He was ready to turn away in disgust, but the wants of the Confederacy compelled him to submit to whatever humiliation Earl Russell might choose to administer. He told his griefs to Mr. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State, and received condolence.
"Your correspondence with Lord Russell," wrote the Secretary, "shows with what scant courtesy you have been treated, and exhibits a marked contrast between the conduct of the English and French statesmen now in office, in their intercourse with foreign agents, eminently discreditable to the former. It is lamentable that at this late period of the nineteenth century, a nation so enlightened as Great Britain should have failed yet to discover that a principal cause of the dislike and hatred towards England, of which complaints are rife, in her Parliament and press, is the offensive arrogance of some of her public men. The contrast is striking between the polished courtesy of M. Thouvenal and the rude incivility of Lord Russell.
"Your determination to submit to these annoyances in the service of your country, and to overlook personal slights, while hope remains that your continued presence in England may benefit our cause, cannot fail to command the approval of your government."[99]
Englishmen wanted to see the great republic broken to pieces, but there were repulsive features in that system of civilization which the South was attempting to establish. The Union dead were mangled at Manassas; their bones were carved into charms and amulets. Among the mountains of Tennessee old men were dragged from their beds at midnight, and hung without judge or jury, because they loved the flag of their country. In Missouri bridges were burned at night, and men, women, and children upon railroad trains were precipitated into yawning gulfs by their neighbors! This was the work of the "master race," too "refined," "chivalric," and "gentlemanly" to associate with the laboring men of the North. Were the workingmen of Old England any more worthy than they of New England to associate with the slave-masters of the South? British operatives and mechanics understood the question,—that it was a conflict between two systems of labor,—and they rejected with disdain all overtures from the South.
The intervention of England and France was necessary to insure the success of the Rebel cause, and English and European public sentiment must be brought round to the Southern side by the power of the press. Mr. Edwin De Leon therefore was made an agent of the Confederacy to subsidize the press of Europe. The wires were pulled by Mr. Benjamin, who wrote thus to Mr. De Leon:—
"I will take measures to forward you additional means to enable you to extend the field of your operations, and to embrace, if possible, the press of Central Europe in your campaign. Austria and Prussia, as well as the smaller Germanic powers, seem to require intelligence of the true condition of our affairs, and the nature of our struggle; and it is to be hoped that you may find means to act with efficiency in moulding public opinion in those countries."[100]
That this scheme of bribery was successful will appear further on. The British government having with precipitate haste recognized the Rebels as belligerents, English merchants were quick to follow in the track of Palmerston and Russell. Merchants, bankers, admirals of the navy, officers of the army, speculators, spendthrifts, adventurers from the slums and stews of London and Liverpool, in common with members of Parliament and peers of the realm, engaged in blockade-running, not only to enrich themselves, but to aid in establishing a government based on human slavery. The agents of the Confederacy in England found hearty welcome from all classes, especially the ship-builders.
Captain Winslow and the Kearsarge.