e previous July, and the opinion of
England was sharply divided on the merits of the struggle. The bone of
contention, to put the matter concisely, was the refusal of South
Carolina and ten other States to submit to the authority of the Central
Government of the Union. It was an old quarrel which had existed from
the foundation of the American Commonwealth, for the individual States
of the Union had always been jealous of any infringement of the right of
self-government; but slavery was now the ostensible root of bitterness,
and matters were complicated by radical divergences on the subject of
tariffs. The Southern States took a high hand against the Federal
Government. They seceded from the Union, and announced their
independence to the world at large, under the style and title of the
Confederate States of America. Flushed by the opening victory which
followed the first appeal to the sword, the Confederate Government
determined to send envoys to Europe. Messrs. Mason and Slidell embarked
at Havana, at the beginning of November, on board the British
mail-steamer 'Trent,' as representatives to the English and French
Governments respectively. The 'Trent' was stopped on her voyage by the
American man-of-war 'San Jacinto,' and Captain Wilkes, her commander,
demanded that the Confederate envoys and their secretaries should be
handed over to his charge. The captain of the 'Trent' made a vigorous
protest against this sort of armed intervention, but he had no
alternative except to yield, and Messrs. Mason and Slidell were carried
back to America and lodged in a military fortress.

The 'Trent' arrived at Southampton on November 27, and when her captain
told his story indignation knew no bounds. The law of nations had been
set at defiance, and the right of asylum under the British flag had been
violated. The clamour of the Press and of the streets grew suddenly
fierce and strong, and the universal feeling of the moment found
expression in the phrase, 'Bear this, bear all.' Lord John Russell at
once addressed a vigorous remonstrance to the American Government on an
'act of violence which was an affront to the British flag and a
violation of international law.' He made it plain that her Majesty's
Ministers were not prepared to allow such an insult to pass without
'full reparation;' but, at the same time, he refused to believe that it
could be the 'deliberate intention' of the Government of the United
States to force upon them so gr