uccess of the Southern States, so far at least
as regarded their separation from the North was concerned, was "as
certain as any event yet future and contingent, could be." Even the
Emancipation Proclamation did not suffice to open the eyes of many to
the real issues, and there was a widespread feeling that some way must
be found to present the cause of the North in such a manner as to reach
the English conscience and genuine love of liberty.

In the summer of 1863 Mr. Beecher had been sent to Europe for a rest.
On his return he came to England, and immediately there arose a general
demand for him to represent America. His marvellous success in the
anti-slavery campaign preceding the Civil War, his widespread
popularity, and particularly his power over audiences, made many look to
him as the providential ambassador. He demurred at first, but at last
yielded.

When he arrived in London, Manchester, and Liverpool, where great mass
meetings had been arranged for him to address, he found that every
effort had been made to discredit him, by huge posters placed throughout
the country asking: "Who is Henry Ward Beecher? He is the man who said
the best blood of England must be shed to atone for the Trent affair.
Men of Manchester, Englishmen, what reception can you give this man? He
is the friend of General Butler. He is the friend of that so-called
gospel preacher, Cheever. His impudence in coming here is only equalled
by his cruelty and impiety."

The meeting at Liverpool was announced as follows. "At a meeting held in
New York at the time when the Confederate envoys, Messrs. Mason and
Slidell, had been surrendered by President Lincoln to the British
Government, from whose vessel (the Royal Mail Steamer _Trent_) they were
taken, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher said, This act will demonstrate the
unfeeling selfishness of the British Government and bring us to a
realisation of our national humiliation. This opinion comes from a
Christian minister who wishes to obtain a welcome in Liverpool, where
operatives are suffering almost unprecedented hardships caused by the
suicidal war raging in the States of North America, and which is being
urged on by fanatical statesmen and preachers of the North!"

These posters and notices of the press had so inflamed the public mind
that when Mr. Beecher entered the great halls in Liverpool, Manchester
and London, he had to face a howling mob. When he arose to speak, the
tumult and hisses made i