Lincoln in the World (57 page)

13
. For the account of the
Trent
Affair in this chapter I have drawn on two fine monographs: Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
(Knoxville, 1977); and Warren,
Fountain of Discontent
(Boston, 1981). I also learned much from Jones,
Union in Peril
(Lincoln and London, 1992); and Jones,
Blue and Gray Diplomacy
(Chapel Hill, 2010). Michael Burlingame, in
ALAL
, v. 2, pp. 221–29, also offers a comprehensive account of Lincoln’s role in the crisis. For the quotations and information in the preceding paragraph, see also Charles Mackay to Seward, Nov. 29, 1861, in
War of the Rebellion
, ser. 2, v. 2, pp. 1106–8; Rumbold,
Recollections of a Diplomatist
, v. 2, p. 83; Crook,
Diplomacy During the American Civil War
, p. 47 (channel fleet); Palmerston to George Lewis, Nov. 27, 1861, quoted in Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 44 (“Relations with Seward & Lincoln”); Jenkins, v. 1, pp. 213–14 (gunpowder etc.), 215 (10,500 troops); Palmerston to Queen Victoria, Dec. 5, 1861, in Connell,
Regina vs. Palmerston
, p. 347.

14
. Abner Y. Ellis statement to Herndon, Jan. 1866, in HI, p. 174; Ida M. Tarbell interview with Byron Sunderland, Tarbell Papers, Allegheny College, in
RW
, p. 436.

15
. Tocqueville quoted in McDougall,
Promised Land, Crusader State
, p. 55; Foreman,
World on Fire
, pp. xxiv, 27–28 ($444 million and Tocqueville); Sexton,
Debtor Diplomacy
, p. 12 (largest creditor and “true lords of Europe”); Zakaria,
From Wealth to Power
, p. 61 (debt not oppressive).

16
. Riddle,
Congressman Lincoln
, p. 95, and Paludan, p. 110 (“national blessing”); Howe,
What Hath God
Wrought
, p. 596 (out the window); Boritt,
Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream
, p. 58 (“national debt”); Joshua F. Speed interview with Herndon, Jan. 5, 1889, in HI, p. 719 (prostitute).

17
. Sexton,
Debtor Diplomacy
, p. 7.

18
. Herndon, “Analysis of the Character of Abraham Lincoln,” pp. 371–72 (ridiculed Herndon);
RW
, p. 241 (“snaky tongue”); Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President
, p. 174 (“fuel of interest”).

19
. Lincoln, “Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum,”
CWL
, v. 1, pp. 114–15 (“reason, cold, calculating”); Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President
, pp. 6, 91, 106, 117–19 (Bentham, Mill and Lincoln’s fatalism), 370; John T. Stuart interview with Herndon, Dec. 20, 1866, in
HI
, p. 519 (Euclid); Herndon statement, undated, in RW, p. 243 (“reason of wise men”);
HL
, pp. 193–94, 357 (Euclid and “he was always just”).

20
. Bell, v. 1, p. 7, and Bourne,
Palmerston: The Early Years
, p. 27 (Adam Smith); Bourne,
Palmerston: The Early Years
, p. 453 (Euclid); Palmerston to Lord John Russell, Apr. 25, 1862, Russell Papers, BNA. See also Jenkins, v. 1, pp. 83–84.

21
. Bell, v. 2, p. 275, and v. 1, p. 148; Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 380 (ties to constitutional governments); Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 145, 334 (“chivalrous enterprises,” “Quixote,” and “shibboleth”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 627 (“conflicting interests” and “no eternal allies”).

22
. Bell, v. 2, p. 275 (“bloody nose”); Palmerston to Lord John Russell, Apr. 25, 1862, Russell Papers, BNA (“Passion than Interest”); Palmerston to Somerset, Dec. 29, 1860, Palmerston Papers, British Library (“Disunited”); Crook,
Diplomacy During the American Civil War
, p. 189 (“emotional crisis”).

23
. Bell, v. 1, p. vii, and Ferris,
Desperate Diplomacy
, p. 15 (born before Constitution); Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 6–7 (trip to Paris); Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 13, 20 (“charming” and “zest”); Bell, v. 1, p. 5 (“frame of iron”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 3, 5, 28–29 (sickly, blisters, etc.). The quote is on pp. 28–29.

24
. Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 80 (“very pedantic” and “so priggish”), 82, 44 (stammering and cold), 156–60 (assassination attempt); Bell, v. 1, p. 21 (“pepper the faces”).

25
. Bell, v. 1, pp. 96–97, and Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 2, 277 (“Lord Cupid”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 191, and Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 41–42 (Almack’s); Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 118, and Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 213 (“Ha, ha”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 201–2, 211 (illegitimate children), 255 (“subscriptions”) and 212–14 (sex euphemisms).

26
. Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 105 (in 1830); Bell, v. 1, p. 191 (drowning etc.); Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 221 (“windmill”) and 116 (“night and chaos”).

27
. Bell, v. 1, pp. 73, 105–6, and Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 189 (conservatism, form of government); Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 166 (“motives of generous sympathy”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 314 (“reign of Metternich”). On Palmerston’s Quadruple Alliance, see also Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 171–72, and Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 380–87.

28
. Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 109, and
Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 422 (smoking and “paleness”); Bell, v. 1, p. 261, and Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 424 (“Sugar Canes”); Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 422 (“Penknives”); Bell, v. 1, p. 262 (church), and v. 1, p. 201 (windows).

29
. Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 185 (“tall, dark”); Bell, v. 1, p. 227, and Bourne,
Palmerston
, pp. 435–37 (tutoring, carriage rides, quote); Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 228 (Pam’s marriage), 392 (Victoria’s marriage), and 392–93 (grew apart); Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 191 (thirty-year affair); Victoria quoted in Warren, p. 101 (old man).

30
. Bell, v. 1, pp. 99, 259; Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 116 (Belgian envoy), 117 (“miss the soup” and “old Turk”).

31
. Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 394 (“worthless private character”).

32
. Bell, v. 2, pp. 29 (Immoral One) and 75–76; Ridley,
Palmerston
, pp. 519 (Immoral One), 556 (“Christian nations”), and 583 (“Oh, surely”).

33
. Donald Southgate takes this nickname as the title of his Palmerston biography. See Southgate,
Most English Minister
(New York, 1966). See also Bourne,
Palmerston
, p. 349 (“wish to be”); Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 387 (“watchful eye”); Crook,
The North, the South, and the Powers
, p. 12 (“three deckers”); Bell, v. 2, p. 45 (“Jupiter Anglicanus”).

34
. Bell, v. 2, p. 117 (Disraeli); Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 120 (Talleyrand).

35
. Sexton,
Debtor Diplomacy
, p. 30, and Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 273 (“bunting”); Jones,
Blue and Gray Diplomacy
, p. 34 (“essentially and inherently”);
London Press
, Mar. 23, 1861, quoted in Adams,
Great Britain and the American Civil War
, v. 1, pp. 54–55 (“horse race”); Palmerston to Victoria, Jan. 1, 1861, in
Letters of Queen Victoria
, v. 3, pp. 538–39; Ridley,
Palmerston
, p. 548; Jones,
Abraham Lincoln
, p. 43.

36
. Porter, ed.,
Oxford History of the British Empire
, v. 3, pp. vii, ix (imperial century and dominance after Napoleonic Wars); “British Empire,”
New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Micropaedia
), v. 2, pp. 528–30 (territories included); Warren, p. 135 (856 ships); Ferguson,
Empire
, pp. 165–66 (fresco, largest in world, quote).

37
. Porter, ed.,
Oxford History of the British Empire
, p. 13 (Great Game); Palmerston to Somerset, May 26, 1861, Palmerston Papers, British Library (“morsel”); LaFeber,
New Empire
, p. 28 (“excellent states”); Bancroft, v. 2, p. 330 (“we want cotton”); Nevins,
War for the Union
, v. 2, pp. 251–52; Palmerston to Newcastle, May 24, 1861, Palmerston Papers, British Library. See also Jenkins, v. 1, pp. 85 (PM in control), 98–99, and 163–64; and Ferris,
Desperate Diplomacy
, pp. 17 (“irregular army” and “useful hint”), 27 (“strong in Canada” and little over a week), and 94–95.

38
. Clay to Lincoln, July 25, 1861; and Clay to Seward, May 22, 1861. Both letters in ALP, LOC.

39
. Palmerston to Russell, Oct. 18, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA.

40
. Palmerston to Newcastle, Nov. 12, 1861, Palmerston Papers, British Library.

41
. This account of the Nov. 12 Palmerston-Adams meeting is drawn from Charles Francis Adams to Seward, Nov. 15, 1861, “Confidential,” Despatches from U.S. Ministers (Great Britain), NARA; Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, pp. 14–17; Jenkins, v. 1,
pp. 209–10; Mahin, p. 65; and Foreman,
World on Fire
, pp. 168–69.

42
. Jenkins, v. 1, p. 210 (“tart”); Palmerston to Newcastle, Nov. 7, 1861, quoted in ibid., v. 1, pp. 207–8; Lord John Russell to Palmerston, Nov. 12, 1861, quoted in ibid., v. 1, p. 207.

43
. Henry Adams later described Palmerston’s “characteristic” chuckle: “The laugh was singular, mechanical, wooden, and did not seem to disturb his features. ‘Ha! … Ha! … Ha!’ Each was a slow, deliberate ejaculation, and all were in the same tone, as though he meant to say: ‘Yes! … Yes! … Yes!’ by way of assurance. It was a laugh of 1810 and the Congress of Vienna” (Adams,
Education of Henry Adams
, p. 135).

44
. Charles Francis Adams to Seward, Nov. 15, 1861, “Confidential,” Despatches from U.S. Ministers (Great Britain), NARA; Palmerston to Russell, Nov. 13, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA; Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, pp. 14–15; Palmerston to Victoria, Nov. 13, 1861, in Connell,
Regina vs. Palmerston
, p. 345.

45
. Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 44 (news arrives); Marx article in
Die Presse
, Dec. 2, 1861 (filed Nov. 28), in
MAC
, pp. 113–14; Marx to Engels, Dec. 9, 1861, in ibid., p. 253.

46
. London
Times
, Nov. 28, 1861, quoted in Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 47 (“outburst of passion”). Ferris argues convincingly that the American press reaction was also basically “placatory” (Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 35). Cardiff Mercury, Nov. 30, 1861, quoted in Blackett,
Divided Hearts
, pp. 21–22 (“Yankee bluster”). The brackets are Blackett’s.

47
. Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 45 (cabinet meeting); Palmerston to Russell, Nov. 29, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA (“deliberately insulted”); Palmerston to Lord Granville, Nov. 29, 1861, Granville Papers, BNA (halt arms exports); Palmerston to Russell, Nov. 29, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA; Palmerston to Queen Victoria, Nov. 29, 1861, in
Letters of Queen Victoria
, v. 3, pp. 595–96 (“gross outrage” and “reparation and redress”).

48
. Ibid. (Scott rumors); Weed to Seward, Nov. 28, 1861, ALP, LOC; Palmerston to Granville, Dec. 26, 1861, Granville Papers, BNA (“thunderclap”). See also Warren, p. 139; and Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, pp. 83, 150.

49
. Martin,
Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
, v. 5, pp. 421–27 (Albert illness and “somewhat meager”); Warren, p. 116 (“scarcely hold”).

50
. Revisions of Prince Albert, quoted in Martin,
Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
, v. 5, pp. 422–23.

51
. Martin,
Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
, v. 5, pp. 422–25 (“excellent” and heartening indications); Russell to Lyons, Nov. 30, 1861, quoted in Jones,
Blue and Gray Diplomacy
, p. 98; Russell to Lyons, Dec. 1, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA (“a rational man”); Palmerston to Russell, Dec. 6, 1861, Russell Papers, BNA (“fighting for it”).

52
. Rogers, ed.,
Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by the Right Honourable John Bright
, pp. 85–99. The quotes are on pp. 97 and 99.

53
. James Lesley Jr. to Frederick Seward, Dec. 4, 1861, Seward Papers,
University of Rochester; Jenkins, v. 1, pp. 215–16; Connell,
Regina vs. Palmerston
, p. 347; May,
The Union
,
the Confederacy, and the Atlantic Rim
, p. 8.

54
. Trumbull quoted in McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom
, p. 362 (“Action, action” and Ball’s Bluff description); Rice, ed.,
Reminiscences
, pp. 172–73;
ALAL
, v. 2, pp. 199–200.

55
.
New York Herald
, Nov. 18, 1861; Ferris,
The
Trent
Affair
, p. 128; Lincoln to Edward Everett, Nov. 18, 1861, CWL, v. 5, p. 26 (“Slidell!”); Francis B. Carpenter, “A Day with Governor Seward at Auburn,” July 1870, p. 56, Seward Papers, University of Rochester.