[604] Lyons Papers. Russell to Lyons, May 10, 1862.
[605] F.O., France, Vol. 1427. No. 544. Cowley to Russell, April 28, 1862.
[606] Ibid., Vol. 1438. No. 563. To Russell. Mercier's conduct appeared to Cowley as "want of courtesy" and "tardy confidence" to Lyons. Ibid., No. 566. May 1, 1862. To Russell.
[607] Ibid., No. 574. Cowley to Russell, May 2, 1862.
[608] Thouvenel, Le Secret de l'Empereur, II, p. 299.
[609] Mason Papers. Slidell to Mason, May 3, 14 and 16, 1862. Mason to Slidell, May 5, 14 and 16, 1862.
[610] Ibid., Slidell to Mason, May 16, 1862. Billault was a member of the French Ministry, but without portfolio.
[611] Several accounts have been given of this episode. The two known to me treating it at greatest length are (1) Callahan, Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy and (2) Sears, A Confederate Diplomat at the Court of Napoleon III. Am. Hist. Rev., Jan., 1921. Both writers drew their information wholly from Confederate documents, using, especially, the private correspondence of Mason and Slidell, and neither treats the matter from the English view point. I have therefore based my account on the unused letters of British officials, citing other materials only where they offer a side light. The principal new sources are Cowley's private and official letters to Russell.
[612] Russell Papers. Cowley to Russell. Private. April 13, 1862.
[613] Mason Papers. April 12, 1862.