The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-16


IT Dr. ln the story OF lis appuinlhlrilt
as the first commission % ine conLea-
eracy MS association with alrey, Ilost'
Mason and Slideli. the commissioners SUD-
scqu-ntly sens abroad ana tne secret ne
gOtiatiOns which he conducted Win tne
great statesman, and With me pope that
the greatest Interest celters-
When the provisional congress OF the
confederacy met al Montgomery, stll
Judge Mann. j was citizen o. Ne" Ut
leans ana WeHz forward with tle AE0ulsl-
ana delegation as a secretary. NY lalneI
was. Of course. at Washing on Al mat
time I was determined 10 secure com
mission In the southern army. Mt. Davis
was inaugurated Feb. j., ls3l, ana at
tended his FIRST ievee, which was neld AT
the hotel, Immediately after those cefe-
monies.
AS / joined the line Of these who were
greeting Mr.. Davis as the hrst president
OF the cOnfederacy, he drew me ASIDE
and asked:
Where is you father
" In Washington ] answered
d" Telegraph him Immediately tonight
that I appoint him the first commission
er OF the confederacy 40 represent
abroad
Then he talked with me in relation to
my own plans and purp0s3s- "lsheu 70
secure a commission In the army but ne
said that there were many 70 so 10 the
'front.' while very few had nad ~ eAPetl-
ence like my own which Would EehaeE
them invaluable in connection with the
diplomatic service.
IL followed out his instructions and at
the very hour when the message was re-
ceived al my fathers hotel he was at the
white house, whittier he nad Desh sum
mOned by President Buchanan. Inc cdDl-
net was then in session ana my ldlier
was invited into the conference ana IN
formed that, although 1t was Wen known
that his sympathies were with the SCUM,
the confidence OF the chief executive anu
his official advisers in my rather lntes-
rity and loyalty was such as 70 lnnuehce
them to request him TO undertake a most
important mission to England. Ihen ne
was told that in the brief line before MI.
Buchanan must give place 70 Abraham
Lincoln it had been determined to secure,
If possible, the good offices OF queen VIC
toria as a mediator between the north I'd
SOUTH hoping theaeby TO avoid Dlo0dshed-
He was informed that his letters OF credlt
were ready; that brief INSTRUCTIONS hd9
already been drawn up by the secretary OF
State and that he must come TO an lmme-
diate decision in order to embark upon
his journey that night.
His reply was that he must have a
few moments for reflection-and with that
| answer Of indecision he returned TO MS
hotel. There ne found awaiting him my
message, sent at the request OF MI
Davis His sympathies with the south
| were too strong to be resisted and ne M
mediately signified his acceptance or the
mission offered by the contederacy ana
notified President Buchanan OF an unfaV-
orable decision regarding the latters re-
Two other commissioners, the brilliant
and eloquent William l.. Nancey and Judge
! Alfred b. Post, were also named by Mr..
Davis IS commissioners of the contedera-
! CIV to the European powers and at his per
sOnal appointment l was made secretary
to my father. who had sailed for England
without delay, arriving there May 70, 1851,
about two weeks in advance of the other
! commissioners and the secretaries
Affairs moved very slowly until the
autumn of 1861 and it was difficult to OBJ
tain any satisfaction from Lord Palmer
ston, then premier, or from Earl Russell,
| the foreign secretary, Perhaps the most
| important thing which my father accom-
| plished was to secure the friendship OF
| Sir Evelyn Ashley, a nephew of Palmer
| stOn. He was closely in touch with the lat-
| ter and kept US informed regarding the
| interests of our cause, SO far as his I'M
| cle's attitude was concerned, to the eX-
| tent that he could without any violation OF
| confidence or infraction of the ethics of
| honor. fas
but suddenly our sky became bright
! with hopel The return of Mr.. Nancey and
| Judge Post to America in order to assume
! other duties became necessary, and James
| NJ Mason of Virginia and John Slidell of
| Louisiana were appointed to succeed them
! as commissioners. They were captured by
Capt. Charles Wilkes while they were on
! their way to England on board the British
| mail steamer Trent, and were taken to
| Fort Warren, in Boston harbor.
Il shall never forget the day when the
| news OF TINS NpiS0le reached lIQnQOn. i ne
excitement was terrific and Lord Palmer
| Ston was enraged. Through his most
| trusted channel of Information the word
came to my father that the prime minister
! had himself penned a message as bitter
and insulting as a diplomatic note could
| be- had called a meeting of his cabinet
| and stated that IL it were not sustained
and forwarded he would resign.
''At that moment 1t seemed almost GER
tain to the struggling representative OF
| the confederacy that an tmdreamed-ot
stroke of Providence had interviewed in
| behalf of his cause and that the United
| States would certainly be called upon to
| carry on a war with England at the same
time that she was lighting to put down
the rebellion That the end of such a
| complication was certain victory to the
| cOnfederacy my father could not doubt
| "Palmerston's warlike note, however
! had to go to the queen for her approval
| This, however, was considered a mere
| matter of form. When dt came back from
her 1t was changed from a practical de.
! claration of hostilites to polite and con
| ciliatory message. Her ma esty and
| many of those nearest her held strong an.
| ti-SlaVery sentiments and she. for per.
| haps the first and only time in her life
| exercised the prerogative of an absolute
| monarch, dictated the spirit and the let.
| ter of a diplomatic communication which
held the fate of a war in its phraseology
| and practically defied the, will of the pre-
| mier of the British people. More thar
| that, 1t IS not too much t.
think that her determined stand
against her prime minister also de
| cided the fate of the confederate states
| of America, for with the intense feeling
already existing in England and America
there could have been but one result
from Palmerston's savage note. The con.
gress of the United States had thanked
| Capt Wilkes for his capture Of Masor
and Slidell, the people of both countries
were in a frenzy and Palmerston was
excited to the verge of rage. He went Sc
| far as to make active preparations fol
| war and my father was informed thai
the plan was to hold Quebec and to cen.
ter all the naval force about the Chesa.
| peake, where il could support Lees army
making Baltimore and Washington its
| objective points
Il am not aware that the remarkable
course of Queen Victoria in this matter
has ever been made public before. and
| 1t is interesting to speculate upon wheth.
er she could to-day override the foreign
! policy of a prime minister by the exer.
| else of her monarchial mandate and VIII
as she did then.
Those days Of waiting for this diplo.
matte complication to come. to an end
! were days Of the most tremendous strair
| and excitement to the commissioner OF
| the confederacy, as well as to his sor
! a T21tf 1,a