Year: 1863

Passing along if you please to another of
what seems to me to be the logical deduc


tons of onr carrying on this war as against
alien enemies-for pray you to remember
that am only carrying out in every de-
partment the same idea upon which the
government; rested when It instituted the
b!ockade-what are the rights and duties
Of foreign nations We have heretofore
seemed to consider, that five aeknowl ,dg-
ed that there was revolution; and there
were alien enemies in this fght, that there.
fore We should give foreign nations greater
right to interfere in our affairs than they
would have if they were rebels, considered
and held by ms as rebels, only in the rebel
lious part of our own country. The first
answer to this that, so far as the rebels
are concerned, they are estopped to deny
that they are exactly what they claim
themselves to be, alien enemies and so FAR
as foreign nations are concerned, while they
are alien to us yet they are upon our terri
tory, and until we acknowledge them, there
is no better settled law, axiom of the Law.
rule Of the law of nations, that the recegni.
ton of them is an act Of war. They have
no more right to recognize them because we
say, ave will deal with yoa as belgerent
alien enemies" th,n they would have to
deal with them If we dealt with them sim
ply as rebels and no country is more stern
ly and strongly bound by that view than is
England, because she held the recognition
by France OF our independence to be an act
Of war, and declared war accordingly
[Applause.] Therefore, do mol see who
would loose any rights. We do rot ALLOW
that this is rishtful rebellion--we do not
recognize it as such-we do not act towards
it except in the best way to put it down,
and to revolutionize the country.


But what is the duty, then, of neu-
trails, ifthese are alien enemies We find
them people with whom no neutral nation
has any treaty of amity or alliance they
are strangers to every neutral nation, and
for example, let US take the English. The
English nation have no treaty with the
rebels have no relations with the rebels
open relations with the rebels Laughter, 7
none that are recognized by the laws of ma
tions. They have have a treaty of amity
and friendship with US, and now what is
their duty in the contest between us and
our enemies, to whom they are strangers !?
They claim it TO be neutrality such neutral
ity as they would have between two friend


y nations, With whom they have had treat
les Of amity. Let me illustrate have
two friends that have got into quarrel
into fight if you please; I am on
equally good terms with both, and
do not chose to take part
with either, --and treat them as belligerents,
and | hold myself neutral aud that is the
position ola nation, where two equally


friendly nations are fighting, But havin,
friend again who is fighting with strang-
er, with whomI have nothing to do, of
whom I know nothing that is good, Of
whom | have seen nothing except that he
would fight what is my duty. my friends,
in that cases To stand perfectly neutral
1t is not either the part of a friend, as be-
tween men, and it is not the part ola friend
ly nation, as between nations. And yet,
from some strange misconception, our Eng
lish friends profess to do no more than to
stand perfectly neutral, while they have
treaties of amity with us and no treaty
which they acknowledge with the South =
[Appiause.] And, therefore, say, it is a
much higher duty on the part Of foreign ma
tions towards us, when we are in contest
with nation with which they have no
treaty Of amity. To illustrate how this
fact bears upon the question: the English
"Oh we are going to be neutral we will
not sell you any arms, because we should
have to sell the same to the Confederates,n
To that answer: You have got treaties of
anity and commerce with us, by which you
agree to trade with US. You have got no
treaty of amity or commerce with them, by
which you agree to trade with them. Why
not, then, trade with usf Why not give
US that right of preference, except for rea.
sons that will state hereafteri have
been thus particular upon this, because in |
stating these views to gentlemen in whose
judgment have great confidence, they said
to me, 81 agree to your views, Mr.. Butler,
but am afraid you will involve US with
other nations in the view that you take of
that matter" But insist, and can only
state the proposition-your own minds will
carry it out familiarly-I insist that there
is higher and closer duty to us--treating
this s. . strange nation not yet admitted in
to the family of nations, an interloper try.
ing to crowd himself into place among the
family of nations-that there is higher
duty to our old friendship from our old re-
lations toward Great Britain, than there is
to this pushing, attempting -getinto-place
coming member, of the family of
nations. There is still another logical con-
sequence which. in my judgment, follows
from this view Of the case. The great
question put to me, my friends, and the
great question which is now agitating this
country, is, how are we to get these men
back how are we to get get this territory
back? think it is much better answered
upon this hypothesis than any other -