go A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
ed?’ Seward and Field later discussed this matter in person 
at Washington with the approval of President Lincoln and his 
cabinet. 
The Lord Lyons referred to was the British minister at 
Washington, as Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy 
Adams) was minister at London. There had been dangerous 
repercussions over the high-handed seizure: of two Confeder- 
ate emissaries, Mason and Slidell, from the Trent, an English 
steamship, by the captain of a Northern frigate. War came 
perilously near between the Northern States and England. 
‘This would have been a catastrophe for the North. 
To Field, such international flare-ups seemed chiefly the 
consequence of lack of quick communication that would al- 
low a reasonable exchange of opinions. The long delays in 
sending letters by steamers, requiring several weeks to get an 
answer to an inquiry, bred misunderstandings based upon 
lack of information, and the impatience of human nature. 
He looked forward to prompt explanations between nations, 
with more give-and-take than the rigid documents of slow 
diplomacy permitted. 
The suggestion in Field’s letter prompted Secretary Seward 
a fortnight later to write to Adams that when opportunity pre- 
sented itself, he might mention to Lord Russell, the British 
Foreign Minister, that President Lincoln thought very favor- 
ably of the plan for an Atlantic cable and would be glad to 
cooperate with the British Government in securing its suc- 
cessful execution. Lord Russell later talked with Field in 
person at the Foreign Office about the prospects of the Atlan- 
tic Telegraph Company and its requirements for laying a new 
cable. To strengthen his argument, Field referred to the two 
official messages that had been sent for the British Govern- 
ment over the cable of 1858, and of the large saving in money 
effected when the Oriental news had arrived in Canada so 
promptly. Lord Russell finally decided, however, that because 
