Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1861-12-25
General SCOTS Letter On the American
Difficulty.

9
! Difficulty.
! Ny DEAR SIR: You were right in doubt-
/ ing the declaration imputed to me to wit
/ that the Cabinet at Washington had given
! orders seize Messrs. Mason and SlIdell even
under a neutral flag; for was not even aware
+ that the Government had had that point IN
+ der consideration At the time of my leaving
/ New York it was not known that the San ia
! cinto had returned to the American seas, and
. it was generally supposed those persons had
/ escaped to Cuba for the purpose Of re-embark'
/ ing in the Nashville, in pursuit OF which Ees
/ sci the James Adger and other cruisers had
been despatched.
| think | can satisfy you in few words
that yo1 have no serious occasion to feel con-
/ cerned about our relations with England, it,
as her rulers confess she has no disposition
to encourage the dissensions in America.
In the first place, it is almost suparhuous to
saw TO you that every instinct of prudence as
well as of good neighborhood prompts our
government TO regard no honorable sacrifice
too great for the preservation Of the friend
ship Of Great Britain. This must be obvious
to all the world. At no period of our history
has her friendship been of more Importance
to eur people-at no period has our Govern
ment been in a condition to make greater
concessions to preserve it. The two nations
are united by interests and mpathies-com-
mercial, social, political, and rellglous-al
most as the two arms to one body, and no one
is so ignorant as not to know that what harms
one must harm the other in u corresponding
degree.
/ am persuaded that the British Government
can entertain doubt upon this point; but
if it does, feel that may take it upon my
self to say that the President of the United
urbaD ado pf cvist.rra
will lose opportunity Of dispelling it.
Nor Is there anything, | venture to affirm,
in the seizure of these rebel emissaries which
ought to receive uufriendly construction
from England. uer statesmen will not ones
ton the legal right of an American Fessel-of-
war to search any commercial vessel justly
suspected of transporting contraband of war.
| That right has never been surrendered by
England it was even guaranteed to her by
the Treaty of Paris; and British guns, frown
ing down upon nearly every strait and in
land sea upon the globe, are conclusive eyi
dence that she regards this right as one the
efficacy of which may be not yet entirely ex
tnguished. OF course, there Is much that is
irritating and veX1tious in the exercise Of this
right uader the most favorable circumstances.
and it Is to he hoped the dag is NOT i4r distant
when the maritime Stntes Of the world vii
agree in plucing neutral cummerce beyond
the reach of such vexations. The United
States Government has been striving 10 this
end for more than Gfty years 10 this end,
early in the present century, and In It's iuftu-
cy as a nation. it embarked IN a war with the
greatest naval power in the world and it l.
even now q persistent suitor at every mari
time court in Europe, for more liberal rec
ognition of the rights of ncutrais than any Of
the other great maritime nations have vet
4 Il RI +il -
are secured by proper international guaran
tees upon comprehendng and enduring ba-
sis, of course England cannot complain Of an
act for which in all its material bearings her
! own naval history affords such numerous pre-
cedents.
Whether the captives from the Trent were
contraband Of war or not, is a question which
the two Governments can have no serious
difficulty In agreeing upon. If Mr. Seward
cannot satisfy Earl Russell that they were, |
| have no doubt Earl Russell will be able to
/ satisfy Mr. Seward that they were not IF
thev were, as all authorities concur in ad-
mitting, agents of the rebellion, it will be diff
/ fcult to sat sly impartial minds that they were
any less contraband than file of rebel sol
! diers or a battery of hostile cannon
| But. even should there be difference Of
/ opinion upon this point it is very clear that
/ our Government had sufficient grounds for
| presuming itself in the right to escape the
| suspicion Of having wantonly violated the re-
/ latiuns Of amty which the two countries pro-
! fess desire to preserve and cultivate.
| The pretence that we ought to have taken
| the Trent into port, and had her condemned
/ by a prize court, in order to Justify our seiz
1 ure of her passengers, furnishes a very narrow
/ basis on which to fix serious controversy be-
/ tween two great nations. Stated in other
/ words an offence would have been less if il
had been greater. The wrong done to the
| British flag would have been mitigated if, in
stead of seizipg the four rebels, we had seized
the ship, detained all her passengers for
weeks. and confscated her cargo. | am not
/ surprised that Captain Wilkes took different
view of his duty, and what was due to the
! friendly relations which subsisted between
/ the two Governments. The renowned COM
mon sense Of the English people, | believe,
/ approve of his effort to make the discharge of
! a very unpleasant duty as little vexatious as
/ possible to all innocent parties.
If under these circumstances, England
| should deem it her duty, IN the interest of
/ civilization, to insist upon the restoration of
/ the men taken from under the protection of
/ her flag. il will be from a conviction, without
/ doubt, that the law of nations, in regard to
/ the rights of Reutrals, which she has taken
| the leading part in establishing, requires re-
vision, and with a suitable disposition on her
part to establish those rights upon just, hu-
/ name, and philosophic basis. Indeed, I am
happy to see an intimation in one of the lead
ing metropolitan journals, which goes far to
justify this Inference Referring to the decis-
ions of the English Admiralty Courts now
quoted in defence of the seizure of the Amer
lean rebels on board the Trent, the London
Times, of the 28th November, says;
So far as the authorities go, the testimony
Of international law-writers is all one way,