The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-19
THEFAMOUS TRENT AFFAIR
THoUGH WE YIELDED TO BRITAIN,
WE SCORED AN IMPORTANT POINr.

Essiand HAD Always Claimed the R,sh,
witch Capt. wilkes Asserted Aea,H.t
ths Trent-wheu Engiand Was Dosed
with Her Own medicine. She Saw the
Poiut and Changed Her Dipio-
matte Correspondence ana "EHusuinu'
chat Prevented - warmly the For
eiEu Governments Upheid England.
The Board ut Washington engaged in pub
fishing the official records OF the rebellion OBJ
tnined from the late Secretary of state, the
Hon. Walter q. Gresham, free access TO the re.
markable collection OF archives relating TO sus-
pocted and dlsloyal persons, and TO political
arrests inndc during the first year of tho war.
AT this day II strikes one as most singular that
. duty 80 obviously either judicial or military,
and seemingly totally foreign to It's own func.
ttons, should have been devolved upon mr. MS.
humed by the Department OF State. of which
that distinguished statesman. the Hon. VIII.
Ham II. Seward, was then the head. But so
II was, up to Feb. ~. 1869, when by the
Presidents executive order No. / the state
Department was deprived of this extraordinary
power. Mr.. Seward had to do with more thon
500 political arrests. IL was n power that
docs not appear to have been abused, and was
in the main iudiciously exercised In the inter
est OF the Union cause. At the South the
same policy of repi ession was pursued on al
most exactly the same lines.
During this period all political prisoners,
whether arrested by the military, naval. Judi.
cial, or local authorities, were delivered immcdi-
ately into the custody of the Secretary OF state,
who automatically ordered their discharge or
continued detention at will. Tho principal places
OF Incarceration for these prisoners of state
we're Forts Lafayette, Warren, Delaware, and
McHenry, and the old Capitol prison In Wash
ington. Very few cases were investigated
judicially, ms the arrests for the most part
were merely precautionary, though aome Of
the prisoners were held for months: notably.
Marshal Kane and the Baltimore Police Com
missioners. and several members Of the Mary
land Legislature. who were arrested on sus-
picion OF disloyal practices, were detained for
more than a year, stoutly declining to give n
parole not to render aid or comfort to the enc
mics of the Government. But as the war pro-
gressed fewer of such arrests were made. as the
general necessity for them had ceased.
The records of these political arrests. which
are fairly complete. form a remarkable agGre-
CATION OF secret orders, reports, and CORE
spondence, nearly all of which is valuable and
interesting. In one particular these papers
are even more important historically than the
records Of campaigns and battles, because
through them. wildly disclosing as they do
the prejudices and opinions which animated
the people of both sections, the future historian
can trace unerrinGlv the causes of the great
Southern outbreak and the progress of evonts
IN its earlier stages.
Included in this unique collection are the
archives relating to the seizure on the high
seas Of the two Confederate Commissioners.
Nessrs. Mason and Slidell. an unex pected ex-
plot on the part of an American naval officer
which startled the world. and came nearer
I,,--t aIt, -,,- -, toe n .rn. rrtth IrAat
Britain than any event or series of events
since tho peace of 1sl4-a war. too. which I'M
der the then existing circumstance most
probably would have resulted disast-ously to
the Union cause. The records make the story
perfectly clear throughout all its varying
phases: tho capture OF the prisoners; the diplo-
matte negotiations for their release from Fort
Warren, and their fnal delivery on board a
British frigate at rcvincctown. Even the
diplomatic instructions of jefferson Davis TO
his ENJOYS to tho courts of France and Eng
land are found among the papers.
In addition to these more important branches
the chain is completed by II mass of minor re-
ports. orders. and correspondence: letters.
both Union and Confederate, from public and
private Ind ividuals: newspaper articles, foreign
and domestic. enclosed in this correspondence.
showing the feverish state Of public opinion
everywhere. and the high hopes of foreign in
tervention entertained at the South during
the progress of the quarrel, as a whole form
ing an unbroktn inside history of an episode
OF which the world only knew the result.
The naval blockade of the Atlantic and
Gulf ports iiauguratei by Mr.. Lincoln I'M
mediately on the outbreak OF the rebellion
practically stopped the expectation of cotton
from the Southern states, then the worlds
main source of supply. Tho cotton spinncrs
of France and England soon found themselves
short of raw materials. and a great clamor
naturally followed. The foreign monufaotur-
ers yehemcntly asserted that Mr.. LinColn's
block AIDE was n mere paper one which did not
fulfil the requirements Of the Conference of
Paris. and their Governments were urged not
only to declare it Ineffective. but, II necessary.
TO break it with armed fleets. In England.
whose attitude throughout the civil war was
most threatening. the influential maufactur-
ing interest was supported and abetted by most
Of the governing class. which from selfish jeal-
ousy OF our growing commercial and maritime
Importance desired TO see the United States per-
manently d~ismenbered and struck down. The
aristocratic class generally sympathized openly
with the South. and both In and out Of Parl'a-
mcnt vociferously favored immediate recogni-
ton OF the Confederate States and the break
ing of the Union blockade, even ut the expense
of o war, an event almost certain to follow
such demonstrations.
1t was generally believed. both North md
South. that Great Britain was only waiting
for an opportuno moment TO interfere In
american affairs in the fern OF a naval dem
oAstration In favor of the South. There were
numerous Indications to warrant such an ex-
pectation. 1t is quite certain that the south
~gleefully anticipated English intervention al
most any day, while the North sullenly feared
II, fully convinced that an entente had been
secretly established between the two nations,
and that France would act with England. For
eign Intervention was looked upon AS immi-
nent. and prejudice against both countries was
very strong. Every utterance and movement.
especially in England, Was watchfully scanned
by the North.
Such was the tense state OF public feeling
In the United States and England when the
exciting event occurred which 1t IL the object