Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-10-23

nations arc bound to respect. Compare this
with the Declaration Of Paris III leoo-'o
which Great Britain was a party aud WhicE
lays down the principlo-that "BlocSades, IN
order to be binding, must be effective; that is
:, saw. maintained by force sufficient really
10 prevent access to the coast of the enemy
From which it is apparent that any public
. solemn declaration Of the British Government
upon any subject whatsoever is waste paper
| the moment it conflicts with the interests o.
tina. Power Now it happens to be the inter
est of England to recognize Ineffective block
n1es, because, as the leading maritime Power
blockades are her chief weapon OF warfare;
| and Lord Russell has not even the sense
to disguise the real motive fo-, sitter
what we have already quoted, he goes on to
say that England also has, in her time, block
| aided two thousand miles Of coast, and is
bound to establish precedents which she may
have occasion to plead hereafter. Here is this
extraordinary passage Of his Lordship'sspeech,
as reported:
1T is quite true, and there, perhaps. seemed
! at least a plausible reason for complaint, that
though this blockade was kept up By q sufi-
| Gent number of ships, yet these ships, many
| of them adopted into the United States navy,
and sent to sea in q hurry, and ill-httcd for
the purpose, did not keep up that blockade
90 effectively and 20 thoroughly as it must
hare been held an effective blockade required.
| But still looking to the law Of nations. 1t was
a blockade, it was o blockade which we, RS Il
| great belligercnt Power, in former times,
| should have acknowledged. We ourselves
| had had a blockade of upwards of two thou
! sand miles; and it did seem to me that we
| we're bound, in Justice to the Federal States
| Of America, to acknowledge the blockade"
Bound in ~justice-tbat is TO sayr to violate
their own declaration Of the law of nations,
because it might be their own interest here>
after to make paper blockades, as they had
done before.
Touching British neutrality" his lordship
thus estimates the amount of sympathy en-
ioyed by tho two belligerents in England /;
and we are sure that his estimate is correct.
"There are parties, very considerable in
numbers, who syrnrathize with the Confede.
rates and other large masses, I believe Su
Derior in numbers, who %spmpathize with the
Federals but whsther sympa,hizing with the
one or the other, We have all embraced in our
hearts that sentiment of justice" &c.
Oh, of course a! All the world knows tina,
Britons are devoted to 'fair play" This
speech is full of noble sentiments, after the
British manner. Earl Russell declares that
they have taken us a principle that they
should do unto others as they should wish t.
be done TO themselSes'-and this, in a certain
snnA; is true; for they respect the Ineffective
blockadcs of the Yankees, because they would
wish that Yankees should respect their OWN
paper blockades hereafter. We have here,
also, much barney about Americans and Bri.
tons being 'descended from the same ances.
~t,rs," about their common property in MI
toa aud Shakespeare" and all that sort Of
thing, whereof the would i, weary. The most
interesting disclosure to US, however, made hy
This Grafton of his l~ordship, is that he, the
English Foreign Secretary, in the exercise Of
dis illustrious neutrality and fine feeling,
hopes the Confedcracy wN be conquered in the
present struggle; for such, we presume, is the
meaning of the following passage:
at (the American question:, affects the fu-
ture stage of civilization it affects the well
being OF the black race, whom it wasthe crime
Of our ancestors to Introduce to America, and
who. if these matter, end ueN, will lie, as ]
believe they are fitted to be, peaceahle and
intelligent members of a free country"
II matters "end well'-that is, by our sub
iugation-his lordship trusts that eur Slaves
will be made free citizens.
Wa it not full time that VIC should desis,
from the humiliating solicitation Of friendly
relations with q Government in which 20 We
nomous an abolitionist controls foreign af-
fairs? We now see what has been the fruit Of
our wonderfully polite forbearance in the
matter Of the commissioners and c%onsuls,