Delaware State journal and statesman. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1855-1870, 1863-03-17
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LAB0ULAYE'S DEFENCE OF The
AMERICAN UNION.

| Upon WhOM heStS me uulH ol me Hdf-DtpaFn
ton aoiU be lPer ioithout Enid Spitadid De
fence Of The War By Fr,ach Philosopher.
The following remarkable paper originally ap-
peared in the ReUue NqtiOnaie Of Paris. 1t is
from the pen of NJ. EDWARD LABoULAYE, MEM
ber of the Institute, and Professor of Legisldtem
Compare Of Franoe-a man holding the highest
position in the first Institution of the world.
The sednces Of such a man arc crowded by the
most thoughtful men and women Of the world,
who make Paris their winter residence. We in.
Nite the attention of those who favor peace upon
any terms short of the absolute extinguishmont
Of the rebellion, to the thoughtful utteranoes Of
NJ. LabOulaye:--
The civil war which, for two years pas has
divided and devastated the United States, has
produced its evil consequences l Europe also
The scarcity of cotton occasions great suffering
The workmen Of Rouen and Mulhouse suffer no
less than the spnners and weavers Of Lancashire.
Whole populations are reduced to beggary, and
have no resource, or hope Of sustenance during
! the winter, but private charity or aid from the
government. In such A rdel crisis-in the midst
of such unmerited suieriugs-it is natural that
the public opluion Of Europe should be unsettled,
and that they who prolong the fratricidal war
should be charged with cupable ambition.
Peace in America, peace at any price, is the
urgent need; is the cry Of thousands of men
nocent victims of the passions and resentments
that embrue in blood the United States.
These complaints are but too well founded.
The world to-day is a compact of mutual inter
ests and obligations. For modern nations, there
fore who live by industry, peace is necessary
condition of existence. But unfortunately, If it
is eRsy - indicate he itu-elj, .9 a, iay 1t is III
most Impossible Until now, it is only by means
Of war that we could hope to reach the end of the
I Al Al
hands between the eOmbatants, for the purpose
of imposing truce upon them, wouldbe an en-
terprise in which Europe would exhaust oil her
resources, and to what end AS Mr.. Golden has
justly said, 1t would be far cheaper to feed
the laboring classes, who are now starving in
consequences Of the American crisis, on game
and champagne wine.
"To offer to-day a peaceful Intervention
would be to expose ourselves to a REFUSAL il it
did not even exasperaie one Of the parties and
provoke ii to measures Of violence. II would
lessen, too, the chances Of our mediation being
accepted at Il more favorable moAent. We ore
thus forced to remain spectators of a deplorable
war, which causes us innumerable evils. We
can only pray that exhaustion or suffering may
at last nppease the maddened combatants, and
Oblige them to accept reunion or separation. A
sad position undoubtedly, but one which neutral
powers have at MI times been obliged to accept,
and from which We cannot escape but at the risk
Of unknown pers.
(" But if we have not the right to interfere, we
have at least that of complaining, and Of seek
ing to discover who is really guilty Of this war,
which so disturbs our well being The opinion
of Europe is something 1t may hasten events
and bring about peace better tlan bayonets.
Unfortunately, fer two years, public opinion in
Europe has been led astray and has taken
false direction. In afraying itself on the wrong
side, it but prolongs the resistance, instead of
arresiing it.
The South has found numerous and skill. al ad-
vocates in France and England. They have
presented her cause as that OF Justice aud liberty.
They have proclaimed the right of separation,
and have not quailed even before the necessity
of apologizing for slavery To-day these argn-
ments begin TO lose their force Thanks to n
few writer's who do not chatter with tie great
interests os humanity-ihanks, above all, to NJ
DE GAsPAEIN, light has begun to break forth.
We know now what to think of the origin and
character of the rebellion. To every impartial
observer it is now evident that the wrong lies
wholly with the South. 1t is not necessary to
be a Montesquieu 10 comprehend that portion
of people, whose rights are in no way endan
gered but who are led by pride and ambition to
attempt the destruction Of national unity, and
to rend assun1er the country, have no claim to
onizing slavery, that is a work we must leave to
southern preachers Not all the ingenuity of
the world will ever be able to retrieve that lost
cause Even if the coniederates had thou
sand reasons for complaining and revolving.
there must always remain an nefiaceable stain
on their rebellion No Christian, no liberal
thinker, can ever interest himself in men who
in the middle of the nineteenth century, openly
and audaciously proclaim their wish to perpetu
IL, .,1n Hoo,
selves, may indeed listen to theories which have
intoxicated and ruined them but no such so
phistries can ever Gloss the ocean.
" The advocates Of the South have rendered
her fatal service. They have made her be-
lieve that Europe, enlightened or misled, would
take sides with her. and would finally throw into
the scales something more than sterile wishes.
This delusion has encouraged aud still encOur-
ages the resistance of the South. 1t prOlongs
the war and our suiierings. IT. from the first,
as the North had right to expect, the friends
of liberty had boldly declared themselves against
the policy OF slavery.-if the partisans of mari
time peace-if the defenders of the rights of
neutrals, had spoken in favor Of the Union
had DISCOURAGED separation which could only
benefit England it is probable that the South
would have entered with less temerity npon
road without m ontlet. If, in spite of the oour
age and devotion of her soldiers, if, after all the
skill of her generals, the South fails in an enter
prise, which, in my opinion, cannot be too often
denounced, let her lay the fault at the door Of
those who had so poor an esteem for Europe, as
to imagine that they could suborn its public
opinion to serve a political scheme, against
which patriotism protests, aud which the gospel
and humanity alike condemn.
a. Granted say they, that the South is
wholly in the wrong but, after al she is de-
termined to separate. She can no longer live
with the North. The war itself, whatever may
be its origin, is new cause Of disunon. by
what right con tweuty millions Of men oblige ten
milons# of their compairiots to continue de-
And oi these ten millions here are four millions of
slaves, whose wishes are not consulted.
tested alliance, to respect contract which they
are resolved to break At any cost? Is it posi-
BILE to imagine that two or three years of strife
aud misery will make the conquered aud the
conquerors live peaceaby together! Can a
country, two or three times rs large as France,
be subiugated? Would there not be always i'll
blood between the parties? Separation is, per-
haps, misfortune, but to-day the misfortune is
irreparable Let it be admitted that the North
has the law, the letter aud the spirit of the con-
stitution on her side, there remains always an
undebateable point the South wills to be mas
ter at the South. You have not the right to
crush people that fights SO bravey. Resign
yourselves
sIf we were less enervated by the luxuries of
modern life and by the idleness OF a long peace,
if our hearts still retained some remnant of that
patriotism which, in 1892 sent our fOrefathers
to the shores of the Rhine, the answer would be
an easy one. To-day fear we can no longer
comprehend H. If tomorrow the south Of
France should revolt, and demand separation if
Alsaoe and Lorraine wished to isolate themselves,
what would be, do not SAY our right, but our
duty? Would we stop to count votes, to know
| &c a third or a half of the Frppch neonle Ind n