Without a moment's hesitation, I replied, "Mr. Mason, I will inspect the contract, and if I approve it, I will inspect the goods."
I cannot convey an adequate idea of the man's astonishment. It was too great for him to express himself immediately. He was standing in front of the grate. Taking a package of "fine-cut" from his pocket, and removing from his mouth an immense quid which he threw into the grate, he replaced it with a fresh wad and, looking at me, said, "Do you know who I am? Whom do you look upon as your superiors?"
Instantly, but very quietly, I replied, "I believe you are the Honorable James M. Mason, Confederate States Commissioner to England."
"Yes," he replied, "and in a very few days I shall be Minister of the Confederate States to the Court of St. James." It was when England, France and Spain were on the point of acknowledging the Confederate States of America as a nation.
I then said, "I acknowledge no superior on this side of the ocean; in America the Secretary of War and all officers senior to me are my superiors, and especially Col. Gorgas, from whom I receive my orders. Not only on general principles can I take no orders from you, but I have an order sent me after the battle of Bull Run, giving me carte blanche, and directing me not to allow myself to be governed by political emissaries of the Government. Now, if you are not a political emissary of the Government I don't know what you are."
There was no possible answer to this defining of our relative positions and there was no more controversy. The dispute lasted some time, but I have related enough to answer my purpose.
The order to which I referred was sewed into the sole of a boot, the wearer of which, a German by birth, made the journey from Richmond to London by way of New York. On arriving in London the order was removed from its hiding place by cutting the stitches of the sole. The incident serves to show the impossibility of preventing secret correspondence in time of war.
Another incident of the same character may be mentioned. The first vessel to run the blockade from England was the "Fingal," Commander James D. Bulloch. It was necessary to send to Savannah, the port for which Commander Bulloch intended to strike, a set of signals in advance. These were secreted by removing the wrapper of a well-made cigar and carefully replacing it, after rolling the paper containing the signals upon its body. I myself did this bit of cigar work. On arriving off Savannah, Commander Bulloch displayed his signals, which were immediately answered, and he piloted his ship into the harbor with which he was familiar. So long as the War Department depended entirely on its own officers to get cotton out and run supplies in, the value of every bale of cotton that reached the Islands secured, in due time, its full equivalent in army supplies. There were some captures of cotton going out, and others of supplies going in, but the losses were for a long time inconsiderable. When, however, the contract system got into full working condition, although there were more vessels in the service, the supplies began to shrink. Contractors were "on the make." That was their business, and they pursued it eagerly, for the profits were large.
The "Nashville," which had been a packet between New York and Charleston, was purchased by the C. S. Government and converted into a cruiser, and as it was very desirable that there should be some show of naval power in a European port, she was sent under command of Captain Pegram to Southampton, where she arrived in good order. On reading the news of her arrival, I went immediately to Southampton to call on her officers, with Mr. Fearn, secretary to Mr. Yancey. The ship was, like all American ships, trim and in beautiful condition, but she was only a converted passenger ship, and must have made a poor showing had she met a U. S. ship of any size. However, she served the purpose of displaying the Confederate States flag in a foreign port and on the high seas.
My object in calling on Captain Pegram was not one of courtesy alone. A most outrageous proposal had been made to me, involving the capture of a British ship bound from Hamburg to New York, loaded with a hundred thousand Austrian rifles. The proposal, in brief, was: That I should deposit £10,000 in the Bank of England subject to the draft of one of two persons. In the event of success of the scheme, one was to draw the money; in case of failure, the other. The plan was to capture a British ship, then loading with arms at Hamburg for New York. It had been proposed to me that with a tug, having a gun on board, I should intercept the ship, fire a gun, and demand her surrender. The captain would have orders to comply with my demand, and I was to direct him to sail to Charleston.