But their resistance will not last long[735]." Meanwhile the recently established pro-Southern weekly, _The Index_, from its first issue, steadily insisted on the wisdom and necessity of British action to end the war[736].

France was declared rapidly to be winning the goodwill of the South at the expense of England; the British aristocracy were appealed to on grounds of close sympathy with a "Southern Aristocracy"; mediation, at first objected to, in view of the more reasonable demand for recognition, was in the end the chief object of _The Index_, after mid-July, when simple recognition seemed impossible of attainment[737].

Especially British humiliation because of the timidity of her statesmen, was harped upon and any public manifestation of Southern sympathy was printed in great detail[738].
The speculations of Motley, the persistent agitation of _The Index_ are, however, no indication that either Northern fears or Southern hopes were based on authoritative information as to governmental purpose.

The plan now in the minds of Palmerston and Russell and their steps in furthering it have been the subject of much historical study and writing.

It is here proposed to review them in the light of all available important materials, both old and new, using a chronological order and with more citation than is customary, in the belief that such citations best tell the story of this, the most critical period in the entire course of British attitude toward the Civil War.