upper and middle classes of Great Britain ap-
peared absolutely indifferent to the humanitarian
element which, as they were assured, underlay the
struggle. Perhaps they were not to be blamed for
setting aside these assurances and accepting in
place thereof the belief that the American leaders
spoke the truth when they solemnly told the North
that the question at issue was purely and simply
of "the Union." The unfortunate fact was that it
was necessary to say one thing to Englishmen and
a different thing to Americans.

That which really did inspire the feelings and
the wishes, and which did influence, though it
could not be permitted fully to control, the action
of England, had not been counted upon by either
section of the country; perhaps its existence had
not been appreciated. This was the intense dis-
like felt for the American Republic by nearly all
Englishmen who were above the social grade of
mechanics and mill operatives. The extent and
force of this antipathy and even contempt were for
the first time given free expression under the irre-
sistible provocation which arose out of the delight-
ful likelihood of the destruction of the United
States. The situation at least gave to the people
of that imperilled country a chance to find out in
what estimation they were held across the water.
The behavior of the English government and the
attitude of the English press during the early part
of the Civil War have been ascribed by different
historians to one or another dignified political or

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