ular opinion. There is no knowing how soon it may become so. That will depend upon the chances of making anything out of it in case of a conflict. The ministry are notoriously feeble in Parliament, whilst the conservatives are strong only whilst confining themselves strictly within a negative position. Hence the situation of both parties rests equally upon an avoidance, at least for the present, of test questions. Lord Palmerston is sufficiently popular to make it hazardous to attempt to dislodge him by a coup de main in Parliament, which would inevitably be followed by a formidable opposition headed by him. The more eligible course has thus far been thought to be to await the moment, which cannot be long delayed, of his retreat, when Lord Derby is expected to be summoned to take his place with the consent of ail but the radical section of the people. This will be an era for a reconstruction of parties.

Such has been the programme down to the assembling of Parliament. What shape things may take afterwards it is impossible to predict. That the American question is to be a serious element in any calculation of its action everything conspires to make us believe. I shall endeavor, so far as it may be within my power, to keep you informed of the movements as they occur.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.

No. 178.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 4, 1862. SIR: The Africa came so late that I had only time, before the then next mail day, to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 102, in a paper which was devoted to subjects different from those you have discussed.

I am gratified with the information that, in your opinion, the mind of the government, as well as that of the British nation, is now somewhat disabused of the very unjust idea that this government entertains sentiments of hostility towards them.

I transmit herewith a copy of an unofficial letter I have sent to Lord Lyons, together with a copy of a letter that, amid the intensest heat of the late excitement, I had occasion to address to his excellency the governor of the State of Maine. This correspondence may perhaps be properly used for the purpose of more effectually removing impressions so unjust to us and dangerous to the peace of the two nations.

Some correspondents and many journals write to us that the Parliament and the Chambers are to be pressed into discussions designed to induce Great Britain and France to recognize the insurgents and intervene to raise our blockade. I have already made some suggestions to you with a view to counteract those dangerous designs. I am not aware that I can now profitably do more in that direction.

I turn, therefore, to another subject. Let us suppose that the European states had been content to leave the insurrection unnoticed until now. Does any one believe that in that case a single European vessel engaged. in lawful trade would have ever been molested by the insurgents, who have not been able to possess, occupy, and keep open, one solitary port on the whole coast of this continent.

Does any one believe that, in the case supposed, a single pirátical insurgent vessel would have been found demanding entrance into an European port with trophies, spoils, or captives taken from American merchantmen sunk or burned in European waters? Does not every one see that, in that case, the unseemly scenes recently enacted in the ports of Cadiz and Southampton could never have occurred? Toward what end have these and all other such unhappy occurrences led but the prolongation of a strife now only less injurious to European interests than to our own, while it is demoralizing political society in all nations?

Now, when passion and alarm are subsiding in Europe, may there not be found in the government and in the Parliament of Great Britain statesmen who will see that the true path to peace is in retracing the steps which only lead through disastrous conflict upon the soil of this continent between this truly popular and long-established government and those who would subject it all to the power of slavery rather than conform their political institutions to the spirit of the age?

You are not expected to present these suggestions formally to the British government, but, being just in themselves, you will use them, in your discretion, to promote the great interests of both countries.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

P. S.-I also enclose to you herewith a printed copy of the proceedings of the legislature of Maine on the subject of the passage of British troops through that State.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.

No. 179.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 5, 1862.

SIR: Your despatch of January 17, No. 103, fell upon the department as merely a small part of the largest foreign mail ever received here, and only after such delays as left insufficient time to dispose of the same before the departure of the outgoing steamer.

I approve entirely of your proceeding in regard to the Nashville, while I hail the solicitude of the British government for the preservation of peace in the British waters as a favorable indication. I have given to the Navy Department the information received from you concerning the probable attempt to transfer the Nashville to British owners.

I have given to Mr. Perry substantially the same ideas which I have expressed to yourself in regard to the uselessness to European maritime powers of a policy on their part which invites only insurgent privateers and repels loyal American commerce from their ports. It is easy to see that this is the effect of a premature recognition of the insurrection as entitled to belligerent rights.

We hear from various correspondents, as you do, that France proposed three months ago to Great Britain a recognition and intervention to break the blockade.

The communication of this kind which appeared to wear the highest character for authority was said to have come from the innermost circle of the British government. We have not credited it for this, among other reasons, namely: Lord Lyons, who, although a man of prudent reserve, is,

at the same time, entirely truthful, has frankly told me that he knows nothing of the matter, while the French minister, who is a very frank and friendly person, denies all knowledge of any such purpose. Further, Mr. Thouvenel's communications with us, made before and after the settlement of the Trent affair, are of such a character as to exclude a belief that France was, indeed, proposing to Great Britain a plot for the dismemberment of the Union. Moreover, I am slow to believe that either the government of France or the government of Great Britain misunderstand the true interests of their own country so much as to desire the dissolution of the Union, especially a dissolution to be effected by European intervention, and with the purpose of establishing a slaveholding power on the borders of the Caribbean sea.

We have unmistakable evidence that sympathizers with the secessionists will inaugurate a debate and motion for recognition in Parliament. Nor will I deny that I indulge some apprehension of the result. But, at the same time, I am not conscious of having left anything undone that could be done to enlighten the British government and the British public upon the merits of the question. The solution of it must be left to those who are expected to assume the responsibility. One thing is certain, so far as any future political event can be, and that is, that neither with nor without foreign aid will this Union be permitted by the American people to fall.

I cannot close this despatch without expressing especial acknowledgments for the care and candor with which you have sifted the thick rumors of mischief, and given me what was worthy of consideration.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of her Majesty's speech to both houses of Parliament, together with the Morning Post newspaper of this morning, giving a report of the debate in the two houses yesterday on the address. It will be perceived that both Lord Russell and Lord Palmerston announced, quite distinctly, the intention of the government to maintain its present position. The position of Lord Derby, on the other hand, is somewhat equivocal, and would seem to imply an organized movement, if it were not for the firmer tone of Mr. D'Israeli in the other house. On the whole, the expression of sentiment, so far as it goes, is favorable. The debate will, however, take quite a different shape when it comes to the questions presented in detail. There is no reason to doubt that a movement will then be made in whatever direction may be thought most likely, at the moment, to be favorable to the insurgents. The earnestness with which it will be pressed will largely depend on the nature of the intelligence received from the United States.

I beg, therefore, once more to urge the propriety of supplying this legation with as much authentic information as possible of the condition of the struggle, especially of the state of the blockade, the internal condition of the disaffected States, and the progress of the war. Speculation is at this

moment of little use. Our friends want their hands strengthened, both in the power of affirming our action and denying that assumed by the friends of the rebels. I do not like to be obliged to confess, when asked questions by persons who ought to know, touching the movements and policy of the government, that I am not able to answer them. I do not include in this category the inquiries most frequently addressed to me touching emancipation, although public opinion here is more sensitive to that chord than to any other. The rumor of propositions on that subject from the confederates is kept up as strenuously as the denial that the disposal of it enters at all into the issue raised by the United States. I know not how far the government may itself be possessed of accurate information respecting the domestic situation of the rebels, but the fact is certain that the total ignorance of it on this side is of the greatest possible advantage to their cause. For it enables their unscrupulous and desperate emissaries to palm off, without contradiction, any representation of it they chose to make."

I see by the newspapers that Mr. Yancey has embarked in a steamer to the West Indies, on his way home. He has labored indefatigably upon the newspaper press, and not without a good deal of success. It is said, though I know not with what truth, that large sums have been expended in this direction. The condition of the press is now so peculiar in this country that it is unusually open to such influences. I have not time to explain the reasons for this statement, for they run deeply into the moral and political condition of the people. At some future moment I may make it the subject of a particular communication.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

The speech of the Lords Commissioners to both houses of Parliament, on Thursday, February 6, 1862.

MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN:

We are commanded by her Majesty to assure you that her Majesty is persuaded that you will deeply participate in the affliction by which her Majesty has been overwhelmed by the calamitous, untimely, and irreparable loss of her beloved consort, who has been her comfort and support.

It has been, however, soothing to her Majesty, while suffering most acutely under this awful dispensation of Providence, to receive from all classes of her subjects the most cordial assurances of their sympathy with her sorrow, as well as of their appreciation of the noble character of him, the greatness of whose loss to her Majesty and to the nation is so justly and so universally felt and lamented.

We are commanded by her Majesty to assure you that she recurs with confidence to your assistance and advice.

Her Majesty's relations with all the European powers continue to be. friendly and satisfactory; and her Majesty trusts there is no reason to apprehend any disturbance of the peace of Europe.

A question of great importance, and which might have led to very serious. consequences, arose between her Majesty and the government of the United States of North America, owing to the seizure and forcible removal of four passengers from on board a British mail packet by the commander of a ship-of-war of the United States; but that question has been satisfactorily

settled by the restoration of the passengers to British protection, and by the disavowal by the United States government of the act of violence committed by their naval officer.

The friendly relations between her Majesty and the President of the United States therefore remained unimpaired.

Her Majesty warmly appreciates the loyalty and patriotic spirit which have been manifested on this occasion by her North American subjects.

The wrongs committed by various parties and by successive governments in Mexico upon foreigners resident within the Mexican territory, and for which no satisfactory redress could be obtained, have led to the conclusion of a convention between her Majesty, the Emperor of the French, and the Queen of Spain, for the purpose of regulating a combined operation on the coast of Mexico, with a view to obtain that redress which has hitherto been withheld.

That convention, and papers relating to that subject, will be laid before. you.

The improvement which has taken place in the relations between her Majesty's government and that of the Emperor of China, and the good faith with which the Chinese government have continued to fulfil the engagements of the treaty of Tien-tsin, have enabled her Majesty to withdraw her troops from the city of Canton, and to reduce the amount of her force on the coast and in the seas of China.

Her Majesty, always anxious to exert her influence for the preservation of peace, has concluded a convention with the Sultan of Morocco, by means of which the Sultan has been enabled to raise the amount necessary for the fulfilment of certain treaty engagements which he had contracted towards Spain, and thus to avoid the risk of a renewal of hostilities with that power. That convention, and papers connected with it, will be laid before you. GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS:

she has directed the esThey have been framed

Her Majesty commands us to inform you that timates for the ensuing year to be laid before you. with a due regard to prudent economy and to the efficiency of the public service.

MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN:

Her Majesty commands us to inform you that measures for the improvement of the law will be laid before you, and among them will be a bill for rendering the title to land more simple, and its transfer more easy.

Other measures of public usefulness relating to Great Britain and to Ireland will be submitted for your consideration.

Her Majesty regrets that in some parts of the United Kingdom, and in certain branches of industry, temporary causes have produced considerable pressure and privation; but her Majesty has reason to believe that the general condition of the country is sound and satisfactory.

Her Majesty confidently recommends the general interests of the nation to your wisdom and your care; and she fervently prays that the blessing of Almighty God may attend your deliberations, and may guide them to the promotion of the welfare and happiness of her people.