Lord Lyons (Vol. 1&2). Thomas Wodehouse Legh Newton

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СКАЧАТЬ the United States. In reality there was no cause for surprise. In April, 1861, the entire regular army of the United States only amounted to 16,000 officers and men. Many of the officers had taken sides with the South. Not one of them had ever had the opportunity of commanding any considerable number of troops, and public opinion was so entirely uninstructed concerning military questions that every local politician considered himself competent to become a colonel, or even a general. But what Bull's Run showed more conclusively than anything else, was that the task of subjugating the South was infinitely greater than had been anticipated, and that the confident boastings of enthusiastic Northerners were as foolish as they were unjustified. We, however, as a nation, had not then, and have now, little cause to jeer at the Americans for their failure: we had embarked, only a few years earlier, upon the Crimean Campaign almost equally unprepared for a serious struggle, and less than forty years later, in 1899, one of our most eminent military authorities undertook to finish off the Boers before the date of the Lord Mayor's Banquet.

      About this time Anglo-American relations showed a slight improvement, although Mr. Seward, in a characteristic outburst, took occasion to point out that 'the policy of Foreign Governments was founded upon considerations of interest and of commerce, while that of the United States was based on high and eternal considerations of principle and the good of the human race; that the policy of foreign nations was regulated by the government which ruled them, while that of the United States was directed by the unanimous and unchangeable will of the people.' Yet he had clearly become more peaceable, and this welcome tendency was perhaps due to the British Government having increased the Canadian garrisons in response to the urgent pressure of Lord Lyons and the Canadian authorities.

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      Lord Lyons to Sir E. Head.

       Washington, Aug. 2, 1861.

      The intentions of the Government are at this moment more peaceful than they have been. But I do not yet see any reason to modify the views I expressed in my previous confidential letters. The present change has been mainly produced by our preparations for defence and by the quiet firmness with which we have maintained the position we took up with regard to Belligerent Rights. I think it as necessary as ever to complete our preparations for defence, and I find that the knowledge that we are making such preparations calms instead of irritating this people.

      There is nothing very surprising in raw levies being seized with such a panic as that which led to the flight from Bull's Run. The want of spirit before and since shown by the Militia regiments is a worse sign. Two went away, on their term expiring, one may say from the battlefield itself. The defeat, and even the danger of Washington being taken, have been unable to induce any whose time is up to remain. The Government considers that we are now safe again from an attack here, but for some days our reliance was only upon its not entering into the enemy's plan to come here.

      As day after day passes without an onward movement of the Southern troops, the war spirit seems to revive in the North. But it will require a decided Northern victory to bring back the enthusiasm and the unanimity which appeared on the fall of Fort Sumter. A peace party is beginning to show itself timidly and weakly, but much more openly than it would have dared to do two months ago.

      We have nearly got through another Tariff Bill without a serious attack upon the Reciprocity Treaty, thanks more to the haste, I am afraid, than the good will of the Legislators. It will be a wonderful tariff, whichever of the plans now before Congress is adopted.

      Mr. Seward some weeks ago took credit to himself for having recalled Mr. Ashman on finding that his mission was ill looked on. This gave me a good opportunity of telling him that H.M. Government considered that they had a good right to complain of his having been sent at all without proper communication being previously made to them and to me.

      I have applied for the discharge of the two minors about whom you wrote to me officially. I am not sure of getting it. My applications for discharge from the Army and Navy have become necessarily so numerous that they are not viewed with favour.

      Such elaborate pains had been taken to prevent anything in the least likely to irritate the Government of the United States, that it was all the more annoying when an incident occurred which gave excuse for complaint.

      The Consuls in the Southern States were permitted to send their despatches in Foreign Office bags through the lines on the reasonable condition that no advantage was to be taken of the privilege in order to provide information which might be of use to the enemies of the United States Government. The rule was rigidly observed at the Legation, and the Consuls had been repeatedly warned not to infringe it in any way; but in an evil hour, Mr. Bunch, the British Consul at Charleston, a capable and industrious official, committed his bag to a friend, who, unknown to the Consul, also took charge of about two hundred private letters. The messenger was arrested by the United States authorities, and imprisoned. The letters, of course, were seized, but so also was the Foreign Office bag, addressed to Lord Russell, and a Foreign Office bag has always been considered as one of the most sacred objects upon earth. The United States Government, professing that a most serious offence had been committed, and taking advantage of an error in the passport of the messenger, sent the bag over to London by special messenger, and demanded the recall of the unfortunate Consul Bunch. The opportunity, in short, was too good to be lost. When the bag was eventually opened, in Downing Street, it was found to contain nothing but despatches and a few letters from British governesses and servants who had been permitted to make use of it in consequence of the discontinuance of the post. In fact, it was an essentially trivial matter, but the tension between the two countries was so great that Lord Russell thought that it might possibly lead to a rupture of official relations, and sent the following instructions:—

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      Lord Russell to Lord Lyons.

       Abergeldie Castle, Sept. 13, 1861.

      It is not very probable, but it is possible that the complaint against Bunch may be a preliminary to the breaking off of official intercourse between the two countries.

      Your name has been kept out of the correspondence on both sides, but if the Envoys are to be withdrawn, you will be sent away from Washington.

      In that case I wish you to express in the most dignified and guarded terms that the course taken by the Washington Government must be the result of a misconception on their part, and that you shall retire to Canada in the persuasion that the misunderstanding will soon cease, and the former friendly relations be restored.

      It is very desirable to obtain an explanation from Consul Bunch, and you may authorize Admiral Milne, after due notice, to Mr. Seward, to send a gunboat to Charleston for the purpose.

      Consul Bunch, in spite of his troubles, remained for over a year in Charleston after this incident. Eventually the American Government revoked his exequatur, and he made a semi-state return to England in a man-of-war.

      In the late autumn, Mr. Seward began to show signs of returning to his earlier manner, and it was plain enough that he had only been seeking to gain time by his moderation. He now maintained that any communication between a Foreign Government and the Confederate Government was an offence against the United States, and it became more and more necessary for England and France to come to some distinct agreement as to what the nature and extent of those communications should be. Mr. Seward's contention was obviously absurd. South Carolina had seceded nearly a year previously. State after State had followed its example; the United States Government had not made the slightest progress in restoring its authority, and exercised no power or influence in any portion of the new Confederation. On the other hand, there was a de facto government in that Confederation which was obeyed without question and exercised the functions of government with perfect regularity. It was clear that a government which was without the СКАЧАТЬ