“I will not detain you further on these subjects; but one remark I must make on the general tendency of these speeches and writings in America. The Government of America discusses these matters very fairly with the English Government. Sometimes we think them quite in the wrong; sometimes they say we are quite in the wrong; but we discuss them fairly, and with regard to the Secretary of State I see no complaint to make. I think he weighs the disadvantages and difficulties of our situation in a very fair and equal balance. But there are others, and Mr. Sumner is one of them, his speech being an epitome almost of all that has been contained in the American press, by whom our conduct is very differently judged.” In defending the concession of belligerent rights to Rebel Slavery, Earl Russell forgot two things: first, that the Rebels, whatever their numbers, were without ports or Prize Courts, and therefore unable to administer justice on the ocean, which was essential to the protection of neutrals, and, in the nature of things, the condition precedent of any such concession; and, secondly, he forgot, that, whatever might be the traditional relations with existing nations “permitting Slavery to exist among them,” it was now proposed, for the first time in history, to recognize a rebel community seeking to found a new nation whose declared corner-stone was Slavery, which Mr. Sumner insisted was contrary to good morals and the Antislavery principles so constantly and loftily avowed by England. On another occasion Earl Russell seems to have laid down a rule requiring Prize Courts, as will be seen in Mr. Sumner’s speech.[172] He insisted that vessels seized should be tried in a Prize Court. If this rule is correct, how vindicate the award of belligerent rights to a community without Prize Courts? Another question may also be asked: If Slavery be, as Earl Russell declared, “one of the most horrible crimes that yet disgrace humanity,” how could England make any concession to Rebels whose single declared object of separate existence was this very crime? The answer to Mr. Sumner on Prize Courts will be appreciated after reading the report in the London _Times_, June 16, 1863,[173] of what Earl Russell actually said in the House of Lords.