President Lincoln informed him that Seward had drafted a dispatch for Ambassador Charles Francis Adams Sr. to share with Great Britain. The dispatch threatened war if Britain had any dealings with Confederate ships. Sumner probably stated the obvious to Lincoln: England, a country he loved, was “the greatest and most powerful oligarchy in the history of the world.” It would be a deadly mistake to provoke the empire on which the sun never set. Per Sumner’s request, Lincoln toned down the letter and asked Seward to keep his dispatch to Adams absolutely confidential. Sumner had successfully
...more
