Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-06-12
Cassius M. Clay,s Letter.

Cassius M. CIay's Letter.
The Washington dispatches to the New York
Tribune state that there is good reason to believe
that the publication by CAssIUs NJ. CLAY of let
ter the subject of our foreign relations not only
fails to be approved by the Administration, but is
i'm INSTRUMENTATION to the law of 1856, which ex-
pressly forbids any such public communication
from diplomatic or consular officer.
The New York Journal of Commerce calls Mr.
CLAY ga loquacious Ambassador" and thus COM
ments upon his letter to the London Times upon
American affairs:
1t has not been customary for first class powers
to send out Ambassadors to foreign countries
charged with the duty of writing for the public
newspapers, and of correcting, through that chan
mel, the erroneous impressions which may have
obtained currency respecting our domestic affairs.
Hitherto it has been deemed sufficient for the re-
personalities of the country at foreign courts, to
place the relations of the United States with other
powers upon digniied footing, through the le-
climate medium of their communications, writ
ten verbal, to the government to which they
are accredited; and it has seldom occurred that
they have felt compelled to resort to the newspa.
pers for the vindication of their Government, or
to enlist justice sympathy in its behalf.
The present Administration has the fortune to
have secured the services of jealous and earnest
if not "A discreet champion, in the person of the
newly appointed Minister to Russia the valiant
Cassius NJ Clay, of Kentucky. That gentleman
lately arrived in England on his way to the field
of his official labors, and finding the tone of pub
lie sentiment there not quite in conformity with
his own views of the American question, forth
with writes letter to the London Times, to in
struct the English nation in their duty and their
interests To say nothing of the lack of propriety
and of dignity, in thus forcing his opinions, I'M
solicited and probably undesired, upon the people
of country through which he was passing, on
the way to another to which he was officially ac-
credited, the letter of Mr.. Clay in bad taste,
and liable to damage the cause it was doubtless
intended to advance.
1t does not appear to have occurred to Mr..
Clay that in the first place he was insulting the
British public by thu. thrusting in his opinions in
their faces, while simply halting for day a
few days on his passage to Russia; and, secondly
granting the propriety of place and occasion, that
"British honor" British interests" and the
question whether England can afford to offend
the great nation which will still be the United
States of America even should we lose part of
the South" are delicate subjects for an American
Diplomat to handle in the columns of an English
newspaper, where no provocaion or occasion has
been given for such departure from the usage
of the Representatives of our country abroad.
Had Mr.. Clay been the Ambassador of the United
States to England instead of Russia, it would
have been manifestly improper thus to thrust
great questions of the character discussed IN his
letter to the Times before the British people; and
we can not see how the case is materially changed
by the fact that his mission is to Russia instead,
unless it be to give to the transaction an air ofim
pudence when otherwise it would have been one
of improperly.
We need no better proof Of the indiscretion of
the act to which we refer, than the comments of
the English papers thereon. They regard it as an
impairment interference with questions belonging
to the British Government and people. and it can
scarcely be doubted that the effects of the course
pursued by Mr.. Clay, however well intended,
must be to damage rather than promote the cause
of our Government abroad. Had he been a pri-
vate citizen, invested with no official Importance,
his undertaking might pass for specimen of the
vanity which sometimes characterizes the action
of Americans in Europe; but the importance at
tached to his connection with the Administration,
whose confidence i'm him has so recently been
manifested by his selection for an important mis-
sion, will be likely to give undue prominence to
the views which he has so unwisely sought to
thrust upon the people of England.
Under the head of "Unproyoked lmputations,"
an English paper, the Manchester Guardian, thus
crticzes the pronuncamento of Mr.. CASH. CLAY:
The American mail, of which we publish an
abstract in another column, adds few facts of i'm
portance relative to the progress of the civil
struggle Such as il il, the intelligence goes to
shoy a tendency on the part of the Southern
States to recover the resoute spirit which has APP
peared by two or three previous arrivals to have
been paralized by the unexpected eagerness of
the North for the fray. The Legislature of Ten
nessee has passed the ordinance of secession, and
it was reported that Arkansas had done the same.
The Governor of North Carolina has sent war
like message to the Legislature and the Cover
nor of Virginia has issued a proclamation stimu
latng his fellow citizens of that State to resist
Invasion" and granting authority for the levy
of as many volunteers may be thought neces
sary Those who have been ready to think that
Mr.. Lincolns easy triumph assured by the
alacrity with which the wealthy and popuous
of the North came to his assistance,
will be induced by these facts to revise their con-
cluson and think that the end is not yet visible.
Perhaps it will be satisfactory to the friends of
the Union to know that these apprehensions have
no place in the mind of the intrepid statesman
whom President Lincoln has sent to represent his
Government at st. Petersburg. Mr.. G. Nj. Clay
has taken advantage of his temporary sojourn in
London, on his way to the scene of his official
duties, to enlighten the British nation respecting
the true complexion and prospects of the struggle
which he has left behind him, and which he is of
opinion that we very imperfectly understand. For
some reason or other, however, he has not been
able to confne himself to the tone of calm eleva
ton which would best befit his superior knowledge
and greater mpartiality, but has felt constrained
to administer to us a severe scolding; in which
expressions of undsguised contempt for our judg
ment, are blended with threats of the consequent
ces to which we shall expose ourselves by 'offend
ing" the writer's party. 81
We are told by Mr.. Clay that "of course" they
can subdue the revolted States, and reconstruct
the Union without the change of a single letter
in the Constitution. We are glad to hear il, and
should be more glad TO believe it. Unfortunately
Mr.. CLAY, who knows how it is to be done, so
much better apparently than his friends at Wash
ngton, is on his way to st. Petersburg, where he
can not be held personally responsible for any
failure to realize the prospect of early and easy
success i'm which he reves. One thing we think
we can promise him, and we do so the more
readily because it is the only point about which, he
appears to have any apprehension. He under
takes that this Government will put an end to the
rebellion and restore the integrity of the Com
in a single year, elf they let
1Lone." 1t is curious Mr. Clay should profess a
doubt only respecting TIE continuance of that one
favorable circumstance of which we should have
thought he might feel most secure.
And this brings us to the most important point
Of all Where did this strange Minister Plenipo
pose that the English of all nations on the earth,
e.. AZ. 81