No. 114. Adams to Seward,
Feb. 13, 1862.]

[Footnote 500: Pickett Papers. Hotze to Hunter, March 11, 1862.]

[Footnote 501: Lyons Papers. Russell to Lyons, Feb. 8, 1862.]

CHAPTER VIII

THE BLOCKADE

The six months following the affair of the _Trent_ constituted a period
of comparative calm in the relations of Great Britain and America, but
throughout that period there was steadily coming to the front a Northern
belligerent effort increasingly effective, increasingly a cause for
disturbance to British trade, and therefore more and more a matter for
anxious governmental consideration. This was the blockade of Southern
ports and coast line, which Lincoln had declared _in intention_ in his
proclamation of April 19, 1861.

As early as December, 1860, Lyons had raised the question of the
relation of British ships and merchants to the secession port of
Charleston, South Carolina, and had received from Judge Black an evasive
reply[502]. In March, 1861, Russell had foreseen the possibility of a
blockade, writing to Lyons that American precedent would at least
require it to be an effective one, while Lyons made great efforts to
convince Seward that _any_ interference with British trade would be
disastrous to the Northern cause in England. He even went so far as to
hint at British intervention to preserve trade[503]. But on April 15,
Lyons, while believing that no effective blockade was possible, thought
that the attempt to institute one was less objectionable than
legislation "closing the Southern Ports as Ports of Entry," in reality a
mere paper blockade and one which would "justify Great Britain and
France in recognizing the Southern Confederacy...." Thus he began to
weaken in opposition to _any_ interference[504]. His earlier expressions
to Seward were but arguments, without committing his Government to a
line of policy, and were intended to make Seward step cautiously.

Possibly Lyons thought he could frighten the North out of a blockade
campaign. But when the Civil War actually began and Lincoln, on April
19, declared he had "deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade," and
that when a "competent force" had been posted "so as to prevent entrance
and exit of vessels," warning would be given to any vessel attempting to
enter or to leave a blockaded port, with endorsement on her register of
such warning, followed by seizure if she again attempted to pass the
blockade, Lyons felt that: "If it be carried on, with