to create a good feeling between this country
and America. (Applause.) Although upon questions
like that some of them might have rather up-hill work
sometimes in the House of Commons, yet ha should always
feel that they had something behind them. (Cheers.) He
should feel that he had only to come back to Yorkshire in
order to obtain that support which would make even his
poor words of some weight in the House of Commons.
(Cheers.)
The Chinese and their Prisoners,

(From the Gazette of last evening.)
FOREIGN OFFICE, SEPT. 22.
A despatch, of which the following is an extract, from
Major. General Brown, commanding the British troops in
China, has been communicated to Lord Russell by the
Secretary of State for War :

" Various statements having appeared in the several
journals published at Shanghai, concerning the treatment
of rebel prisoners, and alleged torture of some few taken at
the capture of Taitsan, I have the honour to state, that a
report was made to me by Capt. Murray, R. A., command-
ing a Field Force in support of the attack on Taitsan, soon
after his return to headquarters, of the Imperialists' cruel
treatment of their prisoners.
"I took the report to her Britannic Majesty's Consul
(Harvey) without delay, and expressed my desire that the
Foutai should be informed of the same, sad to urge upon
him to send out an order at once to all his mandarins in
command, forbidding any cruelty to be exercised upon cap.
tured prisoners ; and further, if any report was again made
to me of a similar nature, I would cease to act with his
troops. Lieut. 8.. Cane, R.A., who has been six years in
China, and has some knowledge of the Chinese language
and customs, was the firs:. who reported the circumstance
to Captain Murray, and the letter of the former
officer, called for by me for report, is here annexed, and de..
tails, I think, everything most clearly.
" I have no reason to believe otherwise than that the
Fontai is equally anxious to be as humane as possible to his
prisoners; some hundreds were lately captured at Quang.
san, and so far from being cruelly or severely dealt with,
have actually, to a greet extent, been incorporated by
Major Gordon into his own regiment ; and I have also
asked for some to be sent down to me from Qaang.ean to
be drilled with, and attached to, the batteries of Chinese
artielelerr commandingLascars,ynßoyal Artillery,whe reports them moat
which are under the command of the
officer
useful and efficient.
-Ban, and
arf also
his le n byt
attack m
one somecl
drilled Major
gun Gordon
Lao a wasa onangof these
fifty
attention speaks mtoos t .
eye highlyw i t
no
ef a
sthem.
I have
whow would
,
allow the public to believe that men undergoing
extreme
statement, noonly
actually to draw
torture, such as he describes, with various Wounds, from
whence issued copious streams of blood, and could not only
exist from 11 a.m. till sunset, but then to be able to be led
out for execution, leaving one to suppose that he was pre..
sent the editor, in
sent the whole time ;his remarks
on the bishop's letter, to remove any apprehension as to the
non-influence of British officers who were on the spot,
states that the treatment the prisoners were under-
going,
was only discovered ten minutes before their execu-
tion. This alone, I
Boma, stamps the whole statement as
highly coloured and greatly exaggerated."

Inclosure.

inform
fCaptain A. Murray'
irquiry o the Major-General June 11, 1863.
command of
of that day I was taking
Sir.—ln reply to the irquiry
ratozado
Com-
manding I have theyou that on May 3,
unit'
dtehree
a our Sahfttaenngani.
1863, I was present at IY ik°n.stitc, as Acting Field Ad-
lm'setn,stloctkhado d
ink seven or eight,
jßuotyanalt
Atortaillfeorryc.e
several other
a walk for exercise, withofficers, along the
passing between
they were Changman pri-
soners,Tio.itng-sund, and in
'was attracted by
tmwaoinlrmopaedriteowi towards
a number of naked and tied to
. —N, and with the
rebels of long standing/Which very peculiar com-
plexion•have been frequently posts
aollnwaiPtPhr°NarecrhYillj; bunair. (showing
and physiognaal'who that they were
no-
ticed as acquired by men have spent much time among
the Taepings.
These men had evidently been sentenced to the punish-
ment of the " Ling-obet" )1. " 81ow and ignominious death,"
fhoardin a of
f piece this horrible punishment
of skin, not flesh, about
caawanl herdora
carried
dvtwtileodeueci
nnta.tlol
thatr'
Each
ctauhe
tthahtni
or
anya had been spared as much as possible,
g into a thousand pieces," and it was
the
PM from one arm and hang-
ifnourg
dionwchne,sby w
and
one o,
had been pushed (ap-
parently not shot) throtgh the skin in different places.
There was very little blood about the ground, and the men
did not appear to be in Pain; one was crying out very loudly
that he was a Shanghai Coolie and ought not to be put to
death as a rebel; he had however very long hair. I asked
a low Chinese officer present what they were, he told me
they were old and well-known rebels, two of them officers,
and they were about to
informed :a
te usual manner, except that the
sword tl I gathered that decapitation
be beheaded ; he said that they had
been exposed from mid-day (it was about half-past four or
five o'clock p.m., when I sAve them). At the same time I
to superintend the execution,
and not being anxious to Witness the spectacle, which I had
often seen I before,
withdrew. From what other officers
who
wasaaw an official approaching.
performed
employed was blunt; and the executioner inexpert.
I saw no other signs of torture whatever, and considered
that these men were, taking into account Chinese law and
customs, rather mercifully dealt with. A dead Changman
lay some distance off, who had been treated in a similiar
remained
o tonce
imanner to the other, in addition a slight incision had been
made from his breast to his groin, but, from the absence of
blood, I think this was clew after death.
On my return to Waikong
I reported what I had seen to
Captain Murray, commanding, who desired me to visit the
camp next morning, and to take notice of the occurrence,
which I did by mentioning it to a fourth rank military field
officer, the senior in the camp. I told him we English did
not like such punishments; that if a man deserved death
we executed him at once, and did not expose or mutilate
him. I expressed general disapproval of what had been
'done, and said the English commanding officer was much
displeased at it, and, if anything of the sort was attempted
again, would march up and put a stop to it ; and that I hoped
it would not again occur during our stay. He replied that he
did not himself approve of it, but that I must recollect that a
large number of the rebel prisoners taken at Taitsan had
been pardoned by the High Imperial officers, permitted
to shave their heads, and employed as soldiers or labourers;
and that it was not possible to restrain the Imperial sol-
diers from taking some vengeance for the treatment which
the i ebels had inflicted on 300 or more of their comrades,
who had been entrapped into Taitsan on a false promise of
the surrender of the place. These men, he said, were
almost all put to death, and very many of them had their
" bodies wounded, and cotton put over their wounds and
set on fire," and were otherwise badly tortured, (This I

understand was really the case.) He added that the
Chinese General officer then in command at Waikongsum-
Kwoh Ta jin was mercifully inclined, and anxious not to
be severe with the rebel soldiers, many of whom had been
carried away forcibly, and compelled to serve in the ranks
of the Taepings.—l have, &c.,
(Signed)

ROBERT EMMET CANE,
Lieutenant, Royal Artillery.
The Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General, Shanghai.
N. 8.-1,100 men were sent up to take possession of Tait-
san by the Foutai. They were entrapped, and out of the
number only some 300 were rescued by Major Gordon on
the fall of Taitsan. 350 are known to have been beheaded
a few days before the capture, and the remainder are still
unaccounted for.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

NORTH BRITISH.

The report issued by the directors of this com-
pany is a lengthy document, of which the following
is an abstract :—The half-year ending 31st July
closes with an equal mileage compared with the
corresponding date of last year, but, owing to partial
openings, an accurate comparison of results cannot
be made prior to the half years commencing Ist of
August, 1862 and 1863, The comparative increase
of traffic receipts in the past half-year gives a total
of £34,152 ; and the balance sheet shows a surplus
available for dividends on the ordinary stocks of
£20,591, enabling the directors to recommend the
shareholders todeclare dividends per cent. per annum
of 11 on the North British, Bs. 4d. on the Edinburgh,
Perth, and Dundee, and 2 on the Border Union ordi-
nary stocks; leaving a balance to carry forward of
£839. The directors consider these results satisfac-
tory. A year ago, when the dividends of the Edin-
burgh, Perth, and Dundee, West of Fife, and Silloth
undertakings were not a burden on the North
British, the shareholders only received a dividend of
1 per cent, per annum. Now, also, there are the
dividends on Border Union and North British gua-
ranteed shares, and interest to capital expended on
the Wansbeck, the Galashiels, the Peebles and Ber-
wickshire railways, hitherto totally unproductive,
and imposing a dead weight on revenue. These did
not affect the corresponding period, therefore
to declare a better dividend on a largely augmented
capital is satisfactory in the highest degree—more
especially when it is further considered that in the
immediately preceding half-year (always the more
remunerative of the two) the dividend was; per cent.
less than now earned. The Border Union revenue is
slowly progressing, time being required for removing
obstructione at Carlisle and Gretna. The damaging
operation of the English and Scotch traffic agree-
ment, by which receipts to the amount of £50,000
per month are now placed in suspense at the rail-
way clearing house, must, in the opinion of the
board, be legally tested. The directors state they
cannot acquiesce in the deduction that railways
opened since the agreement was executed are at
liberty to carry the traffic, but are not entitled to
participate in the proceeds. The directors refer with
satisfaction to the results of the parliamentary ses-
sion. All the bills promoted by the company were
sanctioned by parliament, the directors only regret-
ting the cost of victory was so large. Some of the
costs are charged to capital, some to revenue,
some to the contingent account. In the latter
is a sum of £3,753, paid to the various suf-
ferers at MlTaxton, where, in May, 1862, part
of a train left the line. The directors, while
refusing to admit legal liability, have endea-
voured to alleviate, by reasonable pecuniary com-
pensation, the sufferings of those who were per-
sonally injured by the accident. The share capital
authorised to be raised in last session is : Border
Union purposes, £500,000; Silloth and Belfast
steam communication, £30,000; Queensferry route,
£400,000—total, £990,000. Of this it is intended
to call up about one -half in the next 12 months, but
the board advise the creating of the whole of the
capital in 112 10a. shares, at 5 per cent, per annum,
in perpetuity, to be allotted to preference and ordi-
nary holders alike. The plan adopted is expected
not to cause any undue strain on the resources of
the company, the traffic receipts being steadily on
the increase, and a considerable mi'eage of rail-
ways from time to time, to come into active and
profitable operation. The Lansholme branch is to
be completed in December; 17$ miles of the Ber-
wickshire will be opened in October; the junction of
the Wansbeck with the Border Counties will pro-
bably be accomplished in 1864; and the Galashiels
and Peebles to Innerleithen on the Ist of Jaly,
1864, and throughout by the Ist of January, 1865.
Of the Queeosferry route the directors intend com-
pleting forthwith about three miles, to connect
their northern system with the Charleston Railway,
and thereby affird a convenient shipping place for
the Fifeshire minerals. The remaining works, the
directors have no doubt, the authorised capital will
fully suffice to complete, and leave a considerable
margin for improving existing accommodation.
The growing trade of Silloth points out the neces-
sity for provision whereby ships resorting thither
may refit, and it is intended to spend £3,000 in
the erection of a repairing slip. A tug steamer
has been placed there, and it is expected that
regular steam communication between Silloth
and other ports will be increased. Since
the last meeting, the Hon. T. C. Bruce,
chairman of the Inverness and Perth Railway, has
ceased to be a director of the North British, and
Mr. Charlton, of Hesleyside, formerly chairman of
the Border Counties Railway, has been elected to
the vacant seat. The directors anticipate a consider-
able accession of traffic from the through opening
of the Inverness and Perth Railway, and will lose
no opp )rtunity of cultivating friendly relations. The
railways of the two companies, on completion of
Queensferry, will form the most convenient and
shortest route between Edinburgh and the north of
Scotland. A special meeting of the Border Union
section of shareholders will be held immediately after
the general meeting, to enable them to assent to the
amalgamation of their capital with part of the North
British.

HEALTH OF LONDON.

(From the Registrar-General's Weekly Return.)

In the week that ended last Saturday the deaths in Lon-
don were 1,186. The average number of deaths in 10 cor-
responding weeks—viz., the 38th week in each of the years
1353-62, with the omission of deaths from cholera in 1854,
and a correction for increase of population, is 1,147. The
mortality as exhibited in the present return does not much
exceed the estimated amount.

There were 36 deaths from smallpox, 14 of which occurred
to persons 15 years old and upwards. It is stated that vac-
cination had been previously performed in 10 of the 36 cases,
but the evidence on which such statements rests is not al-
ways to be trusted. Only one death from smallpox occurred
in the west districts in the week, and not more than four in
the south.
The deaths from scarlatina were very numerous in the
week ; they were 130. This complaint is at the present time
the most fatal in the list, with the exception of phthisis,
which numbers 142 eases. Scarlatina seems to be rife in
Kentish-town, where there were eight deaths from it; in
the sub-district of Haggerstone east, where there were five;
and in Tat of St. Peter, Walworth, where there were seven.
Four deaths were ascribed direetly to intemperance, be-
sides four to delirium tremens. Seven infants died of syphi.
litic disease.

Two widows died at the respective ages of 91 and 95 years.
A man employed in lead works, aged 35 years, died from
lead poisoning, which caused disease of the liver.
Last week the births of 946 boys and 984 girls, in all 1,930
children, were registered in London. In the 10 correspond..
ing weeks of the years 1853-62 the average number (cor-
rected) was 1,846.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
of the barometer in the week was 29.950 in. The barometri-
cal pressure was 30.20 in. on Monday, and it fell to 29.49 in.
on Saturday. The mean temperature of the air in the week
was 56.1 deg., which is 0.4 deg. below the average of the
same week in 43 years (as determined by Mr. Glaisher).
The mean temperature was below the average on every day
till Friday. The lowest night temperature was 43.8 deg., on
Thursday. The highest day temperature was 71.8 deg., on
Saturday. The range of temperature in the week was
therefore 28 deg. The mean daily range was 16.9 deg.
1 he difference between the mean dew-point temperature and
air temperature was 8 deg, The mean degree of humidity
of the air was 75, complete saturation being represented by
100. The wind blew during the week from the south. west.
The mean of the highest temperature of the water of the
Thames was 62 7 deg. ; that of the lowest was 60.5 deg. No
rain was measured in the week.

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