The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-12-27
Letter OF Gen. Scott.

, ''a ".'' anu lnusu'ous Pa.io'' "ene'a'
SCOTT who has SO faithfully served his country
In its darkest hours OF peril. has written the
so,low;,, ,.,,.. T., II. It
'ep'. "'"e ahAious 'nqun-
,es oi iriend, on the Trent affair. Ii Is the
letter referred to in the dispatches by the Jura.
as having been coum,r;..,o, D.. A.. l..;..,,
ro,.,, a. -, N'' " ..V n'','""
'non paper anu Which the Lon
uoh S'ar thought would receive hearty res
ponse In England ns n MESSAGE. az n.... n,
IN, ..o,,u,o,5 ,,..,, -, -. PN
80 ',,,' Nse'' " our 'ea'ers' VIC th'hk'
ior us cohciilatory tone aud temperate discus
sion Of the subject: iil ,i.'atl
Ny Dian SIN yo, waro r;o,,, l., ,.,..,
the declaration impute,l 10 ms. 4" VII, ,hs, ,ls
| Cabinet Mt Washington hal piyen orJ.r. 49,
seize Messrs. Mason ana Slideli even nnJsr y
neutral flag. for I was not even AWARE that Inc
Gnyernment had had that point under con.;dS
Grafton. Al the time of my leaving New York
| n was not known that the San Jncinto had ri
tnrnsi 10 the American seas; and il WAS gener.
C.i. Ir ,Lo n,rnose ~ rc- embarkinc ~ ,tS
Sasl,v;ils In nnrsnit of which vessel the lanes
aJS,sr and n,ber cruisers had been dispatched
,hInl can s,,t;sfv you. In n few wor,l, ina,
49,, Ia On mn ser;nns occasion 10 feel concerned
-, nnr reIations with England. IL. as her
r,iors nros.ss she has no disposition 10 encour
am the d,ssens;ons in America In the frs,
place, II is almost superfiuous to cay to you,
that every instinct OF prudence as well as oil
GOOD nechborhOod prompts our Government
10 regard no honorable sacrifice too great for
the preservation OF the friendship OF Great
Britain. This must be obvious to all the world
Al no period of our history has her friendship
hsen az moro Importance 10 our people; ut nc
nsriod has ,ur Government been In condition
10 make greater concessions to preserve it,
The two nations are unitel by interest and sym.
notbjes con,mercjal. social, political and reli.
rious almost rs the two arms to one body, and
no ono Il an IGNORANT as not 10 know that what
harms one must harm the other in acorrespond.
inc decres am persuaded that the British
t;eyernment can entertain no doubt upon this
point: but n Il does, feel that may take II
upon myself TO say the President Of the United
States, when made aware of its existence. will
lose no opportunity of dispelling 1t.
Whether the captiyes from the Trent were con-
| traband of war or not. is question which the
two Governments can have no serious difficulty
In agreeing upon. II Mr.. Seward cannot sat.
isfy Earl Russell that they were, have nc
doubt Earl Russell will lie able TO satisfy MIR.
Seward that they were not. IL they were, as
all authorities concur in admitting, agents ol
the rebellion il will be difficult To satisfy i'm
Martial minds that they were any less contra
band than file of rebel soldiers or battery Of
hostile cannon.
But even should there be a difference oil
opinion upon this point, 1t is very clear that
our Government had sufficient grounds for pre-
suminp itself in the right, to escape the suspi.
cion of having wantonly violated the relations
of amity which the countries profess desire to
preserve and cultivate. The pretence that We
ought TO have taken the Trent into port, and
had her cUndemnel by q prize court, In order
IN iustify our seizure OF four of her passengers,
fnrnisbes a very narrow basis ON which TO fix a
serious controversy between two great nations.
Staled In other words. an oHense would
have been less II IL had been greater. The
wrong done 10 The British flag would have
been em;tga,ed r. Instead of Selling the four
rebels. we had seized the ship, detained all her
assengers FIR weeks. and copiscated her car
go s,n no, snrnr;,aJ Thai CAM. Wilkes took
I;garant n;o,s ~ Iii Jnty and M what was
n g., ,t Wv ss;oud,, ro,a,i,ns which snbssted
u. w . .h ~. ~ y,n,,'au,s Tia ,ennwneJ
sesm.n , Wv "" ~, *, p'a,;.h ,oonIs 7 he,;eye
',,, ~ a., 49, ,aLo ,hn dscb, roo
"n app,o,oodi s H., ~ i;,,js xs,atio"s os
,'ss;niay a III ;nnn"snt n,r,;ss
pVHs'o,e w a hin p ne. T., GLAND shou,d
uI III H.. H., ~ ,h, ;n,arcs, ~ cixiIi,a,ion
aeen her uu,S s VIZ - ,ho man raj ON
| L., NJ har AaO will
,ro,ii uhuer ,no ..;.i,,,V io,,h, ,ia, ,b.
70 rom con'iouou, m'uo.i uoun 1919. nS 'no
Jaw oi hauons IN reeau W ,ne ,S;,a y, ~ n. H.
'rals, wnicn cue las antn W. IN P .r;,.
establishing, requires Ie'isvn, ant i;,h ,Snso
aple disposl'loh On ner pai. " ,I.wn,,l;nSs
righ's upon JUST huaneunu
ss' huesc nun haPpy ,u see un ;nnrnaI.
w ohe y. ,.v ~. ;na,Es,, nj. ;n,ersnc. :
wnen goes mr W J's ara '.nn s ,o hone l.
hns.I" vs. 10 hor ,.r, in s,r;nn;no war nj
w h., W. ~, ..o,,;nr ha moIIcv iono
n na ," ~. nr,cd mon her nv our Gov,
a anu and cy,mmended Inv every 1rin.;nie OF
;n. n. a,d hnmnni,y sbe viii ind n, rround
,.;";, ~ ,i'a T,,nt f,r .on,raycrsv will
~ VIZ .,ss " u0 '''
our uo.s urn ,sn p.;do,, o,d noo,,e NJ the II
,.iI ' he ~, ,oa h,nnv 10 Ist these mon
Saa, . WIN '. az III npnp:yrionah,a ma ,be;y
NV, '' sa. 4, h,, 1, ,hey c,nd enamel.
un.ns SIS nM ,,' oo y, ~. orIi Greatly as !,
i.n,,i I ~ ~ NV S;saLSonta"e nj the nresent
crisis 10 surrender any of those maritime priv.
lsis W suiv, a"s h;.t oro sanc,;nna,I by
tbs laws of nations. / feel that / take no res.
possibility in saving, that the United States
will be faithful 10 her traditional policy upon