I think it may be received as a fact that the Northern States,
taken together, sent a full tenth of their able-bodied men into the
ranks of the army in the course of the summer and autumn of 1861.
The South, no doubt, sent a much larger proportion; but the effect
of such a drain upon the South would not be the same, because the
slaves were left at home to perform the agricultural work of the
country. I very much doubt whether any other nation ever made such
an effort in so short a time. To a people who can do this it may
well be granted that they are in earnest; and I do not think it
should be lightly decided by any foreigner that they are wrong.
The strong and unanimous impulse of a great people is seldom wrong.
And let it be borne in mind that in this case both people may be
right - the people both of North and South. Each may have been
guided by a just and noble feeling, though each was brought to its
present condition by bad government and dishonest statesmen.
There can be no doubt that, since the commencement of the war the
American feeling against England has been very bitter. All
Americans to whom I spoke on the subject admitted that it was so.
I, as an Englishman, felt strongly the injustice of this feeling,
and lost no opportunity of showing, or endeavoring to show, that
the line of conduct pursued by England toward the States was the
only line which was compatible with her own policy and just
interests and also with the dignity of the States government.
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