rather sympathize with us. But the body of their party continue animated by the same feelings to America which brought on the Revolution, and which drove us into the war of 1812.' Lord Derby, indeed, expressed his conviction that the Union never could be restored, but Lord Palmerston had done the same. Mr. Disraeli abstained from saying anything that could offend any Northerner, and gave no indication of partisanship on either side. Lord Stanley always spoke like a fair and reasonable man, who understood thoroughly what he was talking about. In this he was, unfortunately, somewhat peculiar among the class to which he belonged. Not many of them appeared precisely to know what they were talking about. They took their opinions for the most part from the Times and from the talk of the clubs. The talk of the clubs was that the Southerners were all gentlemen and very nice fellows, who were sure to win; and that the Northerners were low, trading, shopkeeping fellows who did not know how to fight, were very cowardly, and were certain to be defeated. There was a theory that the Northerners really rather liked slavery and would have it if they could, and that a negro slave in the South was much better off than a free negro in the Northern States. The geography of the question was not very clearly understood in the clubs. Those who endeavoured to show that it was not easy to find a convenient dividing line for two federations on the North American continent, were commonly answered that the Mississippi formed exactly the suitable frontier.

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It was an article of faith with some of those who then most eagerly discussed the question in London, that the Mississippi flowed east and west, and separated neatly the seceding States from the States of the North. The Times was the natural instructor of what is called society in London, and the Times was, unfortunately, very badly informed all through the After the failure of General Lee's attempt to carry invasion into the North, and the simultaneous capture of Vicksburg by General Grant, anyone, it might have been thought, who was capable of forming an opinion at all, must have seen that the floodtide of the rebellion had been reached and was over; that the South would have to stand on the defensive from that hour, and that the overcoming of its defence, considering the comparative resources of the belligerents, was only a question of time. Yet for a whole year or more the London public were still assured that the Confederates were sweeping from victory to victory; that wherever they seemed even to undergo a check, that was only a part of their superior policy, which would presently vindicate itself in greater victory; that the North was staggering, crippled and exhausted; and that the only doubt was whether General Lee would not at once march for Washington and establish the Southern Government there. Almost to the very hour when the South, its brave and brilliant defence all over, had to confess defeat and yield its broken sword to the conquerors, the London public were still invited to believe that Mr. Davis was floating on the full flood of success. While the hearts of

6

all in Richmond were filled with despair, and the final surrender was accounted there a question of days, the Southern sympathisers in London were complacently bidden to look out for the full triumph and the assured independence of the Southern Confederation. On the last day of December, 1864, the Times complained that Mr. Seward and other teachers or flatterers of the multitude still affect to anticipate the early restoration of the Union'-and in three months from that date the rebellion was over. Those who read and believed in such instruction-and up to the very last their name was legion-must surely have been bewildered when the news came of the capture of Richmond and the surrender of Lee. They might well have thought that only some miraculous intervention of a malignant fate could thus all at once have converted victory into defeat, and turned the broken worthless levies of Grant and Sherman into armies of conquerors.

In the end the Southern population were as bitter against us as the North. The Southern States fancied themselves deceived. They too had mistaken the unthinking utterances of what is called society in England for the expression of English statesmanship and public feeling. It is proper to assert distinctly that at no time had the English Government any thought of acting on the suggestion of the Emperor of the French and recognising the South. Lord Palmerston would not hear of it, nor would Lord Russell. What might have come to pass if the Southern successes had continued a year longer it

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would be idle now to conjecture; but up to the turning-point our statesmen had not changed, and after the turning-point change was out of the question. There is nothing to blame in the conduct of the English Government throughout all this trying time, except as regards the manner in which they dismissed the remonstrances about the building of the privateers. But it is not likely that impartial history will acquit them of the charge of having been encouraged in their indifference by the common conviction that the Union was about to be broken up, and that the North was no longer a formidable power.

CHAPTER XLV.

PALMERSTON'S LAST VICTORY.

DURING the later months of his life the Prince Consort had been busy in preparing for another great International Exhibition to be held in London. It was arranged that this Exhibition should open on May 1, 1862; and although the sudden death of the Prince Consort greatly interfered with the prospects of the undertaking, it was not thought right that there should be any postponement of the opening. The Exhibition building was erected in South Kensington, according to a design by Captain Fowke. It certainly was not a beautiful structure. None of the novel charm which attached to the bright exterior of the Crystal Palace could be found in the South Kensington building. It was a huge and solid erection of brick, with two enormous domes, each in shape so strikingly like the famous crinoline petticoat of the period that people amused themselves by suggesting that the principal idea of the architect was to perpetuate for posterity the shape and structure of the Empress Eugenie's invention. The Fine Arts department of the Exhibition was a splendid collection of pictures and statues. The display of products of all kinds from the Colonies was rich, and was a