This was that James Spence, author of _The American Union_, a work strongly espousing the Southern cause.

This book was not only widely read in England but portions of it were translated into other languages for use on the Continent.

Spence was a manufacturer and trader and also operated in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange.

He made a strong impression on Mason, was early active in planning and administering Southern cotton loans in England, and was in constant touch with Mason.

By Slidell he was much less favourably regarded and the impression created by his frequent letters to Mason is that of a man of second-rate calibre elated by the prominent part he seemed to be playing in what he took to be the birth of a new State.] [Footnote 566: _Ibid._, Spence to Mason, Feb.