Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 39.djvu/172

 160 Southern Historical Society Papers.

before it was sent, it was submitted to the Queen, who handed it to the Prince Consort. The Prince revised the draft, adopting more temperate and conciliatory language, which was forwarded to Lord Lyons to be handed to r\Ir. Seward.

Seward told Lord Lyons before the copy of the dispatch was placed in his hands, that everything depended on the wordmg of it, and begged to be allowed to read it before it was com- municated to him officially. ]Mr. Seward was then pleased to say that "Captain Wilkes had acted without instructions and that the four persons taken from the Trent should be cheerfully liberated." When intelligence of this reached the Queen, she said : "Lord Palmerston cannot but look on this peaceful issue of the American quarrel as greatly owing to our beloved Prince, who wTOte the observation upon the draft to Lord Lyons." Pal- rnerston's note upon the afiFair was, "There can be no doubt that, as vour Majesty observes, the alterations made in the dispatch to Lord Lyons contributed essentially to the satisfactory settle- ment of the dispute."

This brief glance at the attitude of the Queen and her in- sistence upon being advised as to important State matters, is sufficient to show that so important a matter as the recognition of the Southern Confederacy could not have been determined or acted upon without her being apprised of the situation.

Now, if we revert to the condition of things at the time of the Cabinet meeting referred to by Mr. Adams, he states that his father, the American Minister to Great Britain, "got an inkling of what was on foot, and was sorely disturbed." An- ticipating just such an emergency, he had written home for further instructions, which in due time were supplied by Mr. Seward. Armed with these, the elder Mr. Adams had an in- terview with Earl Russell, and the son loyally adds, what no one who knew him can doubt, "that in that hour of darkness, defeat and discouragement, he bore himself in a way of which his country had cause to be proud." The instructions from Seward to Adams and by the latter communicated to Russell, are in part as follows :