titution. I thereupon endeavored to place
the facts of the case before him in their true light, saying, in
conclusion,--"Even if you should not believe this statement, you must
admit, that, if _we_ believe it, we are justified in suppressing the
Rebellion by force."

He said,--"Come, all this is exceedingly interesting. It is quite new to
me, and I am sure it will be new to most of us. Take your pen and make
an article out of what you have told me, and I will put it into the next
number of the 'Cornhill Magazine.' It is just what we want."

I had made preparations to leave London for the Continent on the
following day, but he was so urgent that I should stay two days longer
and write the article that I finally consented to do so. I was the more
desirous of complying, since Mr. Clay's ill-advised letter to the London
"Times" had recently been published, and was accepted by Englishmen as
the substance of all that could be said on the side of the Union.
Thackeray appeared sincerely gratified by my compliance with his wishes,
and immediately sent for a cab, saying,--"Now we will go down to the
publishers, and have the matter settled at once. I am bound to consult
them, but I am sure they will see the advantage of such an article."

We found the managing publisher in his office. He looked upon the
matter, however, in a very different light. He admitted the interest
which a statement of the character, growth, and extent of the Southern
Conspiracy would possess for the readers of the "Cornhill," but objected
to its publication, on the ground that it would call forth a
counter-statement, which he could not justly exclude, and thus introduce
a political controversy into the magazine. I insisted that my object was
not to take notice of any statements published in England up to that
time, but to represent the crisis as it was understood in the Loyal
States and by the National Government; that I should do this simply to
explain and justify the action of the latter; and that, having once
placed the loyal view of the subject fairly before the English people, I
should decline any controversy. The events of the war, I added, would
soon draw the public attention away from its origin, and the "Cornhill,"
before the close of the struggle, would probably be obliged to admit
articles of a more strongly partisan character than that which I
proposed to write. The publisher, nevertheless, was firm in his refusal,
not less to Thackeray's disa