Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/759

Rh dent sustained with Mr. Seward relations of the closest intimacy, and for that reason, perhaps, shared more directly in the labors of his depart- ment. He revised the first draft of most of Sew- ard's important despatches, and changed and amended their language with remarkable wisdom and skill. He was careful to avoid all sources of controversy or ill-feeling with foreign nations, and when they occurred he did his best to settle them in the interests of peace, without a sacrifice of national dignity. At the end of the year 1861 the friendly relations be- tween England and the United States were seri- ously threatened by the capture of the Confeder- ate envoys, Mason and Slidell, on board a Brit- ish merchant-ship. (See Wilkes, Charles.) Pub- lic sentiment approved the capture, and, as far as could be judged by every manifestation in the press and in con- gress, was in favor of retaining the prisoners and defiantly refusing the demand of England for their return. But when the president, af- ter mature deliberation, decided that the capture was against American precedents, and direct- ed their return to Brit- ish custody, the second thought of the country was with him. His pru- dence and moderation were also conspicuously displayed in his treat- ment of the question of the invasion of Mexico by France, and the establish- ment by mili- tary power of the emperor Maximilian in that coun- try. Accept- ing as genuine the protesta- tions of the emperor of the French, that he intended no interference with the will of the people of Mexi- co, he took no measures unfriendly to France or the empire, except those involved in the mainte- nance of unbroken friendship with the republican government under President Juarez, a proceeding that, although severely criticised by the more ar- dent spirits in congress, ended, after the presi- dent's death, in the triumph of the National party in Mexico and the downfall of the invaders. He left no doubt, however, at any time, in regard to his own conviction that " the safety of the people of the United States and the cheerful destiny to which they aspire are intimately dependent upon the maintenance of free republican institutions throughout Mexico." He dealt in a sterner spirit with the proposition for foreign mediation that the emperor of the French, after seeking in vain the concurrence of other European powers, at last presented singly at the beginning of 1863. This proposition, under the orders of the president, was declined by Mr. Seward on 6 Feb., in a despatch of remarkable ability and dignity, which put an end to all discussion of overtures of inter- vention from European powers. The diplomatic relations with England were exceedingly strained at several periods during the war. The build- ing and fitting out of Confederate cruisers in English ports, and their escape, after their con- struction and its purpose had been made known by the American min- ister, more than once brought the two nations to the verge of war; but the moderation with which the claims of the United States were made by Mr. Lincoln, the en- ergy and ability dis- played by Sec. Seward and by Mr. Charles Francis Adams in pre- senting these claims,and, it must now be recog- nized, the candor and honesty with which the matter was treated by Earl Russell, the British minister for foreign af- fairs, saved the two coun- tries from that irrepara- ble disaster ; and the British government at last took such measures as were necessary to put an end to this indirect war from the shores of England upon American commerce. In the course of two years the war attained such propor- tions that vol- unteering was no longer a sufficient re- source to keep the army, con- sisting at that time of near- ly a million men, at its full fighting strength. Congress therefore authorized, and the departments executed, a scheme of enrolment and draft of the arms-bearing population of the loyal states. Violent opposition arose to this measure in manv parts of the country, which was stimu- lated bv the speeches of orators of the oppo- sition, and led, in many instances, to serious breaches of the public peace. A frightful riot, beginning among the foreign population of New York, kept that citv in disorder and terror for three davs in July, 1863. But the riots were sup- pressed, "the disturbances quieted at last, and the draft was executed throughout the country. Cle- ment L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, one of the most eloquent and influential orators of the Democratic party, was arrested in Ohio by Gen. Burnside for