Toward the evident close of the struggle an English nobleman came to
Washington, credited to the embassy. This was somewhat impudent and
imprudent of him, too, as, in early times, he was prominent among the
British aristocrats who had supported the Confederate States. He had
assisted in their being declared belligerents--a sore point. He had
invested in the "Cotton Loan," and voted in sustenance of the Lairds
getting the rebel pirates out of the Mersey. Altogether, he must have
attended the regular White House reception from thinking his hostility
was unrecorded. But the President was clearly prepared for the
_fox-paw_! He spoke to the Briton smoothly enough, but when the
unsuspecting hand was placed in his grasp he gave it one of those
natural and not formal grips which left an impression on him forever.
The balladist's line was realized for him: "It is _hard_ to give the
hand where the heart can never be."
* * * * *