Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-02-29
SPIRIT OF THE MORNING PRESS

Inc InfsfIsgencer has long non committal
review OF the documents sent into the Senate
yesterday, containing "the correspondence
winch has taken place between this Govern
ment and that of Great Britain in regard to
the enlistment of soldiers within the United
States by the agents and officers of the latter
tor the British army, accompanied by evil
dence and documents showing the connection
OF these agents and officers with the alleged
violation of our laws and sovereign rights. -
The Union presents the salient points in
the history of the I" Enlistment question, as
proven by the correspondence, which clearly
shows that:
Mr.. Marcy, after discussing the question
with Lord Clarendon for the last six months
In series Of able and argumentatiye des
patches, has elected from the British govern.
ment only persevering defence of the wrong.
we nave now reached the inevitable result.
The President Of the United States, in the
discharge Of his public duty, and for the vim
dication of the national peace and honor, has
been constrained to require of the British gov.
eminent the recall of Mr.. Champion and the
dismissal of the British consuls at New Yorl,
Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.
At the last advices the public mind in
England was under the preverse impression of
certain statements made by the Earl of Clar.
endon IN the House Of Lords. We will not
trust ourselves to characterize what he said.
IL was, from the beginning to end, so utterly
untrue, that we are at a loss to decide whether
ne spoke In total ignorance of the facts, or
with deliberate Misrepresentation What he
said has been most poin.edly contradicted al
ready by several Senators in their places, in
GLIDING the considerable and honorable chair
man OF the Committee on Foreign Relations
We content ourselves with adding, that the
documents before US cOnclusively disprove
every material thing, which the Earl of Clar-
endon uttered in extenuation of the conduct of
the British government; and we confidently
predict that, when these documents reach
London, and come to be read there, thew will
produce the same conviction in the minds of
the people of Great Britain, and will complete-
ly dspel any possible danger arising ont of
TINS question to the peaceful relations Of Great
Britain and the United States.
II there ever was national controversy
In winch government did wrong, as distin-
galshed from the people, it is in the conduct
Of the present British ministers in this affair
They have perpetrated succession of such
mischleVous and deplOrable plumbers as no
parallel can be found for in the previous his
tory OF England. Ii was a bluuder unspeak-
able to think of standing by the side of
France before SebastopOl with q handful Of
mercenaries recruited clandestinely in Ger
many or the United States Much has been
said IN the British journals themselves of the
damaging effect Of the incidents of this war
on the military prestige Of Great Britain.
The present fact is the most damaging of all.
Wen was It said recently by an eminent mem.
Der OF Parliament, in a public speech The
whole proceeding is degrading to England. )
The next great blunder was the inconceiy-
able folly of assuming that tho recruiting
business could be carried on in the United
States any way, without running against the
act of Congress. The browning bIunder il
the theory on which the Earl Of Clarendon
has conducted the defence Of himself and Mr..
CHAMPION, in treating it as n question Of nero
municipal law, and setting up Old Bailey
tecnnlcalltles IN response to the demand Of
national reparatiOn made by the United
States. In all this, it is the people of Eng
land, and England herself who are dishonored
and aggrieved, by this obstinate struggle of
their ministry to maintain false position,
which they never ought to have taken, and
from which after it bad been improvidently
taken, 1t was the dictate both of good sense
and Of true honor to retire at once. with
frank rendering of complete satisfaction whcu
It was demanded by the United States