United States ever unhappily be at war with one Chap. VIII. another, Her Majesty will be ready to relinquish her prerogative and abolish privateering as between the two nations, provided the President would be ready to make a similar engagement on the part of the United States."

I refrain from any comment on this negotiation. No Southern privateer, I believe, ever entered any port of Great Britain or France, or of their respective dependencies. The Congress of the United States passed, on the 3rd March, 1863, an Act authorizing the President, in any foreign or domestic war, to issue letters of marque, and make rules for the conduct of privateers and disposal of their prizes. But this Act, the operation of which was limited to three years, appears never to have been put in force.

The history of an unofficial application made to the Confederate States on the same subject is told in the two following despatches. It will be seen that the channel of communication was a private person, instructed by the British and French Consuls at Charleston, who had been themselves instructed by the Ministers of their respective Governments at Washington:

"Sir,

Lord Lyons to Consul Bunch.

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Washington, July 5, 1861. "The course of events having invested the States assuming the title of the Confederate States of America with the character of belligerents, it has become necessary for Her Majesty's Government to obtain from the existing Government in those States securities concerning the proper treatment of neutrals.

"I am authorized by Lord John Russell to confide the negotiation on this matter to you; and I have great satisfaction in doing so. In order to make you acquainted with the views of Her Majesty's Government, I transmit to you a duplicate of a despatch to me in which they are fully stated.

1 Earl Russell to Lord Lyons, 20th December, 1861.

Chap. VIII.

"It is essential, under present circumstances, that you should act with great caution, in order to avoid raising the question of the recognition of the new Confederation by Great Britain. On this account, I think it unadvisable that you should go to Richmond, or place yourself in direct communication with the Central Authority which is established there.

"The most convenient course will, probably, be for you to take advantage of the intercourse which you naturally hold with Mr. Pickens, the Governor of the State of South Carolina. I cannot doubt that if you explain, verbally, to Mr. Pickens the views of Her Majesty's Government, he will have no difficulty in inducing the Government at Richmond to recognize, by an official act, the rights secured to neutrals by the second and third Articles of the Declaration of Paris, and to admit its own responsibility for the acts of privateers sailing under its letters of marque.

"The most perfect accord on this question exists between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the Emperor of the French; and instructions corresponding to these are sent to-day by the Emperor's Minister here to the French Consul at Charleston. You will accordingly enter into the frankest communication with your French colleague on the subject, and will be careful to act in strict concert with him.

(Extract.)

Consul Bunch to Lord Lyons.

"Charleston, August 16, 1861. "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt, on the 19th ultimo, of your Lordship's despatch of the 5th July, together with its inclosure, viz, a despatch from Lord John Russell of the 17th May last, on the subject of the proposed adhesion of the Confederate States of America to the four Articles of the Declaration of Paris, and of the rights of neutrals in the contest now raging in this country. I proceed to reply to your Lordship's communication.

"In so doing, I begin by requesting your Lordship to convey to Lord John Russell the expression of my sincere gratitude for the honour which he has been pleased to confer upon me by selecting me as the organ of Her Majesty's Government in the negotiation to which your Lordship's despatch and its inclosure have reference. I beg leave also to offer to your Lordship my grateful acknowledgments for the kind manner in which you have placed the matter in my hands.

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Immediately upon receipt of your Lordship's despatch, I proceeded to put myself into communication with my French colleague, M. de Beligny, who, as I found, had received instructions from M. Mercier of a character precisely similar to those with which I was honoured. After the fullest and frankest interchange of our respective views, we deter

mined upon the line of action which I am now about to report to your Chap. VIII. Lordship.

"Our attention was first directed to the suggestion contained in your Lordship's despatch that, as it would be inexpedient for us to go to Richmond, our negotiation might, probably, be advantageously conducted through Mr. Pickens, the Governor of South Carolina, with whom you naturally supposed that we were in frequent communication. But, notwithstanding our earnest desire to meet in every way the wishes of our chiefs, we were forced to the conclusion that it would be inexpedient to approach him, for several reasons, amongst which it may suffice to mention his absence from Charleston. He has been for some weeks past on

his plantation in the interior of the State.

“But we were so far fortunate as to secure the valuable services of an agent in the person of Mr. who is well known to your Lordship, and whose position seemed admirably to adapt him for the duties which he was so obliging as to undertake.

"Mr. left for Richmond on the 20th July. Arriving on the 22nd, he found that the President was with the army, whither Mr. · followed him; but meeting him half-way between Richmond and Manassas, returned with him to the capital on the 23rd. On the next day Mr. had an interview with his Excellency, and communicated to him the mission with which he was charged. Mr. Davis expressed no unwillingness to entertain the matter, although he signified his regret that it should not have been more formally brought before him, as it seemed to him that if the Declaration which it was sought to obtain from the Government of the Confederate States was of sufficient importance to require the overture now made to him, it was of equal consequence that it should be made in a more regular manner.

"His Excellency, as we understand, at once summoned a meeting of the Cabinet, and the matter was placed in the hands of the Secretary of State, Mr. Hunter, who has been appointed in the place of Mr. Toombs. It was soon determined that Congress should be invited to issue a series of Resolutions, by which the second, third, and fourth Articles of the Declaration of the Treaty of Paris should be accepted by the Confederate States. These Resolutions were passed on the 13th instant, approved on the same day by the President, and I have the honour to inclose herewith to your Lordship the copy of them which has been sent to Mr. - by the Secretary of State, to be delivered to M. de Belligny and myself. "Your Lordship will observe that, by these Resolutions, the Confederate States accept the second, third, and fourth Articles of the Declaration of Paris, but by their Resolution declare, with reference to the first Article, that they maintain the right of privateering as it has been long established by the practice and recognized by the Law of Nations.' With respect to this Resolution, I beg to remark that the wishes of Her Majesty's Government would seem to have been fully met, for as no proposal was made that the Confederate Government should abolish privateering, it could not be expected that they would do so of

Chap. VIII. their own accord, particularly as it is the arm upon which they most rely for the injury of the extended commerce of their enemy. But the Secretary of State has placed in the hands of Mr. for communication to us, the inclosed copy of the instructions issued for the guidance of privateers, and appeals to them, as well as to the character of the Government, for a proof of their determination that the privateers shall conform themselves to the ordinary practices sanctioned by the Law of Nations. We think that we may rely on the assurances thus given, supported, as they are, by the language of the Resolution.

"The fact is, that the President and the Government are a good deal annoyed at the refusal of France, England, and other nations to allow prizes to be condemned in their ports, which they consider as somewhat of a departure from a strict neutrality, and which they still hope may be reconsidered as the contest advances. They also confidently expect that the same anxiety for the mitigation of the evil consequences of the present war, which has rendered the accession of the Confederate States to the Declaration of Paris a matter of interest to France and England, will induce other nations to insist upon the rigorous fulfilment by the United States of the principle contained in the fourth Article, viz., the effectiveness of the blockade instituted by that Power.

"The negotiation having thus been brought to a close, the President expressed to Mr. his hope that the existence of those extended relations of commercial intercourse which had rendered the application now made to him by the Governments of France and England a necessity in the view of those nations, would materially contribute to hasten a formal recognition of the new Confederacy, which was disposed, on its part, to show its full appreciation of a cordial and friendly understanding between itself and the other nations of the earth, with which it was prepared to enter into association on terms of equality.

It only remains for me to express my hope that the manner in which this negotiation has been conducted may meet with the approval of your Lordship and of Her Majesty's Government. In common with my French colleague, I am fully sensible of the obligations under which we are to Mr. who has carried out what we conceived to be the

views of our respective Governments."

(Inclosure.)

"Resolution touching certain Points of Maritime Law, and defining the position of the Confederate States in respect thereto.

"Whereas the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey, in a Conference held at Paris on the 16th of April, 1856, made certain declarations concerning maritime law, to serve as uniform rules for their guidance in all cases arising out of the principles thus proclaimed;

"And whereas, it being desirable not only to attain certainty and

uniformity, as far as may be practicable, in maritime law, but also to Chap. VIII. maintain whatever is just and proper in the established usages of nations, the Confederate States of America deem it important to declare the principles by which they will be governed in their intercourse with the rest of mankind: Now, therefore, be it

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Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America :— “1st. That we maintain the right of privateering, as it has been long established by the practice, and recognized by the Law, of Nations.

“2nd. That the neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war.

"3rd. That neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under enemy's flag.

"4th. That blockades, in order to be binding, must be effectual; that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.

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Signed by the President of Congress, on the 13th August, and approved same day by the President of the Confederate States of America."

This transaction gave so much offence to the Government of the United States as to lead to the revocation of Mr. Bunch's exequatur. Several charges were made against him; but they were ultimately reduced to the allegation that he had knowingly violated a law, made during the troubled period of the French Revolution, which "forbids any person, not specially appointed, or duly authorized or recognized, by the President, from counselling, advising, aiding, or assisting in any political correspondence with the Government of any foreign State, with an intent to influence the measures of any foreign Government, or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of their Government." The foreign Government which Mr. Bunch was accused of "advising or assisting in relation to disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of their Government," was that of Great Britain. Lord Russell pointed out that Mr. Bunch had, in reality,

1 Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, 21st November, 1861.