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From The Examiner, 4 July.

he must have suddenly become bereft of rea- | with all the allies of England. In a troubled son. If no discourtesy has been shown, and time like ours, when the issues of peace and no communication, formal or informal, verbal war often hang upon an individual decision, or written, has passed between him and our it is uncomfortable to be represented by a Foreign Office regarding intervention or me- minister who possesses so remarkable a talent diation in American affairs since November for giving offence. last, is is quite unaccountable that he should not have renewed his proposal through a diplomatic channel, before resorting to the unexampled expedient of a direct communication to the English House of Commons. The very fact, therefore, which is unquestionable, that these two members were admitted to the Tuileries, and did bring back some message, no matter what its purport, appears somewhat to press against the account of the matter which was given on Thursday by Mr. Layard.

MR. ROEBUCK AND THE EMPEROR OF THE
FRENCH.

IN Swift's Polite Conversation some one runs a dozen miles to suck a bull. Mr. Roebuck ran to Paris to pump an emperor, and the result has been even more unfortunate than the "no effects" in the case of the bull. Mr. Roebuck returned in something like a It is impossible not to connect this im- state of pregnancy. He was big with Impebroglio with the recollection of other troubles rialism. He had more in him than he could by which Lord Russell's recent administration well contain, and it was observed that in his has been marked. He has already led Eng-speech upon recognition he carried himself land into more than one difficulty, not so with a singular and unaccustomed awkwardmuch by distinct errors of policy, as by sour-ness. He hoped the House would excuse his ness of temper and discourtesy of language. entering on personal history, and like Lord The sting of his despatch to Denmark was less Grizzle in Tom Thumb, he asked it whether its substance than its form. In the judgment he should tell it what he was going to say, of most Englishmen, it leant too strongly to which was, that "he knew certain things the side of Germany, but the deep offence about the state of the mind of the great French which it caused arose from the dictatorial in- ruler, which he was authorized to lay before solence with which the Foreign Minister's the House." Mr. Roebuck, by the help of suggestions were conveyed. It is evident Mr. Lindsay, had obtained an audience of the now that the breach with Brazil might have emperor, and what passed may be thought, been avoided but for the infirmities of temper as he says, somewhat surprising, but true for displayed by the English Foreign Office and all that, but, as it proves, not surprisingly its representative. It is at least a strange true. coincidence that this particular defect in our foreign administration, which had been too conclusively proved to exist by our experience in former cases, should be the one pointed at in the alleged complaints of the Emperor of the French. The evidence on the whole of the American case is as conflicting as it can be; but whatever its effect, and whereever the right may be, Lord Russell cannot turn the balance in his own favor by calling About this statement Mr. Roebuck says witnesses to character. Antecedently, noth- there can be no mistake; he pledges his veing is more probable than that he should racity that "the emperor told him the thing have treated the emperor rudely and snap- had been sent to Baron Gros," and it can't pishly. The emperor's mode of righting be truth that the British Government does himself is, however, to be utterly condemned; not know it; he does not believe the world and the two advocates of the Southern Con- will doubt his word, and he pledges his word federacy have done serious damage to their for the truth as far as he is concerned. No cause by invoking the counsel of a foreign doubt, but strange misunderstandings somesovereign to bias the decision of an English how or other do occur. Assembly. Dictation from any sovereign, We have Mr. Roebuck now face to face and, above all, dictation from France, must, with the emperor, in possession of his wishes in this country, bring even the most popular as to a most important line of policy, and Mr. cause into disrepute. But the mistake which Roebuck at once making himself master of the emperor or his English confidants may the situation, assumes the office of his majeshave made in this matter does not diminish ty's adviser. He laid before him two courses the inconvenience of having a Foreign Secra- of conduct. He said, your majesty may make tary who contrives to be on snubbing terms formal application to England—a bright idea

The emperor explained that as soon as he heard a report that he had changed his mind about America he gave instructions to his ambassador to deny the truth of it, and more, to state that his feeling was stronger than ever for the recognition of the South; and farther, to ask our Government again whether it was willing to join him in that recognition.

which would never have struck the imperial | ceived no instructions of any such nature, nor mind without Mr. Roebuck's suggestion-but has any communication of the sort been made this would not do, the emperor stopped Mr. to the ambassador at Paris. Roebuck with these words:

"No; I can't do that, and I will tell you why. Some months ago I did make a formal application to England. England sent my despatch to America. That despatch, getting into Mr. Seward's hands, was shown to my ambassador at Washington. It came back to me; and I feel that I was ill-treated by such conduct. I wont (he added), I can't subject myself again to the danger of similar treatment. But I will do everything short of it. I give you full liberty to state to the English House of Commons this my wish, and to say to them that I have determined in all things to act with England; and more than all things I have determined to act with her as regards America.”

The force of words certainly can no farther go than" more than all things." There is in this resolution a vigor of speech almost exceeding the pathetic representation of a celebrated Irish counsel that his unfortunate client had been robbed of all he had in the world, and also his hat. But did it not strike Mr. Roebuck as rather an inconsistency that the emperor should be determined to act with England in all things, and more than all things as regards America, though in the same breath he had been complaining of being so ill-used that he could not even make a formal application to our Government for fear of the repetition of a shabby trick, almost, if not quite, amounting to a perfidy? Be that as it may, Mr. Roebuck now stood before the House in the high character of a spiritual medium between the mind of the Emperor of the French and the British nation. Government was passed by, superseded, vice Roebuck, Envoy Extraordinary. The Opposition had vehemently cheered the account of the imperial ill-treatment, the despatch sent to America which got into Mr. Seward's hands. There was an end of the credit, if not the existence, of the ministry, for all had been found out by that cleverest of all detectives, Mr. Roebuck. But lo, in less than a third of the time proverbially allotted to a wonder, out comes Mr. Layard with a statement of facts allowing of no dispute, which shows either that the emperor or the volunteer envoy must have made two most extraordinary mistakes, and that there was not the smallest foundation for the story with which Mr. Roebuck amazed the House. As they say in the pulpit, first of the first, no communication respecting mediation has been made since November last, that is to say, no second communication. Baron Gros having heard the rumor to an opposite effect, voluntarily went to Lord Russell to say he had re

As to the despatch in answer to the application of November, said to have been sent to America by our Government to prejudice the emperor, it was, contrary to usage, published in the Moniteur before the answer was received, and a copy of it was also handed by the French minister at Washington to Mr. Seward, a step rather unnecessary, except as a mere matter of form, as the document was already officially published as a State paper.

What is to be thought, then, of all this? We must not say that the moral for Mr. Roebuck is, " put not thy trust in princes; " but as much may at least be said for the Emperor Napoleon as Gay says of the trader :

:

"He ne'er deceives, unless he profits by't." The emperor could have no motive for filling Mr. Roebuck with flimflams, the exposure of which upon the permitted publication must have been certain and immediate. On the other hand, there can be no doubt about Mr. Roebuck's veracity, and as to misunderstanding, he is not the man to make any very broad error in that direction, liable to a false view from passion and prepossession as he may be.

There seems, then, to be but one solution of the problem, that the emperor may have spoken rather at random upon imperfect recollections, or impressions never justified by the facts, which ought to have been removed.

The position, however, in which both the greatest man in Europe, and the greatest in his opinion, are placed, ought to be a lesson to them against such irregular gossippings, sure to end in some ugly question like the present.

From The Spectator, 4 July.

THE PROPOSAL FOR RECOGNITION. MR. ROEBUCK's motion for the recognition of the South has not yet received its coup de grâce, and it is likely to linger, we see, in its present hopeless state of living death till next Monday week. Mr. Roebuck has certainly used such effectual efforts to extinguish any faint ray of hope that the partisans of the South may have felt, that it may be almost imprudent for the friends of strict neutrality to add anything to excite reaction. may still be well, as the debate is yet pending and the news which must arrive from America before it is resumed may, to some extent, modify the temporary mental attitude which Mr. Roebuck's blundering passion has so fortunately confirmed, to recall calmly the grave reasons against recognition, and the

But it

paucity, or rather absolute non-existence, of reasons in its favor.

their argument upon? What they desire is, they tell us, to hasten peace by bringing the In the first place, no blunder can be greater authority of European opinion to bear upon than to say, as many do, with our thoughtful the struggle, by strengthening the hands of contemporary the Globe, that those who think the Democratic party in the North, and so an independent Southern Republic nearly cer- encouraging the South to some final success. tain, and its subjugation not even desirable, Yet even for these ends their recommendation are by the very force of that opinion obliged is as bad as it can be. Mr. Forster pointed to ask for recognition. This is to confound out in his very able speech that European two very different things,-an opinion about opinion certainly has great influence on the the future, and an opinion so strong and pas- American continent, but that it is not unfresionate that it wishes to break through inter- quently, especially if in any way unfairly obnational law for the sake of propagating it. truded, a negative quantity-a great power The idea of the law of peaceful international to irritate, no power at all to persuade. Now recognition has been repeatedly defined. It such an opinion as this would be, in the is an unfriendly act, an act, if not quite a Northern mind, unfairly obtruded; indeed, casus belli, still fairly leading to indignant no one can deny that it would be a breach of protest, and probably to misunderstanding international etiquette, if not a casus belli. and disputes, to recognize the independence The effect must be a second time just what it of a revolted State unless the independence was when the Emperor of the French moved of that State is for practical purposes a fait in this direction in November. That move accompli. Now, no one can say that the strengthened greatly the hands of Mr. Linindependence of the South is a fait ac- coln, annihilated the peace Democrats, passed compli, while a nation of twenty millions a Conscription Bill, and determined the Conof people are keeping up an army of at least necticut election for the Republicans. Lord half a million for the express purpose of re- R. Cecil thinks that since then the North has ducing it, and the revolted Confederation is had so much failure to bear that they would taxing its last resources to resist. Shrewd receive a European blow in a different spirit. politicians may say the enterprise is hopeless; It is a mere dream. In spite of Chancellorswe are inclined to think so ourselves; but we ville the North is stronger now than it was are not the arbiters of such a question. It in November. General Hooker has tailed, remains by the law of nations an unfriendly but General Banks and General Grant have act, an act for which we are fairly liable to had great successes. The black troops are be called to account, to let anything but facts growing in number, discipline, and populardetermine our judgment. If the invasion of ity daily, and there is not a sign of any backthe South had so far languished that for all ward movement in the popular policy, though practical purposes it was over, that no tangi- the Western States are naturally enraged ble success could be even expected,-that the against the President's folly in Mr. Vallansubject had lost its interest, while our com- digham's case, and the peace party are almerce suffered from not having recognized lowed to speak out once more. The unasked representatives in the South,-then it would interference of Europe would do more to cease to be an unfriendly act to recognize stimulate the North to new vigor than any what facts had established. But this is not other possible event. It might, of course, so yet; does not even approach the truth. inspire a disposition for war with England.. And international law on such a subject ex- But it is a great error to imagine war with ists only for the purpose of overriding hasty England would mean peace with the South. national opinions, and controlling the impulse In a certain state of feeling,-well known in of men to prejudge events, by laying down a France in the revolutionary war,-which the general standard. It is one thing to believe Northerners are approaching, the more foes a contest hopeless,-quite another to say that you have forced upon you, the more you wish the facts are such as would justify a peaceful for, and the more you feel able to cope with. nation in acting on that belief. Once let the country get the wild sense of injury, and all commercial considerations would be cast to the winds. If the North could subdue the South at all, it would probably be in that state of affairs in which her coasts were blockaded by France and England, the sea covered with her privateers, and her people thoroughly desperate.

We may assume, however, that the proposition has no genuine advocates, except those who wish to use it as a weapon on behalf of the South, who do not shrink from a legally unfriendly act to the North, who wish to challenge its anger, who desire to run a considerable risk of war on behalf of their client. Such, for example, was obviously the temper of Lord Robert Cecil's speech no less truly, though less imprudently manifested than of Mr. Roebuck's. Now, what do they rest

Finally, Lord Robert Cecil thinks or professes to think, that this friendly act to the South would tend to facilitate the change of opinion there on the subject of slavery.

Slavery yields, he says, to moral force. Make it a point of honor with the South to defend it, and she will cling to it fanatically. But ignore it, recognize her, embrace her slavery and all-in your most cordial diplomacy, and gradually your ideas will steal in there and undermine it. If any man really holds this view who has studied the history of American politics, he must have a faculty equal to Mr. Roebuck's of crystallizing his wishes into facts. Has not this been the cry for fifty years in the North-and a cry acted on, too? Was there a genuine Anti-Slavery party at all in the North till this war broke out? Did not Mr. Lincoln himself vow never to touch slavery in the Slave States, and express the most conservative views upon the peculiar institution, till within the last year? The simple truth is that where slavery has come to a standstill, and is ceasing to pay, there the public opinion of the world undermines and extinguishes it. But in Cuba and the United States, where it may be highly profitable for another century at least, the policy of laissez faire is essentially also a policy of laissez aller.

Mr. Roebuck, Lord Robert Cecil, and their friends, have, however, really done good service to the cause of strict neutrality, not only by their blunders and the reaction their speeches excite, but by eliciting from the representatives of the masses protests so noble against any alliance with slavery, as those of Mr. W. E. Forster and Mr. Bright. These protests will much more than neutralize the irritating effect of the comparatively insignificant Tory speeches, while the judicial and eloquent speech of Mr. Gladstone will soothe anxiety in the North as to the purpose of our statesmen, and prove that this hasty motion is little beyond the dream of partisan imaginations, disordered by the idolatry for great governing capacity, and the fever of aristocratic scorn.

From The Examiner, 4 July. RECOGNITION.

THERE is only one ground upon which the recognition of the South can be demanded, and that is, the fact of independence. What, indeed, is a recognition but a declaration or acknowledgment of fact? No other consideration than fact should enter into the question of recognition, and we think Mr. Rocbuck argued his case upon false principles in introducing the motives of interest, and hostility to the Union. The independence of the South may be conducive to our commercial interests, and the division of the States to our political interests, but if so we must wait for these advantages till the indepen

dence is realized. We are not solemnly to proclaim a falsity because if it were a truth instead of a falsehood it would be profitable to us. Nor is it permissible to a nation professing neutrality to acknowledge the independence of a people who have revolted in order to hasten the event. We may furnish both sides indifferently with arms under that dead letter Foreign Enlistment Act, but we may not deal in fiction and proclaim the thing that is not, to serve the cause of the South.

Mr. Roebuck was strong upon every point but the fact. He showed many reasons for desiring the independence of the Confederacy, but he did not even attempt to show that the independence has been achieved. He said they had vindicated their freedom, which is a vague phrase, that they had rolled back the tide of war, but he did not, could not, affirm that they had cleared their soil of their enemy, and that no Union banner floated over a Secessionist city of any importance. Indeed, so far was he from taking his ground upon the matter of fact, that he declared "our only fear ought to be lest the independence of the South should be established without us; "which is a plain and distinct admission that the independence is a thing in posse, not in esse, and wanting foreign aid. But, to speak plainly, are we to tell a lie, that is, to declare that a thing does exist which does not exist, lest it should be brought about without our intervention?

The truth is, that Mr. Roebuck's arguments are for war. A recognition is no casus belli if the circumstances warrant it, but it would be an act of hostility if it were to accelerate the event it only pretends to declare, and so to give one belligerent a moral advantage over the other. Having made up his mind that war with the North would be preferable to the continuance of the present strange neutrality, Mr. Roebuck can reason thus-putting aside altogether the question whether or not independence has been achieved, and making the whole question one of commercial interest:

"The South offers to us perfect free trade; but if we allow this contest to go on, if we cower, as we have done hitherto, before the North, the Southerners will soon become a be withdrawn from us." manufacturing population, and the boon will

It is passing easy to utter brave words about war before it comes, and to boast that our navy would sweep the seas of the enemy. and that our Warrior would destroy all their fleets; but with a thorough belief in our great maritime superiority, we have yet a misgiv ing that a free trade with the Confederacy would be of small profit to us while fast ships, of the Alabama class, under the Federal flag,

would be cutting off our merchantmen. And | viction that the object is unattainable, it is no wise man will count upon certain issues clear that there must be something very like of war. When such a calamity is forced independence on the part of the resisting belupon us, we must even take it with its chances ligerent, and the point would be put beyond for better for worse, but never let us draw question if the Southern territory were comthe sword like M. Jourdain, relying upon the pletely delivered of the Northern invaders. deceitful assurance that in arms it is possible to manage matters so as "à donner, et à ne point recevoir, et d'être assuré de son fait quand on se bat contre quelqu'un."

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We have before now protested against shrinking from the resentment of the North if a just course of conduct should unreasonably excite it, but we are equally adverse to making a people of our own race our enemies by a line of action really proceeding upon a false pretence, and prompted by interests which should have no influence in the matter. Truly remarked Mr. Gladstone upon this point:

"I cannot help stating with some confidence that if we strongly put forward the consideration of British interests in this matter-if we found an argument for recognition of the South on the plea that British interests require it, and that British greatness was threatened by the former condition of the American Union-by that very fact you stamp upon your argument for recognition,

We cannot concur in Mr. Roebuck's view of the conduct of the South before the breach, nor do we see any feature to be admired or approved in their cause except one, that they are contending for self-government. That is a principle we cannot dispute, but how they will use self-government when they shall have conquered it is another question, an encouraging answer to which is not obtained by reference to the uses they made of power when in the ascendency in the Union. We admire their prowess and their devotion, all indeed that is brought to the front in this conflict, but there is that behind which inspires very different feelings, and whenever this struggle, with its disparity of forces, has passed away, the sentiment of England with regard to the parties will probably undergo a very considerable change. Our sympathies are always with the weak against the strong, nay more, to speak out rebellion in every part of the world except the plain truth, we have always a leaning to the queen's dominions; for, not unreasonscale is without cause. During the contest our ably, we assume that no revolt on a large judgment is influenced by our sympathies, Whenever the South is recognized as a but it recovers its just tone afterwards, or mere matter of fact, the recognition will be perhaps will have some bias against the obvoid of offence to the North, as no other mo-jects of its former factitious favor. Of this tive can be fairly assigned for it than obedience to truth, requiring an acknowledgment not to be disputed. But whenever the time shall have arrived for this recognition we confess our apprehension that there will be an extreme reluctance and backwardness as to making it; and the strongest point in Mr. Roebuck's speech is his question how the time is to be marked and known, by what circumstances not now present.

upon every expression even of a wish for peace, a certain character of hostility to our

brethren in the Northern States."

Whenever the pear is ripe we shall expect to hear more unworthy and unwise reasons for ignoring the fact than are now urged for anticipating it.

The present stage of opinion cannot be far from recognition. It is a conviction almost universal that the restoration of the Union is utterly impracticable, and the civilized world will not consent to suffer by a war without a feasible object, or in other words, a war without end. All the means and resources of a powerful nation have been employed in this struggle, and if, after nearly three years' duration, it is the general con

we are certain, that if the Southerns could get more than their own, more than independence, that is, the upper hand, there would in this country be a complete revulsion of feeling against a triumph shared with slavery. Our present sympathy is purely one of circumstances, and transitory, unless what stands between us and thorough fellowship with the Southerns be removed. We offer these remarks in abatement of an exaggeration. On the other hand is the preposterous proposition that slavery should be a bar to diplomatic and commercial intercourse with the South. And why? Was it a bar to our intercourse when all the powers of the North were lent to riveting the bondage of the blacks? Would it be a bar if the Union were restored, on the terms the North would gladly grant of the status quo ante bellum, if not more, to slavery? There are bounds even to the hatred of slavery, and we are not to excommunicate a nation because they have the taints of a vice which was our own a few years ago.

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