The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-07 00:00:00

but they will convey—though still inadequately—the ex-
pression of our devoted loyalty. And in the presence of this
sacred sorrow I am satisfied it will be the desire of your
lordships, the desire of all, on all sides of the house—not
only of this but of the other House of Parliament—to con-
tribute all in their power to spare her Majesty one addi-
tional pang under the affliction that presses so heavily upon
her. (Hear.) On my own part, and en the part of those with
whom I hae e the honour of acting, such I am satisfied is
the spirit in which we shall enter on the business of this
session—(hear, hear.)—arid I earnestly trust—as from the
tenonr of the Royal Speech I am induced h-pefully to
believe—that her Majesty's Ministers are disposed to meet
us in the same spirit—(hear, hear)—that they are disposed
rather to initiate those useful and practical measures in
which all can alike join harmoniously and cordially, and to
abstain from bringing forward themselves, as well as to
discourage others from broaching, those agitating topics
and more violent controversies which by their pos-
sible result might add to the cares and anxieties of the So-
vereign. (Cheers.) I make this declaration with the snore
satisfaction, because on the next important topic adverted
to in her Majesty's Speech I am able not only to abstain
from any objection, but am prepared to give the Govern-
ment a cordial approval and support in its policy in refer-
ence to the affairs of the United States. (Cheers.) I make
that statement not only in reference to the course the Go-
vernment has pursued in respect to the events that have
occurred in America, and from which it was at one time too
probable we should be involved in a war in which, of all
others, we have most interest in remaining neutral; I ap-
prove the neutrality the Government has pledged itself to
maintain, in the unhappy struggle between the Northern
and Southern States of America. If, indeed, there has been
any deviation from that neutrality, it has been in favour of
that portion of the States with which we still to continue to
hold diplomatic relations. Except during the short period in
which war was imminent, we have in no case laid any ob-
stacle in the way of the exportation of arms and ammuni-
tion. The exportation was sanctioned to both parties, but,
practically, that sanction was most favourable to the Go-
vernment of the Northern States. Again, we have given to
the Federal Government a greater advantage than it has
claimed for itself, because we have adm tted what it has it-
self denied—that it is actually at war ; and as a bellige-
rent it can exercise rights which, except as a belligerent, it
could not claim. We have given the Federal Government
far more than it required; and by an act of which it has
grievously complained it is in a far better position than it
has stated itself to be. We have also submitted, and sub-
mitted without a murmur, to the interruption of our trade
caused by this war. And this reflects the highest credit on
the good sense and the patriotism of the working men of the
manufacturing population of this country. Ido not speak
so much of the master manufacturers, because a cessation
of our cotton supply could not have occurred more op-
portunely for our manufacturing interest than at the
present moment, when all the foreign markets are flooded
with cotton goods. Had there been no cessation of the sup-
ply of cotton, an intermission of productive activity would
have been practically necessary. But on the working men
who, by this suspension, incur the loss of their daily earn-
ings, the interrwetion of trade has a melancholy effect ; and
I give them the greatest possible credit for the manner in
which they have submitted, without a murmur, to the con-
sequences of a blockade which the intervention of the Go-
vernment could immediately have removed. As I concur
with the course her Majesty's Government has pursued, I
do not ask them to deviate from it ; but I think the time is
not yet come when the Government should recog-
nise the so far successful revolt of the seceded States. But
while I think we should be prepared to recognise a Govern-
ment accepted by a whole country, we should be careful not
prematurely to recognise what may be an independent Go-
vernment now, but may not hereafter have the power to
maintain its independence. I should not, therefore, call on
the Government to go further than it has done in treating
both parties impartially as belligerents ; but I hope her
Majesty's Government will be able to satisfy the country
on one point—a point of great importance, and one on
which they alone have authentic information. It is. how far
the blockade we have recognised has been iollft _ride and
effective. Ido not think, as long as the war lasts, a block-
, ade, hether continued or not, would have any material
on the supply of cotton. And ultimately, as good often pro-
ceeds from evil, lam not sure but the continuance of the
I American difficulty may place us in a mere advantageous
position by enabling us to find a more constant supply front
other sources, and rendering us less exclusively dependent
on the cotton-growing States. But I think it is important
we should have from her Majesty's Government the infor-
mation that can be furnished by the admiral on
the station and the British consuls of how many
vessels have broken the blockade, that we may be
able to judge how far it ought to be recognised.
While I give full credit to her Majesty's Government not
only for the course they have pursued, but for the prompt-
ness with which, when war was imminent, they sent out the
reinforcements that were absolutely necessary to resist ag-
gression in Canada, I rejoice to find that in the speech jus-
tice is done to the spirit and unanimity with which all
classes of her Majesty's subjects in our Norte American
provinces came forward and expressed their determination
at all hazards—and the hazard of war, in the first instance,
would have fallen upon themselves—to maintain their in-
dependence, and support the honour and dignity of the
British Crown. (Cheers.) If there be one thing more than
another which will tend to secure peaceful relations and a
rood understanding between this country and the United
States it is the knowledge which the Americans must now
have acquired of the utter delusion into which those per-
sons fell who imagined that Canada and the other British
provinces in North America were only eager for annexation
to the United States, and that Great Britain would never
venture upon a war with America because she would al-
ways fear the willing annexation of Canada. (Hear.) That
delusion is, I hope, now dissipated for ever, and its dissipa-
tion will form an important element in our future relations
with America, as tending to secure us against the dangers
of war with that country. (Rear.) I cannot pass over this
part of the subject without expressing my unaffected con-
currence with the testimony borne by my noble friend who
seconded the Address to the honourable and loyal part
which has been played upon this occasion by the French
Government. (Hear.) I have not been slow upon other
occasions, when I thought that the conduct of that Govern-
ment was not as straightforward and just towards us as we
might have expected, to express my opinion to that effect,
and I have the greater pleasure, therefore, in being able to
state my conviction that nothing could be more frank, more
loyal, or more kindly than the intervention which, at the
instigation of the Emperor of the French, M. de Thouvenel
undertook in the letter which he wrote upon this occasion.
(Cheers.) I cannot say what icfluence that letter may have
had upon the ultimate decision of the American Govern-
ment, but this I will say, it is a matter of the highest satis-
faction that that letter, followed by similar despatches from
other Courts of Europe, showed to the world at large that in
making our demands we were only requiring that which we
could not have refrained from demanding without forfeiting
our character as an independent Power and sacrificing the
honour of the country. (Hear, hear.) When the English
people first received the news of the capture of the Trent, a
certain amount of indignation was displayed, but there was
a calm and unanimous determination to await the decision
byd
it hi a
dnbteeern•
whether
ltahiws; capturedownaos
capture was borne out by international law,
found that that twhaer rs
ea dt
oasnady jt
ul
satti fi
ife
or even by precedents taken from our own history—though
Englishmen would have had a keen ense of the injury and
the insult inSicted upon them—they would have bowed to
the majesty of the law, and would have submitted to the
seizure as a legitimate exercise of belligerent rights. But
from the moment when it was clearly ascertained that no in-
ternatienal law sanctioned such an act, that no precedent
could be discovered to sanction, or even to palliate, the con-
duct of the American commander—from that moment the
country, equally as one man, determined that reparation
and apology must he had. (Cheers.) They adopted that
determination not in i)assion, not in anger, not in fierce
excitement, rejoicing in the prospect of war, at which,
indeed, they shuddered with abhorrence, but in the per-
formance of a grave, serious, imperative duty—one from
which, however painful, they could not shrink, because,
great as might be the horrors of war, greater still would
lords, while I have thus feebly attempted to convey
wishncesi caonudldblyook with
be the ignominy of forfeiting the national honour. (Cheers.)
My
his Majesty the Em
view of the conduct pursued by this country, by our
peror of equal satisfac-
tion upon the course taken by the Federal Government.
(Hear) I believe that the maxims which regulate private
Nmyorth American
themeriFcraennchP,rolvi
society are not inapplicable among nations ; and speaking
to an assembly of high-minded men, I am certain that there
is not one of your lordships who, if it were made clear that
you had offended or injured any person with whom you had
been on intimate relations, would not feel that the most
honourable course was to anticipate any possible require-
ment from the other side, and to tender on the instant a
frank and manly apology; and the more ample, the more
speedy, and the more frank was the apology the higher
would he who made it stand in the estimation of all honour-
able men. (Cheers.) Applying the principle to nations, I
cannot but express my deep regret that when the American
Secretary of State was convinced, as he was long before the
termination of these negotiations, that thecapture was illegal
he should have kept the persons captured for a considerable
time in all the rigours of a not very merciful imprison-
ment, and that he not only hesitated to grant the reparation
which in honour and in justice was due—l am speaking, of
course, of the American Government in general—but should
have sanctioned language which was wholly unwarranted by
facts, and permitted impressions to go abroad calculated
to
excite the most bitter animosity between the people of the
two countries. (Hear, hear.) Lastly, I think it greatly to
be regretted that, having made up his mind thatof State
reparation
and apology were necessary, the American Secretary
should have waited until the formal demandtu waiting not to
s was made not
privately, but officially and formally, h
consider how much reparation he should give but how smalla
measure of reparation would ea,
B tisfy the imperative de-
•
ch
de-
mands of Great Britain. (Cheers.) By the course which
they pursued theFederalGovernment have placed themselves
and
an unworthy position,
and their people in an undignified
and have shown that they apologised not from a sense ofjus-
tice, but on a demand backed by force and that they only gave
the reparation we asked for because they knew that this
country wo
uld be satisfied with nothing less. My lords, I am
no
t about to enter upon any of those vexed questions of inter.,