Chief and soldiers have now failed for the first and last time.

They were victorious until victory was no longer to be achieved by human valour, and then they fell with honour[1286]." The people of the North, also, were complimented for their slowly developed but ultimate ability in war, and especially for "a patience, a fortitude, and an energy which entitle them to rank among the very first of military nations[1287]." No one remained to uphold the Southern banner in Europe save the Confederate agents, and, privately, even they were hopeless.

Mason, it is true, asserted, as if bolstering his own courage, that "this morning's" news did not mean an overwhelming disaster; it could not be wholly true; even if true it must mean peace on the basis of separation; finally, "5th.

_I know_ that no terms of peace would be accepted that did not embrace independence." But at the conclusion of this letter he acknowledged: "I confess that all this speculation rests on, what I assume, that Lee surrendered only in expectation of a peace derived from his interview with Grant--and that no terms of peace would be entertained that did not rest on _independence_[1288]." But Slidell saw more clearly.

He replied: "I cannot share your hopefulness.