Year: 1869

LFROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS .


LONDON, June 5-The protest against Mr. Sumnei


has now taken what may be called the official shape


which is ground for supposing that the worldin


general has about got through with its denuncatons
Of him and of his speech. Lord Clarendon was put


up in tho Lords last night for the express purpose Of


saying what the Cabinet think about Mr.. Summers
| statement Of the American claim. Moderate as he


was-and it would probably be impossible for Lord
| Clarendon TO be anything but moderate-his speech


is distinct concession to the most extreme anti.


American party. 1t is not in form a declaration Of
| policy; but it apparently commits the Government
| to line much stronger than expected OF them


by anybody yet in which think / may say the


Cabinet are unanimous. The ground generally taken


outside has been that England could not or wou'd


not in any future negotiations go beyond the marx


of the rejected treaty But here is Lord Clarendon


one Of the gners of that treaty criticising his OWL
work, and plainly iutimating that when he
! put his name at the bottom of that un


lucky instrument, he went not only
| far, but farther than he will go again


Now this is rather thing to say, and not the


less so from the indirect informal, and suggestive
! way in which it is announced. If any other member


of the Government than Lord Clarendon himself hae
! said it, it would have been fair inference that the
Foreign Secretary stuck to bis old position and that


there split, at any rate division of opinion
| in the Ministry. Let me quote the exact words to


which refer and which deem so important. After


giving history very curious in itself, of the nego


tiatlons down to JAN H. 1869 Lord Clarendon says


with considerable Justice that everything had been


done to meet the wishes and adopt the proposals OF
| the American Governmental you willing &c


admit, what all the journals and diplOmatsts are
| saying Just now, that the " American Government


consisted of the President and the Secretary of State
| Lord Clarendon chimes in with the language that


lately has been used with such persistence to show


it had an object, viz; to convict of bad faith IL
repudiating, as they say by the Senate what
! had been done by the Government'-a
| if the Senate were no part of the Government


but kind Of interloper whom we put forward wher
! we wanted pretext for escaping from treaty ts
| which we had already agreed. l have heard thiI


urged seriously by men who ought to know better


They seem TO think there is a kind of unfairness tC
| England in subjecting Mr. Reverdy Johnson's bar


gain to tho revision of the only body which has the


power to ratfyit There is not much use in replying
| that our written Constitution is notice TO all the


world, and that an English Foreign Secretary may
! be supposed to know the limits of the authority in
! trusted to the functonary with whom be is dealing


Last Winter the English papers were saying thai


the Senate had nothing to do with the treaty. that


whatever the President agreed to was binding Tley


know better now bat they revenge themselves foI


their own bunder by substituting this notion Of un.


fairness in not consenting TO whatever is done by oui
| Envoy. Now to quote Lord Clarendon's words:
Indeed" he says, so great has been the desire


both of the late aud the present Government TO bring


this painful controversy close that yOur ordshps


may think that our concessions have been carried
| beyond legitimate limit. | do not wonder there
fore that there great expression of dissats


faction when the negotiations fell through"


That is diplomatic but very significant way Of


saying that not only your lordshps" but the Cabi-
! net think that concessions have been carried be-
! yond legitimate limit" and that the Cabinet are


now as well satisfied other people that the neRo-
tiaons fell through How entirely this satisfies the


most Jealous of our opponents may be judged from
the remark Of one of them that Lord Clarendons
speech was a curious criticism of his own work :
and from that of the most war1e of all the journals
which saws emphatcaly that " the line taken by
Lord Clarendon since the conclusion of the treaty
leaves nothing to be desred.D There seems 10 be
purpose to notify Mr. Motley in advance what il
will be prudent for him to attempt, and what they
will refuse to listen to- My impression is however,
that Mr. Motey's line OF conduct will be governed
by his own good sense. and by instructions from
Washington rather than from the House of Lords OF
the English Foreign Ohice.


Mr. Motey's great personal popularity in London
does not seem to be ssened by the known fact that
his views are OF the extremest-that is of the best
American type Since his arrival on Monday he has
been sought after with eagemess and the least word
thatifals from his lips furnishes topic for endless
comment As one OF his friends remarked he has
been all but pulled to pieces'-nOt in anger but in
love- Well he has been through all this before flat
tered yet half feared for his outspoken opinions on
English wrongs done to America. The English say
we resented the mere polite attentions shown to Mr.
Reyerdy johnson. which Is nonsense. don't believe
nny American was so silly, any more than believe
Mr. Motley capable of the foes and degradatons
which we did actually and justly resent in bis prede-
cessor Whether it be owing to the sudden interest
arising ont of Mr. Motleys coming, or to the reduc-
ton of the cable tolls we have had the comments of
the New-York papers on his Liverpool speeches tele


graphed to u.s. 1t to excite equal surprise aud
pleasure in some quarters TO find that his general
pressions of good will are approved at home.


At the risk Of hurting the feelings Of sensitive
readers suppose must state the latest Tory view
of American diplomacy the Alabama claims. II
seems we never We're in earnest about our negotia-
tons or, as the Tory organ puts it, the American
Government never intended them to succeed"
They were only bogus claims" The eulogist of Mr..
Reverdy Johnson, the only one that has not long
since sung his praises backward, has at last joined
the cry against him, and tells that there was a
sham ambassador, urging imaginary grounds for
delusve grievance and claiming, impossible dam
ages.' We behaved in the shabbiest possible way,
we "shuiled" we "chafiered' we played fast and
loose" with our own agent. while we "cNoled our
adversary into CONCESSIONS If there be on your side
sensible Americana point clearly open to doubi
he will prove his right to the good opinion OF En-
glish Tories by blushing for the part played by DIS