Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-05-15
dispatches Of your predecessor, Numbers 11s.

III 11Oe4
10 and 20, have been received.
The letter acknowledging the recent Of
our letter of recall and announcing his in
tended return, requires no special notice.
Number lis bears the date OF 9TH April last.
1t contains only an expression of Mr.. Faux
ner's views of the policy which this Gov
ernment ought to pursue in regard TO the
disturbed condition of aft .irs at home, but
at the same time gives no information con-
corning the state of our affAirs in France.
The instruction heretofore transmitted to
you will show you the Presidents views on
the slbject Mr.. Faulkner has discussed, and
these will be your guide, Notwithstanding
any different opinions your predecessor may
have expressed or left on record. at Paris
No, 1l9 bears date of the fifteenih April last,
and contains a report of an official conversa-
ton and also of an unofficial one, neld be-
tween Mr.. Faulkner and NJ. Thourenel.
In the f,rmer conversation NJ. ThouVenel
asked Mr.. Faulkner whether there is not some
diversity of opinion in the Cabinet of the Presi-
dent as to the proper mode of meeting the
difficulty which now disturbs the relations of
the States and the General Government. Mr..
Faulkner in reply said that he had IT. infor-
nation on the subject. The IN itter is of no
great moment, yet it is desirable that there
be no misapprehe isions Of the true state of
the Government in the present emergency.
You may, therefore, recall that converse
tion to Mr.. Thouveners memory and then
assure him explicitly, that there is no differ
ence Of opinion whatever between the Presi
dent and his constitutional advise S, or among
those advise. themselves, concerning the
policy that has been pursued. AID which is
now prosecuted by the administration in re-
gard to- the unhappy disturbances existing in
the country. The path of Execu i've duty
has thus far been too g 'oriously marked out
by sheer necessities to be mistaken, while the
SoIemnity OF the great emerg ncy and the re-
sponsibilities it devolves, have extinguished
in the public councils every emotlol but those
of loyalty and patriotism. 1t is not in the
hands of this Administration th It this Gov
ernment is to come to an end at all, much less
for want of harmony in devotion to the c0un-
try.
Mr.. Thouvenel's declaration that the Uni
ted States may rest we'll assured that no hasty
or precipitate action will be taken on the SUBJ
ject Of the apprehended application Of the in
SUR ~ction'stS for a recognition of the indie
pend -nce of the s~o-calied Confederate States,
is entire sa isfactory, although it was at
tended by a reservation of views concerning
the general principles applicable to cases that
need not now be discussed.
In the unofficial conversation, Mr.. Faulkner
says that he himself expressed tue opinion
that f rce would not be employed to coerct
the so-called Seeding States inio submission
to the Federal authorities, and that the on
solution to the diff culLieS would be found il
such notifications of the CONSTITUTIONS com
pact as would invite the Seeding States bacl
into the Union, or a peaceabie acquiescenc
in the assertion of their claims to a separat
sovereignty.
the time when these questions had an
pertinency or pIausibiilty, has passed away
The United States waited patiently Will
their authority was detied IN turbulent as
semblies and in s~editiOus preparations, wi
ling to nope that the mediation offered on a
sides would conCIiiate and induce the d,SaffeC
ted parties t. return to a better mind Bn
the case is now altogether changed. Ih
Insurgents have instituted revolution wit
open, Argrant, deadly war, to compel the Tn
ted States to acquie,ce in the di>membermer
of the Union. The United States have a
cepted this civil war as an inevitable necet
sity. The constitutional remedies for a
the complaints of the insurgents are stl
open t. them, and will remain so. But o
the other hand, the land and naval forces
the Union have been put into activity
restore the Federal authority and to save tt
QulOl lIOLl ddtSel. AOu CdhhOG " Y
: decided or explicit in making known to tt
. French Government that there is not no
nor has there, nor will there be, the lea
idea existing in this Government, of s%ufferif
Z a dissolution Of this Union to take place,
any way whatever. There will be here on
= one nation and one Government, and the
will be the same Republic and the same Co
= stitutional Union that have already survive
a a dozen n .tional changes and changes of so
eminent in almost every other country.
!" These will stand hereafter, as they are noN
: objects of human wonder and human a~ffectio
y You have seen on the eve Of yonr departu
: the elasticity of the national spirit, the Wig
of the national Government, and the lavish d
votion of the national treasure to this gre
cause. Tell NJ. Thouvenel, thea, with t
highest consideration and good feeling, th
y the thought of dissolution of this Unio
II peaceably or by force, has never entered in
the mind of any candid statesman here, and
is high time that it be dismissed by the state
men IN Europe.
lam, respectfully, your obedient servar
WILLIAM H.. SEWARD.