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

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 7, 1862•

have hitherto maintained. (Hear, hear.) I consider it of
of the greatest importance to do so. I cannot but think
that before many months are over it will be ascertained
whether the Northern States are able to accomplish that
task they have set themselves of reconstructing the Union
with the Southern States of America. If they are not
able to do so I am convinced it is far better that they
themselves, their Government, their Congress and people
should be persuaded of the inutility of their efforts, and be
ready to form a treaty by which the independence of the
Southern States should be acknowledged—it is far better
that this conviction should come to them from the failure of
their own efforts than from the intervention of any foreign
Power. (Hear, hear.) If the fortune of war and the
inutility of their efforts should induce them to acknowledge
the Southern States as independent, I hope that not only
the two might proceed in amity together, but we might ex-
pect that the United States would rest satisfied that the
Powers of Europe had behaved fairly in this contest, that
they had respected the mighty Union in which liberty had
for 80 years been established, and that they had been con-
tent not to interfere prematurely with the conduct of that
contest. But if they should be convinced that it was by
foreign interference and force that the Southern .•..tates had
established their independence, depend on it there would be
a rankling feeling against that country that first interfered,
an enmity and bitterness we might have to deplore for
several generations. (Hear, hear.) With respect to Mexico
the three Powers are bound by the conventi,,n ; and no in-
fluence will be used to prevent the Mexicans from deciding
on their own form of Government. I am certainly not 03
sanguine as some others that the 'Mexicans are ready to
establish a constitutional Government, but whether they
are ready immediately to do so or not, I think it absolutely
incumbent on this country, to endeavour to obtain some re-
dress for the wrongs we have suffered. With regard; again,
to the United States, the Government were proud to reflect
that the nation had left entirely in their hands the treat-
ment of the difference which had arisen, and now it has
been adjusted I must say I believe that although on other
occasions, when questions of boundary had to be settled,
the country was most willing to yield any reasonable ad-
vantage to the United States of America, yet when our
honour and reputation were concerned it was impossible
that any compromise should be permitted, and it was in-
cumbent on us to seek reparation, and not be satisfied till
that reparation was obtained. (Hear, hear.) !,

The Earl of CARNARVON said it would be recollected
that Mr. Jefferson Davis in his Message to the Congress of
the Confederate States stated that he had laid before the
various Governments of Europe evidence to show that the
blockade had been interrupted and broken on many occa-
sions. It was very desirable that those communications,
if they had been made to her Majesty's Government,
should be included in any papers which might be presented
to their lordships.
Earl RUSSELL was understood to state that the papers
referred to by the noble lord would be laid on tho table.
Lord KINGSDOWN wished to direct the attention of
their lordships for a single minute to the mode in which
the dispute with America had been settled. He did not
know whether the effect of agreeing to the Address would
be to say that the dispute had been satisfactorily settled. To
his mind it had been anything but satisfactorily settled. He
gave full credit to the Government for the course they hail
pursued throughout the whole of the negotiations. All
must approve their conduct in observing a strict neutrality
in the war between the North and the South, and the
temper with which they required satisfaction when a gross
outrage had been committed on the national flag was de-
serving of every commendation. But he did not believe that
the mode in which their demand had been complied with,
as far as it had been complied with, was satisfactory to the
honour of England. (Hear.) He did not hesitate to say that
if the despatch of Mr. Seward, which accompanied the sur-
render of Messrs. Slidell and Mason, had been acquiesced
in by our Government, England would have stood before
Europe even in a worse position than she would have occu-
pied if the prisoners had not been given up at all. Not a
single word of apology could be found in the despatch of
Mr. Seward ; on the contrary, Mr. Seward distinctly de-
clared that the capture of Messrs. Slidell and Mason was
thoroughly justified by law and practice, and he added that,
whether justified or not, whether right or wrong, if it had
been for the interest of the American Government to de
tain the prisoners they would have kept them in defiance
of England. (Hear, hear.) It must be admitted that the
position of our Government was a difficult one, but the
surrender of Messrs Slidell and Mason having been un-
attended by an apology for the outrage committed on our
flag, or by the slightest compensation to the victims
themselves, he was not prepared to say that the settle-
ment had been satisfactory, He gave his full adhesion
to the principles laid clowil by the law officers of the Crown,
and he congratulated the Government upon having as Soli-
citor. General a gentleman whose opinion was entitled to all
the weight and authority which could belong to great abi-
lities, profound knowledge, and high personal character ;
but it was deeply to be regret ted that thoie doctrines should
have been scouted and repudiated by Mr. Seward on the
part of the American Cabinet. (Hear.) The noble and
learned lord concluded by stating that, having been for
nearly 20 years closely associated with the late Prince Con-
sort in the management of important business, he could
conscientiously declare that no man ever showed greater
aptitude for dealing with affairs, or a more anxious desire to
promote the interests entrusted to his charge. (Hear, hear.)
The Address wasthen agreed to.
Earl RUSSELL laid on the table the papers referred to
in the Queen's Speech, and
Their lordships adjourned at 10 minutes past 8 o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTEItDAY.
The house resumed at a quarter to 4 o'clock.
NEW MEMBERS.

The following members took the oaths and their seats :
—Mr. C. Turner, as third member for South Lancashire;
Mr. Laird for. Birkenhead ; Mr. Cox, for Finsbury ; Col.
Fane, for Oxfordshire ; Mr Potter, for Carlisle; Mr Sealey,
for Lincoln; Sir H. Bruce, for Coleraine; Mr, Morrison,
for Plymouth ; Sir R. Clifton, for Nottingham ; Sir P.
Burrell, for New Shoreham ; and Mr. Vernon, for East
Worcester. _ _

ment.

ing to that paragraph they would not be discharging
merely a conventional duty, but giving expression
to the general feeling which rested on the affections of an
attached and loyal people. The hon. member concluded by
reading the address, which was an embodiment of the

sentiments he had expressed.
Mr. WESTERN WOOD, in seconding the address, re-
echoed the observations of the preceding speaker rela-
tive to her Majesty's loss in very feeling and effective
terms. He felt deeply indebted to the Government for the
manner in which they had acted in reference to the dispute
with America, which had such an important influence on

the monetary interests of this country. He congratulated the
house on the stability of the public funds,which he contrasted
with the state of Government Securities in other countries.
He again referred to the course pursued in regard to the
United States, and repeated his praise for the promptitude,

efficiency, and conciliatory spirit exhibited by Government.
He next alluded to the Naval Reserve and the Volunteers,

and argued that with such defences the country might
rest satisfied
.of stdety and security being assured. He
went through some other points of the myal speech, and
said that in regard to estimates a liberal provision fre-
quently proved in the end a wise economy. In speaking
of the distress existing in the country, he reminded the

house that it had not attained to the extent which it had
done on previous occasions, and that up to the present time

local assistance had been found sufficient to meet the emer-

gency which had arisen. He praised the working classes
for the patience they had shown under their sufferings,

which he ascribed to the more general diffusion of know-
ledge. He contended that the distress did not arise from a

deficiency of supply of the raw material, but from over
production, which had been the means of overstocking all

the markets of the world. The hon. member concluded by

repeating the paragraph in the Royal Address, which
prayed for the wise guidance of the deliberations of Parlia-

The SPEAKER then moved the Address.
Mr. DISRAELI —Sir, the intimation conveyed in the
Speech of the Lords Commissioners, both with respect to our
foreign relations and our domestic condition, must, I feel,
be satisfactory to the house. Although no ono can be blind
to the fact that the general condition of affairs is one preg •
nant with anxiety and apprehension, yet, under the favour
of Divine Providence, and with the exercise of vigilance
and moderation in our councils, let us trust that these perils
may be averted. Since the house was prorogued the march
of events in North America has been momentous. Nothing,
however, has occurred so far which has for a moment
shaken my conviction of the wisdom of the policywhich was
adopted originally by her Majesty's Government—the policy
of neutrality—(cheers)—and I feel bound to take this, the
earliest opportunity of expressing my belief that that policy
on the part of her Majesty's Government was sincerely
adopted and has been sincerely practised. (Hear, hear.)
Very recently, indeed, an event occurred which for a
moment seemed to endanger the practice of that policy.
The conduct of the Government with respect to the matter
of the Trent was the conduct which I trust that any men
responsible for the government of this country would have
followed. (Cheers.) But that it was followed with firmness
and moderation I freely and cheerfully admit. (Loud cheers.)
On the other hand, I am bound to say that the reparation
offered to us appears to me to have been influenced by
sentimen's as worthy. I, sir, am not prepared to peer and
pry into any possible motives unknown to us that may in-
fluence the conduct of public men. When I consider the
great difficulties which the statesmen of North America
have to encounter, when I consider what I may call the
awful emergency they have been summoned suddenly to
meet, and which, without giving any opinion about the
cause of these public transactions, I would venture to say
they have met manfullyand courageously, then, sir, I think
itbecomes England, in dealing with the Government of the
United States, to extend to all which they say at least a
generous interpretation, and to that which they do a liberal
construction. (Hear, hear.) Sir, I have fairly and frankly
expressed my own feelings upon these points, but at the
same time I think we have a right to expect from the Go-
vernment of the United States that they should take no per-
verse view of the conduct of the Government of this coun-

try. (Hear, hear.) In an affair of intestine dissension a
neutral Power must contemplate a term to these disorders,
but whether that conclusion should be accomplished by vin-
dicating the authority of the legitimate Government, or by
recognising the influence and existence of the insurrectionary
Power, is an event which time and circumstances alone can
settle, but which is a result which never can be absent from
the observation and consideration of responsible Ministers,

(Hear, hear.) Sir, there is something in these matters
stronger than the Law of Nations—the instinct of the human
heart, which recoils from hopeless and unnecessary carnage.
(Hear, hear.) And what the Goverament of the United
States has a right to expect, and what I trust no Govern-
ment that may exist in this country would ever refuse them,
is that no steps should bo taken—if steps should be neees-
sary—in a precipitate spirit. (Hear, hear.) A precipitate
step may turn out to be a premature one; and we owe the ut-
most and the deepest deliberation on such matters not only
to the interests, not only to the feelings of an ally—which
ought to be considered—hut we owe it to the interests of
this country itself. (Isar.) And when, Sir, I see in this
paper before me the reference that, is made to another coun-
try in North America., and when I find that an interference
is about to take place in that country which, from certain
authentic statements that are prevalent, may even aim at
its political independence, I say, remembering that this
country was the first that acknowledged the independence
of that insurrectionary State, it becomes us well to consider
what steps we should take in future in its respect. (Hear.)
But, Sir, in saying so much, and without giving any opi-
nion upon the present condition of the Southern States, or
upon the character of that blockade of their ports which so
much occupies public attention at this moment—because I
think to-night it would be most inappropriate and inconve-
nient to enter into any controversial discussion—(loud cries
of " Hear")—l think that this country has a right to ex-
pect that the most ample and authentic information in the
possession of the Government with respect to the blockade
should be laid on the table of the house. (Hear.) I pre-
sume that from the commanders of our squadrons and other
otfiaial sources on the spot the Government are in possession
of very ample materials on which the ultimate judgment of
this house and of the country may depend. That infor-
mation—without insinuating the slightest opinion upon
the merits of the case on the present occasion—l think we
have a right to expect to be given. (Hear.) Now, Sir,
there is another matter connected with North America, to
which I have for a moment allnded, which I confess is one
that fills me with some apprehension. As I understand
that papers are to be laid upon the table, it would be highly
inconvenient and quite unnecessary to enter now into any
discussion as to the merits of the policy adopted by
the Government with respect to Mexico ; but I
do not wish this opportunity to be lost—ni y, I feel
it my duty to take this occasion to impress upon the
house and the country that this is a question which
deserves our most anxious attention. And, Sir, I do this for
two reasons. In the first place, I cannot forget that Eng-
land was the first country that recognised the independence
of Mexico—an event connected with a memorable policy
and a memorable man. (Hear.) The occasion must be one
of the most grave which could bring about the necessitythat
her Majesty's advisors and that England should strike at
that political independence which they themselves created.
But there is a second reason which makes me view this an-
nouncement with some apprehension, and which makes me
anxious that, even on this early occasion, the house should
give its attention to this very important subject. (Hear.)
So far as we can form an opinion from those statements
which are held to be authentic, and which meet the public
eye by the convenient communication of favoured journals,
the very grounds upon which this interference in Mexico is
taking place have changed in the course of a very brief time.
First of all we heard that the object of the expedition was
' to obtain redress for British subjects who had been the vie •
tims of extortion and confiscation; but now it is generally
rumoured that the object is much higher—that not merely
is it to obtain redress for injury to British subjects, but that
the object and effect of this alliance may be to introduce into
North America new principles of government, and abso-
lutely to establish even new dynasties. (Hear, hear.) Now,
Sir, I have said that I will offer no opinion to-night on the
conduct of the Government in these matters. It is impossi-
ble, until we are perfectly familiar with all that has taken
place, that we can come to a satisfactory conclusion. But I
think the state of affairs Is such as to justify great anxiety
on our part, and it may even lead to considerable embarrass-
ment. (Hear, hear.) But, Sir, there is another piece of in-
formation which follows the announcement of the conven-
tion of France and Spain in regard to Mexico, which is of so
important a character that it ought not to pass without re-
mark, and that is the convention with the Sultan of Mo-
rocco. (Hear.) Now, S:r, it is very difficult to collect from
this announcement the exact nature of the convention, but
I presume I am not in error in the interpretation I place
upon it when I say that it is not a formal guarantee to those
who have lent money to the Emperor of Morocco, but that
it is in fact a virtual guarantee. Now, sir, treaties of gua-
rantee to those who have lent money to foreign Powers
should always be treated by this house with great indul-
gence. Ido not mean to say that there may not be circum-
stances of so grave a character that the political considera-
tions may not absorb those principles of conduct which
generally prevail in this house. Ido not mean to say that
there are no circumstances in which such conventions have
not been sanctioned by the house, though even within a
few years the house has sanctioned only by a very narrow
majority the engagements of the Crown in those matters.
Bu„ if there is to be a guarantee I should much prefer a
formal to a mere virtual guarantee. (Hear, hear.) In the
case of a formal guarantee this house necessarily exercises
a control over the transaction. The matter must be brought
before this hraise before such an engagement on the part of
the Crown can be accomplished. But in the case of a virtual
guarantee like the present where the Crown has not legally
guaranteed the interest of the creditor, but has placed itself
in a position which makes it the holder of the resources to
which the creditor is entitled, in that case the House of
Commons exercises no control whatever. The obvious an-
swer to any objection is that there is no guarantee, and wh7
then, should the house exercise a control ? But I put this
case to the house—suppose the interest is not paid on the
Morocco loan, do not you think the House of Commons will
hear of it ? (Hear.) Do not you think the hon. member for
the City (Mr, W. Wood), wLe has settled with so much
i unctiongard
to t thhee l
opaonl
.....i c y(ao of
ohge rtolltosut yi
d' s G
t heorkv eoronFamoecinet
wwith
there e-

house and say, on the part of his constituents, that they -
would not have accepted the engagement if there had not
been a moral guarantee on the part of the Government ?
Then there would be societies organised to obtain justice.
People in the country who lend their money on the faith of
a convention now publicly referred to in the Speech of the
Royal Commissioners will complain that they have been
misled by the interference of the Crown. They will say
that they have a moral claim on the liberality of the coun-
try ; and I put it to the house whether under these circum-
stances the Chancellor of the Exchequer may not consider
himself fortunate if he can defeat such a movement. There-
fore, so far as the character of the transaction is concerned,
if political circumstances had been of so grave a character
that all financial considerations ruu,,t yield to them, it would
have been better to have had an absolute legal and formal
guarantee than to have involved the Crown and the coun-
try in a transaction which, I cannot help thinking, if ad-
verse circumstances prevent dividends being forthcoming at
the necessary time, will involve the Government of this
country in considerable difficulty, accompanied, probably,
by considerable loss. There are many other topics in the
speech which are not undeserving of attention, but I confess
that I am not myself pecularly inclined on this night to
enter into any minute criticism or controversy on these
matters. No person can be insensible to the fact that the
house meets to-night under circumstances very much
changed from those which have attended our meetings for
many years. Of I.te years, indeed for more than 20 years
past, whatever may have been our personal rivalries, and
whatever our party strifes, there was at least one sentiment
in which we all coincided, which we all shared, and that
was the sentiment of admiring gratitude to that Throne
whose wisdom and goodness had so often softened the acer-
bities of our free public life, and had at all times so majes-
tically represented the matured intelligence of an enlight-

ened people. (Hear.) All that is changed. He is gone who
was the comfort and support of that Throne. 74' has been
said that there is nothing which England so much appre-

elates as the fulfilment of duty, The Prince whom we have
lost not only was eminent for the fulfilment of duty, but it

was the fulfilment of the highest duty under the most diffi

cult circumstances. Prince Albert was the Consort of his

Sovereign—he was the father of one who might be his
Sovereign—he was the Prime Councillor of a realm the

political constitution of which did not even recognize his
political existence. Yet under these circumstances, so

difficult and so delicate, he elevated even the Throne by the

dignity and purity of his domestic life. (Hear, hear.) He
framed and partially accomplished a scheme of education

for the heir of England which proved how completely its
august projector had contemplated the office of an English
King. (Hear, hear.) In the affairs of State, while his

serene spirit and his elevated position bore him above all
the possible bias of our party life, he showed on every great
occasiun all the resources, all the prudence, and all the saga-
city of an experienced and responsible statesman. (Hear,
hear.) I have presumed to touch upon three instances in
which there was on the part of Prince Albert a fulfilment

of duty—duty of the highest character under circumstances
of the greatest difficulty. I will venture to touch upon
another point in his character equally distinguished by ful-
filment of duty, but in which the duty was not only ful-

filled, but was created. Although when he was adopted
by this country he was, after all, but a youth of tender
years, such was the character of his mind—at once observ-
ing and contemplative—that in due season he discovered
that notwithstanding all those great achievements which
long centuries of internal concord and public liberty had
permitted the energy and enterprise of Englishmen to
achieve, there was still a great deficiency in our national
character, which, if neglected, might lead to the impairing
not only of our happiness, but even of the sources of our
public wealth. That was a deficiency of culture. (Hear,
hear.) But he was not satisfied with detecting a want ;he
resolved to supply it. His plans were deeply laid ; they
were maturely prepared, and, notwithstanding the obstacles
which he inevitably encountered, I am prepared to say they
were eminently successful. What might have been his lot
had his term completed that which is ordained as the
average life of man, it would be presumption to attempt to
predict. Perhaps he would have impressed upon his age
not only his character but his name. But this, at least,
posterity must admit, that he heightened the intellectual
and moral standard of this country ; that he ex-
tended and expanded the sympathies of classes ; and
that he most beneficially and intimately adapted to the pro-
ductive powers of England the inexhaustible resources of
science and art. (Cheers.) It is sometimes deplored by
those who loved and admired him that he was thwarted oc-
casionally in his enterprises and that he was not duly appre-
ciated. But these are not circumstances for regret, but for
congratulation. They prove the leading and original mind
which has so long and so advantageously laboured for this
country. Had he not encountered these obstacles, had he
not been subject to this occasional distrust and misrepre-
sentation, it would only have proved that he was a man of
ordinary mould and temper. Those who move must change,
those who change must necessarily disturb and alarm men's
prejudices. What he had to encounter was only a proof
that he was a man superior to his age, and, therefore, admi-
rably adapted for the work of progress. There is one point,
and one point only, on which I will presume for a moment
to dwell, and it is not for the sake of those who hear me,
or of the generation to which we belong, but it is that those
who come after us may not misunderstand the nature of this
illustrious man. Prince Albert was not a patron ; he was
not one of those who by their smiles reward excellence or
stimulate exertion. His contributions to the cause of pro-
gress were far more powerful and far more precious. He
gave to it his thought, his time, his toil ; he gave to it his
life. (Cheers.) On both sides and in all parts of this house
I see many gentlemen who occasionally have acted with the
Prince at those Council Boards where they conferred and
consulted upon the great undertakings with which he was
connected. I ask them, without fear of a denial, whether
he was not the leading spirit, whether his was not the mind
which foresaw the difficulty, his not the resources that
supplied the remedy; whether his was not the courage
which sustained them under apparently overpowering
difficulties; whether every one who worked with him did
not feel that he was the real originator of those great plans
of improvement which they assisted in carrying out. But
what, sir, avail these words ? This house to-night has
been asked by the honourable gentleman to condole with the
Crown upon this great calamity. That is not an easy office.
(Hear, hear.) To condole, in general, is the office of those
who, without the pale of sorrow, still feel for the sorrowing.
But in this instance the country is as heartstricken as its
Queen. (Hear, hear.) Yet in the mutual sensibility of
Sovereign and people there is something noble,—something
which elevates the spirit beyond the ordinary calamity of
earthly sorrow. (Hear.) The counties, the cities, and the
corporations of the realm—those illustrious associations of
learning and science and art and skill of which he was the
bright ornament and inspiring spirit, have towed before the
hrone in this great calamity. (Hear, hear.) It does not
become the Parliament of the country to be silent. The
expression of our feelings may be late, but even in that
lateness some propriety will be observed. We, to-night—
the two houses—sanction the expression of the public sor-
row, and ratify, as it were, the record of a nation's woe. It
lis with these feelings, sir, that I shall support the:Address
of the hon. member. (Cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON said,—l rejoice, and I think the
country will rejoice, that the Address which has been so
ably moved and seconded by my hon. friends behind me
will this night be unanimously adopted by the house, with-
out any proposal which at all interferes with the general
sense which the house entertains of the topics to which it
relates. The right hon. gentleman, however, who has just
sat down has made some observations, not to take notice of
which would be ill-becoming the members of the Govern-
ment. The right hon. gentleman has expressed his approval
of the course which we took in regard to the unfortunate
difference between this Government and the Government of
the United States upon the affair of the Trent. lam bound
to say—and I think the country and this house will agree—
that the communication which was made by my noble friend
at the head of the Foreign-office was a combination of the
utmost courtesy and consideration with firmness and deci-
sion (cheers), and that, with respect to those measures which
we deemed necessary to provide for any turn which that
affair might possibly take, my noble friend at the head of the
Admiralty, my right hon. friend at the head of the
War Department, and my noble friend at the head of the
Colonial-office showed a promptitude, a vigour, and ajudg-
ment to which, I think, we may in a great degree ascribe
the fortunate termination of the difference. (Cheers.) We
should not have been justified in anticipating, as a matter
of course, a favourable termination to that question, because
we knew that there had been passions let loose in America
which might be too strong for the Government and might
overbear them in the course which I am sure they must
have been desirous of pursuing. Therefore, the measures
which we took were those which prudence prescribed, and
while, on the one hand, they were equal to the occasion, I
think, on the other, they cannot be deemed greater than the
occasion requited. (Hear.) The right hon. gentleman ex-
pressed his approval of the course which the Government
had taken from the commencement of those unhappy disputes
in America, in preserving strict neutrality between the con-
tending parties. That position of strict neutrality we have,
as he has very handsomely admitted, sincerely and rigidly
observed, and from that position of strict neutrality it is not
our intention to depart. (Cheers.) We regret, no doubt,
the calamities which that war is bringing upon the kindred
population of the United Etafes ; we lament the pressure
which incidentally that war has produced upon the corn
'Dacia' and manufacturing interests of this country ; but
we do not think that that is a sufficient reason why we
should depart from a course which a sense of prudence and
a sense, I may say, of national honour have imposed on us,
or why we should interfere in a quarrel with which origi-
nally we had nothing to do. (Cheers.) The right hon. gen
tleman adverted in the next place to that part of the Speech
which relates to the expedition to Mexico. The convention
between England, France, and Spain has been laid upon the
table. It will speak for itself, and it will show that we are not
parties to any undertaking to interfere in the internal ar-
rangements of the Mexican G overnment, and that we confine
our operations to obtaining redress for wrongs and injuries
sustained. The convention stipulates that the operations of
the allies for the purpose of obtaining redress are not to be
perverted into any interference with the object of dictating
to the people of Mexico any particular form of govern-
ment which they may not be willing to accept. Un-
doubtedly reports have been spread that there are persons
ill Mexico who wish to convert the Republic into a Moil"