Two men, Forbes and Aspinwall, were sent to England with funds and much embarrassed Adams to whom they discreetly refrained from stating details, but yet permitted him to guess their object.

The plan of buying ran wholly counter to Adams' diplomatic protests on England's duty in international law and the agents themselves soon saw the folly of it.

Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, wrote to Dupont, March 26, 1863: "The Confederate ironclads in England, I think, will be taken care of." (Correspondence, I, 196.) Thurlow Weed wrote to Bigelow, April 16, of the purpose of the visit of Forbes and Aspinwall.

(Bigelow, _Retrospections_, I, 632.) Forbes reported as early as April 18 virtually against going on with the plan.
"We must keep cool here, and prepare the way; we have put new fire into Mr.Dudley by furnishing _fuel_, and he is hard at it getting evidence....

My opinion _to-day_ is that we can and shall stop by legal process and by the British Government the sailing of ironclads and other war-ships." (Forbes MS.