the Confederate position to
England and France, in order to secure recognition of the new nation.
Mr. William L. Yancey was placed at the head of this commission, and
with him were associated Mr. A. D. Mason of Virginia, and Mr. A. P. Rost
of Louisiana. The first month of the term of the Confederate Secretary
of State was occupied in the issue of letters of marque. On the 19th of
April President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Southern ports, and
declared that privateers with letters of marque from the Southern
Confederacy should be treated as pirates. This gave Secretary Toombs a
strong point in dealing with foreign powers. The new government had been
organized with promptness and ability. Great energy was shown in getting
the civil and military branches equipped. The Southern position had been
presented with great strength abroad, and France and England were not
slow in framing proclamations recognizing the Confederate States as
belligerents. Next to immediate recognition as a separate nationality,
this step was significant, and was the first triumph of the diplomacy of
Secretary Toombs over Secretary Seward. Then came the demand from the
foreign powers that the blockade must be effectual, imposing a heavy
burden upon the Northern States. Lord Lyons, acting in Washington in
concert with the French Government, declared that "Her Majesty's
Government would consider a decree closing the ports of the South,
actually in possession of the Confederate States, as null and void, and
they would not submit to measures on the high seas pursuant to such a
decree." Mr Seward bitterly complained that Great Britain "did not
sympathize with this government." The British Minister accordingly
charged the British Consul at Charleston with the task of obtaining from
the Confederate Government securities concerning the proper treatment
of neutrals. He asked the accession of the Lincoln government and of the
Davis government to the Declaration of Paris of 1856, which had adopted
as articles of maritime law that privateering be abolished; that the
neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of
war; that neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are
not liable to capture under the enemy's flag; that a blockade, in order
to be binding, must be effectual, that is, must be maintained by a force
sufficient to prevent access to the coast of the enemy. These
conditions, except the first, were accepted by the Con