party," detected strong circumstantial evidence pointing
toward a Confederate contract with the Lairds. A popular agitation
ensued along with demands upon the Government to investigate. To mask
the purposes of the Lairds, Captain James Bullock, the able special
agent of the Confederate navy, was forced to fall lack upon the same
tactics that were being used across the Channel, and to sell the rams,
on paper, to a firm in France. Neither he nor Slidell yet appreciated
what a doubtful refuge was the shadow of Napoleon's wing.

Nevertheless the British Government, by this time practically alined
with the North, continued its search for the real owner of the Laird
rams. The "Southern party," however, had not quite given up hope, and
the agitation to prevent the sailing of the rams was a keen spur to its
flagging zeal. Furthermore the prestige of Lee never was higher than it
was in June, 1863, when the news of Chancellorsville was still fresh and
resounding in every mind. It had given new life to the Confederate hope:
Lee would take Washington before the end of the summer; the Laird rams
would go to sea; the Union would be driven to the wall. So reasoned
the ardent friends of the South. But one thing was lacking--a European
alliance. What a time for England to intervene!

While Slidell was talking with the Emperor, he had in his pocket a
letter from J. A. Roebuck, an English politician who wished to force
the issue in the House of Commons. As a preliminary to moving the
recognition of the Confederacy, he wanted authority to deny a rumor
going the rounds in London, to the effect that Napoleon had taken
position against intervention. Napoleon, when he had seen the letter,
began a negotiation of some sort with this politician. It is needless to
enter into the complications that ensued, the subsequent recriminations,
and the question as to just what Napoleon promised at this time and how
many of his promises he broke. He was a diplomat of the old school,
the school of lying as a fine art. He permitted Roebuck to come over to
Paris for an audience, and Roebuck went away with the impression that
Napoleon could be relied upon to back up a new movement for recognition.
When, however, Roebuck brought the matter before the Commons at the
end of the month and encountered an opposition from the Government that
seemed to imply an understanding with Napoleon which was different from
his own, he withdrew his motion (in July). Once more th