GREAT BRITAIN. 



409 



duced "Traits of Travel," "The Heiress of 

 Bruges," " Jacqueline of Holland," "Agnes 

 de Mansfeldt," "Legends of the Rhine," &c., 

 &c. ; also a "History of the Netherlands " for 

 Lardner's Cyclopedia, and a " History of Swit- 

 zerland." His tragedy, " Ben Nazir, the Sara- 

 cen," written for Edmund Kean, failed owing 

 to the impaired memory and total loss of the 

 power of study in the actor. Having taken an 

 active part in supporting the pretensions of 

 Kins Leopold to the throne of Belgium, he was 

 at that monarch's special request appointed in 

 1839 British Consul to Massachusetts, and 

 fixed his residence in Boston. He held this 

 position until 1853, when he resigned in favor 

 of his son. The last ten years of his life were 

 1 in London, where appeared, in 1859, 

 hi; "Civilized America," a splenetic attack upon 

 American society and institutions. Other 

 works suggested by his residence in America 

 were, the drama, " The Woman of Color," and 

 "England and the Disrupted States of Amer- 

 ica." His latest contribution to literature was, 

 " Beaten Paths, and Those who Tread them." 

 Besides his acknowledged works he wrote an 

 immense number of -magazine and review 

 articles, was a humorous and caustic speaker, 

 and of excellent conversational powers. 



GREAT BRITAIN ; OK, THE UNITED KING- 

 DOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Area 

 112.406 square miles. Population, 1861, 29,- 

 834.783. Capital, London. Government, a 

 Constitutional Monarchy. Parliament, two 

 Houses, Lords and Commons. Queen Alex- 

 andrina Victoria. Heir Apparent, Albert Ed- 

 ward, Prince of Wales, eldest son of the 

 Queen. Cabinet, Viscount Palmerston, first 

 Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister) ; Earl 

 Granville, Lord President of the Council ; Lord 

 High Chancellor, Lord Westbnry ; Lord Privy 

 Seal, Duke of Argyle : Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer, Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone ; Secre- 

 tary of State for the Home Department, Right 

 Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart. ; Secretary of 

 State for Foreign Affairs. Earl Russell ; for the 

 Colonies, Right Hon. Edward Card well; for 

 War, Earl de Grey and Ripon ; for India, Ridit 

 Hon. Sir C. Wood, Bart. ; First Lord of the 

 Admiralty, Duke of Somerset; Postmaster 

 General, Lord Stanlev, of Alderly ; President 

 of the Board of Trade, Right Hon. T. Milner 

 Gibson ; President of Poor Law Board, Right 

 Hon. C. P. Villiers ; Chancellor of the Duchy 

 of Lancaster,. Earl of Clarendon. 



Aside from diplomatic questions (for which 

 I "IPLOMATIO CORRESPONDENCE), there was 

 but little of special interest in the relations of 

 Great Britain and the United States, during the 

 year 1864. The cases of the Alexandra and 

 the rebel rams, built by Laird, of Liverpool, 

 (alluded to in the ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 

 1863, p. 457), being thrown out by the Hou?e 

 of Lords on appeal, upon technical grounds, 

 were finally settled by the return of the Alex- 

 andra to her owners, under bond that she 

 should not be used for hostile purposes, and the 



purchase by the English Government of tlio 

 steam rams. In the English House of Lords 

 on the 5th of April, the Marquis of Clanricarde 

 moved for the correspondence with the Confed- 

 erate States, in reference to the removal of the 

 British consuls from Southern ports, and the 

 enlistment of English subjects in the rebel 

 army. Earl Russell agreed to the motion, after 

 amending it by inserting the words " so called" 

 before "Confederate States," lest it should be 

 imagined that Parliament had recognized the 

 Confederacy. On the 29th of April, a sharp 

 debate took place in the House of Lords, in re- 

 lation to the measures of the Government in 

 seizing the rams alleged to have been built for 

 the Confederate Government The Earl of 

 Derby, in a long and elaborate speech, con- 

 demned the entire action of the Government 

 in the matter. Earl Russell replied at length, 

 defending the course of the Government. He 

 said that it was every way desirable to main- 

 tain relations of amity with the United States; 

 that the Messrs. Laird, the builders of these 

 vessels, had it in their power to commit Great 

 Britain in hostilities with the Northern State?, 

 and that it was only the vigilance of the Gov- 

 ernment which prevented this from having 

 been done. These men and some others, he 

 said, in continuation, "have done everything 

 in their power, by fitting put ships, by engag- 

 ing in contracts for supplying vessels of war to 

 the other belligerent, to give to the United States 

 a just cause of war against this country. What 

 I have been apprehensive of, is giving the Uni- 

 ted States just cause of war; that we should 

 commit such acts that the United States can 

 truly say, ' You, professing to be neutral, are in 

 fact at war with this country, and are carrying 

 on hostilities with us under the guise of friend- 

 ship and peace.' The only thing with whicji 

 I should be disposed to reproach myself in the 

 present case is the degree of credulity with 

 which I received the assurances that were 

 made that the iron-clads were not intended for 

 the Confederate States." 



On the 13th of May, Mr. Cobden presented 

 to the House of Commons a petition from the 

 ship-owners of Liverpool, praying that in caso 

 the existing laws (in regard to war vessels sold 

 to belligerents) were insufficient for the pres- 

 ervation of a strict neutrality, Parliament 

 would make such amendments to the Foreign 

 Enlistment Act as would secure the end desired. 

 Mr. Cobden, on presenting the petition, made a 

 speech, in which he said that "the British 

 Government had already done its worst against 

 the American mercantile marine. The injury, 

 considering merely the amount of property de- 

 stroyed, amounted to fifteen millions of dollars, 

 but this was not all ; that which had not been 

 destroyed, had been rendered useless. In 1860, 

 one-third of the American commerce was car- 

 ried on in foreign bottoms ; in 1863, three- 

 fourths ; and this was owing to the privateers 

 armed and equipped in English ports." 



On the 19th of June, the naval battle be- 



