of war.1 So the forcible removal of Messrs. Mason and Slidell from the British steamer Trent, applauded enthusiastically by the majority of the President's cabinet, the members of Congress, and the general public of the North, appeared to the British government as the last act 1 a policy of deliberate infraction of their neutral rights. he people of England were aflame with indignation.2 ght thousand troops were dispatched to Canada, and r between the United States and England seemed immiit as the Christmas season of 1861 approached. Lord ns, the British minister at Washington, wrote to his f, Lord John Russell, foreign minister in Lord erston's cabinet: Washington, Nov. 22, 1861 ave all along been expecting some such blow as the cap1 board the Trent. Turn out how it may, it must I fear e an effect on public opinion in both countries which will to disconcert all my peaceful plans and hopes. I am so it with the never-ending labor of keeping things smooth, e discouragement of the doubt whether by so doing I after all only leading these people to believe that they all lengths with us with impunity that I am sometimes as late as the autumn of 1861 Seward maintained that any tion between a foreign government and the Confederate at Richmond was an offense to the United States (Lord rd Lyons, Vol. I, p. 53). As there was no government but rate below Mason and Dixon's line, this meant that England eign nations were to have no tribunal to which to appeal the lives and property of their citizens living in eleven f the South. ican living in London wrote to Mr. Seward two days after e news of the Trent episode (November 29): "There never mory such a burst of feeling as has been created by the arding of the [Trent]. The people are frantic with rage, untry polled, I fear that 999 men out of a thousand would ediate war. Lord Palmerston cannot resist the impulse, War Records, Series II, Vol. II, p. 1107. (d) Resolved... That the present deplorable Civil War has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern States, now in arms against the constitutional government, and in arms around the capital; that in this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease. (e) Be it enacted. . . That if, during the present or any future insurrection against the Government of the United States, after the President of the United States shall have declared, by proclamation, that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals by law, any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employé shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property of whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection or resistance to the laws, or any person or persons engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owner or owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment of the same as aforesaid, all such property is hereby declared to be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned. . . . And be it further enacted, That the Attorney-General or any district attorney of the United States in which said property may at the time be, may institute the proceedings of condemnation, and in such case they shall be wholly for the benefit of the United States; or any person may file an information with such attorney, in which case the proceedings shall be for the use of such informer and the United States in equal parts. And be it further enacted, That whenever hereafter, during the present insurrection against the Government of the United States, any person claimed to be held to labor or service under the law of any State, shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United States .. or to work or be employed in or upon any fort, navy yard, dock, armory, ship, entrenchment, or in any military or naval service whatsoever, against the Government and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due shall forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States, contrary to the provisions of this act.1 Approved, August 6, 1861. ever, 1 President Lincoln, who was determined at the beginning of the war to adhere to his professed policy of preserving the Union rather than freeing the slaves, and who was consequently very careful not to alienate or offend the loyal slaveowners, signed this bill with reluctance. Howthe actual confiscation of negroes had begun several months before. As early as May 24, General B. F. Butler, commanding at Fortress Monroe, in Virginia, had refused to deliver up to their owners negro slaves who had come into the Union lines. His pretext was that, having been employed in the construction of a confederate battery, the negroes were contraband of war," and he forthwith set them to work on the Union entrenchments. Later in the year other commanders in the field (Frémont, Hunter) took it upon themselves to declare the emancipation of the slaves in their districts. 94. The British view of the November December, 1861 [349] FROM BULL RUN TO GETTYSBURG The relations of the Federal government and the court of St. James were sorely strained during the Civil War by Trent affair, the open sympathies of the governing classes and the influential journals of England with the Southern cause, and by the remissness of the British ministry in allowing ships to be built and launched in English yards for the purpose of preying on Northern commerce. President Lincoln's proclamation of the blockade of the Southern ports (see No. 93 (b), p. 409) was a severe blow to British trade,1 and threatened to cripple British industry by shutting off the supply of raw cotton for her mills.2 The queen's proclamation of neutrality of May 13, 1861, recognized the secessionists as belligerents, whereas the administration at Washington affected to regard them as traitors-even after Bull Run and the beginning of an interchange of prisoners 1 Lord Lyons, the British minister at Washington, writing to his home government of the proposed blockade, said: "Calling it an enforcement of the Revenue Laws appeared to me to increase the gravity of the measure, for it placed the Foreign Powers in the dilemma of recognizing the Southern Confederation, or of submitting to the interruption of their Commerce." Lord Newton, Lord Lyons, Vol. I, p. 33. 2 Punch, the London comic paper, summed up the dilemma between ethics and profits thus: Though with the North we sympathize, It must not be forgotten That with the South we 've stronger ties Which are composed of cotton, Whereof our imports mount unto Quoted by Rhodes, History of the United States since 1850, Vol. III, p. 433. Seward wrote to his wife, May 17, 1861: "Great Britain is in great 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." Frederick Bancroft, Life of Seward, Vol. II, p. 575. of war. So the forcible removal of Messrs. Mason and Slidell from the British steamer Trent, applauded enthusiastically by the majority of the President's cabinet, the members of Congress, and the general public of the North, appeared to the British government as the last act in a policy of deliberate infraction of their neutral rights. The people of England were aflame with indignation.2 Eight thousand troops were dispatched to Canada, and war between the United States and England seemed imminent as the Christmas season of 1861 approached. Lord Lyons, the British minister at Washington, wrote to his chief, Lord John Russell, foreign minister in Lord Palmerston's cabinet: Washington, Nov. 22, 1861 I have all along been expecting some such blow as the capture on board the Trent. Turn out how it may, it must I fear produce an effect on public opinion in both countries which will go far to disconcert all my peaceful plans and hopes. I am so worn out with the never-ending labor of keeping things smooth, under the discouragement of the doubt whether by so doing I am not after all only leading these people to believe that they may go all lengths with us with impunity that I am sometimes 1 Even as late as the autumn of 1861 Seward maintained that any communication between a foreign government and the Confederate government at Richmond was an offense to the United States (Lord Newton, Lord Lyons, Vol. I, p. 53). As there was no government but the Confederate below Mason and Dixon's line, this meant that England and other foreign nations were to have no tribunal to which to appeal to safeguard the lives and property of their citizens living in eleven great states of the South. 2 An American living in London wrote to Mr. Seward two days after the arrival of the news of the Trent episode (November 29): "There never was within memory such a burst of feeling as has been created by the news of the boarding of the [Trent]. The people are frantic with rage, and were the country polled, I fear that 999 men out of a thousand would declare for immediate war. Lord Palmerston cannot resist the impulse, if he would."-War Records, Series II, Vol. II, p. 1107. |