New-York tribune., 1910-12-08

be knew the other end was on fire
( Not till the 9Th Massachusetts. under
orders for Washington, had 10 fight its
way through Baltimore. was this invest
! ing army of officeseekers scattered Then
/ the new President found himself iso-
lated in the national capital for nearly
week. with railway and telegraphic
communication cut In every direction
while. hundreds of army officers and
other employees of the government de-
serted their posts and fled South 10 take
I'D similar positions in the Confederacy;
and the air was filed with threats OF
the capture of Mr.. Lincoln and the capt.
| tai. TIL at last the 7th New York was
| able by a circuitous route 10 come TO
his relief.
At such a time new and sraver peri1s
broke out in the most unexpected quar-
ter. Mr. LincoIn's Secretary Of State, a
statesman OF long service and great ma
tional distinction. was reputed his most
sagacious and trustworthy adviser. This
gentleman had already offered revisions
that would have weakened the inau-
guraI Of the untried IllinOisan; had pro-
posed policy of bravado and probable
war with European countries as a means
of uniting the distracted nation at home.
and had seriously suggested 10 the new
President that his Secretary should be
left with practically exclusive power
over such momentous new departures.
He now submitted a letter OF instruc-
tions TO our Minister 70 Great Britain,
the deserved1y distinguished Charles
Francis Adams. which was 20 be laid
! textuaIly before the British Foreign
Minister This referred 20 reports of
Lord John Russeil's being ready TO see
/ Southern commissioners unof1cialIy
Mr.. Adams was In that case 10 break
off any intercourse. official OF unofficial,
with the British government. II the
South were recognized. Great Britain
was to be told that We had been enemies
twice before and must now become so
again: while If Great Britain accorded
belligerent rights 10 Confederate priva-
teers, there was an adequate remedy.
and we should avail ourselves Of Il;
And finally he recognized that out OF
this attitude war might come with one.
two or even more European nations"
This last was certainly correct From
such a document, so submitted, war be
tween our two countries at least might
easily have arisen. Mr.. Lincoln, the
prairie state politician, already en-
vironed with a flood of new and start
ing difficulties. nevertheless, without hes
itation again overruled his accomplished
| Secretary Of State. modified with his
own pen the belligerent instructions, and
saved a dangerous if not fatal Inisstep.
Mr.. Lincoln did this alone.
once again he helped avert a similar
calamity for the United States and
Great Britain. but this time he had the
advantage of following UP the previous
work Of an exalted parsonage, whose
| memory is sacred here, and almost
| equally revered beyond the Atlantic.
| You recall the story OF the rebel com
missioners, taken by force from the Brit
| ish packet Trent The high statesman
ship, as well as the good will TO Amer
| lea, shown by the late Queen Victoria. in
the modification of Lord John RusselPs
dispatch, is well known. You NAV not
be so familiar with the fact that on the
day Mr.. Lincoln received news of the
seizure of Messrs-. Mason and SIiden he
said: Il fear the traitors will prove TO
be white elephants. We must stick to
American principles concerning the
rights Of neutrals. We fought Great
Britain for insisting, by theory and
practice. on the right 10 do precisely
what Captain Wilkes has done If
Great Britain should now protest. we
must give them I'D and apologize for the
act as violation Of our doctrines At
the moment Mr.. Lincoln said that. his
Cabinet was sharing the general salts
faction Of the country at the seizure
But these excited though old and ex-
perienced advisers finally accepted his
view After the protracted Cabinet dis
cussion Mr.. Seward wrote an admirable
reply TO the letter Queen Victoria had
modified, and concluded IL with the
statement that THE four persons in
question will be cheerfu1Iy liberated"
Two great heads Of state, from their in
dependent positions and without knowI-
edge by either Of what the other would
do. unconsciously cooperating In a crisis
OF the utmost gravity. had kept The
peace between the two branches of the
English speaking race.
The war into which the South drove
Mr.. Lincoln IN their effort TO break up
the Union was at first sustained by the
Northern people at large only as a war
| to maintain the Union; they could not
have been united in its support for any
wider purpose He would not therefore
permit IL TO lie diverted from that char
acter-would not let IL appear as a
movement on his part 10 abolish or even
to injure slavery where that institution
had an admittedly legal existence under