“I am bound to notice in several of your late despatches a strong
disposition to press upon the British Government an argument for a
retraction of its original error in granting to the rebels the rights
of a belligerent. There may come a moment when such a proceeding might
seem to me likely to be of use. But I must frankly confess that I do
not see it yet.”
We will now show by a few other extracts what consequences Mr Seward
expected to follow the adoption of his view.