British Government against the concession so rashly made. It was an all-sufficient warning, which this power disregarded. So far as is now known, the whole case for England is made to stand on the use of the word “Blockade” by President Lincoln. Had he used any other word, the concession of belligerency would have been without justification, even such as is now imagined. It was this word which, with magical might, opened the gates to all those bountiful supplies by which hostile expeditions were equipped against the United States: it opened the gates of war. Most appalling is it to think that one little word, unconsciously used by a trusting President, could be caught up by a friendly power and made to play such a part. I may add that there is one other word often invoked for apology. It is “Neutrality,” which, it is said, was proclaimed between two belligerents. Nothing could be fairer, always provided that the “neutrality” proclaimed did not begin with a concession to one party without which this party would be powerless. Between two established Nations, both independent, as between Russia and France, there may be neutrality; for the two are already equal in rights, and the proclamation would be precisely equal in its operation. But where one party is an established Nation, and the other is nothing but an odious combination of Rebels, the proclamation is most unequal in operation; for it begins by a solemn investiture of Rebels with all the rights of war, saying to them, as was once said to the youthful knight, “Rise; here is a sword; use it.” To call such an investiture a proclamation of neutrality is a misnomer. It was a proclamation of equality between the National Government on the one side and Rebels on the other, and no plausible word can obscure this distinctive character. Then came the building of the pirate ships, one after another. While the Alabama was still in the ship-yard, it became apparent that she was intended for the Rebels. Our Minister at London and our Consul at Liverpool exerted themselves for her arrest and detention. They were put off from day to day. On the 24th July, 1862, Mr. Adams “completed his evidence,” accompanied by an opinion from the eminent barrister, Mr. Collier, afterward Solicitor-General, declaring the plain duty of the British Government to stop her.[59] Instead of acting promptly by the telegraph, five days were allowed to run out, when at last, too tardily, the necessary order was dispatched. Meanwhile the pirate ship escaped from the port of Liverpool by a stratagem, and her voyage began with music and frolic. Here, beyond all question, was negligence, or, according to the language of Lord Brougham on another occasion, “crass negligence,” making England justly responsible for all that ensued.