A curious statement is made in the Philadelphia letter of
the 'Times printed on Thursday as to the cause of Mr. Motley's recall, —a statement which is, of course, quite unsupported, and on the lace of it not very probable, if we are to suppose that American -diplomatists are not entirely unlike all other diplomatists. The writer says that Mr. Motley was recalled for stating to the British Government his own views of the Alabama question, and not those of the President,—his views being in some respects quite opposed to those of the President. If this were so, of course there could be but one course open ; it would be suicidal for any -Government to be overridden by its own servants. But it is a very strange and not a very fair statement, considering that Mr. Motley is still American Minister de facto, and cannot possibly refute the assertion or defend himself till he has resigned, and hardly even then, unless the correspondence be presented to Con- gress and made a public matter. We doubt if it is justifiable to print charges of this kind against a public man whose mouth is shut and whom no one else can defend, because the truth can be known to no one else.
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