enforced.

'It was not through any fault or negligence of Lord Russell that the
ship "Alabama," or any other vessel equipped for the war service of the
Confederate States, left the ports of this country. The course taken by
him in all those cases was the same. He considered that some _prima
facie_ evidence of an actual or intended violation either of our own law
or of the law of nations (such as might be produced in a court of
justice) was necessary, and that in judging whether there was such
evidence he ought to be guided by the advice of the Law Officers of the
Crown. To obtain such evidence, he did not neglect any means which the
law placed in his power. If in any case the Board of Customs may have
been ill-advised, and omitted (as Sir Alexander Cockburn thought) to
take precautions which they ought otherwise to have taken, this was no
fault of Lord Russell; still less was he chargeable with the delay of
three or four days which took place in the case of the "Alabama," in
consequence of the illness of the Queen's Advocate, Sir John Harding;
without which that vessel might never have gone to sea.

[Sidenote: LORD SELBORNE'S EXPLANATION]

'Lord Russell stated to Mr. Adams, immediately afterwards, that Sir
John Harding's illness was the cause of that delay. No one then called
that statement in question, which could not have been made without good
foundation. But after a lapse of many years, when almost everybody who
had known the exact circumstances was dead, stories inconsistent with it
obtained currency. Of these, the most remarkable was published in 1881,
in a book widely read, the "Reminiscences" of the late Thomas Mozley.
The writer appears to have persuaded himself (certainly without any
foundation in fact) that "there was not one of her Majesty's Ministers
who was not ready to jump out of his skin for joy when he heard of the
escape of the 'Alabama.'"[40] He said that he met Sir John Harding
"shortly after the 'Alabama' had got away," and was told by him that he
(Sir John) had been expecting a communication from Government anxiously
the whole week before, that the expectation had unsettled and unnerved
him for other business, and that he had stayed in chambers rather later
than usual on Saturday for the chance of hearing at last from them. He
had then gone to his house in the country. Returning on Monday, when he
was engaged to appear in court, he found a large bundle of documents in
a big envelope, without