The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-01 00:00:00

•
OTrti;iaecouut to be more sensitive to any supposed vie
. lation of their law. Two circumstances had to be con-
, sidered, the municipal law of the United. States and their
ri ht under international law. Under the former, an Act
• -of Congress of 1818 made it a misdemeanour to hire or re-
, tain any person to go out of the territory of the United.
States for the purpose of being enlisted in the service of a
foreign state. Unfortunately our Government had looked
to close too the provisions of that Inw,_less to see how they
could obey it than how they could effect their object with-
,
out positively violating. the law. His hon. and learne I,
friend the Attorney-General appeared to him to take a
~ most extraordinary view of international law as applic-
able to this 'question, and, he said it with great respect,
utterly unfounded. . As it. appeared to him, though an
individual might evade the provisions of the legislative
acts of the United States, and keep clear of the penalties
which would attach if he brought himself within the term 3
of the law, yet if, he systematically prompted and en
raged others to evade it, such conduct, he
apprehended,
would be contrary to the good faith and forbearance which
should characterise the relations between thetwo countries.
His hon. and learned iiiend, Mr. Crampton, and Lord
Clarendqyaid that they must look to the municipal law
of the United States to know what their view of interna-
tional law was. Now he must say, with great deference
to such high authorities, that time was great confusion of
ideas in this tu.tion, broached iu the manner that it had
been ; because the municipal law of any country was only
applicable to the subjects within that country; and though
that law might limit or restrain, or give freedom and
liberty to its subjects, it could have no effect on interna-
tional law and the intercourse between nations. It was
. quite true that every American was free to quit the
. country, as had been laid down by Judge Ingersoll ; lu;
that did not at all touch the international question ; for if
a feagra Government, or the agent of a foreign Govern-.
twilit, lent itself to seduce, or induce, or allure persons to

4114-4...‘

and-he approached-it. with a manse-a thealitlie.ultseia-wh ink
he found himself plaint, because it was aleiost impessible
to speak of it in those terms of m leration whiilli present
state of affairs reqni ed. That that trial was set on foot
and was conduc'e I by men bitterly hostile in spirit to this
. country no one could doubt. He did not for a single Mo-
ment wish to infer that those were the sentiments of the
whole American authorities, and he enthely believed they
} were not the sentiments of the great body of the A aitrican
people. That that tri sl was conducted in a spirit of most
bitter animosity towards England no one could doubt.
Mr. 'Van Dyke, the United States District Attorney,
• opened the case rather as a case against Great Britain anti
the British authorities than against the individuals cc-
ousel, spoke in terms of the greatest disparagement of
Great Britain, adverted to the war in which we were
then engaged, and showed his sympathies were not with
the allies, by alluding with evident satisfaction to our
losses, and in terms of sneering sarcasm and contempt to
. our presumed deficiency in military skill. Witnesses were
produced, and who were they ? They were Mr. or Capt.
Strobel, whom the hon. member did not doubt to be a
man of the most infamous character, others of very much
the same stamp, and Mr. Hertz, who, being convicted,
made a confession and implicated Mr. Crampton. The
statements of a man who was an approver, and of an-
other man who had just been convicted, both of whom the
American. Government would have found, if they had
taken the slightest trouble to inquire, to be men of infa-
mous character, were taken as true, notwithstanding the
strong and emphatic denial of Mr.Crampton and the ether
gentlemen affected by those statements. Nay, more, the
American Government sent here, not an authentic report
of the trial, but the report which vas prepared for a
newspaper—the Penn3ylvanian—remarkable for its bitter
animosity against this country, the editor of which was
examined on the trial, and was attempted to be foisted as a
juryman upon the panel. There was not the slightest
chance of the jury finding any other than a verdict against
Hertz. It was an indictment against, and, by implication,
a conviction of, the British Government ; and this gentle-
man, who was witness upon the trial, whose report was
sent by the American Government as a report of the trial,
did not scruple to speak of Great Britain in these terms,
They are somewhat amusing :
" England for centuries has been bullying and bribing the
world; her insolence is astounding. In the Pacific, in the
' Atlantic, on the Isthmus, everywhere, that haggatd volup-
tuary—(a laugh)—Great Britain, who has been so long drunk
with the blood of other nations that she now reels nod totters
' with her own inanity - (laughter).-glares upon us with her
red eyeballs, and bids us depart:"
(Cheers and laughter.) Those were the terms with which
the editor of the Pennsyvaniak introduced to the wor1•1 a
report of the trial, which was adopted by the American
Government. He heard a right hon. gentleman say " Hear
the other side," but be thanked God the British press was
not yet lowered to such wretched ribaldry as that, and he
hoped it never would be. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentle-
Mall seemed inclined to giveimplicit credit to the witnesses:
(Mr. Moore, with astonishment, " What ! I ? I deny it.")
Then, to cast imputations upon the honour, veracity, and
character of the gentleman whom the hon. gentleman im-
pugned, without evidence, was totally unwarrantable and
totally unjustifiable. (Hear, hear.) The case made by the
American Government was based upon the statements of
these persons. It turned out that Mr. Strobel was a reason
of bad character; he had served in the Dani,h army; he had
held some rank in that army ; he proposed to raise men ;
he said many of his countrymen were ready at once to
follow him. Then came Hertz' who said the same. Both
expressed the greatest interest in the cause of the allies
and the utmost zeal for the service of England. There
was abundant evidence now that Strobel was a spy in the
employ of Russia, and that Hertz was a swindler and a
man of no character. But those facts were not in the pos-
session of the British authorities in America when those
persons offered their services. It might be true, so far as
their statements were concerned, that they violated the
municipal law of the United States. In their anxiety to
set men and establish a claim. to be rewarded for their zeal
and assiduity, they might have transgressed the law of the
United States. Whether they did so with the honest pur-
pose of serving the British Government, or whether they
were preparing schemes of treachery and fraud in the in-
terest of Russia, or of those who were hostile to Great
' Britain, was a grave question, which he would not stay to die
o aas ; but when, in answer to the statements of each men
as those, ha had the positive asseraion of Mr. Crampton
awl the consuls that those statementa were wholly and en-
tirely destitute of the slightest shadow of foundation
upon truth, he asked the house whether they thought th it,
under those circumstances, tha-B,itish Government would
have been justified in making seapegOats of Mr. Crampton
and the consuls by recalling them, and marking them with
the stigma of Government disapprobation ? (dear, hear. )
He thought no one would go along with the hon. member
in believing that, in spite of their instructions, those e.,en-
tlensen did violate, the municipal law by causing enlist-
ments, or engagements to enlist, on the territory of the
United States ; and he submnittej that the British Govern-
ment, in accordance with the instructions which were
framed, wore justified in accepting the services of their
own subjects, and of Germans, Pales, Hungarians, or
Italians, if they accepted those services by enlisting them
beyond the precincts of the United States. There was no
evidence that any acts were done in contravention of the
)(teal laws of the United States, except the evidence lof
'Those men, who could not be believed; and against it they
bad the positive denial of gentlemen, men of honour, and
Englishmen. (Cheers.) It was all very well for the hon.
gentleman, who wanted to make out a case if he coed I
against these parties, to take up the despatches and, in-
stead of reading them in a manly, straightforward manner,
read them -with a sneering sarcastic tone, meant to imply
. -that he did not believe a word of them, bat in that view
' he was aura the house would not follow the hon. gentle-
man.- Re submitted that the question was whether
her Majesty's Government would have been justified .in
acting merely upon the view taken by the American Go-
vernment on the evidence of Hertz and Strobel, in spite! of
the emphatic denial of Mr. Crampton and the consuls. Eli-
minated from the mass of verbosity with which, from elle
side or the other, it had been- entangled, that was really
the case which was brought befOre the attention of ;he
house. He had cautiously abstained from saying one w
rd
upon the conduct of the American Government except; as
' regarde I that trial. At the same time he might say, with-
out any intention of giving offence, that the spirit and tgie
• tone in which the American authorities had considered he
correspondence which had taken place, and Considered • d
• answered the despatches of Lord Clarendon up )11 this sb-
ject (especially when the attempts of Lord Clarendon wire
always of a conciliatory character) were not such as might
have been expected from a State which desired, with sin-
cerity, to maintain friendly relations with Englao
(Cheers.) Whether their conduct was to ha attributed to
that cause to which the right hon. gentleman the member
for Buckinghamshire adverted the other evening—a con-
viction on the part of the United States that Great Britain
would not view with favour or submit unhesitatingly,to
that expansive tendency which was said'to characterise tale
territorial policy.of the American Government, was mere
than hs could undertake to say; but; of this he was *.-
• 'meted, that any per.nenent rupture of the f-iendly refs,-
' tions bet Ween the two-countries would be fatal to the b et
interests of beth, and deeply injurious to the cause of p o-
gresive irrrPeovemeetthroughout the whole civilised world.
(Cheers.) -It became its' as the older, as not the lest
powerful; and, Inokiiig to what' was gbing on in varidus
parts of Arneric-i, ha thotight he might also ad 1 as not the
'leftist deltoid of' the two nations, to evince' a spirit of madly
i moderation and' dignified forbearance. (Cheers.) We wore
never better prepared for war, and therefore ought to
I leis the mere inclined to peace. Oar 'renown was not ;of
yesterday; our glorrwits not of recent date ; our prowess
had been established by sea and land in every quarter .of
the universe.' We could afford to be conciliatory ourselves,
• atel kJ exlihrt othereto conciliation. Nor 'was it poesibleio
misinterpret the motive with which we might address the
American people in these persuasive accents—
.' Nen patrne validas in viscera vertite vires.
, . Twins prior, ta parce, sestina qui duds Olympo ;
Prreice telt ;Menne sauguis linens.
• . .
(Cheers.) It was in that spirit of harmony that the Go-
' vernsnent now entenel on the present discussion. Theze
was no denying tlytt its tendency was to take at a disald
-- vantage bpt,ll the Ministry and these absent men whose
honour and veracity lied been impugned, but who did not
r' enjoy the opportunity of defencilug themselves, (lleat.)
* Remembering that, though this attack was directed ao•a*ti-t
her Majesty's Government, the interests of those persons
. were deeply implicated —nor tlitirs aloes, but what was 0"
far greeter tnesnerst, those also of two mighty nations--it
4 . was to be hoped that, the house woul t view this questipn
withent reference to play considerations, and in a cilia
: • dispassionate spirit, suitable to its dignity, gravity, aui
importance. (Loud cheers.) . .
Sir F. THESIGER-said he should address himself .to
"
. e • UPI partl s
egst o r the question. The Attorney-Geueral had
.
complained of Mr. Moore for not yielding to the request of
• the Government to postpone this question. But he hid been
-, long enough in the house to know that no moment was con.
sideredopportune for bringing forward a vote of censure on
•
i, the Government ; and if the house was to wait until those
a negotiations which were darkly shadowed forth were
a' brought•to a close, it was certain there could be no discsis-
•;' rims of therrpiestine until discussion was too late. lie
1 .concurred with the Attorney-General on the necessity of
approaching this important question in a spirit of trio-
- • deration. We had to consider how we stood, and what
•• had .brought us' be -this position, We had just , so-
ceiyed one of .the strongest marks which one nation
j..„could use towards another of its disapprobation.
• Our minister at the court of the United States had been
ay - dismissed, along with four of our consul;. Was their con-
' duet not'such as to render them obnoxious to censure? If
' '. it were not, there had been- a gross and gratuitous insult
on.the part of the American Government. (Haar.) When
' the Foreign Enlistment Bill was under discussion in that
• house, several wise persons enticipated that it would be
likely to, embroil ns with foreign powers, and warned the
' Government to th it effect. Questions were pat as to the
countries whence recruits were likely to be obtained ' • but
no hint was ever thrown out by the Government that any
attempt would be made to obtain them from America, or
the warning addressed to them would. have been still
stronger. There were other grounds of misunderstanding
with America which ought to have withheld the Govern-
ment from any such, attempt, aetthe Americans were aura

brava the UelitesLStateeralthough.iiethat-cas -there might
be no le:WI of the municipal law, there would be a breach
of international law, and a violation of that community of
iaterceurse which ought to subsist between two nations.
(Hear, hear.) He would pat this case :An American hat
estell'ished a manufacture which was supposed to confer
great public ad vantegee ; all the workmen in that eete-
tdi,iireent were free to quit the country and transfer their
I sle mr to some other soil. Bat because the workmen
possessed this in livi Inel freedom, would it be maintained
that another Government could allure these men away, by
the offer of a higher price for their libour, without a
breach of international law ?
Mr. CHEET HAIL—It is often doue.
Sir F. TFIESIGER—Though it might be done he did
not hesitate to say that it was a gross violation of inter-
national law, and contrary to that spirit of justice and
courtesy which should regulate the intercourse of nations.
He could not therefore assent to the doctrine that because
persons were free, by the municipal laws of the United
States, to leave that country even for the purpose of en-
listment, there was no breach of international law in the
government of another country holding out inducements
to the subjects of the United States to leave that country
for the purpose of enlistment in a foreign legion. It was
this mistaken view of international law which led to these
proceedings, so justly blameable in his opinion, and which
brought upon this country so much humiliation. (Hear.)
What was the conduct of this country in America with
regard to this question of enlistment ? There was great
difficulty in tracing in the blue hooka the precise actsdone
by the recognised and authorised agents of the Govern-
ment, but there were some occasional glimpses of light
which 'were sufficient to show that they were pursuing a
course which was highly reprehensible. There could be
no doubt that there was a system organised within the
United States for the purposaeoLdedacing men to leave
that country, and to proceed to Halifax or Canada, there
to be enlisted. There were agents, money, and depots for
the purpose of carrying out the plan. With regard to the
particular agents employed for the purpose of carrying out
the plan—Hertz and Strobel—he begged to observe that
if the case depended on their testimony he would
at once abandon it ; but that was not so, for they
had under the hand of Mr. Crampton himself admis-
sion that he Employed thet • two persons as agents for the
purpose of enlisting men, and they had the cypher to
which they, as well as other agents had aocess. Such
being the agents and machinery employed, he would con-
sider whether it was possible to trace in their proceedings
any indication of a conviction that what they did was per-
fectly lawful, that they-had a right to do what they di I,
and that the American GOvernment had no just ground of
complaint. At a very early period Mr. Crampton took
the advice of a vary able lawyer. The hon. member for
Mayo read his opinion; and anything more strongly
worded for the purpose of inducing caution on the part of
the British Government could hardly be imagined. (Hear. )
Mr. Crampton communicated this opinion to Sir G. Le
M,rchant, and adds ;
I have furnished your agent with a copy of this opinion
for his information and guidance, and I have directed him to
confine his operations, in the first instance, to making in-
quiries as to the desire which may exist among the inhabit-
ants of the eastern cities of the United States to enter her
Majesty's service, to inform such persons generally of the dis-
position of he Majesty's Government to accept such prope ly
qualified candidates as may offer themselves, to make them
acquainted with the terms upon which the enlistments will be
made,and with the places within the British dominions to which
they mayrepair for the purpose of' being enrolled, carefully ab-
staining, however, from entering into any argument with
such persons, or from doing anything which might be con-
strued into "retaining or hiring" any individual to emigrate
for the purpose of enlisting-in-the-British service. Any ad-
vance of money by her Majesty's agents, or others, in the
United States, would constitute an infraction Of the Neu-
trality Law.
It was also communicated, together with an account of
the steps which had been taken, to Lord Clarendon, in a
despatch dated the 12th of March, and on the 12th of
April following Lord Clarendon replied, approving of
those proceedings, but telling Mr. Crampton to be careful
in abstaining from any violation of the laws of the United
States. Now he must say, with great respect for Lord
Clarendon, that having the opinion of this eminent
lawyer before him, in which was pointed out the dangers
incurred by attempting- to procure men to enlist—that
the law of the United &atea would reach every case of
payment, expenditure, or other valuable consideration,
however ingeniously devised—it would have been wise on
his part to have abstained from the endeavour to obtain
troops in the United States, or, at all events, to have
warned the Minister that the course he intended to pursue
was not open, straightforward, and candid, but an under-
hand proceeding which her Majesty's Government would
not be justified in adopting. (Cries of " Hear, hear.")
It was said that Lord Clarendon warned the minister to
avoid concealment from the American Government ; but
ho had looked over the correspondence and could find no
despatch in which Lord Clarendon had told the minister to
be open and to avoid concealment from the American Go-
vernment. Bat if any such instructions had been issued
they were not observed by Mr. Crampton. The fatal mis-
take of the Government and their agents was that they
merely instructe i their subordinatesto avoid any infringe-
ment of the municipal law of America, without looking to
the broader and more extended view of the question ul,oe
which Americans were likely to feel sensitively when their
rights of sovereignty were invaded. Mr. Angus Mac h.,
nabl issued an advertisement stating that an office had
been established for the purpose of procuring passages
from the United Statearo-FflliriX for persons who might
go there to enlist. But, on the 22d of March, Mr. Cramp-
ton wrote to Consul Barclay to disavow the proceeding of
Mr. Angus Macdonald, because they were apprehensive it
Would attract the attention of the American Government,
produce a "ferment," and induce them to interfere and in•
terrupt the proceedings. Mr. Crampton afterwards showed
the letter he had written to Consul Barclay to Mr. Marcy,
and the latter sai I that from his doing so he understood
that he meant to disavow the participation of the British
Government-in any acts of enlistment. In the early p art
of 1855 there were several offers of enlistment mede to Mr.
Crampton, and the answer was that the- neutrality law of
the United States was very stringent and comprehensive,
and that no enlistment could take place in the United
States. But Mr. Lumley, in replying to one of the agents,
stated that there was no objection to the insertion of an
advertisement stating that steamers for the conveyance of
passengers would constantly run daring the summer, and
although Judge •Kane had decided that the payment of
passage-money did not come within the neutrality laws of
the United States, his authority could not be very great,
because he afterwards altered his opinion, so that the
opinion of Judge Kane on the subject neutralised the
opinion -of Judge Kane. (A, laugh.) Now, he did net
hesitate to say that if one person paid the passage-
money of another it was as near a case of " hiring teed
retaining" as he could imagine, and it came, be thought,
not only within the spirit but the letter of the law. Hie
object was to show the secret nature of the proceedings
adopted by the agents of the British Government, in refe-
rence to this enlistment. The instructions which 'had
been issued by Mr. Crampton to all the agents had been
already referred to by the hon. member for Mayo, and
were read at the trial. These instructions contained the
following paragraph :
It ii essential to success that no assemblage of persons
should take place at beer-houses or other similar places of en-
tertainment, for the purpose of devising measures for enlist-
ing, and the parties should ssupulonsly avoid resorting, to
this or similar meads e disseminating the desired informa-
tion, inasmuch as the attention of the American authorities
would not fail to be called to such proceedings, which would
undoubtedly be regarded by them as an attempt to carry on
recruiting fora foreign power within the limits of the United
States; and it certainly must be borne iu mind that the in-
stitution of .legal proceedings against any of the parties in
question, even if .they were to elude the penalty, would be
fatal to the success of the enlistment itself.
His hon. and learned friend said, that everything which
had been done Was perfectly lawful, but he would ask the
house whether these:attempts at c( n leahnent ditl not show
I on the face of them that the parties themselves considered
the pneceediags.they were taking to be unjustifiable. They
did not adopt the view which had been ingeniously, pet
forward by hie hen. and leeraed friend, by Mr. Cramp-
ton and L ,rd Clarendon, because if they had been acting
in a perfectly legal way they need not have shrulak ieto
the-darkness,-and endeavonre 1 to conceal their proceedings.
from public view. It had been said that Mr. Marcy was
aware of-all,that had been going on, and that be acquiessed
in Oa proceedings, at least by his silence. How (lid that
appear'? When Mr. Lumley read for -Mr. Marcy the
riespetab of Mr. Crampton, in which he disavowal the pro•
ceedings of Mr. Angus Macdonald, he said that Mr. Marcy
appeared pleased with the communication, and desired
that he might have a copy of it to show to the American
Cabinet. Now, he would ask any dispaseionate man
whether it was possible for Mr. Marcy to have any
idea than that the notion of enlistment had been.aban-
doned altogether? (Hear, hear.) Such was the stet'.
of things when at last the attention of the American
Government was called to the proceedings with re--
gerd to the eulist,nent, and on the 6th of July, 1853,
gr. Buchanan addressed Lord Clarendon on the subject.
He (Sir F. Thesiger) most earnestly invited the attention
of the house to the correspondence, and as he did not wish
to weary them, he hal been at some trouble to make -ex-
tracts Mr. Buchanan wrote •
Tue disclosures made within the very last month, upen
judicial investigation at Boston (a report of which i- now le-
fore the nutbrsigned), afford good reason to believe that an
extensive plan has been organised by British functionaries
and agents, and is now iu successful operation in different
parts of the Union, to furnish recruits for the British army.
The plain and imperative duties of neutrality, under the law
of nations, require that a neutral nation shall not suffer its
territory to become the theatre on which one of the bellige-
rents might raise armies to wage war against the other. If
such a permission were granted, the partiality which this
would manifest in favour of one belligerent to the prejudice
of the other, could not fail to produce just complaints on the
',add the injured belligerent, and might eventually involve'
the neutral as a party in the war.
•
vsteir- unemhtoeowdat
far persons
have
etvnerclseaor undersigned In view of all these considerations, the President has in-
cted,
iatahslec whether station,
engagingt ion, e either er
themin enlistingo
pproceed
personseed
from withinthe n the United
the Bill3lB.Silt.atiitaPsithPsehrs:Gbrooao.r.:
there enlisted and ha
vinees, for the purpose of being
measures, if any, have been taken to restrain their unjusti-
fiablewt
roumwnidttehir,:tuElaorl of Claren-
don
conduct.
To this distinct and specific demand of Mr. Buchanar, Lord Clarendon replies on the 16th July :
The undersigned must, in the first instance express the
regret of her Majesty's Government if the law of the United
States has been in any way infringed by persons acting with
or without any authority from them ; and it is hardly neces-
sary for the_unclersigued to assure Mr. Buchanan that any
such infringement of the law of the United States is entirely
contrary to the wishes and to the positive instructions of her
Majesty's Government.
The house would recollect that Lord Clarendon repeatedly
asserted that he had made the most ample expression
of
regret on the part of this Geyernment, for any violation of
the American law, but the only passage to which Lord
Clarendon referred for these expressions was that he had
just read, It expressed his regret if the law had been in
any way infringed, but then it went on to assert an incon-
testible right to act as he had done, and so far from era
pressing any regret, he justified ueself. The House
would find that from first to last he never abandoned that
position. In the same despatch he says ;
Her Majesty's Government do not deny that the acts and
advertisements of these self-constituted and unauthorised
agents were in many instances undoubted violations of the
law of the United States ; but such persons bad no authority
whatever for their proceedings from any British agents, by
wheal they were promptly and unequivocally disavowed.
Bat be does not condescend to say what were t ie partieu-
lar acts and advertisements of the accredited see s which
were different- from those of the unauthorised agents
which he admitted to be illegal. He, gave no answ(r to
the question how far the Government approved the acts
of these agents. This letter was deemed very unsatisfac-
tory, and in a despatch of the 27th of September, ad-
dressed to Mr. Crampton, Mr. Marcy distinctly stated'
what it
-was of which the American Government com-
plained.

The President perceives with much regret that the clis