Note 103 — Chapter XXXII · THE CONFEDERATE LOAN.
Reading edition
"The Emperor of the French," wrote Mr. Benjamin to Mr. Slidell, "has determined to conquer and hold Mexico as a colony, and is desirous of interposing a weak power between his new colony and the Confederate States, in order that he may feel secure against interference with his designs on Mexico.... The evidence thus afforded of a disposition on the part of France to seize on this crisis of our fate as her occasion for the promotion of selfish interests, and this too after the assurances of friendly disposition, or, at worst, impartial neutrality, which you have received from the leading public men of France, cannot but awaken solicitude."[103]