Gazette and sentinel., 1861-02-23
THE RECOGNITION OF THE
GOVERNMENT.

! ClHuitllG VI thC SOiiOdCiobC ElbtCo VI
America, will be the appointment of
Ambassadors to the principal European
Courts, whose duty it shall be to enter
into negotiations for the formation of
treaties of amity and commerce be-
tween this Government and those to
which they shall be accredited. The
Black Republicans profess to believe
that the great powers of Europe will
not dare to recognize the independence
of the Southern States, for fear Of get
ting into difficulties with the Govern
ment at Washington. We have, how
ever, never had the shadow of Il doubt
that the European nations would recog-
nize the Southern ~COntederacy az soon
as a government could be formed aud
put into operation. 1t has ever been
the policy of the countries Of Europe
TO recognize de tGcto governments, whcr-
ever it has appeared that they were
formed by people who had resolved ei-
ther to regain their independence, or g
change their form of government, and
who had the power aud the resources to
| maintain themselves as independent ma
tions. If such has been tine usual POI
icy, there are extraordinary reasons Way
! it should not be departed from in the
| present instance. For while the southern
Republic is already in a condition To taE,
her place as . respectable power among
the nations of the earth, TO maintain that
position, it also happens that her ON
merce is essential to the welfare and
prosperity Of millions of the inhabitants
of other nations. The Southern States
have hitherto furnished four-ffth5 of the
exports of the United States, which
have paid for the valuable imports sent
to this country from Europe aud else
where. Among these exports, Is the
article Of cotton, Of which the States
that have seeded, almost ~monopoliZc
the cultivation, to interrupt the ON.
merce in which would convulSe the
commercial world, and bring millions
to the brink of starvation. Imagine
the condition Of England with her sup
ply of cotton cut off for any consider
able length of time; the spindics OF
her manufacturing cities stopped, and
her five millions of people who are de-
pendent upon her cotton manufactures
for their daily bread, turned loose hun
CRY, to beg, steal, rob and rebel against
the government ! In comparison with
it, the Chartest riots and the other So
cial coRvulsions, that have from time 20
time shaken the Kingdom, were mere
child's play.
The Black Republicans have strong
hopes that the anti-slavery sentiments
of the English, will prevent them from
lending their ~countenance to anything
that promises to aid in the perpetuation
of African slavery. But their own con-
duct, in carrying Oh the slave trade un-
til 1t was prohibited by stringent laws,
should teach the Yankees that fanati.
ciSm is not often practiSed by a people
when it works to their ~pecuniary disad-
vantage. The vapOrings of Exeter Hall,
and the pious tears of the Duchess of
Sutherland over the s%uffcrings Of poor
old Uncle Tom" are very harmless
things as long as they cost nothing.
The people of England would be the
last TO do anything that would diminish
in the least, the productiveness of sla-
very in America, for the reason that
they would be the greatest sufferers by
such a calamity. Still less would they
sit quietly by and permit any interfer-
ence with her commerce in the products
Of American slave-labor, on the part
of any government, under petence that
the Slave States are rebels, and are not
entitled to their independence. We
were, therefore, not surprised at seeing
in the English papers, hints from official
quarters, that the independence Of the
Southern States would be recognized
by Great Britain /; and We shall expect
to hear, in a very short time, hat Eng
land, France and other powers, have
welcomed the Confederate States of the
South, into the brotherhood of nations.
The government of the Southern
States being recognized, Mr.. Lincoln'S
policy of blockading the Southern
ports, is reduced within a very narrow
compass. Tie simple question will be
presented, whether he is prepared not
only to invade the Southern States with
his armies, to coerce them, but also to
meet the navies Of England and France
on the ocean? An act blockading the
ports Of the South, cutting off the COM
merce of neutral powers with the South
ern States, would raise a greater storm
among such powers, than Napoleon's
Berlin and Milan DEGREES in the time Of
the French Revolution The South a
well afford to leave this question of
blockade to foreign nations. She need
not concern herself with building a for
midable navy, when the first blow
struck at her commerce, would be the
signal for the finest navies III the world
10 assemble and ride at anchor in her