BRITISH SUSPICION OF SEWARD
The incidents narrated in the preceding chapter have been considered
solely from the point of view of a formal American contention as to
correct international practice and the British answer to that
contention. In fact, however, there were intimately connected wth these
formal arguments and instructions of the American Secretary of State a
plan of possible militant action against Great Britain and a suspicion,
in British Governmental circles, that this plan was being rapidly
matured. American historians have come to stigmatize this plan as
"Seward's Foreign War Panacea," and it has been examined by them in
great detail, so that there is no need here to do more than state its
main features. That which is new in the present treatment is the British
information in regard to the plan and the resultant British suspicion of
Seward's intentions.
The British public, as distinguished from the Government, deriving its
knowledge of Seward from newspaper reports of his career and past
utterances, might well consider him as traditionally unfriendly to Great
Britain. He had, in the 'fifties, vigorously attacked the British
interpretation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and characterized Great
Britain as "the most grasping and the most rapacious Power in the
world"; he had long prophesied the ultimate annexation of Canada to the
United States; he had not disdained, in political struggles in the State
of New York, to whip up, for the sake of votes, Irish antagonism to
Great Britain; and more especially and more recently he had been
reported to have expressed to the Duke of Newcastle a belief that civil
conflict in America could easily be avoided, or quieted, by fomenting a
quarrel with England and engaging in a war against her[197]. Earlier
expressions might easily be overlooked as emanating from a politician
never over-careful about wounding the sensibilities of foreign nations
and peoples, for he had been even more outspoken against the France of
Louis Napoleon, but the Newcastle conversation stuck in the British mind
as indicative of a probable animus when the politician had become the
statesman responsible for foreign policy. Seward might deny, as he did,
that he had ever uttered the words alleged[198], and his friend Thurlow
Weed might describe the words as "badinage," in a letter to the London
_Times_[199], but the "Newcastle story" continued to be matter for
frequent comment both in the Press and in private circles.
British Ministers, however, would have paid little attention to Seward's
speeches intended for home political consumption, or to a careless bit
of social talk, had there not been suspicion of other and more serious
evidences of unfriendliness. Lyons was an unusually able and
well-informed Minister, and from the first he had pictured the
leadership of Seward in the new administration at Washington, and had
himself been worried by his inability to understand what policy Seward
was formulating. But, in fact, he did not see clearly what was going on
in the camp of the Republican party now dominant in the North. The
essential feature of the situation was that Seward, generally regarded
as the man whose wisdom must guide the ill-trained Lincoln, and himself
thinking this to be his destined function, early found his authority
challenged by other leaders, and his policies not certain of
acceptance by the President. It is necessary to review, briefly, the
situation at Washington.
[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD (_From Lord Newton's "Life of Lord
Lyons," by kind permission_)]
Lincoln was inaugurated as President on March 4. He had been elected as
a Republican by a political party never before in power. Many of the
leading members of this party were drawn from the older parties and had
been in administrative positions in either State or National
Governments, but there were no party traditions, save the lately created
one of opposition to the expansion of slavery to the Territories. All
was new, then, to the men now in power in the National Government, and a
new and vital issue, that of secession already declared by seven
Southern States, had to be met by a definite policy. The important
immediate question was as to whether Lincoln had a policy, or, if not,
upon whom he would depend to guide him.
In the newly-appointed Cabinet were two men who, in popular estimate,
were expected to take the lead--Chase, of Ohio, the Secretary of the
Treasury, and Seward, of New York, Secretary of State. Both were
experienced in political matters and both stood high in the esteem of
the anti-slavery element in the North, but Seward, all things
considered, was regarded as the logical leading member of the Cabinet.
He had been the favoured candidate for Republican Presidential
nomination in 1860, making way for Lincoln only on the theory that the
latter as less Radical on anti-slavery, could be more easily elected.
Also, he now held that position which by American tradition was regarded
as the highest in the Cabinet.
In fact, everyone at Washington regarded it as certain that Seward would
determine the policy of the new administration. Seward's own attitude is
well summed up in a despatch to his Government, February 18, 1861, by
Rudolph Schleiden, Minister from the Republic of Bremen. He described a
conversation with Seward in regard to his relations with Lincoln:
"Seward, however, consoled himself with the clever remark,
that there is no great difference between an elected
president of the United States and an hereditary monarch. The
latter is called to the throne through the accident of birth,
the former through the chances which make his election
possible. The actual direction of public affairs belongs to
the leader of the ruling party, here as well as in any
hereditary principality.
"The future President is a self-made man and there is
therefore as little doubt of his energy as of his proverbial
honesty ('honest old Abe'). It is also acknowledged that he
does not lack common sense. But his other qualities for the
highest office are practically unknown. His election may
therefore be readily compared with a lottery. It is possible
that the United States has drawn the first prize, on the
other hand the gain may only have been a small one. But
unfortunately the possibility is not excluded that it may
have been merely a blank."
The first paragraph of this quotation reports Seward's opinion; the
second is apparently Schleiden's own estimate. Two weeks later Schleiden
sent home a further analysis of Lincoln:
"He makes the impression of a natural man of clear and
healthy mind, great good-naturedness and best intentions. He
seems to be fully conscious of the great responsibility which
rests upon him. But at the same time it appears as if he had
lost some of his famous firmness and resoluteness through the
novelty of the conditions which surround him and the hourly
renewed attempts from various sides to gain influence over
him. He is therefore at present inclined to concede double
weight to the superior political experience of his Secretary
of State[200]."
This was written on March 4, and the situation was correctly described.
Seward led for the moment, but his supremacy was not unchallenged and
soon a decision was called for that in its final solution was to
completely overthrow his already matured policy towards the seceding
States. Buchanan had been pressed by South Carolina to yield possession
of federal property in that State and especially to withdraw Federal
troops from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour. After some vacillation he
had refused to do this, but had taken no steps to reinforce and
re-supply the weak garrison under the command of Major Anderson. On
March 5, Lincoln learned that Sumter would soon have to be yielded
unless reinforcements were sent. There followed ten days of delay and
indecision; then on March 15 Lincoln requested from each member of his
Cabinet an opinion on what should be done. This brought to an issue the
whole question of Seward's policy and leadership.
For Seward's policy, like that of Buchanan, was one of conciliatory
delay, taking no steps to bring matters to an issue, and trusting to
time and a sobering second thought to bring Southern leaders and people
to a less violent attitude. He sincerely believed in the existence of an
as yet unvoiced strong Union sentiment in the South, especially in those
States which were wavering on secession. He was holding communications,
through intermediaries, with certain Confederate "Commissioners" in
Washington, and he had agents in Virginia attempting to influence that
State against secession. To all these Southern representatives he now
conveyed assurances quite without warrant from Lincoln, that Sumter
would be evacuated, acting solely in the belief that his own "policy"
would be approved by the President. His argument in reply to Lincoln's
call for an opinion was positive against reinforcing Fort Sumter, and it
seemed to meet, for the moment, with the approval of the majority of his
Cabinet colleagues. Lincoln himself made no pertinent comment, yet did
not commit himself.
There the matter rested for a time, for the Confederate Commissioners,
regarding Seward's policy of delay as wholly beneficial to the maturing
of Southern plans, and Seward "as their cat's-paw[201]," did not care to
press for a decision. Moreover, Seward had given a personal pledge that
in case it were, after all, determined to reinforce Sumter, notification
of that determination would at once be given to South Carolina. The days
went by, and it was not until the last week of March that Lincoln,
disillusioned as to the feasibility of Seward's policy of conciliation,
reached the conclusion that in his conception of his duty as President
of the United States he must defend and retain Federal forts, or attempt
to retain them, for the preservation of the Union, and decided to
reinforce Fort Sumter. On March 29, the Cabinet assembled at noon and
learned Lincoln's determination.
This was a sharp blow to Seward's prestige in the Cabinet; it also
threatened his "peaceful" policy. Yet he did not as yet understand fully
that either supreme leadership, or control of policy, had been assumed
by Lincoln. On April 1 he drafted that astonishing document entitled,
"Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration," which at once reveals
his alarm and his supreme personal self-confidence. This document
begins, "We are at the end of a month's administration, and yet without
a policy either domestic or foreign." It then advocates as a domestic
policy, "_Change The Question Before The Public From One Upon Slavery,
Or About Slavery_, for a question upon _Union or Disunion_." Then in a
second section, headed "For Foreign Nations," there followed:
"I would demand explanations from Spain and France,
categorically, at once.
"I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, and
send agents into Canada, Mexico and Central America to rouse
a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this
continent against European intervention.
"And, if satisfactory explanations are not received from
Spain and France.
"Would convene Congress and declare war against them.
"But whatever policy we adopt, there must be energetic
prosecution of it.
"For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue
and direct it incessantly.
"Either the President must do it himself, and be all the
while active in it, or
"Devolve it on some member of his Cabinet. Once adopted,
debates on it must end, and all agree and abide.
"It is not in my especial province;
"But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsibility[202]."
Lincoln's reply of the same day, April 1, was characteristically gentle,
yet no less positive and definite to any save one obsessed with his own
superior wisdom. Lincoln merely noted that Seward's "domestic policy"
was exactly his own, except that he did not intend to abandon Fort
Sumter. As to the warlike foreign policy Lincoln pointed out that this
would be a sharp reversal of that already being prepared in circulars
and instructions to Ministers abroad. This was, indeed, the case, for
the first instructions, soon despatched, were drawn on lines of
recalling to foreign powers their established and long-continued
friendly relations with the United States. Finally, Lincoln stated as
to the required "guiding hand," "I remark that if this must be done, I
must do it.... I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the advice of
all the Cabinet[203]."
This should have been clear indication of Lincoln's will to direct
affairs, and even to Seward would have been sufficient had he not,
momentarily, been so disturbed by the wreck of his pacific policy toward
the South, and as yet so ignorant of the strength of Lincoln's quiet
persistence. As it was, he yielded on the immediate issue, the relief of
Sumter (though attempting to divert reinforcements to another quarter)
but did not as yet wholly yield either his policy of conciliation and
delay, nor give up immediately his insane scheme of saving the Union by
plunging it into a foreign war. He was, in fact, still giving assurances
to the Confederate commissioners, through indirect channels, that he
could and would prevent the outbreak of civil war, and in this
confidence that his ideas would finally control Lincoln he remained up
to the second week in April. But on April 8 the first of the ships
despatched to the aid of Sumter left New York, and on that day Governor
Pickens of South Carolina was officially notified of the Northern
purpose. This threw the burden of striking the first blow upon the
South; if Southern threats were now made good, civil war seemed
inevitable, and there could be no peaceful decision of the quarrel.
The reinforcements did not arrive in time. Fort Sumter, after a day and
a half of dogged fighting, was surrendered to the enemy on April 13--for
as an enemy in arms the South now stood. The fall of Sumter changed, as
in a moment, the whole attitude of the Northern people. There was now a
nearly unanimous cry for the preservation of the Union _by force_. Yet
Seward still clung, privately, to his belief that even now the "sober
second thought" of the South would offer a way out toward reunion
without war. In official utterances and acts he was apparently in
complete harmony with the popular will to reconquer the South. Davis'
proclamation on marque and privateering, of April 17, was answered by
the Lincoln blockade proclamation of April 19. But Virginia had not yet
officially seceded, and until this occurred there seemed to Seward at
least one last straw of conciliation available. In this situation
Schleiden, Minister for Bremen, came to Seward on the morning of April
24 and offered his services as a mediator[204].
Schleiden's idea was that an armistice be agreed upon with the South
until the Northern Congress should meet in July, thus giving a breathing
spell and permitting saner second judgment to both sides. He had
consulted with his Prussian colleague, who approved, and he found Seward
favourable to the plan. Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the
Confederacy, was then at Richmond, and to him, as an old friend,
Schleiden proposed to go and make the same appeal. Seward at once took
Schleiden to see Lincoln. The three men, with Chase (and the Prussian
Minister) were the only ones in the secret. Lincoln's first comment was
that he was "willing to make an attempt of contributing to the
prevention of bloodshed and regretted that Schleiden had not gone to
Richmond without consulting him or Seward." Lincoln further stated that
"he did not have in mind any aggression against the Southern States, but
merely the safety of the Government in the Capitol and the possibility
to govern everywhere," a concluding phrase that should have enlightened
Schleiden as to Lincoln's determination to preserve the Union. Lincoln
said he could neither authorize negotiations nor invite proposals, but
that he would gladly consider any such proposals voluntarily made.
Schleiden asked for a definite statement as to whether Lincoln would
recall the blockade proclamation and sign an armistice if Davis would
recall the letters of marque proclamation, but Lincoln refused to
commit himself.
This was scant encouragement from the President, but Seward still
thought something might result from the venture, and on that evening,
April 24, Schleiden started for Richmond, being provided by Seward with
a pass through the Union lines. He arrived on the afternoon of the
twenty-fifth, but even before reaching the city was convinced that his
mission would be a failure. All along his journey, at each little
station, he saw excited crowds assembled enthusiastic for secession,
bands of militia training, and every indication of preparation for war.
Already, on that same day, the Virginia secession ordinance had been
published, and the State convention had ratified the provisional
constitution of the Southern Confederacy. Schleiden immediately notified
Stephens of his presence in Richmond and desire for an interview, and
was at once received. The talk lasted three hours. Stephens was frank
and positive in asserting the belief that "all attempts to settle
peacefully the differences between the two sections were futile." Formal
letters were exchanged after this conference, but in these the extent to
which Stephens would go was to promise to use his influence in favour of
giving consideration to any indication made by the North of a desire
"for an amicable adjustment of the questions at issue," and he was
positive that there could be no return of the South to the Union.
On the afternoon of April 27 Schleiden was back in Washington. He found
that three days had made a great change in the sentiment of the Capitol.
"During my short absence," he wrote, "many thousands of volunteers had
arrived from the North. There was not only a feeling of security
noticeable, but even of combativeness." He found Seward not at all
disposed to pursue the matter, and was not given an opportunity to talk
to Lincoln; therefore, he merely submitted copies of the letters that
had passed between him and Stephens, adding for himself that the South
was arming _because_ of Lincoln's proclamation calling for volunteers.
Seward replied on April 29, stating his personal regards and that he had
no fault to find with Schleiden's efforts, but concluding that Stephens'
letters gave no ground for action since the "Union of these States is
the supreme as it is the organic law of this country," and must be
maintained.
This adventure to Richmond by the Minister of Bremen may be regarded as
Seward's last struggle to carry out his long-pursued policy of
conciliatory delay. He had not officially sent Schleiden to Richmond,
but he had grasped eagerly at the opening and had encouraged and aided
Schleiden in his journey. Now, by April 27, hope had vanished, and
Seward's "domestic policy," as set forth in his "Thoughts for the
President's Consideration" on April 1, was discredited, and inevitably,
in some measure, their author also. The dates are important in
appreciating Seward's purposes. On April 27, the day of Schleiden's
return to Washington, there was sent to Adams that "sharp" despatch,
taking issue with British action as foreshadowed by Dallas on April 9,
and concluding by instructing Adams to lose no time in warning Russell
that such action would be regarded by the United States as "injurious to
its rights and derogating from its dignity[205]." It appears, therefore,
that Seward, defeated on one line of "policy," eager to regain prestige,
and still obsessed with the idea that some means could yet be found to
avert domestic conflict, was, on April 27, beginning to pick at those
threads which, to his excited thought, might yet save the Union through
a foreign war. He was now seeking to force the acceptance of the second,
and alternative, portion of his "Thoughts for the President."
Seward's theory of the cementing effect of a foreign war was no secret
at Washington. As early as January 26 he had unfolded to Schleiden this
fantastic plan. "If the Lord would only give the United States an excuse
for a war with England, France, or Spain," he said "that would be the
best means of re-establishing internal peace[206]." Again, on February
10, he conversed with Schleiden on the same topic, and complained that
there was no foreign complication offering an excuse for a break. Lyons
knew of this attitude, and by February 4 had sent Russell a warning, to
which the latter had replied on February 20 that England could afford to
be patient for a time but that too much "blustering demonstration" must
not be indulged in. But the new administration, as Lincoln had remarked
in his reply to Seward on April 1, had taken quite another line,
addressing foreign powers in terms of high regard for established
friendly relations. This was the tone of Seward's first instruction to
Adams, April 10[207], in the concluding paragraph of which Seward wrote,
"The United States are not indifferent to the circumstances of common
descent, language, customs, sentiments, and religion, which recommend a
closer sympathy between themselves and Great Britain than either might
expect in its intercourse with any other nation." True, on this basis,
Seward claimed a special sympathy from Great Britain for the United
States, that is to say, the North, but most certainly the tone of this
first instruction was one of established friendship.
Yet now, April 27, merely on learning from Dallas that Russell "refuses
to pledge himself" on British policy, Seward resorts to threats. What
other explanation is possible except that, seeking to save his domestic
policy of conciliation and to regain his leadership, he now was
adventuring toward the application of his "foreign war panacea" idea.
Lyons quickly learned of the changed tone, and that England, especially,
was to hear American complaint. On May 2 Lyons wrote to Russell in
cypher characterizing Seward as "arrogant and reckless toward Foreign
Powers[208]." Evidently Seward was making little concealment of his
belligerent attitude, and when the news was received of the speeches in
Parliament of the first week in May by which it became clear that Great
Britain would declare neutrality and was planning joint action with
France, he became much excited. On May 17 he wrote a letter home
exhibiting, still, an extraordinary faith in his own wisdom and his own
foreign policy.
"A country so largely relying on my poor efforts to save it
had [has] refused me the full measure of its confidence,
needful to that end. I am a chief reduced to a subordinate
position, and surrounded by a guard, to see that I do not do
too much for my country, lest some advantage may revert
indirectly to my own fame.
"... They have misunderstood things fearfully, in Europe,
Great Britain is in danger of sympathizing so much with the
South, for the sake of peace and cotton, as to drive us to
make war against her, as the ally of the traitors.... I am
trying to get a bold remonstrance through the Cabinet before
it is too late[209]."
The "bold remonstrance" was the famous "Despatch No. 10," of May 21,
already commented upon in the preceding chapter. But as sent to Adams
it varied in very important details from the draft submitted by Seward
to Lincoln[210].
Seward's draft was not merely a "remonstrance"; it was a challenge. Its
language implied that the United States desired war, and Seward's plan
was to have Adams read the despatch to Russell, give him a copy of it,
and then discontinue diplomatic relations so long as Russell held either
official or unofficial intercourse with the Southern Commissioners. This
last instruction was, indeed, retained in the final form of the
despatch, but here, as elsewhere, Lincoln modified the stiff expressions
of the original. Most important of all, he directed Adams to consider
the whole despatch as for his own guidance, relying on his discretion.
The despatch, as amended, began with the statement that the United
States "neither means to menace Great Britain nor to wound the
sensibilities of that or any other European nation.... The paper itself
is not to be read or shown to the British Secretary of State, nor any of
its positions to be prematurely, unnecessarily, or indiscreetly made
known. But its spirit will be your guide[211]." Thus were the teeth
skilfully drawn from the threat of war. Even the positive instructions,
later in the despatch, as to the Southern Commissioners, need not have
been acted upon by Adams had he not thought it wise to do so. But even
with alterations, the American remonstrance was so bold as to alarm
Adams. On first perusual he wrote in his diary, June 10, "The Government
seems almost ready to declare war with all the powers of Europe, and
almost instructs me to withdraw from communication with the Ministers
here in a certain contingency.... I scarcely know how to understand Mr.
Seward. The rest of the Government may be demented for all I know; but
he surely is calm and wise. My duty here is in so far as I can do it
honestly to prevent the irritation from coming to a downright quarrel.
It seems to me like throwing the game into the hands of the enemy[212]."
Adams, a sincere admirer of Seward, was in error as to the source of
American belligerent attitude. Fortunately, his judgment of what was
wise at the moment coincided with that of Lincoln's--though of this he
had no knowledge. In the event Adams' skilful handling of the situation
resulted favourably--even to the cessation of intercourse between
Russell and the Southern Commissioners. For his part, Lincoln, no more
than earlier, was to be hurried into foreign complications, and Seward's
"foreign war panacea" was stillborn.
The incident was a vital one in the Northern administration, for Seward
at last realized that the President intended to control policy, and
though it was yet long before he came to appreciate fully Lincoln's
customary calm judgment, he did understand the relation now established
between himself and his chief. Henceforth, he obeyed orders, though
free in suggestion and criticism, always welcome to Lincoln. The latter,
avowedly ignorant of diplomacy, gladly left details to Seward, and the
altered despatch, far from making relations difficult, rendered them
simple and easy, by clearing the atmosphere. But it was otherwise with
Foreign Ministers at Washington, for even though there was soon a "leak"
of gossip informing them of what had taken place in regard to Despatch
No. 10, they one and all were fearful of a recovery of influence by
Seward and of a resumption of belligerent policy. This was particularly
true of Lord Lyons, for rumour had it that it was against England that
Seward most directed his enmity. There resulted for British diplomats
both at Washington and in London a deep-seated suspicion of Seward, long
after he had made a complete face-about in policy. This suspicion
influenced relations greatly in the earlier years of the Civil War.
On May 20, the day before Seward's No. 10 was dated, Lyons wrote a long
twelve-page despatch to Russell, anxious, and very full of Seward's
warlike projects. "The President is, of course, wholly ignorant of
foreign countries, and of foreign affairs." "Seward, having lost
strength by the failure of his peace policy, is seeking to recover
influence by leading a foreign war party; no one in the Cabinet is
strong enough to combat him." Britain, Lyons thought, should maintain a
stiff attitude, prepare to defend Canada, and make close contacts with
France. He was evidently anxious to impress upon Russell that Seward
really might mean war, but he declared the chief danger to lie in the
fact of American belief that England and France could not be driven into
war with the United States, and that they would submit to any insult.
Lyons urged some action, or declaration (he did not know what), to
correct this false impression[213]. Again, on the next day, May 21, the
information in his official despatch was repeated in a private letter to
Russell, but Lyons here interprets Seward's threats as mere bluster. Yet
he is not absolutely sure of this, and in any case insists that the best
preventative of war with the United States is to show that England is
ready for it[214].
It was an anxious time for the British Minister in Washington. May 22,
he warned Sir Edmund Head, Governor of Canada, urging him to make
defensive preparation[215]. The following day he dilated to Russell,
privately, on "the difficulty of keeping Mr. Seward within the bounds of
decency even in ordinary social intercourse[216] ..." and in an official
communication of this same day he records Washington rumours of a
belligerent despatch read by Seward before the Cabinet, of objections by
other members, and that Seward's insistence has carried the day[217].
That Seward was, in fact, still smarting over his reverse is shown by a
letter, written on this same May 23, to his intimate friend and
political adviser, Thurlow Weed, who had evidently cautioned him against
precipitate action. Seward wrote, "The European phase is bad. But your
apprehension that I may be too decisive alarms me more. Will you
consent, or advise us to consent, that Adams and Dayton have audiences
and compliments in the Ministers' Audience Chamber, and Toombs'
[Confederate Secretary of State] emissaries have access to his
bedroom[218]?"
Two interpretations are possible from this: either that Seward knowing
himself defeated was bitter in retrospect, or that he had not yet
yielded his will to that of Lincoln, in spite of the changes made in his
Despatch No. 10. The former interpretation seems the more likely, for
though Seward continued to write for a time "vigorous" despatches to
Adams, they none of them approached the vigour of even the amended
despatch. Moreover, the exact facts of the Cabinet of May 21, and the
complete reversal of Seward's policy were sufficiently known by May 24
to have reached the ears of Schleiden, who reported them in a letter to
Bremen of that date[219]. And on the same day Seward himself told
Schleiden that he did "not fear any longer that it would come to a break
with England[220]." On May 27 Lyons himself, though still suspicious
that an attempt was being made to separate France and England, was able
to report a better tone from Seward[221].
British Ministers in London were not so alarmed as was Lyons, but they
were disturbed, nevertheless, and long preserved a suspicion of the
American Secretary of State. May 23, Palmerston wrote to Russell in
comment on Lyons' despatch of May 2: "These communications are very
unpleasant. It is not at all unlikely that either from foolish and
uncalculating arrogance and self-sufficiency or from political
calculation Mr. Seward may bring on a quarrel with us[222]." He believed
that more troops ought to be sent to Canada, as a precautionary
measure, but, he added, "the main Force for Defence must, of course, be
local"--a situation necessarily a cause for anxiety by British
Ministers. Russell was less perturbed. He had previously expressed
appreciation of Adams' conduct, writing to Lyons: "Mr. Adams has made a
very favourable impression on my mind as a calm and judicious man[223],"
and he now wrote: "I do not think Mr. Seward's colleagues will encourage
him in a game of brag with England.... I am sorry Seward turns out so
reckless and ruthless. Adams seems a sensible man[224]." But at
Washington Lyons was again hot on the trail of warlike rumours. As a
result of a series of conversations with Northern politicians, not
Cabinet members, he sent a cipher telegram to Russell on June 6,
stating: "No new event has occurred but sudden declaration of war by the
United States against Great Britain appears to me by no means
impossible, especially so long as Canada seems open to invasion[225]."
This was followed two days later by a despatch dilating upon the
probability of war, and ending with Lyons' opinion of how it should be
conducted. England should strike at once with the largest possible naval
force and bring the war to an end before the United States could
prepare. Otherwise, "the spirit, the energy, and the resources of this
people" would make them difficult to overcome. England, on her part,
must be prepared to suffer severely from American privateers, and she
would be forced to help the South, at least to the extent of keeping
Southern ports open. Finally, Lyons concluded, all of this letter and
advice were extremely distasteful to him, yet he felt compelled to write
it by the seriousness of the situation. Nevertheless, he would exert
every effort and use every method to conciliate America[226].
In truth, it was not any further belligerent talk by Seward that had so
renewed Lyons' anxiety. Rather it was the public and Press reception of
the news of the Queen's Proclamation of Neutrality. The Northern people,
counting beyond all reasonable expectation upon British sympathy on
anti-slavery grounds, had been angrily disappointed, and were at the
moment loudly voicing their vexation. Had Seward not already been turned
from his foreign war policy he now would have received strong public
support in it. But he made no effort to utilize public excitement to his
own advantage in the Cabinet. In England, Adams was able to report on
June 14 that Russell had no intention of holding further interviews with
the Southern Commissioners[227], but before anyone in Washington could
learn of this there was general knowledge of a changed tone from the
Secretary of State, and Lyons' fears were considerably allayed. On June
15, occurred that interview between Seward, Lyons, and Mercier, in which
Seward had positively refused to receive the Queen's Proclamation, but
had throughout evinced the greatest courtesy and goodwill. Lyons so
reported the conversation[228]. June 15 may, in fact, be taken as the
date when Lyons ceased to be alarmed over an immediate war. Possibly he
found it a little difficult to report so sudden a shift from stormy to
fair weather. June 21, he wrote that the "lull" was still
continuing[229]. June 24, he at last learned and described at length the
details of Lincoln's alteration of Despatch No. 10[230]. He did not
know the exact date but he expressed the opinion that "a month or three
weeks ago" war was very near--a misjudgment, since it should be
remembered that war seemed advisable to one man only--Seward; and that
on this issue he had been definitely cast down from his self-assumed
leadership into the ranks of Lincoln's lieutenants.
Lyons was, then, nearly a month behindhand in exact knowledge of
American foreign policy toward England, and he was in error in thinking
that an American attack on England was either imminent or intended.
Nevertheless, he surely was excusable, considering Seward's prestige and
Lincoln's lack of it, in reporting as he did. It was long, indeed,
before he could escape from suspicion of Seward's purposes, though
dropping, abruptly, further comment on the chances of war. A month
later, on July 20, he wrote that Seward had himself asked for a
confidential and unofficial interview, in order to make clear that there
never had been any intention of stirring agitation against England.
Personally, Seward took credit for avoiding trouble "by refusing to take
official cognizance of the recognition [by England] of the belligerent
rights of the South," and he asked Lyons to explain to Russell that
previous strong language was intended merely to make foreign Powers
understand the intensity of Northern feeling[231].
Lyons put no faith in all this but was happy to note the change,
mistakenly attributing it to England's "stiff tone," and not at all to
the veto of the President. Since Lyons himself had gone to the utmost
bounds in seeking conciliation (so he had reported), and, in London,
Russell also had taken no forward step since the issue of the Queen's
Proclamation--indeed, had rather yielded somewhat to Adams'
representations--it is not clear in what the "stiff tone" consisted.
Indeed, the cause of Seward's explanation to Lyons was the receipt of a
despatch from Adams, dated June 28, in which the latter had reported
that all was now smooth sailing. He had told Russell that the knowledge
in Washington of the result of their previous interviews had brought
satisfaction, and Russell, for his part, said that Lyons had "learned,
through another member of the diplomatic corps, that no further
expression of opinion on the subject in question would be
necessary[232]." This referred, presumably, to the question of British
intention, for the future, in relation to the Proclamation of
Neutrality. Adams wrote: "This led to the most frank and pleasant
conversation which I have yet had with his lordship.... I added that I
believed the popular feeling in the United States would subside the
moment that all the later action on this side was known.... My own
reception has been all that I could desire. I attach value to this,
however, only as it indicates the establishment of a policy that will
keep us at peace during the continuance of the present convulsion." In
reply to Adams' despatch, Seward wrote on July 21, the day after his
interview with Lyons, arguing at great length the American view that the
British Proclamation of Neutrality in a domestic quarrel was not
defensible in international law. There was not now, nor later, any
yielding on this point. But, for the present, this was intended for
Adams' eye alone, and Seward prefaced his argument by a disclaimer, much
as stated to Lyons, of any ill-will to Great Britain:
"I may add, also, for myself, that however otherwise I may at
any time have been understood, it has been an earnest and
profound solicitude to avert from foreign war; that alone has
prompted the emphatic and sometimes, perhaps, impassioned
remonstrances I have hitherto made against any form or
measure of recognition of the insurgents by the government of
Great Britain. I write in the same spirit now; and I invoke
on the part of the British government, as I propose to
exercise on my own, the calmness which all counsellors ought
to practise in debates which involve the peace and happiness
of mankind[233]."
Diplomatic correspondence couched in the form of platform oratory leads
to the suspicion that the writer is thinking, primarily, of the ultimate
publication of his despatches. Thus Seward seems to have been laying the
ground for a denial that he had ever developed a foolish foreign war
policy. History pins him to that folly. But in another respect the
interview with Lyons on July 20 and the letter to Adams of the day
following overthrow for both Seward and for the United States the
accusations sometimes made that it was the Northern disaster at Bull
Run, July 21, in the first pitched battle with the South, which made
more temperate the Northern tone toward foreign powers[234]. It is true
that the despatch to Adams was not actually sent until July 26, but
internal evidence shows it to have been written on the 21st before there
was any news from the battle-field, and the interview with Lyons on the
20th proves that the military set-back had no influence on Seward's
friendly expressions. Moreover, these expressions officially made were
but a delayed voicing of a determination of policy arrived at many weeks
earlier. The chronology of events and despatches cited in this chapter
will have shown that the refusal of Lincoln to follow Seward's
leadership, and the consequent lessening of the latter's "high tone,"
preceded any news whatever from England, lightening the first
impressions. The Administration at Washington did not on May 21, even
know that England had issued a Proclamation of Neutrality; it knew
merely of Russell's statement that one would have to be issued; and the
friendly explanations of Russell to Adams were not received in
Washington until the month following.
In itself, Seward's "foreign war panacea" policy does not deserve the
place in history usually accorded it as a moment of extreme crisis in
British-American relations. There was never any danger of war from it,
for Lincoln nipped the policy in the bud. The public excitement in
America over the Queen's Proclamation was, indeed, intense; but this did
not alter the Governmental attitude. In England all that the public knew
was this American irritation and clamour. The London press expressed
itself a bit more cautiously, for the moment, merely defending the
necessity of British neutrality[235]. But if regarded from the effect
upon British Ministers the incident was one of great, possibly even
vital, importance in the relations of the two countries. Lyons had been
gravely anxious to the point of alarm. Russell, less acutely alarmed,
was yet seriously disturbed. Both at Washington and in London the
suspicion of Seward lasted throughout the earlier years of the war, and
to British Ministers it seemed that at any moment he might recover
leadership and revert to a dangerous mood. British attitude toward
America was affected in two opposite ways; Britain was determined not to
be bullied, and Russell himself sometimes went to the point of arrogance
in answer to American complaints; this was an unfortunate result. But
more fortunate, and _also a result_, was the British Government's
determination to step warily in the American conflict and to give no
just cause, unless on due consideration of policy, for a rupture of
relations with the United States. Seward's folly in May of 1861, from
every angle but a short-lived "brain-storm," served America well in the
first years of her great crisis.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 197: See _ante_, p. 80.]
[Footnote 198: Barnes, _Life of Thurlow Weed_, II, p. 378. Seward to
Weed, December 27, 1861.]
[Footnote 199: _Ibid._, p. 355. Weed's letter was on the _Trent_ affair,
but he went out of his way to depict Seward as attempting a bit of
humour with Newcastle.]
[Footnote 200: Schleiden, a native of Schleswig, was educated at the
University of Berlin, and entered the Danish customs service. In the
German revolution of 1848 he was a delegate from Schleswig-Holstein to
the Frankfort Parliament. After the failure of that revolution he
withdrew to Bremen and in 1853 was sent by that Republic to the United
States as Minister. By 1860 he had become one of the best known and
socially popular of the Washington diplomatic corps, holding intimate
relations with leading Americans both North and South. His reports on
events preceding and during the Civil War were examined in the archives
of Bremen in 1910 by Dr. Ralph H. Lutz when preparing his doctor's
thesis, "Die Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und den Vereinigten
Staaten während des Sezessionskrieges" (Heidelberg, 1911). My facts with
regard to Schleiden are drawn in part from this thesis, in part from an
article by him, "Rudolph Schleiden and the Visit to Richmond, April 25,
1861," printed in the _Annual Report of the American Historical
Association_ for 1915, pp. 207-216. Copies of some of Schleiden's
despatches are on deposit in the Library of Congress among the papers of
Carl Schurz. Through the courtesy of Mr. Frederic Bancroft, who
organized the Schurz papers, I have been permitted to take copies of a
few Schleiden dispatches relating to the visit to Richmond, an incident
apparently unknown to history until Dr. Lutz called attention to it.]
[Footnote 201: This is Bancroft's expression. _Seward_, II, p. 118.]
[Footnote 202: Lincoln, _Works_, II, 29.]
[Footnote 203: _Ibid._, p. 30.]
[Footnote 204: For references to this whole matter of Schleiden's visit
to Richmond see _ante_, p. 116, note 1.]
[Footnote 205: _U.S. Messages and Documents_, 1861-2, p. 82. This, and
other despatches have been examined at length in the previous chapter in
relation to the American protest on the Queen's Proclamation of
Neutrality. In the present chapter they are merely noted again in their
bearing on Seward's "foreign war policy."]
[Footnote 206: Quoted by Lutz, _Am. Hist. Assn. Rep_. 1915, p. 210.]
[Footnote 207: _U.S. Messages and Documents_, 1861-2, p. 80. This
despatch was read by Seward on April 8 to W. H. Russell, correspondent
of the _Times_, who commented that it contained some elements of danger
to good relations, but it is difficult to see to what he could have had
objection.--Russell, _My Diary_, I, p. 103. ]
[Footnote 208: Russell Papers.]
[Footnote 209: Bancroft, _Seward_, II, p. 169.]
[Footnote 210: Yet at this very time Seward was suggesting, May 14, to
Prussia, Great Britain, France, Russia and Holland a joint naval
demonstration with America against Japan because of anti-foreign
demonstrations in that country. This has been interpreted as an attempt
to tie European powers to the United States in such a way as to hamper
any friendly inclination they may have entertained toward the
Confederacy (Treat, _Japan and the United States_, 1853-1921, pp. 49-50.
Also Dennet, "Seward's Far Eastern Policy," in _Am. Hist. Rev_., Vol.
XXVIII, No. 1. Dennet, however, also regards Seward's overture as in
harmony with his determined policy in the Far East.) Like Seward's
overture, made a few days before, to Great Britain for a convention to
guarantee the independence of San Domingo (F.O., Am., Vol. 763, No. 196,
Lyons to Russell, May 12, 1861) the proposal on Japan seems to me to
have been an erratic feeling-out of international attitude while in the
process of developing a really serious policy--the plunging of America
into a foreign war.]
[Footnote 211: _U.S. Messages and Documents_, 1861-2, p. 88. The exact
facts of Lincoln's alteration of Despatch No. 10, though soon known in
diplomatic circles, were not published until the appearance in 1890 of
Nicolay and Hay's _Lincoln_, where the text of a portion of the
original draft, with Lincoln's changes were printed (IV, p. 270). Gideon
Welles, Secretary of the Navy in Lincoln's Cabinet, published a short
book in 1874, _Lincoln and Seward_, in which the story was told, but
without dates and so vaguely that no attention was directed to it.
Apparently the matter was not brought before the Cabinet and the
contents of the despatch were known only to Lincoln, Seward, and the
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Sumner.]
[Footnote 212: C.F. Adams, "Seward and the Declaration of Paris," p. 21.
Reprint from _Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings_, XLVI, pp. 23-81.]
[Footnote 213: F.O., Am., Vol. 764, No. 206. Confidential.]
[Footnote 214: Russell Papers. This letter has been printed, in part, in
Newton, _Lyons_, I, 41.]
[Footnote 215: Lyons Papers.]
[Footnote 216: _Ibid._, Lyons to Russell, May 23, 1861.]
[Footnote 217: F.O., Am., Vol. 764, No. 209, Confidential, Lyons to
Russell, May 23, 1861. A brief "extract" from this despatch was printed
in the British _Parliamentary Papers_, 1862, _Lords_, Vol. XXV.
"Correspondence on Civil War in the United States," No. 48. The
"extract" in question consists of two short paragraphs only, printed,
without any indication of important elisions, in each of the
paragraphs. ]
[Footnote 218: Bancroft, _Seward_, II, p. 174. ]
[Footnote 219: Lutz, "Notes." The source of Schleiden's information is
not given in his despatch. He was intimate with many persons closely in
touch with events, especially with Sumner, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, and with Blair, a member of
the Cabinet.]
[Footnote 220: _Ibid._, Schleiden to Republic of Bremen, May 27, 1861.]
[Footnote 221: Bancroft, _Seward_, II, p. 179, sets the date as June 8
when Seward's instructions for England and France show that he had
"recovered his balance." This is correct for the change in tone of
despatches, but the acceptance of Lincoln's policy must have been
immediate. C.F. Adams places the date for Seward's complete change of
policy much later, describing his "war mania" as lasting until the
Northern defeat of Bull Run, July 21. I think this an error, and
evidence that it is such appears later in the present chapter. See
Charles Francis Adams, "Seward and the Declaration of Paris," _Mass.
Hist. Soc. Proceedings_, XLVI, pp. 23-81.]
[Footnote 222: Russell Papers.]
[Footnote 223: Lyons Papers, May 21, 1861.]
[Footnote 224: _Ibid._, Russell to Lyons, May 25, 1861.]
[Footnote 225: F.O., Am., Vol. 765, No. 253.]
[Footnote 226: _Ibid._, No. 263, Lyons to Russell, June 8, 1861.]
[Footnote 227: See _ante_, p. 106.]
[Footnote 228: See _ante_, p. 102. Bancroft, _Seward_, II, p. 181, using
Seward's description to Adams _(U.S. Messages and Documents_, 1861-2, p.
106) of this interview expands upon the Secretary's skill in thus
preventing a joint notification by England and France of their intention
to act together. He rightly characterizes Seward's tactics as
"diplomatic skill of the best quality." But in Lyons' report the
emphasis is placed upon Seward's courtesy in argument, and Lyons felt
that the knowledge of British-French joint action had been made
sufficiently clear by his taking Mercier with him and by their common
though unofficial representation to Seward.]
[Footnote 229: Russell Papers. To Russell.]
[Footnote 230: _Ibid_, To Russell. Lyons' source of information was not
revealed.]
[Footnote 231: _Ibid._, To Russell.]
[Footnote 232: _U.S. Messages and Documents, 1861-2_, p. 110.]
[Footnote 233: _Ibid._, p. 118. To Adams.]
[Footnote 234: C.F. Adams, "Seward and the Declaration of Paris." p. 29,
and so argued by the author throughout this monograph. I think this
an error.]
[Footnote 235: The _Spectator_, friend of the North, argued, June 15,
1861, that the Queen's Proclamation was the next best thing for the
North to a definite British alliance. Southern privateers could not now
be obtained from England. And the United States was surely too proud to
accept direct British aid.]