De Leon was a leader of the
Young America movement. At the invitation of a committee of Southern members of Congress, De Leon established
The Southern Press, which had a large circulation in Washington during the early 1850s. For his service during the
Pierce campaign, he was appointed consul-general to Egypt, a position he held for two terms with marked success. At the commencement of the
Crimean War, an order was issued by the Porte expelling all Greeks from the
Ottoman dominion. The Greeks in Egypt appealed to De Leon, who took them under the protection of the American flag, guaranteed their good behavior, and insisted that they should not be interfered with. The home government approved his course, and Congress paid him the compliment of ordering the printing of his dispatches. The King of Greece tendered him the grand cross of the Order of San Sauveur, but Leon declined on the grounds that it was anti-republican. De Leon rendered conspicuous services in protecting American missionaries at
Jaffa, and for this he received for the second time the thanks of the
State Department. Through his influence, American commerce with Egypt was enlarged and American machinery introduced into that country. It was during his incumbency of the consul-general-ship that he heard of the secession of his native state from the Union. He at once forwarded his resignation. Returning home, he ran the blockade and made his way to
New Orleans. Thence he proceeded to
Richmond and reported to
Jefferson Davis, volunteering for military duty. Davis sent him instead on a confidential mission to Europe to secure the recognition of the
Southern Confederacy by foreign powers. De Leon refused any salary or remuneration for his services, but advanced from his own purse considerable sums for the use of the Confederacy. He again ran the blockade, reached
Nassau, and arrived in
England in July 1862. As a diplomatic agent he was received in the highest circles, both in England and in
France, and personally pleaded the cause of the Confederacy with
Lord Palmerston and
Napoleon III. His dispatches to the Southern government were intercepted, however, and were published by order of secretary of state,
William H. Seward. Through his friend
William Makepeace Thackeray, De Leon became a member of the
Garrick Club and a contributor to the
Cornhill Magazine. After the Civil War, De Leon returned to America and settled in
New York City. He frequently contributed to the leading magazines, chiefly on Eastern topics. Among his works are:
Thirty Years of My Life on Three Continents; ''The Khedive's Egypt
; Under the Star and Under the Crescent
; and Askaros Kassis, the Copt'', a novel, republished in England. He died in New York City on December 1, 1891. ==Writings==