Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton.
Sir: Your despatch of the 17th of April (No. 137) has only at this hour come to my hands.
It is hardly necessary now to explain why I was content to dwell so briefly upon the Emperor’s desire for a relaxation of the blockade in my despatch No. 133. New Orleans was at that very moment beset, and the reduction of that important port was expected without delay. When it should have taken place, the question of modifying the blockade would become not only an immediate question, but one easy of solution. The event anticipated has occurred, and the consequence has followed. The present mail carries to Europe the proclamation of the President which opens the door to domestic and foreign trade, under necessary reservations. The sincerity of the President in all that I have written in this respect is not to be questioned. If the trials of civil war, amid the fears of foreign intervention, have obliged this government to practice prudence, the greatness of the cause has, at the same time, awakened profound conscientiousness and devotion to truth.
How great will be the fruits of the opening of our ports for the export of cotton, and how speedy the fruition of them, will now depend largely on the maritime powers. There is not, indeed, one armed cruiser of the insurgents afloat; not one port on our coast in which a pirate can find shelter, or from which it could escape. Nevertheless, the defeated faction can destroy the materials of trade, and can prevent culture and production. They can do these things, however, only upon the pretence that they thus hope to constrain foreign nations to assume their cause. Meantime the armies of the United States constantly become more firm and consolidated; and a navy is coming into activity which will soon be equal to every possible conflict. The resources of the insurgent faction are failing and the forces exhausted, and the passion which has been their only moral element is subsiding. Shall we be now allowed to have peace, or must we still persevere in the organization and conduct of war? Distress, attributed to this war, everywhere reveals itself in Europe. The British statesman seeks to soothe it by apologies at Manchester; the Belgian authorities direct musical concerts to raise funds to relieve the destitution at Liege; and the French manufacturer of silk and cotton fabrics is already brought to the practice of frugality in feeding his looms. If the war in America has produced these inconveniences, it is only peace in America that can end them. Europe set out at the beginning of this strife with the idea that America would consent to procure peace through a dissolution of the Union. Has not America dared and done enough already to satisfy Europe that peace, with all its blessings, will be accepted on no other terms than the unity of the American republic? Let the world accept this truth, and then the plough, the shuttle, and the transport will come again into activity. Less than a year will witness the dissolution of all the [Page 340] armies; the iron-clad navy will rest idly in our ports; taxes will immediately decrease, and new States will be coming into the confederacy, bringing rich contributions to the relief and comfort of mankind. What European state will not be profited by this change? Is there no one that will have the magnanimity to perceive that it ought to be accepted?
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
William L. Dayton, Esq., &c., &c., &c.