temporary disappointment of our expectations, with our grief over losses of valuable lives, unavoidable among a humane, affectionate, Christian people, has already culminated, and it is now declining; that our armies remaining in the field, with their appointments, excel by far all the forces which the insurgents have now, with any augmentation they can make; that, in addition to the present forces, the orders are issued, the machinery is in motion, for the immediate addition of three hundred thousand men, all of whom will come into camps with an alacrity equal to that which has heretofore been exhibited by the people; that inactivity is already giving place to new and effective exertions which will be sufficient for the termination of the war; that below these new ranks of volunteers there still remains a mass yet sedentary, and which is daily increased by immigration, which is equal to all that has been called forth, which will be prepared as a reserve, and, if necessary, will be brought up to decide the contest. Neither the government nor the country has experienced exhaustion, or even financial pressure, but in the midst of wars and campaigns the fiscal condition of both is satisfactory, and superior to that of any other government and people. We are a nation not chiefly of cotton-growers, but of farmers, manufacturers, and miners. We will induce or oblige our slaveholding citizens to supply Europe with cotton if we can. So far as we fail we fill up the deficiency promptly by sending bread and gold. We invite foreign products such as we need at prices which we can afford to pay, and we invite a premature return of all our bonds and stocks, and will promptly pay and redeem in gold, with which cotton may be bought wherever freemen can, with gold, be induced to raise it. Let the world judge whether more can be required of us. If we are not met by serious obstacles raised by foreign powers we shall speedily open all the channels of commerce, and free them from military embarrassments, and cotton, so much desired by all nations, will flow forth as freely as heretofore. We have ascertained that there are three and a half millions of bales yet remaining in the region where it was produced, though large quantities of it are yet unginned and otherwise unprepared for the market. We have instructed the military authorities to favor, so far as they can consistently with the public safety, its preparation for and despatch to the markets, where it is so much wanted; and now, notwithstanding the obstructions which have necessarily attended the re-establishment of the federal authority in that region against watchful and desperate public enemies, in whose hands the suppression of the cotton trade by fire and force is a lever with which they expect to raise up allies throughout Europe, that trade has already begun to revive, and we are assured by our civil and military agents that it may be expected to increase fast enough to relieve the painful anxieties expressed to us by friendly nations. The President has given respectful consideration to the desire informally expressed to me by the governments of Great Britain and France for some further relaxations of the blockade in favor of that trade. They are not rejected, but are yet held under consideration, with a view to ascertain more satisfactorily whether they are really necessary, and whether they can be adopted without such serious detriment to our military operations as would render them injurious rather than beneficial to the interest of all concerned. An answer will be seasonably given, which will leave foreign powers in no uncertainty about our course. Such are the expectations of this government. They involve a continued reliance upon the practice of justice and respect of our sovereignty by foreign powers. It is not necessary for me to say that if this reliance fails, this civil war will, without our fault, become a war of continents-a war of the world; and whatever else may revive, the cotton trade built upon slave labor in this country will be irredeemably wrecked in the abrupt cessation of human bondage within the territories of the United States. SIR: I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 18th of July, (No. 191.) It is accompanied by a note which was addressed to you by Earl Russell, of the following effect, namely: It brings into view the 6th article of the new treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade, which provides that British or American merchant vessels may be lawfully detained, and sent or brought before the mixed courts of justice, if in their equipment there should be found any of the things specified in that article as usually forming part of the equipment of slave vessels. Earl Russell then specifies several suspicious circumstances, which are mentioned in the treaty as being sufficient to warrant seizure, such as a quantity of water larger than is required by a merchant vessel, an extraordinary supply of provisions, a boiler or other cooking apparatus of an unusual size, or capable of being made larger than requisite for the use of merchantmen. Earl Russell then calls attention to the 7th article of the same treaty, which provides that if any of the things specified in the said 6th article shall be found on board a vessel that may have been detained, or if any of these things shall be found to have been on board during the voyage on which she was captured, no compensation for losses or expenses consequent upon the detention of such vessel shall in any case be granted, even though she should not be condemned by the mixed court of justice. Earl Russell then observes that some of the things specified in article 6, particularly unusual supplies of water and provisions and a large cooking apparatus, may be found on board of vessels legally employed on the African coast, and therefore, he remarks, it becomes important that such vessels should not be put to any unnecessary inconvenience or detention. In this view he supposes that an American vessel, engaged in carrying liberated Africans to Liberia or to any other port of Africa, may on her voyage to or from the African coast fall in with a British cruiser, and unless the commander of the British vessel were assured that the vessel was engaged on a legal voyage she might suffer detention. So, on the other hand, his lordship supposes that a British vessel, engaged in transporting or fitted for the conveyance of liberated Africans from Sierra Leone or from St. Helena to another British colony, might suffer detention at the hands of the commander of an American cruiser, unless the commander were assured of the legality of the voyage of the British ship. His lordship, pursuing the subject, next states that, with a view to provide for the exemption from seizure or detention of vessels legally fitted for the conveyance of Africans to or from the African coast, it is the intention of her Majesty's government to cause British vessels so employed to be provided with a passport or safe conduct, to be signed by one of her Majesty's secretaries, or by the governor of the British colony from which such vessel may have sailed, and that such passport or safe conduct will state the name, tonnage, and description of the vessel, and the name of the commander, and the purpose of the voyage, and will be good only for the voyage on which the vessel will be chartered. His lordship finally proposes that this government shall furnish to American vessels which may be legally employed on the African coast, and whose equipment may render them liable to seizure and detention under the terms of the treaty, a similar passport or safe conduct, signed by a competent United States authority, and Earl Russell, on the part of her Majesty's gov ernment, guarantees that British cruisers shall not molest American vessels provided with such passports, and asks a similar guarantee to be given by this government to British vessels provided by their own government with passports in the manner before stated. The propositions have been submitted to the President of the United States. You are authorized to inform Earl Russell that they are entirely and cheerfully accepted by this government. Passports or safe conducts in the cases specified will, until further notice, be signed only by the Secretary of State of the United States. Instructions proper for executing this new arrangement will be immediately given to the naval commanders concerned therein. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of despatches from the department numbered from 291 to 302, both inclusive; also, the two despatches numbered 281 and 287, heretofore noted as missing; also, two circulars, one in writing, enclosing a copy of the emancipation bill, as proposed in the message of the President, the other printed, containing direc tions to the legation in regard to charges for passports. And lastly, three printed copies of the treaty lately executed for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade. This is the closing week of the session of parliament. Ministers indulged in the valedictory whitebait dinner yesterday, and nothing remains to be done but to perfect the details of the bill intended to give temporary relief to the operatives of the manufacturing districts during the continuance of the difficulty about cotton. It is announced that the Queen, after a brief sojourn in Scotland, is to visit the continent and spend the autumn in seclusion in Germany. So that, to all outward appearances, no expectation is entertained of the happening of any public event to vary the customary monotony of the amusements of the vacation. The speech of Sir George Cornwall Lewis, in the course of a debate last week about Canada, seemed to indicate a state of security against difficulty in America which, if well founded, would leave us nothing to desire. According to this representation, I should feel justified in making my calculations upon a considerable period of repose. On the other hand, I cannot fail to perceive the progressive consolidation of the popular prejudice against America under the operations of the continuous denunciations of the London Times. The sympathies of the higher classes are decidedly enlisted in the struggle, not from any particular affec tion for either side, but from a longing to see the political power of the United States permanently impaired. The direction which this sentiment takes is naturally most in opposition to the government which aims to reinstate its authority. That it will embody itself in any form likely to dictate action, I do not venture to predict. Much will depend upon chance or the occurrence of some favorable opportunity. At present it remains inert, and rather looking out in the hope of movement from abroad than desirous to originate anything at home. The constant cry is that the Emperor of France will interfere. The wish is so much the father to the thought that it is difficult to make people believe this ministry is not interposing much too stubbornly against the execution of his desire. If I am to credit the rumors that I hear from sources claiming to be of high authority, the Emperor has sent for Mr. Slidell and announced that he is ready to recognize the rebel States without the concurrence of England. But for the sake of courtesy he desires him to direct Mr. Mason to make a new application to the ministers, so as finally to test the determination here. These are stories which I trace pretty directly to the confederate emissaries themselves, who sedulously agitate this alternation of rumors between the two countries to serve their ends. Of the degree of credit to which they are entitled, you are in a position better qualified to judge than I. My object is simply to warn you of the prevailing temper which certainly desires interposition of some kind, and which, therefore, cannot be regarded as entirely prognosticating calmness and peace. Hence it must be remembered that however favorable the ministry here may now be to the maintenance of their declared policy, they are not in a condition to stand long in resistance to any popular outcry prompted by the concentrated passions of an agitated community. The experience of the case of the Trent is of too recent occurrence to make it necessary to seek further for an illustration of what I mean. In this view it is impossible to over estimate the degree of influence that attaches to the operations of the war of America. The tendency being always to undervalue the progress of one party and to magnify the success of the other, it is of some importance to me to be possessed, as nearly as possible, of the precise position of things. I am, therefore, much indebted to you for the accounts regularly furnished to me, giving the latest information on the subject. An impression is sedulously given that General McClellan's force is practically annulled, and that the whole work of restoration is to begin anew. This is very much aided by the complete darkness that surrounds the situation of the rebels. The exaggeration so prevalent in all our own papers, both of their numbers and condition, is skilfully used against us to prove that whilst we are suffering they are in a state of comparative ease and comfort. How diametrically opposite to the actual facts is this assumption it is needless to point out. The imagination can, if rightly moved, cover up the most unsightly skeleton in the robes of an angel of light. I shall always be glad to be possessed of the means to dissipate these illusions. But in order so to do most effectually, it is indispensable that the information given me should not only be full, but explicit, as well in regard to the less as the more favorable aspects of the situation. The best item in your last seems to me to be that the President has determined once more to give military unity to the conduct of the war. The fatal experience of Napoleon, in giving separate commands to his officers in the war of the Peninsula, appears to be a standing lesson against the repetition of such mistakes. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. No. 198.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to transmit copies of two more notes, which have been exchanged here since my last despatch, (No. 188,) touching the case of the United States steamer Saginaw and her warning to leave the port of Hong Kong. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Earl Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, July 25, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th instant, in which you call attention to the circumstances under which the United States steamer Saginaw had been required to quit the harbor of Hong Kong, in compliance with the terms of her Majesty's proclamation of the 31st of January last. You draw at the same time a comparison between the course thus adopted towards the Saginaw and that which had been followed with regard to the Sumter, at Gibraltar. I have, in reply, to observe that the difference between the circumstances of the two cases lies in the fact that the Sumter was in the waters of Gibraltar before the proclamation had been issued by her Majesty's government, whereas it appears that the Saginaw went to Hong Kong subsequent to its issue. In framing the regulations contained in the proclamation her Majesty's government have acted on the principle of impartiality, but the effect has been greatly to the advantage of the United States cruisers and to the disadvantage of those of the confederate States. I have the honor to be, with the highest considerations, sir, your most obedient humble servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. RUSSELL. Mr. Adams to Earl Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your note of the 25th instant, in answer to mine of the 14th, touching the case of the United States steamer Saginaw. In reply to my suggestion of a seeming difference of treatment experienced at Gibraltar in the case of the Sumter and at Hong Kong in the case of that vessel, your lordship remarks that it is to be attributed to the fact that the Sumter was in the waters of Gibraltar before the proclamation had been issued, whereas the Saginaw went to Hong Kong subsequently to its issue: |