THE PI—I)CENIX.

3

of the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) that we might keep
out of it. He hoped, therefore, that it would be distinctly
declared that'if any British subject entered upon priva-
teering, he must not look to his government for redress or
protection, but that his blood will be upon his own head.
He hoped that the proclamation would give a most dis-
tinct and emphatic warning to British sailors and especi-
ally those in her Majesty’s service.

Earl GRANVILLE said that he quite agreed in the appre-
ciation which the noble Earl showed of the serious conse-
quences of this country becoming involved in this unfor-
tunate dispute. 'l‘he noble Earl had correctly understood
the answer given in another place that the government
would issue a proclamation of warning to British sub-
jects, but it was desirable that the wording of the procla-
mation should be carefully considered.

The Earl of DERBY said that he wished to know if it
would be distinctly declared that any British subject
joining in privateering must not look to his government
to save him from his own criminal acts.

Earl GRANVILLE apprehended that this would follow
naturally from the proclamation.

Lord BROUGHAM severely denounced the practice of
privateering, and expressed in a few brief but eloquent
sentences his sincere regret that by mutual concessions
the horrors of civil war were not likely to be averted in
America.

Lord CoI.ciins'rEn,reminded their lordships that the
right to send out privateers was recognized by interna-
tional law, and it was only natural that the weaker state
should resort to this means of annoying a more powerful
enemy.

The subject then dropped.

4.,q<_———_—-

Feeling of the British Press and People on
the Crisis.

 

 

[From the London Post (government organ), May 7.]

THE latest advices from America bring intelligence
which the people of this country will read_with dismay
and regret. Not only has the navy yard, with a fleet of
ships of the line and frigates, been destroyed by the
hands of federal oflicers, but the capital is threatened
with actual invasion. Mr Jefferson Davis and General
Beauregard are stated to be in the neighborhood of
Washington, ready with six thousand men to make a
dash on the seat of government.

* 3 * 3! 3 3

But it is important, in reference to English interests,
to consider the effect which this unhappy contest is
likely to produce upon neutral commerce. Mr J etferson
Davis, the President of the New Confederation, has an
nonnced his intention of granting letters of marque. Mr
Lincoln has met this threat by declaring a. blockade of
the Southern ports, and by stating that he will treat as
pirates all privateers commissioned by the insurgent
States. In these circumstances no one can be surprised
that'the British Foreign Minister should be required to
explain the course which the government is prepared to
pursue. The question, no doubt. in its important bear-
ings, will be discussed when Mr Horsfall’s motion comes
before the house; but last night Lord John Russell, in
answer to Mr Gregory, made a. statement which is worthy
oflserious and grave attention. ‘ We do not allude to the
levying of federal dues on shipboard, a case which must
be decided when it arises upon the universally admitted
principles of international law, but to the declaration
made by the noble lord that the government had come
to the conclusion that “ the Southern States of America ,
must be treated as belligerents.” The noble lord based
this determination upon the policy which this_ country
pursued in 1825, ‘when Greece was engaged in insur-
uuuemogasoaetnnrkey-« If the nettle lord had referred,
to American precedents,-hi _
greatest of‘ American jurists, Mr Justice Storey, had laid
down precisely the same rule. That learned judge, in
thecaee of the Santissima Trinidad (7_ Wheaten), decided
that, duringthe continuance of the civil war between
Spain and her colonies, and previous to the acknowledge-
ment of, the independence of the latter by the- mother
country, ‘- the colonies were belligerent nations, and en-
titled to all the sovereign rights, of war against the
enemy.” The thirteen States, when they revolted from
England, were so treated, not only by ‘foreign powers,
but by this‘ country. The federal government, therefore.
cannot justly take offence that a doctrine which the
United States have asserted from their first constitution,
should be admitted and recognized in the present contest.
But belligerent rights carry with them corresponding ob-
ligations. Blockades must be effectual, and privateers
must be lawfully commissioned. We believe that a
blockade by letters ;of marque, though a novel experi-
ment in maritime warf'are,’wou1d'be quite as effectual as
‘:1 blockade by regular men of war. The Northern
States, with their powerful‘ commercial marine, could
easily blockade all the Gulf ports, and prevent the
ingress or egress of every cotton ship. The employment
of this description of naval militia would, we suspect, 
far more useful than any operations by land. In spite
of the many and difficult complications which are certain
to arise from the present unhappy contest, the American
rule, that “ the flag covers the cargo,” will give compa-
rative immunity to British and foreign commerce. It is
the policy of this country to watch with sympathy the
progress of the war, and carefully ‘to abstain from all
interference which may not be requisite for the protec-
tion of British interests, and the assertion of those great
principles of public law which subsist for the benefit of
the world at large.

[From the London Times, May 8.]
. _* . * * V 3 2 if

America's present:,position is one {which she 'never
could have foreseen, and never contemplated. It la the
direct contrary of all that she has ever marked out for
herself, and she has consequently been vindicating prin-
ciples and making precedents, all of which will now go
tothe contraction of her own belligerent rights. She
has saved from perishing the vile trade of privateering,
and the existence of privateers, scattered _over every
sea, will necessitate the dividing her ‘fleet, in order to
protect her commerce’. She has stretched the right of
neutrals to resistance of the once‘ conceded right.of
search and visit, and she has thereby given us immunity
for every character of goods which we may carry in our
free natural ships. ' She has even, we believe, gone fur-
ther. than this. I we mistake not she, in a very recent
ca'se‘of an American ship seized by Neapolitan cruisers
of! Sicily, raised and insisted that a state cannot blockade
its own ports. , We speak from impression, and not from
reference, but we believe we are correct in saying that
the United States demanded and obtained restitution and
compensation from the King of Naples,_upon the ground
that as he claimed Sicily as a part of his dominions, just
as Mr Lincoln now claims the seceded States, he could
not lawfully blockade the ports of Sicily. However this
may be, we have said enough to show that there is really
some complication in the questions which the govern-
ment declined last night to discuss. But it is a. conso-
lation to know, that in dealing with these questions we
shall have to deal with a people who have always been
the champions of the rights of neutrals, and who will
not have any difficulty in appreciating the arguments
in that interest, which we shall have to lay before them.

v

THE COMMISSIONERS FROM THE CONFEDERATE STATES IN

LONDON. .
[London (May 6) Correspondence of the Manchester
Guardian]. -

The American news occupies all minds. and is the
siibject of discussion in all societies. As I said in my
last letter, the American citizens whom one meets, as a
rule, express their satisfaction that the matter has come
to an issue. The general expectation among those who
best know the States, appears to be a confident one in
the ultimate triumph of the North, but, in all probability,
after partial successes of the Southern Confederation at
first starting. The Commissioners of the Confederation
are here, lodg0d——two, if not all of thein-—iu St James’
street. They have. I believe, already had communica-
tion with Lord John Russell.

Another eminent merican now here is Colonel Fre-
mont. His view of the state of things is said to be very
gloomy. He anticipates a bloody and obstinate struggle
with partial negro insurrections, whenever an opportu-
nity occurs. The question of letters of marque is vehe-
mently discussed. Doubts are expressed whether the
North can, in accordance with civilized usages, hang
privateers, under Davis’s letters, as pirates, especially
with the certainty of bloody retaliation by the Southern-
ers. The temptation of California gold ships is felt
to be enormous, and the impossibility of preventing
privatcers from taking the sea, by means of blockade,
is at once admitted, seeing that there is no reason
why such pi-ivateers should not issue from the ports of
the United Kingdom, as well as those of the Southern
seaboard.

GOLD FROM CALII<‘0R.\'IA FOR. LONDON.
[From the London Times, May 7.]

It is stated that policies of insurance are now being
opened here for £1,000,000 of California bullion from
Panama. to London, these consignments being diverted
from New York, in consequence of the peril of capture.
It is likewise mentioned, as a further corroboration
of the arguments regarding the adverse effect which
must-be produced in the American money markets by.
the occurrence of actual war, that some moderate
sums are already in the course of remittance to this
country, to be lodged at the current rate of interest
for deposits.

JEFFERSON nAvis’s LETTERS or MARQUE ‘in ENGLAND. ,.
[From the London Economz'st, May 4.]

The recent events in America have given rise to a
very curious event. We have very often called the at-
tention of our readers to the laws of maritime warfare.

which were generally neutral in times of war ; we have
shown how much, as America was always presumably
neutral, they operated in her favor. And such were the
fair probabilities, the plain conclusions of very simple
reasoning. But what has been the result? In fact the
Northern States of America, the shipping States, are. at

of warfare ;
the first to suffer. The position of the Southern States
was, in many respects, a. peculiar one ; but, in no respect
was it more peculiar than in this-—though _possessed of
a very long line of sea coast they have not the vestige
of a navy; not a single armed vessel belonging to any
of them. They were wholly unable, therefore, to provide
for the now imminent contingency of a maritime war
with the North, in what we hold now-a-days in Europe
to be the regular and legitimate way, and are driven to
what we deem an exceptional and unjustifiable course.
As they had no navy they issued letters of marque,
which will empower any one to fit out a privateer, with

e would have, found that thefijwhich he can annoy the mercantile navy, and,’ in some

small measure,‘ carry one. maritime warfare with the.
North. The effect has been immediate, and would have
been foreseen, if only the unprecedented events which
have caused it could have been anticipated. United
States’ ships are at a great disadvantage. They can be
attacked in all quarters, and ‘especially near home, by
such privateers as any individual associates of Mr J effer-
son Davis may think it expedient to fit out and main-
tain. These may not, perhaps, for the moment, be very
many, but still there is a risk for the present, be it what
it may, to which American ships are exposed. A year
ago we should hardly have fancied such an event to be
within the range of possibility—certainly we should
have laughed at any one who ventured to predict that it
was impending.

narrow or run BLOCKADE on SHIP CIIARTERS MADE IN
ENGLAND.
(To the Editor qf the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.)

Sin,-—Will you please answer me the following ques-
tions: The President of the United States having de-
clared the Southern ports (which have scceded) under
blockade, will this cancel charters entered into with
timber merchants with British bottoms, supposing the
vessels still in port in the'United Kingdom, but to sail
in a few weeks? If not cancelled are the ships bound to
sail and endeavor to get into the respective ports, until
ordered off by a blockading squadron? Can the ship
then return to the United Kingdom and claim compen-
sation from charterers, or can the master proceed to any
other port for owners’ benefit? Should the ship succeed
to get into the blockaded port, and then cannot get out,
in consequence of the blockade, is there any redress for
the owners for detention ‘.7 Also,‘ if the cargo is not
down for shipment, in consequence of the civil war, can
the owners claim demurrage for detention, above be
lay-days per charter party‘? Yours. &c.,

A Snirowxnn.

May 4, 1861.

[lst_ The notification of a blockade by foreign powers
will not cancel charters made here. 2d. A ship is bound
to sail in accordance with the charter-party, and in ‘the
event of blockade to sail to the nearest convenient 0 en
port. 3d. The master cannot go elsewhere seeking,
until the charter has been fulfilled, or the charter-party
cancelled by mutual consent. 4th. Should a ship ether
9. blockaded port, and ship her cargo, as per charter-
party, there can be no claim for detention ; but if the
ship has to wait at the leading port to obtain her cargo,
she will be entitled to demurrage.—En. S. 8; M. G.] '

icxcrrmiicivr IN rams ON ACCOUNT or run wan.
[Paris Correspondence (May 6) of the London Times]

The news from America has unfortunately created
fresh alarm among the French cotton manufacturers;
They fear that their supply of cotton will be curtailed,
and that the American market will be closed to French’
produce. A certain tigh tiiess is observed in the mdney
market, which is attributed, among other causes, to a re-
port that the railway companies are about to issue rail-
way bonds to the amount of 240,000,000f.

lIISCEI.LANEOUS FOREIGN ITEMS ON THE WAR".

The Cork Reporter of the 9th of May has the following :
Great activity prevails at several of the royal dock-
yards, in getting ready for sea the powerful squadron of
first and second class steam vessels and armed gunboats
for the protection of British interest in the American

Waters.

this moment, sufferiiig very materially from the usage . 1
those who are expected to benefit have beet?-l ‘

The London Shipping Gazette of the 7th of May an-
nounces: Agents have arrived from America by the
Persia, to purchase rifled cannon of the Armstrong, Gay
and Blakeley patterns, also nearly 200,000 rifles and re-
volvers, for immediate shipment.

At Lloyd’s, London, on Monday, May 6, the war risk
on American vessels varied considerably. in one excep-
tional cuse only 153 having been paid, while the general
rate was about £2.

-—--—>NO>

The American Quarrel and the Duty of
. * the Irish.

 

This American war fills us with pain and disgust, such
as wehave no words to convey. .
. Fratricidal it is ; for nearer kindred never fought be-
fore-tlian these men of North and South, who now thirst
fortune another’s blood. '

And for what? The ambition of a few unscrupulous
demagogues ; the fanaticism of a bowling mob ; the sor-
did greed of a handful of hungry traders.

Our sympathies are still with the South, we confess.
Not that we have any other feeling for slavery, the curse
of. America, than one of abhorrence ; but because
we believe the South has been forced into this quarrel
§p’*‘t'he arrogance and fanaticism of a faction in the

crib. '

_Yet—shall we frankly confess it ‘?——our sympathy with
the Southerns has been desperately shaken since last we

Why? Simply, then, because we have, in the
meantime, found the leading newspapers in England de-

" pfcnding that side of the quarrel.

A friend or two have already taken us to task for what
.;gg_,said on this subject last week. They have accused
us of backing up slavery, of siding with the masters of
thefpoor Negro, and all that. They have earnestly pro-
tested that we are in the wrong. We areinclined to
confess now, honestly, that we fear we were a“ leetle” in
the wrong last week. _

But, understand. We have nothing to retract on
the '- Nigger” question—we have no apology to make
-pfiythe supposed advocacy of slavery. The one single
aicusoii why we think we were not altogether in the
right is this : we find the organs of England on the same
side.

,_ _When England takes part with the South, she can
have no possible good object in view. When she loudly
iubacks up the secediug States she must have discovered

,;.t,hat the integrity of the Union was inimical to her

piratical power. Therefore, though the South seems to
have been in the right in this quarrel, we confess to a
pang of terror and alarm, when we find our enemy—thc

We have pointed out how favorable they were to iiatioii.e‘,,;.i.‘."°-‘my of hl1“19-nil)’-‘E“81‘1nd—b3Cking “P the qua-"91

of the Southerners.

, When we, Irish, are side by side with England in any
quarrel, we must be in the wrong. It is the natural in-
stinctof our race to hate the English side. and take the
other, and if the Southern States of America have Eng-
land for their backer, they must look on it as a thing of
fate to have Ireland for their foe.

‘ ‘The special organ of English opinion—-the Times-—sides
with the Southerners, and talks of sending ships to keep
their coasts clear: of course that cotton may be still
freely exported. And the English government does send

._ ships of war! into the Gulf 0‘l Mexico accordingly. The

smaller fry follows in the wake of the Times. But
judge our astonishment this week (yet why should we be
astonished?) when we find what professes to ‘be the
organ of the English Catholics——a periodical called the
,Rambler—backing up the South with terrific energy, and
praying fervently for their success over the North. And
on what ground? Because, as the Rambler openly de-
clares the great republic of the United States was the

gant” rival, to be hated and abhorred-—and so this
-ble‘ssed‘Chi"isti‘an ‘journal expresses its earnest hope that
the said republic may be broken up, the “arrogant”
rival destr.o.yed,.and the pirate flag of England be free
to float triumphant over the ocean !

We confess we were not prepared for this startling
view of the question, and since we have read these Eng-
lish pronunciations our sympathy with the Southern
States has received a dreadful blow.

In taking a side on any quarrel England can only
have her own base and selfish designs in view. These
designs are essentially opposed to the best interests of
humanity. The Southerners may have right on their
side, originally—as we believe they have; but when
England favors their quarrel, then such an enormous
amount of wrong, direful unmitigated wrong, is leagued
with them as almost utterly obliterates their right, and
leaves the overwhelming balance of justice on the other
side. God pity these Southerners, blighted by the curse
of English favor and support.

We take the other side instinctively——for our heredi-
tary foe is over the way. Whoso accepts the alliance
and friendship of our foe (were he ever so right before)
becomes our enemy by the very act, and we cannot wish
his cause success.

Again, we have to express our regret in this quarrel-
the regret that our Irish brethren in the Far West should
be doomed to take part in it. Good Heaven ! what a sore
and bitter thought it is—-to think that the precious lives
so dearly wanted for the defence and rescue of our poor
Ireland should be wasted for no good, and in this stupid
fratricidal quarrel.

For we read that American Irish have taken sides
already. In the North, the gallant 69th, who refused
to parade before the English prince, have responded
to the -call of President Lincoln to march to Wash-
ington. Mr Thomas Francis Meagher is announced as
raising a_ regiment of Irish Volunteers “to defend the
Union ;” and the gallant son of John Mitchel is landed
in the Southern papers as the officer whose skilful
artillery practice helped most effectually to reduce Fort
Sumter.

There they are then-—Irish in the North—Irish in the
South——arrayed under their several flags? Ccuntryman
against countryman-—fi-lend against frieiid—-brother
against brother——in a. brutal quarrel which can bring no

nod to them. Sacred Heaven ! what a horrible destiny
is this! ‘

The only journals which seem to usito have dealt
soberly and wisely in this matter are the New York
PHCENIX and the New York Freemam’s Journal. Both dc-
nouuce the madness of the strife, and both pray the Irish
to have their hands clear of it. The PIKENIX, whilst
justly praising the fidelity of the Irish 69th to the flag of
the Union, says: " The departure of the regiment pre-
sents a sad spectacle, and suggests many mournful
considerations. In the first place, the quarrel is not of
their making. tie a quarrel provoked by a licentious
press at the ortb, and licentious demagognes at the
South. Both parties to it are pure Americans. Its pro-
moters everywhere are influenced solely by selfishness.
At the North, the men most reckless in urging the mat-
ter to extremities, now stand farthestaloot from danger.

What journalist, who pockets the pelf out of the war
sentiments, is buckling on his armor? He gloats over
the heap of lucre which the tide of blood has_brought
within his reach, while thousands he ,has frenzied rush
madly to death. In the next place, the first enemies the
69th will encounter will, in all probability, be Irishmen,
some of them their relatives, all of them their friends, all
. of them owning the same country, the same E\Spl.l‘M.l0llS..

one-great rival of Engla.nd.on -the high -seas——an “ arro-_

the same dear, fond hope. What a spectacle! There
they stand, in the death-gripe of one another, thousands
on thousands of miles from the land which it would be
their common pride to defend. and their common honor
to die for. Alas ! what more melancholy proof that they
are a people without a country?”

“A people without it country!” There it is. They
are "mere drudges, these Irish, to labor and die for
strangers———no matter how. Some of the Americans
already joke grimly about this affair. They say, “ what
matter? the Irish on each side will fight the battle for
us, and if they kill one another, who cares?”

But is this really to be the destiny of our exiled
brethren in America. May Heaven forbid. Could We
control them by our counsel, our advice would be to
hold back from the quarrel, and, in the last hour, sup-
port, through thick and thin, the side they saw England
opposiug.—-—DubZz'n Irishinan.

————-—>»-o.¢<<——-——

Irish Reprisals.——Respect for the “ Belli-
gerents.”

THERE seems to be a possibility, tosay the least, of a
cross-fire over the ocean, if not of a free fight in the
world at large. England is making such a singular
effort to be “neutral,” and is becoming so severely
virtuous in behalf of “belligerents,” that she is very
liable to square off, and put herself in a belligerent
posture.

Lord John Russell yields to our rebels the rights of
“belligerents”——issties his endorsement of their cause,
proifers protection to their privateers, and, at the same
time, insists that his government shall be recognized as
a lordly and majestic “Neutral.” England is so deter-
-mined to “keep out” of this unnatural conflict, that she
must rush in to see fair play, very much as a cock-fighter
steps in to take off his bird. when the other one is likely
to damage him, or very much as the British police broke
into the ring, when Heenan was likely to demolish the
champion of England. We deprecate this policy of an
interineddling neutrality-—this specimen of hostile and
ambitious justice, on the part of the administration in
our mother country. -

But there would seem to be a purpose of Providence
over and above it, which, like the unseen current of a
river, is drawing within the rapids of this struggle
between liberty and oppression, all the kindred interests
of state, in a manner which no policy planned, and no
statesmanship could have forecast. An “irrepressible
conflict” is one which involves principle. And it is one
which is likely to involve the same principle wherever it
occurs. In righting existing wrongs such a principle is
apt also to .right the kindred wrongs and correct similar
blunders of history on the same basis, and to a consi-
derable extent. Struggles of principles, like tree-roots,
are apt to stretch towards one another with inexplicable
and irresistible sympathy, and so to form interlocked
and mutually strengthening park clusters, or forest.
aisles, which sometimes interlace even their delicate
foliage in visible observation, but always take possession
gflthe soil with the intricate intertwiuings of their sta-

i ity.

Ireland is also likely to secede. In due time Ireland
may become a ‘* belligerent.” It is not only that the
Italian and_American engagements of the British govern-
ment, are to distract her attention in two opposite direc-
tions at once,-much to the satisfaction of France, the
delight of Russia, and the furtively rebellious glance of
India, which is now sullen rather than subdued. All this
might possibly not be enough, of itself, to arouse the
old‘Ir‘eland of the Green Isle. But the indignation of
Irish-America.ns,'--and their sympathetic generosity, eager’
to. share theirvfavorite .an_d fitting d.emoeracj,,in which
their national,_nature is peculiarly at home, with their
kindred across the sea—this passionate purpose, un-
checked in the absence of international county between

this country and England, disembarrassed of diplomatic -

difficulties, as it promises to beg will «at once raise the
rallying cry, until the shamrock waves all over the land,

its green sprigs dancing daintily amid the red, white and

e.

Meantime we shall treat, the uprising of Ireland with
that delicate ’respect which our mother country, who
claims to teach us manhood, means to insist upon as due
to the dignity of that honored cl‘ass;—the belligerents,
Lord! John—-what’s in ‘a name? The African Prince
who sells his captives on the African coast-captives
taken in a fair fight with his ebony enemy——0, Lord
J ohu, treat him with reverence, and let no one interfere
with his prize. Let him bring his jet cargo safely into
the ports of Britain-—is he not also a. " belligerent.”

The devil himself has a title to immunity now. He
must not be impeded. He may not be despoiled of his
captives or his prizes, for whatever be the disesteein in
which he has sometimes been held, and there are many
of his courses which may not be justified, he has his
refuge at last, in the unquestionable fact, the inde-
feasible dignity, that he, too, is a decided and continuous
“ belligerent.”

It is an extravagant c1aim——a dangerous doctrine,
couched in a word. But when Ireland secedes, she
will be most thoroughly entitled to this claim, not only
because the Irish are, or are supposed to be, constitu-
tionally somewhat belligerent, -but because her whole
history cries _out as a belligerent right, an oppressed
nationality. Let the discriminating peer, then, rest
content that our reverence for the rights of “ bellige-
rents” who fight for their liberties, will not be behind
his zeal for those who fight against the liberties of the
oppressed. _

It may have been a singular omen (although no one
understood it at the time), when the triumphal parade of
England’s future monarch passed through our streets, all
thronged and resonant with hospitality, that the Sixty-
ninth Regiment was standing aloof, like a black speck
in a. beautiful sky—and nevertheless that now, having
refused to cashier the belligerent Corcoi-an and his bel-
ligerent corps, we have appreciated their position, and
learned to accept their services-—merely,. of course, as
" belligercnts.” '

This little incident may be a significant emblem, a
dark hand on the wall of that feast of hospitality be-
tween England and America. It may be (although no
one anticipated it), that the Divine Providence means
thus to give Ireland its belligerent rights and natural
share in that irresistible conflict between liberty and op-
pression, in. which Great Britain seems so bent upon
throwing her weight as 2. “ neutrality” against the liberty
of races and the destiny of man. “ Make room for Ire-
land in this Conclave of ages," saitl the Father of
Nations. ~‘ Let Irelandhave a place, too, by the family
hearth.” "

°‘ There is no room f'or Ireland here,” said Diplomacy,
in reply. “ We are crowded as close as we can be, and
ti ere is no room for Ireland to be a free and sovereign
people.”

“ Then I will make room for her,”
Nations.

So he'tlirows into confusion your complete diplomatic
circle, by this " belligerent” stroke of international im-
policy, and when thiu,_4s'settle down again to order and
righteousness, the freckled face of the ruddy green isle
will be in its place, perhaps a “power” among the
powers-a name among the. nations.-—New York Sun. ~

said the Father of