Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States Volume 4 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1871 Excerpt: ...emphatic and weighty opinion that Canada in particular had reason to congratulate herself on the result of the negotiations. After the powerful and masterly argument of the honorable and learned member for Richmond, it was unnecessary for him to enter into the question at large, and, carefully avoiding such an attempt, he wished to say, with respect to the period of the American war, how extremely just the remarks of his honorable and learned friend had been. We lived in times when the duties of neutrals were gradually becoming more and more delicate and diffcult; of all neutral countries our position was most delicate and difficult, from the extent and complications of our foreign relations, which formed so large a proportion of our national activity; and we knew from anxious and painful experience in the past, as we must anticipate for the future, that whatever uprightness of intention we might have, and however assiduously we might guard ourselves, it would not be possible for us to escape being suspected when causes of conflict occurred. In the case of the war between France and Germany, nobody could suppose that there was any bias on our part toward one side or the other, and yet we failed to give that satisfaction which we honestly endeavored and desired to give. He did not wish to imply that in the case either of those countries or that of America he complained of complaints which were the natural results of excitement on the part of men engaged in desperate conflict, and of the delicate nature of the questions with which neutrals had to deal, and he believed that uprightness of intention and due and reasonable care would secure avoidance of quarrel and ultimately in time of peace a general acknowledgment of our impartiality. There were many circumst...