Rochdale, January 9, 1862.
I Received your letter with great pleasure, and I should
have written to you sooner save for the sore anxiety which has pressed upon me
of late in dread of the calamity from which escape seemed so unlikely. The news
received here last night, if correct, gives us reason to believe that the
immediate danger is over, and that your government, looking only to the great
interests of the Union, has had the wisdom and the courage to yield, in
the face of menaces calculated to excite the utmost passion, and such as it
would not have been subjected to had the internal tranquillity of the Union
been undisturbed. What has happened will leave a great grievance in the minds
of your people, and may bear evil fruit hereafter; for there has been shown
them no generosity such as became a friendly nation, and no sympathy with them
in their great calamity. I must ask you, however, to understand that all
Englishmen are not involved in this charge. Our ruling class, by a natural
instinct, hates democratic and republican institutions, and it dreads the
example of the United States upon its own permanency here. You have a
sufficient proof of this in the violence with which I have been assailed
because I pointed to the superior condition of your people, and to the economy
of your government, and to the absence of “foreign politics” in your policy,
saving you from the necessity of great armaments and wars and debt. The people
who form what is called “society” at the “West End” of London, whom you know
well enough, are as a class wishful that your democratic institutions should
break down, and that your country should be divided and enfeebled. I am not
guessing at this; I know it to be true; and it will require great care on the
part of all who love peace to prevent further complications and dangers.
The immediate effect of the discussions of the last month
and of the moderation and courage of your government has been favorable to the
North, and men have looked with amazement and horror at the project of
enlisting England on the side of slavedom; and I am willing to hope that, as
your government shows strength to cope with the insurrection, opinion here will
go still more in the right direction. The only danger I can see is in the
blockade and in the interruption of the supply of cotton. The governments of
England and France may imagine that it would relieve the industry of the two
countries to raise the blockade; but this can only be done by negotiation with
your government or by making war upon it. I don't see how your government can
at present consent to do it, and if it has some early success, the idea of war
may be abandoned if it has already been entertained.
Charleston harbor is now a thing of the past; if New Orleans
and Mobile were in possession of the government, then the blockade might be
raised without difficulty, for Savannah might, I suppose, easily be occupied.
Trade might be interdicted at all other Southern ports and opened at New
Orleans, Mobile, and Savannah under the authority of the government. Thus
duties would begin to be received, and cotton would begin to come down, if
there be any men in the interior who are disposed to peace and who prefer the
Union and safety to secession and ruin.
I hope all may go well. The whole human race has a deep
interest in your success. The restoration of your Union and the freedom of the
negro, or the complete control of what slavery may yet remain, are objects for
which I hope with an anxiety not exceeded by that of any man born on American
soil, and my faith is strong that I shall see them accomplished.
I sent your message to Mr. Cobden; he is anxious on the
blockade question, but I hope his fears may not be realized.
When you come back to England I shall expect to see you, and
I trust by that time the sky may be clearer.
I am very truly
yours,
John Bright.
SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The
Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition,
Volume 2, p. 226-8
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