CONCLUSION 365 



convinced body of Northern sympathizers, 

 moved by hatred of slavery and hope that it 

 would be extinguished. In both these bodies 

 alike the prevailing expectation was, till late 

 in the course of the struggle, that the dis 

 ruption of the American Republic would be 

 permanent. This expectation, rather than sym 

 pathy with the South, was the basis of Glad 

 stone s declaration, proclaimed with such shock 

 ing indiscretion at Newcastle, that Jefferson 

 Davis had created a nation, and of Edward A. 

 Freeman s famous title-page, &quot;History of Fed 

 eral Government ... to the Disruption of 

 the United States.&quot; Satisfied that but one 

 outcome was possible, the great mass of Brit 

 ish sentiment watched with but the sightseer s 

 interest the course of events through which the 

 inevitable end was to be reached. This atti 

 tude was the substantial foundation of the gov 

 ernment s policy of neutrality. The good faith 

 of Palmerston and Russell in the assumption 

 of this policy is now beyond question; the lack 

 of entire success in its execution is equally 

 clear. The South complained as bitterly as 

 the North of British policy; only the victo 

 rious North got satisfaction. If the South had 

 established its independence, Great Britain 



