The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-07-16


ed against the only breach of neutrality likel!
to occur, that of the equipment of vessel
OF war for foreign states.
The case of the formidable rams, recently
built by Laird of Birkenhead, is not yet de-
cided. The Pasha of Egypt. poor man, Is tc
be put to the question, on matter upor
which he has nothing to say, as everybody
knows, very well. Imagine the astonishmenl
of the Pasha, as he rises slowly and with diff
ficulty through the fumes of his chibauk, to a
comprehension of the fact that he is suspect
ed of having ordered the steam rams to serve
his private ends. If Pashas ever laugh, sure
ly he will laugh; or, perhaps, in a paroxysm
of wrath he will bowstring the inqusitors.
Some months ago went on board the Ell Tous-
saint, so called l suppose, to gain by an eas tern
name, credit for an eastern destination. And il
4 any VESSEL ever bore her purpose upon her
/ front, that certainly appears to me to have all
/ the characteristics OF most dangerous and
4 effective weapon. And if the circulating
/ towers she carries, pierced on one side for
two heavy guns can be, as l think they must,
called part of her equipment, then most GER
tainly that vessel was partially equipped for
warlike purposes, and is caught on the lee
shore of the law. But on the legal question
speak with diffidence when doctors them
selves so widely differ. What wish to get
understood is that, if private firms dishonor-
ably engage in transactions which initiate
against perfect neutrality, they can only be
fnl from dafaafS in mn uaunipinal In w
and not from any want of desire on the part
of the government to maintain that neutrali-
ty unimpared.
We have news OF the capture OF Fort Pill
low, and the most atrocios massacre of its de-
tenders. And It's the universal feeling, here,
that since the republic has accepted the seryi-
ces of coloured soldiers, it is bound TO accord
TO them the same protection as to others, and
TO assert for them all the immunities and pri-
vileges accorded 10 the vanquished or captur-
ed in civised warfare. This horrible breach
of the rules OF modern warfare deserves the
swiftest aud severest punishment; still the
thought of retaiiating upon the South by the
punishment of those not concerned in the
atrocity may well give praise to your noble
President. But guerilla successes like that
achieved by the rebels at Fort Pillow do not
affect the general result of the war. For al
ready you have so broken the power Of the
rebels that they can no longer point to clear
ly defined boundary; the coasts Of the South
are watched, and their outlets almost sealed
by your armed ships; the rebels have no ports
ofimportance OF which they can claim undis-
puted possession, the Mississippi the great ar
tery of inland communication is in your hands;
and the locality OF the capital of the Confed-
eracy may in few weeks be as indefinite as
that Of Weissnieblwo. There is, then, no
cause for despondency on the part OF the
friends of the Union. Aud il an Englishman,
standing apart from the rapidcurrent ofaction
now rushing on in the Ne World, and freed
from the illusions which the excitement and
immediate pressure of great events coDjure
up, sometimes, in the minds OF the strongest,
expresses his view of the situation as it is to-
day, 1t may not be without Its interest aud use
1t appears to me, then, that the causes Of
the war still exist in scarcely abated force
And If, at the beginning, the war into which
the Union has entered with its rebeious cit
liens, was just and necessary, it is not less
so to-day. For there are still 10 the field arm
ed forces lighting against the constituted au-
thorities of a government OF which those who
form these forces are the subjects.
Still the interests and base ambition OF the
few mislead the many into conflict for con-
federaey which would insult humanity and
civilization by importing into the nineteenth
century the revolving anachronism of slave
republic The great people of the Union are
still asked to submit TO the disintegration of
their territory, and to confess their inability
to protect themselves against the worst re-
suits Of intestine strife. 1t is still demanded
OF them, at the bayonet's point, to submit to
the establishment on their frontiers of pow
er which, by the very nature OF its Institutions,
must always be latently or actively hostile
You are still asked to confess that there are
not loyalty and energy enough in your repub-
lie to repress rebellion against its own execu-
tive and laws.
The crime of high treason against a great
nation is still being committed; and the ques-
tion is has that nation the power, as it has the
right to punish the criminals and subject them
TO the laws. In fact, all the issues raised at
the beginning exist still. Your nation appeal
ed to the legitimate tribunal of opinion as TO
the principles that should hold sway in the
States. Beaten in that high court of appeal,
the rebel States asked for the sharp decision
of force. What, then, remained, and still re-
mains, but the question, can the great people
of the Union, ri et drmis, maintain the au-
thority of the laws and the integrity of the
federation? Were you not compelled to take
up the ground and the weapons chosen by
rebels, and is not the necessity imposed upon
you of carrying on the conflict on that ground
aud with these weapons TO the bitter end?-
In truth, it seems to me, going back to the
origin OF this conflict, that the Union is not
fighting its own battle alone, but that of hui
manity for all time. You are solving the
problem whether mankind are capable OF self
government, whether nations without au-,
tocracies, aristocracies or other despatisms
can preserve liberty and order within, and
loyalty and strength enough TO repel assaults
from without. You are solving the problem
whether the federal government has, at once,
fexibility enough to adapt itself to the vari-
Gus conditions OF widely extended territory,
and sufficient strength and cohesion to keep
all its parts in due and proper subordination
to the central authority. These points are
now sub lite, and the result of this conflict
will pronoun ce the decision.
True the conflict in which yon are engaged
was terrible alternative, but was it not, and
is it not, the only one? 1t is sad that in the
cause of justice, humanity and the legitimate
authority of the republic, your people should
be forced into civil strife. The scythe of war
has swept sharply through your land, and de-
prived many homes of their loved ones. And
that this terrible struggle must, at best, have