famous duel revolutionized naval warfare, and merits close attention. The notorious Semmes played serious havoc with the merchant marine of the North. But his prominent place in the history of the Rebellion is largely due to his connection with the famous cruiser Alabama. This vessel was built with English money in an English port, was manned for the most part by an English crew, carried English guns managed by English gunners, and hoisted an English flag. In a word, she was, with the exception of her officers, practically an English vessel, built for the special purpose of destroying Northern commerce. Charles Francis Adams, our able minister to England at that time, protested, but in vain. The English Government did not disguise its contempt for the wishes of the North, as expressed in the warm but dignified correspondence of Mr. Adams. The United States, weakened by civil discord, no longer commanded the respect of the English Government. At last Mr. Adams said, in effect, “We are too busy now to demand justice and satisfaction; but the time will come when we will be heard." That time came later in the settlement of the Alabama claims, in accordance with the Geneva Award (for which, see Lalor's Cyclopedia, II., pp. 331–333.) Mr. Gladstone declared that Jefferson Davis had created a navy. Says Justin McCarthy's History of Our Own Times, in the chapter on the Civil War in America, "The English ship-builders made the navy; Mr. Davis only or dered it and paid for it. Only seven Confederate privateers were really formidable to the United States, and of these five were built in British dockyards." We also refer the teacher to the chapter on the settlement of the Alabama claims, to be found in the same book. Later in the war England again planned to build vessels for the Southern navy. Finally, on hearing that one of these iron-clads was about to sail on its hostile errand Mr. Adams, with patience worn threadbare, wrote to Lord John Russell, England's representative in the matter, "It would be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that this is war." The vessel did not sail. Napoleon III. France was equally hostile to the North. was anxious to witness the success of the Rebellion, and urged England to unite with France in acknowledging the independence of the South. He, too, with contemptible duplicity equal to that of Napoleon I. just before the War of 1812, allowed the most formidable Southern ironclads to be built in France. One of these was finally launched, but did not reach the United States until the war was at an end. If it had, the results might have been disastrous to the Union cause. For a most interesting discussion of this subject we refer the teacher to Bigelow's France and the Confederate Navy, in which the author tells what came within the range of his own experience. "Maximilian and the French in Mexico" is another chapter in the "Foreign Relations," but this will be referred to in Johnson's administration. Soley's Blockade and the Cruisers is valuable for teachers' reading. What to Teach: II. Food Supplies in the South; England and King Cotton; Semmes and the Alabama (1862– 1864); France and the Confederate Navy; Maximilian and Mexico. 1. REFERENCES. Barnes's Brief, pp. 267, 268; Anderson, pp. 305-307; Eliot, pp. 453, 456, 457, 461; Scudder, pp. 388, 389, 404; Barnes, pp. 581, 582; Champlin, pp. 402–404; Richardson, p. 561. II. SPECIAL TOPICS. Fight of Alabama and Kearsarge, Coffin's Redeeming Republic, pp. 304-309. III. OUTSIDE READINGS. History: France and the Confederate Navy, Cotton Famine in England, Coffin's Marching to Victory, pp. 114124; The Alabama and the Kearsarge, Coffin's Redeeming Republic, pp. 228-311; Dodge's Bird's Eye View, pp. 31-35; Hague's A Blockaded Family, Life in Southern Alabama during the War. Oratory: Beecher's Address at Liverpool in 1863, Johnston's American Orations, III., pp. 213-243; also in Century, 38, p. 240. D. Opening of the Mississippi. What to Teach: I. Capture of Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson (1862). 1. REFERENCES. Richardson, pp. 472-477; Champlin, pp. 171-179; Barnes, pp. 495-498; Barnes's Brief, pp. 224, 225; Anderson, pp. 308-310. II. SPECIAL TOPICS. Sharpshooters, Champlin, pp. 173, 174. III. OUTSIDE READINGS. History: Grant's Memoirs, I., pp. 282-315; Loyalty of East Tennessee, Coffin's Marching to Victory, pp. 365381; Guerilla Warfare in Kansas, Coffin's Marching to Victory, pp. 381–384. When "opening the Mississippi" is reached we recommend that all the topics connected with it be studied before any other part of the war is taken up again. As the capture of Vicksburg was made in 1863, this plan may interfere a little with chronology; but that can easily be remedied. In securing the Mississippi the North prevented the South from getting food and other supplies, and thus facilitated the "starvation" policy referred to a few pages back The remembrance of General Butler in New Orleans arouses indignation even now in the Crescent City. Pollard's Lost Cause in connection with this topic indicates the hostility of New Orleans people toward Butler when he was there. This book is worth reading, as being a fairly good history of the Civil War from a Southern standpoint. Written near the close of the struggle, by the editor of a Richmond newspaper, we very naturally look for some sectional bitterness. Of course it was difficult at that time to get at reliable statistics, etc. But Mr. Pollard's estimates of the policy of Jefferson Davis, of the commissariat of the Confederacy, of its financial policy, of its conscription methods, of Sherman in Georgia and Sheridan in the Shenandoah, are decidedly interesting. What to Teach: II. Battle of Shiloh (1862). I. REFERENCES. Champlin, pp. 207–214; Barnes, pp. 499–501; Richardson, pp. 482-486; Barnes's Brief, pp. 225, 226, with note; Dodge's Bird's Eye View, pp. 42–48. II. SPECIAL TOPICS. Grant's Defence of Himself, Barnes, p. 502; After the Battle, Barnes, pp. 501, 502. III. OUTSIDE READINGS. History: Grant's Memoirs, I., pp. 330-370; The Battle of Shiloh, Coffin's Drum-Beat, pp. 236-277; Shiloh, Comte |