CAPTAIN IVILKES’S SEIZURE OF MASON AND SLIDELL.

141

M

0 h'llill

MS

I'Si h l !!|;|i l l

W!§';

iUSSl

;i •t.-n’. :>'ih ■!

JMH

WILLIAM II . SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE. FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE TAKEN ABOUT 1851.

tain Wilkes would not longer detain him, and he might proceed on his voyage.The steamers soon separated, and thus ended one of the most critical eventsof our civil war. We went up the coast from St. Augustine to the blockadingfleet off Charleston , and thence to Fort Monroe, from which point we wereordered first to New York and afterward to Boston , with the prisoners. Whenwe reached the outer roads of Boston I escorted the four gentlemen to FortWarren, and parted from them with expressions of the most pleasant char-acter ; for everything had been done by Captain Wilkes and his officers tomake them feel at home while on board the vessel. Mr. Eustis and myselfhad several conversations as to the probable reception of the news in Englandand on the Continent. He maintained from the first, that England would