The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-11-17

A1oe0 kvo0o onM Ne HaNaecs. :
TIE Yankee papers ore raistng great outcry
over the reported plot Of the ''rcbel" svmpa-
thissu In Canada to capture Buffalo, release
the Confederate prisoners, and burn the city.
For our own part, wo do not believe one
word Of the story, although attested BY LORD
Lyons In his official capacity, and taken Tor
essnted by Stanton. We believe It TO be
mares nett, existing only in the weak iancy
ufthe f1ritish ambassador aud his informants
IN Canada Il afforded rare opportunity.
however for Lyons to manifest his zeal 'or
the c,use OF Yankee Doodle, aud his hatred
az the ..socalled" Confederate States u
America The, tool Of Seward, as Russell
himself n the tool Of Adams, there was
every temptation for him to give easy faith
to. II he did not actually in,enf, the whole
story. Our opinion IL, that he inrented 1t E'r
his own purposes, aud those Of his Cover :
ment, which just now rs completely under
the control OF the Government at Washing
ton. The existence of such plot is an i'm
probability 90 monstrous that scarcely any
degree Of proof would be sufficient TO est b.
lisS Il, and as yet we have feen no pre- Of
worthy Of the name. Johnson's Island is in
Lake Eric. Lake Eric is navigated by vast
number of armed Yankee vessels. i such a
plot actually. existed, and should succeed in
liberating the captives, the States Oh new
York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland--a crowd
Cd and hostile country ,swarming Win SCI
dien--lie between them and the nearest
State Of the Confcderaey. How could they
possibly make their way through such
country! Should they, in despair OF reach
ing their own country, turn to Canaan, they
know well enough that they would not be-
protected there Far from it, the British
Government would make merit OF deliver
ing them up, let the law upon the 81 h)ect be.
what It might. 1t would be a most accepta
BILE offering to Seward, and would probably
have the effect of diminishing the number OF
diatribes in which the Yankee papers habitu-
ally indulge with regard to Great Britain and
her Government The whole story is in
credible, and is, we firmly believe, mere
6gment of Lyons and his correspondents.
TIE English Foreign Secretary could net
have fallen upon q man better suited to his
purposes than the present Minister Plenipo
Tertiary at Washington. His hatred of the
Confederacy is on q level with his sycophan'
cy to Lincoln and Seward A narrow under
standing and cold heart peculiarly fit him
to play the tool of despotism, and he plays
Il with zest which shows that he is in his
element, and feels it. By this pretended ex-
posure of plot he aggravatcs UNNECESSARILY
the hardships which our unfortunate coun
trymen are enduring in their terrible cap
iiyity. He knows that well enough, but he
does not shrink from the task before him.
Had the case been rcversed-had the pris-
oners been Yankees, and the prison q
Confederate prison-dOubtless his ears would
not have been 60 acute, or his tongue 40
ready to denouncc. But the prisoners are
mere rebels in his cyes-his Government, Or
the head of it, or the Minister who writes
the Queens speeches, has already called it
''civil war;" in spite of all the information
furnished by Mr.. Yancey and Mr.. Sidcll,
thus taking the decision OF the question into
its own hands-and therefore no mercy was
to be expected. 1t may have been his misera- J
BILE duty to denounte the plot and the plot
tiers. But would it not have been little
more consistent with humanity to have first
ascertained its existence? In the meantime,
We do not maintain that q plot laid by Con-
federate prisoners in the middle of Lake
Erie, surr6uI ded by Yankee ships Of war, in
conjunction with persons in Canada-dis-
closed by Lord Lyons, and punished by Lin
coln-has more the air of an ill-gotten up
farce than anything that even the unaS6isted
genius Of YankeedOm has yet brought out.