It
was believed that the one great obstacle to the adoption of Marcy's
amendment lay in the naval supremacy of Great Britain, and that obstacle
proved insurmountable. Thus the United States refused to accede to the
Declaration, and there the matter rested until 1861. But on April 17
Jefferson Davis proclaimed for the Southern Confederacy the issue of
privateers against Northern commerce. On April 24 Seward instructed
representatives abroad, recounting the Marcy proposal and expressing the
hope that it still might meet with a favourable reception, but
authorizing them to enter into conventions for American adherence to the
Declaration of 1856 on the four points alone. This instruction was sent
to the Ministers in Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria,
Belgium, Italy, and Denmark; and on May 10 to the Netherlands.
Having received this instruction, Adams, at the close of his first
meeting with Russell on May 18, after having developed at length the
American position relative to the issue of the British Proclamation of
Neutrality, briefly added that he was directed to offer adherence by
means of a convention, to the Declaration of Paris. Russell replied that
Great Britain was willing to negotiate, but "seemed to desire to leave
the subject in the hands of Lord Lyons, to whom he intimated that he had
already transmitted authority[242].
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