London, March 31,1863.
. . . I am glad, however, to find in some quarters a theory,
that while the government here, and their special pleader, the
Attorney-General, have so defended themselves against claims for damages, and
also against criticism in the Alabama case, by all sorts of special pleading
and sophistry, they are not going to lay themselves open to the same charge
again.
If they will only do better with the vessels now fitting out
against us, we must try to forgive their past sins, for the time. I am trying
to hunt up some evidence that this theory is well founded, and, if confirmed, I
will write by next mail.
If we can only tide over the time until we occupy
Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and the mouth of the Rio Grande, we shall avert
the complication of another war upon our hands, — now the last hope of the
rebels. . . .
SOURCE: Sarah Forbes Hughes, Letters and
Recollections of John Murray Forbes, Volume 2, p. 20
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