Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864].

Annotation

[1]   Hertz, II, 949, misdated 1862. A bundle of letters captured aboard the Confederate ship Ceres had been turned over by Welles to his chief clerk William Faxon, for publication. Welles' Diary under date of December 21, records a meeting at which the letters were read: ``When we met at eight, Faxon proceeded to read them. Those from Trowbridge [N. C. Trowbridge of New York] to young Lamar [Colonel Charles A. L. Lamar, who had been a confederate agent in England] made some singular disclosures, and one of them made mention of a nephew of William H. Seward as being concerned in a cargo for running the blockade. This disturbed Seward more than I should have supposed,---for it was not asserted as a fact,---and if, as he remarked, there were among

twenty or thirty nephews one traitor it would not be strange. It was thought best to stop the publication. I proposed that a portion . . . should be made public. . . . But I was overruled by the others, and Faxon was sent off to stop the publication. He was too late, however, for a portion of them had already been printed. . . .''