Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-10-16
LETTER From RHCHmoND.
,claI correspondence Of the Memphis AppealI

speedy termination of the war, I beg leave tC
~eonsides for 8 moment this subject of European
recognition. In the earlier part of cur struggle
With the United States, it proved to us delu
sion and 8 snare, but there is NOW nc longer any
danger that the ~huGtuAting probabilities Of the
opening Of the blockade By g foreign power viii
cause us to relax our energies in accomplishing
cur independence. In the belief, therefore, that
extraneous aid has long since been dismissed
from the minds Of the people of the Confederate
States, we may innocently, if not probably, e1-
anime into the causes which have so long de-
lAyed the action of foreign governments aad
hazard q shrewd conjecture as to what viii be
their future policy.
1t would now appear that we have all along
assigned false reasons for the studied neutrality
of Franco and ERglAnd-nsuTaIily, so called,
though it has proved, by the confession of the
ablest journals of Paris and London, to have
been altogether in favor of the Yankees and r-
inously against US. England, it was said, was
not unwilling to see the growth Of cotton stimu-
lated in her East Indian possessions by q non
intercourse which wholly shut hef6H fron the
crops of the seeded States. There would be,
unquesionably, some distress for a time in her
manufacturing districts. a few thousands Of
her operatives would stsrye while the bOlts were
opening their white hosses on the fields Of Hin
dostsn. Itmigbt possibly be necessary to suffer
a severe loss in altering the machinery Of the
English mills, representing an immense sum of
money, to suit the longer fiber of the Indian
cotton. But ell this was as nothing to what
would be gained by Great Britain in establish
ing her own steady supply, in relieving herself
from q state of absolute dependence upon a for
eign country, and combining within herself all
the varied elements of her vast industry and
her colossal wealth. Such was supposed to be
the controlling consideration with the British
Cabinet in Withholding the acknowledgment of
the Confederate nationality. In point of fact,
however, the Indian growth Of cotton was too
unsubstsntisl q day-dream ever TO serve as s
basis Of political conduct Even the Msnehes-
ter Chamber of Commerce, which from year to
year had submitted its h~attering reports Of the
and Surat production before the cTedu-
lous and gratihed British public, had bsen
to admit that the culture of the staple in
Iudis was a failure. Had the staple itself been
as good as the Upland and SEA Island
growth Of Georgia snd Corolina, the limited
produced, the difficulties of transpor-
to Madras, Calcutta OF Bombay, the risks
Of hard usage en- route, and the long voyage to
Liverpool, would have settled the question
against it.
But it was alleged, the public opinion Of
was inimical to the South because
If slavery. All the traditions, feelings and
Of the nation were hostile to hu-
nan bondage. The anti-slsvsry senti-
nent ran through al her legislation and
al her literature. The successful
forts Of Clarkson, WilberfoIcs and Macaulsy
Il the British Parliament, to impoverish the
West Indies by the emancipation Of
heir slaves, was but the Legitimate result Of a
which had found its expression in tie
historic Of CuTraD, the poetry of CowPer, aud
DO sentimentaIsm of Sterne The war in
.meIica was clearly a war for the exteTniuatOn
f slavery. As such, the sympathies not only
f Exeter Hall, but Of the whole English peO-
,e must naturally be with the Northern, againsf
le Southern States. Consequently, we could
1pect no Interference on the part Of England,
our behalf Bat it has been from no love Of
e negro that Great Britain has SO long main.
aned her neutrality While anti-slavery,
an abstract idea, does, indeed, possess ali
asses Of her population, their sympstbies
in point of fact, been with the South from
.e opening of the war. This has been plainly
in various ways. The tone Of the
in Parliament, the editorials Of the
aiding journals, the e~ivilities offered to South 5
D gentlemen in England, the frank, ou'spokeR
clarstioDs of eminent Englishmen visiting the
onfederate States. a lassurs us of he respect and
cd wishes of the English people. When the q
lsearora sat watching the movements of the 5
ia che harboT Of Southampton, it was I
th d~ifieulty that the citizens could be re- /
from Offering ~indignities to the officers r
d thrashing the crew Of the Yankee steamer q
It Pegram could not 60 ashore without being :
eeIed. Clearly enough we had the sympa-
es of John Bull, which generally flow cut to d
oppressed, bravely resisting tyranny, de- a
te the abolition tendencies Of the nation, but :
S hardly necessary to say that neither the SEN n
tents nor the sympatbies of the people have b
controlled the action of her government 10 U
of foreign policy. Her interest it is that Al
every question in Downing street. a
Again. it was asserted that the demonstration o
the invincibility Of iron-elad ships in the Al
ht between the Msfrimae and the Monitor, is
the immense energies put forth by the Yam s.
IS in the increase Of their navy, had inspired e.
h France and England with an exceeding W
ad Of the United States, and a wholesome al
ltion as to going to war with the MODEL al
All who accept this as a satisfac- NJ
? explanation of the apathy and indifference b
these two powers, undervalue not only their 30
but their resources. The workshops %
forges of Woolwich and Portsmouth, of Il
st, Cherbourg and Toulouse, could turn out th
l-clads quite as rapidly as the Yankee dock l.
ds, and the Warriors and La Goires of the re
IS would contest with the finest Yankee
amers the supremacy of the sea.
me true cause of the delay which has occor- y
in the recognition of the Confederate States,
the part Of France and England, is to be
nd in a dread, not Of thu Yankees, but of in
They were unwilling to engage in a Ia
lggls in the vest which would leave them Is
,osed in the east to the vengeance of their i
lent enemy, who would in sI probability :
the Yankees against them. While it has Z
n the interest of france and England t.. dis 6
nber the United States, it has been clearly Z
interest Of Russia that the United States 9
uld continue one, and grow up to be a power ~
inst which the combined energies Of the y
and the Euglstnan should be ex. "a
d in vain. The Gear, therefore, has looked =
h disfaYor upon secession. II