'Letter from Thurlow Weed to Secretary of State William Seward, December 4, 1861'

'Letter from Thurlow Weed to Secretary of State William Seward, December 4, 1861'

A letter from an American agent abroad in London during the Trent Affair

Thurlow Weed, a Republican politician, was operating in London throughout the Civil War, acting as an unofficial agent for the Lincoln administration's efforts to placate British opinion on the war. This letter to Sec. Seward, dated December 4, 1861, concerns British actions in the midst of the Trent Affair. This includes the movement of British troops to stations in Canada, believed to be potentially under threat by the North, as well as the possibility of war with the North being discussed if Confederate diplomats Mason and Slidell were not surrendered to Britain. Weed also notes the economic frustration experienced in Britain following Congress's passage of the Morrill Tariff that March, which increased costs placed upon imported manufactured goods, heavily affecting British industries.

Thurlow Weed

Digitized online by the Library of Congress at https://www.loc.gov/item/mal1324700/

The Library of Congress - Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916

December 4, 1861

Transcribed by Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois.

Public Domain

English

Text

Rec 20. Decr
London, Dec 4.

Dear Seward,

I am not yet as well informed as I hope to be, yet I know enough to be sure that this Government is making prompt and efficient preparations for War; and if it has made a peremptory demand for the rebels, War there will be, for of course nothing will be done on compulsion.

The great cause of insecurity is that neither this Government or People are our Friends. The Morrill Tariff and the belief that you are unfriendly to England prepared the Country to go first, for Secession, and next for War.

Do not be misled. England is exasperated, and will not be restrained by calculations of cost. If we are equally so, there will be War. Already War Steamers are being got ready for the Western Lakes!

Now if they give you a chance, I am persuaded that you can navigate safely through this peril, and if you do so it will be the crowning glory of your life.

It is stated here, to-day, on high authority, that the Duke of Newcastle says you told him in America that we must have soon have a War with England

The Secessionists here and in Paris are delighted with the arrest of Slidell and Mason, nor is the Family of the former at all unhappy. Some People here suspect that the arrest was courted. But be this as it may, I still think that Slidell and Mason will do us less harm here than in Fort Warren.

I am asked, already, by two important men, if I have authority for [illegible] or power to prove, that you have not always shown ill-will and frequently threatened England

Truly Yours
T. W.

Letter