174 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



vessels were these: ability to cross the Atlantic, hulls 

 of wood and iron with two armored turrets, engines of 

 300 horsepower which would give great momentum and a 

 speed of fifteen or sixteen knots, two twin screw pro- 

 pellers, and a draft of fifteen feet. His general plan and 

 the cost of construction were approved by Secretary 

 Mallory, and on July 16, 1863 the contract was signed 

 between Bulloch and L. Arman, a naval constructor at 

 Bordeaux, for the building of the two steam rams. But 

 these ships of war were destined never to be finished for 

 the Confederacy, for the turn of events in America and 

 the attitude of Great Britain caused the Emperor 

 Napoleon to shift his position diplomatically and main- 

 tain a strict neutrality, though at one time, according to 

 Maury's diary, the Emperor had written to Arman for 

 a description of the guns with which the rams were to 

 be armed in order that the French government might 

 superintend their fabrication, and test them to see if 

 they were properly constructed. 



Maury was engaged in other activities in England and 

 on the Continent which were altogether political in their 

 nature. He had a European reputation for his literary 

 and scientific attainments, and was peculiarly well quali- 

 fied to bring the Southern version of the causes, progress, 

 and probable outcome of the war before an influential 

 class of people. Upon his arrival in England he began 

 at once to exert this influence, both privately and pub- 

 licly. As an example of the latter form of propaganda 

 was a letter which he addressed to the editor of the 

 London Times. This appeared in that newspaper on 

 December 22, 1862, and set forth a sanguine account of 

 conditions in the South as he had recently seen them, and 



