Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-17
Unicn speech of the American Minister
Rrouna

At the American Breakfast" at Paris, on
the Both ultimo, Hon. W. L. Dayton, Ameri-
can Minister at the Court Of the Tuileries,
spoke as follows:
Mr.. President Ladies and Gentlemen I'll
find myself though far removed from my
own country, surrounded by the faces of
American citizens, and subject to the rules
and conventionalities of American social life;
among which is the necessity of a speech
whenever called for. 1t is needless, my
friends, TO deny that our country has fallen
upon evil times; that much of its prestige
abroad is, for the present, gone; that our self
love is rebuked, and our pride is humilisted,
not by the actions Of others; but by the mis-
conduct Of portions Of of our own country
men.
Nations, like individuals are sometimes
spoiled by prosperity. [Hear, hear.l It does
not follow, as a logical sequence, that wher-
ever there is dissension in a country, it re-
suits from the wrongs and expressions of
Government. In our case, it results form its
very opposite. 1t seems to come from the
plethora of its abundance and prosperity.
1t is the wanton outbreak of O restless and
exciteable people who complain substantially
of nothing.
We who know the condition of our coun-
try and the value of its institutions, though
chsstened in pride and rebuked in feeling,
can not forget these truths. Hear, hear.1
You have come together on this occasion to
give expression to your feelings of attach
ment and respect for the laws and the Con-
stitution of your country. 1t is in good
time. Your friends there are now testing
the question if you have country; for a
country without government is no coun-
try. 1t is habitatiOn without a name; a
"locus is quo" for a miserable existence.
The world can not expect, and least of all
England can not expect, that we shall dis
grace our Saxon lineage by permitting a
government which has accomplished so much
for humanity within so brief space, to go
out without struggle, and if need be, such
8 struggle as the world has not seen. Our
Union cost much and it is worth all and
more than it cost. Loud cheers.]
This is no time or place for labored argu-
ment. 1t enough to say, though, that may
assume the point in dispute, that the United
States is no Confederation. 1t ceased to be
such in 1877, when its present Constitution
was formed. 1t is no compact between
States to be broken, with cause or without
cause, at the option of any; but it is ma
ton, treated with as such, recognized as
such, by every civilized power on the face of
the earth, and who ever heard of Secession
as applied to nation2 [Cheers ] We know
of rebellion and Of revolution, and we re-
cognise them as right under certain cir
cumstances. But what publicist, what writer
upon international law, has ever told us
when and where the right of secession begins
and ends2 The word, as applied to the ex-
isting state of things in our country, is a
delusion. The facts show it wicked, cause
less rebellion. Nothing more, nothing less.
Tremendous applause.]
We are sometimes asked how this civil
war will end. We can not fix the times or
seasons of its termination, but we think we
can see the end. The relative strength of
the two sections of the country foretells the
future Of the controversy. We have been
told that "the race is not to the swift nor
the battle to the strong" but this, l think, in
temporal matters at least is the exception,
not the rule. The long delay and forbear.
ance of the Government have led some
minds to doubt its power, but this was not
the quiet of weakness and timidity, bat
rather of conscious strength. This delay,
too, was superinduced by the fact that the
masses of the people, North and West, never
believed that the men of the South would
bring the matter to the dreadful issue of civil
war.
They could not realize the fact that any
considerable portion Of our people could
wilfully throw off their allegiance to the
Federal Governrent,' which tRey had onIy
known, as we thought, by its blessings. Bu'
the cannon at Fort Sumter reused them
like the blast of bugle. [Applause1 L
they were slow to understand, slow to realize
the truth of their position, they were quick
to meet it. The instant terrible uprising OF
at least twenty millions of people, as if BY g
single impulse, was sublime. The history Of
the world, ancient or modern, has nothing
more 60. And desire to say now, that
from the days of our revolution to the pres
ent hour, the country has never been stronger
than at the present moment; never more
able to meet any contingency which NAV
arise from foreign or domestic war.
The danger is if this rebellion continuao
that the whole country reused, as one man
| by common impulse, will become mill
tafy power rather than an agricultural and
commercial people. But in the mean time
we ask, not in the spirit of defiance, but as
matter of right, that the outside world
will leave us alone. We do not ignore the
sympathy of men or of nations who think
well of us and of our principles-and |
thank God | have found such during nv
brief residence in Europe-but for those who
distrust us, who doubt our powers of self
| government, who look upon the present
condition of things in the United States
with an ill-concesled joy (if there be such
! say again, leave US alone-hands offl-re-
bellion is not revolution, and Secession, as q
| political principle, is something unknown.
1t is to be made good only by the strong
arm OF that power which VOWS it as q
political right. [Hear, hear.] d. ..l|.
1t will be no matter of surprise in view OF
my past professional life, that my attention
should have been early called to such laws
OF France as may bear upon our rights.
| The commercial world have been much
| agitated by the threatened issue of letters of
marque and reprisal by the so-callsd Con-
/ tederate Government of the South. | have
looked into the French laws as respects the
rights Of these privateers; and if under
stand them Alright and desire to speak with
great diftidenoe, and subject to correction,
IN reference 10 the laws of a foreign country.
Loud applause.l
France will, l think, leave us alone in yir.
tue of her own laws. Those laws hold,
think-l. That captain who takes com
mand of foreign privateer is guilty of
piratical act. q That the French citizen
who shall enlist in foreign service without
the authority of the Emperor loses all his
rights as French citizen. 3. That no prizes
of privateer can stay in French port over
twenty. four hours, unless detained by tenn
pest and that, as a consequence. f. There
can be no condemnation of prizes in French
port by Courts of Admiralty in our South
ern States. Loud cheers.l If am correct
in these views of the laws of France, there
will be little chance of trouble and fe W
points of conflict between the Government
of France and our own. | sincerely hone
that we may have trouble nowhere outside
the limits of our own country. [Long con-
tinued cheering.]