hey could not
untie must be cut.(268) His golden idea was this: the arbitrators should
make a spontaneous declaration that on the principles of international law
the indirect claims ought to be excluded from their consideration. Adams
saw his colleagues one by one, and brought them round to his view. The
English chief justice had made up his mind that the whole thing was dead,
as he had for many months been loudly telling all London that it ought to
be. But when asked by Mr. Adams whether the spontaneous extra-judicial
declaration would remove all obstacles to progress, Cockburn answered that
he thought it would. "I said," Mr. Adams continued, "that in that event I
was prepared to make a proposition. I should be assuming a heavy
responsibility; but I should do so, not as an arbitrator representing my
country, but as representing all nations." So the indirect claims were
summarily ruled out, and the arbitration proceeded. In some notes prepared
for the cabinet on all these proceedings (Feb. 4, 1873), Lord Tenterden,
the clever and experienced British agent at Geneva, writes, "I cannot
conclude this part of the memorandum without saying that the dignity,
tact, self-command, and moderation with which Mr. Adams discharged his
functions as arbitrator, did honour to his country."

(M136) In September (1872) the five arbitrators at Geneva gave their
award. They were unanimous in finding Great Britain liable for the acts of
the _Alabama_; all save the British representative found her liable for
the _Florida_; the Italian, the Swiss, and the American against the
Englishman and the Brazilian found her liable for the _Shenandoah_ after
leaving Melbourne. They awarded in satisfaction and final settlement of
all claims, including interest, a gross sum of about three and a quarter
million pounds sterling. The award, though hardly a surprise, still
inflicted a lively twinge of mortification on the masterful and confident
people of this island. Opinion was divided, but the decision was not one
of those that cut deep or raise the public temperature to fever. The
prints of the opposition insisted that the result was profoundly
vexatious, it was a bungled settlement, and the arguments used in favour
of it were "wild sentimental rubbish." On the other hand, the _Times_
regarded it with profound satisfaction, and ministerial writers with a
lyric turn hailed it as a magnificent victory, though we had to pay a
heavy bill. A little balm was ext