The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-11-12
A STORY OF THE WAR.
secretary Lamar's Account OF his Mission
In Europe.
From. the Ne,O York Times.

|
From. the Ne0 York Times.
WASHINGTON, D. c., November L.
An anonymous paragraph going the
rounds of the press is attracting consid.
erable attention. 1t says that the Hon.
l.. @. G. Lamar, now Secretary of the
Interior, returned from Europe in 1864
bearing assurances from Lord Palmer
ston and tho Emperor Napoleon that if
the Confederate Government would
abolish slavery its recognition by Eng.
land and France would be possible. 1t
also asserts that Mr.. Lamar diligently
sought to impress upon the members of
the Cabinet of the Confederate States
the Importance of such step. 1t was
intimated that he had probably urged
Mr.. Davis to take steps in the matter by
asking the Confederate Congress to pass
an Act for the gradual abolition Of
slavery.
This paragraph has been read by many
persons with much interest, and it being
believed that Mr.. Lamar could tell some
thing of interest about it and give cor.
rect account of the facts which led to
the publication of the statements con.
cernipg him, his attention was directed
| to it to day. He read it over carefully,
and then said: swell, there is some.
thing in the story, but as told it is very
erroneous. 1t brings upsome interesting
"reminiscences of my stay in Europe as
the foreign agent of the Confederate
Government. While I was abroad I saw
the Emperor repeatedly. but I had no
conversation with him. Napoleon made
no suggestion as to what the course of the
Coufederacy should be. He was with
the South in sympathy, however. So
was Persigny, and so was De Mormy,
the prime minister. The Count de
Morny was the man who is really re.
sponsible, originally, for the appearance
of this story about the abolition of sla'
very by the Southern Confederacy.
"De Morny," said Mr.. Lamar, "was q
bright man, and he understood France,
the sentiments of mobiles and common
people, and the disposition toward the
Confederacy of all political classes in
the empire. He told me that the no
blssss-Emperor, Princes, the Guizot fac
ton, Imperialists, and Bourbons alike
were for us. If the desire of those
classes-the wealthy, aristocratic and
powerful-was alone to be consulted
they would declare for the Confederacy
at once. But the peasants, Kesclavage-
they were against the Confederacy. To
them the idea that q cause was to be
espoused that was not favorable to liberty
was intolerable, and not to be harbored
for moment. If the Confederacy,
seeking independence not alone on the
ground that its cause was one of resist
ance to oppression, could also appeal to
common France for its support in an
effort to enlarge human liberty, then the
Emperor, who had great regard for Yes
clavage as we'll as the mobiles, could ex-
tend assistance with the assurance that
he would be upheld. Persigny was of
the same opinion, and SO were others
about the Emperor with whom con.
versed. De Morny was confident that
the populace of the French Empire were
more intensely opposed to US than the
people of England, and that their repug-
nance was to be attributed to the fact
that ne were contending for the mainte.
nance of slavery.
"While I was in England" said Mr..
Lamar, ri did not meet Lord Palmerston
to talk with him on the subject of recog-
nition of the Confederacy. Dickens,
Thackeray, Carlisle, were all with us.
Of that I am fully certain. Disraeli
might have been with us, if it had not
been for an unlucky mistake made by
Mr.. Mason, who was then with me. We
were both invited to dinner at the same
house, the house of Col. Greville,
where many Southern men gathered, and
we're to meet q number of prominent
men of the time, among them Mr.. Dis
raeli, as he was called then. Mr.. Mason
was good deal of a Virginian in his
notions about social etiquette, and, it
appears, did not know that it was enough
for two or three gentlemen to be invited
to dinner by an Englishman to remove
all bars to conversation between them.
An introduction was unnecessary under
such circumstances. When dinner was
served it so happened that as the ladies
and gentlemen paired and passed into
the dining.ro Mr.. Disraeli and Mr..
Mason were thrown together for the first
time. Mr.. Disraeli was all grace and
suavity. He bowed to Mr.. Mason.
"Have you heard from Vicksburg re.
cently?" he asked. Mr.. Mason drew
back and fixed his great black eyes won.
deringly on Mr.. Disraeli. The American
and Virginian could not understand how
30 great liberty could be taken by one
gentleman with another gentleman when
there had been no introduction. They
got along very badly, never speaking, in
fact, and it was impossible after that to
attempt to approach Disraeli on recogni-
ton.
"It does not at present seem to me that
had any further thalk about the propo-
sal to abolish slavery by the Confederacy.
In 1864, on my way home, the blockade
runner on which 1 had sailed made an
effort to pass the United States ships at
Wilmington. The steamer was attacked
and sunk, and got off in boat with
my officers. But, as fate would have it,
in attempting to 60 ashore, the boat was
also sunk, and my diary, kept during my
entire stay abroad, foated off upon the
waters. l have never heard that it got
ashore. The water where we were upset
was only about Eve feet deep, and the
boats company waded to the dry land.
'tDid I speak to anybody in the matter
about the abolition proposition !? Yes, l
did. was younger then than l am now,
was more enthusiastic, and was full of
the force of De Morny's suggestion. I
spoke to Mr.. Judah P. Benjamin, to Mr..
Memminger, to Mr.. Clay, and to others,
but never to Mr.. Davis. knew that it
would be useless. Slavery was the thing
for which we were contending, aud 1
knew that to propose to Mr.. Davis to Sc.
cure foreign succor by abolishing the
institution would result adversely.
Nothing ever came of it in the way Of
legislation or attempt at legislation. So
the honor of having proposed that the
South should abolish slavery in order
that the Confederacy might live does not
belong to me. Whatever of credit there
is in the suggestion belongs to De Morny,
whose advice was not followed"
Evolution of the Peach.
The great ancestor of the peach was