of State it would then “become my duty to insult England, and I mean to do so”—­a threat, whether jocose or not, that aroused much serious and anxious speculation in British governmental circles[129].  Moreover Seward’s reputation was that of a wily, clever politician, rather unscrupulous in methods which British politicians professed to disdain—­a reputation serving to dim somewhat, as indeed it did in America also, the sincere idealisms and patriotism of the statesman.  Altogether, Seward was regarded in Great Britain as a rather dangerous man, yet as the inevitable guiding power in the new Republican administration.

This estimate was shared by many in the United States also, but not by all.  The new American Minister to London, Charles Francis Adams, himself a most stiffly upright politician, both regarded Seward as the only possible leader of Republican party policy and rejoiced that this was so, having great confidence in his chief’s integrity and wisdom.  Adams himself was well suited to his new post.  He was known as having early in 1849 fought the battle of anti-slavery as a “Free Soil Whig,” and later as a leading Republican member of Congress from Massachusetts.  Principally, however, he was suited to his post by education, family, and character.  He had been taken as a boy to Russia during his father’s ministry at St. Petersburg, and later had been educated in England.  His father and grandfather, John Quincy Adams and John Adams, both Presidents of the United States, had both, also, been American Ministers at London.  Intensely patriotic, but having wide acquaintance through training and study with European affairs, especially those of Britain, and equipped with high intellectual gifts, Adams was still further fitted to his new post by his power of cool judgment and careful expression in critical times.  His very coolness, sometimes appearing as coldness and stiff dignity, rendered him an especially fit agent to deal with Russell, a man of very similar characteristics.  The two men quickly learned to respect and esteem each other, whatever clash arose in national policies.

But meanwhile Adams, in April, 1861, was not yet arrived in London.  The Southern Government organized at Montgomery, Alabama, but soon transferred to Richmond, Virginia, was headed by Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander Stephens as Vice-President.  Neither man was well known in England, though both had long been prominent in American politics.  The little British information on Davis, that he had served in the United States Senate and as a Cabinet member, seemed to indicate that he was better fitted to executive duties than his rival, Lincoln.  But Davis’ foreign policy was wholly a matter for speculation, and his Cabinet consisted of men absolutely unknown to British statesmen.  In truth it was not a Cabinet of distinction, for it was the misfortune of the South that everywhere, as the Civil War developed, Southern gentlemen sought reputation and glory in the army rather