ed the North could conquer the South. But it did
indicate a renewed vigour for the policy of neutrality and a
determination not to get into war with America. Adams wrote to Seward,
"I am inclined to believe that the happening of the affair of the
_Trent_ just when it did, with just the issue that it had, was rather
opportune than otherwise[499]." Hotze, the confidential agent of the
Confederacy in London, stated, "the _Trent_ affair has done us
incalculable injury," Russell is now "an avowed enemy of our
nationality[500]." Hotze was over-gloomy, but Russell himself declared
to Lyons: "At all events I am heart and soul a neutral ... what a fuss
we have had about these two men[501]."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 399: The _Trent_ was the cause of the outpouring of more
contemporary articles and pamphlets and has been the subject of more
historical writing later, than any other incident of diplomatic
relations between the United States and Great Britain during the Civil
War--possibly more than all other incidents combined. The account given
in this chapter, therefore, is mainly limited to a brief statement of
the facts together with such new sidelights as are brought out by
hitherto unknown letters of British statesman; to a summary of British
public attitude as shown in the press; and to an estimate of the _after
effect_ of the _Trent_ on British policy. It would be of no service to
list all of the writings. The incident is thoroughly discussed in all
histories, whether British or American and in works devoted to
international law. The contemporary American view is well stated, though
from a strongly anti-British point of view, in Harris, T.L., _The Trent
Affair_, but this monograph is lacking in exact reference for its many
citations and can not be accepted as authoritative. The latest review is
that of C.F. Adams in the _Proceedings_ of the Massachusetts Historical
Society for November, 1911, which called out a reply from R.H. Dana, and
a rejoinder by Mr. Adams in the _Proceedings_ for March, 1912.]

[Footnote 400: C.F. Adams, _The Trent Affair_. (_Proceedings_, Mass.
Hist. Soc., XLV, pp. 41-2.)]

[Footnote 401: _Parliamentary Papers, 1862, Lords_, Vol. XXV.
"Correspondence respecting the _Trent_." No. 1. Inclosure. Williams to
Patey, Nov. 9, 1861.]

[Footnote 402: Harris, _The Trent Affair_, pp. 103-109, describes the
exact _force_ used.]

[Footnote 403: Dana, _The Trent Affair_. (_Proceedings_, Mass. Hist.
Soc., XL