The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-25

| Empire" 1t Is also admitted in the book
before us that there were some English
men who thought the United states dan
gerous power and desired TO see it broken
up. There were many who thought that,
for good or for evil, the thing had been
done, and that the Union could not bs re-
stored by force There is no doubt that up
to nearly the end Of the war the independ-
ence OF the South was regarded by most
public mon in England, notably by Mr..
| Gladstone, as assured. AS might have
been expected, Bright and Golden were
stanch friends Of the Union. So was
| Goodwin Smith so, on the other side
| Of politics. was Lord Stanley. But the
| first man Of highest rank in English society
to speak out for freedom and unity was
the Duke Of Argyll. II know Of no gov
! ernment." said the Duke on Oct. 20, 1851.
that has ever existed in the world which
could possibly have admitted the right OF
secession from it's own allegiance. Gentle
men," he added, Il think we ought to adj
nit, in fairness to the Americans, that
there are some things worth fighting for.
and that national existence is one of them.
On the very same page 1902 We find
an unexpected oversight. The author says
that, after the first battle of Bull Run,
Gen. Scott was succeeded by Cen Mcclellan
(whose name IL spelled in this narrative
M'Lelan). and that Gen Sherman. whose
name will never be forgotten in the United
States, invaded South Carolina" 1t was
in Janya'y, 1855, that the invasion OF South
Carolina by Gen. w. T. Sherman took place.
1t Is pleasant to turn to page 305, where
Mr.. Paul recalls that. in November. 1851,
the Prince Consort. though already suf-
fering from his last illness mustered
strength enough to insert with his own
hand vital amendment in the rough
draft of Lord Russell's despatch TO
Secretary Seward about the Trent af-
fair. 1t is probable enough that, had
peremptory and unqualified demand for
satisfaction and redress for Capt. Wilkess
seizure of the Confederate Commissioners,
Mason and Slidell, gone out from Downing
street to Washington, the temper of the
North would have rendered inevitable
war with England, although such a contest
would have led in all likelihood to the com
plete disruption Of the Union, Prince AL
berts cool head and clear reason perceived
the course which the American Govern
ment Nigh. steer between an ignonliniols
submission and an unjustifable defense.
There was no evidence that Capt. Wilkes
had been directed by any responsible Of
fetal at Washington to board the Trent,
and, as afterward appeared, he had not
been so directed. At the suggestion of his
Royal Highness, which the Premier palm
erston> and the Foreign Secretary RUS
selD at once to their credit accepted the
following paragraph was Incorporated in
the official despatch to the Queens repre-
sentative at Washington: Her Majesty's
Government, bearing in mind the friendly
relations which have long subsisted be-
tween Great Britain and the United States,
are willing to believe that the United States
naval officer who committed this aggres-
sion was not acting in compliance with any
authority from his Government, or that.
II he conceived himself to be so authorized,
he greatly misunderstood the instructions
which he had received Wiser words have
seldom been written few have achieved
so practical and benefcent a result. An
express statement from Secretary Seward
that Capt. Wilkes had acted without in
structions was accepted in lieu OF an apol-
ogy, and the maintenance OF peace was
thus assured, The credit for this satsfac-
tory outcome OF a threatening incident
must be divided between the Prince Consort
and President Lincoln.
Mr. Paul directs attention to the fact
that throughout our civil war Disraeli
unlike not only Palmerston, Russell and
Gladstone. but also Lord Derby, the
leader Of the Tory party-showed himself
an unvarying friend Of the Union. The
remarkable fact is here attributed partly
to the influence of Golden. partly to that
Of Thomas Barring and partly to that of
Lord Lyndhurst. When President Lin
coins compliance with the demands of the
Cabinet in the Trent affair met with an
unwise and uncharitable reception on the
part of many public men in England Dis
raeli protested in the House OF Commons
against mputing motives to men absorbed
in a patriotic struggle, and pleaded for a
friendly construction of the American de-
spatches. Our author remarks: 1t is not
to be supposed that Mr. Disraeli had any
special knowledge Of American politics or
any particular interest in them. They
we're wide asunder, indeed, from the Asian
mystery, which really fascinated him.
But he was at that time much under the
influence of Mr.. Thomas Barring, whose
financial connection with the United States
gave him unlimited opportunities of ascer-
tanning the truth about the ultimate ca
pacites Of the North, and Lord Stanley,
with whom he was politically intimate, took
the Northern side. His old friend and early
patron. the aged Lord Lyndhurst, himself
an American, though British subject by
birth. held that the secession was at va
rance With the principles OF the Coistitu
ton and not justified by any of the alleged
grievances But. whatever may have
been the source from which it was derived,
Mr.. Disraeli's judgment was sound and of
incalculable importance, considering the
position he held, for the future Of the Anglo
Saxon race
1t will he remembered that the blockade
Of the Southern ports by the Federal navy
during our civil war was so rigorous that
the supply of cotton from the slave States
to the British markets entirely ceased,
and that many thousands Of British sub
jects were thus deprived of the raw material
on which they worked and wer, thrown out
Of employment for an indefinite period. Our
author does not fail TO testify that "the
behavior OF these Lancashire operatives,
under the pressure of a terrible and uneX
pected calamity, was the admiration of