Chapter IV: Course of the CIVIL War (3)

It would really not be much of an exaggeration to assert that, unless absent or incapacitated by illness, nearly every one of these thousands of documents was either originated by or submitted to the British Minister. The late Sir Edward Malet in his book 'Shifting Scenes,' has borne witness to the indefatigable industry of his chief. 'At Washington any quantity of letters arrived daily asking every imaginable question, and often making untenable complaints. They were all opened by Lord Lyons, who made a pencil note upon them indicating the tenor of the answer to be sent, and returned them to the Chancery. Draft answers were then written, which were again sent up to Lord Lyons with the letters. He would nearly always alter the wording. Then he put an "L" at the bottom, and returned them to be written out for signature. In this way not a letter issued from the Legation which had not been approved by the chief. It was a most valuable safeguard, for you can never be sure what a young man may say when he gets a pen into his hand. It is the moment when the evil spirit of the Jack-in-office, unless he be entirely exempt from it, which is very rare, gets the better of him, and prompts him to make some epigrammatic or cutting reply. I learned no more valuable lesson while working under Lord Lyons than that every letter received must be answered, and that the answer must be staid in form and well considered in substance, whatever might be the ignorance, the petulance, or the extravagance of the writer to whose letter you were replying.' It may be added that he rigidly adhered to this practice throughout his official career, and that there must be many members of the Diplomatic Service now living who would corroborate the opinion expressed by Sir Edward Malet.

From the same source we learn the usual routine of the Chancery during the Civil War. The secretaries and attachés had to be at their desks at 9 a.m. They worked continuously without a luncheon interval until past 7 p.m., then adjourned to Willard's Hotel to indulge in the pernicious local habit of swallowing cocktails, dined at 8, and were frequently obliged to return to the Chancery afterwards and work till midnight or even later. There is no reason whatever to suppose that Sir Edward Malet indulged in any exaggeration, and it is therefore not surprising either that the junior members of the Legation occasionally broke down or that many of them were desirous of being appointed to some less exacting post than Washington. In spite, however, of the disadvantageous circumstances under which Sir Edward Malet passed his time at Washington, it is worthy of note that he considered that every one in the British Diplomatic Service should rejoice if he had the chance of going there, and he bore emphatic testimony that, according to his experience, English people were treated with extraordinary courtesy and hospitality however high political feeling may have run.

Lord Lyons, upon arriving in England, found a home provided for him at Arundel by his sister, the widowed Duchess of Norfolk, to whom he was deeply attached, and it was hoped that the rest and retired life would restore him sufficiently to enable him to resume his post at Washington. He made, however, little progress towards recovery, and for some time was almost incapable of either physical or mental exertion; in fact, so unsatisfactory was his condition, and so remote appeared the probability of his being able to resume his duties, that, in the spring of 1865, it became necessary for him to resign his post and to retire temporarily if not permanently from the service. A letter to Mr. Stuart, a former member of his staff, explains the circumstances of his retirement.

* * * * *

_Lord Lyons to Mr. Stuart._

Norfolk House, March 16, 1865.

I am very much obliged by your kind letter inquiring for me. You
will have seen that I have gone out of the service altogether and
have become a gentleman at large without pay or pension. My health
did not admit of my fixing a time for going back, and the Cabinet
became nervous about leaving Washington without a Minister in these
critical times. I confess I do not feel so much relief or even
pleasure as might have been expected, and I seriously thought of
offering to go back immediately when I heard of the decision of the
Cabinet. But my own feelings as to health and still more the
opinions of the doctors deterred me. I have certainly got a great
deal better, but I seem to stick at a certain point. I can go about
without inconvenience, but still a small thing brings on a headache.
The old Legation at Washington is completely broken up. Malet goes
to Lisbon, Sheffield to Frankfort and Kennedy and Seymour to Vienna.
I to a certain extent enjoy being in England, but I am not well
enough nor quite sufficiently satisfied with the wind up of my
Washington Mission, to enjoy myself thoroughly. Lord Russell has
been extremely kind to me, and so indeed has every one here, but
neither I nor they can do much for my benefit while my health is in
its present state.

You seem to be doing well as usual in your present post, and you
are, I trust, flourishing in all respects.

In a letter to Mr. Seward expressing his regret at being prevented from thanking President Lincoln in person for the unvarying kindness and consideration shown to him during the last four eventful years the following passage occurs:--

You will find Sir Frederick Bruce (his successor at Washington) as
anxious as I was to act in concert with you for the maintenance of
peace and good will, and you will, I am sure, be glad to form with
him the confidential and intimate relations which did so much, in my
case, to make my task easy and agreeable. The friendly and
unconstrained terms on which we were produced so much good, that I
am most anxious that my successor's intercourse with you should be
placed at once on the same footing.

* * * * *

_Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons._

Washington, March 20, 1865.

I accept your farewell with sincere sorrow. But I reconcile myself
to it because it is a condition of restoration of your health. All
of my family commend me to tender you assurances of sympathy.

I have never desponded of my country, of emancipation of her slaves
and of her resumption of her position as an agent of peace, progress
and civilization--interests which I never fail to believe are common
with all branches of the British family. So I have had no doubt that
when this dreadful war shall be ended, the United States and Great
Britain would be reconciled and become better friends than ever.

I have thought that you are entitled to share in these great
successes, as you have taken so great a part of the trials of the
war. But God disposes. I feel sure that if I never find time to go
abroad again, you with recovered health will come here to see the
reign of peace and order. So I shall not dwell upon our parting as a
final one.

It is satisfactory to realize that these two men, between whom so many encounters had taken place, parted on terms of friendship and mutual esteem. Each, in fact, had been able to appreciate the good qualities of the other, and in subsequent communications with his own Government, Lord Lyons frequently expressed the hope that Mr. Seward would continue to be responsible for the foreign policy of the American Government.

The official acknowledgment of Lord Lyons's services at Washington was couched in warmer terms than is usually the case.

* * * * *

_Lord Russell to Lord Lyons._

Foreign Office, March 25, 1865.

As your successor, Sir Frederick Bruce, is to take his departure
this day from the shores of England, I take this opportunity to
testify to your Lordship the sense which Her Majesty's Government
entertain of your invaluable services as Her Majesty's
Representative at Washington.

The return which I enclose of the number of despatches and letters
received by Her Majesty's Mission to the United States during the
years 1864 gives some notion of the amount of labour which has been
undergone by Your Lordship, the Secretary of Legation and other
members of the Mission.

But the prudence, the moderation, the good temper, the
discrimination and the just regard to a friendly Government shown by
Your Lordship during the trying period which has elapsed while Your
Lordship was charged with the most honourable, but at the same time,
the most difficult duties with which any diplomatic agent can be
entrusted, these are incapable of any remuneration and cannot be
estimated by any measurement.

It is to be hoped that the previous pages have, to some extent, demonstrated that Lord Russell's language was not that of hyperbole, and that the value of Lord Lyons's unobtrusive services was not over-estimated. It was the good fortune of this country to be represented during a protracted and dangerous crisis by a man who, distinguished by exceptional prudence, tact, judgment, and sincerity, added to these qualities a most minute knowledge of his own duties accompanied with indefatigable industry. It is not too much to say that any one wanting in these qualities would have found it impossible to prevent the calamity of war between England and the United States, and the diplomatist who successfully avoids a catastrophe of this nature and at the same time protects the interests of his country is as deserving of gratitude as the successful commander who appears upon the scene when diplomacy had failed.

One little detail characteristic of the man is worth noting. He used to state, in after life, with much apparent satisfaction, that during his five years' residence in the United States, he had never 'taken a drink, or made a speech.'