Yet still it beats, responsive, deep,
Its strong pulse throbbing through the land,
Gathering a human flood, to sweep
Resistless, o'er the rebel band!
Firmly resolved to win success,
We'll tread the path our fathers trod,
Unflinching to the conflict press,
And, fearless, trust our cause to God!
New York Evening Post, July 26, 1861.
The North soon had another bitter pill to swallow. On May 13, 1861, Great Britain issued a proclamation of neutrality, recognizing the Confederacy as a belligerent power. England's sympathy, because of close trade relations, was with the South, and the Southern people counted on her eventually recognizing their independence.
SHOP AND FREEDOM
[May 13, 1861]
Though with the North we sympathize,
It must not be forgotten
That with the South we've stronger ties,
Which are composed of cotton,
Whereof our imports 'mount unto
A sum of many figures;
And where would be our calico,
Without the toil of niggers?
The South enslaves those fellow-men
Whom we love all so dearly;
The North keeps commerce bound again,
Which touches us more nearly.
Thus a divided duty we
Perceive in this hard matter—
Free trade, or sable brothers free?
Oh, will we choose the latter!
London Punch.
James M. Mason and John Slidell were appointed commissioners from the Confederacy to England and France; they reached Havana on a little steamer that had run the blockade, and took passage for Southampton in the British mail steamship Trent. On November 8, 1861, in the Bahama Channel, the Trent was overhauled by the American man-of-war San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes. She was compelled to stop, and Mason and Slidell and their secretaries were taken from her by force.