lacking--a European alliance. What a time for England to
intervene!

While Slidell was talking with the Emperor, he had in his pocket
a letter from J. A. Roebuck, an English politician who wished to
force the issue in the House of Commons. As a preliminary to
moving the recognition of the Confederacy, he wanted authority to
deny a rumor going the rounds in London, to the effect that
Napoleon had taken position against intervention. Napoleon, when
he had seen the letter, began a negotiation of some sort with
this politician. It is needless to enter into the complications
that ensued, the subsequent recriminations, and the question as
to just what Napoleon promised at this time and how many of his
promises he broke. He was a diplomat of the old school, the
school of lying as a fine art. He permitted Roebuck to come over
to Paris for an audience, and Roebuck went away with the
impression that Napoleon could be relied upon to back up a new
movement for recognition. When, however, Roebuck brought the
matter before the Commons at the end of the month and encountered
an opposition from the Government that seemed to imply an
understanding with Napoleon which was different from his own, he
withdrew his motion (in July). Once more the scale turned against
the Confederacy, and Gettysburg was supplemented by the seizure
of the Laird rams by the British authorities. These events
explain the bitter turn given to Confederate feeling toward
England in the latter part of 1863. On the 4th of August Benjamin
wrote to Mason that "the perusal of the recent debates in
'Parliament satisfies the President" that Mason's "continued
residence in London is neither conducive to the interests nor
consistent with the dignity of this government," and directed him