previous next


The Confederate cause in Europe.

Daily News, in his letter of July 17, makes the following important statements:

‘ Rumors of a change of Ministry are afloat, ou traced to no reliable and certain sou However, the condition of affairs both at home and abroad may render the introduction of some fresh and vigorous material into the Queen's councils an early necessity. One of the earliest results of such an event, should the same policy not be adopted speedily by the present Ministry, will be the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States of America. This may seem startling news, but it is nevertheless true.--You will please note that the few predictions I have ventured from time to time, in my letters on this subject, have in every instance been fulfilled, and that I have misled you in no single fact. The ferocious assaults of the Northern press upon the opinions and policy of England have at length swept away every particle of sympathy that may have been felt for what was termed by them a ‘"war for the Union;"’ and the utter ruthlessness of their disregard for common truth and honesty in their accusations against the people of these islands, has led to the conclusion that their vituperations of the Southern States were and are just as reckless and untrue.

On the other hand, the brutal and ferocious appeals of the Abolition press to the worst passions of human nature, and the declared intention of devastating and crushing the Southern States --the land of their relatives and our own — has produced not only the deepest disgust here, but the hottest indignation. If there be one characteristic of which the true Briton boasts more than another, it is his love of fair play; and now he sees in the South the injured and weaker party. The same pens that, only a few years ago, summoned the humanity of Europe and the world to rescue the oppressed victims of tyranny and usurpation in other lands, are busily at work to denounce the madness of a Government that tramples every constitutional guarantee of your Republic under foot. Should any serious reverse befall the Federal arms, look for the immediate lifting of the curtain here. Yet a sincere desire for the preservation of the American Republic on the basis of good fellowship still prevails, and were this the issue, there is but one voice among your transatlantic kinsmen.

The establishment of a huge military despotism is deprecated, and will even be resisted.

The manufacturing districts are restive, and the prospects on all sides for the coming winter are highly alarming. In the East Indian colonies such trouble is brewing that there can be no hope of any certain supply of cotton from that quarter, while all other sources are admitted to be utterly inadequate without the aid of your Southern product.

You will perceive by the journals that the British forces in the Canada are to be still further augmented and the fleets in your waters doubted. Reports are current that President Lincoln's blockade is inefficient, and that much favoritism is shown. If this be so, prompt action on the part of this Government may be surely anticipated.

’ The Paris correspondent of the same journal writes as follows:

‘ Throughout France trade is everywhere depressed, and our manufacturers are execrating the American civil war as heartily as do their friends at Manchester, in England, for very similar causes. In St. Edenne alone the population has diminished 7,197 souls since the riband trade began to fall, and all the other towns devoted to the silk trade have suffered in nearly equal proportion. Still our national war preparations both by land and sea go on with unabated vigor, and as I long since foretold, a powerful fleet, including some of the splendid steel-cased vessels lately launched, and now the pride of the French Navy, is to follow the squadron already dispatched to the American waters.

Opinions in relation to your present domestic conflict are settling down to a firm conviction that there is no safety for the Republic but in conciliation. The attempt to subjugate so vast a country and so determined a population as those of your Southern States with such incalculable resources, not only in their home productions, but in their power over the world's commerce and manufactures, is declared to be absurd, while the gasconading of the Northern war press is pronounced as most stupid and atrocious by military men as well as civilians. The Commissioners of the C. S. A are most courteously and respectfully listened to everywhere.

They claim to ask only for independence from a Government which they ably and often convincingly argue has overthrown the Constitution, not only in the South, but in the North. This the best publicists and reasoners of the country declare is no more than Franklin once asked in your contest with England and elsewhere than in Paris. Mr. Dudley Mann has had no difficulty in procuring material aid in the shape of money, arms of the most improved order, and cavalry and artillery experts of the highest stamp. From what I have personally seen and heard on this subject, I should not be surprised should Davis' Government loom up presently with a naval power that will astonish those who have been idle enough to suppose that the menaces of Mr. Seward in his dispatches and his envoys here would pass unnoted.

’ In connection with the foregoing, we quote from the Washington correspondence of the Baltimore Sun:

‘ The London Times has arrived at the conclusion that the war must terminate in Southern independence. That independence may not, even if it exists de facto, terminate the war. It is clear that the Times will advocate recognition by England, at an early day. Advices received at Havana from Europe state that European Governments will probably soon recognize the Confederates. But these advices are from mercantile sources, which are especially interested in peace.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
United States (United States) (1)
Manchester (United Kingdom) (1)
Havana, N. Y. (New York, United States) (1)
France (France) (1)

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
Seward (1)
Dudley Mann (1)
Abraham Lincoln (1)
William B. Franklin (1)
Davis (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
July 17th (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: