Newspaper Page Text
By John H. Christy.
VOLUME IX.
— ,.. ... _ . • ;
g.it |nk|?tiftmt daimlj Jonrasl:—$tWtei to llefos, ^gritaltart, Hlamtfactarta, aifo % (gtntral |ittorerfs
Three Dollars^ in advance.
the southern watchman.
ONLY
S T
TERMS.
THREE DOLLARS PER YEAR
KICILY IN ADVANCE
A DVERTISING.
I.f S al ndrerilscincuts inserted »(. tl>e usual rates
1 ran .-inn t ivlvuriisei.ieuts. when not murk c,I, will ba
r u,.l,l,cl till forbid, at One Dollar per square of » Hue’
f r tlu> first, and Fifty Cent* per sqnarc for each subse-
ijiicnt luseri'.ioii.
A li Kttiil deduction to yearly advertisers.
^Anuounewnentsof oandidates $0, in advance.
f Obit mi ry notiecs exceeding six lines in length
' red a* advertisements.
ill be char;
SOUTHERN WATCHMAN
CALENDAR FOR 1863.
•- a:??/
Jau.
Feb.-
i ujd a’
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2
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•l #1 7
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1
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8
9
12
13 14
15
16
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20 2V22
23
Mar
Apr 1
r t" 4 5 61 7
8 i 10 11 i2>11:14
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22 2: 24 25 26:27 28
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12 l.I Ndi loln IS
19 20 21 22|23|24|25
20 27 28 29 :10'...'
May.
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3, 4j 5; 6j 7| 8 9
ltd II 12G3.14 I&jl6
17 18 19 20i21l22!23
24 25 20 27.28(29:30
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iloil? 18:19 20*21 22
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29
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Sept. ...*...( 1! 2 1 3 4 5
Ol 7 8} d iojll 12
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{is 14:
Oct.
16ll6i!7
)20j21 *22123)24
;27 28 29)301-,.
1819
25 26
\ A
8 « 1 S
2, 3
9 10
ill 12 t8 1. 15il6 I7
,18 19 20*2 • 22 23 24
;25 20 27 23
29)30 31
51 6' 7
NOV... Ij 2 3
{ 81 9 tOlll 12';13|l4
flo 16 17S18 19*20 21
22:23^426 2u.27 23
29:30 ' • ' ‘
Dee.
1 2, 3 4 5
S 6; 7; 8 9 10)11 12
13*1115161718 19
.20;2 i 22|2S 24125 26
•27*28 29 30 31
^Business anb professional Carbs.
HARDWARE, CROCKERY, CHINA AND
(I LASS, liruiid Street, Athens, Ga. tf
^TIIENS STEAM COMPANY.
11. NICKERSON, Agent and Superintendent.—
Manufacturers of Circular Saw Mills, Steam En
gines, Forcing and Lifting l'UMPS, Shafting and
M.ti hi.nkrv; Mill, Gin and ail other kiuds of GEAR
IN':. Inov and I’nA.-a Castings, of every description.
•SMITHING, Repairing and Finishing promptly exo-
cutcii. Select patterns of Iron Fencing. Terms, cash.
c
1 W. & H. R. J. LONG, Wholesale
■ u 1 Retail DRUGGISTS, Athens, Ga.
• n L. McOLESXEY, M.D., having
N A • pii'nianently located in Athens, will continue
i>f Medicine and Surgery. Residence, that
occupied by Mr. Chase—Office, at home, where
de (.mud. tf
II
over l
II
A. LOWRANCE, Surgeon Den-
TIST, Athens, Ga. Office on C'ollegeAvenue,
the Jewelry store of Messrs. Tat mad go A Winn.
GILLELAND, Dentist, Athens.
Office over White’s Book Store.
^'Special attention given to Plate Work.
T M. KENNEY, (next door to the
-A a Bank of Athens.) constantly keeps on hand STA-
PLE and FANCY DRY GOODS, and Choice Family
Groceries, cheap for cash, or to prompt customer,.
T M. MATTHEWS, Attorney at
tr • LAW, Daniclsville, Oa. May 1.
JOHN H. CHRISTY, Plain and
9 I Fancv BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, Broad St.,
Adieus, Oa. Office corner Broad and XVall streets, over
(ho store of Sansoiu ,t PitUrd. tf
I F. O’KELLEY, Photogmph and
• * • AMBROTY PE ARTIST. Rooms on Broad and
Spring streets,
Ailicus, Ga.
o' er the store o' John R. Matthews,
MarS-tf
I P. MASON & CO., Bookbinders.
v • Paper Rulers and Blank Book Manufacturers,
Whitehall streets, Atlanta, Ga. J. H. Chihstv, Agent,
Athens, Ga. iuly22-ly
P BARRY, Fashionable Boot and
• SHOE-MAKER, Broad street, Athens, Ga., is
always in readiness to fill orders in his line.
WM G. DELONY, Attorney at
T T LAW. Athens, Oil, will attend promptly to all
bu sincss entrusted to bis care. Office on Broad street,
over I. M. Kent ey’s store. If
T\rM. PHILIPS, Attorney at Law,
• v -Marietta, Gu., will practice in all the counties
of the Blue Ridj'e i.’ireuit, in the county of Fulton, of the
Cuwcia Circuit, in the Supreme Court, and in the U. S.
Hi.-tri •' Court a; Marietta. tf
WHITE ,fc RITCH, Wholesale &
’ ‘ Retail ClbOl'HIERS and MERCHANT TAI-
L"1’,S, Broad .-"treat, Athens, Ga.
w
M. N. WHITE, Bookseller and
I STATIONER, and Newspaper and Mngasine
A;u iu—Dealer i i Music .t Musical Instruments, Lamps,
vine Cutlery, Fancy Goods, Ac., comer Broad Street and
(•"liege Avenue. Orders promptly filled at Augusta rates.
GLOBE HOTEL,
Aujsueita. Oa.
8TIX M1JLLARKY, PROPRIETOR,
\T (, .T1CE.—Passenger* holding through Tickets, t
f, carriod t*> and from this Hotel free of Omni
e.i, ev t
All
will
Omnibus
Feb. 27.—ly
Buggies! Buggies!
1 n new bu acres, „
1 Second-Hand l’nggy,
1 Four Horse Wagon,
• Two Ho rse Wagon,
1 One Horse Wagon,
1 Ox Cart, new and complete,
1 l’air Carry-Log Wheels;.
1 Carrv-Log, complete, second hand,
16,(109 Baggy and Wagon Spokes,
Scy Shafts, Hubs and Folloe»,,Enaraolled Cloth, Pat-
Bu,
President’s Message.
' House and Lot for Sale.
J ! , K ; i ub9cr >h«t i.R'er,! for sale b;s hou.-:o and lot In
t . " iiihaia, at\ioinin,» Mrs. Baxter. There are two
cei.l m lh< ! “ Olfli* well of good water,.and nllwo-
r - v ontbnJldli^K Tbe improwwruents generally are
K'">d state of repair. Z. IVY.
1
nft^'
H'as'i
9 r °eerie*, ouoei
'"dioot Barkno Leathc
PIT?
ATHENS, JAJSTTJAEY 28, 1868.
To the Senate and House of
Representatives of the Confederate States:
At thedato of your last adjournment the.
preparations of the enemy for farther hos
tilities had assumed so menacing an aspect
as to excito in somo minds apprehension
of onr ability to meot them with sufficient
promptness to avoid serious reverses.
These propnratiris were completed shortly
after your departure from the seat of Gov-
ernjYient,. and the armies of the United
St.atss made simultaneous advances on our
fron tiers, on the Western rivers, on the At
lantic coast in masses so great as to evince
their hope of overbearing all resistance by
mere weight flfrmmbcrs. This hope, how
ever. like those previously entertained by
our foes, has vanished. In Virginia, their
fourl h attempt at invasion by armies whose
assured success was confidently predicted,
has toot with decisivo repulse. Our noblo
defenders, under the consummate leader-
shipof their Generals, have again, at Frede
ricksburg inflicted on the forces under Gen.
Burnside the liko disastrous overthrow as
had been previously suffered hy the suc
cessive invading armies commanded by
GeneraIh McDowell, McClellan, and Pope.
In the West obstinate battles have been
fought with varying fortunes, marked by
frightful carnage on both sides, but the en
emy’s hopes of decisive results have again
been baffled, while at Vicksburg another
formidable expedition has occn repulsed
with inconsiderable loss on our side, and
severe damage to the assailing forces. On
the Atlantic coast the enemy has been un
able to gain a footing beyond the protect
ing shelter of his fleets, and the city of Gal
veston has just been recovered by our
forces, which succeeded not only in tlie
capture of the garrison but one of the ene
my’s vessels of. war,, which wascarriod by
boarding parties from merchant river
steamers. Ourfortifiod positions have ev
erywhere been much strengthened and im
proved, affor ding assurance of our ability
to meet with success, the utmost efforts of
our enemies in spite ol the magnitude of
their preparations for attack.
A review of our history during the two
years of our national existence affords
ample cause for congratulation, and de
mands the most fervent expression of our
thankfulness to the Almighty Father who
has blessed our cause. We arc justified in
asserting, with a pride, surely not unbe
coming, that these Confederate States have
added anolhor to the lessons taught by his
tory for t.ho instruction of man; that they
have afforded another example oftheimpos-
sibility of subjugating a people determined
to be tree; and have demonatated that no
superiority of numbers or available resour
ces can overcome the resistance offered by
such valor in combat, such constancy un
der suffering, and such choerful endurance
of privation as have been conspicuously
displayed by tho people in the defence of
their rights and liberties. The anticipa
tions with which we entered into the con
test have now ripened into a conviction
which is not only shared, with us by the com
mon opinion of neutral nations, but is evi
dently forcing itself upon our enemies them
selves. If we but mark the history eftho
present year by resolute perseverance in
the path we have hitherto pursued; by
vigorous effort in the development of all
our resources for defence; and by the con
tinued exhibition of the same unfaidtering
courage in our soldiers and able conduct
in their leaders as have distinguished the
past, we have every reason to expect that
this will be tho closing year of tho war.
The war, which in its inception, was
waged for forcing us back into tho Union,
having failed to accomplish that purpose,
passed into a second stage in which it was
attempted to conquer and rule these States
as dependent piovincos. Defeated in this
second design, our enemies have evidently
entered upon another, which can have no
other purpose than revenge and thirst for
• blood and plunder ofprivatcproperty. But
however implacable they may be, they can
have neither tho spirit nor tbe resources
for a fourth year of a struggle uncheered
by any hope of success, kept alive solely
for the indulgence.of mercenary and wick
ed passions and demanding so exhaustive
an expenditure of blood and money os has
hitherto been imposed on their people.
The advent of peace will be hailed with joy.
Our desire for it has never beonconcealed.
Our efforts to.avoid tho war forced on us
as it was, by t he lu.<£ of conquest and tho
insane passions of our foes uro known to
mankind. But earnest as has been or wish
for peace and groat as have been our sac
rifices and sufferings during the war, the
determina tion of this people has with each
succeeding month become more unaltera
bly fixed, to endure any sufferings and
continue any 'sacrifices, however prolong
ed until t heir right to self government and
independence of these Stales shall have
been triumphantly vindicated and firmly
established.
Tu fhU connection, tho occasion seems
hot unsuitable for-some reference to tlie
relations between tbe-Obnfecleracy and the
neutral powers of Europe since tho sepa
ration of these States .from the former^
Union.
Four of the States now members of the
Confederacy were recognised by i* a dies as
independent sovereignties in a treaty of
peace, concluded iu the year 1783, with
one of the two greatest maratime powers
of Western Europe; and hnd been prior to
that period allies in war of tho other. In
the year 1778 they formed a Union with,
nine other States iinrdor articles of Coufed-
Di.ssatisfied with that Union, three
utli 'Carolina; and
the first Union should l>eperpsrtu&l. Their
right to secede, notwithstanding this pro
vision, was neither contested by the States
from which they separated, nor made ' the
subjeet of discussion with any third pow
er. When, at a later period, North Caro
lina acceded to that second union, and
-whenstill later, the other seven States,
now members of this Confederacy, became
also members.of the same Union, it was
upon the recognized footing of equal and
independent sovereignties, nor had it then
entered into the minds of men that Sover-
eign-Slates could be compelled, by force, to
remain members of a Confederation into
which the^r had entered of their own free
will, if, at a subsequent 'period, the dofenso
of their safety and honour should, in their
judgment, justify withdrawal. Tbe expe
rience of the past had evinced the futility of
any renunciation of such inherent rightP,
and accordingly the provision for perpetui
ty. contained in the Articles of Confedera
tion ot 1778 was omitted in the Consstitu-
tion of 1789. When, therefore, in 1861
cloven of tho States again thought proper,
for reasons satisfactory to themsolvos, to
secede from the second union, and to form
a third one under an amended Constitu
tion, they exercised a right which, being
inherent, required no justification to for
eign nations, and which international law
did not permit them to question. The us
ages of intercourse between nations ^o,
however, requiro that official communica
tion bo made to friendly powers of all or
ganic changes in the Constitution of States,
and there was obvious propriety in giving
prompt assurance of our desire to continue
amicable relations with all mankind. It
was under the influence of these consider
ations that your predecessor, the Provis
ional Government, took early measures
for sending to Europe Commissioners
charged with the duty of visiting the cap
itals of the different powers, and making
arrangements for the opening of more for
mal diplomatic intercouse.
Prior, however, to the arrival abroad of
tbeso Commissioners, the United States
had commenced hostilities agaiust the Con
federacy by dispatching a secret expedi
tion for the reinforcement of Fort Sumter,
after an express -promise to the contrary,
and with a duplicity winch has boon fully
unveil ml in a former message. They had
also addressed commufiications to tbe dif-
fjrent Cabinets of Europe, in whieli they
assumed the attitude "of being sovereign
over this Confederacy, alleging that these
indcpendentStates were in rebellion against
tho remaining States of the Union, and
threatening Europe with manifestations
of their displeasure if it should treat the
Confederate States as having an indepen
dent existence. It soon became known
that these pretensions were not considered
abroad to be as absurd as they were known
to be at borne, nor had Europe yet learned
what reliance was to be placed on the offi
cial statements of the Cabinef at Wash
ington. The delegation of power granted
by these States to the Federal Government
to represent them in . forcigu intercourse
had led Europe into tho grave error of sup
posing that their separate sovereignty and'
independence had been merged into ono
common sovereignty, and bad ceased to
have a distinct existence. Under, the in
fluence of this error, which all appeals to
reason and historical fact were vuinly used
to dispel, our Commissioners were met by
the declaiation that foreign Governments
could not assume to judge between tho
conflicting representations of the two par
ties as to the true nature ol their previous
mutual relations. The Governments of
Great Britain and France accordingly sig
nified their determination to confine them
selves to recoguizing the self-evident fact
of tho existence of a war, and to maintain
ing a strict neutrality duiing its progress.
Some of tho other powers of Europe pur
sued the samo course of policy, and it be
came apparent that by some understanding,
express or tacit, Europe hud decided to
leave tho initiative iu all action touching
the continent to tho two powers just nam
ed, who were recognized to have the largest
interests involved, bo h by reason of prox
imity and of the extent and intimacy of
their commercial .relations with the States
engaged in war.
It is manifest that tho course of action
adopted by Europe, while based on an ap
parent refusal to determine tho question,
or to side with either party, was in point
of fact an actual decision against our rights
and in favor of the groundless protonsions
of tho United States. It was a refusal to
treat us as an independent government.
If we were Independent States,-the refusal
to entertain with us the same internation
al intercourse as was maintained with our
enemy was unjust, and was injurious in its
effects, whatever may have been the mo
tives which prompted it. Neither was it
in accordance with the high moral obliga
tions of that intenintionalcode whoso chief
sanction is the conscience of sovereigns
and tlie public opinion of mankind, and
those eminent powers should decline the
peiformance of duty peculiarly incum
bent on* them, from any apprehension oft
the consequences t;o themselves. One im-~
mediate-and necessary result of their de
clining tbe responsibility of a decision
which must have been averse to tho ex
travagant pretensi :ms of the Unitod States,
was tuo peolorig&ti.m of hostilities to which
our enemies were thereby encouraged, and
which have resulted in nothipg but scenes
of carnage and devastation on this conti-
uent, and of misery and .suffering on the
other, sftcb as have scarcely a parallel in.
history. Had those powers, promptly ad
mitted our right to be treated as^iil other
independent nations, hone e.un doubt that
the .moral effect of such action would haVe
es been to.-dispoi the delusion under erhich
* the United States have persisted in their
efforts to accomplish onr subjugation.. To
o continued hesitation of the same Usurer#
[■rendering Lilia act of simple justice to-
wards tliit Confederacy isstiii due the cou sc
.. i'*
- - -.3L-
NUMBER 44.
tinuance of the calamities which mankind
suffers from the interruption cf its peace-'
ful pursuits, both in the old and new worlds.
There are other matters in which less
than justice has been rendered to its peo
ple By neutral Europe, and undue advan
tage conferred on the aggressors in a wick
ed war. Al^ the incoption of hostilities
the inhabitants of the Confederacv- were
almost exclusively agriculturalists; those
of tjie United States, to* a great extent,
mechanics and merchants. We bad no
commercial marine, while their merchant
vessels covered the ocean. Wo were with
out a navy, whilo they had powerful fleets.
The advantage which they possessed for
inflicting injury on onr coasts and harbors
was thus counterbalanced in some mcasuro
by the exposure of their commerce to at
tack by private armed vessels. It was
known to Europe that within a few yoars
past the United States had peremptorily
refused to accede to proposals l or abolish
ing privaleering, on tho ground, as alleged
by them, that nations owning powerful
fleets would thereby obtain ut due advan
tage over those possessing inferior naval
forces. Yet no sooner was war flagrant
between tho Confederacy and the United
States, than the maritime powers of Eu
rope issued orders prohibiting either party
from bringing prizes into their ports. This
prohibition, lirocted with apparent impar
tiality gainst both belligerents, was in
reality effective against the Confedet Re
states alone,, for they alone could find a
hostile commerce on the ocean. Merely
nominal against the United Btates, the
prohibition operated with intense severity
on the Confederacy, by depriving it of the
only means of maintaining, with some ap
proach to equality, its struggle on the
ocean against tho crushing superiority of
naval force possessed by its enemies. The
value and efficiency of tho; weapon which
was thus wrested from our gn.sp by the
combined action of neutral European pow
ers in favor of a nation which professes
openly its intention of ravaging their com
merce by privateers in any future war, is
strikingly illustrated by tho terror inspired
among the commercial classes of tho Unit
ed States by a single cruiser of the Con
federacy. Ono national steamer command
ed by officers and manned by a crew who
aro debarred, by the closure of neutral
ports, from tho opportunity of causing cap
tured vessels to be condemned in their fa
vor as prize, has sufficed to double the
rates of marine insurance in Northern
ports and consigned to forced inaction
nunibw* of Northern vessels, in addition
to the direct damages inflicted by captures
at sea. How difficult, then, to estimate
the effects that must havo been produced
by the hundreds of privato armed vessels
that would hnve swept the seas in pursuit
of the commerce ofour enemy, if i;he means
of disposing of their prizes had not been
withheld by tlie action of neutral Europe.
But it is especially in relation to tho so-
called blockado ofour coast that the poli
cy of European powers has been shaped
as to cause the greatest injury to tho Con
federacy, and to confer signal advantages
on the United States. Tlie importance of
this subject requires some development.
Prior to the year 1856, the principles re
gulating this subject were to bo gathered
from the writings of eminent • publicists,
the decisions of admiralty courts, interna
tional treaties and tbe usages of nations.
The unceitainty and doubt which prevailed
in reference to the true rules of mrritimo
law, in tiiuo of war, resulting from the
discordant and often conflicting principles
announced from such varied and indepen
dent sources, had become a grievous evil to
mankind. Whether a port was allowable
against a port not invested by land .as well
as by sea; whether a blockade was valid
by sea if the investing fleet wat. merely
sufficient to rendor ingress to the blockaded
port “ evidently dangerous,” or whether
it was further required for its legality that
it should be sufficient “ really to prevent
access;” and numerous other similar ques
tions had remained doubtful and ur.decided.
Animated by this highly honorable de
sire to put an end “ to difference of opin
ion between neutrals and belligerents,
which may occasion serious difficulties
and oven conflicts,” (I quote the official
langur e) the five great powers of Europe,
together with Sardinia and Turkej r , adopt
ed in 1656, the following “soiemu declara
tion” of principles:
1. Privateering is, aud remains abolish
ed.
2. The neutral flag covers the enemy’s
goods, with tho except on of contraband of
war, arenotliabloto Capture under pneray’s
flag. -
4. Blockades, in order to bo binding,
must be effective; that is to say ; maintain
ed by a force sufficient really to prevent
access to the coast of the enemy.
Not only diid this solemn declarat ion an
nounce to the world the principles to which
the signing powers agreed to conform in
future wars, but it contains a clause to
which those powers gave immediate effect,
and which provided that the Stales not
parties to the Congress of Paris, should
be invited to accede to the declaration. Un
der this invitation every independent
Slate iif Europe yielded its assent; fit least
no instance is known to mo of refusal;
and tho Uni ted States, while declining, to
tbe proposition which prohibited pri vatcor-
ing, declared the throe remaining princi
ples were in accordance with their own
views of international law.
Wlion, therefore, the Confederacy was
frorned, and when neutral powers while'
deferring action on its demand for ndmis-'
sion into the family of nations, recognized
it as a belligerent Power, Great Britain
and France made informal proposal:
tho same time that their
»
ate favorable response in the resolutions of
the Provisional Congress of the 13th of
August, 1861, by which all the princi
ples announced by the Congress of Paris
were adopted as the guide of our conduct
during the war, with the sole exception of
that relative to privateering. As the right
to make use of privateers was one in which
neutral nations had, as to the present war,
no interest fas it was a right which the
United Slates had refused to abandon,
and which they remained at liberty to em
ploy against us; as it was a right of which
we were already in actual enjoyment, and
which wo cou Id not be expected to renounce
flagrante bello against and adversary
possessing an overwhelming superiority
of naval forces, it was reserved with en
tire confidence that neutral nations could
not fail to perceive that just reason existed
for tho reservation. Nor was this confi
dence misplaced, for the official documents
published by the British Government, us-
uaiily called “Blue Books,” contain the
expression of the satisfaction of that Gov
ernment with the eonduet of the officials
who conducted successfully tlie'delicate
business confided to their charge.
These solemn declarations of principles,
this implied |agrooment betweon the Con
federacy and the two powers just natnod,
have been suffered to remain inoperative
against tho menaces and outrages on neu
tral rights, committed by the United States
with unceasing and progressing arroganeo
during the whole period of tho war. Neu
tral Europe remained passive when theUniti
ed States, with a naval force insufficient to
b‘oc’> ado, effectively, the coast of a single
St ate, proclaim® I,a paporjblookade of thorn
sands ot miles of coast., extending from tho
capes of the Chesapeake to those of Florida,
and encircling the Gulf of Mexico from
Key West to the mouth ©f the Rio Grande.
Compared with this monstrous pretension
ot the United States, the blockade known
in history, under the namos of the Berlin
and Milan decrees, and the British orders
in Council, in the years 1806 and 1807 sink
into insignificance! Yet those blockades
were justified by the powers that declared
them, on tho sole ground that they wero
retaliatory; yet those blockades have since
been condemned by tho publicists of those
very powers as violations of international
law ; yet thoso blockades evoked angry re-
moristrances from neutral powers, amongst
which the United States were' the most
conspicuous; yet those blockades became
tj*o.chief cause of the war between Great
Britain and the United States in 1812; yet
those blokadcs were one of the principal
motives that led to the declaration of the
Congress of Paris in 1856, in the fond
hope ot imposing an enduring chock on the
very abuse of maritime power, which is
now renewed by the United States in 1861
and 1862, under circumstances and with
features of aggravated wrong without pre
cedent in history.
The records of our State Department
contain tho evidenco of tho repeated and
formal remonstrances made by this Gov
ernment to neutral powers against tbe re
cognition of this blockade. It has been
shown by evidence not capable of contra
diction, and which ha9 been furnished in
part by the officials of neutrals, that the
ports of the Confederacy, before which
any naval forces at all havo been station
ed, have been invested so inefficiently that
hundreds of entries havo been offected
into the declaration of tho blckado; that
onr enemies have themselves admitted the
inefficiency of their bloekadejin the most
forcible manner, by repoated'official com
plaints of tbe sale, to us, of goods contra
band of war, a sale which could not pos
sibly affect their interests if theirpretend-
cd blockade wassuffieient “really to provent
access to onr coast;” that they have gone
farther, and have alleged their inability tq
render tbeir paper blockado effective as
the excuse for the odious barbarity of de
stroying the entarnoe to one of our har
bors by sinking vessels loaded with stone
in the channel; that our commereo with
foreign nations has been intercepted, not
by effective investment of our ports, nor
by tho seizure of ships in tho attempt to
enter them hut by the capture on the high
seas of neutral vessels by the cruisers ofour
enemies whenever supposed to be bound
to any point on our extensive coast, with
out any enquiry whether a singlo blockad
ing vessel was to bo found at such point;
that blockading vessels have left the posts
at which they wo stationed' for distant
expeditions, have been absent for many
days and have returned without notice
renewal of either of the cessation or
the yockde ; in a word, that every pro
scription of maritime law, and every
right of neutral natious to trade with
a belligerent under tho sanction of princi
ples heretofore universally respected, have
been systomitically and persistently vio-
lalod by the United States.
Neutral Europe has received our remon
strances and has submitted in almost un
broken silonce to all the wrongs that the
United States have chosen to inflict on this
commerce. The Cabinet ofGreat Britain,
however, has not confined itself to such
implied acquiescence in these breaches
of international law as results fVora simple
inaction, but has, in a published dispatch
to the Secretary of Stute of Foreign Af
fairs assumed to make a change in the
principle enunciated by the Congress of
Paris, to which the faith of the British
Government was considered to be pledg
ed; a change too important and too preju
dicial to the n to rests -of the Confederacy
to be overlooked, and against which I have
directed solemn protest to be made, after
. a vain attempt to obtai
nations from theBritii
of Bhips ar«> stationed' and remain at the
entrance of a'port, sufficient really to pre
vent Recess to it; or create evident dan
ger in entering it or leaving it, and these ships
do not voluntarily permit ingress or egress
tbe fact that various ships may have
successfully escaped through it, (as in the
particular instance here referred to) will.
not itself prevent the blockade from being
an effectual one by international law.”
The words w ;iieh d have italicised are
an addition made by the British Govern
ment of its own authority to a principle,
the exact terms of which were settled with
deliberation by tho common consent of civ
ilized nations, and by impliod, and their
effect is clearly to re open to the prejudice
of the Confederacy one of the very disput
ed questions on the law ot blockade which
the Congress of Paris prjfcssedjlo settle.
The importance of this change is readily
illustrated by taking one of our ports as
an example. There is evident danger in
entering the port of Wilmington from
the presence of a blockading force, and by
this test the blockado is effective. “ Access
is not really prevented” by the blockade
fleet to tbe same port, for steamers are
constantlly arriving and departing, so that
tried by this test, tlie blockade is ineffec
tive and invalid. The justice ofour com
plain on this point is so manifest as to leave
little room for doubt that furthor reflection
will iuduce the British Government to
give us such assurances os will efface the
painful impressions that would result from
its language if left unexplained.
From the foregoingreraarksyou will per-
cieve that during nearly two years ofstrog-.
gle in which every existence, the neutral
nations of Europe havo pursued a policy
which nominally .impartial has boon practi
cally most favorable to our enemies and
most detrimental to us.
The exercise of the neutral rights of re
fusing entry into heir ports ot prizes taken
by both belligerents was eminently hurt
ful to the Confederacy. It was sternly
asserted and mainained.
' The exercise of the neutral right of com
merce with a belligercut whoso ports are
not blockaded by fleets sufficient really to
prevent access to them, would havo been
eminently hurtful to the United States.
It was complacently abandoned.
The duty of neutral States to receive
with cordiality and recognize with respect
any new confederation that independent
States may think proper to form, was too
clear to admit of denial, but its postpone
ment was eminently beneficial to tho Uni
ted Slates and detrimental to the Confed
eracy. It was postponed.
In this review of our relations with the
neutral nations of Europe, it has beon my
purpose to point out distinctly that this
Government has no complaint to make
that those nations declared their neutrality.
It could neither expect nor desire more.
Tho complaint is that tho neutrality was
rather nominal than real, and that recog
nized neutral rights have boon alternately
asserted and waived in such a manner as
to bear with great sovci’ity on us, and to
confer signal advantages on our enemy.
I have hitherto refrained from calling to
your attention this condition of our rela
tions with foreign powers for various rea
sons. Tho chief of these was the fear that
a statement of onr just grounds of com
plaint against a course of policy so injuri
ous to our interests might be construed
into an appeal for aid. Unequal as we
wero in numbers and available resources
to our enemies, wo wero conscious of pow
ers of resistance, in relation to which Eu
rope was incredulous, and our remon-
strancee were therefore peculiarly liable to
bo misunderstood. Proudly self reliant,
the Confederacy knowing full well the
character of the contest into which it was
forced, with full trust in the superior qual
ities of its population, the superior valor
of its soldiers, the superior skill of its Gen
erals, and above all, in the justieo of its
cause, felt no need to appeal for the main
tenance of its rights to other earth ly aids,
and it bogan and has continued this strug
gle with the calm confidence ever inspired
in those who with consciousness of right
can invoke tho Divine blessing on their
cause. This confidence has been so assured
that we have never yielded to despondency
under defeat, nor do we foel undue elation
at the present brighter prospect of suc
cessful issue to our contest. It is therefore,
because just ground of complaint can no
longer be misinterpreted that £ lay them
clearly before you. It Heeras to me cow
proper to give you the information, and
although no immediate results may be at
tained, it is well that truth should be pre
served and recorded. It is well that-thoso
who are to follow us should understand
the full nature and character cf the tre
mendous conflict in which the blood of our
people has been poured out like water, rvnd
in which they have resisted unaided, the
shocks of hosts which would have sufficed
to overthrow many of the powers which,
by their hesitation in according our rights
as an independent nation, iraplj^ doubt of
our inability to maintain onr national ex
istence. It may be, too, that if in future
times, unfriendly discussions, not now an-‘
ticipated, shallunfortunately arise between
this Confederacy and some European pTnv-
er, the recollection of our forbearance under
the grievances which 1 have enumerated
may lie evoked .with happy influence in‘
preventing any serious disturbance of
peaceful relations.
j*It would not be proper to close nly re
marks on the
tiona without advertir
the correspondence-1
“ ’ Great J 4
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