Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the reception of despatches numbered 328 to 334, both inclusive; likewise of printed circular No. 21, respecting aid to be rendered to the New York Geographical Society, and two copies of the United States Statutes at Large for the year 1861—’62. The information furnished of the progress of the war is valuable, and the exposition of the views of the government in its foreign relations is of a most interesting character, and cannot fail to inspire unity of thought and action among the agents of the country abroad, wherever they may be. Nothing has occurred during the past week to vary the aspect of things in this country. There are announcements of increasing distress among the operatives, as the [Page 190] growing scarcity of cotton has the effect of closing more of the mills. On the other hand the rapid advance in price has so far stimulated the search for the article as to justify the expectation of a considerable addition to the supply from India. I am therefore inclined to believe that we are at the crisis of the difficulty, and from this time things will rather mend than grow worse. Thus far it has not been possible to give a political direction to the uneasiness which exists. A good deal has been done both by public and private assistance to alleviate the suffering of the poorer classes. The anxiety about the crops has been quieted, partly by the prevalence of fine weather during the harvest, and partly by the extensive importation of breadstuffs from America, which puts an end to the apprehension of famine prices. In the general trade of the country there seems to be increased activity, which, to a corresponding extent, neutralizes the unfavorable influence from America.
The condition of matters on the continent is still regarded with not a little inquietude. The suppression of the indiscreet outbreak of Garibaldi has not been attended by the restoration of confidence in the established order of things in Italy. There is an obvious increase of the popular pressure upon the Emperor of France for the withdrawal of his force at Rome, which has not been thus far attended by any symptoms of yielding on his side. * * * * * * * *
The breaking out of the insurrection has brought to light the existence of national feelings [in England] towards them, [the United States,] the strength of which had scarcely been suspected in America. As the struggle has gone on, the nature and extent of them has become so clear and unmistakeable as to defy all disavowal. Having their root in the same apprehensions of the force of a foreign state which exists in the case of France, they take the same direction towards efforts to curtail, if not to neutralize, its energies. The popular sentiment of Great Britain, as now developed, should be a warning to the statesmen of America by which to regulate their action, at least for two generations. It dictates the necessity of union at home far more imperatively even than the wretchedness which now fills the country with grief from end to end. It ought to open the eyes of all the honest but deluded citizens who have imagined that in resisting the authority of the federal government they are only endeavoring to substitute one kind of domestic sovereignty for another. The fact is that they are ignorantly conducing to the interposition of a wholly foreign and opposite influence, which has no sympathy in common with America, and which seeks only to base its own interests more firmly upon the decay of those of other nations. To attempt to counteract this policy by angry remonstrance or a resort to violence would be idle, if not worse. The true remedy would be to effect the restoration of peace and harmony, the revival of our habits of productive industry, and the return of vigor to the action of one government over all, inspiring confidence at home and a salutary fear as well as respect among the malevolent abroad.
But if it should turn out that the malignant spirits among us prove to have so far confirmed their authority among their countrymen in some quarters as to render these results impracticable, then does the manifestation of these British proclivities open a still further question for the consideration of America. They point significantly to the future encouragement of a social organization approximated to us as closely as possible, which, because animated by the bitterest hostility to us may hence become a ready instrument to effect the object of finally annulling our influence. Thus hemmed in between the north and the south, both almost equally guided by British policy, the United States may cease to inspire that dread of their future expansion which seems to haunt the minds of their statesmen of the present day. The mode of counteracting these dangerous tendencies is [Page 191] deserving of most careful consideration. To permit the establishment of any such authority to the south of us as that indicated seems to be out of the question. It would be far wiser to determine that rather than this the social basis upon which it is designed to maintain it should be, once for all, removed. Whatever might be the hesitation to act whilst the question remained confined within purely domestic considerations, it will cease the moment that any extraneous element of foreign agency shall be introduced. Great Britain, after wielding the moral considerations of the slave question for many years for the purpose of stimulating our domestic dissensions, cannot be allowed to complete her work by upholding a slaveborn authority as a perpetual check upon our prosperity. All the considerations of our safety in the distant future forbid the idea The whole case changes its character the moment we come to look at it in this new light. Its moral become not less momentous than its political aspects. The position of the two nations is thus made antagonistic on a great issue of principle, and the protection of the great idea of human liberty becomes more than ever before the bounden duty of the United States.
I have been led into this course of reflection insensibly by the incidental exposition of the gradually spreading antipathy to us among the people of this city and kingdom, as it has been shown by the reception of General Pope’s announcement that we have gained a victory. Here it is viewed in the light of a disaster, and great efforts are made to discredit it. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.