The question therefore was not whether foreign powers had a right to recognize, but whether the time and method of such recognition were not distinctly hostile,-- whether they were not the efficient and coldly calculated means to strengthen the hands of the Rebellion.
Blaine raises concerns about the timing and intent behind foreign recognition of the Confederacy.
Share
More from James Blaine
In my judgment our sole authority for the acts which we have done during the last four years was the authority communicated to Congress by the Constitution to suppress insurrection.
I am in no boastful mood: I shall not do more than I can, but I shall do all I can to save the Government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination.
It is to the eminent credit of the Republican members of Congress that they stood in a crisis of this magnitude true to principle, firm against all the power and all the patronage of the Administration.
The wonder excited by the raising of the vast army which saved the Union from destruction was even surpassed by the wonder excited by its prompt and peaceful dissolution.
Other voices in this conversation
