“My dear Mr. Bright,—Since my return from England I have seen many of our ablest men, including the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Senator Sumner, several other members of the Senate, and members of the House of Representatives, the Governors of several States, leading editors in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, and I have found only one that advocated war with England.
“I am more than ever convinced that if the English government would send to Washington yourself, the Duke of Argyll, and Earl Granville as special ambassadors to act with the British minister, the whole controversy between England and America could be settled in a few months. Please give this matter your careful consideration. I send you by this mail the New Englander for July, containing an article on the Alabama question written by President Woolsey, of Yale College.
“With kind regards to your family and with great respect,
“I remain, my dear Mr. Bright,
“Very truly your friend,
“Cyrus W. Field.”
“Rochdale, August 24, 1869.
“My dear Mr. Field,—I am glad to have your letter, and note its contents with much interest. I do not see how your suggestion can be adopted at present.
“Whatever is done now towards a settlement must necessarily come from your side. We have done all we can. Your government sent an envoy with the unanimous assent of the Senate. He came avowedly with the object of arranging an existing difficulty. He made certain propositions on the part of his government. These were considered by our government, and finally were adopted and consented to. A convention was signed, including everything your minister had asked for, and this convention was rejected by your Senate. Who knows that it will not reject any other convention? If you have an envoy who has no power to negotiate, and an executive government which cannot ratify a treaty, where is the security for further negotiation? We cannot come to Washington and express our regret that Reverdy Johnson did not ask for more. We gave him all he asked for, all that Mr. Seward asked for, all that the then President asked for. What could we have done, what can we now do more?
