Year: 1862

Of EOFds-.IEedfGSiOH.


In the house Of lords on the 18th inst the Ear
Of Carnovan said


wish to put question TO the noble earl, tho


secretary Of foreign affairs, in reference to the


proclamation, said to have been issued by Gen


Butler, the commander Of the Federal forces al


New Orleans The proclamation states that any


woman who shall by word, look or gesture, In


suit any officer or soldier, shall be treated as a


woman of the town, and dealt with accordingly.


will not insult the house by commenting upon


such proclamation as this, but it must be per-


tecty obvious to your lordship5 that one of two


things must be meant. Either it is intended as


a reality or a menace. If it was menace it


was one of the grossest, most brutal, and most


unmanly insults to every woman in New Or


leans, since it was notorious that there was not


woman in the city who was not devoted to the


Confederate cause. On the other hand, if the
proclamation be intended to have practical eff
feet, beg your lOrdships to observe that by the
terms in which it is couched, it gives more IN
limited powers to the Federal soldiers than have
ever been given to any soldiers upon the earth


The proclamation is absolutely without prece-
dent. We have heard of towns taken By storm,
and subjected to all the violence OF the troops
who have taken them, but that such pr0csma-
ton as this should beissUed in large and pros-
porous commercial town, which has capitulated,
and of which they have been for sometime in
peaceful occupation, has never before come to
my knowledge ! will do the Northern States
the justice to say that DO not believe they are
in any sense Unidentified with this proclamation
OF Gen. Buffers, and / trust that they will re-
pudiate it. IT, however, this is to be the princi-
pie upon which the war in America is to be car
rled on, It viii be war Of determination The
question l wish IS ask is, whether her maiesty's


L., 4 = r
the authenticity of this proclamation l wish
also to put another question to the noble lord.


There has been for some days a report current
of the proposal made by the government of
France to her najesty's government for concert
ing Jointly terms Of mediation between the bel
ligerents in this war. 1t is quite obvious that
the value of any such mediation must depend
on the terms in which it is concerted on its gen
eral character, and on the spirit in which it is re-
eeived. But assuming that the mediation is
such as is consistent with our sesEIe5pect and
with the material interests Of this country, trust
that her majesty's government viii give the
their most earnest aud favorable



Earl Russell-The only information which we
have received upon this subject is contained in
a dispatch from Lord Lyons, in which be IN
closes newspaper containing the proclamation
in question, and after alludng to its purpOrt he
said that they might infer that it was authentic
l have, however, no information whatever to
give the House with respect to any action or
any expression Of disspprovsl or approval by
the American government on the subject, nor
has there been any public act approving Of the
proclamation. Neither do 1 find that the United
States Minister in this city has received any dis
patch with reference to this proclamation. For
my own part, / trust that the American govern
ment will lose no time in disavoWing it, ifit has
not already refused to sanction it. It is of great
Importance to the character Of the American
government that It should do so at once; and, in
fact, it is Of importance to the whole world that
the usages of war should not be aggravated by
proclamations of this character


War, Of itself, is quite horrible enough, and
surely It is unnecessary 10 add to its horrors by
such proclamstiOns and this is grave offsnse,
not only against this particular population sub
ject to hOstiliies, but to mankind in general,
whose interest it is that the usages of war should
be less rigorous and cruel Hear. With re-
spect to this proclamation / nave been told that
the words with which the noble earl has read to
the House are susceptible of some explanation.
These words were to the effect that If any woman
shall show contempt Of any soldier or officer OF
the Federal States, she shall be liable to be
" treated as a woman of the town plying her
avOcatiOn" | have been told that the meaning
Vi kuOSb NuIQb lSB luht kutlD bolAS IA ANbW vi
leans local regulation that women Of the town
creating disturbance in the streets, shall be LA
bic to be sent to prison, all women sh0 shall treat
the American officers aud soldiers with con- |
Iumely in the public Streets shall be held to be
women guilty of a disturbance in the town, and |
be sent to prison. I cannot answer for that in /
terpretation being the correct one, and quite |
agree with the noble earl that even ifthe prOela-
nation is not intended to be put in force, it IS
likely to give to the soldier license which may
lead to great bTUtaliiies, and, therefore, must
say that 1 can discover no real defense for the
issue of such proclamation as this. Cheers.
I, therefore, most sincerely hope that the United
States government viii at once disavOw it, and
not only that; but express their marked disap
proval OF it. Hear, hear.


With reference to the next question which the
noble earl has put to me, namely whether a
report, which has obtained currency, that the
governments of France and England intended |
to offer their mediation between the Northern |
and Southern States is true, all can say is that
as the spreading Of these rumOrs may /
do great deal OF mischief, l am glad the noble |
earl has given me the opportunity Of informing |
the House that no proposals Of the kind have |
been made either on the part Of her majesty's |
government to the government of France or
from the French government to ours. The /
French ambassador in London has received no |
instructions from bis government on the subject, |
and there certainly has been no communication |
on the part of her majesty's government to the !
French government. Without giving any opin- |
ion as to the prOpriety some time other of Of
fering the good offices Of her majesty's gov
ernment to mediate in the matter, l should deem |
the present most inoppOrtune time for such
attempt at mediation. No good could come of
it at all in the present state of the war and in
the embittered state Of feeling on both sides
such an offer would be unattended with good
result now, and might prevent it from being
obtained in case it should be deem
ed desirable to attempt such mediation Hear,
hear. There was certainly no intention on the
part Of her majesty's government to interfere
at the present moment.
TIE PROCLAMATION IN THE HOUSE OF COM


MONS


In the House of Commons, on the 18th inst,
Sir J. Walsh, in rising to call the attention Of
the House to the recent order issued by Gen.
Butler menacing the women of New Orleans
with the most degrading treatment, and by
which any lady of that city, who, by word or
gesture, or movement, shows contempt tor 3
soldier of the United States, was to be held
liable to be treated as woman of the town
plving her avOcation, said that when he first
saw the proclamation it did appear ito him
absolutely incredible that general officer filing
so high a position in the United States army as
Gen. Butler, should have issued an order which
must inflict SO much Obloquy and disgrace upon
his name; but it had been since confirmed, and
had, as appeared from the New York correspond
ent of the papers, been so general topic Of
conversation in that city, and excited so much
attention that incredibly had given way to
astonishment and disgust. He regretted to see,
also, that up to the time when the last mails left
America there was ne report Of any formal repu-
dation Of the proclamation by the United States
authorities, nor of eensures and condemnation
of its author Although, no Eever, no such
reputation had been signifed, he could not but
hope that the honorable gentleman, the under
secretary for foreign affairs, would remove that
deep and indignant feeling that had been created
among all classes of Englishmen by the publ
cation Of a proclamation which was utterly


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