Edward Alfred Pollard, The lost cause; a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates ... Drawn from official sources and approved by the most distinguished Confederate leaders.

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[195] and their secretaries; and on their claiming the protection of the British flag, and refusing to leave it unless by actual physical force, hands were laid o i Mr. Mason, Lieut. Fairfax and another officer taking him by the collar of the coat on each side, and, the three other gentlemen following, the whole party was thus transferred from the decks of the Trent. As this scene was taking place, Commander Williams, of the British Navy, who was in charge of the English mails on board the Trent, said: “In this ship I am the representative of Her Majesty's Government, and I call upon the officers of the ship and passengers generally, to mark my words, when in the name of the British Government, and in distinct language, I denounce this as an illegal act, an act in violation of international law; an act indeed of wanton piracy, which, had we the means of defence, you would not dare to attempt.”

The news of this remarkable outrage was received in England with a storm of popular indignation. The very day it reached Liverpool, a public meeting was held, earnestly calling upon the Government to assert the dignity of the British flag, and demand prompt reparation for the outrage. This appeal went up from all classes and parties of the people. The British Government exhibited a determined sentiment and a serious concern in the matter. The Earl of Derby, who had been consulted by the Government, approved the resentful demand which it proposed to make upon the United States, and suggested that ship-owners should instruct the captains of outward-bound vessels to signalize any English vessels, that war with America was probable. The Liverpool underwriters approved the suggestion. The British Government made actual preparations for war. Reinforcements were sent to Canada, together with munitions of war for the few fortifications England possessed in that colony.

Meanwhile the North was revelling in what it supposed the cheap glory of the Trent affair, and making an exhibition of vanity and insolence concerning it, curious even among the usual exaggerations of that people. The act of Capt. Wilkes was not only approved by the Federal Secretary of the Navy; it was extravagantly applauded by him. lie accumulated words of praise, and declared that it had been marked by “intelligence, ability, decision, and firmness.” The man who had made himself a hero in a proceeding in which he encountered no peril, received the public and .official thanks of the Congress sitting at Washington. The Northern press and people appeared to be almost insane over the wonderful exploit. The city of New York offered Capt. Wilkes the hospitality of the city. Boston gave him a festival. Gov. Andrew of Massachusetts declared that the act of taking four unarmed men from an unarmed vessel was “one of the most illustrious services that had rendered the war memorable,” and exulted in the idea that Capt. Wilkes had “fired his shot across the bows of the ship that bore the English lion at its head,” forgetting that the ship bore no