Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-01-20
THE LATE MINISTER TO ENG
LAND.
From the n. Y. Post.l

motley from MS pOSitlon near the court
of St. James, of which an abstract was
yesterday given in the dispatches of the
EzeHfng Post, is to-day published in
full It is very long and elaborate on
both sides but amid all its tediousness,
contains facts of interest to the public.
It certainly amounts to a complete de-
moEstration that Mr.. Motley is more at
home in writing history than in making
it; and that, as a diplomatist, he is so
far from being skilled in influencing the
course of a foreign government, that he
does not well know how to maintain
satisfactory relations with his own.
Mr.. Motley's own letter of December
7, 1870, protesting against his removal,
is a rhetorical address to popular feeling,
and seems to lack little of the dignity
due to his own eminent character and
abilities. II is, however, when read
alone, not without effective points. Mr..
Motley complains that the first intima-
ton he ever had of a purpose to
terminate his mission reached him in
the news columns of a London news
paper, and he says that lit would be
impossible for any diplomatic agent to
believe himself more thoroughly posses
sing the confidence of the, government"
he serves than he then did. No char
ges, he asserts, were received, no inti-
nation that he was not acceptable and
trusted, no public reasons whatever were
suggested for change in the mission :;
but note, Gin three lines, requesting
his resignation, came on July I3, asking
an answer by telegraph. Mr.. Motley,
by telegraph, declined to resign, and
sent by mail an explanation of his rea-
sons.
Within forty-eight hours after Mr..
Motley received the request for his resig-
nation, his successor had been confirm
ed, he says, by the Senate. The reasons
for this summary course not having
been officially explained, Mr.. Motley
seeks them in rumor. 1t is charged,
he says, that he prepared a "memoir"
for his instructions which was rejected
by the President; and that he afterwards
followed this memoir" in his official
communications, in violation of his in
structions. This he directly denies ;
and asserts that the "memoir" in ques-
ton was set aside and never used but
that in his communications he ''pro-
ceeded to render the substance of his
! instructions, with as much accuracy, as
to the order of topics, tone of thought,
and general phraseology, as it was pos
sible for me to do in familiar conver-
sation. And in proof of this, Mr.. Mot
| ley quotes some passages from the in
structions in question, and from his min
utes of conversation with Lord Claren-
don. He adds that these minutes had
been submitted confdentially, to Lord
! Clarendon, and approved by him, be-
/ fore they were sent to Mr.. Fish but
that he had not thought this fact impor-
tant- enough to mention to his own Of
fetal superior, until after receiving his
criticisms upon it.
! Mr.. Fish writes, under date Of Decem-
Der 80, 1870, to Mr.. Benjamin Moran,
then in charge of the legation, a detail
ed reply to Mr.. Motley's protest. He
says that this protest assumes to be Of
! fetal, although written after its author
| ceased to be an officer of the govern
ment He shows that he had himself,
I in various ways, expressed a want of
j confidence on the part of the admins
/ tration in Mr.. Motley's proper manage
ment Of the Alabama question /; and
4 that the minister's assumption that he
4 enjoyed in the fullest measure the con-
! fdence and approval of his government
was quite gratuitous. He then points
out the fact that Mr. Motley assumes,
! officially, an acquaintance with the
secret proceedings of the Senate quite
! inconsistent with its rules. But what is
worse than this, Mr.. Motley, in a diplo-
matte conversation with Lord Clarendon,
actually offered an explanation to the
! British government of the reasons which
/ induced the Senate, in secret session, to
! reject the Characterization treaty. OF
this grave diplomatic error Mr.. Motley
seems to be entirely unconscious, even
when giving, in his dispatches, his own
detailed history of it.
Again, the whole spirit of Mr.. Mot
! ley's instructions was peaceful and
! friendly. He was instructed to assure
] the British government, first, that in re-
! iecting the treaty, the United States did
not abandon their assured hope Of a
! friendly settlement of all questions at is
sue and, secondly, that they do not
/ make the Queens proclamation of neu-
trality, recognizing the rebels as bellig-
erents, in itself, a ground of complaint
Instead of directly and pointedly making
these simple assurances, Mr.. Motley
dressed them up in a rhetorical disguise
| of which he seems to be utterly uncon-
scious ); but which really almost entirely
reversed their tenor. He talked of wan
and peace as alternatives to be consid.
cred, and went ITO the very verge ot
diplomatic suggestion" in menaces
stronger than many which have occa-
! stoned war. In direct defiance of the
! spirit of his instructions, he spoke oi
Great Britain as having assumed grave
responsibilities by the neutrality proc
lamation itself.
The immediate result Of this was the
withdrawal of the Alabama claims from
his hands But when the Administra
ton learned that the momentous dis
patch reporting the interview with Lore
Clarendon, in which all the relations o
the two governments were discussed
had actually been submitted to Lore
Clarendon himself, and verified and ap
proved by him, before it was sent anC
that no hint of this had been given b.
Mr.. Motley to his own government un
til he received Mr.. Fish's criticisms OF
his remarks, the patience of the Presi
: dent gave way, and Mr. Motley was a
once superseded. Such is the statemen
of the case in the reply of the Secretar!
of State.
J The other detailed points in those de
spatches are of little public interest. Blu
two points will be established by them
to the satisfaction of the country first
LAAdA 4f4As 4fAOAAGy was AAO AOAISNA q w
sirable representative of the nation il
} Great Britain secondly, that Genera
Grants views on the Alabama claims
do not include any absurd or extrava
giant pretensions towards England; tina
: he is ready to recognize the perfect in
dependence of every government, in al
. that is necessary for the protection of it
I own subjects, and for the enforcement
2 of their neutrality. and that the claim
of our government against Great Brit
! ain are now limited to the damages ac
, tually suffered by US, in consequence o
: her violations of the neutrality she S,
loudly proclaimed. In this the Unite,
States are now in accord with the bes
. public opinion on the continent Of Eu
rope, and their claims have a yer,
l strong support in the views of severa
. leading English statesmen themselves
! MISS WINNIE RRAMs' STATUE Oh
3 LINCOLN
= Hoe Aaa,, ,.r,,a1Ixr accented nv fhl