Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-26

ttIHE SECRET SERVICE OF THE IONFEDEkAiE
STATES IN EUROPE; OR How THE COZ
FEDERATE CRUISERS WERE EQUIPPED BY
Captain james D. BuIloeh. vols, vo
London and New FORK; q. +. Putmahs
sons.
The last is the best. Perhaps | say
this because this interesting book is the
latest one have read on subject that
never tires, and because it wholly con-
Germs the Confederate navy, OF which we
have hitherto known SO little. However
this may be, Welcome-uEit mere inter-
est, and have read with more pleasure,
these charming volumes than any other
work on the civil war, and as lay them
I aside, cannot Withhold warm common
dation of their patriotic sentiments, de
lightful spirit, graphic description, VIVA
cious style and truthful narrative.
The interesting pages OF TINS ,'oecieI
| Service fill the Southern heart WIN
renewed pride in the justice of our cause,
| i'm the self-sacrifices of our people, III the
pluck and gallantry of our seamen, IN the
| vigorous efforts of our government 10 get
| a navy, in the wonderful success-llttle
! as it may seem-accOmplished Win such
small means, and in the untirlng spirit,
which baffied disappointment ana even
resisted despair. We see mere, never pc
/ international law shown by our
! government, its strict obedience
| to legal right, its dlgnlned
! bearing in times of doubt and danger, ana
! its calm forbearance under reprOach ana
/ OblOquy. How nObly these qualities con-
/ trast, as depicted IN these pages, Win the
! reckless and Overbearlng course OF the
| Federal authorities, from the secretary OF
/ State down to the lowest Consul, ana their
! onnrObriOuS denunciatiOnS of our cause
| and it's followers.
While this work is one which every
! Southerner should admire, Georglans
especially may well be proud OF 1t. It's
author, Capt James ID. Bulloch, is a ma
| tive Georgian, and was born III TINS goo9
city of Savannah. Here he was reared
! and here his kinsmen live. IhOuSh
resident now in England, he has never
lost his love for his native soil, nor forgot
fen the old State that gave him birth.
our gallant seaman has done honor to his
native city, alike by his plucky profess
sional career, by his tact and good Judg-.
ment in the responsible post OF
the .ssecret service" and by the
literary skill of his narrative.
The book is a record of the persistent
| efforts of the Confederate States authori-
ties TO procure, by purchase or by build
ing, ships at home or abroad, either for
harbOr defense or for warning on United
States commerce. Here we find the story
of the famous cruisers, the Alabama, the
Florida. the Georgia, the Shenan-
doah. and others, from the days
their keels were laid, all through
their busy and brilliant career, down to
| the end, by accident, surrender, destruc-
! ton i'm battle or treacherOus capture. 1t
is a luminous picture, rejecting, in a
| blaze of glory, the gallantry OF naval
heroes, not whit inferior to those who
l.,,-o fe-t.1 in lfax atc
/ of the revolution and 1872. The names OF
Semmes and Maffit, and Morris and TAFT
nall and Buchanan and their younger as
| sOciates have none the less merit, because
they were less successful, than mad the
old sea-kings Paul Jones, Somers, Deca-
tur, Hull, Lawrence and Porter. Yet,
these are the ships, and these are the men
that the Federal authorities were stupldly
calling ''cOrsaTs" and pirates to the
end Of the war, and are even yet brand
ing with these false names. The good
sense and sober judgment of European
nations stamped these appellations as
false, by granting belligerent rights to
the government that commissioned the
ships and their officers. Mr.. Seward, the
mOuthpiecc of the United States, i'll all
his foreign correspondence was followed
i'm these coarse denunciatiOns by Ambas-
sailors. Resident Ministers and COnsuls
of all grades; and it is not the least OF
| Captain Bulloch's merits that he has so
spiritedIy and successfully refuted these
charges. Indeed, the pages devoted to
this correspondence are eminently salts
factory and triumphant.
Then. too, we have a graphic account of
the changes in the public sentiment of
foreign States, and of the causes of those
changes; of the inside reasons that led
France, for instance, after authorizing
Captain Bulloch to contract for building
at Brest several Confederate cruisers, to
change front at Il critical moment and to
repudiate the bargain; of the timidity
that made England prohibit the delivery
to the Confederate authorities of
two iron-clads, laid down with
her knowledge and quasi consent
and nearly finished at Liverpool; of
the weakness she showed as the war went
on in narrowing her public policy under
United States complaints and threats;
and of the humiliation she underwent, at
the Geneva arbitration settlement, years
after the war, in apOlOgiZing for what she
had all along said she was not guilty of,
and in paying $l5,OO0,00O for the loss Of
| ships, for which loss she had always
claimed to be in no wise responsible.
This much to show a S0utherner's adj
miration of this last contribution to the
literature of our Confederate cause.
Whoever would read a new defense of the
Lost Cause" fresh ana captivating III
| style, full of charming incident-witneSS
the fitting out, the voyage and the arrival
in Savannah of the ''FingaP'-Of fearless
statement of truth, yet uttered without
passion; of calm discussion of inter-
national problems; of dignified defense of
l the rights and the honor of his country,
and at the same time learn to admire the
character and services of the author, let
him buy these interesting volumes and
enjoy the treat that they VIII furnish him.
,SdUanndh, oct. %, 1888. w. 5. Il.