event occurred which for a time seemed likely to
bring England to the aid of the Confederates. The Confederate
Government had appointed as diplomatic commissioners to England two
gentlemen, Messrs. Mason and Slidell. They had escaped from Mobile on
a fleet blockade-runner, and reached Havana, where they remained a
week waiting for the regular English packet to convey them to
Liverpool. While in Havana they were lavishly entertained by the
colony of Confederate sympathizers there; and feeling perfectly safe,
now that they were outside the jurisdiction of the United States, they
made no attempt to conceal their official character, and boasted of
the errand upon which they were sent.

The United States frigate "San Jacinto," which was one of the many
vessels kept rushing about the high seas in search of the privateer
"Sumter," happened to be in the harbor of Havana at this time. She was
commanded by Capt. Wilkes, an officer who had made an exhaustive study
of international law, particularly as bearing upon the right of a
war-vessel to search a vessel belonging to a neutral nation. Capt.
Wilkes, knowing that by capturing the Confederate commissioners, he
could win for himself the applause of the entire North, determined to
make the attempt. By a study of his books bearing on international
law, he managed to convince himself that he was justified in stopping
the British steamer, and taking from it by force the bodies of Messrs.
Mason and Slidell. Accordingly he set sail from the harbor of Havana,
and cruised up and down at a distance of more than a marine league
from the coast, awaiting the appearance of the vessel. Five days after
the "San Jacinto's" departure, the commissioners set sail in the
British mail-steamer "Trent." She was intercepted in the Bahama
Channel by the "San Jacinto." When the man-of-war fired a blank
cartridge as a signal to heave to, the commander of the "Trent" ran
the British flag to the peak, and continued, feeling secure under the
emblem of neutrality. Then came a more peremptory summons in the shape
of a solid shot across the bows; and, as the incredulous captain of
the "Trent" still continued his course, a six-inch shell was dropped
within about one hundred feet of his vessel. Then he stopped. A boat
put off from the "San Jacinto," and made for the "Trent." Up the side
of the merchant-vessel clambered a spruce lieutenant, and demanded the
immediate surrender of the two commissioners. The captain