THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLICY, MAY, 1861
In June, 1859, a short-lived Conservative Government under the
leadership of Lord Derby had been replaced by a "coalition" Liberal
Government, at the head of which stood Palmerston, but so constituted
that almost equal influence was attributed to the Foreign Secretary,
Lord John Russell. Both men had previously held the Premiership, and, as
they represented different wings of the Whig-Liberal party, it was
prophesied by political wiseacres that personal friction would soon lead
to a new disruption. Nor were the possible elements of discord confined
to these two. Gladstone, formerly a Peelite Tory, and for a time
uncertain whether to return to the Tory fold or to join the Liberals,
had yielded to Palmerston's promise of a free hand in financial matters,
and had joined the Ministry as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Opposed to
him in a certain sense, as the rival claimant for political leadership
among the younger group, was Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Home Secretary
until July, 1861, thereafter until his death in April, 1863, Secretary
for War. Acting in some degree as intermediary and conciliator between
these divergent interests stood Lord Granville, President of Council,
then a "Conservative-Liberal," especially valuable to the Cabinet for
the confidence reposed in him by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
In 1861 Palmerston was seventy-seven years old. Long before this he had
built his popularity upon a vigorous British "patriotism," assertive of
England's honour and jealous for British advantage. Now, however, as
head of a Government requiring the most delicate handling to maintain
itself, he devoted his energies to details of political management in
which he had great skill. His ambition was, primarily, to retain office,
and in this purpose he was fortunate because, unknown to his ministerial
colleagues, he had received an indirect pledge from Lord Derby, the
Opposition leader, that there would be, for a time at least, no
determined effort to unseat him so long as his Ministry brought forward
no Bill for a further expansion of the franchise. In the unwillingness
to make any further adventure toward an expanded democracy Palmerston
was wholly at one with Derby. Of like opinion, though less strongly so,
was Russell, whose popular nickname, "Finality John," gained by his
assertion that the Reform Bill of 1832 was England's last step toward
democracy, sufficiently indicates his stand on the franchise
question. In fact every member of the Cabinet belonged to the
"Conservative-Liberal" group, though with shades of political faith, and
none were really Liberals--far less Radicals. The outspoken Radicals in
Parliament, like John Bright, and his friend Cobden, who had refused to
take office under Palmerston, gave a lukewarm support to the Ministry,
but would not pledge themselves to steadfast adherence. They had hopes
of Gladstone, believed that he would ultimately come into their group,
but meanwhile watched with anxiety his delighted immersion, as indeed
Palmerston desired it, in the details of financial management to the
exclusion of other questions.
The matter of ministerial and general British attitude toward democracy
as affecting British policy during the American Civil War will be
considered in a later chapter. In the spring of 1861 it had not become a
clear-cut British opinion and did not, so far as historical evidence can
determine, affect early governmental policy toward America. The
outstanding feature of the British Government in 1861 is that it was
made up of various so-called "Liberal" elements, the representatives of
each of which carried on the business of his own department much as he
pleased. Palmerston's was, of course, the deciding opinion, whenever he
cared to express it, but this he did but rarely. His great concern was
to keep his all-star associates running smoothly together and thus to
give no occasion for parliamentary criticism and attack. It followed
that Russell, eight years the junior of Palmerston, was in foreign
affairs more powerful and independent than is customary. Indeed the
Government was at times spoken of as the "Palmerston-Russell Ministry."
These two were the leaders of the team; next came Gladstone and
Cornewall Lewis, rivals of the younger generation, and each eager to
lead when their elders should retire from harness. Gladstone's great
ability was already recognized, but his personal political faith was not
yet clear. Lewis, lacking his rival's magnetic and emotional qualities,
cold, scholarly, and accurate in performance, was regarded as a
statesman of high promise[127]. Other Cabinet members, as is the custom
of coalitions, were more free in opinion and action than in a strict
party ministry where one dominating personality imposes his will upon
his colleagues.
Lord John Russell, then, in foreign policy, was more than the main voice
of the Government; rather, save in times of extreme crisis, governmental
foreign policy was Russell's policy. This was even more true as regards
American than European affairs, for the former were little understood,
and dependence was necessarily placed upon the man whose business it was
to be familiar with them. Indeed there was little actual parliamentary
or governmental interest, before midsummer of 1861, in the American
question, attention in foreign affairs being directed toward Italian
expansion, to the difficulties related to the control of the Ionian
islands, and to the developing Danish troubles in Schleswig-Holstein.
Neither did the opposition party venture to express a policy as regards
America. Lord Derby, able but indolent, occasionally indulged in caustic
criticism, but made no attempt to push his attack home. Malmesbury, his
former Foreign Secretary, was active and alert in French affairs, but
gave no thought to relations across the Atlantic[128]. Disraeli, Tory
leader in the Commons, skilfully led a strong minority in attacks on the
Government's policy, but never on the American question, though
frequently urged to do so by the friends of the South. In short for the
first year of the Civil War, 1861, the policy of Great Britain toward
America was the policy of Lord John Russell, unhampered by friend
or foe.
This being the case, what did Russell know about the American crisis?
Briefly, no more than has already been stated as derived from the
reports of British officials in the United States, and from the pages of
the public press. The salient facts known to Russell were few. Lincoln's
Cabinet had been named. Lincoln himself was absolutely an unknown
quantity, but it was unbelievable that a man of his origins and history
could be more than a mere figurehead--an opinion then held as widely in
America as in England. But someone must determine American policy, and
by universal consent, this would be Seward.
The new Secretary of State was at the moment better known in England
than any other American statesman, with the possible exception of
Charles Sumner, whose visits and personal contacts had established a
circle of British friendships. Both men were accepted as champions of
anti-slavery, Sumner for his vigorous denunciations and his so-called
"martyrdom" under the physical violence of the South Carolinan, Brooks;
and Seward for his clever political anti-Southern leadership in the
United States Senate. But Seward's reputation in this respect was offset
by the belief that he was anti-British in his personal sentiments, or at
least that he was very ready to arouse for political ends the customary
anti-British sentiment of his Irish constituents in the State of New
York. In 1860, on the occasion of the visit to the United States of the
Prince of Wales, Seward is alleged to have stated to the Duke of
Newcastle that in case he became Secretary of State it would then
"become my duty to insult England, and I mean to do so"--a threat,
whether jocose or not, that aroused much serious and anxious speculation
in British governmental circles[129]. Moreover Seward's reputation was
that of a wily, clever politician, rather unscrupulous in methods which
British politicians professed to disdain--a reputation serving to dim
somewhat, as indeed it did in America also, the sincere idealisms and
patriotism of the statesman. Altogether, Seward was regarded in Great
Britain as a rather dangerous man, yet as the inevitable guiding power
in the new Republican administration.
This estimate was shared by many in the United States also, but not by
all. The new American Minister to London, Charles Francis Adams, himself
a most stiffly upright politician, both regarded Seward as the only
possible leader of Republican party policy and rejoiced that this was
so, having great confidence in his chief's integrity and wisdom. Adams
himself was well suited to his new post. He was known as having early in
1849 fought the battle of anti-slavery as a "Free Soil Whig," and later
as a leading Republican member of Congress from Massachusetts.
Principally, however, he was suited to his post by education, family,
and character. He had been taken as a boy to Russia during his father's
ministry at St. Petersburg, and later had been educated in England. His
father and grandfather, John Quincy Adams and John Adams, both
Presidents of the United States, had both, also, been American Ministers
at London. Intensely patriotic, but having wide acquaintance through
training and study with European affairs, especially those of Britain,
and equipped with high intellectual gifts, Adams was still further
fitted to his new post by his power of cool judgment and careful
expression in critical times. His very coolness, sometimes appearing as
coldness and stiff dignity, rendered him an especially fit agent to deal
with Russell, a man of very similar characteristics. The two men quickly
learned to respect and esteem each other, whatever clash arose in
national policies.
But meanwhile Adams, in April, 1861, was not yet arrived in London. The
Southern Government organized at Montgomery, Alabama, but soon
transferred to Richmond, Virginia, was headed by Jefferson Davis as
President and Alexander Stephens as Vice-President. Neither man was well
known in England, though both had long been prominent in American
politics. The little British information on Davis, that he had served in
the United States Senate and as a Cabinet member, seemed to indicate
that he was better fitted to executive duties than his rival, Lincoln.
But Davis' foreign policy was wholly a matter for speculation, and his
Cabinet consisted of men absolutely unknown to British statesmen. In
truth it was not a Cabinet of distinction, for it was the misfortune of
the South that everywhere, as the Civil War developed, Southern
gentlemen sought reputation and glory in the army rather than in
political position. Nor did President Davis himself ever fully grasp the
importance to the South of a well-considered and energetic foreign
policy. At first, indeed, home controversy compelled anxious attention
to the exclusion of other matters. Until war cemented Southern
patriotism, Davis, himself regarded as an extremist, felt it necessary
in denial of an asserted unreasonableness of personal attitude, to
appoint to office men known for their earlier moderate opinions on both
slavery and secession[130]. "The single exception to this general
policy[131]" was the appointment as agents to Europe of Yancey, Rost and
Mann, all of them extreme pro-slavery men and eager secessionists. Of
these Mann was the only one with any previous diplomatic experience.
Yancey's choice was particularly inappropriate, for he at least was
known abroad as the extreme fire-eating Southern orator, demanding for
ten years past, that Southern action in defence of states rights and
Southern "interests," which now, at last, the South was attempting[132].
Yancey and Rost, starting on their journey on March 16, reached London
on April 29[133]. Meanwhile in this same month of April, conditions in
America, so long confused and uncertain, were being rapidly clarified.
The South, earlier than the North, had come to a determined policy, for
while during January and February, at the Montgomery convention, there
had been uncertainty as to actively applying the doctrinaire right of
secession, by March the party of action had triumphed, and though there
was still talk of conferences with the North, and commissioners actually
appointed, no real expectation existed of a favourable result. In the
North, the determination of policy was more slowly developed. Lincoln
was not inaugurated until March 4, and no positive pronouncement was
earlier possible. Even after that date uncertainty still prevailed.
European correspondents were reporting men like Sumner as willing to let
the South go in peace. The Mayor of New York City was discussing the
advisability of a separate secession by that financial centre from
Nation and State alike--and of setting up as a "free town." Seward, just
appointed Secretary of State, was repudiating in both official and
private talk any intention to coerce the South by force of arms[134]. It
is no wonder that British statesmen were largely at sea over the
American situation.
But on April 13, 1861, the Stars and Stripes floating over Fort Sumter
in Charleston harbour was lowered in surrender of a Federal fortress
under the armed attack of the newly-born Confederacy. That event drove
away as by magic the uncertainty of the North, and removed the last
vestiges of Southern doubt. A great wave of militant patriotism swept
over both sections[135]. Hurriedly both North and South prepared for
war, issuing calls for volunteers and organizing in all accustomed
warlike preparations. The news of Sumter reached London on April 27, and
that civil war seemed certain was known on April 29. On April 17, Davis,
since the South lacked a navy, approved a proclamation offering to issue
letters of marque and reprisal. On April 19 Lincoln proclaimed a
Northern intention to treat as pirates any privateers acting under such
letters, and also gave notice of a blockade of Southern ports, to be
instituted later. Thus suddenly, so it seemed to British officials and
public after the long delay and uncertainty of months, events in America
had precipitated a state of war, though in fact there were still to
elapse other months in which both North and South laboured to transform
a peaceful society into one capable of waging effective battle.
The result of this sudden change in the American horizon was to alter,
almost as quickly, the previous delay in outlining a British policy,
though, presumably, the British Government, while waiting the turn of
events, had given careful consideration to the steps required of it in
just such a situation as had now arisen. Certainly both Lyons and
Russell had been deeply anxious for some time, and had visualized a
proper British policy. The movement in Great Britain now became rapid.
On April 29, Malmesbury, in the Lords, spoke of the news of civil war
which had arrived "this morning," and asked if the Government had tried
to prevent it, or had set on foot negotiations with other powers to
check it. Wodehouse, replying for the Government, stated that the United
States as an independent State would have resented any suggestions from
Great Britain, and that Lyons had been instructed to be extremely
careful about offering advice unless "asked for by the contending
parties themselves." Both speakers commented on the "ties of blood"
rendering Britain especially anxious in this American quarrel, and
regretted the conflict[136]. Malmesbury's query as to the approach to
another government, meaning France, was evaded. That some such approach,
in accordance with the earlier advice of Lyons[137], had already been
made, is evident from the fact that three days later, on May 1, Dallas
learned from Russell of the plan of joint action with France, though
what that action would be was not made clear[138]. As Dallas' report was
soon the basis of an American complaint shortly to be considered, the
paragraph referring to this matter is important:
"The solicitude felt by Lord John Russell as to the effect of
certain measures represented as likely to be adopted by the
President induced him to request me to call at his private
residence yesterday. I did so. He told me that the three
representatives of the Southern confederacy were here[139];
that he had not seen them, but was not unwilling to do so,
_unofficially_; that there existed an understanding between
this government and that of France which would lead both to
take the same course as to recognition, whatever that course
might be; and he then referred to the rumour of a meditated
blockade of Southern ports and their discontinuance as ports
of entry--topics on which I had heard nothing. But as I
informed him that Mr. Adams had apprised me of his intention
to be on his way hither, in the steamship 'Niagara,' which
left Boston on the 1st May, and that he would probably arrive
in less than two weeks, by the 12th or 15th instant, his
lordship acquiesced in the expediency of disregarding mere
rumour, and waiting the full knowledge to be brought by my
successor. The motion, therefore, of Mr. Gregory may be
further postponed, at his lordship's suggestion."
May 3rd, Russell held an unofficial interview with the two Southern
commissioners in fact arrived, Yancey and Rost. As reported by
them[140], Russell listened with attention to their representation, but
made no informing comment. They argued the constitutional right of
secession, depicted the firm determination of the South, were confident
of early acquiescence by the North, and especially laid stress on the
Southern desire for free trade. Russell's own report to Lyons on this
interview and on one held six days later, May 9, is in substantial
agreement, but much more is made by him than by the Commissioners of a
question put by Russell as to a Southern plan of reviving the African
slave-trade[141]. Yancey and Rost denied this and asserted "that they
had prohibited the slave-trade, and did not mean to revive it." Their
report to Richmond does not depict this matter as of special
significance in the interview; Russell's report to Lyons lays stress
upon it. The general result of the interview was that Russell listened,
but refused, as to Dallas, to make any pledge on recognition. But the
Southern Commissioners came away with a feeling of confidence and were
content to wait on British action[142].
On this same day, May 3, Russell received from the Attorney-General a
memorandum in reply to a query as to recognizing the belligerency of the
South and as to the right of the South to issue letters of marque and
reprisal. The memorandum notes that Southern privateering would be
dangerous to British commerce with the North, but sees no help for it.
"The best solution," wrote the Attorney-General, "would be for the
European nations to determine that the war between the two Confederacies
shall be carried on on the principles of 'Justum Bellum,' and shall be
conducted according to the rules of the Treaty of Paris. Recognize the
Southern States as a Belligerent on this condition only[143]." The next
day, referring to this memorandum, Russell wrote Lyons that the law
officers "are of opinion that we must consider the Civil War in America
as regular war[144]," but he does _not_ comment on the legal advice to
press the South to abandon privateering before recognizing her
belligerent rights, for this is the only meaning that can be attached to
the last sentence quoted from the Attorney-General's memorandum. This
advice, however, in view of the opinion that there was "no help for it,"
was presumably but a suggestion as to a possible diplomatic manoeuvre
with little confidence that it would succeed. The "best solution" was
not the probable one, for the South, without a navy, would not readily
yield its only naval weapon.
In these few days British policy was rapidly matured and announced. The
letter of May 4 to Lyons, stating the Civil War to be a "regular war"
was followed on May 6 by a formal instruction giving Lyons advance
notice of the determination reached by the Cabinet to recognize the
belligerent rights of the South. Russell indulged in many expressions of
regret and sympathy, but Lyons was not to conceal that this British
action represented the Government's view of the actualities of the
American situation. Yet while Lyons was not to conceal this opinion he
was not instructed to notify Seward, officially, of the recognition of
Southern belligerency[145]. Here was a correct understanding of the
difficulty of the diplomatic position at Washington, and a permitted
avoidance by Lyons of dangerous ground[146]. Russell was not then aware
of the tenacity with which Seward was to cling to a theory, not yet
clearly formulated for foreign governments, that the Civil War was a
rebellion of peoples rather than a conflict of governments, but he does
appear to have understood the delicacy of formal notification to the
constituted government at Washington[147]. Moreover his instructions
were in line with the British policy of refusing, at present, a
recognition of Southern sovereignty.
On the same day, May 6, a copy of the instructions to Lyons was sent to
Cowley, British Ambassador at Paris, directing him to request France to
join, promptly, in recognizing Southern belligerent rights. Cowley was
also instructed that the blockade and privateering required precautions
by European governments, and it was suggested that France and England
unite in requesting both belligerents to accede to the second and third
articles of the Declaration of Paris[148]. These articles refer to the
exemption from capture, except contraband, of enemy's goods under a
neutral flag, and of neutral goods under an enemy's flag[149]. This day,
also, Russell stated in Parliament that England was about to recognize
the belligerent rights of the South, and spoke of the measure as a
necessary and inevitable one. May 7, Cowley notified Russell that
Thouvenel, the French Foreign Minister, was in complete agreement with
England's policy[150], and on May 9, in a more extended communication,
Cowley sent word of Thouvenel's suggestion that both powers issue a
declaration that they "intended to abstain from all interference," and
that M. de Flahault, French Ambassador at London, had been given
instructions to act in close harmony with Russell[151].
The rapidity of movement in formulating policy in the six days from May
1 to May 6, seems to have taken the British public and press somewhat by
surprise, for there is a lack of newspaper comment even after Russell's
parliamentary announcement of policy on the last-named date. But on May
9 the _Times_ set the fashion of general approval in an editorial
stating that Great Britain was now coming to see the American conflict
in a new light--as a conflict where there were in fact no such ideals
involved as had been earlier attributed to it. Southern rights were now
more clearly understood, and in any case since war, though greatly to be
regretted, was now at hand, it was England's business to keep strictly
out of it and to maintain neutrality[152]. This generalization was no
doubt satisfactory to the public, but in the Government and in
Parliament men who were thinking seriously of specific difficulties
realized that the two main problems immediately confronting a British
neutral policy were privateering and blockade. The South had declared
its _intention_ to use privateers. The North had declared its
_intention_, first to hang those who engaged in privateering, and second
to establish a blockade. Neither declaration had as yet been put
into effect.
The first action of the British Government was directed toward
privateering. On May 1, Russell sent a note to the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty calling attention to the Southern plan to issue letters
of marque and reprisal and directing that reinforcements be sent to the
British fleet in American waters. This was prompt action on unofficial
information, for Davis' proclamation bore date of April 17, and Lyons'
despatch containing copies of it, sent on April 22, was not received by
Russell until May 10[153]. Ordinary news from the United States required
ten days to get into print in London[154], but official messages might
be sent more rapidly by way of telegraph to Halifax, thence by steamer
to Liverpool and by telegraph again to London. In case the telegram to
Halifax coincided with the departure of a fast vessel the time was
occasionally reduced to seven days, but never less. At the best the
exact information as to the contents of the Davis and Lincoln
proclamations of April 17 and 19 respectively, could have been received
only a few days before the order was issued to reinforce the
British fleet.
[Illustration: _Photo: F. Hollyer_. SIR WILLIAM GREGORY, K.C.M.G. (_From
Lady Gregory's "Sir William Gregory, K.C.M.G.: An Autobiography," by
kind permission_)]
The next day, May 2, Ewart, in the Commons, asked "if Privateers sailing
under the flag of an unrecognized Power will be dealt with as Pirates,"
thus showing the immediate parliamentary concern at the Davis and
Lincoln proclamations. Russell stated in reply that a British fleet had
been sent to protect British interests and took occasion to indicate
British policy by adding, "we have not been involved in any way in that
contest by any act or giving any advice in the matter, and, for God's
sake, let us if possible keep out of it[155]." May 6, Gregory, a friend
of the South, who had already given notice of a motion for the
recognition of the Confederacy as an independent State, asked whether
the United States had been informed that a blockade of Southern ports
would not be recognized unless effective, and whether there would be
acquiescence in the belligerent right of the South to issue letters of
marque and reprisal[156]. Russell replied that Lincoln had _not_ been
informed that a blockade must be effective to be respected since the
Washington Government did not need to be told of an international rule
which it had itself long proclaimed. As to the second point, he now
announced what heretofore had not been clearly stated, that Southern
privateers could not be regarded by Great Britain as pirates, for if so
regarded Britain would herself have to treat them as pirates and would
thus be unneutral. This was in fact, in spite of Northern bitter
accusations that Britain was exhibiting governmental sympathy with the
South by her tolerance of the plan of Southern privateering, an
inescapable conclusion. Russell added, however, that the matter of
privateering involved some new questions under the Declaration of Paris
upon which the Government had not yet decided what stand to take[157].
It was on this same day, in fact, that Russell had instructed Cowley to
take up with France the question of the Declaration of Paris[158],
Privateering and blockade, declared in America months before there was
any possibility of putting them into effect, and months before there
were any military operations in the field, forced this rapid European
action, especially the action of Great Britain, which, more than any
other European nation, feared belligerent interference with her carrying
and export trade. How was the British Government to know that Davis
would not bend every energy in sending out privateers, and Lincoln to
establish a blockade? The respective declarations of Davis and Lincoln
were the _first_ evidences offered of belligerent status. It was
reasonable to assume that here would come the first energetic efforts of
the belligerents. Nor was British governmental intelligence sufficiently
informed to be aware that Davis, in fact, controlled few ships that
could be fitted out as privateers, or that two-thirds of the Northern
navy was at the moment widely scattered in foreign seas, making
impossible a prompt blockade.
To the British view the immediate danger to its commercial interests lay
in this announced maritime war, and it felt the necessity of defining
its neutral position with speed. The underlying fact of the fixity of
Southern determination to maintain secession had in the last few weeks
become clearly recognized.
Moreover the latest information sent by British officials in America,
some of it received just before the issue of the Proclamation of
Neutrality, some just after, was all confirmative of the rapid approach
of a great war. A letter from Bunch, at Charleston, was received on May
10, depicting the united Southern will to resist Northern attack, and
asserting that the South had no purpose save to conduct a strictly
defensive war. Bunch was no longer caustic; he now felt that a new
nation was in process of birth[159]. May 4, Monson, writing from
Washington, and just returned from a trip through the South, in the
course of which he had visited Montgomery, stated "_no reconstruction_
of the Union is possible," and added that there was no danger of a
servile insurrection, a matter that now somewhat began to disturb the
British Government and public[160]. A few days later on, May 12, Lyons
expressed his strong sympathy with the North for reasons of
anti-slavery, law, and race, but added that he shrank from expressions
of sympathy for fear of thus encouraging the Northern Cabinet in its
plan of prosecuting civil war since such a war would be frightful in its
consequences both to America and to England[161].
Such reports if received before the issue of the Proclamation of
Neutrality must have strengthened the feeling that prompt action was
necessary; if received later, they gave confidence that that action had
been wise. May 9, Forster asked in the Commons a series of questions as
to the application of the British Foreign Enlistment Act in the American
crisis. What would be the status of British citizens serving on
Confederate privateers? How would the Government treat citizens who
aided in equipping such privateers? Did not the Government intend to
take measures to prevent the infringement of law in British ports? Here
was pressure by a friend of the North to hasten an official announcement
of the policy already notified to Parliament. Sir George Lewis replied
stating that the Government was about to issue a general proclamation
warning British subjects not to take any part in the war[162]. Similar
questions were asked by Derby in the Lords on May 10, and received a
similar answer[163]. The few days' delay following Russell's statement
of May 6 was due to consideration given by the Law Officers to the exact
form required. The Proclamation as issued was dated May 13, and was
officially printed in the _London Gazette_ on May 14.
In form and in substance the Proclamation of Neutrality did not differ
from customary usage[164]. It spoke of the Confederacy as "states
styling themselves the Confederate States of America," prohibited to
Englishmen enlistment on either side, or efforts to enlist others, or
equipment of ships of war, or delivery of commissions to such ships. War
vessels being equipped in British ports would be seized and forfeited to
the British Government. If a belligerent war-ship came into a British
port, no change or increase of equipment was to be permitted. If a
subject violated the Proclamation he was both punishable in British
courts and forfeited any claim to British protection. The Parliamentary
discussion on May 16 brought out more clearly and in general unanimity
of opinion the policy of the Government in application of the
Proclamation; the South was definitely recognized as a belligerent, but
recognition of independence was for the future to determine; the right
of the South to send out privateers was regretfully recognized; such
privateers could not be regarded as pirates and the North would have no
right to treat them as such, but if the North in defiance of
international opinion did so treat them, Great Britain had at least
warned its subjects that they, if engaged in service on a Southern
privateer, had no claim to British protection; a blockade of the South
to be respected must be effective at least to the point where a vessel
attempting to pass through was likely to be captured; the plan of
blockading the entire Southern coast, with its three thousand miles of
coast line, was on the face of it ridiculous--evidence that Members of
Parliament were profoundly ignorant of the physical geography of the
Southern seaboard[165].
The Parliamentary discussion did not reveal any partiality for one side
in the American quarrel above the other. It turned wholly on legal
questions and their probable application. On May 15 Russell sent to
Lyons the official text of the Proclamation, but did not instruct him to
communicate it officially to Seward, leaving this rather to Lyons'
discretion. This was discretionary in diplomatic usage since in strict
fact the Proclamation was addressed to British subjects and need not be
communicated officially to the belligerents. In the result the
discretion permitted to Lyons had, an important bearing, for recognition
of Southern belligerency was opposed to the theory upon which the
Northern Government was attempting to proceed. Lyons did not then, or
later, make official communication to Seward of the Proclamation[166].
The fact soon appeared that the United States seriously objected to the
Proclamation of Neutrality, protesting first, its having been issued at
all, and, in the second place, resenting what was considered its
"premature" announcement by a friendly nation. This matter developed so
serious a criticism by both American Government and public, both during
and after the Civil War, that it requires a close examination. Did the
British Government exhibit an unfriendly attitude toward the North by a
"premature" Proclamation of Neutrality?
On May 13 the new American Minister landed at Liverpool, and on the
morning of the fourteenth he was "ready for business" in London[167],
but the interview with Russell arranged for that day by Dallas was
prevented by the illness of Russell's brother, the Duke of Bedford[168].
All that was immediately possible was to make official notification of
arrival and to secure the customary audience with the Queen. This was
promptly arranged, and on May 16 Adams was presented, Palmerston
attending in the enforced absence of Russell. Adams' first report to
Seward was therefore brief, merely noting that public opinion was "not
exactly what we would wish." In this he referred to the utterances of
the press, particularly those of the _Times_, which from day to day and
with increasing vigour sounded the note of strict neutrality in a
"non-idealistic" war. On May 30 the _Times_, asserting that both parties
in America were bidding for English support, summed up public opinion
as follows:
"We have been told, in fact, by Northern politicians, that it
does not become us to be indifferent, and by Southern leaders
that they are half inclined to become British once more. Both
sides are bidding for us, and both sides have their partisans
over here. On such perilous ground we cannot walk too warily.
"For our own part, we are free to confess that the march of
events has induced us to regard the dispute as a more
commonplace kind of quarrel than it at first appeared to be.
The real motives of the belligerents, as the truth
transpires; appear to be exactly such motives as have caused
wars in all times and countries. They are essentially selfish
motives--that is to say, they are based upon speculations of
national power, territorial aggrandizement, political
advantage, and commercial gain. Neither side can claim any
superiority of principle, or any peculiar purity of
patriotism....
"We certainly cannot discover in these arguments anything to
remove the case from the common category of national or
monarchical quarrels. The representations of the North might
be made word for word by any autocrat or conqueror desirous
of 'rectifying' his frontier, consolidating his empire, or
retaining a disaffected province in subjection. The
manifestos of the South might be put forth by any State
desirous of terminating an unpleasant connexion or exchanging
union for independence....
"It is just such a question as has been left times out of
mind in this Old World to the decision of the sword. The
sword will be the arbitrator in the New World too; but the
event teaches us plainly enough that Republics and
Democracies enjoy no exemption from the passions and follies
of humanity."
Under these impressions Adams presented himself on May 18 for his first
interview with Russell[169]. He stated that he had come with the idea
that there was
".... little to do beyond the duty of preserving the
relations actually existing between the two nations from the
risk of being unfavourably affected by the unfortunate
domestic disturbances prevailing in my own country. It was
not without pain that I was compelled to admit that from the
day of my arrival I had felt in the proceedings of both
houses of Parliament, in the language of Her Majesty's
ministers, and in the tone of opinion prevailing in private
circles, more of uncertainty about this than I had before
thought possible,"
Adams then inquired whether the replies given by Russell to Dallas
refusing to indicate a policy as to recognition of the South implied a
British purpose "to adopt a policy which would have the effect to widen,
if not to make irreparable, a breach [between North and South] which we
believed yet to be entirely manageable by ourselves."
Russell here replied that "there was no such intention"; he had simply
meant to say to Dallas that the British Government "were not disposed in
any way to interfere." To this Adams answered that:
".... it was deserving of grave consideration whether great
caution was not to be used in adopting any course that might,
even in the most indirect way, have an effect to encourage
the hopes of the disaffected in America.... It was in this
view that I must be permitted to express the great regret I
had felt on learning the decision to issue the Queen's
proclamation, which at once raised the insurgents to the
level of a belligerent State, and still more the language
used in regard to it by Her Majesty's ministers in both
houses of Parliament before and since. Whatever might be the
design, there could be no shadow of doubt that the effect of
these events had been to encourage the friends of the
disaffected here. The tone of the press and of private
opinion indicated it strongly."
Russell's answer was that Adams was placing more stress on recent events
than they deserved. The Government had taken the advice of the Law
Officers and as a result had concluded that "as a question merely of
_fact_, a war existed.... Under such circumstances
it seemed scarcely possible to avoid speaking of this in the
technical sense as _justum bellum_, that is, a war of two
sides, without in any way implying an opinion of its justice,
as well as to withhold an endeavour, so far as possible, to
bring the management of it within the rules of modern
civilized warfare. This was all that was contemplated by the
Queen's proclamation. It was designed to show the purport of
existing laws, and to explain to British subjects their
liabilities in case they should engage in the war."
To this Adams answered "... that under other circumstances
I should be very ready to give my cheerful assent to this
view of his lordship's. But I must be permitted frankly to
remark that the action taken seemed, at least to my mind, a
little more rapid than was absolutely called for by the
occasion.... And furthermore, it pronounced the insurgents to
be a belligerent State before they had ever shown their
capacity to maintain any kind of warfare whatever, except
within one of their own harbours, and under every possible
advantage. It considered them a marine power before they had
ever exhibited a single privateer on the ocean.... The rule
was very clear, that whenever it became apparent that any
organized form of society had advanced so far as to prove its
power to defend and protect itself against the assaults of
enemies, and at the same time to manifest a capacity to
maintain binding relations with foreign nations, then a
measure of recognition could not be justly objected to on any
side. The case was very different when such an interference
should take place, prior to the establishment of the proof
required, as to bring about a result which would not probably
have happened but for that external agency."
This representation by the American Minister, thus early made, contains
the whole argument advanced against the British Proclamation of
Neutrality, though there were many similar representations made at
greater length both by Adams later, and by Seward at Washington. They
are all well summarized by Bernard as "a rejection ... of the
proposition that the existence of war is a simple matter of fact, to be
ascertained as other facts are--and an assertion ... of the dogma that
there can be no war, so far as foreign nations are concerned, and,
therefore, no neutrality, so long as there is a sovereignty _de
jure_[170]." But in this first representation Adams, in the main, laid
stress upon the _haste_ with which the Proclamation of Neutrality had
been issued, and, by inference, upon the evidence that British
sympathies were with the South.
One British journal was, indeed, at this very moment voicing exactly
those opinions advanced by Adams. The _Spectator_ declared that while
the Proclamation, on the face of it, appeared to be one of strict
neutrality, it in reality tended "directly to the benefit of the
South[171]." A fortnight later this paper asserted, "The quarrel, cover
it with cotton as we may, is between freedom and slavery, right and
wrong, the dominion of God and the dominion of the Devil, and the duty
of England, we submit, is clear." She should, even though forced to
declare her neutrality, refuse for all time to recognize the
slave-holding Confederacy[172]. But the _Spectator_ stood nearly alone
in this view. The _Saturday Review_ defended in every respect the issue
of the Proclamation and added, "In a short time, it will be necessary
further to recognize the legitimacy of the Southern Government; but the
United States have a right to require that the acknowledgment shall be
postponed until the failure of the effort which they assert or believe
that they are about to make has resulted in an experimental proof that
subjugation is impossible[173]." A few provincial papers supported the
view of the _Spectator_, but they were of minor importance, and
generally the press heartily approved the Proclamation.
At the time of Adams' interview with Russell on May 18 he has just
received an instruction from Seward written under the impression aroused
by Dallas' report of Russell's refusal on April 8 to make any pledge as
to British policy on the recognition of Southern independence. Seward
was very much disturbed by what Russell had said to Dallas. In this
instruction, dated April 27[174], he wrote:
"When you shall have read the instructions at large which
have been sent to you, you will hardly need to be told that
these last remarks of his lordship are by no means
satisfactory to this government. Her Britannic Majesty's
government is at liberty to choose whether it will retain the
friendship of this government by refusing all aid and comfort
to its enemies, now in flagrant rebellion against it, as we
think the treaties existing between the two countries
require, or whether the government of Her Majesty will take
the precarious benefits of a different course.
"You will lose no time in making known to Her Britannic
Majesty's Government that the President regards the answer of
his lordship as possibly indicating a policy that this
government would be obliged to deem injurious to its rights
and derogating from its dignity."
Having promptly carried out these instructions, as he understood them,
Adams soon began to report an improved British attitude, and especially
in the Government, stating that this improvement was due, in part, to
the vigour now being shown by the Northern Government, in part "to a
sense that the preceding action of Her Majesty's ministers has been
construed to mean more than they intended by it[175]." But at
Washington the American irritation was not so easily allayed. Lyons was
reporting Seward and, indeed, the whole North, as very angry with the
Proclamation of Neutrality[176]. On June 14, Lyons had a long
conversation with Seward in which the latter stubbornly denied that the
South could possess any belligerent rights. Lyons left the conference
feeling that Seward was trying to divide France and England on this
point, and Lyons was himself somewhat anxious because France was so long
delaying her own Proclamation[177]. To meet the situation, he and
Mercier, the French Minister, went the next day, June 15, on an official
visit to Seward with the intention of formally presenting the British
Proclamation and Thouvenel's instructions to Mercier to support it[178].
But Seward "said at once that he could not receive from us a
communication founded on the assumption that
the Southern Rebels were to be regarded as Belligerents; that
this was a determination to which the Cabinet had come
deliberately; that he could not admit that recent events had
in any respect altered the relations between Foreign Powers
and the Southern States; that he would not discuss the
question with us, but that he should give instructions to the
United States Ministers in London and Paris who would thus be
enabled to state the reasons for the course taken by their
Government to Your Lordship and to M. Thouvenel, if you
should be desirous to hear them.... He should not take
Official cognizance of the recognition of the Belligerent
Rights of Southern Rebels by Great Britain and France, unless
he should be forced to do so by an Official communication
addressed to the Government of the United States itself."
In the result the two Ministers submitted their papers to Seward "for
his own use only." They did not regard the moment well chosen "to be
punctilious." Lyons reported that Seward's language and demeanour
throughout the interview were "calm, friendly, and good humoured," but
the fact remained that the United States had not been officially
notified of the Proclamation of Neutrality, and that the American
Government, sensitive to popular excitement in the matter and committed
to the theory of a rebellion of peoples, was thus left free to continue
argument in London without any necessity of making formal protest and of
taking active steps to support such protest[179]. The official relation
was eased by the conciliatory acquiescence of Lyons. The public anger of
America, expressed in her newspapers, astonished the British press and,
temporarily, made them more careful in comment on American affairs. The
_Times_ told its readers to keep cool. "It is plain that the utmost care
and circumspection must be used by every man or party in England to
avoid giving offence to either of the two incensed belligerents[180]."
In answer to the Northern outcry at the lack of British sympathy, it
declared "Neutrality--strict neutrality--is all that the United States
Government can claim[181]."
While the burden of American criticism was thus directed toward the
British recognition of Southern belligerency, there were two other
matters of great moment to the American view--the attitude of the
British Government toward Southern privateers, and the hearing given by
Russell to the Confederate envoys. On the former, Seward, on May 21,
wrote to Adams: "As to the treatment of privateers in the insurgent
service, you will say that this is a question exclusively our own. We
treat them as pirates. They are our own citizens, or persons employed by
our own citizens, preying on the commerce of our country. If Great
Britain shall choose to recognize them as lawful belligerents and give
them shelter from our pursuit and punishment, the law of nations affords
an adequate and proper remedy[182]." This was threatening language, but
was for Adams' own eye, and in the next sentence of his letter Seward
stated that avoidance of friction on this point was easy, since in 1856
Great Britain had invited the United States to adhere to the Declaration
of Paris everywhere abolishing privateering, and to this the United
States was now ready to accede.
What Seward really meant to accomplish by this was not made clear for
the question of privateering did not constitute the main point of his
belligerent letter of May 21. In fact the proposed treatment of
privateers as pirates might have resulted in very serious complications,
for though the Proclamation of Neutrality had warned British subjects
that they would forfeit any claim to protection if they engaged in the
conflict, it is obvious that the hanging as a pirate of a British seaman
would have aroused a national outcry almost certain to have forced the
Government into protest and action against America. Fortunately the
cooler judgment of the United States soon led to quiet abandonment of
the plan of treating privateers as pirates, while on the other point of
giving "shelter" to Confederate privateers Seward himself received from
Lyons assurance, even before Adams had made a protest, that no such
shelter would be available in British ports[183].
In this same letter of May 21 Seward, writing of the rumour that the
Southern envoys were to be received by Russell "unofficially,"
instructed Adams that he must use efforts to stop this and that: "You
will, in any event, desist from all intercourse whatever, unofficial as
well as official, with the British Government, so long as it shall
continue intercourse of either kind with the domestic enemies of this
country." Here was a positive instruction as to the American Minister's
conduct in a given situation, and a very serious instruction, nearly
equivalent to "taking leave" after a rupture of diplomatic relations,
but the method to be used in avoiding if possible the necessity of the
serious step was left to Adams' discretion. Well might Adams' comment,
when reporting the outcome, that this was the "most delicate portion of
my task[184]." Adams again went over with Russell the suspicion as to
British intentions aroused in America by the Queen's Proclamation, but
added that he had not been able to convince himself of the existence of
an unfriendly design. "But it was not to be disguised that the fact of
the continued stay of the pseudo-commissioners in this city, and still
more the knowledge that they had been admitted to more or less
interviews with his lordship, was calculated to excite uneasiness.
Indeed, it had already given great dissatisfaction to my Government. I
added, as moderately as I could, that in all frankness any further
protraction of this relation could scarcely fail to be viewed by us as
hostile in spirit, and to require some corresponding action
accordingly." Russell replied that both France and England had long been
accustomed to receive such persons unofficially, as in the case of
"Poles, Hungarians, Italians, etc.," to hear what they had to say. "But
this did not imply recognition in their case any more than in ours. He
added that he had seen the gentlemen once some time ago, and once more
some time since; he had no expectation of seeing them any more[185]."
For the moment, then, a matter which under Seward's instructions might
have brought on a serious crisis was averted by the tact of Adams and
the acquiescence of Russell. Yet no pledge had been given; Russell
merely stated that he had "no expectation" of further interviews with
the Southern commissioners; he was still ready to hear from them in
writing. This caused a division of opinion between the commissioners;
Yancey argued that Russell's concession to Adams was itself a violation
of the neutrality the British Government had announced, and that it
should be met by a formal protest. But the other members insisted on a
reference to Richmond for instructions[186]. On the same day that Adams
reported the result to Seward he wrote privately to his son in Boston:
"My position here thus far has not been difficult or painful.
If I had followed the course of some of my colleagues in the
diplomatic line, this country might have been on the high
road to the confederate camp before now. It did not seem to
me to be expedient so to play into the hands of our
opponents. Although there has been and is more or less of
sympathy with the slave-holders in certain circles, they are
not so powerful as to overbear the general sentiment of the
people. The ministry has been placed in rather delicate
circumstances, when a small loss of power on either extreme
would have thrown them out[187]."
In Adams' opinion the Liberals were on the whole more friendly, at
least, to the North than were the Conservatives, and he therefore
considered it best not to press too harshly upon the Government.
But the concluding sentence of this same letter was significant: "I wait
with patience--but as yet I have not gone so far as to engage a house
for more than a month at a time...." He might himself be inclined to
view more leniently the Proclamation of Neutrality and be able to find
excuses for the alleged haste with which it had been issued, but his
instructions required strong representations, especially on the latter
point. Adams' report to Seward of June 14, just noted, on the interview
with Russell of June 12, after treating of privateering and the Southern
commissioners, turns in greater length to the alleged pledge of delay
given by Russell to Dallas, and to the violation of that pledge in a
hasty issue of the Proclamation. He renews attack on the line already
taken on May 18[188]. From this time on, throughout and after the war,
this criticism was repeatedly made and with increasing bitterness.
British friends of the North joined in the American outcry. By mere
reiteration it became in the popular mind on both sides of the Atlantic
an accepted and well-founded evidence of British governmental
unfriendliness in May, 1861. At the conclusion of the Civil War, John
Bright in Parliament, commenting on the causes of American ill-will,
declared that the Government of 1861, knowing that Adams was on his way,
should in mere courtesy, have waited his arrival. Then, said Bright, the
Proclamation, entirely justifiable in itself, might have been issued
without offence and without embittering the United States[189].
Had in fact a "pledge to wait" been given to Dallas; and was the
Proclamation hasty and premature? Russell always denied he had given any
such pledge, and the text of Dallas' report of the interview of May 1
would seem to support that denial[190]. On that day Russell for the
second time told Dallas that England would not commit herself, as yet,
as regards Southern recognition, clearly meaning a recognition of
_sovereignty_, not of belligerency, and immediately asked Dallas what
the rumours of a blockade meant. Dallas replied that he had no
information on this point, and Russell "acquiesced in the expediency of
disregarding mere rumour, and waiting the full knowledge to be brought
by my successor. The motion, therefore, of Mr. Gregory may be further
postponed, at his lordship's suggestion."
The unprejudiced interpretation of this report is merely that Russell
refrained from pressing Dallas about a matter--blockade--of which Dallas
knew nothing, agreeing that this would be explained by Adams, and
especially that he let Dallas understand that Gregory's motion, which
was one for _recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the South_,
would be postponed. If there was a pledge here it was a pledge not to
recognize Southern sovereignty until after Adams' arrival.
But even if there was no promise of delay "there can be no question,"
writes the son of Adams in a brief biography of his father, "that the
proclamation of the 13th was issued with unseemly haste.... The purpose
was manifest. It was to have the status of the Confederacy as a
belligerent an accomplished fact before the arrival of the newly
accredited minister. This precipitate action was chiefly significant as
indicating an animus; that animus being really based on ... the belief,
already matured into a conviction, that the full recognition of the
Confederacy as an independent power was merely a question of time, and
probably of a very short time[191]." The author does not, however,
support the contemporary American contention that _any_ Proclamation was
contrary to international custom and that no recognition of belligerent
status was permissible to neutrals until the "insurgents" had forced the
mother country itself to recognize the division as fully accomplished,
even while war still continued. Indeed American practice was flatly
contradictory of the argument, as in the very pertinent example of the
petty Canadian rebellion of 1837, when President Van Buren had promptly
issued a proclamation of neutrality. It is curious that in his several
replies to Seward's complaints Russell did not quote a letter from
Stevenson, the American Minister to London, addressed to Palmerston, May
22, 1838. Stevenson was demanding disavowal and disapproval of the
"Caroline" affair, and incidentally he asserted as an incontrovertible
principle "that civil wars are not distinguished from other wars, as to
belligerent and neutral rights; that they stand upon the same ground,
and are governed by the same principles; that whenever a portion of a
State seek by force of arms to overthrow the Government, and maintain
independence, the contest becomes one _de facto_ of war[192]." This was
as exact, and correct, a statement of the British view as could have
been desired[193].
The American Minister, whatever his official representation, did not
then hold, privately, the view of "unfriendly animus." On July 2, 1861,
his secretary son wrote: "The English are really on our side; of that I
have no doubt whatever. [Later he was less sure of this.] But they
thought that as a dissolution seemed inevitable and as we seemed to have
made up our minds to it, that their Proclamation was just the thing to
keep them straight with both sides, and when it turned out otherwise
they did their best to correct their mistake[194]." The modern
historical judgment of the best American writers likewise exonerates the
British Government of "unfriendly animus[195]," but is still apt to
refer to the "premature" issue of the Proclamation.
This was also John Bright's view. But can Russell and the Government be
criticized even as exercising an unwise (not unfriendly) haste? Henry
Adams wrote that the British thought the "dissolution seemed inevitable"
and "we seemed to have made up our minds to it." Certainly this was a
justifiable conclusion from the events in America from Lincoln's
election in November, 1860, to his inauguration in March, 1861--and even
to a later date, almost in fact to the first week in April. During this
period the British Ministry preserved a strictly "hands off" policy.
Then, suddenly, actual conflict begins and at once each side in America
issues declarations, Davis on privateering, Lincoln on blockade and
piracy, indicative that _maritime_ war, the form of war at once most
dangerous to British interests and most likely to draw in British
citizens, was the method first to be tried by the contestants. Unless
these declarations were mere bluff and bluster England could not dare
wait their application. She must at once warn her citizens and make
clear her position as a neutral. The Proclamation was no effort "to keep
straight with both sides"; it was simply the natural, direct, and prompt
notification to British subjects required in the presence of a _de
facto_ war.
Moreover, merely as a matter of historical speculation, it was fortunate
that the Proclamation antedated the arrival of Adams. The theory of the
Northern administration under which the Civil War was begun and
concluded was that a portion of the people of the United States were
striving as "insurgents" to throw off their allegiance, and that there
could be no recognition of any Southern _Government_ in the conflict. In
actual practice in war, the exchange of prisoners and like matters, this
theory had soon to be discarded. Yet it was a far-seeing and wise theory
nevertheless in looking forward to the purely domestic and
constitutional problem of the return to the Union, when conquered, of
the sections in rebellion. This, unfortunately, was not clear to foreign
nations, and it necessarily complicated relations with them. Yet under
that theory Adams had to act. Had he arrived before the Proclamation of
Neutrality it is difficult to see how he could have proceeded otherwise
than to protest, officially, against any British declaration of
neutrality, declaring that his Government did not acknowledge a state of
war as existing, and threatening to take his leave. It would have been
his duty to _prevent_, if possible, the issue of the Proclamation.
Dallas, fortunately, had been left uninformed and uninstructed. Adams,
fortunately, arrived too late to prevent and had, therefore, merely to
complain. The "premature" issue of the Proclamation averted an
inevitable rupture of relations on a clash between the American theory
of "no state of war" and the international fact that war existed. Had
that rupture occurred, how long would the British Government and people
have remained neutral, and what would have been the ultimate fate of the
United States[196]?
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 127: Sir George Cornewall Lewis was better informed in the
early stages of the American conflict than any of his ministerial
colleagues. He was an occasional contributor to the reviews and his
unsigned article in the _Edinburgh_, April, 1861, on "The Election of
President Lincoln and its Consequences," was the first analysis of real
merit in any of the reviews.]
[Footnote 128: In his _Memoirs of an Ex-Minister_, Malmesbury makes but
three important references to the Civil War in America.]
[Footnote 129: Adams, _Charles Francis Adams_, p. 165.]
[Footnote 130: Dodd, _Jefferson Davis_, pp. 227-8.]
[Footnote 131: _Ibid._]
[Footnote 132: It was generally whispered in Southern political circles
that Davis sent Yancey abroad to get rid of him, fearing his
interference at home. If true, this is further evidence of Davis'
neglect of foreign policy.]
[Footnote 133: Du Bose, _Yancey_, p. 604.]
[Footnote 134: Adams, _Charles Francis Adams_, pp. 149-51.]
[Footnote 135: Possibly the best concise statement of the effect on the
North is given in Carl Schurz, _Reminiscences_, Vol. II, p. 223. Or see
my citation of this in _The Power of Ideals in American History_, ch. I,
"Nationality."]
[Footnote 136: Hansard, 3rd. Ser., Vol. CLXII, pp. 1207-9.]
[Footnote 137: See _ante_, p. 60.]
[Footnote 138: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-62_, pp. 83-4. Dallas
to Seward, May 2, 1862.]
[Footnote 139: An error. Mann did not arrive in London until May 15. Du
Bose, _Yancey_, p. 604.]
[Footnote 140: Richardson, _Messages and Papers of the Confederacy_,
Vol. II, p. 34. This report also shows that Mann was not present at the
first interview with Russell.]
[Footnote 141: F.O., America, Vol. 755, No. 128, Russell to Lyons, May
11, 1861. This document is marked "Seen by Lord Palmerston and the
Queen." The greater and essential part has been printed in
_Parliamentary Papers, 1862, Lords_, Vol. XXV. "Correspondence on Civil
War in United States." No. 33.]
[Footnote 142: Du Bose, _Yancey_, p. 604.]
[Footnote 143: Lyons Papers. The copy of the Memorandum sent to Lyons is
undated, but from Russell's letter to Lyons of May 4, in which it was
enclosed, it is presumable that the date of May 3 for the Memorandum
is correct.]
[Footnote 144: _Ibid._, Russell to Lyons, May 4, 1861.]
[Footnote 145: F.O., Am., Vol. 755, No. 121, Russell to Lyons, May 6,
1861.]
[Footnote 146: It is to be remembered that the United States had given
no notice of the existence of a state of war.]
[Footnote 147: In diplomatic usage official notification of neutrality
to a belligerent has varied, but Russell's letters show him to have
appreciated a peculiar delicacy here.]
[Footnote 148: F.O., France, Vol. 1376, No. 553. Draft. Printed in
_Parliamentary Papers_, 1862, _Lords_, Vol. XXV. "Correspondence on
International Maritime Law." No. 1.]
[Footnote 149: It is interesting that on this same day Lyons was writing
from Washington advocating, regretfully, because of his sympathy with
the North, a strict British neutrality:
"The sympathies of an Englishman are naturally inclined
towards the North--but I am afraid we should find that
anything like a quasi alliance with the men in office here
would place us in a position which would soon become
untenable. There would be no end to the exactions which they
would make upon us, there would be no end to the disregard of
our neutral rights, which they would show if they once felt
sure of us. If I had the least hope of their being able to
reconstruct the Union, or even of their being able to reduce
the South to the condition of a tolerably contented or at all
events obedient dependency, my feeling against Slavery might
lead me to desire to co-operate with them. But I conceive all
chance of this to be gone for ever."
Russell Papers. Lyons to Russell, May 6, 1861.]
[Footnote 150: F.O., France, Vol. 1390. No. 677.]
[Footnote 151: _Ibid._, No. 684. Printed in part in _Parliamentary
Papers, 1862, Lords_, Vol. XXV. "Correspondence on International
Maritime Law." No. 3.]
[Footnote 152: _Times_, May 9, 1861.]
[Footnote 153: _Parliamentary Papers_, 1862, _Lords_, Vol. XXV.
"Correspondence on Civil War in the United States." No. 31.]
[Footnote 154: So stated by the _Times_, May 9, 1861.]
[Footnote 155: Hansard, 3rd. Ser., Vol. CLXII, pp. 1378-9. This blunt
expression of Great Britain's Foreign Secretary offers an interesting
comparison with the words of the American President Wilson, in a
parallel statement at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. Wilson on
August 3, 1914, gave a special audience to newspaper correspondents,
begging them to maintain an attitude of calm impartiality. On August 4
he issued the first of several neutrality proclamations in which,
following the customary language of such documents, the people were
notified that neutrality did not restrict the "full and free expression
of sympathies in public and in private." But on August 18 in an address
to the people of the United States, this legal phraseology, required by
traditional usage was negatived by Wilson's appeal that "we must be
impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our
sentiments as well as upon every transaction that might be construed as
a preference of one party to the struggle before another." And three
weeks later, on September 8, came the proclamation setting aside October
4 "as a day of prayer to Almighty God," informing Him that war existed
and asking His intervention. Possibly Russell's more blunt and pithy
expression was better suited to the forthrightness of the
British public.]
[Footnote 156: Hansard, _ibid_., pp. 1564-7. Gregory, a
"Liberal-Conservative," though never a "good party man" was then
supporting Palmerston's ministry. He was very popular in Parliament,
representing by his prominence in sport and society alike, the
"gentleman ruling class" of the House of Commons, and was a valuable
influence for the South.]
[Footnote 157: This subject is developed at length in Chapter V on "The
Declaration of Paris Negotiation."]
[Footnote 158: See _ante, p_. 88. The chronology of these rapidly
succeeding events is interesting:
April 29--Malmesbury states in the Lords that "news was received
this day."
May 1--Naval reinforcements sent to American waters.
May 1--Russell's interview with Dallas.
May 2--Russell's plea in Parliament, "For God's sake keep out of
it."
May 3--Russell's first interview with Yancey and Rost.
May 3--Attorney-General's memorandum.
May 4--Russell's note to Lyons that this is a "regular war."
May 6--Cowley instructed to ask France to recognize Southern
belligerency.
May 6--Lyons notified that England will recognize Southern belligerency.
May 6--Russell states in Parliament that privateers can not be
treated as pirates.
[Presumably, since parliamentary sittings begin in the late
afternoons, the instructions to diplomats were drawn before
the statement in Parliament.]
May 9--Russell's second interview with Yancey and Rost.
May 9--Sir George Lewis announces that a Proclamation of Neutrality
will be issued soon.
May 13--The Proclamation authorized.
May 13--Adams reaches Liverpool.
May 14--The Proclamation officially published in the _London Gazette_.
May 14--Adams in London "ready for business."
It would appear that Russell's expressions in Parliament on May 2
indicated clearly the purpose of the Government. This was notified to
Lyons on May 4, which may be taken as the date when the governmental
position had become definitely fixed, even though official instructions
were not sent Lyons until the 6th.]
[Footnote 159: F.O., Am., Vol. 780, No. 50. Bunch to Russell, April 19,
1861.]
[Footnote 160: F.O., Am., 789, Monson to Alston, received May 21.]
[Footnote 161: F.O., Am., 763, No. 197, Lyons to Russell, received May
26. The full statement is:
"To an Englishman, sincerely interested in the welfare of
this country, the present state of things is peculiarly
painful. Abhorrence of slavery, respect for law, more
complete community of race and language, enlist his
sympathies on the side of the North. On the other hand, he
cannot but reflect that any encouragement to the predominant
war feeling in the North cannot but be injurious to both
sections of the country. The prosecution of the war can lead
only to the exhaustion of the North by an expenditure of life
and money on an enterprise in which success and failure would
be alike disastrous. It must tend to the utter devastation of
the South. It would at all events occasion a suspension of
Southern cultivation which would be calamitous even more to
England than to the Northern States themselves."
[Footnote 162: Hansard, 3rd. Ser., CLXII, p. 1763.]
[Footnote 163: _Ibid._, pp. 1830-34. In the general discussion in the
Lords there appeared disagreement as to the status of privateering.
Granville, Derby, and Brougham, spoke of it as piracy. Earl Hardwicke
thought privateering justifiable. The general tone of the debate, though
only on this matter of international practice, was favourable to
the North.]
[Footnote 164: For example see Hertslet, _Map of Europe by Treaty_, Vol.
I, p. 698, for the Proclamation issued in 1813 during the
Spanish-American colonial revolutions.]
[Footnote 165: Hansard, 3rd. Ser., CLXII, pp. 2077-2088.]
[Footnote 166: _Parliamentary Papers_, 1862, _Lords_, Vol. XXV,
"Correspondence on Civil War in the United States." No. 35. Russell to
Lyons, May 15, 1861. Another reason for Lyons' precaution was that while
his French colleague, Mercier, had been instructed to support the
British Proclamation, no official French Proclamation was issued until
June 10, and Lyons, while he trusted Mercier, felt that this French
delay needed some explanation. Mercier told Seward, unofficially, of his
instructions and even left a copy of them, but at Seward's request made
no official communication. Lyons, later, followed the same procedure.
This method of dealing with Seward came to be a not unusual one, though
it irritated both the British and French Ministers.]
[Footnote 167: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, p. 85. Adams to
Seward, May 17, 1861.]
[Footnote 168: Bedford died that day.]
[Footnote 169: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, pp. 90-96. Adams
to Seward, May 21, 1861.]
[Footnote 170: Bernard, _The Neutrality of Great Britain during the
American Civil War_, p. 161. The author cites at length despatches and
documents of the period.]
[Footnote 171: _Spectator_, May 18, 1861.]
[Footnote 172: _Spectator_, June 1, 1861.]
[Footnote 173: _Saturday Review_, June 1, 1861.]
[Footnote 174: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, p. 82.]
[Footnote 175: _Ibid._, p. 98. Adams to Seward, June 7, 1861. See also
p. 96, Adams to Seward, May 31, 1861.]
[Footnote 176: Russell Papers. Lyons to Russell, June 10, 1861.]
[Footnote 177: _Ibid._, Lyons to Russell, June 14, 1861.]
[Footnote 178: F.O., Am., Vol. 766, No. 282. Lyons to Russell, June 17,
1861. Seward's account, in close agreement with that of Lyons, is in
_U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, p. 106. Seward to Adams, June
19, 1861.]
[Footnote 179: Bancroft in his _Seward_ (II, p. 183) prints a portion of
an unpublished despatch of Seward to Dayton in Paris, July 1, 1861, as
"his clearest and most characteristic explanation of what the attitude
of the government must be in regard to the action of the foreign nations
that have recognized the belligerency of the 'insurgents.'"
"Neither Great Britain nor France, separately nor both
together, can, by any declaration they can make, impair the
sovereignty of the United States over the insurgents, nor
confer upon them any public rights whatever. From first to
last we have acted, and we shall continue to act, for the
whole people of the United States, and to make treaties for
disloyal as well as loyal citizens with foreign nations, and
shall expect, when the public welfare requires it, foreign
nations to respect and observe the treaties.
"We do not admit, and we never shall admit, even the
fundamental statement you assume--namely, that Great Britain
and France have recognized the insurgents as a belligerent
party. True, you say they have so declared. We reply: Yes,
but they have not declared so to us. You may rejoin: Their
public declaration concludes the fact. We, nevertheless,
reply: It must be not their declaration, but the fact, that
concludes the fact."
[Footnote 180: The _Times_, June 3, 1861.]
[Footnote 181: _Ibid._, June 11, 1861.]
[Footnote 182: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, p. 87.]
[Footnote 183: _Parliamentary Papers, 1862, Lords_, Vol. XXV.
"Correspondence on Civil War in the United States." No. 56. Lyons to
Russell, June 17, 1861, reporting conference with Seward on June 15.]
[Footnote 184: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-62_, p. 104. Adams to
Seward, June 14, 1861.]
[Footnote 185: Bancroft, the biographer of Seward, takes the view that
the protests against the Queen's Proclamation, in regard to privateering
and against interviews with the Southern commissioners were all
unjustifiable. The first, he says, was based on "unsound reasoning" (II,
177). On the second he quotes with approval a letter from Russell to
Edward Everett, July 12, 1861, showing the British dilemma: "Unless we
meant to treat them as pirates and to hang them we could not deny them
belligerent rights" (II, 178). And as to the Southern commissioners he
asserts that Seward, later, ceased protest and writes: "Perhaps he
remembered that he himself had recently communicated, through three
different intermediaries, with the Confederate commissioners to
Washington, and would have met them if the President had not forbidden
it." Bancroft, _Seward_, II, 179.]
[Footnote 186: Du Bose, _Yancey_, p. 606.]
[Footnote 187: _A Cycle of Adams' Letters, 1861-1865_, Vol. I, p. 11.
Adams to C.F. Adams, Jnr., June 14, 1861.]
[Footnote 188: See _ante_, p. 98. Russell's report to Lyons of this
interview of June 12, lays special emphasis on Adams' complaint of
haste. _Parliamentary Papers_, 1862, _Lords_, Vol. XXV, "Correspondence
on Civil War in the United States," No. 52. Russell to Lyons, June
21, 1861.]
[Footnote 189: Hansard, 3rd. Ser., CLXXVII, pp. 1620-21, March 13,
1865.]
[Footnote 190: See _ante_, p. 85.]
[Footnote 191: C.F. Adams, _Charles Francis Adams_, p. 172. In preparing
a larger life of his father, never printed, the son later came to a
different opinion, crediting Russell with foresight in hastening the
Proclamation to avoid possible embarrassment with Adams on his arrival.
The quotation from the printed "Life" well summarizes, however, current
American opinion.]
[Footnote 192: _U.S. Documents_, Ser. No. 347, Doc. 183, p. 6.]
[Footnote 193: The United States Supreme Court in 1862, decided that
Lincoln's blockade proclamation of April 19, 1861, was "itself official
and conclusive evidence ... that a state of war existed." (Moore, Int.
Law Digest, I, p. 190.)]
[Footnote 194: _A Cycle of Adams' Letters_, I, p. 16. Henry Adams to
C.F. Adams, Jnr.]
[Footnote 195: Rhodes, _History of the United States_, III, p. 420
(_note_) summarizes arguments on this point, but thinks that the
Proclamation might have been delayed without harm to British interests.
This is perhaps true as a matter of historical fact, but such fact in no
way alters the compulsion to quick action felt by the Ministry in the
presence of probable _immediate_ fact.]
[Footnote 196: This was the later view of C.F. Adams, Jnr. He came to
regard the delay in his father's journey to England as the most
fortunate single incident in American foreign relations during the
Civil War.]