Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward.
No. 478.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
August 21, 1863.
Sir: I have received the accompanying copy of a
resolution adopted at a special meeting of the Union and Emancipation
Society of Manchester on the 6th instant, with a request that I would
forward it to the President. It is very natural that those persons, who
have held firmly with us through the vicissitudes of the struggle,
should rejoice in our success. I do not, however, perceive that their
act calls for any special notice.
The same association has also adopted a resolution of sympathy with
General Neal Dow, in his captivity at Richmond. Inasmuch as General Dow
is
[Page 401]
well known here as an
advocate of temperance as well as of emancipation, I have been asked to
say a word in aid of the desire of these persons to secure particular
attention to his case at Washington. Having no doubt that the government
intends to be firm in its policy of protecting all those persons who
fight the battles of the Union in favor of human freedom, I should think
any such interposition on my part as not only superfluous, but bordering
on the offensive.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
Hon. Wm. H. Seward,, Secretary of State, &c.
Resolutions of the Union and Emancipation
Society of Manchester.
At a special meeting of the executive of the Union and Emancipation
Society, Manchester, August 6, 1863, to join their congratulations
and thanksgivings with the friends of freedom in America, in view of
recent victories to the federal cause, the following resolutions
were unanimously adopted:
“That the executive of the Union and Emancipation Society hereby
record their hearty sympathy with the loyal citizens of the American
republic, and cordially congratulate them on the great success the
cause of freedom and good government has achieved in the victory of
Gettysburg, and the reduction of the Mississippi fortresses of
Vicksburg and Port Hudson.
“That throughout the course of the great struggle which is taking
place in the North American continent we have watched the progress
of events with the most profound anxiety, because we have recognized
that the defeat of the loyal party in the United States would,
necessarily, compromise the best rights and highest interests of the
human race, in the subversion of popular government, and of that
personal freedom, without which popular government is a mockery.
“That whilst deeply anxious in regard to the momentous issues which
are at stake, we have never ceased to hope and believe that the
patriotism, perseverance, and good faith of the American people
would eventually surmount the difficulties which necessarily arose
when the nation was roused from the midst of its peaceful pursuits,
and compelled to confront an armed rebellion cautiously planned,
skilfully initiated, and abundantly supplied, by various acts of
successful fraud and treachery, with means for the furtherance of
its designs.
“That we devoutly trust that the success of the loyal citizens of the
United States will lead to the speedy establishment of the Union on
the only basis which can be permanently secure—the maintenance of
the dignity of labor, by the unconditional abolition of all property
in human beings; and that, judging from the history of other civil
conflicts, we cannot believe that the restoration of the Union is,
as has been constantly predicted, impossible, or unlikely, if public
affairs continue to be administered by the federal government with
energy, integrity, and wisdom.”
Moved by Mr. Thomas H. Barker; seconded by Mr. J. R. Cooper.
JOHN C. EDWARDS,
EDWARD OWEN GREENING, Hon.
Sec’s.
Offices of the Union and Emancipation
Society, 51 Piccadilly,
Manchester.
