11 nations, than that the recognition of them is an act of war. They have no more right to recognize them, because we say, “ We will deal with you as belligerent alien enemies,” than they would have to deal with them if we dealt with them simply as rebels; and no country is more sternly and strongly bound by that view than is England, because she held the recognition by France of our independence to be an act of war and declared war accordingly. [Applause.] Therefore, I do not see who would lose any rights. We do not allow that this is a rightful rebellion—we do not recognize it as such—we do not act toward it except in the best way we can to put it down and to re-revolutionize the country. But what is the duty, then, of neutrals, if these are alien enemies ? We find them a people with whom no neutral nation has any treaty of amity or alliance; they are strangers to every neutral nation, and, for example, let us take the English. The English nation have no treaty with the rebels —have no relations with the rebels—open rela- tions I mean, [laughter,] none that are recognized by the laws of nations. They have a treaty of amity and friendship with us, and now what is their duty in the contest between us and our enemies, to whom they are strangers I They claim it to ba neutrality, such neutrality as they would maintain between two friendly nations with whom they have had treaties of amity. Let me illustrate: I have two friends that have got into a quarrel—into a fight, if you please; I am on equally good terms with both, and I do not choose to take a pari with either. I treat them as belligerents, and hold myself neutral. That is the position of a nation, where two equally friendly nations are fighting. But I have a friend again who is fighting with a stranger, with whom I have nothing to do, of whom I know nothing that is good, of whom I have seen nothing except that he would fight—what is my duty, my friends, in that case? To stand perfectly neutral ? It is not the part of a friend, as between men, and it is not the part of a friendly nation as between nations. And yet, from some strange misconception, our English friends profess to do no more than to stand perfectly neutral, while they have treaties of amity with us and no treaty which they acknowledge' with the South. [Applause.] And, therefore, I say it is a much higher duty on the part of foreign nations toward u» when we are in contest with a nation with which know of,—which prevents a country from arming finy portion of its citizens; and if the slaves do not take partin the rebellion, they become simply our citizens residing in our territory which is at present usurped by out enemies. [ Applause.}-. At this waning hour, I do not propose to discuss, but merely to hint at these various subjects- [Cries of “ Go on.”] There is one question I am frequently asked, and most frequently by my old Democratic friends:—" Why, Gen, Butler, what is your experience! Will the negroes fight 1” To that I answer, I have no personal experience, because I left the Department of the Gulf before they were fairly brought into action. But they did fight under Jackson, at Chalmette. More than that Let Napoleon III. answer, who has hired them to do what the veterans of the Crimea cannot do—to whip the Mexicans. Let the veterans of Napoleon I., under Le Clerc, who were whipped by them out of St. Domingo, say whether they will fight or not. What has been the demoralizing effect upon them as a race by their Cantact with white men, I know not; but I cannot forget that their fathers would not have been •laves, but that they were captives in war, in their own country, in hand to hand fights among the several chiefs. They would fight at some time; and if you want to know any more than that, I can only advise you to try them. [Great applause.] Passing to another logical deduction from the principle that we are carrying on war against alien enemies, (for I pray you to remem- bec- that I am only carrying out the same idea upon which the Government acted when it instituted the blockade,) I meet the question whether we thereby give foreign nations any greater rights than if we considered them as a rebellious portion Of our country. We have heretofore seemed to consider, that if we acknowledged that there was a revolution, and there were alien enemies in this fight, that, therefore, we should give to foreign nations greater right to interfere in our affairs than they would have if they were rebels, con- Bidered and held by us as rebels, only in the rebellious part of our own country. The first answer to that is this : that, so far as the rebels are concerned, they are estopped to deny that they are exactly what they claim themselves to be, alien enemies; and, so far as foreign nations concerned, while they are alien to us, yet they are upon our territory, and until we acknowledge them, there is no better settled rule of the law of
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