presented to the 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA • SAN DIKGO 
 
 by 
 
 FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
 
 
 
 
 ' ' . . *> i s 
 
 

 
 L/BRARY '^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY OP j 
 
 SAN D/EGO I 
 
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 A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 FR'^M 
 
 LONDON.
 
 A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DURING THE YEARS 1856, '57, '58, '59, AND 'GO. 
 
 GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS, 
 
 TIIEK MINISTER OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE BRITISH COURT. 
 
 "Point de fiel pormet beauconp de franchiae." — GuizoT, Mem. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS DAUGHTER JULIA. 
 
 TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. 
 
 rnii-ADELPHiA: 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
 
 1869.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.. 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern 
 District of Pennsylvania.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 There were many incidents connected with the post 
 of American Minister in London, from 1856 to 1861, 
 which may be usefully, and perhaps not disagreeably, 
 recalled from the oblivion into which they must other- 
 wise hasten. To do this, no departure from the reticence 
 lastingly exacted by diplomatic function is necessary. 
 A book, in which the scenes and conversations of Paris 
 at the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 are portrayed 
 by a British diplomat and peer, was doubtfully received, 
 because this reserve was in a measure relaxed. The 
 example should be followed with watchful self-restraint. 
 
 As a general rule, Despatches addressed by a public 
 agent to his government, on the business of that govern- 
 ment, pass out of his control and merge into the mass of 
 executive archives, to be thenceforward reached under a 
 responsible authorization only. Exceptions nevertheless 
 will occur to every mind : — as when mooted topics, 
 ceasing to agitate, have subsided into History ; or when 
 they involve no question of State policy and are purely 
 personal. 
 
 The series of letters addressed to Mr. William L. 
 Marcy and Mr. Lewis Cass — although those gentlemen 
 were Secretaries of State, in succession — partook, how- 
 ever, neither in design nor fact, of official character. 
 They were essentially private letters : — uniformly so 
 termed, regarded, and treated. Very probably, an ex- 
 aggerated estimate of their merit as such, has been 
 
 (V)
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 caused by the complimentary language with which their 
 continuance was constantly urged. 
 
 The purpose of these volumes will be seen with more 
 distinctness than it can be described. Their bearings 
 are various. As constituting, in the aggregate, a run- 
 ning commentary upon events during iive years, they 
 take the undisguised aspect of a familiar journal. While 
 the personal opinions of the author upon every subject 
 springing into notice are perhaps decidedly perceptible, 
 yet nothing savoring of dissertation, treatise, or argu- 
 ment, political or social, was indulged, save in one or 
 two instances. Although touching, occasionally and 
 obscurely, on matters behind the screen of diplomacy, 
 the letters to the Secretaries of State were wholly apart 
 from the oificial correspondence of the envo}^ maintained 
 in at least three hundred and thirty numbered despatches. 
 They were meant to be by-the-by: — to convey friendly 
 and informal hints : to help the conclusions of public 
 functionaries by widening the sphere of facts and obser- 
 vations: and to relieve dry and onerous labors with short 
 and sketchy allusions. How far this design succeeded, it 
 is impossible to judge better than by the encouragement 
 to persevere often and warmly expressed. 
 
 There is one light in which this publication particu- 
 larly recommends itself to the writer: — that is, as an 
 authentic report to his fellow-citizens (altogether 
 divested of the multitudinous communications on file in 
 the Department of State) indicating, with sufficient dis- 
 tinctness, his whole course of action, sentiment, and 
 thought, from week to week, and year after year, while 
 filling the United States mission to the British Court. 
 
 G. M. D.
 
 LIST OF LETTERS, VOL. L 
 
 Aberdeen, Lord, 48. 
 
 Bache, Mrs., 195. 
 
 Bates, Mr., 228. 
 
 Beechey, Admiral, 28. 
 
 Binney, Rev. Dr., 97. 
 
 Brown, Mr. W., 64. 
 
 Bulwer, Sir H., 49. 
 
 Campbell, Lord, 175. 
 
 Cass, General, 148, 153, 155, 156, 
 _l£9, 161, 163, 167, 168, 170, 173, 
 177, 178, 180, 182, 186, 188, 190, 
 193, 194, 197, 199, 201, 206, 207, 
 210, 212, 215, 217, 220, 221, 223, 
 226, 232, 234, 235, 236, 240, 242, 
 243, 246, 247, 249, 251, 255, 258, 
 259, 260, 262. 
 
 Childs, Mr., 103. 
 
 Clarendon, Lord, 135, 142, 143, 154, 
 186, 202. 
 
 Cust, Sir Edward, 54. 
 
 Dixon, Mr. H., 146. 
 
 Dixon, Mr., 45. 
 
 Donoughmore, Lord, 78. 
 
 Ducacbet, Dr., 147. 
 
 Edge, Mrs., 225. 
 
 Edwards, Mr., 102. 
 
 Ellesmere, Lord, 88, 95. 
 
 Evans, Mr. Jobn, 61. 
 
 Everett, Mr., 100, 192. 
 
 Gales, Mrs., 179. 
 
 Gilpin, Mr., 77, 93, 136, 229. 
 
 Hammond, Mr., 260. 
 
 Hutchinson, Mr., 39, 128, 145, 172. 
 
 Jones, G. W., 75. 
 
 Jones, Judge Joel, 33, 67. 
 
 Kane, Judge, 41, 104, 176. 
 
 Kennedy, Mr., 158. 
 
 King, Judge, 130. 
 
 Kneass, Mr., 154. 
 
 Lee, Col., 104. 
 
 Marcoleta, Mons., 113. 
 
 Marcy, Mr., 9, 10, 11,13, 15,17,21, 
 25, 30, 34, 38, 45, 48, 50, 51, 55, 
 57, 58, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 69, 71, 
 76, 80, 82, 83, 85, 89, 90, 92, 94, 
 95, 96, 98, 100, 105, 107, 110, 111, 
 112, 114, 117, 120, 121, 124, 125. 
 131, 132, 134, 139, 141. 
 
 Markoe, Mr., 151, 165, 219. 245. 
 
 Mason, Mr. J. M., 185, 216, 239. 
 
 Mason, Mr. J. Y., 40, 43, 115. 
 
 Middleton, Mr., 88. 
 
 Miles, Mr., 108. 
 
 Morgan, Lady, 163. 
 
 Morris, 3Ir. M., 53. 
 
 Murray, Col., 160, 257. 
 
 McCulloch, Mr. J. R., 254. 
 
 O'Sullivan, Mr., 129. 
 
 Ouscly, Sir W. G., 215. 
 
 Overstone, Lord, 253. 
 
 Oxford, Bishop of, 42. 
 
 Page, Col., 73. 
 
 Perezel, Col., 47. 
 
 Pierce, General, 139. 
 
 Saward, Mr., 192. 
 
 Shaw, Dr., 174. 
 
 Shelburne, Lord, 111. 
 
 Squier, Mr. E. G., 43. 
 
 Thayer, Mr., 176. 
 
 Thomson, Mr. Pishey, 164. 
 
 Woodward, Judge, 212. 
 
 Wolff, Mr., 144. 
 
 ( vii )
 
 LIST OF LETTERS, VOL. IL 
 
 Alexander, Prof., 98. 
 
 Bache, Mrs., 97. 
 
 Bache, Prof., 153. 
 
 Cass, General, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 
 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 
 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 43, 45, 
 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 58, 61, 
 62, 64, 70, 72, 74, 75, 81, 83, 87, 
 88, 89, 92, 93, 95, 98, 100, 103, 105, 
 106, 109, 110, 112, 116, 120, 126, 
 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 140, 142, 
 144, 148, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 
 163, 167, 169, 171, 172, 174, 177, 
 179, 181, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189, 
 
 ■ 191, 192, 193, 195, 196, 198, 201, 
 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 
 213, 214, 215, 217, 219, 220. 
 
 Coryell, Mr., 107. 
 
 Denison, Speaker, 67. 
 
 Dickens, Mr. A., 139. 
 
 Diller, Mr., 124. 
 
 Dixon, Mr., 223. 
 
 Everett, Mr., 138, 178. 
 
 Fair, 3Ir., 63. 
 
 Gilpin, Mr., 60, 150. 
 
 Hardinge, Lady, 200. 
 
 Henriere, M. de la, 125. 
 Ingersoll, Mr. C. J., 208. 
 Jones, Senator G. W., 149. 
 Knott, Mr., 83, 85, 102. 
 Lewis, Sir G. C, 183. 
 Lindsay, Mr., 10. 
 Lytton, Sir E. B., 100. 
 Malmesbury, Lord, 33. 
 Markoe, Mr., 54, 79, 127, 194, 222, 
 
 223. 
 Milnes, Monokton, M.P., 141. 
 Murray, Col., 86. 147. 
 McHenry, Mr., 118. 
 Napier, Lord, 162. 
 Owen, Prof., 102. 
 Pickens, Mr., 114, 175. 
 Pierce, Gen., 77. 
 Eeed, Mr., 166. 
 Saward, Mr., 31, 33. 
 Schoolcraft, Mrs., 168. 
 Seward, Mr., 225. 
 Sickles, Mr., 86. 
 Stafford, Lady, 119. 
 Toucey, Mr., 66. 
 Tucker, Mr., 113. 
 Winthrop, Mr., 91. 
 
 ( viii )
 
 C^tr-Zt,.^^ 
 
 LETTERS FROM LONDON. 
 
 No. l.-TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 New York, February 29, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 26th was received 
 about tlie same time that I suppose you got mine. 
 
 I ought to have made this acknowledgment at once, but 
 it was lost sight of in the distractions of departure. We 
 quit here on board the Atlantic, punctually at 12 to- 
 morrow. 
 
 I must confess that when reading the correspondence 
 at the department, I was slightly surprised to notice with 
 what little account the conversational suggestion as to an 
 arbitration had been regarded. JSTo doubt it was so made 
 as to leave no impression that it was meant as a serious 
 proposal; our minister would otherwise have formally 
 submitted it for decision. Lord Clarendon was bound to 
 give it directness and distinctness, or to abstain afterwards 
 from saying that the offer had been made at all. 
 
 I cannot say whether it would be wholly safe to refer 
 the construction of the Treaty to any " State or Power" 
 in Europe; but if it be a case for reference, and it can be 
 esteemed so only because of the moral weight of an offer 
 of that sort, then I think we should be safer in relying 
 upon the judgment and independence of an individual of 
 recognized political ability, experience, and integrity. 
 There are such men even in these modern times. Recol- 
 lecting bis Life of Washington, his Portrait at the Patent 
 Oflice, and his general estimate of our government, I 
 should feel no apprehension that his British attachments 
 would blind the sagacity or warp the honesty of Mr. 
 Guizot. I put him as an instance only; there are others. 
 
 My numbered despatches will of course be always offi- 
 voL. I.— 2 ( 9 )
 
 10 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 cial; and as to other communications, I shall leave them 
 to be classed as public or private, as your good discretion 
 may determine. 
 
 I am very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 G. M. Dallas. 
 
 No. 2 -TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, March 28, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The arrival here of the America, after a 
 detention of several days beyond her proper time, and the 
 sight of boundless fields of ice, through which, by filling 
 and backing, she made her way with difficulty, have 
 thrown a pall over the last hopes for the Pacific. This 
 unfortunate ship excited so much interest that I ventured 
 to write a private note to Lord Palmerston about her. 
 The admirals of the Admiralty had all given her up, and 
 discountenanced the idea of sending a government steamer 
 in search ; and being told that nothing would avail unless 
 the Premier could be induced to act, I, very impudently, 
 invoked his co-operation in a purpose of general human- 
 ity, and sent my billet by an American merchant, to ex- 
 plain the plan of exploration. My messenger returned 
 perfectly enchanted with the prompt and decisive manner 
 in which my note had been received and acted upon. 
 Lord P. wrote notes to the admirals, and an order imme- 
 diately issued to the commanders of iioo steamers, Tar- 
 tarus and Despatch, to proceed in search forthwith, and 
 according to the programme matured. So much for a 
 first step in diplomatic audacity. 
 
 Our travelUng military commissioners, Messrs. Dela- 
 field, Mordecai, and McClellan, took pot-luck with me 
 yesterday, in the house to which 1 have just removed my 
 family and the legation. They are not talkative men ; 
 but I thought I could discern that they are going home 
 full freighted with a large mass of useful information. 
 
 If ever you issue another decree for reform in the 
 diplomatic service, pray devise some mode by which a 
 minister may be relieved from the dekige and distraction 
 of visitors. If the department would assume the respon-
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 11 
 
 sibility, and not quarrel with the consequences, he would 
 be able to do twice the usual amount of business by 
 closing his doors three days in the week. 
 
 I am drawn to my last ten minutes before the Bag is 
 closed. 
 
 Truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 3.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, March 30, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Times of this morning announces 
 that orders have been issued to the officers at the outposts 
 and the Tower to hold themselves in readiness for firing 
 salutes on receiving to-day from the department news of 
 peace being made : and one of the correspondents says 
 that Lord Clarendon will probably be in his seat in the 
 House of Lords on next Tuesday, and may then commu- 
 nicate the incidents of the conferences at Paris. 
 
 I received yesterday your "■confidential and unofficial" 
 letter of the 14th instant. The very day before it reached 
 me I had a visit from Sir Henry Bulwer, who, I could 
 not help thinking, came to discharge himself of certain 
 reflections on the treaty, of which he was one of two 
 fathers. He very soon entered upon that subject, first, 
 however, with a preface that he was in no manner con- 
 nected with the government, and that our conversation 
 was, of course, " as between gentlemen." He had read 
 Mr. Clayton's speech, and really there was very little dif- 
 ference between their impressions. I told him that what- 
 ever might be the views of others, the fathers of the 
 bantling were bound to unite in defending it against mu- 
 tilation, if not destruction, by opposite constructions. He 
 remarked how difiicult it was, in framing such an instru- 
 ment, to choose language which would admit of a single 
 construction only; that Mr. Clayton and he had conceived 
 themselves particularly safe in employing the words of 
 Mr. Abbot Lawrence in his communication to Lord Pal- 
 merston, accepted and affirmed by Lord Palmerston's 
 answer. He went on to say that so far as respected the 
 Bay Islands, the question appeared to him primarily to
 
 12 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 be, whether at the time of ratifying the treaty, they were 
 dependencies of the Belize ; and as to that, he observed, 
 with what appeared to me sgme significance, their subse- 
 quent formal colonization rather indicated the sense of 
 the British government that they were not. The pro- 
 tectorate was really recognized by the treaty, and only re- 
 stricted in its possible modes of exercise; fortification and 
 dominion were excluded. I interrupted him by asking 
 how then was the protectorate to be exercised ? He paused 
 an instant; thought there were modes of exercising it not 
 prohibited by the treaty; but added that he did not wish 
 to argue the matter, as argument was too apt to make 
 those engaged in it obstinate in their respective views. 
 The Protectorate was a point of honor. Yes, said I, a 
 most attenuated point: you reduced it to a semblance or 
 a shadow, a thing under which, without violating the clear 
 terms, intention, and scope of the treaty, you could do 
 nothing effective, and then you tell us that you hold to it 
 as a point of honor! But it is quite as possible to disembar- 
 rass yourselves of this fanciful point of honor as of any- 
 thing else. A trustee must act with honor as long as he 
 holds the trust ; but he can with perfect honor withdraw 
 from and transfer the trust to another; and how cheaply 
 and under how many guarantees this could be done with 
 the Mosquito savages ! 
 
 Sir Henry recurred to the Belize, and seemed to regard 
 the matters of which we complained in that quarter as 
 topics between England and the adjacent States, Mexico 
 or Guatemala, rather than with us. Such an idea, I said, 
 seemed to me to render the treaty with the United States, 
 so far as the Belize was concerned, quite nugatory; it left 
 England at liberty to extend her progress as far as she 
 liked, without authorizing an interference of any sort by 
 the United States. , 
 
 This conversation, which I consider private, was pro- 
 tracted for some time. I have endeavored to sketch it 
 faithfully, as you may deem it of moment to know the 
 general theories of Sir Henry Bulwer respecting the con- 
 flict over his own treaty. He left me under very agreea- 
 ble impressions of his intelligence, and more than half 
 inclined to think that he rather leans to our interpretation 
 than to the adverse one. You are much better acquainted, 
 probably, with Sir Henry than I am, and can appreciate
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 13 
 
 what he says more correctly. His reputation here is that 
 of a man of ability, but prone to indirection. 
 
 Oar officers were repulsed by Marshal Vaillant in Paris 
 in a manner alike singular and rude. If it had not been 
 ascertained by them to be the effect of personal eccen- 
 tricity and brusquerie, we might draw from it a warning. 
 They wanted to visit certain military establishments. 
 " j^o ! you can't be permitted ; we don't like you enough." 
 They wanted some drawings, which they specified : " lS<o ! 
 we have a quarrel with you; we are going to fight you; 
 good-by, till we meet to exchange cannon-balls:" and 
 so they were dismissed. We must not be Caught na])ping, 
 though I can as yet discern no proof of a belligerent plan. 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 ITo. 4.-T0 MR. MAEOY. 
 
 London, April 4, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — In a letter received from the bankers, 
 after giving me a memorandum of the credit opened in 
 my favor by the government on account of salary, they 
 go on to say, " we beg to add that we have received no 
 advice respecting the allowance for contingent expenses." 
 This, I presume, is the result of a casual oversight; but 
 as it precludes mj" checking on them for contingent ex- 
 penses, and will embarrass the despatch agent and the 
 messenger of the legation, pray have it put right as early 
 as possible. 
 
 By a letter from the Foreign Office of April 1, I was 
 apprised that the Queen, who returned to town the day 
 before, would grant me an audience at Buckingham Pal- 
 ace, on Friday, the 4th, at 1 o'clock, to deliver my cre- 
 dentials. Her Majesty has been entertaining for the last 
 two weeks, at Windsor, the King of the Belgians. 
 
 Yesterday, in the House of Commons, Mr. Cobden 
 asked Lord Palmerston whether he had yet fultilled the 
 promise of producing the correspondence between this 
 country and ours. The reply was that the correspondence 
 was still in the Foreign Office, which had recently been 
 severely pressed, but that he expected to lay it on the
 
 14 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 table in two or three days. Our own pamphlets, trans- 
 mitted by you, have been in some demand, and have en- 
 lightened not a few. 
 
 Every day gives birth to some fresh conjecture as to the 
 terms of the Treaty of Peace. Lord Clarendon is either 
 extremely cautious, or dissatisfied with what he has been 
 obliged to sign ; — he will neither come home, as was an- 
 ticipated, and explain a little in the House of Lords, nor 
 will he open his mouth at a dinner in Paris to support 
 Walewski's praise of the Treaty, although that praise was 
 pronounced with unusual solemnity. The Conservatives, 
 and opposition generally, are ready to pounce upon the 
 instrument as soon as it appears. 
 
 * * * I have just returned from Buckingham Pal- 
 ace, having delivered to the Queen my credential. Her 
 Majesty asked about the health of the President, about 
 my former visits to this country, and so on. She is not 
 handsome, but her expression of face and her manner are 
 engaging, and very soon put her visitors at ease. I was 
 also presented to Prince Albert, who stood by the Queen 
 on her left. While in the Picture Gallery, I made the 
 acquaintance of Lord Lansdowne, Sir George Grey, Eatl 
 of Ilarrowby, Count Coloredo (the Austrian Minister, re- 
 called to be sent to Rome), Mr. Vernon Smith, of the Cabi- 
 net, and many others, who, I am happy to tell you, were 
 in no wise repelled from the American Minister by his 
 plain suit of black, but, on the contrary, made his time, 
 while waiting her Majesty's readiness, pass very pleas- 
 antly. My coat, which 1 am bold to say was as well 
 made and of as good cloth as any in the Palace (except 
 perhaps Prince Albert's!), came from the shop of a tailor 
 in Philadelphia, Sixth above Arch, of the name of Kelly ! 
 The truth appears to be that our common sense is gradu- 
 ally getting the better of traditional fooleries, in honest 
 
 reality, greatly improving social intercourse. Sir , 
 
 a son of the minister we had. in the United States, and 
 who seems quite attached to our country, confessed, 
 though himself an assistant of Sir Edward Cust, the 
 Master of Ceremonies, that these idle points of court eti- 
 quette were gradually wearing out. 
 
 I have neither had matter nor time for a formal despatch, 
 and must beg you to be content with this unceremonious 
 letter. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 15 
 
 No. 5.-T0 ME. MAKOT. 
 
 London, April 7, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — My effort is to let you have something 
 from me, be it ever so small and indifferent, by every 
 regular steamer. I would have prepared a formal despatch 
 to-day, though there is nothing to tell that will not keep 
 for a few" daj^s; but that, suddenly, the Queen has laid her 
 commands upon me, and I must eat my dinner at the 
 Palace. 
 
 And pray, Mr. Secretary, what is your minister to do 
 or say if he be placed at the royal table alongside of Sou- 
 louque's representative, whose fine ebony our friend, Mr. 
 Mason, has estimated at $1000? 
 
 Political parties here are squaring off for a regular set- 
 to, on two subjects, the Treaty of Peace and the Relations 
 with America. On the former, the public dissatisfaction 
 is growing every day; shoulders are shrugged, and a sense 
 of disappointment and humiliation expressed in all quar- 
 ters, to such an extent, indeed, that I doubt whether an 
 illumination can be safely ventured. On the second topic, 
 Mr. Gladstone has broken ground in the House of Com- 
 mons with considerable animation ; — so much so as to 
 cause Lord Palmerston to lose his temper, a thing he 
 very' rarely does, and to occasion quite a general surprise. 
 He would seem, though not yet very decidedly, to be re- 
 solved on standing by Mr. Crampton, and to regard his 
 omission to communicate to you for two months the let- 
 ter of Lord Clarendon, offering to arbitrate the Central 
 American difficulties, as of no importance, because the 
 offer had been repeatedly made to Mr. Buchanan, and 
 communicated by him to you long before. A vague im- 
 pression prevails that upon these two questions united, 
 the ministry ^x\\\ go by the board, and that Mr. Glad- 
 stone, certainly the only fully competent man presenting 
 himself, will, in the new combination, take the place now 
 filled by Lord Palmerston. 
 
 I wish our well-wishers here, who are becoming loud 
 and more numerous hourly, could be spared, for a time at 
 least, the shock they will certainly receive on the Presi- 
 dent's declining to arbitrate. There is a moral weight in
 
 16 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 an oiFer of that sort wliicli nothing but a perfect knowl- 
 edge and correct appreciation of the matter in controversy 
 can entirely repel, and it is absolutely amazing how few 
 among our best friends understand the subject even super- 
 ficially ! For my own part, I am against arbitration, as 
 involving something that savors of concession, and I am 
 convinced that if we calmly but firmly, and especially 
 with quiet and steady preparation for the worst, hold on 
 to the obviously just construction we have given the 
 treaty, this government will give way, indirectly, per- 
 haps, by proposing to nullify the treaty and begin again, 
 or directly by removing iu^ some such fashion as Mr. 
 Squier's project, all possible motive to persevere in their 
 misinterpretation. We have distinctly and ably, in the 
 face of the world, taken our position on both the matters 
 in difference ; it is entirely too late to change that position, 
 or even to seem to hesitate about it. Lord Palmerston 
 must be looked coolly in the eye, so that he may gather 
 from our composure as well as from our words, the convic- 
 tion that he can expect no substantial change in us. Still, 
 a short postponement of the President's final determina- 
 tion on the question of umpirage, would give to many in 
 both houses of Parliament, now that the ball is opened, 
 an opportunity to inform themselves accurately, and so 
 to avoid being shocked by the refusal when it comes. 
 
 I was somewhat struck by a remark which was made 
 to me by a gentleman, rather high in office, at a soiree 
 on Saturday last. In the course of conversation I had 
 ventured to say that what surprised me was, that a man so 
 personally good-tempered and courteous as the Premier, 
 could use such words and evince such bitter feelings as he 
 sometimes did towards the United States. " Perhaps," 
 was observed, "it may not be his fault." "How so?" lim- 
 mediately asked ; " and whose fault can it be ?" " "Well," 
 was the reply, "I think it all originates with Clarendon !" 
 This may be an effusion -of personal grudge against the 
 Earl, worthy of very little reliance; and yet we sometimes 
 get a peep behind the curtain by casual remarks of this 
 sort. 
 
 Mr. C, just returned from Paris, tells me that Mr, Bu- 
 chanan proceeds home by the Arago on the 9th instant, 
 — the vessel which takes this note. 
 
 I cannot forbear repeating to you my anxiety that you
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 17 
 
 should not permit any importunity to persuade you to re- 
 move our consul at Leeds. He is, as a public oflicer, Urst- 
 rate. 
 
 Majors Delatieldand Mordecai,and Captain McClellan, 
 have not yet obtained the visiting permits for the several 
 military offices which Lord Palmerston promised me a 
 week ago. I hope he has not been thwarted by the re- 
 spective Boards, and that the papers will be forthcoming 
 soon. 
 
 There is to be a grand naval review off Portsmouth, the 
 chart and programme of which will accompany this letter. 
 It was prepared and presented to me by Captain John 
 Washington, of the Hydrographical Office. At this mo- 
 ment the exhibition is fixed for the 17th of April — a day 
 which I cannot give to it — but Captain Washington tells 
 me that the naval officers wish it postponed' for a week, 
 and that the Queen may probably so command ; — and if- 
 80, I will endeavor to be a witness. Captain Benham, of 
 our Coast Surve}^, may, as an engineer, deem it import- 
 ant that he also should be present. 
 
 The scientific gentleman whom I have just mentioned. 
 Captain Washington, has told me of the discover}^ of a 
 process by which the place at which a submarine cable, 
 sunk in the sea for telegraphic purposes, breaks, can be 
 immediately ascertained. At the point either of begin- 
 ning or ending, the spot is determined in a very novel but 
 certain manner, by time, or intensity in the action of the 
 fluid. He regards it as of immense importance, in encour- 
 aging the laying of submferine cables, but he could give me 
 no more definite or accurate account of it. It may possi- 
 bly not be wholly new to the Superintendent of our Coast 
 Survey. 
 
 You must not hesitate to let me know if you think I 
 waste your time. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 6.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, April 18, 1856. 
 My dear Sir, — My despatch has gone by the steamship 
 on Wednesday last, but I think it probable that this epis-
 
 18 TO MR. 3IARCY. 
 
 tie, by the Persia on to-morrow, will reach you quite as 
 soon, if not a little earlier. 
 
 I regret that Major Delalield and his colleagues could 
 not give another week to the pursuit of their researches, 
 as Ihave latterly received fi^om the Foreign Office notes 
 which might have facilitated their progress. 
 
 If the statements made to me by very many of our lead- 
 ing friends in the House of Commons can be relied upon, 
 a most determined and formidable assault on the ministry, 
 in respect to our relations, may be looked for. As far as 
 I have yet acted, my desire has been to strengthen the 
 position of our parliamentary advocates by removing all 
 pretence of a hostile feeling on our part, and putting the 
 hostility of the ministry on the grounds of some '■'■ inexo- 
 rable state policy, ^^ in reference to their commercial en- 
 croachments by the colony of the Bay Islands, or some 
 ^^ foregone conclusion'' as to the enlistment question, quite 
 inaccessible to reason or manly conciliation. Such you 
 will see to have been my intimations at the Lord Mayor's 
 dinner to me of yesterday.* I send you an exact copy of 
 
 * The table-address at the Mansion House referred to in the foregoing 
 letter, was the following : 
 
 My Lord, Ladies, and Gentlemen, — The very kind and compli- 
 mentary language with which his lordship prefaced the last toast, and 
 the cordial manner in which it has been received by this distinguished 
 assemblage, are entitled to, and I hope you will accept, the return of my 
 gratitude. I am, in truth, however, almost bankrupt in thanks ; for since 
 landing in the dominions of your illustrious Queen, as the representative 
 of the gi.vernment and people of the United States, I have met nothing 
 but a series of flattering welcomes and hospitalities. Although perfectly 
 conscious that these manifestations are not in the remotest degree addressed 
 to an individual so utterly unentitled to them as myself, but that they are 
 profusely lavished as a generous tribute to a nation as whose messenger I 
 come ; still, on its behalf, and with the sensibility which I know it would 
 unanimously feel, I must beg you, my lord, ladies, and gentlemen, to 
 receive this expression of profound acknowledgment. 
 
 There are some topics on which it would be ill-timed, if not unwise, 
 more enterprising than safe, to touch on this occasion, and in this pres- 
 ence ; indeed, my arrival is so recent that the subjects which would be 
 most acceptable to you are as yet unknown to me. I dare say, however, 
 that I can venture, without much hazard (in the provincialism natural 
 to AVestern tongue), to guess tliat tlie spirit and purpose of a new-comer 
 are matters of at least partial curiosity. Well, my lord, I am neither 
 authorized to feel, nor do I feel any desire other than that of giving all 
 my energies and eff'orts unreservedly, to the restoration of the most har- 
 mf)nious sentiments and fricmdly relations between America and Eng- 
 land. Animated by such a spirit, and aiming at such a purpose, if I fail,
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 19 
 
 my remarks, for I took care to premeditate carefully, and 
 rely more upon my memory than upon the extempora- 
 neous afflatus of the occasion. Allow me to analyze briefly. 
 You will note that — 
 
 1. I ignore all the balderdash about mother country, 
 kindred, and so forth. One of to-day's papers, referring 
 to a short speech made by me at the most republican of 
 the London clubs, on the evening of the 16th inst., puts 
 nonsense of this kind very falsely into my mouth. The 
 truth is that such terms as " mother," "daughter," " cous- 
 ins," etc., are their own familiar ones, and if jou refer 
 to England and America, their version makes it a refer- 
 ence to mother and daughter. I have resolutely, and from 
 principle, eschewed any phrase of the sort. 
 
 2. My reception has been such as to exact the strong 
 acknowledgments made; and this was not only due, but 
 in harmony with my purpose. 
 
 3. I designedly forebore expanding on the points of 
 diflference, but asserted that if, with the conciliatory spirit 
 and purpose I avowed, the government made my mis- 
 sion fail, it would be because they had found out that the 
 Claj'ton-Bulwer treaty checked their commercial ambi- 
 tion at a most interesting point, or because Mr. Crampton 
 and the consuls (who are said to be ready to vindicate 
 their course by publishing their instructions) were to be 
 sustained at all hazards. This was said in terms not as 
 here stated, but to the intelligent perfectly clear. 
 
 4. I introduced a congratulation on the Peace, because 
 I thought it would quietly and respectfully imply a per- 
 fect and cool contempt for the idea that our government 
 could in the slightest degree be affected in their pursuit 
 of right by the p'owerful attitude in which that Peace left 
 England. 
 
 as fail I may, it will be because of some overruling and inexorable policy 
 of state, or some foregone conclusion not to be undone by manly and 
 honorable conciliation. 
 
 Allow me, my lord, in conclusion, to oflfer my congratulations to your 
 lordship, and to all the guests who surround you, on the great event con- 
 summated since my arrival — the restoration of peace to Europe. War, 
 though undoubtedly accompanied by moral benefits or alleviations, is 
 still, and at best, an evil ; and the vast industrial power of the empire, 
 however for a time gallantly enlisted and ably directed, will find more 
 genial and fruitful employment in those channels of agricultural, com- 
 mercial, manufacturing, and mechanical exertion, which have so emi- 
 nently distinguished her people in their march of improvement. 
 
 Eenewed acknowledgments, etc.
 
 20 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 The support given to my remarks was very decided. 
 Lord Stanley (who, as the son of Lord Derby, was called 
 upon to respond to a toast complimentary to the House of 
 Peers) did not hesitate to say that that body would echo 
 my sentiments, and that the man in England who would 
 venture to assail the institutions and government of the 
 United States would be regarded as a dangerous public 
 enemy. Mr. Cardwell (responding for the House of Com- 
 mons), while all the members present stood up as expres- 
 sive of their adhesion to his views, went so far as to say 
 that he " could almost pledge the Commons of England 
 to sustain the American Minister in the assertion of his 
 country's international rights against any ministry what- 
 ever." An eminent and eloquent clergyman put in the 
 same sentiment from the Church ; and Mr. Roebuck, sitting 
 by me at the time, said that I could now see that Lords, 
 Commons, and Church agreed with the great body of the 
 British people, and would never submit to quarrel with 
 America on the pretexts got up : he added, with emphasis, 
 we fear no power on earth, and I am incapable of hypoc- 
 risy — my only wish is that you should know the truth. 
 
 Lord Lyndhurst, whose great age has in no respect im- 
 paired his powers of mind, is said to be preparing to take 
 the field for us in the Lords. A trifling, but to me most 
 agreeable incident, gave countenance to this idea, at the 
 recent Levee, which I attended as chaperon to three of our 
 countrymen. I was passing, in the line of diplomats, to 
 the throne-room, when I felt myself caught by the arm, 
 and heard the exclamation : " Welcome, my countryman, 
 welcome to England !" I turned, saw a very venerable 
 man in court costume ; did not know him, for I had never 
 seen him before, but thanked him cordiaHy, and hurriedly 
 passed on. After performing my duty in presenting ni}^ 
 jyroteges, I waited close by the Queen to see who the old 
 gentleman might be; ascertained that he was Lord Lynd- 
 hurst, and then, going up to him, renewed my thanks for 
 his welcome, which he very cordially received. ' 
 
 I forward to you in the Bag to-day an interesting com- 
 munication from Mr. Mason, received yesterday. I have, 
 as he requested, carefully read it ; and should the emer- 
 gency to which he refers arise, or be seen approaching, I 
 shall not fail to advise him promptly. Although my im- 
 prcssions are as yet like his own, there is no knowing
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 21 
 
 what a whim may bring forth, and I think it might be 
 prudent to instruct the Commodore either to affect, for a 
 month or two to come, some business with the ships of 
 his squadron in such of the Mediterranean ports as would 
 prevent any abrupt attack, or gradually to disperse them 
 on the lookout. I will write to Mr. Mason this sugges- 
 tion, and perhaps he will see the expediency of applying 
 it at once, and until some time has elapsed after the grand 
 review at Portsmouth on the 23d inst. 
 
 By-the-by, the frequency with which I have been ad- 
 vised and almost solicited, by the officers of the govern- 
 ment, to attend this naval review, has rather confirmed 
 my disinclination. It will be a grand and ostentatious 
 display of British naval power, at which, as an American, 
 citizen or minister, I shall be reluctant to play the part of 
 a wondering spectator. I was told that * * * * had said 
 he would rather have Mr. Dallas attend than all the others 
 of the diplomatic body ; as indicative of something like 
 this peculiar desire, I send you the copy of a short note 
 this moment received from the Foreign Office, and I add 
 a copy of my reply. I do not intend, unless commanded 
 by a direct invitation from the Queen (which I have feared 
 might come), to swell the exulting crowd at that demon- 
 stration, but shall, of course, abstain gracefully. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 Wo. 7.~T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, April 20, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Lord Aberdeen was kind enough to 
 pay me a visit this morning; and the result of a long con- 
 versation with him is my conviction that, in the course 
 of two or three days, I shall receive, to be forwarded to 
 you, the reply of Lord Clarendon to your letter of the 
 28th of December last, requesting, at its close, the recall 
 of Mr. Crampton, and the removal of Messrs. Rowcroft, 
 Barclay, and Matthew. 
 
 This reply will be calm and moderate in tone, but de- 
 finitive in declining to do what you have asked. It will 
 found its reasoning upon fresh statements and evidence
 
 22 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 fiirnislied by Mr. Cramp ton, and affect to be unable, witli- 
 out doing injustice, to determine the question of veracity 
 on points of fact. Of course, neither Lord Aberdeen, nor 
 any one else out of the Foreign Office, has exact knowl- 
 edge of what the facts are upon which Mr. Crampton has 
 raised, or rather bolstered up, the issue for the relief of 
 the ministry. It is conceived that, unless by some harsh 
 and unexpected course of action on the part of our gov- 
 ernment, a reaction in sentiment shall be suddenly pro- 
 voked, Lord Palmerston will be unable to sustain himself. 
 No one will be surprised if Mr. Crampton be dismissed 
 ultimately; but it may be (as was said to me) that a plausi- 
 ble case of contradictory proof may be the burthen of 
 Lord C.'s reply, and that many will expect it to be met 
 before the final blow is struck. Lord Aberdeen is a calm 
 and judicious man. His political position here you per- 
 fectly well understand. He would undoubtedly desire to 
 preserve good relations between the two countries., and is 
 by no means satisfied that a similar disposition on the part 
 of the ministry would not, especially at their commence- 
 ment, have avoided existing difficulties. But he is a loyal, 
 high-minded statesman, and is obviously not prepared 
 to prejudge the new testimony sent forward, and of which 
 be can have no accurate knowledge until it shall be laid 
 upon the table of the House of Commons, as repeatedly 
 promised by Lord Palmerston. 
 
 Since reading the Globe of the 18th instant, I have been 
 in very little doubt as to the "foregone conclusion" in 
 respect to the matter of foreign enlistments, upon which 
 this government had settled. That newspaper, in my 
 opinion a reliable representative of cabinet policy, when 
 commenting upon my address at the Lord Mayor's dinner, 
 and after many compliments to it and my sentiments, 
 with an expression of a desire to keep the best relations 
 with us, yet closed its article with a strong "trust" that 
 notwithstanding all this, " no considerations, even those 
 arising from the prospect of war and its calamities, will 
 ever lead the British nation to deflect one inch from the 
 path of uprightness and honor." 
 
 Considering, then, that the British ministry refuse your 
 demand, I take it for granted that you will send Mr. Cramp- 
 ton his passports, and that, as soon as your having done 
 80 is officially known here, I shall receive mine. It will.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 23 
 
 in all probability, be in your power before that to apprise 
 me at what time you intend acting, and what course the 
 President would wish me to take on being tendered 
 "my ticket of leave." Certainly I will comply with his 
 and your instructions as far as I can ; but my inclination 
 is, as I think my true representative duty and policy are, 
 to quit England instantly, and to remain for a limited pe- 
 riod either in Paris, orBrussels, or Geneva, until I receive 
 your final directions. Of course, I cannot do this without 
 incurring serious and most inconvenient loss : — but this is a 
 consideration by which you cannot be " deflected one inch 
 from the path of uprightness and honor;" and it is only 
 mentioned as a reason for my adding that 1 presume my 
 receiving my passports and going on the Continent do 
 not cancel my commission as minister, or suspend my 
 credit with the Barings for salary, until I am recalled by 
 the President. My functions, although not exercised in 
 diplomatic intercourse with the government here, are at 
 the discretion of the President only. 
 
 * * * I have just received your private letter of the 
 7th inst., in which you say that, having heard Mr. Cramp- 
 ton had sent to his government an elaborate defence of 
 his course, you "inferred that the discussion is to be 
 further protracted. This inference squares with what Lord 
 Aberdeen seemed to consider as highly expedient : and, 
 indeed, as the matter of foreign enlistment has taken the 
 foreground of our difterences, and has been managed by 
 you with so much force and labor, I should regret your 
 omitting anything by which your powerful argument of 
 the 28th December can be fortified, so as to repel the new 
 assault. I would cheerfully take the labor upon myself, 
 in order to relieve you ; but your familiarity with the sub- 
 ject will probably make it easy, and the additional evidence 
 in your hands has not been sent here. Besides, a reason- 
 able delay on our side, for a substantial reason, after the 
 long delay on theirs, merely on the ground of Lord Clar- 
 endon's absence, can only enure to our benefit, by letting 
 the parliamentary scene of action be fully developed. It 
 may be that a change of ministry on the Peace question 
 would save trouble all round. 
 
 This peace is very generally regarded as one forced upon 
 the government, and in truth a botchery and a sham. 
 Rumor will have it that Louis iSTapoleon has been too lav-
 
 24 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 isli in personal as well as national expenditure, and that 
 he insisted npon closing a war whose next campaign (not 
 necessary to preserve the -military prestige of France) 
 might drive himself and his public chest into bankruptcy. 
 One of the already apparent effects of the peace is the 
 universal bitterness against England on the Continent, 
 and the general chorus in praise of France. 
 
 The ministry are trying to make capital out of the 
 Italian question. But nothing will give brightness to the 
 illumination which has been resolved upon; and to main- 
 tain the tranquillity of which, in this discontented and 
 mortified metropolis. Horse Guards and Life Guards are 
 deemed necessary. Riot is anticipated; but the aifair is too 
 lifeless to kindle excitement; it will pass off' as a mockery. 
 
 Some attention is given here to our fermentation pre- 
 paratory to the coming Presidential election, and I am 
 frequently asked as to its probable result. Of course, I can 
 give them nothing better than conjecture ; and they regard 
 it as " quite odd " that, notwithstanding the character of 
 the new House of Representatives, and the election of a 
 Black as Speaker, I should be confident of a democratic 
 success. They do not seem to speculate upon deriving 
 any advantage from our defeat; indeed, they rather de- 
 spise the doctrine of " America for the Americans;" and 
 what they consider the total disappearance of the Whig 
 party, their old allies, leaves them very suspicious of the 
 new factions. I think, too, our steady adherence to re- 
 publican doctrines, accompanied by the constantly aug- 
 menting prosperity and power of the country, are visibly 
 undermining their former prejudices, and letting in upon 
 their thoughts, their manners, and even their conversa- 
 tion, a great deal more democracy than they themselves 
 are conscious of. I see this in every rank of society, and 
 perhaps more among the nobles and titled than in other 
 classes. 
 
 As soon as Lord Clarendon returns to the Foreign Of- 
 fice, Ilerran says he will open upon him the recession of 
 the Bay Islands to Honduras, upon Mr. Squier's plan. I 
 will bear in mind the views of your No. 7. The Earl is 
 reported to me as decidedly favorable to the scheme ; and 
 it is possible that he may catch at it as the only mode of dis- 
 entangling this government from the absurd misconstruc- 
 tion he gave to the treaty of 1850. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 25 
 
 No. 8.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, April 25, 1856. 
 
 ^Iy dear Sir, — Last evening Lord Palmerston laid 
 upon the table of the House of Commons the papers re- 
 lating to our differences. Of what the packet consists I 
 have not yet ascertained. It can hardly contain the reply 
 to your letter of 28th December, because up to this hour 
 that repl}^ has not been sent to this legation. In the 
 Lords, Lord Clarendon promised the papers early next 
 week. 
 
 I wrote by the Hermann, which steamed from South- 
 ampton last Wednesday, a rather lengthy letter to you on 
 the subject of the expected reply. I was anxious that 
 you should get my views as early as possible, founded, as 
 they are, on information perfectly reliable. I presume 
 you will get that letter either before or about the same 
 time with this, and will not, therefore, repeat its contents 
 further than to say that your request for the recall of Mr. 
 Crampton will be declined upon the basis of fresh statements 
 and jjr oof furnished bij 3Ir. Crampton, and in a tone vastly 
 improved from the former envenomed one. 
 
 All London is laughing at the ridiculous mishaps which 
 occurred owing to the mismanagement of the arrange- 
 ments for the great I^aval Review of the day before yes- 
 terday. Both Houses of Parliament discussed them for 
 an hour last night, and a morning journal contains along 
 article, full of fun, but considering the whole affair as 
 somewhat a fiiilure, and as a sort of representation of the 
 mismanagement of Balaklava. The Peers and Commons, 
 pompously invited to be near the Queen, were left in the 
 lurch. Lord Palmerston was twice, in the tumultuous 
 mel^e, turned out of rail-cars by the conductors. Lords 
 of Council and high Church dignitaries, and Chief Jus- 
 tice Campbell underwent all sorts of annoyances and de- 
 lays. What became of the Diplomatic body nobody can 
 tell. A huge steamer ran down a gun-boat. The ma- 
 noeuvring was indistinct and uninteresting, and finally 
 nothing seems left to comfort the originators of this mag- 
 nificent turn-out, but the certain facts that the number 
 of vessels of war was 240, and their aggregate armament 
 
 VOL. I. — 3
 
 26 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 3002 guns ! I am not sorry that I abstained from being 
 " there to see." 
 
 Lord Clarendon reached London on the evening of 
 Monday, the 21st instant. I received the usual otiicial 
 notification on the afternoon of the 22d, and on the fol- 
 lowing morning requested an interview. Late last night 
 I got his reply, assigning 4 o'clock this afternoon as the 
 hour, and the Foreign Office as the locus in quo. I am 
 therefore afraid that I cannot send you by this opportu- 
 nity my first impressions of her Majesty's principal Sec- 
 retary of State for Foreign Aflairs. Indeed, as I have 
 nothing to discuss with him, I shall be lucky if I can get 
 him to say anything worthy of crossing the Atlantic. 
 
 The ministry have lately been several times in the mi- 
 nority in the House of Commons; and some of the news- 
 paper sentinels carefully point to each case as a significant 
 sign of what is coming. But I cannot yet perceive any 
 really heavy weights tacked to the heels of the adminis- 
 tration, but the Peace and the American question. These 
 are certainly pressing them down more and more every 
 hour; but the Premier is a man of great adroitness in ex- 
 tremities, and may yet, by sudden movement, twist round 
 upon his tight rope, and dance ofi', with Parliament 
 blinded and in tow, and in another direction. Pray observe 
 how, in the distribution of the immense land and naval 
 forces on hand, he is sending a larger force to Canada 
 than they have ever yet had there ; other troops to Ber- 
 muda; a most extraordinary supply of many millions of 
 ball-cartridges, etc., etc. We have in cotton, to be sure, 
 pretty good bail for the peaceful behavior of this country, 
 as a general thing; but there are epochs and circum- 
 stances in which I should not think that bail sufficient. 
 I have a strong mistrust of France ; but that is Mr. Ma- 
 son's province, not mine. 
 
 Allow me to intinuite that in these critical times there 
 may be some doubt as to the entire security of the arrange- 
 ments made by the department with the Cuuard steam- 
 ers, reposing more confidence in them than in the Collins 
 line, by instructing the despatch agent that it is unneces- 
 sary to have a special bearer of despatches when the Bag 
 is sent by a Cunarder. ISTo expense is incurred by these 
 bearers of despatches; and our travelling countrymen are 
 always proud to take charge of and faithfully protect
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 27 
 
 what is meant for you. I don't question the integrity 
 of the Canard officers, but the public impression may be 
 the other wa}-; and all on board steamships are not 
 olficers. 
 
 You will have read in the newspapers the Treaty of 
 Peace. The entire document breathes a spirit of tender- 
 ness for Russia and indifference to England. Public opin- 
 ion here has become so pronounced about it, that the 
 formal illumination preparing by government is univer- 
 sally sneered at, and even in the House of Commons has 
 been laughed at and ridiculed. 
 
 I have just received a communication from Mr. Mason, 
 dated Paris, the 24th instant. He tells me that he has 
 embraced my idea about our Mediterranean squadron 
 (which I think I sent to you in my letter of the 18th 
 April), and has written to that effect to Commodore 
 Breese. 
 
 I sometimes wish, for your sake, that I wrote a larger 
 and bolder hand. I am conscious that eyes of a respect- 
 able period of life ought not to be severely taxed ; but 
 my habit is inveterate, and I am forced to this tiliy chi- 
 rography, if I write at all. 
 
 I have got nothing requiring the solemnity of a de- 
 spatch. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — I hav_e opened this to add that I have had my 
 interview with Lord C; that I said I had come, first to 
 pay my personal respects, and second to enquire within 
 what reasonable time I might expect, for transmission to 
 you, the reply to your letter of the 28tli December last. 
 He was, of course, exceedinglypleased to^form my acquaint- 
 ance, and said he would send me a note, perhaps on Mon- 
 day next, certainly before the next steamer left. This led 
 me to suppose that there is something coming separate 
 from the reply. 
 
 We talked over the negotiations at Paris. He is cer- 
 tainly not satisfied, but remarked that he had had no wish 
 to humiliate Russia by the terms of the treaty. More at 
 another time.
 
 28 TO ADMIRAL BEE CHE Y. 
 
 No.- 9.-T0 ME. J. T. MASON. 
 
 London, May 2, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It will be agreeable to you, no doubt, 
 to know that your despatch to Governor Marcy, respect- 
 ing the course things took about privateering, was re- 
 ceived here just in time to enable me, after hastily reading 
 it, to seal and put it in the Bag for the steamer Asia to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Governor Marcy, who long ago took into his own man- 
 agement the correspondence on the Enlistment question, 
 still retains it. We shall probably know nothing on that 
 subject, beyond what we at present know, for six weeks to 
 come; and then I do not, under the existing circum- 
 stances, expect a definitive stage to be reached. Possibly 
 the controversy may drag its slow length along until Con- 
 gress rises. If our State Department continue firm, Baron 
 Brunow (to whom I send my cordial and most respectful 
 remembrances) will, I feel assured, be proved a better 
 prophet than either Count Walewski or Lord Cowley. I 
 refer, of course, to the contents of your letter. 
 
 Your exceedingly kind invitation to Paris has given us 
 all much pleasure. The ladies would enjoy nothing bet- 
 ter; and the opportunity of one of "the sights" — the 
 sight of yourself and family — would be sure to compen- 
 sate them for the anno^'ances of travelling. But this dis- 
 tracting legation requires incessant watchfulness, espe- 
 cially now that the opening spring induces such shoals of 
 our countrymen to come abroad; and as to a compulsory 
 visit, if it occur at all, it will hardly occur until the middle 
 of summer. 
 
 Sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. lO.-TO ADMIKAL BEEOHET. 
 
 24 Portland Place, April 3, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Dallas, the American Minister, has the honor to 
 acknowledge the receipt of Admiral Beechey's note of 
 to-day, apprising him that the Council of the Royal Geo-
 
 TO ADMIRAL BEECHET. 29 
 
 graphical Society had awarded to Dr. Kane, of the United 
 States, the Gokl Medal of the Society, for the distinguished 
 conduct and discoveries of that gentleman in the Arctic 
 regions, and for the great zeal and energy dispUiyed, under 
 circumstances of great privation and suffering, in the 
 search for Sir John Franklin. 
 
 Mr. Dallas hears of this tribute, alike generous and 
 just, to the services of his countryman, in the cause of sci- 
 ence and humanity, with much sensibility and pride. He 
 will attend at the Anniversary meeting, on the 26th in- 
 stant, agreeably to the invitation of the Council, and in 
 receiving the medal will undertake its safe transmission 
 to Dr. Kane.* 
 
 * When Admiral Beechey, in the presence of the Royal Geographical 
 Society, handed this Grold Medal to the American Minister, it was ac- 
 knowledged by the following short address : 
 
 Mr. Presidext, — On behalf of my fellow-citizen, Dr. Elisha K. Kane, 
 I receive, with equal pride and pleasure, this testimonial, awarded by 
 your learned body to his ability and services in that branch of human 
 knowledge to which you are specially devoted. 
 
 His country also, even now engaged in expressing her high sense of 
 his deserts, will be gratified to learn that her judgment, which might 
 possibly be ascribed to partiality, has been thus sanctioned. 
 
 Young as he yet is, and fairly entitled to count upon many years of 
 zealous intellectual activity, he can never achieve a prouder recognition, 
 considered in all its aspects, than this Medal of the Royal Geographical 
 Society of London. 
 
 Dr. Kane, as is personally known to me, entered upon his career of 
 Arctic exploration under the influence of sentiments which were strength- 
 ened rather than shaken by its depicted terrors. In the medical depart- 
 ment of the Navy of the United States, on a remote station, his govern- 
 ment scarcely intimated a disposition to join in the search for Sir John 
 Franklin before he hurried forward to volunteer an enlistment for that 
 noble purpose. There was a voice upon the breeze that had caught his 
 ear. An ardent fondness for scientific studies impelled him to a fresh 
 field tf research. A daring and irrepressible spirit of enterprise co- 
 operated with much experience and peculiar attainments. He went — he 
 went twice ; and, though he vainly offered his own life to rescue another's, 
 he brought back with him observations, verifications, discoveries, and 
 delineations worthy to be accepted by the masters of Geographical science. 
 If, as I believe was the case, he penetrated to, and actually beheld, the 
 ice-encircled yet open Sea, whose existence had been predicated of the 
 periodical northern flight of aquatic birds, of certain currents, and of 
 other indicia^ he may justly feel that the practical solution of an interest- 
 ing problem has earned the honor of your approbation. 
 
 I do not wish, Mr. President, to eulogize my countryman. Tou are far 
 more competent than myself to appreciate the exact value of what he 
 has effected. Tour Council have affixed to his record this, their Great 
 Seal, and, at your invitation, and with alacrity, I assume the grateful 
 task of transmitting it safelv to his hands.
 
 30 TO MR. MARCY 
 
 No. 11 -TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, May 6, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — After the despatch sent you by the 
 steamer of Saturday, the 3d instant, I have not enough 
 on hand for another of that formal character by to-mor- 
 row's. Perhaps Lord C.'s reply to yours of the 28th De- 
 cember, will be enough for some time to come. I was 
 surprised at finding it printed in the Times and Post, on 
 the very morning the steamer sailed. You will probably 
 have received it in that shape. 
 
 This reply is more than commonly conciliator}^ in tone, 
 and its concluding paragraphs are thought to evince a 
 sincere desire to avoid a breach. Although it imports a 
 refusal to recall, it avoids saying so expressly ; and it may 
 be construed as withholding a definitive answer until you 
 have had an opportunity to consider the denials of the 
 four honorable gentlemen, with the budget of loose and 
 w^anton affidavits. Of all the acts to which this govern- 
 ment has resorted in defence of their officials, I cannot 
 help regarding the procuring and publishing such a mass 
 of gossiping slander as the most disgraceful. To be sure 
 the letter of Strobel to Mr. Crampton, demanding XlOO, 
 and threatening to turn State's evidence if he be not sent 
 the means to quit the country, is very, very bad, and he 
 must cease to be relied upon, whatever may have been his 
 former character. That letter, however, like those of Mr. 
 Crampton and others, adduced on the trial of Hertz, is 
 substantive proof in itself; it is incapable of being ex- 
 plained away. Not so the absurd tittle-tattle and hear- 
 say, often three degrees removed, invoked from ignorant 
 and prejudiced men to destroy the statements of Hertz 
 and others. This is all garbage with which Lord Claren- 
 don and Mr. Crampton should have disdained to foul their 
 pens. Still, it will have its intended effect upon the minds 
 of superficial examiners, and I need not say that these 
 count as a thousand to one against the refiecting and 
 analyzing. Hence the expediency of commenting upon 
 it, and, if within your power, of dispelling it by some 
 strong testimony, such as that to which you have re- 
 ferred in one of your private letters. Even if you decide
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 31 
 
 to send Mr. C. liis passports, I would accompany that 
 final measure with reasons, incorporating a complete 
 refutation of these pretences of a Quarter-sessions char- 
 acter, why you regard further correspondence or argu- 
 ment as unnecessary and uncalled for. 
 
 There are gentlemen here who take another view of 
 Lord Clarendon's reply. They represent it as an effort 
 to persuade you to let him otf upon the basis of a gener- 
 ous adherence to public agents misled by zeal in the ser- 
 vice of their country; upon the ground that they were not 
 lawyers, and did not exactly apprehend the legal charac- 
 ter of the steps they were taking; upon the unwillingness 
 to rest a quarrel on evidence derived from sources par- 
 tially tainted and equivocal; and, more than all, upon 
 what they regard as an appeal to your magnanimity, not 
 to persevere after reiterated expressions of regret, and 
 upon receiving renewed and cordial assurances of good 
 will and friendship. If I could take this view I would 
 certainly and frankly urge you to act upon it, as it must, 
 I think, be admitted, that your doing so could onlj- be 
 ascribed to a forbearance in favor of peace. But I can- 
 not so construe the sweeping and merciless and foul at- 
 tack to which Lord C. has lent his high station and 
 higher name against the motives, the officers, and the 
 proceedings of the American government. Our judges 
 are all under executive or party control ; our district at- 
 torneys and marshals are all subservient and venal ; our 
 citizens, if witnesses, all corrupt and perjured; and our 
 juries, grand and petit, unworthy of confidence ! Such 
 is the impression which this extraordinary paper, if not 
 repelled conclusively, must have upon the general mind 
 of Europe. I do not, I cannot, believe that Lord C. had 
 careftilly considered the miserable tissue of wanton scan- 
 dal he was sending you, or the extent to which it neces- 
 sarily carried him. There it is, however, and you are 
 forced to deal with it exactly as he has shaped it, and as 
 the world will understand it. Had it been read to the 
 assembled representatives of the seven Great Powers, in 
 the Congress at Paris, it would have been hailed with 
 smiles as an exposure precursive of the downfall of re- 
 publicanism, and might have formed a protocol, or at 
 least an annex to a protocol, like the menace against the 
 free press of Belgium. I wonder whether it may not in
 
 32 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 fact have had the imprimatur of a majority of this great 
 league of rulers against the rights and liberties of the 
 ruled ? Orlotf is the only one — no, his colleague, Bru- 
 now, is another — from whom I should expect resistance to 
 its adoption. You must excuse this latitude of remark. 
 I am generally cool, hut now and then heated hy trifles; 
 and I know your temj^erament too well to fear that any 
 sudden extravagance of mine can possibly mislead you. 
 
 I am just now struck with the idea that, if you inclined 
 to postpone giving the final blow on the enlistment ques- 
 tion, your object might be best attained by simply asking 
 Lord C. if it was intended by her Majesty's government 
 to superadd to the many unpleasant features of the cor- 
 respondence, the adoption, as true, of the various im- 
 putations grossly made in the affidavits which accom- 
 panied his reply, against the integrity and honor of the 
 judicial and executive officers of the United States? I 
 think such a brief interrogatory would let him under- 
 stand your sense of the proceeding, and would oblige him 
 to do one of two things, either to say Yes, in which case 
 you would have a unanimous feeling at home, or to say 
 No, and that would take from the affidavits all title to 
 any respect whatever, and leave you free to act upon the 
 general tone of his reply. If we are to quarrel, let us do 
 it with the entire approbation of the American people, 
 and then cousequences need not be apprehended. 
 
 I returned Baron Brunow's visit to-day, and had a long 
 conversation with him as private friends. I knew him 
 intimately when in St. Petersburg in 1838. He is here 
 only for a short time, to announce the death of JSTicholas ! 
 I reproached him for having, at the Conference in Paris, 
 entered into the English project of abolishing privateers, 
 although his country had so little interest in the matter, 
 and he perfectly knew that it was aimed exclusively at 
 the great defensive weapon of the United States against 
 British disposition to go to war with us. I observed to 
 him, see what the result is of having sympathized with 
 Russia for two years ! — we have a fierce contest about 
 enlistments in violation of our neutrality laws, and at the 
 very first occasion Russia throws her weight into the scale 
 of our adversary, and enables her to claim to be backed 
 by all Christendom! He made many eflbrts at excuse, 
 but said, finally, "What could we do?" "Pll tell you
 
 TO JUDGE JOEL JONES. 33 
 
 what yon could and what you ought to have done," said 
 I. " You might have admitted the general plausibility of 
 the idea, and expressed a readiness to co-operate in abol- 
 ishing privateering, provided, in advance of any com- 
 bined declaration on the subject, the assent of a// wmnYw/ie 
 nations be obtained. You should have abstained from 
 an unwillingness to exercise a species of moral coercion 
 over Powers not represented in your Conference. In that 
 way, without naming the United States, you would not 
 have lent yourself to putting them in the wrong." The 
 baron was quite overthrown by the suggestion, and 
 treated it as unanswerable. I think it very likely that 
 Mr. Stoeckl will be instructed to make all sorts of expla- 
 nation. In the course of the talk, which was quite pro- 
 tracted, I asked him his opinion about our points of differ- 
 ence with this government. " Don't be worried," he re- 
 plied, "they will be settled. They may not recall Cramp- 
 ton ; but if he be dismissed, they will make light of it, or 
 their indignation will be mildly expressed and of very 
 short duration. No ministry would last a month, in the 
 present condition of England, that should quarrel with 
 the United States. As to a war with you, they dare not 
 attempt it." He thinks Count Kreptovitch, a son-in-law 
 of jSTesselrode, will be sent to this Court as ambassador 
 from the Czar. 
 
 I have just got your two private letters of the 20th and 
 25th April, and cordially thank you for them. You are 
 somewhat more costive than I am, and therefore every 
 word is of greater value. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 12.-T0 JUDGE JOEL JONES. 
 
 London, May 9, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I find private correspondence to be a 
 luxury very difficult to enjoy at this post. The perpetual 
 stream of visitors from the United States, the exactions 
 of Court ceremonials, the endless series of entertainments 
 and hospitalities, combine, with the necessities of business 
 and the despatches to Governor Marcy twice a week, to run 
 me fairly out of all time. I have no objection to the hard-
 
 34 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 est work, but I would really delight in an hour or two 
 occasionally for private and personal intercourse with 
 such absent friends as you. That I should have been able 
 to write you but one letter since I came here is a conclu- 
 sive proof of my slavery. At this moment the mail for 
 the Liverpool steamer of to-morrow morning is making 
 up, and I scribble under whip and spur. 
 
 I cut the enclosed paragraph from one of the London 
 newspapers. It is probably coined in the mint of an ad- 
 versary who had his own purposes in view. As far as it 
 refers to me, it is without the shadow of foundation. On 
 its topic, I have no correspondent to whom I could or 
 would write but yourself. The Committee of which you 
 are the leading member have that matter in their own 
 hands, and I do not intend in the remotest manner to 
 interfere with it. 
 
 You perceive that out of the conferences at Paris, and 
 especially out of the alliance of France and England, has 
 emerged a more formidable league of sovereign powers 
 against peoples than has yet been witnessed by mod- 
 ern times. The end is not perceptible at first glance ; but 
 I am much mistaken if the principle of rapid decay be 
 not seated in the very heart of that league, and if its rot- 
 ten fragments be not shaken to the earth by popular con- 
 vulsions, and that at no distant da3\ 
 
 Of course I cannot write about my prospects as minis- 
 ter to any one extra masnia of the State Department. Let 
 me, however, intimate my opinion that I have gone far 
 in accomplishing one of two things — putting our country 
 in the right, if we are obliged to quarrel, or leading men's 
 minds to a purpose and tone of conciliation. Governor 
 Marcy has now the world before him, and with Provi- 
 dence as his guide he cannot fail to achieve a great 
 result. 
 
 Always truly and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 13.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, May 13, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — We have quite a difterence of opinion, 
 in private circles and in the newspapers, whether it be
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 35 
 
 safer to illuminate for the Peace or not to illuminate. The 
 ni2:ht assicrned is the 29tli instant. Many say the mob 
 will attack the non-illuminated; but others allege the 
 Peace to be so unpopular that he who ventures on glori- 
 fication will be in danger. The diplomats, who care only 
 for the safety of their windows, are puzzled how to act. 
 One of my colleagues, residing opposite me, is so much 
 of a courtier that he is bent upon a great blaze ; while 
 another, who adjpins me, looks rather glum and doubtful, 
 and talks of les lampions Math distrustful shakes of the 
 head. I must own that my inclination is to keep dark, 
 and leave tomfoolery to the rest of the world; but then, 
 peace is per se a good, may certainly be innocently re- 
 joiced over without becoming a party to it, and the smash- 
 ing of panes of glass by a crowd around one's house, if 
 to be done at all, is to be preferred as against the spirit of 
 the police, rather than with their quasi connivance. If 
 you were accessible by the telegraphic wire, I should, as I 
 suppose all the European representatives have done with 
 their courts, ask for instructions, and abide the conse- 
 quences. That small obstacle, the Atlantic Ocean, shields 
 you from the necessity of deciding the important point. 
 
 Now, although this treatment of the crisis be jest, the 
 very doubt as to the course safest to be taken speaks 
 strongly the character of the treaty as respects England. 
 It has passed the ordeal of Parliament, though with some 
 hard hits. The abandonment of Schamyl and his Cauca- 
 sians to their fate, the forbearance toward Nicholaief, the 
 abolition of privateering, the surrender of established 
 legal rights of belligerents, the shameless truckling to the 
 indecent attack upon the freedom of the Belgian press, 
 and, after all, the little security obtained against Russian 
 ambition, — although they were not pressed as matters to 
 justify opposition to the address of the Queen, were, nev- 
 ertheless, put in, protesiando, as items in reserve for future 
 attacks upon the ministry. 
 
 Lord Palmerston, just at this moment, seems to be in 
 as victorious an attitude as any British premier has ever 
 held. He has baffled the combination on the surrender 
 of Kars, has boldly carried the peace through, has vindi- 
 cated the protocols, even when defying Walewski's ettbrt 
 "to gag a free press," and has dexterously managed to 
 postpone our American differeuoea to a distant da}^ In
 
 .36 TO MR. MARCF 
 
 the mean time, he sides with Sardinia on the Italian ques- 
 tion, and stands by Turkey in a separate convention se- 
 cretly made between her, Austria, France, and England, 
 much to the offence of Russia. His majorities are large, 
 and his party is full of exultation. Still, there is that 
 thorn of America in his side — hoeret lethalis — and if it do 
 not bring him to tlie ground, it will be because you may 
 come to his relief, or he may suddenly, by the indications 
 in France, discover the expediency of greater conciliation 
 in his relations with us. AH men of opinions worth any- 
 thing agree in saying — I should not be surprised to hear 
 it from his own lips — that a conflict with the United 
 States is the only thing he could not stand for six months, 
 or even half that time. His power is immense, but 
 that is a rock on which, if he touch, he founders. 
 
 I have carefully watched, from day to day, the official 
 distribution of the recent armada off Portsmouth, and 
 must confess that I have not been able to detect any such 
 disposition of the force as would warrant anxiety. If 
 there be any hostile preparation going on, it is most suc- 
 cessfully veiled. Lord Elgin has a motion in -petto re- 
 specting the troops recently sent to Canada ; but his object, 
 as I gather from himself, is not so much to complain of 
 what has been done, as to make an occasion to warn 
 against going further, so as to arouse our susceptibilities 
 and jealousies. I feel confident that the result of the ex- 
 periment tried a year ago, of ordering a squadron ab- 
 ruptly to the West, was not such as will encourage its 
 repetition. The ministry, if set upon quarrelling with us, 
 and I am yet to perceive any decidedly amicable disposi- 
 tion, will not go to work in that way, but will coolly strive 
 to put us in the wrong, and make us at least appear to be 
 aggressive enough to rouse the loyalty and passions of 
 their people. Lord Elgin's motion will come up soon 
 after the liolidays, say about the 20th instant. 
 
 The special instruction to ask for an answer to your 
 despatch of the 28th December came too kite. I had 
 mooted the matter with Lord C. as soon as he reached 
 the Foreign Office from Paris, and his reply will, upon 
 a fair calculation, be in your hands the day after to- 
 morrow. I hope you may rest, after its perusal, for a week, 
 and give my letter of last Saturday a chance of convey- 
 ing a hint or two of some importance.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 37 
 
 I have nothing worthy to be worked up into a formal 
 despatch. I send yon, however, a parliamentary docu- 
 ment of some interest — " Correspondence respecting the 
 late negotiation with Japan" — recently laid upon tlie 
 tables of the two Houses. It shows a neat and exact 
 imitation of the example set by Commodore Perry. 
 
 You introduced to me citizen * * * * Qf Cali- 
 fornia, and of course he was cordially welcomed. With 
 a generous ambition, he sought the eye of royalty, and I 
 presented him at the Levee. By some mistaken move- 
 ment of her arm, the Queen led him to kneel and kiss 
 her hand! If you remember him you will smile. Our 
 democrats make pretty good courtiers, for they are gen- 
 erally men practically of the world. 
 
 Politics at home look to be in a fine state of fermenta- 
 tion ; the democracy, sanguine as usual, preparing to go 
 it blind. Rest assured that the adversary's fragments, 
 which appear now to be so disjointed and broken, will at 
 the eleventh hour fly together and form a powerful whole. 
 It is 80 obviously their only chance that I cannot presume 
 them silly enough to overlook it. And if we do not, at 
 Cincinnati, shun the loadstone rock, which seems, at this 
 distance, to be attracting all kinds of floating craft, and 
 to be drawing out the bolts and rivets of our party, we 
 shall sink. And at what period of constitutional history 
 are we incurring this risk! If the administration are 
 forced to back down on the great Kansas question, and 
 
 they will assuredly be so if gentlemen like Mr. , 
 
 and Mr. , and Mr. are to attain their pur- 
 pose, we shall have a restoration of the ruinous Monroe 
 doctrine, '■'•the era of good feeling,'' sapping and subverting 
 every honest and solid principle of the democratic creed. 
 It really " behooves you, then, to apply your finest art," 
 *'7ie qaui detrimenti capiat respublica F' 
 
 I hope you will not fail to write me precisely the wishes 
 of yourself and the President in regard to my course of 
 action, should you dismiss Mr. Crampton, and I be dis- 
 missed in return. Although public considerations must 
 not bend for a moment, or to the breadth of a hair, to 
 considerations of personal convenience, yet, when they 
 can be perfectly harmonized, attention may justly be paid 
 to both. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 No. 14-TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, May 16, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — A great contest, big with the ultimate 
 disruption of Church and State, has been going on here 
 for some time, and has, to the surprise of almost every- 
 body, brought Lord Palmerston plump on his knees be- 
 fore the Archbishop of Canterbury. About three weeks 
 ago, Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner of Works, 
 Parks, Palaces, and Public Buildings, after obtaining the 
 sanction of the Premier, ordered some fine military bands 
 to play for an hour or more in the parks on tlie after- 
 noons of Sunday. The music attracted immense crowds. 
 In Regent's Park, close by me, the number assembled, 
 counted officially at the gates, fell little short of 100,000 
 men, women, and children, on a single occasion. The 
 Sabbatarians, scandalized and alarmed, rushed to the 
 rescue. All the newspapers took sides — some in favor of 
 amusing the toil-worn populace in so harmless a way, 
 others decrying it as the prolific source of demoralization 
 and turbulence. At last the pillars of the Church are 
 shaken into action. The ArchlDishop writes to Lord Pal- 
 merston. Lord P. sulks, reiterates his liberal opinion 
 and advice on the matter, and formally abates the music. 
 A slight apprehension is entertained that the disappointed, 
 on Sunday next, the day after to-morrow, will show their 
 spunk and vexation by some outbreaks. ISTo fear of that 
 at the present epoch. John Bull is as effectually nozzled, 
 and foot-tied, under the auspices of police, Horse Guards, 
 and Life Guards, as his majestic representation, the Lion, 
 in the Zoological Gardens, is caged in iron. 
 
 Further reflection upon Lord Clarendon's reply to your 
 letter of the 28th December last has settled down into a 
 very general opinion that the President will dismiss Mr. 
 Crampton as soon as you receive it. This impression is 
 strengthened by the intercepted correspondence of the 
 Foreign Office witli the Costa Picans — a correspondence, 
 to be sure, which we have very little to do with, but which 
 shows Lord C.'s meddlesome and inimical spirit and pol- 
 icy to be rather worse than had been supposed in relation 
 to Central America. Had the President recognized the
 
 TO MR. J. P. H. 39 
 
 existing government in ISTicaragna I would have been 
 disposed to ask his lordship whether these intercepted 
 letters were genuine, and what he meant by lending arms 
 against an independent State on the Isthmus. Such a 
 question would hardly need a reply, and yet his lordship 
 would be put to his trumps in making a civil and honest 
 answer. As it is, however, I suppose we can't find fault 
 with his helping a friendly power to resist a filibuster. I 
 am not sure that you have not been too scrupulous and 
 cautious in your policy as to Walker. At all events, I 
 hope that these meddling manifestations from this quar- 
 ter may be made the avowed platform of a decisive move- 
 ment on our part. We should displace this entering 
 wedge by a quick and well-aimed stroke. 
 
 By the time you get this you will be in the midst of 
 the agitation of the Cincinnati Convention — from which 
 I wish ourselves a safe deliverance. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 15 -TO ME. J. P. H. 
 
 London, May 16, 1856. 
 
 My dear H., — Did I not know your friendship, as well 
 as your constant engagements, I should take it for granted 
 that you had finally given me up as one of the lost. Are 
 you always too busy to write letters ? 
 
 We have got into a quiet, comfortable house in Portland 
 Place, and we are gradually introducing ourselves to the 
 mysteries of London housekeeping. The system is sim- 
 ple enough, as it devolves the whole trouble upon ser- 
 vants, allowed to expend what they think necessary, and 
 expected to account at the expiration of every week. 
 Simple, certainly; but as to economy, quite another 
 thing. 
 
 I am kept hard at work in the legation in a variety of 
 ways ; but never having contracted a distaste for labor, I 
 get along tolerably well. Phil is indefatigable and always 
 at hand. 
 
 Politics are anything but satisfactory. I found on my 
 arrival a fixed anti-American set in the ministerial and
 
 40 TO MR. J. Y. MASON. 
 
 social classes, and entered upon a determination to break 
 that down, first, by frankness and conciliation, if they 
 would answer, if not, then, second, by open defiance. 
 Our countrymen here tell me that my success has been 
 complete: — but let us wait a little longer before too con- 
 fident a conclusion. To go to war with us is an extrava- 
 gance which I am certain would upset any ministry in 
 less than six months, if not on the instant; but I doubt 
 much their disposition to forego their great luxury of 
 treating us with insult and contumely. Their hospitality 
 and kindness to me and my family have certainly been 
 unmeasured; but the region of national relations and 
 policy is widely separated from that of mere personal in- 
 tercourse. Should Mr. Crampton be dismissed by Gov. 
 Marcy I think we may look out for a series of retaUatory 
 and recriminating acts between the two countries, which 
 must lead, at no distant day, to the final trial of strength. 
 When we are driven to that, we must throw the scabbard 
 away, and tie the hilt to the hand. 
 
 The ladies up stairs are all well, and not yet tired, as I 
 am heartily, of the gaieties of the great London season. 
 I wish you would bring two or three of your circle over, 
 and give them a chance while I am here (not long, mark 
 that!) to see the Court of Queen Victoria, as splendid 
 now as it ever has been or ever will be. All this magnifi- 
 cence of ceremonial and pretension is fast being under- 
 mined, even among the proudest peers, by our republican 
 principles accompanied by our wonderful prosperity; and 
 before any one of your children reaches fifty, it will have 
 vanished, like the hues of a rainbow, forever. Let them 
 see it before it fades away. 
 
 Many affectionate remembrances to yours. 
 
 Ever truly and faithfully. 
 
 No. 16 -TO MK. J. T. MASON. 
 
 London, May 24, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have had the enclosed letter by me 
 for some time, undetermined what direction to give it, 
 and now it occurs to me that I may enclose it to you, and
 
 TO JUDGE KANE. 41 
 
 beg you to address it for me to wherever the Commodore 
 may be. I have put on an extra envelope and leave it 
 unsealed, so that you can perceive its subject is a purely 
 private enquir^j;;, having no connection with public topics. 
 The matter on which we have heretofore exchanged 
 views is not yet sufficiently developed to be decided upon 
 finally one way or the other. I have been unable, though 
 always on the watch since the great review of Portsmouth, 
 to perceive any such naval distribution as would warrant 
 anxiety. As, however, I have reason to expect, in the 
 course of the coming three weeks, something definite 
 from Washington in reference to the Earl of Chirendon's 
 last communication on the recruitment question (a com- 
 munication, bj'-the-by, of a tone so remarkably calm and 
 conciliatory that it would have had a strong efi-'ect to- 
 wards entire adjustment had not its writer, heedlessly, 
 and without some disclaimer of oflicial adoption, con- 
 nected with it a series of wantonly vituperative affidavits), 
 and therefore think it safest to let things remain as they 
 are for a month longer. 
 
 Always sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 17-TO JUDGE KANE. 
 
 LoxDON , May 27, 1856. 
 
 !My dear Judge, — It gave me peculiar pleasure to at- 
 tend the Koyal Geographical Society yesterday. Their 
 Gold Meda'l, a very beautiful piece of art by-the-bj-, which 
 I received on behalf of the Doctor, was accompanied by 
 a handsome notice from the President, Admiral Beechey. 
 My short reply I have written out for the especial benefit 
 of my valued friend, Mrs. Kane, and take the liberty to 
 enclose it. As no important business closes in London 
 without a dinner, and a series of table-speeches, the 
 Doctor was toasted, and, as the guardian of his fiime for the 
 nonce, I addressed about 200 philosophers and explorers 
 with a review of his whole life. He was cheered from 
 beginning to end. The medal is transmitted in a small 
 screwed box to the Department of State by my despatch 
 bag. Let me hear of its safe arrival. 
 
 VOL. I. — 4
 
 42 TO THE BISHOP OF OXFORD. 
 
 I suppose all this should take the appearance of stately 
 form, but I am bound to fulfil other engagements, and 
 really must throw myself upon the indulgence of your- 
 self and the Doctor. Mr, Marcy waits for me. 
 
 My warm regards to all the family. 
 
 Ever truly yrs. 
 
 No. 18.-T0 THE BISHOP OF OXFOKD. 
 
 24 Portland Place, May 28, 1856. 
 
 My dear Lord, — No one has yet, to my knowledge, 
 arrived from the United States to whom I could venture 
 to refer you as a person fully and accurately informed on 
 the topic of the note I have had the honor to receive 
 from your Grace to-day. Nor can I hope to meet one so 
 early as by Friday next. 
 
 The comparatively private mode of inflicting capital 
 punishment has not been long practised, and has probably 
 not attracted the general and careful attention to which 
 it is entitled. Opinions as to its efl'ects on the people, 
 contrasted with the effects of the old public executions, 
 may not be uniform ; but I am disposed to think that 
 experience is fast dispelling the jealousies and doubts 
 which were felt when the change was introduced. Of 
 course this remark refers exclusively to n\\ own country, 
 and it is not made with the confidence which a thorough 
 knowledge of facts and a close investigation might in- 
 spire. 
 
 If I am fortunate enough to meet a fellow-countrj^man 
 on whom, in regard to this enquiry, perfect reliance can 
 be placed, I will hasten to apprise you ; or, if it be likely 
 that your movement may be protracted so long as to 
 enable me to write home, and receive back the views of 
 one or two gentlemen whom I have in my eye, I will un- 
 dertake to do 80 with great pleasure. 
 
 With sincere respect, I am, truly yrs.
 
 TO MR, E. G. SQUIER. 43 
 
 No. 19.-T0 ME. J. T. MASON. 
 
 (Private.) Legation of the Uxited States. 
 
 London, May 31, 1856. 
 
 giR^ — Incidents affecting the relations between this 
 country and the United States are crowding so rapidly 
 upon us that too much vigilance and precaution cannot 
 be exercised to ward off or to mitigate the consequences 
 of an explosion which may possibly happen at any 
 moment. 
 
 You will therefore excuse me for suggesting the expe- 
 diency of warning the Commander of our Mediterranean 
 Squadron to be, at this juncture, extremely careful not 
 to put himself in a situation open to surprise, and to keep 
 himself and his force ready for any sudden emergency. 
 The clouds which now threaten may blow over; but as 
 experience has not taught us to rely upon the plausible 
 professions of British statesmen, unconfirmed by ascer- 
 tained facts, I am anxious to put every one on guard. 
 The detection of the correspondence with Costa Rica, the 
 intermeddling of Ca5)t. Tarleton with our steamer, the 
 Orizaba, the reception by the government of the new 
 minister. Padre Vigil, from Nicaragua, and the over- 
 whelming denial given by Mr. Clayton to one of Mr. 
 Crampton's boldest assertions, combined with the daily 
 expectation of hearing that this latter gentleman has 
 been dismissed, maintain the public pulse at fever heat, 
 which may precipitate secret action. 
 
 I am, most respectfully, very truly yrs. 
 
 No. 20.-T0 ME. E. G-. SQUIEE. 
 
 {Private.) London, June 1, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 28th May, '56, did not 
 reach me until the 30th, after I had seen Mr. Brown, and 
 requested him to convey to you my sentiments. 
 
 I thank you for the clear and full statement you have 
 given me of your position and views.
 
 44 TO MR. E. G. SQUIER. 
 
 It lias, no doubt, occurred to you that our government 
 cannot, especially at this juncture, participate in any 
 negotiation having for its object a new disposition of 
 islands over which they can pretend to claim no right of 
 sovereignty whatever. The group, headed by Ruatan, is 
 really part of Honduras, but is occupied and colonized 
 by Great Britain. The question is, therefore, to be ad- 
 justed by those two governments exclusively. If the 
 latter can be persnaded by Seilor Herran to do what is 
 just and restore the islands unconditionally to Honduras, 
 such a course will be cordially approved by the United 
 States — iirst, as a measure of right; second, as a measure 
 favorable to the independence of their own commerce and 
 intercourse; and third, as a measure removing practically 
 one of the leading causes of difficulty with this country. 
 
 If, however, the restitution cannot be eliected, except 
 upon terms or stipulations which would divest it of sub- 
 stantial and permanent character, leaving the islands 
 subject in the remotest degree to English influence or 
 law, and ready to relapse at a more prosperous moment 
 into their present colonial dependence, the United States 
 could not fail to regard it with disfavor — iirst, as a source 
 of future quarrel between Honduras and Great Britain; 
 second, as on the part of the latter only a plausible evasion 
 of an exciting issue; and third, as legalizing, without sub- 
 stantially disarming, the actual usurpation. 
 
 I do not think that the government at Washington 
 would find anything in tlie thi'ee conditions you have 
 enumerated at all questionable; but there is something 
 in your suggestion about admitting the inhabitants to the 
 enjoyment of special municipal rights which savors of 
 keeping up the distinction between the English citizens 
 and the other citizens of Honduras, and so facilitating 
 the future relapse to which I have adverted. . To this the 
 President would probably seriously object. Perhaps you 
 have stated it somewhat vaguely ; and, indeed, until the 
 "special municipal rights" are distinctly enumerated, I 
 do not wish to hazard a positive opinion. 
 
 The moment is perhaps unfavorable to action. The 
 two nations are much excited by the recent events, and 
 are watching each other with extreme jealousy. It is not 
 merely impossible for me to leave London for an hour, 
 but I should fear that my meeting Messrs. Herran and
 
 TO MR. 31 ARC Y. 45 
 
 Alvarado just now anywhere would excite suspicions and 
 impede their progress. In a short time the cloud will 
 either disappear or burst. 
 
 I am very respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 21.-T0 ME. D. 
 
 London, June 6, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — A watchful solicitude induces me to 
 send you the enclosed slip from one of the newspapers. 
 
 My best regards wait on you and yours. If the Times 
 and the Post are reliable organs, I shall probably quit 
 England soon, wezjer to return; an uudiscriminating retalia- 
 tion amounts to an original insult, and will require many 
 years to be forgotten. It will not surprise me if I should 
 turn out to be the last minister from the United States to 
 the British Court, and that will certainly be fame if it be 
 not honor. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 22.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, June 6, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have nothing worthy of a formal de- 
 spatch by the steamer of to-morrow. 
 
 The report of Captain Tarleton on the affair of the 
 Orizaba has not yet been received. I shall wait a day or 
 two longer, and if I do not get from the F. O. by that time 
 the copy I expect, the case of Captain Tinklepaugh will 
 be spread out in writing, as it was in conversation, and 
 definite replies be asked to definite interrogatories. 
 
 Lord Palmerston said last evening in the House of 
 Commons that thisgovernment had received indirect mi'ov- 
 mation of Mr. Crampton's having been dismissed. This 
 information, if your letter of the 23d May be, as it of 
 course must be, accurate, cannot be well founded. Ko 
 later intelligence than that of the Atlantic, which reached
 
 46 TO MR. MARCr. 
 
 here on the 4th hist., after leaving New York on the 24th 
 May, has heen received. The recognition of Vigil is fast 
 passing into the same category of permanent, but incur- 
 able, and therefore to be tolerated, causes of reproach to 
 our government and people as the annexation of Texas, 
 the displacement of the poor Indians, or the constitutional 
 recognition of Slavery. There is no use in crj^ing over 
 spilt milk; the thing is done, cannot be undone, can in 
 fact do no harm, and may as well be forgotten, except so 
 far as it serves the purpose of an occasional fling at the 
 mobocracy of America. 
 
 If mischief grow at all out of Vigil's reception, rest as- 
 sured it will be quickened by compost from France. The • 
 rumored Spanish movement against Mexico — a move- 
 ment which should put General Gadsden and our Home 
 Squadron on the alert — involves an ulterior purpose of 
 Louis Napoleon's : — either to send a scion of his imperial 
 house to the hall of the Montezumas, or to extirpate 
 "Walker, or so to involve Spain and Mexico in war as to 
 furnish to the former a plausible excuse for transferring 
 Cuba to England. I am inclined to adopt the last hy- 
 pothesis. Lord Palmerston, having served the purpose 
 of Louis Napoleon for some months back, is requiring a 
 reciprocation, and Spain is the cat's-paw which the Em- 
 peror puts in to stir the fire. 
 
 My uncertain position is of course not without its in- 
 conveniences, and I am now and then tempted to exclude 
 myself altogether from the world, until the world lets me 
 know definitely whether I am to be decapitated or let go 
 without day. The measure of dismissing me, as m pm 
 delicto with that honorable gentleman, Mr. Crampton, 
 savors ofanundiscriminatingvindictiveness which strongly 
 marks an original insult. Indeed, I am disposed to think 
 that the dignity of our country will make it necessary so to 
 regard that measure, if it be resorted to, and that, without 
 the amplest apology, we ought never to permit an Ameri- 
 can minister, or diplomatic agent of any sort, even a con- 
 sul, to shew himself in her Majesty's dominions. My long- 
 ing for historical fame would certainly be satiated if it 
 were to turn out that I am to be the last of our ministers 
 at this Court. As it could not be ascribed to any fault of 
 mine, and would unerringly indicate the moment at which 
 the doctrine of delenda est Carthago began its practical
 
 TO COL. PEREZEL. 47 
 
 operation, I should be borne clown to future ages identi- 
 fied with the commencement of a great period. Ultimas 
 JRomanorum is better than merel}' Consul or even Imperator. 
 
 The dread of a war with the United States is very gen- 
 eral; and the two s:;reat interests, manufacturing and mer- 
 cantile, are beginning to bestir themselves to prevent it if 
 they can. I do not rely so much upon the parliamentary 
 movements of the opposition as upon violent agitation in 
 these interests. The ministerial majority is too great and 
 too mercenary to be in any danger of defeat, until terrified 
 by the clamor of the constituencies. That can scarcely 
 be brought to bear upon them until after Lord Palmer- 
 ston has tried their mettle, and forced them, as he has 
 already once done since I have been here, to stick to him 
 and brave the storm. My conviction, however, is firmer 
 than ever, that if he advances any farther on the road to 
 a quarrel with us, he will suddenly close his administra- 
 tion. 
 
 Pray pardon me if I request you to let the President 
 know that I give my adhesion to his reception of Yigil,as 
 indeed I believe I did in one of my former letters. 
 
 Always very truly yrs. 
 
 No. 23.-T0 OOL. PEEEZEL. 
 
 LoNDO^r, June 7, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 4th inst., requesting a 
 passport from this legation for your wife, on a visit to 
 Hungary, and one for yourself enabling you to accompany 
 her to France, has been received. The circumstances of 
 your case are such as awaken my warmest sympathy, and 
 I sincerely wish it was in my power to send the documents 
 you so urgently desire. But I am without discretion, and 
 under explicit instructions from my government on the 
 subject. You are not a citizen of the United States, and 
 I am expressly prohibited granting a passport to any but 
 a citizen. The declaration of your intention to become a 
 citizen would avail you much while remaining in the 
 United States, but abroad its efiicacy is not recognized. I 
 entertain no manner of doubt as to your character and
 
 48 TO LORD ABERDEEN. 
 
 merits, and would cheerfully rely upon your assurances 
 of discretion and care; — but I cannot break through a 
 rule positively prescribed. 
 
 Enclosed I return to you the introductory note of Mr. 
 Sedgwick, and the certificate of Mr. Henry Ward Beecher. 
 
 I am very respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 24.-T0 MR. MAECY. 
 
 London, June 10, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Fortified by the mail of the Asia, I feel 
 strong hopes of bringing to a close the bickerings of the 
 two countries. The sentiment condemnatory of Mr. 
 Crampton augments in force every day, and is almost as 
 general in this as in our own country. The programme 
 of your course has been, in conversation, anticipated by 
 me, and every reflecting mind accepted it as a desirable 
 termination to the afi:air. I do not think the ministry 
 will make further stand and hazard a war, in defence of 
 a person now proved so unworthy. If they do, Parlia- 
 ment will drive them from their places. 
 
 Should this government, contrary to my yreseiit ex- 
 pectations, retaliate the dismissal of Mr. Crampton by 
 mine, it is probable that I shall immediately quit Lon- 
 don Avith my family, and fix myself within a promptly 
 accessible distance from our legation at Paris, in rural 
 and private quarters. You have made no disposition to 
 relieve me from the necessary expense of this movement, 
 and, if it has to be made, I shall be driven to borrowing 
 for the first time in ray life: a consequence of no outfit. 
 My time is up. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 25.-T0 LORD ABERDEEN. 
 
 London, June 11, 1856. 
 
 My dear Lord Aberdeen, — Agreeably to my promise 
 I now have to inform you that Mr. Crampton was sent
 
 ^. TO SIR H. BULWER. 49 
 
 his passports by the President, and the exequaturs of the 
 three consuls were recalled ; but the reasons for doing 
 this are set forth in a despatch addressed to me, which I 
 propose to read in the course of the day to Lord Claren- 
 don. The despatch is in terms and tone of a most con- 
 ciliatory character; accepts frankly and conclusively the 
 assurances of Lord Clarendon's last letter, so far as her 
 Majesty's government is concerned; but expresses an un- 
 changed conviction as to the personal misconduct of Mr. 
 Crampton and his coadjutors, who have, by disregarding 
 the instructions sent them, and by continuing, even up to 
 January last, to act in violation of our laws, and by mis- 
 representing the conduct of our public functionaries to 
 the government here, embroiled the two countries, and 
 made themselves objectionable residents in the United 
 States. The despatch is accompanied by a mass of fresh 
 evidence, chiefly from the very witnesses whose athdavits 
 were appended to Lord Clarendon's communication of 
 the 30th of April. 
 
 My only purpose is to describe the features of the de- 
 spatch I have received, not to make a single comment. 
 Should there, in your lordship's opinion, be no indelicacy 
 in my doing so, it will aiibrd me pleasure to submit the 
 paper to your own perusal. 
 
 With the most cordial respect, 
 
 I remain very sincerely yrs. 
 
 ' No. 26 -TO SIR H. BULWER. 
 
 London, June 15, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir Henry, — Your note from Brighton was 
 really very agreeable to me as proof of regard, but in no 
 respect was it at all necessary as explanatory of the cir- 
 cumstance to which it refers. My amiable countryman, 
 Mr. Peabody, omitted to look at the thing on both sides; 
 and while he was anxious that the toast should come from 
 the person most acceptable to me, he forgot that it could 
 not but be personally embarrassing to you. It would be 
 a wretched sort of life, this of ours, if such a long-con- 
 tinued and kindly intercourse as yours and Mr. Crampton
 
 50 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 could be coolly sacrificed to a table compliment to another. 
 Even my comparatively slight acquaintance with him 
 suggests to me that I shall undergo, when meeting him, 
 an unpleasant struggle between official decorum and in- 
 dividual feeling. 
 
 Pray be assured that I appreciate and sincerely applaud 
 what you- did. I place a much higher value upon the 
 note you have written me than upon any specimen of 
 formal eloquence (though aware of your power) with 
 which you could possibly have addressed Mr. Peabody's 
 guests. 
 
 I am, very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 27.-T0 MK. MAEOY. 
 
 London, June 17, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Hermann leaves Southampton to- 
 morrow, but she has so little repute that I shall do no 
 more than write this short note by her. 
 
 Everything since I communicated your two last de- 
 spatches to Lord Clarendon has worked to a charm. The 
 public excitement augmented every hour. The oppo- 
 sition in Parliament took an attitude not to be mistaken, 
 and on Friday last, headed by Lord John Russell, opened 
 their battery. Yesterday Lord John put his questions to 
 the Premier in a handsome and impressive speech, and 
 Lord Palmerston announced formally the determination 
 of the cabinet, " not to terminate their present amicable 
 relations with Mr. Dallas." The breakers are avoided; 
 the legation is in deep water again ; the Crampton squall 
 has passed over, rather clearing the sky than otherwise; 
 and there is bright promise of a goodly day to-morrow. 
 No time shall be lost to improve the returning swell of 
 kindly feeling. It is not impossible that prompt nego- 
 tiation may put an end to all controversy about the 
 treaty. If not, and we resort to arbitration, let me know 
 your preferences and be prepared. 
 
 The war, as between the parliamentary parties, will 
 continue ; and Lord Derby has threatened a fierce over- 
 haulino; of the ministerial conduct in the recruitment
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 51 
 
 business. But this last feat of Lord Palmerston secures 
 his position. 
 
 Our countrymen here are in great exultation, and lavish 
 upon " Old Marcy" eulogies which my jealousy forbids me 
 to repeat. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 28.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, June 24, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have as yet nothing from the Foreign 
 Oflice for a despatch. The replies to your letters on Cen- 
 tral America and recruitment seem to require great care 
 and elaboration. Much effort and skill are certainly 
 necessary to steer through the straits in which the min- 
 istry find themselves. The Opposition are resolved to 
 hold them to their responsibility, and nothing but the 
 highest exercise of the imperturbable temper, adroitness, 
 and ability of Lord Palmerston can save them. In my 
 opinion, however, he will prove himself equal to the task. 
 What may be the tone and purport of the forthcoming 
 answers it is impossible to conjecture; but they cannot 
 incur the extreme hazard of continuing, on either ques- 
 tion, the war of words which has already so nearly ruined 
 them; such a course will inflame their adversaries and 
 produce a reaction of panic. If they are calm and mod- 
 erate, no matter how strongly tinctured with self-esteem, 
 they will pass current, dispel the existing mortification, 
 and disarm many who only insist upon no further provo- 
 cation to the United States. A vote in either House in 
 such a case would probably be in favor of government. 
 
 I constantly hear your two despatches praised, and 
 cannot help thinking that they are producing on the gen- 
 eral public an impression of our having been right, and 
 the ministry wrong from the beginning. Even the news- 
 papers, the Times and the Post, are slowly but obviously 
 retreating from the positions they have heretofore so 
 audaciously maintained. My colleagues of the diplo- 
 matic corps, who unanimously foretold my dismissal, 
 chuckle over what they regard as the discomfiture of Pal-
 
 62 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 merston, and give me, en imssayit, an extra smile and 
 squeeze of the hand. I could entertain and perhaps sur- 
 prise jou with particulars of a similar spirit in other quar- 
 ters; but there are spheres as to which yjen and ink are 
 indiscreet agents of communication. 
 
 Messrs. Herran and Alvarado are now here. The former 
 asked this morning by note an interview with Lord 
 Clarendon. They both, with Mr. Squier, called on me 
 yesterday. We conversed freely, but agreed that, before 
 going formally into business, it would be prudent on all 
 sides to await the answers preparing to your despatches, 
 as some clew to the most politic and promising mode of 
 proceeding might be derived from them, and we should, 
 at all events, better understand the dispositions of the 
 British government. These answers, you must recollect, 
 will be put, iii print, on the tables of the two Houses of 
 Parliament, as soon as they reach the American Lega- 
 tion. I suppose they will come to me, as Mr. Crampton's 
 passports came to him, after the steamer of to-morrow has 
 sailed. 
 
 I enclose, as worthy a moment's conference with Mr. 
 Dobbin, two notes, one from Mr. Hawthorne to me, and 
 the other from Mr. James Rae to Mr. Hawthorne. The 
 quadrant of Paul Jones ought certainly to be among other 
 Revolutionary relics in the ]^avy Department, and it 
 would give me pleasure to secure it. Should you gen- 
 tlemen agree with me, let me be duly authorized to pur- 
 chase, at a reasonable price, on proof of its identity, and 
 give orders how to pay. 
 
 The Italian question, you will have noticed, is fast 
 ripening to the dropping point. One of two things must 
 take phice, and that speedily, or a popular rise will 
 occur: — either Austria must be allowed to repress with 
 her iron squadrons, or vast reforms must be inaugurated 
 under the auspices of Sardinia directly, and of France and 
 England indirectly. Manin eclipses, at least for the time, 
 Mazzini (who, by-the-b}^, meditates retirement in Amer- 
 ica) in boldness and prudence; and the liberal Whig 
 Cabinet of St. James are intensely on the qui vive. His- 
 tory, a half century hence, may possibly attribute the 
 recent forbearance of Lord Palmerston, under an indig- 
 nity from the United States, to his forecasting prepara- 
 tions in favor of Italian unity.
 
 TO MR. M. 31. 53 
 
 Our nomination for the next Presidential term is rather 
 favorably commented upon here. It is supposed to be 
 ans[)icious of external tranquillity. But when I express 
 the opinion that its success is certain, they treat me with 
 an incredulous smile, being assured by their wise corre- 
 spondents and their equally wise newspapers that Mr. 
 Fillmore's election by the House is far more likely. Nous 
 verrons. 
 
 Our countrymen are prodigious travellers. Every 
 steamer comes loaded with them, on their way iirst to 
 this legation for passports, and then ^'■jxcy'touf en Europe.^' 
 Some have families of eight(!) children with them; others 
 are spending their "honeymoon;" and wandering bache- 
 lors sharp set for Paris, the Pope, the Pyramids, St. Peters- 
 burg, or Persia, are countless. What a sinecure of a 
 place has the American Minister in London ! 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 29.-T0 ME. M. M. 
 
 Loi^'DON, June 26, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The "contretemps" experienced by me 
 at the Levee yesterday is inaccurately stated in the 
 Times of to-day, and I can't think that you would 
 knowingly sanction a misrepresentation as to myself. I 
 will brietiy tell you the facts without a comment. 
 
 I took with me to the Palace three American gentle- 
 men. One of these is an eminent professor of civil and 
 military engineering in our Military Academy at West 
 Point, and has the assimilated rank of major in the army. 
 He wore his official costume: — a blue dress coat, with but- 
 tons of the engineer corps, blue pantaloons, white vest, 
 black stock, and the common hat. 
 
 It was objected, in a manner exceedingly kind and 
 courteous, that he wore a black cravat, had no chapeau, 
 and no sword, and could not thus pass the Queen. I 
 tried once, twice, or thrice to surmount the ditficulty by 
 adverting to the official character of his dress; but the 
 rule was express, and there was no discretion to relax it. 
 Pained at the position in which my estimable country-
 
 54 TO SIR EDWARD CUST. 
 
 man was placed, among strangers, and in a place to which 
 he was entirely unaccustomed, I unhesitatingly ofl'ered to 
 go home with him, and in this suggestion his companions 
 joined. We retired. It was impossible to do less, and 
 we did no more. 
 
 Truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 30.-T0 SIE EDWARD OUST. 
 
 24 Portland Place, June 26, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir Edward Oust, — It has occurred to me 
 that you, as the gentleman best knowing the incidents 
 immediately preceding the opening of the Levee on 
 Wednesday last, the sudden discovery of the insufficiency 
 of a particular costume, and the consequent retirement 
 from the Palace, must be the proper person to whom to 
 address this short note on that subject. 
 
 Allow me then to say to you frankly and unreservedly 
 that the idea that what then took place can possibly be 
 attributed to a want of respect to her Majesty, either in 
 my countryman, Professor Mahan, or in myself, occasions 
 surprise as well as sincere pain. 'No sovereign has more 
 just and more universally recognized claims to aifection- 
 ate attachment and veneration than 3'our Queen ; and I 
 might hope that avowals of sentiment, in public and in 
 private, strengthened by an unaftected gratitude for the 
 generous distinction and kindness with which I have 
 been honored, ever since my arrival, as the diplomatic 
 representative of the United States at her Majesty's 
 Court, would render it impossible, even with those who 
 do not personally know me, that I should be suspected, 
 and on an occasion, too, so casual and light, of failing in 
 the respect so eminently due. I disclaim it, Sir Edward, 
 with emphasis, on my own part, as wholly foreign to my 
 nature, and equally foreign to the government and people 
 of the United States; and I disclaim it as unjust to Pro- 
 fessor Mahan, and irreconcilable with the high and hon- 
 orable character he has long maintained in the service of 
 his country. 
 
 I remain, Sir Edward, always, etc.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 55 
 
 No. 31.-T0 ME. MAKCT. 
 
 London, July 3, 185G. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I sent you a despatch by the Fulton, 
 which left Southampton yesterday. Nothing worthy of a 
 fresh one since. 
 
 The effort to make of the affair at the Levee some- 
 thing of importance has entirely failed. I have not re- 
 cognized it as worthy to interfere with the public interests 
 and business under my care. It is dying out as another 
 of the gross exaggerations of the Times, springing from 
 hostility to the United States. The pretence that it 
 originated in an intentional disrespect to the Queen was 
 promptly exploded. As to the merits of the Master of 
 Ceremonies' decision against the admissibility of Professor 
 Mahan's costume, I am disposed to think Sir Edward 
 Oust, though very polite and courteous, acted erroneously, 
 and I suspect he has been told so by those to whose 
 opinions he would be more deferential than to mine. It 
 was a quasi military official dress, so stated to be by me. 
 The Professor was not an attache, and was therefore not 
 bound, by what Sir Edward kept harping on as an agree- 
 ment between himself and Mr. Buchanan, to add anything 
 to his full dress uniform. The dress of the members of 
 the legation is controlled by the understanding — not so 
 the dress of others, citizens or officers. I have already 
 presented many, on whose persons not a symptom of the 
 diplomatic equipment could be traced beyond the chapeau 
 and sword, and no objection hinted. Even on this very 
 occasion Sir Edward was willing to pass as unexception- 
 able the militia dress of an adjutant-general of i^ew 
 Jersey, which, though certainly showy (especially with 
 the blue ribbon and gold eagle of the Cincinnati hanging 
 at a button-hole), and highly respectable, can scafcely 
 claim to be on a footing with the Jiational costume pre- 
 scribed by the President for officers in the national ser- 
 vice, ranking by assimilation as majors. I find many 
 distinguished connoisseurs of the rules of etiquette enter- 
 tain the opinion that Sir Edward was confused in his
 
 56 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 notions and made a bhinder.* It is perhaps from the 
 prevalence of this sentiment tliat it has been thought ex- 
 pedient to invent two utterly unfounded subterfuges — 
 first, that Lord Clarendon, upon being told what had hap- 
 pened, sent in haste to stop my going away, and to, say 
 that her Majesty would receive the Professor; and, 
 second, that her Majesty herself had done so. We left 
 the Palace tranquilly, after shaking hands with Sir Ed- 
 ward Oust, and without the slightest intimation that the 
 decree of exclusion had been rescinded. 
 
 This really frivolous matter has worried me personally 
 more than I would be willing to admit ; but I have been ex- 
 tremely guarded and forbearing to prevent its having any 
 influence whatever upon the discussions now proceeding 
 as to Central America. The French newspapers hailed its 
 first appearance in the Times with delight, and seemed 
 to gloat on a fresh opportunity of fanning discord be- 
 tween England and the United States. They fired up in- 
 continently at the effort to advance another step in the 
 usurpations of democracy ! We may yet have a Congress 
 of sovereigns to teach dress and manners, whose proto- 
 cols will be accompanied by photographic illustrations of 
 the only tolerable "shorts," "tights," "vests," "cravats," 
 " rapiers," and head-gear ! 
 
 * " Council Hall, Sheffield, July 7, 1856. 
 
 "Sir, — I have to acknowledge, on behalf of the Sheffield Foreign Af- 
 fairs Committee, the receipt of your very courteous note of the 24th ult. 
 
 " The Committee, in reference to the recent circumstance at the Queen's 
 Levee, further instruct me to say that if your countryman, as is now 
 represented by a portion of the Press, holds a recognized military rank 
 In America, and wore his official costume on the occasion' in question, 
 they are of opinion that Sir Edward Cust made an error of judgment in 
 not admitting him, witliout reference to the components of that dress. 
 The Committee conclude this from their knowledge that Turkish, Per- 
 sian, and other officials have the right of entrance in their peculiar na- 
 tional dresses. They believe that the regulations on which Sir Edward 
 Cust relied refer only to cases of private individuals, that is, persons not 
 holding office nor rank, which it is now stated your countryman did. 
 
 "The Committee also believe that the misrepresentation which the 
 Times in the first instance made of the circumstances was designed with 
 a view to still further complicate the ditlerences between our country 
 and yours. 
 
 " I have the honor to remain, sir, yr. obed. serv., 
 
 "Wm. Cyples, S. S. 
 
 " The Hon. G. M. Dallas, 
 
 "American Minister, etc."
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 57 
 
 Since my interview with Lord Clarendon on Monday- 
 last, I have twice conferred with Mr. Herran, who has 
 been received by Lord C, and whose course of action as 
 to the Bay Islands is alike intelligent and frank. He care- 
 full}^ advises with me at every step, and he assures me that 
 he confidently expects to get the islands back. That 
 point worked through, we ought reall}^ not to quarrel. 
 
 I send you the whole American debate in the House of 
 Commons, as reported in the Times. You will recognize 
 the ability of Mr. Gladstone's speech. Lord Palmerston, 
 by dropping Ci ampton, found it easy to float. I believe 
 I tuld you that if assailed by the Opposition upon the by- 
 gone recruitment business, he would triumph. The ma- 
 jority was enormous. 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 32 -TO ME. MAKOY. 
 
 London, July 4, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Li the House of Commons last even- 
 ing, and in answer to a question put by Mr. Baillie, Lord 
 Palmerston is reported b}' the newspapers of this morn- 
 ino; to have said that — 
 
 " Mr. Dallas had received full powers to discuss the Cen- 
 tral American question with government." [Advertiser.) 
 
 "Mr. Dallas had full powers to discuss with her Ma- 
 jesty's government all the questions which have arisen 
 with respect to the affairs of Central America, and that 
 he has powers which Mr. Buchanan had not; as I under- 
 stood from Mr. Buchanan that he had no instructions 
 upon these questions." [Post) 
 
 " The government understood that Mr. Dallas had full 
 powers to discuss with them the questions connected with 
 the affairs of Central America, and therefore he had 
 powers which Mr. Buchanan had not." [Times.) 
 
 It is difficult to see precisely what is meant b}' the lan- 
 guage imputed to Lord Palmerston. The shades of dif- 
 ference between Mr. Buchanan's powers and mine, if any 
 exist, are slight. I have laid before the British govern- 
 ment, on the 11th June, your despatch of the 24th of 
 May, the last paragraph of which contains all the powers 
 
 VOL. I. — 5
 
 58 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 you have given me on the special subject of Central 
 America, independent of my letter of credence. Cer- 
 tainly these powers are, as Lord P. describes them, full 
 powers to discuss, but how, as such, they ditt'er from those 
 of Mr. Buchanan, I cannot perceive, except it be as to the 
 details and conditions of arbitration, and even as to those 
 I don't know that, had the proposal of arbitration been 
 regularly made and entertained, Mr. Buchanan's powers 
 to discuss would not have been precisely as broad as my 
 own. Perhaps it is on this hinge that Lord Palmerston's 
 distinction turns. The matter will, of course, engage 
 Lord Clarendon and m^^self at our next meeting; for I 
 cannot, with the frankness I am resolved to pursue, per- 
 mit any misconception to continue as to the existing ex- 
 tent of my powers. 
 
 Suspicion seems, more or less, inseparable from the 
 diplomatic "role ;" and it has struck me that possibly the 
 heavy ministerial majority of the 2d instant has encouraged 
 them to take a bolder stand; to recall their readiness to 
 reopen the Central American discussion; and to put that 
 on the ground that they understood my powers to be 
 more full than Mr. Buchanan's, and find they are pretty 
 much the same. Such a course would undoubtedly be 
 utterly inconsistent with past professions and explana- 
 tions, and though I have suspected it as a possibility, I do 
 not believe it will occur. 
 
 Our quondam minister from Nicaragua arrived here 
 last Sunday. I am told that he is loud in animadversions 
 upon the conduct of our government, and that he pro- 
 poses to demand an audience of Lord Clarendon. He 
 will probably try his hand at mischief; and as there is 
 certainly no particularly favorable sentiment felt here at 
 this moment for the actual state of things in Nicaragua, 
 he may, to some extent, succeed. 
 
 Always very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 33.-T0 MR. MAEOT. 
 
 London, July 8, 1856. 
 
 INIy dear Sir, — Your despatches from 16 to 20, both 
 inclusive, were received in one batch this morning, and
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 59 
 
 will be formally acknowledged hereafter. I have not 
 now time to do more than will suffice to keep you, by 
 means of a hasty note, up to the times. 
 
 The discussions on Central America continue, and in 
 an unchanged humor to try our best to effect an arrange- 
 ment. I think I see land. 
 
 My powers were frankly considered. They rest exclu- 
 sively upon the concluding paragraph of your No, 13. 
 Unless, however, they are greatly enlarged, and instruc- 
 tions made full, I foresee much delay and embarrassment. 
 
 Complaints are coming in upon me on the score qf the 
 inconveniences which spring out of a want of international 
 regulation about seamen who desert from merchant ves- 
 sels. I find that the active, and repeated efforts of Mr. 
 Buchanan during last year, to get a consular convention, 
 embracing this matter, failed, though aided by Lord Clar- 
 endon, it may be that the recent incidents have opened 
 their eyes to the absolute necessity of some provisions on 
 the subject. If I propose to 3'ou to send me authority to 
 act, it will only be after having ascertained that the pros- 
 pect of doing something is better now than it was last 
 year. 
 
 Parliament is restive under the heat. They are pushing 
 on to an early prorogation. If nothing starts up, I think 
 they will adjourn by the 20th instant. 
 
 I got also to-day your " unofHcial" of the 16th June. I 
 have not had a richer treat for a long time. It is the first 
 symptom you have thrown out, in our correspondence, of 
 a relaxation in that costiveuess which I once charged 
 upon you. B3^-the-by, solve me this diplomatic etiquette 
 of epithets! Some of your letters are marked '■'■ jprirate," 
 that I undertand perfectly; some '■'■ strictly private,'' — what's 
 the difference? Again, some are headed ^^ unofficial:" 
 does that imply more than merely personal or private ? 
 Some ^'■confidential,'' that means — does it not ? — " on public 
 official business, but not for public use." Others are 
 doubtless shades of difference ; but it may be well to say 
 what my own understanding ;s, as between myself indi- 
 vidually and my records representatively. If you mark 
 '■'■private,'" the word ^'■strictly" is supererogatory, and yoiir 
 missive goes ciuietl}' into my pocket; so also as to ^'■un- 
 official," except that its contents are not esteemed to be 
 under the injunction of secrecy; but if you merely say
 
 60 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 ^^ confidential,^' then it goes into the archives as a secret 
 paper of the legation. 
 
 I want to be agreeable at the close of a dull epistle, and 
 must therefore tell you that everybody here, without an 
 exception, regards your despatches Nos, 13 and 14 as first 
 rate specimens of diplomatic ability and skill. General 
 Scott and Lord Clarendon are in the same category of 
 vanquished. My cordial respects all round. 
 
 Always truly yrs. 
 
 No. 34.-T0 MR. MAEOT. 
 
 LoNDOK, July 11, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You must not be appalled by the length 
 of to-day's despatch. I promise not to repeat it often, es- 
 pecially at a season when you are probably (notwithstand- 
 ing the comfortable coal lire before which I am writing) 
 perspiring under a sun of 100° Fahrenheit, at Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Everything here is tranquil. Even the tea-pot tempest 
 of the Black-tie and Gamboge vest has subsided to the 
 common level. Parliament is packing up, and will soon 
 be noncomeatibus in swampo, that is if pheasants and grouse 
 are tenants of marshes. Nothing remains to keep one 
 awake but the drowsy hum of the Italian question ; and 
 even that Lord John Russell proposes to put at rest. In 
 a little while all London will have fallen asleep in the 
 green lap of rural retirement, and nobody, no! nobody, 
 be left to keep watch and ward for international safety 
 and peace but Lord Clarendon and me. Genii of Cen- 
 tral America, hover over and protect us! for we mean 
 well. 
 
 We have just had the Guards, returned from the 
 Crimea, some four thousand lads of 19, in bright red 
 coats and huge fur caps, pass through the highways and 
 file in procession before the Queen. One could not help 
 thinking, as they moved onward, " hardly heavy enough 
 for effective fight!" 
 
 Ko talk yet, not a whisper, as to sending a successor to 
 Crampton. Many I know would like the place, notwith-
 
 TO MR. JOHN EVANS. 61 
 
 standing their awe of the American Secretary. There's 
 Lord Howden — no me gusto ! Lord Elgin — capital ! The 
 Duke of Newcastle and his fine daughter — excellent ! 
 Sir Edward B. Lytton — agreed ! Mr. Charles Pelhara. 
 Villiers, Lord Clarendon's brother — admirable ! Sir Wil- 
 liam G. Ousely, with his American antecedents et uxor — 
 quite acceptable! Give them time to recover from the 
 galvanic shock of the Cramptonian smasher, and when 
 the}' once resolve to let by-gones be by-gones, I shall be 
 mistaken if your diplomatic corps will not be adorned 
 and strengthened by an Englishman of higher rank, 
 greater ability, better temper, and more winning man- 
 ners, than anj' our terrible but resistless democracy has 
 yet welcomed. 
 
 The steady stream of American travellers through this 
 city and onward to every point of the Continent, and 
 then winding backwards, is a sort of moral Mississippi 
 or Amazon. There is really a miraculous character about 
 it. One would imagine that our migratory people, having 
 reached their Ultima Thule on the golden coast of the 
 Pacific, were resolved to turn their faces once more to 
 the rising sun, and trample over Europe to Tartary and 
 Japan. Only think for a moment of the rushing rapids 
 that pour into the American Legation, on the arrival of 
 every steamer, for Passports ! Passports ! Where to ? 
 Everywhere. 
 
 The ministerial white-bait dinner is fixed for the 19th 
 inst., and therefore prorogation may be looked for by the 
 25th. Lord John's motion on Italian affairs is for Mon- 
 day next, the 14th. 
 
 Alwaj'S faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 35 -TO ME. JOHN EVANS. 
 
 LoxDOX, July 14, 1856. 
 
 Sir, — Your letter of the 12th instant has been received. 
 
 Without knowing you, I cannot assume the responsi- 
 bility of advising you on your project of emigrating to 
 the United States, it might be that although you pos- 
 sess the means, and the personal qualities, which would
 
 62 TO MR. 31 ARC r. 
 
 give promise of success in a new and rising country, yet 
 your iixed tastes and habits would make you miserable 
 there. Your safest course is to cross the Atlantic during 
 this summer, pass by the cities, and speed directly to St. 
 Louis, in Missouri, or Chicago, in Illinois; stay ten days 
 or more, look about, and consult the men of business 
 whom you will find as plentiful as blackberries, see what 
 pursuit would suit you best, how you can most safely and 
 profitably invest your .£3000 (which is an ample fund to 
 start with out there), and then determine for yourself 
 whether to remain or return. At your age, with your 
 health, after 20 years of active life in Liverpool, and with 
 the money at your command, if you scrupulously keep 
 oft" the snags and sawyers of politics for five years, I 
 should deem it quite an exception to the ordinary and 
 natural current of things, if you were not rich, influen- 
 tial, and respected by the time you are fifty. 
 
 Respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 36.-TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, July 15, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have no reason for writing except the 
 desire for letting you have something, however unimport- 
 ant, by every good opportunity. 
 
 Murray, the publisher of the Quarterly Hevieiu, sent me 
 the June number yesterday. It contains an animated ar- 
 ticle on Central America, which vindicates the Mosquito 
 Protectorate, and then surrenders it to some arrangement 
 like what I sent you, but moving the Indians off" in a 
 body to Canada; it vindicates the English title to Ruatan, 
 rather as a West India Island than a dependency of the Be- 
 lize, and then surrenders it to Honduras; and it is willing 
 , to stop the Belize settlement at the Sarstoon, provided 
 that be a final adjustment. You will see by this article, 
 though it is crowded with haughty pretension and dog- 
 matic assertion, that public opinion here is fast coming 
 to the point of amicable arrangement at any sacrifice. 
 The wrij;er, at the close, mounts the jaded steed of the 
 Recruitment question, and caracols for Crampton at a 
 furious rate.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 63 
 
 Some of the newspapers are anxious about Parliament 
 adjourninii:; before the definitive settlement of the differ- 
 ences with us. They don't like leaving unchecked in 
 the hands of Lord Palmerston the power to make war, 
 and they ask why so much naval force has been sent to 
 the West Indies. We have got the ministerial assur- 
 ances, both public and private, on this last point, and we 
 can get nothing more. As to hurr3'ing a convention 
 with Lord Clarendon, that is impossible ; for I have as 
 yet no power to propose or reject anything. Without 
 guide, except as I am able to distil your views from de- 
 spatahes to Mr. Buchanan, I can only listen and suggest. 
 Our friends in Parliament take it for granted that I am 
 armed at all points, and seem every day to enquire how 
 the matter gets on, under the delusive expectation that I 
 will hint the signature of a complete arrangement ! Lord 
 Chirendon and I must, I suppose, while away full another 
 month before we can go seriously to work; nor do I 
 think there is any harm in our doing so; on the contrary, 
 it gives me time to see how Mr. Herran gets on with the 
 Bay Islands, for their devolution is a sine qua non, and 
 time also to receive any instruction you may think proper 
 to send about Mr. Alvarado. It is not improbable that 
 they may persuade themselves to believe that Col. Fre- 
 mont will be elected in November next; and if they adopt 
 that notion, they would like to take the chance of the 
 new administration's adopting their interpretation of the 
 treat}'. 
 
 I attended the House of Commons last evening to hear 
 the debate on the Italian question. Lord John Russell 
 introduced it reasonably well. Lord Palmerston talked 
 much, but left the matter without a ray of light. Disraeli 
 went the whole figure of conservatism, and dread of revo- 
 lution. On the whole, the discussion was flat, unmeaning, 
 and unproductive. There is a singular stagnation in the 
 political atmosphere of Europe at the very moment when 
 ours is all in motion. 
 
 I hear, now and then, from our friend at Madrid, Aft- 
 gustus C. Dodge. He last wrote me for a hint as to what 
 course it would be best for Commodore Breese, who was 
 at Cadiz, to take. I could only answer that I could per- 
 ceive now no cause for alarm or misgiving. 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs.
 
 64 TO MR. MARCY 
 
 No. 37.-TO ME. WILLIAM BEOWN. 
 
 24 Portland Place, July 16, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The rumor, which you tell me prevailed 
 ill the House of Commous last evening, that " all our dif- 
 ferences are settled," is, I hope, connected with that de- 
 scription of events which are said to cast their shadows 
 before. It is, however, no better founded now than it 
 might have been three weeks ago. 
 
 We are all deeply sensible of the kindness of yourself 
 and Mrs. Brown in proposing to us a visit to Richmond 
 Hill, and have many thanks to give. Until, however, I 
 am able to see land on the business so important and in- 
 teresting to our two countries, which brought me here, I 
 do not think I shall find an excuse to my anxiety, for leav- 
 ing London a single day. 
 
 I hope to see you before you go. 
 
 Always truly yrs. 
 
 No. 38.-TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, July 18, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir,- — The accounts from Spain are full of ex- 
 citement. They are given in the newspapers in homoeo- 
 pathic doses. Whether this be precautionary design, or 
 the natural shape of telegraphic news, is not easil}^ de- 
 terminable. It is said that the insurrection in Madrid has 
 been completely suppressed — dubiiatur. At any rate, it is 
 buoj^ant in Saragossa and in Barcelona. There is a draw- 
 back in this movement ; for I am told that they who have 
 proclaimed a republic have also pledged themselves, if 
 successful, to emancipate the slaves in Cuba. 
 
 . The gentlemen who represent Honduras here are not 
 as discreet as perhaps they should be. They go into the 
 newspapers and explain their objects. Lord Ckirendon 
 will be apt, I should fear, to take offence at this exchange 
 of the Foreign Office for the Press. I have intimated my 
 opinion b#th to Mr. Squier and Mr. Herran. It is an im- 
 prudent invocation of hostile views.
 
 TO MR. MARCr. 65 
 
 It is whispered that Louis Napoleon has retreated into 
 the country, owing to his suffering from the attacks of some 
 severe and serious disease. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 39.-T0 MR. MAROY. 
 
 London, July 22, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — ^Notwithstanding your letter to him of 
 the 28th May, 1856, assuring him that the prosecution 
 against him should be discontinued, and that orders to 
 that effect had been issued to the United States Attorney 
 at Cincinnati, Mr. Rowcroft writes to Lord Clarendon 
 within a week past that he cannot quit Cincinnati, as he 
 is still under recognizance to answer, and that the District 
 Attorney says he has repeatedly written to Washington 
 upon the subject, but can get no reply. Pray enquire about 
 this, and have what is right dane, letting me know where 
 the mistake lies. 
 
 I have just got back from the Foreign Office in time to 
 write this, but without anything sufiiciently important for 
 a despatch. His lordship had not had leisure to finish 
 his sketch of a plan for ending the protectorate; it was 
 begun, however, and he promised to send it in the course 
 of the week. He complains of being dreadfully fagged 
 by the expiring throes of the present session of Parlia- 
 ment. He can't get to bed before five in the morning. 
 
 Spain, you see, is in a ferment. Italy will next spring 
 upwards. Louis Napoleon thinks the opportunity come 
 to play his great uncle's game with Ferdinand and to find 
 a throne for the Prince, whose nose the Empress has so 
 unkindly disjointed. He has offered to assist Queen 
 Isabella, which means to devour the kingdom, and ex- 
 tinguish the hazard of a republicanism too near at hand. 
 Nothing yet heard of Espartero. 
 
 Yery truly and respectfully yrs.
 
 66 TO MR. 3IAECr. 
 
 No. 40.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, July 25, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You will perceive by the newspapers 
 that, two days ao:o, a question was addressed to Lord Pal- 
 merston, in the House of Commons, by Mr. Milner Gibson, 
 as to whether her Majesty's government had determined 
 to send a minister to Washington. Mr. Gibson is a 
 friend, and a watchful one to boot. The reply of the 
 Premier was to the effect that the cabinet had come to 
 no decision, and that it was by no means unusual that 
 delays should take place in appointing diplomatic repre- 
 sentatives. There was neither word nor look to intimate 
 an indisposition to fill the mission ; in fact, the answer 
 produced the impression that no decision had been come 
 to, because it was difficult to select the person, rather than 
 from any other motive. Be that as it may, I have ascer- 
 tained, from a source entirely unquestionable, that there 
 are gentlemen in "Washington, " distinguished for ability 
 and position," who amuse themselves by writing letters 
 to their friends here, intended for exhibition to the min- 
 istry, and inculcating in the interest of the American 
 Party, that the manner in which Mr. Crampton's dis- 
 missal was treated by this government has worked advan- 
 tageously for the democracy, and they strive hard to have 
 something done which may rekindle the panic, as to the 
 danger of war, among our mercantile classes. I asked for 
 no names, because [ was frankly told in adv^ance that 
 they could not be given. But I characterized the letter- 
 writers, in strong terms, as mischievous partisan inter- 
 meddlers, who, for the sake of carrying their Presidential 
 candidate, were willing to hazard the peace and interests 
 of their country. I do not feel entirely at liberty to go 
 into details. They would surprise you. But you are en- 
 titled to know, and I violate no principle of delicacy in 
 letting you know, the incontestable fact I have stated. If 
 a minister to Washington be withheld, though I do not 
 think one will be withheld beyond a reasonable time, it 
 will be outing, in my opinion, to the effect produced by 
 these secret and treacherous letter-writers. It is amazing, 
 if not almost incredible, that any "distinguished" Amer-
 
 TO JUDGE JOEL JONES. 67 
 
 icaii citizen should not revolt from such a proceeding. 
 HoAv far, too, it has a tendency to dissuade from the con- 
 temphited adjustment of the Central American differences, 
 or at all events to protract the negotiation, it would be 
 hard to say. I hope those with whom that business must 
 be transacted are too sagacious and honorable to permit 
 themselves to be misled by the wretched zealots of aboli- 
 tionism, now playing a orame of despair in our canvass; 
 and yet England has so long and so obstinately deemed 
 our democratic party her natural and unalterable enemy, 
 that the force of habit may exert its power. 
 
 The coup cVetat of Louis ISTapoleon has got its parallel — 
 no, not quite its parallel, but its servile imitation — in the 
 conduct of O'Donnell at Madrid. The citizens are butch- 
 ered by wholesale, and the legislature coolly Cromwell- 
 ized. France may find a pretext for occupying the Spanish 
 capital as she occupies Rome. Wherever a popular com- 
 motion occurs she may like to occupy. According to all 
 sound modern doctrine, occupation, whether for one or 
 seven years, is perfectly consistent with non-intervention. 
 There is something singularly accommodating in that 
 word "occupy," — is there not? The Premier begins to 
 '■'■scent the tainted gale.'" (See slip.) 
 
 The prorogation is put off till the middle of next week. 
 To-night, according to a strange and recently established 
 practice, Mr. Disraeli will review the session, and elab- 
 orately set forth the mismanagement, omissions, and com- 
 missions of the ministry, during the five legislative months. 
 He represents, for the occasion, the Opposition; Lord Pal- 
 merston will reply. A regular set-to by champions. 
 
 As yet we have had sight of summer only in fruits and 
 flowers. Two or three days of warm sun, no more. 
 
 Always truly yrs. 
 
 No. 41.-T0 JUDGE JOEL JONES. 
 
 LoxDOx, July 25, 1856. 
 
 My dear Judge, — Warm weather is of slbw progress 
 here. I have yet had no cause to thin the clothing put 
 on during the extreme cold of January last in Philadel-
 
 68 TO JUDGE JOEL JONES. 
 
 phia. And yet the newspapers represent you as frying 
 under 96° of Fahrenheit! 
 
 From this distant stand-point, our politics appear ex- 
 cessively angry, confused, and critical. The Americans 
 have taken up Fremont upon the principle and in imita- 
 tion of our nomination in '52, Will it ran the same wild 
 and victorious career? If Providence still favors the 
 Union, reserving it even in despite of our numerous ex- 
 travangances and follies, we may succeed. T can see no 
 reliance but in Providence. We have tried our best, or 
 worst, to exasperate Providence; let us hope still that the 
 real and unaltered excellence of our Constitution may 
 keep her on our side. A great pother is made in these 
 old fogy regions about the series of violences which ac- 
 company the fermentation of our great canvass. One 
 governor declares martial law; another administers it, 
 Math a kick, in the State capitol ; one member of Con- 
 gress shoots down a table servant; and another selects 
 higher game for his bludgeon in the Senate chamber ; 
 civil war has its licensed playground in Kansas; and 
 droves of foreign fighters are rushing to Nicaragua; bel- 
 ligerents throng to hiss and shout at every public gath- 
 ering; and rows and riots are — everywhere! Such is the 
 picture drawn by an European artist. Its features come 
 to you in detached doses, and are therefore not so strik- 
 ing; crossing the water, they cluster into an intolerable 
 bouquet. 
 
 I have to thank you for your agreeable letters. They 
 tell me all the political incidents and the social occur- 
 rences, of which I should otherwise remain unconscious. 
 I wish this stagnant part of the world furnished me some- 
 thing to send you in return. By-the-by, Spain has just 
 opened the revolutionary movement. O'Donnell, mimick- 
 ing the coup d'etat of Louis I*Tapoleon, has drenched Madrid 
 with the blood of its citizens, and dispersed the Cortes. 
 Many think that the train was fired from Plombieres, the 
 mysterious summer retreat of the French Emperor. Cer- 
 tainly, he has promptly shown his sympathies on behalf 
 of unconstitutional government. Lord Palmerston, yes- 
 terday, in the House of Commons, had the audacit}^ while 
 seeming to vindicate, to give him a cool warning. I send 
 you this remarkable intimation to England's great ally. 
 All the Parisian journals will exclaim "Morbleu! Par 
 exemple!"
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 69 
 
 Parliament has but few clays longer to live. The ses- 
 sion must have its '■'- oraison funebre." They have a sin- 
 gular practice of permitting the leader of the Opposition 
 in the House of Commons, just before the session closes, 
 to review the ministerial conduct, and to concentrate in a 
 single philippic all the grounds of accusation and com- 
 plaint. Mr. Disraeli has given notice that he intends 
 doing that matter to-night. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 42.-T0 ME. MAROY. 
 
 LoNDOX, July 29, 185?. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your private letter of the 13th instant 
 reached me yesterday, and was heartily welcome. 
 
 ^ly despatches during this month will have shown you 
 that I have been actively '■'■feeling the ground in relation to 
 Central American questions." I cannot say that I have 
 reached bottom yet, although the Morning Advertiser of 
 Saturday last formally announced that all matters were 
 settled. I suspect the editor of that paper was anxious to 
 pour out an amende honorable by extravagant eulogy of my- 
 self, and found no excuse for doing so except by inventing 
 a consummation which he knew would attract attention 
 and be universally acceptable. It is possible that he may 
 know more of British Cabinet secrets than I do ; and that 
 a suggestion I once made to Lord C, as to the manner in 
 which the Gordian knot of our difficulties might be cut, 
 has been adopted, to wit, — that the Queen should take 
 the responsibility and initiative in restoring the Bay 
 Islands to Honduras. I threw the notion out, certainly 
 not dreaming that it would stick; but the Advertiser pre- 
 dicts it positively. We shall know at the prorogation to- 
 day. 
 
 Lord C. has sent me, two or three days ago, my j^^^o- 
 forma scheme of getting out of the Protectorate, moditied 
 and changed according to his views. I would send you 
 this paper, but he accompanied it with a note, requesting 
 me to consider \i inivate, as he had not even been yet able 
 to show it to his colleagues. It contains some things, too,
 
 70 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 the real bearing of which I apprehend he has not suffi- 
 ciently weighed, and which I hope and believe he will 
 readily forego. Your despatch, No. 13, had he remem- 
 bered its contents, would certainly satisfy him that I could 
 do nothing in the nature of recognizing the Mosquitoes as 
 an independent sovereignty or nation; and that I had it 
 as little within my competenc}^ to overlook the ultimate 
 eminent domain of Nicaragua, or to complicate the foreign 
 policy of the United States in a joint protectorate. These 
 are matters as to which, to be sure, I will carefully fulfil 
 any instructions you may transmit; but, without instruc- 
 tions, they do not meet my judgment or approval. I am 
 preparing a reformed sketch; adopting what I can, retain- 
 ing what he has adopted of my former view, and showing 
 what I conceive, as at present advised, to be impossible. 
 My* opinion is that we shall ultimately adjust a plan by 
 which the British obligation of honor may in no respect 
 be violated in the abandonment of the protectorate; un- 
 less, indeed, your promised instructions, which I anxiously 
 look for, open a new field of discussion, and give my labors 
 a diiferent direction. 
 
 So much has been said in periodicals, in weekly and 
 daily newspapers, evincing the acceptableness of the pro- 
 posed restitution of Ruatan to Honduras, that I can 
 scarcely doubt, after the conversations that I and Mr. 
 Herran have separately had with Lord Clarendon, that it 
 is a point which will be conceded to the spirit of peace. 
 I would therefore suggest whether, if that be done, especi- 
 ally if done handsomely, it ■vvould be becoming in us to 
 take our position inter apices juris about the Guntemalian 
 title to the land between the Siburn and Sarstoon ? The 
 truth is, that if trade across the Isthmus once become 
 fearless, active, and free, the Belize will fast sink into in- 
 significance, and be abandoned. Commerce will pass it 
 by contemptuously, and even Hanseaticated San Juan will 
 flap her wrings and crow over it. 
 
 You will see by the note I enclose from Lord C, that 
 he has got a late letter from Mr. Rowcroft, which entitles 
 you to dismiss that gentleman's anxiety for a nol. pros, 
 from your mind. 
 
 I have no misgivings about the Presidential canvass. 
 "We must succeed. Tlie adversary has kindly submitted 
 to as much division as was necessary to secure their weak-
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 71 
 
 ness. It is quite plain, too, that, like frightened birds, they 
 have lit on a twig too fragile to support them. Fremont 
 is respectable enough per se, but he cannot carry the 
 weight of a party. Besides, all who reflect must perceive 
 that our failure would rock the Union to its deepest 
 foundations, if not snap it in two. I dare say, that like all 
 other free peoples that have ever existed, ours is destined 
 to be mad some day; but the hour has not arrived. 
 
 Mr. Herran has this instant come and gone. In his 
 interview at the Foreign Oflice on Saturday last. Lord C. 
 said he would draft a treaty restoring the islands, and 
 only bargaining that Port Ro3'al should be a free port, 
 except a small duty adequate to pay the police officers of 
 Honduras. Mr. Herran is not the ablest of men, and may 
 not be perfectly accurate; but of the main point, the resti- 
 tution, he is quite certain. 
 
 The prorogation just over. The speech adverts to our 
 negotiations on Central America, and the Queen wishes 
 them a happy conclusion. That's all; but it is something. 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 43.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, August 8, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have not been successful recently in 
 efforts to continue and ripen the discussion with Lord 
 Clarendon. Three several days have been fixed for con- 
 ference during the last week, but each has had to give 
 way to some peremptory call elsewhere of his lordship. 
 The Queen last commanded him to Osborne, and, unless 
 her Majesty release him for to-day, he will fail in his en- 
 gagement to meet me at the Foreign Office at 3 o'clock. 
 Mr. Herran has been subject to the same delays; and when 
 he came to see me yesterday, he appeared worried at not 
 having received the draft of his convention, promised for 
 a week ago. Literruptiou and procrastination are, we all 
 know, unavoidable incidents of high official station. They 
 must be borne with due patience by those who have pub- 
 lic objects in view. As to myself, I cannot undertake to 
 be in a hurry, until, 1, Mr. Herran secures the Bay Islands,
 
 72 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 and 2, I am enabled to do something more than discuss, 
 or theorize, or plan. 
 
 It is quite obvious that no single member of the min- 
 istry assumes to act, on a matter of moment, without con- 
 sulting his colleagues. This is necessarily productive of 
 endless postponement. Most of the cabinet have left 
 London since the prorogation of Parliament, and are 
 wandering in the Provinces. They can confer along the 
 telegraphic wires, not otherwise. I believe I told you that 
 Lord C. had requested me to treat as imvate his sketch of 
 a scheme to abate the protectorate, because he had not 
 had an opportunity to show it to his colleagues. That is 
 an example. 
 
 The diplomatic corps is even more scattered than the 
 cabinet. The French, Austrian, Prussian, Spanish, Turk- 
 ish, Sardinian, and Hanoverian ministers are all on the 
 Continent; indeed, I doubt whether there be a single 
 "chef except myself in London. It is often impossible 
 to get a passport vised at any office but mine. Holidays 
 here are literally holidays all round. 
 
 "Order reigns in Spain;" but the stability of O'Donnell 
 is by no means assured. He must either carry out his 
 movement to its legitimate results, and let Christina 
 return in triumph, or he must tall back upon the consti- 
 tutional party and reinstate the Espartero influence. 
 When the Pope, Christina, Isabella, and, sub rosa, Louis 
 iN'apoleon, are making "a pull all together," at one end 
 of the rope, O'Donnell can scarcely keep a steady footing 
 at the other, alone. He will probably yield to the abso- 
 lutists, and then they will soon get rid of him, or he will 
 resist, and on the liberal side inaugurate another revolu- 
 tionary struggle, when the French will intervene deci- 
 sively. The "prestige" of this country, I consider gone, 
 fuit, and no party on the Continent thinks her willing and 
 competent to stand by and protect the cause of liberal 
 government. She is essentially and practically chained 
 to the footstool of a usurper more dangerous to the lib- 
 erties of mankind, because more cunning to employ the 
 vocabulary and arts of freedom than would be a dozen 
 Russian Czars. Steam, too, has brought her into such 
 close proximity with her neighbor, that she dare not op- 
 pose liitn without being, what she knows she never is, 
 ready to repel a sudden invasion. She does not venture
 
 TO COL. PAGE. 73 
 
 to remonstrate against Pelissier's new title of Dnke of Mal- 
 akotf, but is obliged to witness in silence this unmistak- 
 able and indelible claim to the monopoly of the crowning 
 honor of the Crimean war. Lord Palmerston, in the heat 
 of debate, uses loud words now and then, but his followers 
 stare in terriiied astonishment, and he sinks silently back 
 again into unavoidable submission. Fuit! Fidt! 
 
 I have just returned from the F. O., and after two 
 hours' conference with Lord C, have only time to say 
 that everything connected with the negotiation wears the 
 most promising and satisfactory aspect. He told me, 
 upon being asked how it stood with Mr. Herran, that he 
 thought that matter of the Bay Islands quite settled; that 
 he would send for Mr. Herran this afternoon; that he 
 would draft the convention of restitution without delay; 
 and, indeed, that there was nothing left to be done, ex- 
 cept to agree upon some mode of indemnifying the Eng- 
 lish residents. I enquired whether he had kept steadily 
 in view to avoid any stipulation for peculiar privileges. 
 He replied that he had. 
 
 "We have, as to the protectorate, one only remaining 
 snag to get over, or to get round, and that is the condition 
 of Nicaragua; and we are both to set our wits to work to 
 remove it if possible. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 44.-T0 GOL. PAGE. 
 
 London, August 12, 1856. 
 
 My dear Colonel, — You must deal with me in mercy. 
 I have been working hard and unceasingly, so that pri- 
 vate correspondence became an almost prohibited indul- 
 gence. Mr. Marcy is a tyrannical monopolist, and exacts 
 all my written ideas. In a little, I shall have finished my 
 job, and may then take an airing among the friends who 
 have kept me in mind. 
 
 All this part of the world is anticipating, hoping, and 
 wishing the defeat of our democracy in jTovember. It 
 must not be. Col. Page, I say, it must not be! It is dif- 
 ficult to tell you how "much of human liberty, right, and 
 
 VOL. I. — 6
 
 74 TO COL. PAGE. 
 
 happiness is at stake; enough to make selfish and per- 
 sonal prejudices, were they a hundredfold multiplied, fly 
 up and kick the beam. Alas! how much disinterested 
 virtue the maintenance of a republic demands! but it is 
 virtue, and is its own glorious reward. 
 
 * * * * writes me in a rather desponding tone. He 
 should bustle more, and work off the megrims. A fling 
 into a free fight is sure to stitfen the nerves and banish 
 the blues. If he shirks fighting for himself, let him fight 
 for what I think in greater peril, the Union. I say this 
 to every one of the true men to whom I feel at liberty to 
 address an honest exhortation. To myself individually 
 it matters little whether the Union be saved or subverted; 
 my own chapter of politics closed with the dead silence 
 at the Cincinnati Convention; but it is natural to look 
 somewhat after the happiness of one's children, and of the 
 friends of well-organized liberty throughout the world. 
 I pray and beseech all who care a fig about my opinion, 
 to struggle for the preservation of the Union against the 
 "dissolving views" of Eastern and Anglican abolitionists, 
 until their tongues can no longer wag. 
 
 All, aye all, that I came here to do will be success- 
 fully accomplished, if indeed it has not been already 
 achieved, in the course of a week. The two countries, 
 five months ago, were at that critical stand of mutual and 
 morbid defiance when a prolonged war might have sprung 
 from a few more hot words, ol' the hasty discharge of a 
 gun at sea. People watched with suspended breath the 
 news of every hour. Americans, all over the continent 
 of Europe; and in particular. Commodore Breese, com- 
 manding our Mediterranean squadron, awaited a signal 
 from this office to hurry home. Well! it all changed in 
 the lapse of a month or six weeks; and the change has 
 advanced, step by step, until now, before the entire expi- 
 ration of five months, they who understand the condition 
 and tone of international relations, gj-e satisfied that a 
 sounder basis for mutual harmony and respect has not 
 existed since the Treaty of '83. I cannot tell you how this 
 has been brought about. There is the fact. I am, and 
 always have been, just as ready to fight England as any 
 man living, upon any adequate and honorable ground. 
 Still, to have t3een accessory to the conversion of a tick- 
 lish state of reciprocal rage, springing from a mere ban-
 
 TO SENATOR G. W. JONES, 75 
 
 dying of diplomatic sentences, into calm and solid good- 
 will, is destined to close my political life with entire satis- 
 faction to myself. Wait a fortnight, perhaps a month, and 
 you may then hear the finality. 
 
 I want 3'ou to do me the favor to call upon Judge Ser- 
 geant, and give him the warm assurance of my continued 
 attachment. He has never recognized my appointment 
 to this Court, and perhaps it was contrary to his sense of 
 prudence. Write me often and "lengthily" as you can. 
 
 Always sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 45 -TO SENATOR G. W. JONES. 
 
 London, August 20, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It has taken me a little time to find the 
 books which Judge Tuthill, in his letter to you of the 23d 
 of June last, expressed a wish that I would apply the three 
 pounds in my hands to purchasing for him. I now send 
 you one of those books, "Memoirs illustrative of the His- 
 tory and Antiquities of J^orfolk and the City of Norwich," 
 and a single number of the reprint going on of the other, 
 to wit, " The History of the Landed Gentry, with Index, 
 etc." This last is in fact out of print, and can only be had 
 by instalments, as it is reprinted in numbers. The " Me- 
 moirs" cost £1. 1. 0. and the "History," at a number, 
 
 will probably run the judge some shillings in my debt. 
 He need not worry himself about that ; — when I am out of 
 his funds, he shall frankly be apprised of it. 
 
 We have kept at peace, and I hope we may continue so. 
 It is barely possible, however, that the late Congress at 
 Paris intended their declaration abolishing Privateering 
 as the groundwork of a coercive movement by a confeder- 
 acy of European sovereigns against America. If so, have 
 at ye all, my lads ! Governor Marcy's letter to Sartiges 
 is unanswerably conclusive, and is a fine platform upon 
 which to fight till doomsday. 
 
 Faithfully yrs.
 
 76 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 No. 46 -TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, August 22, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — ^You will perceive by what I send, as 
 well as by the newspapers generally, that your letter to 
 Count Sartiges, on the Declaration of the Peace Congress 
 at Paris abolishing privateering, was not in London forty- 
 eight hours before it appeared with an etfective editorial 
 in the limning Advertiser. The Times reprinted it the 
 foUowinfif dav; and it is o-oino; the rounds, attractino; OTeat 
 attention, but no attempt at reply. Let us hope that Eu- 
 ropean statesmen will not be so absurd as to attempt a 
 concerted and combined movement to coerce our adoption 
 of their absolute phrase '■'• Privateering is abolished!''' But 
 there is no knowing how far their folly may carry them. 
 In this piece of cunning, as in the case of African Slavery, 
 they shelter their purpose behind a screen. 
 
 I had hoped to send you by this steamer the Central 
 American Treaty. It is, however, not ready for trans- 
 mission, though very little more is wanted to complete 
 the job. It is thrown into form, and makes a longer docu- 
 ment than it ought to be. Much space, however, is given 
 to the details of appointing, qualifying, and instructing 
 Commissioners for settling boundary, and adjudicating 
 upon Land Grants. 
 
 Mr. Herran has not yet pocketed his convention about 
 the Colony of the Bay Islands. JSTo doubt he will have 
 it in a day or two. The new Free State or Municipality 
 may be some time in assuming the proper shape, and in 
 getting fully underway; but it will rapidly assume im- 
 portance after that, especially if, as will be quite natural, 
 our enterprising traders squat on liuatan ; and it will be 
 recognized as under the sovereignty (to be sure the empty 
 sovereignty) of Honduras. There is a biizz circulating to 
 the effect that the immense value and importance of these 
 islands have only just been found out, and that it is well 
 for us that the contract has been made ! I believe the 
 rumor to be unfounded; but, in twenty years, if all things 
 go on steadily, they can scarcely fail to rise into an inter- 
 esting relation with the commercial and political world. 
 
 Your private letter of the 4th instant reached me on the
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 77 
 
 18tli, accompanied by six copies of the Sartiges communi- 
 cation, all exceedingly welcome. I regret extremely to 
 hear of 3^our daughter's illness. Mr. M. has repeatedly 
 mentioned it as very severe : but I sincerely hope she has 
 recovered. 
 
 You will have noticed that an outbreak in N'aples is 
 daily looked for. The proud and retaliatory manner in 
 which the king has met the intervention and menaces of 
 England and France rather raises him in one's estimation, 
 in spite of his flagitious despotism; but it will advance 
 the movement of reform by stinging the reformers. The 
 critical state of atiairs in Italy is, perhaps, at the bottom 
 of this ministry's unusual conciliation towards America. 
 
 Spain, like a diseased horse, after kicking out famously 
 has sunk again into forlorn resignation. 
 
 The eyes of all the world of courtiers are just now fixed 
 upon the Coronation at the Kremlin. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 47- TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 London, August 19, 1856. 
 
 My dear Gilpin, — Your letter of the 21st July reached 
 me yesterday. 
 
 I left your introductories, with my cards, at Mr. G.'s and 
 Sir C. F.'s. They are distinguished parts of the world, 
 and, at present, all the world is out of town. In a very 
 little while, even Lord Clarendon and I will feel at liberty 
 to take a short trip beyond the range of F. O. servitude. 
 I hope to send Mr. Marcy his quietus, that is a thorough 
 settlement, by the same vessel that carries this. If I do, 
 all that I expected or undertook will be accomplished. I 
 am afraid the men who wanted a tight will not readily 
 forgive me. War, a few months ago, was the favorite 
 word ; it is now never uttered, and with it have gone oif 
 the Bay Islands and the Protectorate, both beyond the 
 sovereignty of her Majesty. N'irivporte! — when it is a 
 man's duty to make peace, he must close his heart to bel- 
 ligerent popularity. Besides, as I have told Col. Page, 
 the chapter of my political life closed with the dead silence 
 at the Cincinnati Convention, and I am content to end
 
 78 TO LORD DONOUGHMORE. 
 
 with the reputation of having kept two bull-dogs from 
 tearing each other to pieces. 
 
 I shall, one of these " calm summer mornings," indulge 
 you with an exposition of the outside and the inside trea- 
 ties, the principles, motives, and difficulties; but just now, 
 time is too important to me. 
 
 Our best remembrances to Mrs. G. and to Mr. Van 
 Buren, and to Mrs. Livingston. We are all well, and en- 
 joying a small coal fire while you are melting under 100° ! 
 Vide Rochefoucauld as to the miseries of one's friends. . 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 August 22,' 1856. 
 
 I have had a little time to think on your question as to 
 the cause of the present amicable tone towards us. It is 
 impossible to answer it upon any but conjectural grounds. 
 There may be serious anticipations as to the condition of 
 Italy, and misgivings suggested by the extreme courtship 
 between France and Russia, but they are insufficiently 
 developed just yet. Judging from obvious indications, I 
 am inclined to the belief that Lord Palmerston, at the 
 moment of pressure upon him two months ago, bought 
 the parliamentary representatives of the industrial classes 
 to support his ministry, by pledging himself to change his 
 whole course of action as regards America. The instant 
 he performed his part of the contract by retaining me 
 here, his majority became assured and overwhelming. 
 This has proved to him on what a rock he plants his as- 
 cendency when he conciliates us ; and from that day, it 
 has seemed to be impossible to be too civil. There are, 
 no doubt, other co-operative causes, causes which made it 
 easy for him to bend to the policy of the position. I could 
 advert to some that are singular enough, but the basis of 
 the whole is, I am almost certain, what I have stated. 
 
 My treaty don't go by this occasion. Its formalities 
 are delayed by official absenteeism. 
 
 Always yrs. 
 
 No. 48.-T0 LOED DONOUGHMOEE. 
 
 LoxDON, August 25, 1856. 
 
 My Lord, — I have your lordship's letter of the 23d 
 instant.
 
 TO LORD DONOUGHMORE. 79 
 
 The clistribntion of intestate estates, in the United 
 States, is a subject of State or local, not of national juris- 
 diction. The government of the Union has nothing to 
 do with it. They have no right or power whatever to 
 decide to whom the real or personal assets of a deceased 
 shall go — they must go wliere the law of the particular 
 State in which the deceased resided or in which the 
 property is found at his death, directs that they shall go. 
 Every State has its own law of Escheat, and on the demise 
 of a bastard without children, wife, or will, his property 
 would legally belong to the State, by whose functionaries, 
 after inquest and verdict, it would be taken for public 
 use. 
 
 Mr. Marcy's enquiry had for its object, I have no doubt, 
 the paj'nient to whomsoever might present himself au- 
 thentically as "the personal representative" of Joseph 
 Manstord, otherwise called Joseph Carson, and therefore 
 entitled to receive it, of a balance of wages due to the 
 deceased as a seaman in the American service; or it may 
 be that the consul of the United States, at Shanghai, 
 Robert C, Murphy, Esq., has taken charge of the effects 
 and money left by Joseph Carson, and has requested Mr. 
 Marcy to ascertain who are "the personal representatives" 
 to whom these effects and money may be transmitted. 
 This latter supposition is the more probable. 
 
 What then should Peter Carson do ? He has legaUy as 
 much right to claim the effects and money of the bastard 
 as his father has, and that is no right at all. But he can 
 acquire a right by becoming "the personal representa- 
 tive" of the deceased, in other words, by having himself 
 appointed the administrator to his estate. If by having 
 reared and educated Joseph, or in any other way, he can 
 claim to be a creditor of the estate, he is entitled to be pre- 
 ferred as administrator to John Carson. If nothing gives 
 him a preference, he can still claim the administration, 
 provided John Carson has not got ahead of him and 
 already taken out the letters. Mr. Marcy or the consul at 
 Shanghai would probably pay the money or give the 
 effects to au}^ one who proved his character as "personal 
 representative" by presenting a certificate under official 
 seal and signature of his appointment. 
 
 And lohere and Jiow is Peter Carson to have himself con- 
 stituted the administrator to Joseph's estate?
 
 80 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 Where? — The proper pkce is the city or county in the 
 United States in which Joseph last resided before he 
 entered upon his last voyage. 
 
 How? — Application must be made to the Register of 
 Wills, or other proper local officer, the facts stated, the 
 necessary surety given, etc. 
 
 If Peter Carson cannot quit home to attend to this 
 matter in person, he can authorize some one else as his 
 attorney in fact to have the thing done; to get the cer- 
 tificate of his appointment as administrator; to forward 
 that certificate or a duplicate of it to Mr. Marcy, either for 
 his own action or for transmission to Mr. Murphy at 
 Shanghai; to receive the efi'ects or money; and, after 
 paying all expenses and settling all accounts in exonera- 
 tion of his surety, to remit the residue of the fund to Mr. 
 Peter Carson. 
 
 I believe I have communicated all the information 
 your lordship desires to possess. Let me, however, add 
 what my experience in similar cases has taught me to 
 believe, that in all likelihood Joseph has not left behind 
 him more than a few months' wages and a sea-chest of 
 old clothes, the aggregate value of which would not com- 
 pensate Mr. Peter Carson for one-tenth of the trouble 
 and expense which he would necessarily incur in their 
 pursuit. 
 
 I shall be happy at all times to hear, upon this or any 
 other subject, from your lordship. 
 
 Yery respectfully, your lordship's 
 
 Most obedient servant. 
 
 Fo. 49 -TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, August 26, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The engrossment of the Central Ameri- 
 can Treaty is going on, and I have no doubt that I shall 
 be able to send it to you by the Arabia on Saturday next, 
 the 30th instant. 
 
 I had my last discussion on this topic at the F. 0. 
 yesterday. An attentive examination of the phraseology 
 of the treaty and separate article will shew you that I
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 81 
 
 have kept constantly in mind the principles of your in- 
 structions, an.d where their open recognition does not ap- 
 pear substantively, words are used which create for thera 
 a necessar}' implication. 
 
 Lord C. is bound to escort the Queen on her journey to 
 Scotland. Her Majesty leaves here the day after to-mor- 
 row. She became very sick on her last aquatic excursion, 
 and now forswears the sea. He has positively pro*niised 
 to summon me to sign our concocted instrument in the 
 course of to-morrow. 
 
 I have just had a long, agreeable, and interesting visit 
 from Count Kreptovitch, the new Russian Minister to this 
 Court. I knew him at St. Petersburg in the time of my 
 mission there. He is the son-in-law of Nesselrode, whom 
 he described as in full health and vigor of intellect. He 
 intimated that he had met with a rather cold reception 
 here, owing he presumed to his dilatoriness in coming. 
 He told me that the impression on the Continent is that 
 the Emperor of France labors under some serious disease 
 which he does not possess the constitutional strength to 
 throw oif; — "And then," he exclaimed, "what, in the 
 name of Heaven, is to become of France!" He expressed 
 in very strong terms his admiration of your letter to 
 Sartiges on privateering; said that as the argument of a 
 statesman, it was conclusive; and that his opinion was 
 entirely with 3'ou. During the last three years, Count 
 Kreptovitch has been minister at Brussels, a place that he 
 regrets leaving. 
 
 I intend introducing to you Sir Henry Holland, who 
 goes out by the Arabia. He is, in every respect, a most 
 estimable as well as eminent person, and withal a court 
 and nobility physician. He will hardly stop a day at 
 Washington, if he get there at all. He returns to London 
 in six or eight weeks. I wish him very much to see the 
 President, yourself, and General Davis. 
 
 London is the depth of dulness and emptiness. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 82 TO MR. MARCY 
 
 No. 50.-T0 MR. MAEOT. 
 
 London, September 9, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 22d August by the 
 Canada reached me on Sunday the 7th instant, and we 
 are all much gratified at your telling us of the improved 
 condition of your daughter. 
 
 I notice in our newspapers a number of things said 
 about the Central American negotiation and about my- 
 self personally, which are utterly absurd and without 
 foundation. The invention about that intelligent Albino, 
 Mr. Lowe, is one of these, as you have already found. 
 He is quite too distinguished and respectable a gentleman 
 to be supposed capable of having connived at his suppos- 
 ititious mission. Then, that nonsense about a letter to 
 me from fifty or more members of Parliament: — all trash. 
 You are entirely right in taking it for granted that 
 nothing of this sort can be true which is not adverted to 
 in my despatches or letters. 
 
 I am much relieved by the Canada's mail from the 
 anxiety about our political extravagance, created by that 
 of the Arago. It would seem almost certain that a con- 
 gressional arrangement on the Army Bill has been 
 accomplished. 
 
 1 went to the great Cutlers' Festival at Sheffield on the 
 4th instant. You will see the account of it in the news- 
 papers. The report of my remarks, though inaccurate in 
 one or two places, is as a whole quite good enough to 
 submit to. Some of the reporters, with Yankee cute- 
 ness, interpolate Cuba for Oude, and introduce the phrase 
 "infinitely more praiseworthy," as applied to Texas and 
 Cuba annexation! Small artifice! The speeches of the 
 Duke of ISTew^castle and Mr. Roebuck are interesting as 
 matters of political development and degladiation. They 
 have given rise to numerous newspaper columns. Mr. 
 Roebuck I found to be, in Sheffield particularly, in the 
 enjoyment of an immense and boisterous popularity. He 
 is universally praised for ability and independence; and 
 yet he had accepted a day or two before a present of 
 £1000, raised by subscription, headed by Lord Palmer- 
 ston! Sheffield is ultra-American, On the arrival of" 
 your minister, the church-bells were rung, and the flag
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 83 
 
 of the ITnited States was floated from the public hall, and 
 from where I took up my quarters. The firt;t aspect 
 of the town is that of Pittsburg, smoky, dirty, dingy, and 
 noisy. The suburbs are beautiful, hills richly cultivated 
 and adorned with handsome villas. I ran through their 
 principal "works," cutlery, plate, and steel, and found 
 the crowds of workmen just as ardently fond of us as 
 their employers. The distance from London is about 
 170 miles, which I flew over in four hours and a quarter. 
 There is some activity shewn to remove the prevailing 
 impression that the Emperor of the French labors under 
 serious malady. Mr. B , who is a warm personal friend 
 of his Majesty, whom he once went bail for when arrested 
 by the police in this city, adverts to letters from Paris 
 that deny the story. And yet everything indicates that 
 there is something in it. Some shrewd folks hint a soft- 
 ening of the brain! So much depends upon maintaining 
 his jwestige just now, that, if he be really ill, we shall be 
 kept ignorant of it as long as possible. He dances, it is 
 said, with great animation every night at Biarritz; but 
 for a month or six weeks there has been an impenetrable 
 and mysterious cloud about his statesmanship. ^'■Ilais, 
 nous vcrrons," as your old friend of '98 used to say. At 
 the reception lately of a recently formed municipal 
 council, he was "quite odd;" unable to make a rational 
 address, and suddenly in a trembling fit breaking out 
 with " y/ye VEinpereur!''' 
 
 Truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 51 -TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 LoNDOK, September 19, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is " quite odd " (a fashionable English 
 comment) that one should be living in London, and yet 
 have nothing to send to Washington, more than three 
 thousand five hundred miles oft', in the shape of news 
 political, social or diplomatic. Such, however, is my 
 momentary status; and it is ascribable as much to the 
 constancy and frequency with which I have written to 
 you, as to the universal nap the world is taking. I'm
 
 84 TO MR. 31ARCY. 
 
 exhausted, and I suspect your patience is in the like pre- 
 dicament. 
 
 The Post said a few days ago that if Russia were not 
 faithful to the Treaty of Peace, England must bring her 
 to her senses, and could do so even though unassisted by 
 another power. So, so, says the Constituiionnel, you begin to 
 doubt France ! be it so. Russia is a great and glorious 
 nation, her monarch and nobles worthy of all praise! 
 and as for you, bah! you talk too big! There are occa- 
 sionally apparent other symptoms which indicate the pos- 
 sibilit}^ of our seeing, one of these days, a revival of the 
 Continental system against "perfidious Albion." 
 
 The Coronation at the Kremlin is certainly a very 
 different display from our inauguration at the Capitol. 
 The first appeals to the eyes, the second to the ears; so 
 that if Horace be correct {segnius irritant animos), the Im- 
 perial pageant is more permanently impressive than the 
 Presidential one. I should like to know the effect pro- 
 duced upon our republican representative, Mr. Seymour; 
 — strongly suspected to have been one of intense fatigue. 
 And yet, listen you great progressive nineteenth cen- 
 tury! there are at least one hundred and fifty millions 
 of bewitched bipeds called men, Avho think of nothing, 
 read of nothing, talk of nothing, gaze on nothing, but the 
 robes, the jewels, the bows, the holy oil, the illuminations, 
 the serfs, and squadrons of the Czar! It gave me great 
 pleasure to hear from our returning consul. Colonel 
 Reilly, that you had spared Mr. Seymour the ruin of wit- 
 nessing and partaking this orientally gorgeous display by 
 assuming his expenses. Lord Clarendon is still in Scot- 
 land. Lord Palmerston flits backwards and forwards 
 every day or two, between Downing Street and St. 
 Leonards on Sea. The rest of the ministry are every- 
 where, or nowhere. 
 
 I have hinted to Mr. Alvarado, minister to the United 
 States from Honduras, that he would act wisely if, now 
 that the matter is over here, he were to present himself at 
 Washington, for reception by the President. 
 
 Nothing yet about a successor to Mr. Crampton, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, the speech of Mr. Baxter who, although 
 very nearly an opposition member, singled out as emi- 
 nentl}' fit, Mr. Villiers, Lord Clarendon's brother. He 
 would undoubtedly do admirably, as I think I have here- 
 tofore said.
 
 TO ME. MARCr. 85 
 
 John Frost and the Chartists ! A more wretched ex- 
 hibition, as they passed the legation on their wa^^ to Prim- 
 rose Hill, it would be difficult to depict. Our mass- 
 meetings, in town or township, are coronation crowds in 
 comparison. When you stir the dregs or sediment of any 
 European community, the show is saddening. Our alms- 
 houses would do better. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 52.-T0 MK. MAKOY. 
 
 London, September 24, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is hardly worth while, and j-et it is 
 perhaps best, as a matter of extreme precaution, that I 
 should send you the two copies of notes that accompany 
 this, especially as I have scarcely matter wherewith to fill 
 a page. 
 
 You see, this business of passports exacts great vigi- 
 lance and good humor from your representatives. There 
 are touchy men even in frocks, who think they ought at 
 once to be granted whatever they ask, and who misun- 
 derstand everything when kindled by a little scrutiny. 
 Having carelessly neglected to provide or pack up the au- ' 
 thentic proofs of character, they are angry with them- 
 selves, and snappishly vent themselves on others. The 
 poor fellow in this case will, I hope, smooth down his in- 
 dignation, and furnish me with some sort of apology for 
 giving him the passport, even against the judgment of 
 the Secretary. If not, and he wants to make a rumpus, 
 why, you have the means of appreciating him. 
 
 The absence from London to which I refer was during 
 a visit of a few days to Sir E. B. Lytton, at his resi- 
 dence about twenty-seven miles off. He kept me a day 
 or two longer than I intended, to have me at the agricul- 
 tural meeting of his county. The newspapers contain, 
 as usual, reports of what was said and done, at least sub- 
 stantially.* 
 
 * DiAKY : 1st October, 1856. — "The week before this last was spent by- 
 Mrs. D., Susan, Philip, and myself at Knebworth, the charming residence
 
 86 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 Your old cabinet colleague and present diplomatic em- 
 ploye, Mr. J. Y. Mason, is here, and dined with me yes- 
 
 of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, the novelist, poet, and statesman, in Hert- 
 fordshire. A more interesting piece of antiquity (our bedroom and bed- 
 stead had been occupied by Queen Elizabeth when preparing to receive 
 the Spanish Arm/ida) I have not come across: — spacious lialls, picture gal- 
 leries, ancient armor, old oak staircase, and grotesque monsters numberless. 
 It is seated within and domineers over some thousand acres of park, 
 woodland, garden, and farm. No wonder this man writes so exquisitely, 
 on the margin of his own lake, in a retired cottage, and with all the ap- 
 pliances of comfort, silence, and sweet air about him ! I found him the 
 very soul of hospitality, a republican in his philosophy, a polished gen- 
 tleman, and yet made by domestic trials peculiar, if not somewhat eccen- 
 tric. He has a son attached to the British legation at the Hague, already 
 a remarkable writer. He pines over the loss of a beautiful daughter of 
 15 ; and his wife, reputed quite impracticably singular, though very tal- 
 ented, won't live near him. He is laboriously intent on high political 
 fame and position, which, as an M. P., he cannot fail to reach. He per- 
 suaded me to accompany him to his county agricultural dinner in Hitchin, 
 where they treated me ' e/t ambassndeiir,' and I briefly addressed five 
 hundred farmers. The Hertford Mercii?-i/, reporting this banquet, said, 
 into' alia : 
 
 " Mr. Dallas, on rising, was received with a perfect hurricane of ap- 
 plause. When the cheering had subsided, he addressed the assembly as 
 follows : 
 
 " Gentlemen, — It is impossible for me to allow the flattering manner in 
 which 3'ou have received the toast so kindly introduced by the distinguished 
 gentleman who presides to pass without the expression of my warmest 
 thanks. A stranger to you all, I deeply feel the hospitality of your wel- 
 come; though, in truth, my short experience in England has given me 
 more than reason enough to expect it. (Cheers.) For the generous allusion 
 made to the institutions, the progress, and the prospects of my country, 
 let me also return, in my public as well as in my private character, the 
 most cordial acknowledgments. (Cheers.) Youthful among nations, and 
 perhaps, in the estimation of many whom I address, far from faultless, 
 she has, nevertheless, undeniably achieved in the general cause of civili- 
 zation, in science, in art, in meclianics, in human elevation and improve- 
 ment, what may well justify encomiums from such enlightened, discrim- 
 inating, and candid men. (Cheers.) In no sphere of social action are the 
 United States better entitled to your esteem than in the very one with 
 which this banquet is connected. They recognize their agricultural in- 
 terest — their planters and their farmers — as their predominant interest — 
 the interest that wields the power, originates the wealth, cherishes the 
 manly freedom, and ])romotes the happiness of their entire people. (Cheers. ) 
 You can make no advance on that subject which will not meet with their 
 sympathy and co-operation. In the vast valley of the Mississijipi, amid 
 measureless plains of exhaustless fertility, millions of my countrymen 
 accept, as the noblest of human i)ursuits, the cultivation of their own 
 soil. (Hear, hoar.) With them their chief aim and delight is to stock 
 their ftxrms with cattle of the best breeds ; and they hail, as more worthy 
 of their gratitude and their applause than military exploits and political 
 victories, every onward step in ])racti('al husbandry. (Cheers.) I wish, 
 gentlemen, I felt comiietent and at lil)erty to engage a few moments of 
 your attention in adverting to American movements similar to your own.
 
 TO MR. MARCF. 87 
 
 terday. I have not seen him since leaving Washington 
 on the 4th of March, 1849. His health seems restored, 
 and his vivacity as quick and agreeable as ever; but he 
 walks awkwardly, and forbears the use of his left arm. 
 We talked politics, home and foreign, until tired out; 
 and, with the exception of his very exalted admiration 
 of certain French personages, we chimed in sentiment 
 .pretty harmoniously. We agree in the belief that the 
 success of Fremont is an unimaginable visitation of Prov- 
 idence. He returns to Paris to-morrow, having crossed 
 the channel only to execute, with the formality required 
 by Virginia law, a deed of Conveyance before the Lord 
 Mayor. . 
 
 It is rumored and understood that a small squadron of 
 French and English vessels is about anchoring before 
 Naples. The pretext is to be to protect the persons and 
 property of their respective subjects as soon as diplomatic 
 relations are suspended. In reality the purpose is to secure 
 the Emperor L. ISTapoleon from the contagion of a violent 
 outbreak in Italy, by being there as overawing mediators 
 between King Bomba and his people. The principle of 
 non-intervention will be actually violated, but ostensibly 
 avoided. 
 
 I suppose our cabinet is about as much dispersed as is 
 the cabinet here, and that I may not hear the fruits of 
 consultation as early as I should like ; but I still flatter' 
 myself with hope of something by the Persia, due to- 
 morrow. The condition of affairs in Kansas is, at this 
 distance, and by the Times., monstrously exaggerated, and 
 I wait for accurate news impatiently 
 
 Always most respectfully and truly. 
 
 They ure numerous in every separate State of our confederacy. Impelled, 
 as here, by the highest intellect and the truest patriotism, their combined 
 results might be regarded as an offering not wholly unworthy of your 
 acceptance. (Cheers.) But I cannot venture so far ; and, although I am 
 really sensible that an interchange of agricultural reports would consti- 
 tute a powerful bond of national amity and peace, still I shrink, under 
 the warning of one of your own venerable proverbs, to which my Lord 
 Hamlet migh tapply his epithet of 'somewhat musty,' inculcating the 
 folly or futility of carrying coals to Newcastle. (Laughter and cheers.) 
 Gentlemen, I renew and repeat the expression of my thanks, and will 
 now give you the only good thing whicla belongs to my address, in the 
 shape of a sentiment : 'All honor and success to the Agricultural Society 
 of Hertfordshire.' (Loud cheers.)"
 
 88 TO LORD ELLESMERE. 
 
 No. 53 -TO ME. MIDDLETON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, September 27, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your note of the 19tli instant would 
 have had an immediate answer but that it reached me in 
 the country, whence I have only just returned. 
 
 Of course, and I might have supposed without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation, you can refer any one to me upon the 
 subject of your proposed publication. It will give me 
 pleasure, as far as it may be in my power, to inspire those 
 who do not know you, with the coniidence of those who do. 
 
 I happened at the receipt of your letter to be among 
 gentlemen whose works made me sure of their being ex- 
 perienced in regard to London publishers: and, without 
 adverting to my purpose at all, I took occasion to encpiire 
 as to the best direction. They were unanimous in the 
 opinion that a volume of about the size of yours, and on 
 a speculative topic, would run the risk of falling still-born 
 from the press, if put into the hands of a C'dy publisher. 
 I am no judge of the soundness of this opinion, but think 
 it best to mention it. Mr. Murra}^ in Albemarle Street, 
 was greatly preferred. In the present preposterously 
 confident anticipation in England, that the knell of our 
 Union has rung in Kansas, you may possibly find it diffi- 
 cult to get any one to give to your subject the zealous in- 
 troduction it deserves. It really seems to me that the 
 political structure and social temperament of our country 
 are less understood by those who indefatigably claiih to 
 be our kindred than by any other people. 
 
 I am truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 54.-T0 LOED ELLESMEEE. 
 
 24 Portland Place, September 28, 1856. 
 
 My dear Lord Ellesmere, — Many thanks for your in- 
 dulgence towards my venturing on an effort to obtain ad- 
 mission at Bridgewater House for a specially recommended 
 countryman of mine. I knew of your absence, but felt
 
 TO MR. MARGY. 89 
 
 perfectly assured that his was a ease which would greatly 
 extenuate the liberty I took. He is an artist of uncom- 
 mon merit. Some of his paintings, in their characteristics 
 resembling those of the Russian Orloffsky, are exceedingly 
 fine; and he gives every promise of reaching an excellence 
 equal if not superior to that of his fellow-townsman, 
 Leslie; for both are from my home, Philadelphia. His 
 name is Rothermel, and he is travelling for the first time 
 in eager pursuit of the masterpieces of his art. As he re- 
 turns from Italy and Germany, for he cannot afford a long 
 suspension of labor, I will make another attempt at your 
 Gallery, under the encouragement your kind note has 
 given. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 55.-T0 ME. MAROY. 
 
 London, October 3, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir — The Roman Catholic clergyman, Mr. F., 
 of whose angry missive about his passport I inflicted upon 
 you a copy, cooled upon getting my letter, and very frankly 
 came to beg pardon for his folly, and to make himself very 
 ai>:reeable by his vivacity and intelligence. I was not sorry 
 to hear him say that the F. O., which never recognizes our 
 naturalization of her Majesty's subjects, gave him a pass- 
 port immediately as a native Irishman; for it was still im- 
 possible for him to adduce a scintilla to warrant my grant- 
 ing one. 
 
 You have narrowly escaped a formal despatch by this 
 occasion ; but you shall have it soon, I promise you. Lord 
 Clarendon has written me a note respecting a Mr. Smith, 
 our consul recently appointed to Londonderry, whose 
 wild advertisement for "30,000 laborers" and for the sale 
 of " millions of acres" in Iowa, seems to have "riled" the 
 political economy of Downing Street. I have invoked 
 explanation and defence from our splashing representative, 
 and hope to tranquillize the "labor market" of her Ma- 
 jesty before any fresh dido is kicked up. You shall enjoy 
 the entire muss, solemnly set out, on a future da3^ 
 
 Captain Pendergrast of the Merrimac, and his Lieuten- 
 
 VOL. I. — 7
 
 90 TO MR. MARCr. 
 
 ant, Jones, dined with me yesterday. This noble ship, tell 
 Mr. Dobbin, is attracting much attention. But (and make 
 my apologies for venturing the suggestion) why is she to 
 winter at Brest in preference to Cherbourg? Every na- 
 tional purpose would seem far more attainable at the latter 
 than the former. I am extremely anxious to pay her a 
 very formal visit ; for in sober truth, I have ''itching ears" 
 for the booming of American cannon in British waters. 
 The Captain, however, may be kept in London for a fort- 
 night. 
 
 Every sunrise is expected to throw light upon the min- 
 isterial policy as to Naples. We are kept in quite an in- 
 teresting state of suspense. Now we have the fleets in the 
 Bay, and now we haven't. Now Austria intimates dis- 
 sent, and now she don't. Then Russia backs up Bomba, 
 and Prussia, but then again neither does. Some say 
 Clarendon's dogmatic and pragmatic violence will push 
 on to another war ; but more hint that Lord Palmerston 
 shews the white feather, and would back out if Louis 
 Napoleon would let him. The leading men of the Oppo- 
 sition take courage and hope from this intervention, which, 
 they say, will break down the administration, whether it 
 be carried out or shabbily withdrawn from. In the mean- 
 time, the Ominous and Anonymous bulletins of imperial 
 illness are still circulating in defiance of every eflbrt to 
 stop them; his Majesty is coming, but not yet come, to 
 Paris : — he is in good health, goes to operas, concerts, 
 baths, and reviews: — " wiaz's, e/i honime cretat, il se re- 
 2)ose!" 
 
 Lord C. has left the Queen, but is visiting about, and 
 may not get to the F. 0. for a week. 
 
 I hope to hear by the next steamer your idea of the 
 Central American arrangement, and that your daughter 
 is restored to health. 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 56.-TO ME. MAKOT. 
 
 London, October 10, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sm, — Some of the suggested modifications of the 
 projet underwent early discussion, were thought to enter into
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 91 
 
 unnecessary detail, were not regarded as material enougli 
 to insist upon, and at all events were made to yield to the 
 pressure of an anxiety to get on, before anything should 
 occur to change the disposition to give up the Bay Islands. 
 This surrender involved, as it appeared to me, so striking 
 a triumph to the American cause and argument, that I 
 was prepared to do, or omit doing, almost anything to 
 secure its final accomplishment: — especially as I knew, 
 that when once done it could not be undone, and that my 
 own more direct work with Lord C. was a mere projet ad 
 referendum. Had there been any serious delay, I now know 
 that the apprehended mischief would have occurred. I 
 don't despair of having your improvements incorporated, 
 but there will be difficulty, grumbling, and procrastina- 
 tion. 
 
 That Londonderry consul! Poor fellow! he wants to 
 make money and therefore made a noise. And the grav- 
 ity with which disturbance in '■'■the labor market' is pre- 
 dicated of such a pufling bulletin is really worthy of those 
 circumlocution chambers, the Colonial Department and 
 the F. O. A genuine rough and tumble and yelling 
 hoosier, kicking up his heels amid the solemnities of oflice 
 in this region of the globe, necessarily frightens all the 
 red tapists, and makes every venerable political economist 
 peer from under his eyebrows and shake ominously his 
 theorizing noddle! I wish, however, that our wild func- 
 tionary wrote better English, especially as he seems in- 
 clined to enter upon the patriotic labor of lecturing (on 
 invitation! ahem!) upon America! Give the man a 
 chance, my Lord C, and don't cut him down for a single 
 exuberant caper. He is utterly unknown to me, though 
 hailing from Philadelphia, and of a name belonging to a 
 most extensive family there and everywhere. 
 
 The oscillating funds in Paris keep the mercantile com- 
 munity here in great anxiety. Some of the political quid- 
 nuncs, too, see in the Bank panic and its incidents, of an 
 attempt to force paper and to prevent a premium on silver, 
 an approaching revolution. The Emperor has at last got 
 back to Paris, and certainly he seems already to have 
 shewn that he has carried with him an unimpaired mind : — 
 for he peremptorily objected to the Bank project. Still, 
 the workmen are beginning to complain, and to press up 
 to him! Nothing to do, high rents, and bread rising !
 
 92 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 I think the symptoms indicate that the intervention at 
 Naples will "fizzle" out, and leave the King at liberty to 
 imprison, starve, and kill, as his fears or whims may dic- 
 tate. Austria appeals the question to the reconvened 
 Congress of Paris : that is plausible, will give time, will 
 check Lord Palmerston, will reunite the three absolutist 
 Emperors and Prussia, and will give Lord Clarendon an 
 opportunity to explain and back down. The Lazzaroni are 
 with King Bomba, and the appearance of the fleets in the 
 beautiful Bay might produce a popular outbreak fatal to 
 English and French residents. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, I wholly forgot, until reminded 
 a few days ago, that 1 possessed by law the life privilege 
 of franking! 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 57.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, October 14, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Our consular representative at London- 
 derry may be considered in smooth water again. My 
 communication to the Foreign Ofiice, of which my last 
 despatch presented you a copy, appeased the ruffled plu- 
 mage of the Colonial Department, and the matter drops. 
 I have, however, taken the liberty to hint to Mr. Smith 
 that his notices hereafter should be somewhat more meas- 
 ured and guarded. 
 
 It is quite extraordinary with what unanimity, and yet 
 I must confess with what moderation of tone, the success 
 of Fremont is here wished and expected. What good he 
 is to do them, one cannot perceive; and, after all, unless 
 assisted by greater rashness on our own part than can be 
 reasonably anticipated, he will not be able, in the face of 
 the Senate, to do his country serious harm. 
 
 I shall give myself henceforward and* exclusively to 
 eftbrts to carry your amendments to the projet, and you 
 need not ex[>ect to be worried by my eye-straining pen- 
 manship until I am able to send the perfected treaty, or 
 despair of it. I sometimes think that you have aimed at 
 more perfection in the instrument than was practically
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 93 
 
 important or necessary ; but your points are undoubtedly 
 improvements, and shall be pressed " until my eyelids can 
 no longer wag." My father's favorite inculcation was 
 "attempt the impossible, and you'll achieve the highly 
 difficult." So, here goes ! 
 
 I see that you and Sir. H. H. have been "nobbing." 
 Pray, if you have still a chance, hint to him that he is 
 bound to feturn home ; for I have not been well for a fort- 
 night, and was obliged to send for another physician. 
 
 Naples in nuhibus still. The policy of "passivity" — that 
 is, Louis Napoleon letting England do the job while he 
 merely looks on, will probably prevail. The coalition of 
 Russia, Prussia, and Austria to shield Bomba, only exas- 
 perates the ministry here to obstinacy and action. Soon, 
 the ball will have rolled beyond their reach. 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 58 -TO ME. GILPIN. 
 
 London, October 17, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Two hours ago, under a Full Power 
 received a week since only, I put my hand and seal to the 
 Treaty which, if ratified by the Senate, must close, and 
 with mutual honor, all strife between the two countries. 
 Am I to be more applauded b}^ the philosophers of Peace 
 or reviled by the champions of War? N'importe! I have 
 done what I conceive to be right, and will accept its con- 
 sequences, be they what they may. 
 
 The upshot is that Great Britain withdraws from her 
 Colony in the Bay of Honduras, gives up her Protect- 
 orate of the Mosquitoes, admits Greytown to be a Free 
 City under the sovereignty of Nicaragua, pens up her In- 
 dian king and his subjects within a narrow and precise 
 reservation, and promises never to overleap the limits of 
 the Belize as they were when the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 
 was made. That will do, won't it? And what is more, 
 the whole of it is perfectly compatible with the honor and 
 dignit}'- of this great nation : — for, although the Parisian 
 scribblers have dubbed me " the wily diplomat," it never 
 has and never will enter into my own sense of personal
 
 94 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 or public honor to get from political agents a dishonora- 
 ble concession. That, too, I believe to have been the 
 ruling principle of Lord Clarendon, of whose fairness and 
 frankness, as well as ability, I cannot make too full an 
 admission. 
 
 United and best regards to Mrs. G. 
 
 Ever sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 59 .-TO ME. MAECT. 
 
 London, October 17, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The possession and communication of 
 the Full Power so fortitied my position that I was able 
 to carry your modifications although several had been 
 resisted before. The effect of having the authority, at all 
 events in a measure, to decide instead of merely discuss, 
 is that you prevent the other party from taking the 
 chances involved in an ad referendum. At least it seemed 
 to me that the exhibition of the Broad Seal had a most 
 persuasive effect. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan once spoke to Lord Clarendon proposing 
 a co-operation of the ministers of the two countries in 
 favoring the union of Buenos Ayres to the Argentine Re- 
 public. Lord C. adopted the idea, and advised with the 
 French government, who also assented. He is anxious 
 now, in consequence of a letter just received from the 
 British representative, to act; but he has never heard 
 whether our government are disposed to carry out the 
 suggestion. Mr. Peden, it appears, stands very high in 
 general estimation, and his co-operation is much desired. 
 Lord C. requested me, informally, to ascertain how the 
 matter stood at Washington. 
 
 In my No. — I sent you certain bills made out against 
 our government by her Majesty's, and requested attention 
 to them. Have you forgot them, or are they paid without 
 my being apprised ? 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO LORD ELLESMERE. 95 
 
 No. 60 -TO MR. MAROT. 
 
 London, October 24, 1856. 
 
 My deae Sir, — I have your ISTos. 34 and 35, which will, 
 of course, be promptly attended to and acknowledged in 
 a formal despatch, as soon as there is accumulated enough 
 matter. 
 
 Is it not rather singular and invasive that Mr. Guthrie 
 should meditate building light-houses on British coasts ? 
 I rather suspect that Lord Clarendon will be puzzled how 
 to answer the proposition. He has, however, got it fairly 
 before him, and I hope will treat it less cavalierly than 
 Spain did our oiFer to buy Cuba. 
 
 By the time you get this, the curtain will be lifted from 
 the Presidential future. Perhaps, indeed, the result may 
 ultimately turn upon the electoral vote of California, and 
 you may be held in suspense for a fortnight. But I hope 
 that you will send me a missive as soon as possible, so 
 that I may have all the time that can be given for putting 
 my house in order. I am perplexed about prolonging or 
 renewing the lease of my legation. If Pennsylvania shall 
 have proved false to her vows, I shall want to hurry up. 
 
 As I anticipated, the spirited retorts made by the Sici- 
 lian Absolutist, upon the treatment of Irish rebels and 
 Cayenne convicts, have exasperated the polic}^ of inter- 
 vention into something like firmness and action. The 
 embassies are to be withdrawn, and the squadrons to cruise 
 within (hail, though out of the Bay! How tenderly is the 
 divine right to govern wrong dealt with ! 
 
 O'Donnell, too, has taken already the direction of my 
 vaticinations; and now even JSTarvaez is hardly servile 
 enough for the reaction ! The general impression here 
 is that a very gloomy convulsion is at hand in Spain. 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 61.-T0 LOED ELLESMERE. 
 
 London, October 25, 1856. 
 
 My dear Lord Ellesmere, — Mr, Allibone, who is pub- 
 lishing "A Critical Dictionary of English Literature," in
 
 96 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 the city of Philadelphia, has confided to my care, for 
 transmission to yon, a specimen volume of his M'ork, em- 
 bracing only letters A, B, C. It seems to me admirable 
 in plan, execution, and getting up, and I am desirous to 
 hasten its reception by your lordship. Shall I send it to 
 Bridgewater House, or is there a more direct avenue to 
 you ? It is something in shape between an octavo and 
 a quarto. 
 
 Very sincerely and respectfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — Has your lordship adjudicated the claim of Bacon 
 to the authorship of Shakespeare's Plays ? 
 
 No. 62.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, October 28, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The result of the State election in Penn- 
 sylvania has just reached us by the Africa. I suppose it 
 may be regarded as a conclusive proof of the victory that 
 awaits us this day week. It would seem that the major- 
 ity can scarcely be less than fifteen, and may be twenty, 
 thousand. This is a nut which the Loudon and Parisian 
 editors must find it hard to crack. 
 
 Sir H. H. says he was delighted with Mr. Marcy, and 
 I told him that Mr. Marcy was equally pleased with Sir 
 Henry. In return for your kind expressions about him, 
 he begged me not to omit conveying his best respects. 
 
 At last a significant step has been taken in the Neapoli- 
 tan afiair. The French and English Legations are with- 
 drawn. The movement is accompanied, however, with 
 so much hesitation, and with arrangements as to the fleets 
 80 opposite to intervention, that King Ferdinand must re- 
 gard it rather as a triumph than a hurt. The breaking ofl:* 
 of diplomatic intercourse is, after all, a blow not very dif- 
 ficult to bear. According to European sentiment, Bomba 
 may perhaps not relish being cut by Louis Napoleon and 
 Victoria; but then, his lair remains inviolate ; he can con- 
 sult his humor there, and he may smile at the " bruium 
 fulmen" while he stands between, and arm in arm with, 
 Russia and Austria. This may not be an actual " fizzle,"
 
 TO REV. DR. BINNEY. 97 
 
 but it so miicli resembles one, that it cannot satisfy any 
 shade of political party in Parliament. Lord Palmerston 
 has either lunged at too distant an aim, or has too readily 
 recoiled. Most persons regard the present position as 
 neither one thing nor the other — a sham for France, and 
 a shame for England. 
 
 Talking of a lack of British diplomatic representation 
 at ISTaples reminds me that you labor at Washington 
 under the same deprivation. How do you bear it ? Have 
 any serious inconveniences developed themselves? Or 
 do you begin to feel that there is a point at which farther 
 delay would be uncivil? IsTot a whisper on the subject 
 has come to my ears. I believe Lord E. would like it. 
 I believe the Duke of N. would like it. I believe Mr. V. 
 would like it. I believe Lord H. would like it. And I 
 feel convinced that Sir G-. O., who married a daughter of 
 Gov. Vanness, would like it. And I am persuaded that 
 either of these gentlemen would make himself quite ac- 
 ceptable. But the acid of Crampton's (I beg pardon, 
 Sir John Crampton's) dismissal has not yet been neutral- 
 ized. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 63.-TO KEY. DE. BINNEY. 
 
 24 Portland Place, October 31, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I fulfilled to the strict letter my prom- 
 ise to you about your friend, and have had, for some two 
 weeks or more, the response in my pigeon holes. I hoped 
 you might call in from day to day. It requires verbal ex- 
 planation. When your engagements call you to London, 
 I shall take pleasure in letting you see the matter in its 
 real aspect. 
 
 Consider Mr. Buchanan elected to the Presidency on 
 the 4th of November, by the overwhelming defeat he 
 gavg the adversary in Pennsylvania on the 14th inst. In 
 my judgment, the indication is unerring, and makes doubt 
 idle. 
 
 We all renew our thanks for the kindness and fre- 
 quency of your invitations, and only regret that a sort of
 
 98 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 American " manifest destiny " has prevented a visit to 
 you, or Mr. W. Brown, or half a dozen others, whom we 
 long to burthen with our presence. 
 
 Having accomplished to the entire satisfaction of the 
 American government the adventurous and unpromising 
 enterprise which brought me to England, namely, a re- 
 storation of amicable relations and feelings between the 
 two countries, on terms honorable to both — a result 
 which the fairness, frankness, and ability of Lord Claren- 
 don reached directly and promptly — I am ready to re- 
 sume my niche of obscurity at home, be our new Presi- 
 dent whom he may. Indeed, I begin to doubt whether I 
 can consent to prolong my representative residence at a 
 Court which does not esteem my doing so worth recipro- 
 cating. This you may consider democratic pride. Per- 
 haps it is so. We are excessively touchy, I own, at any- 
 thing construed to imply a slight from an aristocracy 
 whose principles of personal or political conduct we do 
 not perfectl}^ understand. In the United States, the hum- 
 blest citizen would deem it a sacrifice of self-respect to 
 stop at a house whose owner notoriously declined return- 
 ing the social compliment. I am only, ot course, illustra- 
 ting the political attitude of the two nations — not referring 
 to private life — and to explain to you why and how it may 
 be that my " continuance here may in no measure what- 
 ever depend upon the Presidential election." A long 
 story you will say, in answer to a single phrase. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 64.-T0 ME. MAKOY. 
 
 London, November 4, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Our last accounts of the State election 
 in Pennsylvania on the 4th of October, have created here 
 a universal conviction that the democrats must succeed 
 in the struggle of io-day. Even the inveterately anti- 
 American and anti-slaver}^ newspapers — Times, Post, Ad- 
 vertiser, Globe — are beginning to hedge, and admit that 
 England can get along without a quarrel, let who may be 
 President. People are wise who accommodate them- 
 selves to a relation they cannot avoid. 
 
 d
 
 TO MR. MARCT. %Q 
 
 The great alliance is loosening. Something on this 
 score is due to the insinuating diplomacy of Russia, 
 which began immediately on the meeting of the Peace 
 Congress in Paris, — something to tire under-current of 
 contemptuous remark in which the French indulge 
 against the military capacity of their English Crimean 
 heroes; something to the unavoidable diversity of senti- 
 ment and policy as to the Principalities; something to 
 the manifestly inconsistent attitude of the absolutist of 
 2d December, with thousands banished and perishing in 
 Cayenne, towards his disciple Bomba ; but more than 
 either, or perhaps than all of these, will be due to the 
 Napoleonic warning, given in the Moniteur, to the calum- 
 nious British press. Louis ISTapoleon put his hand, by 
 this, literally into the lion's mouth, and the lion has been 
 chafing, chewing, and biting ever since. That which 
 touches the quick of the imperial sensibilities is the in- 
 contestably true charge of fraudulent speculation in the 
 public funds. Private and personal aberrations may be 
 imputed by wholesale and be disregarded, because in 
 these regions of civilization such matters are turned into 
 mere amusing gossip ; but to swindle the masses, and es- 
 pecially " les OHvriers," by tricks in stocks, to become in 
 office suddenly rich in this way, endangers the throne 
 even with the army. Such an act must not be charged, 
 if the alliance is to be continued. It is committed, but 
 it must be concealed and indignantly denied. The spirit 
 with which the editors confront the imperial scolding is 
 worthy of all praise. I had cut out for preservation a fine 
 specimen of this manliness and ability combined ; but I 
 will send it to you with this, as worthy to fill up an idle 
 moment at your fireside. 
 
 London is refilling. Many of my colleagues are back. 
 Dinners are beginning. But the full tide comes only 
 with the Court and Parliament in February. 
 
 The Merrimac left Southampton three days ago, and 
 without my being able to visit her. She was most hospi- 
 tably entertained during all her stay. 
 
 I have not a scrap on hand worthy of an ofiicial de- 
 spatch, and I dare say you have not failed to detect that 
 this scrawl is more marked by a determination to write 
 something than by a superfluity of matter. 
 
 My best compliments to your family. 
 
 Very faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 100 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 No. 65.-T0 MR. EVEEETT. 
 
 LoNDOK, November 4, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — "The Uses of Astronomy" reached me 
 yesterday morning ; and I read it last night with such real 
 delight that I cannot restrain the wish to thank yon most 
 warmly for having sent it. Nothing has given me the 
 same pleasure, since your refusal, as Secretary of State, to 
 enter into the tripartite guaranty of Cuba to Spain. I 
 cannot speak of your lecture on Washington, of which 
 I have heard a great deal, but as yet have met no copy. 
 
 You have many ardent as well as distinguished friends 
 here, who speak with pride of having known you inti- 
 mately. 
 
 Always faithfully and thankfully 
 
 Your sincere friend. 
 
 No. 66.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, November 7, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Washington, which quitted South- 
 ampton the day before yesterday, and by which I intended 
 to send letters, was given up at Mr. Miller's suggestion of 
 her being a laggard in movement, and her mail reserved 
 for the Niagara of to-morrow. I am, therefore, able to 
 send you two newspaper cuttings, which you may find 
 worthy special notice. 
 
 Lord Palmerston's speeches at Manchester are in place 
 of what he might say in the House of Commons, were 
 Parliament in session. I have invited your eye to certain 
 passages by marks. They will attract attention. One of 
 my diplomatic colleagues had with me a short conversa- 
 tion, whose bearings on two points may make it not 
 wholly unworthy of repetition to you. 
 
 C. This is a very strange administration! 
 
 D. Why do 3'ou think so. Baron? 
 
 C. They are not harmonious : — they don't agree among 
 themselves.
 
 TO MR. MARCr. 101 
 
 D. I can't perceive that: at least they hide their differ- 
 ences from the public. 
 
 C, Well, I will illustrate. I had, two daj^s ago, a long 
 interview with Lord Palmerston, in the course of which 
 I told him I could not understand the policy of the cabi- 
 net about the Principalities. He said it was very plain and 
 very direct. No, I replied, you are for preventing their 
 union. Certainly, he observed, you are right there. But 
 why? I remarked; their union would undoubtedly aug- 
 ment their power and prosperity. Perhaps so, said he ; 
 but then, Baron, our wish is to keep them weak and to 
 increase the powers of Turkey. Mon Dieu! I exclaimed, 
 that is not the idea of Lord Clarendon, his opinion is dif- 
 ferent. Very possibly, he replied ; if Lord Clarendon 
 has expressed to you a contrary view, it is his own private 
 one ; it is not that of the ministry. We have always en- 
 tertained the policy I have avowed. The Principalities 
 must remain feeble by being kept apart. In that way only 
 can they be kept under the influence of Turkey and be a 
 barrier against Russia. Consolidate their strength, and 
 the Sultan would soon find them, under the magic of Rus- 
 sian diplomacy, ready to join the Czar in driving him out 
 of Constantinople. Lord Clarendon has his own notions: 
 but y)e have ours. 
 
 How odd these contradictory sentiments! and for the 
 Premier to say Pooh ! pooh ! to the words of the Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs! 
 
 D. Well, Baron, do you talk again to Lord Clarendon, 
 and you may discover that he has modified his opinions, 
 and brought them to harmonize with those of Lord Pal- 
 merston. 
 
 This question as to the union of the Danubian Princi- 
 palities has greater depth and importance in its specula- 
 tive futurity and in its immediate effects, than may at first 
 be supposed. It is vastly interesting as bearing upon the 
 relations hereafter to exist between Russia and the rest 
 of Europe. \But its present operation in producing a 
 disagreement on a great principle between France and 
 England, and tending to end the alliance in angry quar- 
 rel, cannot be overrated. The statesmen, politicians, and 
 press of both countries are already by the ears in relation 
 to it. It is more fundamental than the disputes about the 
 Isle of Serpents, or the two Belgrods, or the Finland for-
 
 102 TO MR. EDWARDS. 
 
 tifications. There would seem to spring out of it at once, 
 a new arrangement of European alliances: Great Britain, 
 Austria, and Turkey antagonistic to France, Russia, and 
 Prussia. The languor of the movement against Naples is 
 a premonitory symptom. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 67.-T0 ME. EDWARDS. 
 
 24 Portland Place, November 11, 1856. 
 
 I confine myself strictly to your enquiries: 
 
 1. The Electors of a President of the United States are, 
 by an Act of Congress of the Ist of March, 1792, " ap- 
 pointed in each State," and are in number equal to the 
 number of Senators and Representatives to which each 
 State is entitled by law. 
 
 Except in South Carolina, the ajjpointment by the State 
 is made through the agency of a popular election, witliin 
 34 days preceding the first Wednesday in December. 
 
 The election in each State is conducted under State 
 regulations and officers; its result is certified to the State 
 Executive; and that State Executive, by proclamation, 
 makes the result known, and by communication to the 
 elected. 
 
 2. The Electors, thus officially notified, are by law di- 
 rected to meet wherever the Legislature of the State may 
 appoint, and give their votes by ballot for a President and 
 Vice-President, on the first Wednesday of December. 
 
 On meeting, they select their own presiding officer; 
 they sign and seal three certificates of all the votes by them 
 given ; they send one of these certificates, by an officer of 
 their own choice (generally one of the electors), to the Pre- 
 sident of the U. S. Senate, one other they transmit to the 
 same person by the Post Office, and the third they deliver 
 to the Judge of the United States of the District in which 
 they meet. 
 
 3. On the second Wednesday in February, both Houses 
 of Congress assemble in Convention, the President of the 
 Senate presiding: the certificates transmitted from the 
 several electoral colleges are opened, the votes counted, 
 and the persons elected ascertained and declared. 
 
 i
 
 TO MR. CHILD S. 103 
 
 4. If, on opening the certificates and counting the votes 
 it appears that no person has received a majority of the 
 whole number, then the House of Representatives alone 
 proceeds immediately to choose by ballot, out of the three 
 highest in votes on the list, the President : — and in making 
 this choice, the votes are taken by States, each State hav- 
 ing one vote. If the. House fail to choose before the 4th 
 of March then next following, the Vice-President enters 
 upon the office, as in the case of the death of the President. 
 
 So as to the election of the Vice-President; only, that, 
 if the certificates of the electoral votes do not shew a ma- 
 jority for any one, the Senate (not the House) choose the 
 officer, and may choose immediately, without waiting the 
 result of the proceedings in the House as to the President. 
 
 Respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 68 -TO MR. OHILDS. 
 
 London, November 12, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am extremely obliged to you for your 
 kind and interesting letters. In this, a sort of exile, they 
 comfort and cheer me greatly. 
 
 Your last spoke of Mr. T. Buchanan Read, and of your 
 wish that he should paint two portraits for you. I gave 
 him a strong introductory letter to Lady Franklin, and 
 enclose her reply. 
 
 Dr. Kane has left here, and is perhaps in Paris; but, 
 continuing quite unwell and feeble, he was undetermined 
 whether to go to Algeria or Cuba, and I sent him such 
 letters as I thought might serve him at either place. His 
 book has given as much delight here as with you. A 
 thousand congratulations on its merited success. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs.
 
 104 TO COL. L. 
 
 No. 69 -TO JUDGE KANE. 
 
 London, November 13, 1856. 
 
 My dear Judge, — I am afraid you have reason to com- 
 plain of my not writing to let Mrs. Kane know of the 
 Doctor's arrival here and of the state of his health. The 
 truth is, I waited from day to day, to see him improve in 
 strength, and thought more of him than of you. 
 
 He soon made up his mind that the climate was un- 
 favorable, and hastened over to France; undetermined 
 whether to go to Algiers, or to recross the Atlantic and 
 winter in Cuba. I made him promise me a line from 
 each resting-place as he proceeded, but have not heard 
 from hira since he left. 
 
 Of course, he was received here with open arms. His 
 book is rapidly circulating and gives delight to every one. 
 The reviewers and critics will begin their notices as soon 
 as they have had time to digest it. If they prove to be 
 what they ought to be, I will use the scissors and send 
 them. Enclosed is a slip respecting the proceeding of 
 the Royal Geographical Society at their meeting three 
 days ago. 
 
 We wait on tiptoe, expecting to hear of the Africa, on * 
 Saturday or Sunday, the 15th or 16th, what you did with 
 the Presidency on the 4th instant. 'So doubt, however, 
 is entertained that our noble Party has carried 21 out of 
 the 31 States. 
 
 Present me most warmly to all your family. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 70.-T0 OOL. L. 
 
 London, November 14, 1856. 
 
 My dear Colonel, — Judge Jones writes me word that 
 you are sufiering under the apprehension of a domestic 
 deprivation. I sympathize with you too warmly to re- 
 frain from writing, though I am generally unwilling to 
 draw your thoughts away from professional business.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 105 
 
 Consolation it would be idle in me to attempt. Such 
 calamities admit of none. Time, in its action upon a 
 Christian spirit, administers the only balm. You and 
 Mrs. L. have been sorely tried, and may have dark days 
 still to encounter, but I fervently hope you will pass 
 through them with sentiments of submission, resignation, 
 and tirmness. Such is my sincere prayer. 
 
 Since effecting all that my most heated ambition could 
 desire in this sphere of public service, I have indulged in 
 meditations somewhat selfish. Such is, perhaps, the un- 
 avoidable consequence of too much delusion as to the 
 direction we seduce ourselves to take by calling it " de- 
 votion to one's country." After all, no individual person 
 is wanted; if he abstain or withdraw, others by whole- 
 sale are ready to undertake and to execute any duty. We 
 are taught this truth by a slow experience, too late to 
 avoid the pitfalls of buoyant and blind patriotism. Per- 
 haps, indeed, after being taught, the habit of risking 
 every sacrifice in order to do some supposed service, 
 would still work on. Is it not wiser and more virtuous 
 to take care of one's own family and old age, leaving the 
 general weal to others, unless Providence has placed you 
 beyond the reach of want? It is easy, and it must be de- 
 lightful, for a rich man to be patriotic; but when a poor 
 one becomes absorbed in his country's affairs, he really 
 naught enriches it, and only paves the way for his own 
 "Vanity, Vanity, and Vexation!" 
 
 We anticipate hearing to-morrow, or the day after, the 
 grand finale of the Presidential chorus of the 4th instant. 
 We do not doubt, as we ardently pray, that our glorious 
 Union may be again saved by our glorious democracy. 
 I remain as ever, my dear Colonel, 
 
 Your friend faithfully. 
 
 No. 71.-T0 ME. MAKOY. 
 
 London, November 14, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I don't know how better to dispose of 
 the accompanying grandiloquent petition from Corfu, 
 than by sending it for adjudication to you. There may 
 
 VOL. I. — 8
 
 106 TO MR. MARGY. 
 
 possibly be some reason in what the man says as to our 
 vessels out there wanting a consulate. 
 
 I inadvertently omitted, in my last, calling your attention 
 to the fact that Lord Palmerston, in his recent speech at 
 Liverpool, almost entirely gave in to your proposed ad- 
 dition to the anathema against Privateering. He makes 
 it a mere question of time, and seems to expect the time 
 to be at hand. We are certainly on the confines of the 
 Millennium. I enclose my slip. 
 
 In the Despatch Bag of to-day I send a somewhat for- 
 midable looking document addressed to the care of 
 Senator A. G. Brown. It should be made to pay toll: — 
 that is, I think it an article of such authenticity, clear- 
 ness, and force, that it should be examined by Mr. Guthrie 
 before leaving Washington. It is a Paper read by Mr. 
 J. T. Danson at a meeting of the British Association for 
 the Advancement of Science on "The Connection of Amer- 
 ican Slavery with the British Manufacture of Cotton." 
 IsTot being in print, I requested a manuscript copy, and it 
 has been most kindly furnished. Perhaps Mr. Brown 
 might feel himself authorized, under the circumstances, 
 to let the paper be read as it passes on its way to his con- 
 stituent of Mississippi, Mr. John F. H. Claiborne : — per- 
 haps not, and if not, I must try to get another copy. 
 
 Appearances in Paris are getting worse and worse. A 
 financial panic seems inevitable. The Bank broods over 
 a suspension of specie payments, and its chief directors 
 insist upon its necessity. JSTapoleon remains firm against 
 the measure. Scarcity, hoarding, high rents, placards, 
 stock-gambling, and frightful licentiousness will, I think, 
 soon give him an opportunity to prove the superiority of 
 his arrangements over those of Louis Philippe to repress 
 a movement of barricades. He has warily worked in ad- 
 vance, and under pretence of adorning beautiful Paris 
 with perspective rows and colonnades " long drawn out," 
 has opened for his artillery avenues into all the mutinous 
 districts. He is beyond the reach of anything but assas- 
 sination, and that he in a measure defies, for I am told 
 that metallic underclothing does for him what was done 
 for Achilles by the water of the Styx ; — makes him bullet- 
 proof. To be sure, one of these days, the army ma}^ de- 
 sert him, and then, of course, down he goes. But no 
 symptom of that yet. 
 
 i
 
 TO MR. MARGY. 107 
 
 The last received' of our newspapers led me to expect 
 the "Resolute" at an earl^- day. 
 
 King Bomba, after laughing at his sulking and quitting 
 guests, is getting more gracious, and the "complication" 
 may be esteemed at an end. 
 
 You are all now in the bustle preliminary to a session, 
 and I ought to be ashamed of this twaddling intrusion. 
 Always respectfully and truly yrs. 
 
 NO. 72 -TO MR. MAEOY. 
 
 London, November 21, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your despatch ISTo. 37, and private letter, 
 both of 7th November, have just arrived by the Atlantic. 
 
 I am at a loss to fix the precise clause of the Conven- 
 tion in which you think a clerical mistake has been made 
 in using the w^ord '■^icilhui" instead of the word '■'■ loithoutJ' 
 If you allude to the preliminary declaration of Art. 4, you 
 will on further examination perceive that every inch of 
 territory outside, of the reservation, or '■hiot included within 
 it,'' south of the Segovia, is recognized as JSTicaragua's. If 
 you go north of the Segovia, you get into Honduras. 
 However, I await your promised more formal explanation 
 of this matter ; although unable to see anywhere in the 
 document a place in which it is possible, without destroy- 
 ing the sense, to substitute ^^ without" for ^^vjithin." 
 
 There has been a rapid series of Cahinet Councils in 
 Downing Street, and they are still going on. Quidnuncs 
 speculate in vain on their objects. They may relate to 
 foreign embroglios ; or to projects of domestic reform; 
 or to changes in their own personnel. There is a talk 
 about exiling Lord John Russell into the House of Peers. 
 Several judicial and episcopal vacancies have had to be 
 filled. After all, I suspect that these frequent consulta- 
 tions are ascribable to the ticklish position of the alliance 
 with France rather than to any other single cause. 
 
 The first Monday in December will have arrived a 
 day or two before this reaches you; and as the steamer 
 Niagara quits Boston on the 3d, I hope you may not have
 
 108 TO MR. MILES. 
 
 omitted to direct me to be supplied by her with the Mes- 
 sage, and any other documents on hand. 
 
 Frauds and murders are the order of the day in these 
 realms. They throw our wickedness completely in the 
 shade. It is gravely mooted whether the revolver and 
 the bowie-knife, those much vilified weapons, ought not 
 to be carried by every honest and peaceable Englishman 
 to protect his life. 
 
 London is fast refilling from the Counties and the Con- 
 tinent. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 ITo. 73.-T0 ME. MILES. 
 
 London, November 25, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your kind letter, which circumstances 
 prevented my answering sooner, has left a very strong im- 
 pression upon my mind. Its incidents and sentiments 
 cannot fail to be always and warmly remembered. 
 
 I do not know how long my stay in Europe may be 
 protracted. Apart from the consciousness that I am not 
 altogether now my own master, either to quit or to re- 
 main, I feel in doubt as to what, in a domestic point of 
 view, it would be expedient to do. The public objects 
 which were aimed at in coming are attained; my diplo- 
 matic job is finished; and, as I am somewhat insensi- 
 ble to the attractions of an idle post, and perfectly content 
 with private life, the idea of resuming my Walnut Street 
 home, not unfrequently becomes persuasive. 
 
 The distractions which, at this distance, appeared to 
 convulse our country, ever since the Presidential nomina- 
 tions, have awakened within me sad and serious anxiety 
 as to the fate to which we may be destined. This fright- 
 ful sectionalism, dividing us into North and South, giving 
 to the former the power of population and of fanatical 
 fierceness, and to the latter the strength of constitutional 
 right and of social necessity, presents an aspect of things 
 which would seem, for the purpose of rescue and safety, 
 almost to demand the interposition of Providence. How 
 else is this Red Sea to be traversed ? Where is the wis-
 
 TO MR. 3IILES. 109 
 
 dom, wliere the self-sacrificing patriotism, the broad 
 honor, and continental nationality of '87 and '89 ? I 
 have never underrated the capacity of the President elect, 
 and feel assured that the instincts of his high position will 
 rallj'^ for his cabinet the ablest and truest men whose 
 services he can command : — what I fear is, that no one 
 will appreciate the imminence of the danger, no one will 
 disengage himself from the sweeping torrent of the pres- 
 ent and strike out boldly for the future, no one will sink 
 the victory of the day in calm and laborious efforts to 
 prepare the regeneration of fraternity in 1860. The two 
 sections must not be permitted to drill their respective 
 forces for four years, and then confront each other for a 
 definitive fight : — that would be to risk our existence as a 
 nation upon an issue of uncertain result: — to such a pass 
 matters should not be allowed to go: — the whole term of 
 Mr. Buchanan would be wisely expended in rendering 
 sectionalism impossible at its expiration. 
 
 This subject goes deeper into my feelings owing to my 
 being in the midst of tl\ose who show a profound inca- 
 pacity to understand the federative structure of our gov- 
 ernment, and who keenly set on their Press, their Pulpits, 
 their lecturers, their speakers, their novelists, their poets, 
 and their historians to produce an overpowering chorus 
 for the subversion of a Constitution which shelters the 
 Southern form of African labor from their crusade. Our 
 Constitutional democracy, if imsectioiiaUzed, is our only 
 means of baffling them. 
 
 I am quite curious to know the effects, actual or an- 
 ticipated, of the new order of things. This curiosity is 
 not, indeed, confined to myself. Enquiries are con- 
 stantly made as to the probable course of our new chief 
 magistrate : and before his inauguration we shall proba- 
 bly have his whole future shadowed out in parliamentary 
 speeches, editorial leaders, and political dissertations all 
 over Europe. That great Western Republic is, just now, 
 a mighty '■'■John Jones'' in the eyes of the world. 
 
 Remember me to Judge Jones, Phillips, M. C, Col. 
 Page, Col. Lee, etc., etc., — indeed, to all whom you know 
 I value as generous friends. Present me especially to 
 Mrs. Miles and your boy, also to your brother, and be- 
 lieve me 
 
 Faithfully and sincerely yrs.
 
 no TO MR. 31 ARC Y. 
 
 l&o. 74 -TO ME. MAEOY. 
 
 Lo^'•DON, November 23, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — After sending off my last somewhat 
 hurried note, I resumed my search for your " clerical er- 
 ror" in the Convention, and found it (!), after passing it 
 over twice, lurking in the tail of a word, and constituting 
 the well-recognized difference, both physically and polit- 
 ically, of out and in. When once detected, it is so ob- 
 vious that you can see nothing else: like the cast in a 
 man's eye. Two queries : — how did so palpable a mis- 
 take occur? and how put it right? Your instruction is 
 faultless and clear: — and the wrong termination must 
 have been committed by myself in copying from your 
 original on to a separate paper for the benefit of the final 
 draftsman of the Convention. Once crept into the text, 
 it is of that attenuated and subtle character — like a par- 
 ticle of rust upon a needle's point, or of dust upon the 
 glass of your spectacles, both excessively obstructive and 
 subversive — which is readily overlooked. As to its rem- 
 edy: — the finger once upon it, unlike the Irishman's 
 flea, it cannot escape, and I should presume the Senate's 
 Committee would, in briefly reporting a verbal amend- 
 ment, yield to a natural desire of changing out into in. 
 But be this as it may, I will lose no time in seeing Lord 
 Clarendon, and in devising such form of rectification as 
 may be deemed best. Perhaps a joint recognition of the 
 slip of the pen, with a joint request to scratch out and write 
 VI, prior to final "advice and consent," would put you in 
 complete command of the complication. 
 
 The American ultimatum about Privateering is winning 
 its way. I must confess that, although the general prin- 
 ciple is sound and philanthropic, I do not think we have 
 yet reached that point of naval power which would justify 
 our abandoning the great private means of public de- 
 fence for any consideration whatever: and I am a little 
 apprehensive that the Paris Congress, if it convene again, 
 may take you at your offer. Lord Palmerston at Liver- 
 pool avowed a decided leaning in that way: and Mr. Cob- 
 den is out with a letter to the same effect. As you may 
 otherwise not see this last promptly, I send you my slip 
 cut from the Globe of yesterday.
 
 TO LORD SHELBURNE. Ill 
 
 Our excellent friend the Earl of EUesmere is laboring 
 under a fierce and protracted attack of gout. 
 
 Suppose you add to the list of those whom I have here- 
 tofore reported as probably ambitious of representing the 
 Queen in the White House " The Man with the White 
 Hat," now Sir Charles Elliott, Rear Admiral, etc., etc. I 
 met him at the Premier's last night, and his exceeding 
 amiability and politeness led me to do, what Dr. Dablan- 
 cour would not do, i.e. "smell a rat." He was slightly dis- 
 concerted when I reminded him, jocosely, of the sobri- 
 quet he achieved in the United States. He is the onlj' 
 candidate, if candidate at all, whose* welcome I should 
 doubt : — and yet he may be in petto for us. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 75.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, ITovember 25, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Austrian minister has requested 
 me to forward a package addressed to the Imperial and 
 Royal Legation of Austria at AYashington. It is the Ex- 
 tradition Treaty recently executed between the Plenipo- 
 tentiaries of the two governments, and the time within 
 which it must be ratified is rapidly running short. 
 
 I have just got back from the F. 0., where I scratched 
 out and put in, and then drafted the note to you which I 
 now send. I^ot a moment left. 
 
 Always respectfully and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 76.-T0 LOED SHELBUENE. 
 
 London, Novem'ber 29, 1856. 
 
 My dear Lord Shelburne, — It may be observed that 
 in the whole Treaty there is but one letter D, and that in 
 Article 4. Our former missive of authorization to Mr. 
 Marcy was not susceptible of misapplication, although, 
 pursuing the erroneous description made by Mr. Marcy
 
 112 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 himself, it referred to ]N"o. 3 instead of No. 4. Still, after 
 your lordship left me, I thought it best that every doubt 
 upon the subject should be relieved. 
 
 I beg you to accept ray apologies for the trouble this 
 inadvertence has occasioned, and my assurance of high 
 respect. 
 
 Yery truly your obedient servant. 
 
 ITk 77.-T0 MK. MAKOY. 
 
 London, December 1, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The joint request that you would correct 
 the " clerical error" in the Treaty, was forwarded in much 
 haste, and very near losing the post, on the 26th JSTovem- 
 ber by the Atlantic. 
 
 Availing myself of the first leisure moment I re-ex- 
 amined the verbal irregularities, and lo ! here is another, 
 not in the treaty itself, but in our united authorization to 
 you : — really unimportant, but still tit to be absolutely 
 righted. 
 
 I had carried with me to the F. 0. your despatch "Eo. 
 31, to give to Lord Clarendon ocular demonstration, by 
 shewing a single sentence, that the "clerical error" had 
 been mine, not yours: — for your original contained the 
 ' word ^^vjithout" which, for purposes of engrossment, I had 
 turned into ^^ within." Well ! in drafting the paper to you 
 to put this word with its proper ultimate, it was necessary 
 to describe the locus in quo of the mistake in the treaty, 
 and inevitably and naturally your description in No. 31, 
 ^^Art. 4, No. 3, letter D," — " staring one in the face with 
 rapid strides" — was adopted. 
 
 Now, there exists in the treaty but one Art. 4, and in 
 that Art. 4 but one letter D: — in truth there is not in the 
 whole document another letter D: — to misapply the de- 
 scription was therefore impossible; — but the description 
 is inexact, and the vindication of positive truth is a part 
 of the duty (is it not?) of every genuine diplomatist. 
 
 Hence, you will perceive that the enclosed paper is 
 simply and strictly a cop}'^ or repetition, designed as a sub- 
 stitute, of the one transmitted by the Atlantic, only the
 
 TO MONS. MARCOLETA. 113 
 
 breastwork numeral 3 being made to yield to the pressure 
 df numeral 4 ! Fiatjustitia ! 
 
 You will perceive by the newspapers that Parliament, 
 again prorogued, is to meet on the 3d of February next 
 "for the despatch of business." Her Majesty's consid- 
 eration for posterity will probably prevent her engaging 
 in the solemnities of the occasion. 
 
 I have at last some reason to think that the ministry 
 meditate sending, early, if not immediately, a representa- 
 tive to Washington. I refrain, however, until something 
 more definitive and explicit takes place. To me, Mr. 
 Yilliers appears the prominent and "(doming man " He 
 is not, however, in perfect health, and may shrink from 
 the efifects of au Atlantic voyage. 
 
 In conversation with the Prussian minister here, I 
 could perceive that he had recently had his attention 
 called b}' his government to the Abolition of Privateering 
 question. I explained at large, and he seemed to approve, 
 the views and final ofter of the United States. I let him 
 have, too, a copy of your letter to Mr. Sartiges. Count 
 Bernstorfi* was at St. Petersburg during my mission there 
 in 1837-39. He is a loyal, amiable, and attractive gen- 
 tleman, inspiring confidence, but slow in exhibiting intel- 
 ligence. Speaking of mitigating the calamities of war, 
 by treaty stipulations, or by propounding, as at Paris, 
 new articles of the laws of nations, he told me that I could 
 form no idea of the depth of ill will which this govern- 
 ment had inspired by its military conduct in the Baltic 
 and Black Seas, especially at Kertch and Odessa. The 
 sentiment pervaded all Germany, if not all Europe. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 78.-T0 MONS. MAKOOLETA. 
 
 London, December 1, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 25th ISTovember has 
 been received. Having very little faith in the utility of 
 diplomatic secrecy in a case like the one to which your en- 
 quiries are directed, I should probably not hesitate to answer 
 you fully in conversation. But the whole matter, accom-
 
 114 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 plished and I believe entirely approved by the President, 
 is in the hands of Mr. Marcy, and may be submitted to 
 the Senate in a few daj's. I prefer, under these circum- 
 stances, to abstain from putting on paper anything upon 
 the subject. Allow me, however, generally to say that 
 as far as respects Nicaragua, nothing, if I remember 
 aright, has been done or proposed which you have not, 
 heretofore, as her representative, sanctioned. 
 
 I entirely agree with your sentiment as to Mr. Marcy. 
 On my own score, having done the only business that in- 
 duced me to come here, I am ready, at a hint, or mo- 
 ment's warning, to resume the private life which at my 
 age is so much more desirable than the most glittering 
 public employment. 
 
 With profound respects to Madame Marcoleta, 
 
 I have the honor to be very truly yrs. 
 
 No. 79 -TO MR. MAEOY. 
 
 London, December 5, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I wrote by the Hermann three days ago, 
 though it is probable the present steamer will overtake 
 her. 
 
 AYhat I surmised in my note of the 1st instant turns out 
 to be reality. I met Lord Clarendon at the Brazilian 
 minister's dinner on the evening of the 2d (his sovereign's 
 fete day), and in the course of conversation, apart from 
 other guests, he suddenly referred to some former chit- 
 chat we had had, and said, "We shall send a minister to 
 Washington without delay; — we shan't wait the incoming 
 of the new administration." I quietly expressed my grati- 
 fication, but forbore further remark. I received no hint 
 as to the person. His manner, and other circumstances, 
 impress upon me the conviction that the choice has been 
 made, and that her Majesty's representative will be with 
 you almost as soon as this letter. I perfectly well know, 
 but deem it inexpedient and unnecessary to put on paper, 
 the reason for this sudden ministerial decision. It has no 
 relation whatever to the yet unarrived "Resolute;" none 
 to the President elect. I hope they will send the right
 
 TO MR. J. Y. MASOy. 115 
 
 man. Of course, I most scrupulously avoid tlie indelicacy 
 and impertinence of intimating a preference. 
 
 All your summer visitors from this country, Lowe, 
 Holland, Delane, etc., have returned, loudl}^ expressing 
 their delight. The Tunes, under the influence of the 
 last, is becoming almost fair and eulogistic. In a little 
 while, a run to " the States" will supersede, with the rich 
 and fashionable, the too crowded and vulgar, because 
 close at hand, salons of Baden-Baden. Yesterday the 
 Times published the best description of Niagara Falls and 
 river I have ever read, from their correspondent, Mr. 
 Filmore. 
 
 Very faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 80.-T0 ME. J. T. MASON. 
 
 London, December 8, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 6th reached me this 
 morning, and I hasten to answer it, though, owing to an 
 inflamed eye, with the aid of one of my private secreta- 
 ries. 
 
 Mr. Marcy has given me no official instructions upon 
 the subject to which you refer. He sent me very early a 
 copy of his admirable letter to Mr. Sartiges; and I caused 
 it to be immediately published in the London newspapers, 
 under a profound conviction that it was vastly too import- 
 ant to be hid under the bushel of diplomacy. Li his pri- 
 vate letter, he left me at discretion to do this, saying, that 
 the British government not having addressed ours upon 
 the subject at all, he did not wish me to open the matter 
 to either of the Lords Palmerston or Clarendon, but only, 
 in case I was spoken to about it, to be prepared to state 
 the President's views. I have carefully conformed to this 
 idea: and perhaps you will agree with me, now that I 
 have stated it, that I had better not depart from it. 
 
 I had occasion, some week or two ago, in a private let- 
 ter, to fix Mr. Marcy 's attention on the very manly and 
 liberal language uttered by Lord Palmerston at Liverpool ; 
 and I then ventured slightly to regret the offer of our gov- 
 ernment, and to fear that it would be accepted by the re-
 
 116 TO MR. J. T. MASON. 
 
 assembled Congress at Paris. The qualified abolition of 
 privateering — that is, the exemption of private property 
 on the high seas from seizure by public armed vessels — 
 is undoubtedly a great improvement upon the bald and 
 naked proposition of the Parisian Conference: but I do 
 not think myself that we have yet attained that point of 
 national power which renders it expedient to yield the 
 right of privateering upon any consideration whatever. 
 If the navies of England and France combined, or the 
 fleets of England alone, are to be relieved from the neces- 
 sity of dispersion, in order to convoy and protect their 
 commerce, there is not a point of our immense coast on 
 which they could not land any amount of force which they 
 might deem necessary in order to countenance servile in- 
 surrection or separate the States. The danger of such a 
 thing may be distant, and on our own soil I should hope 
 we could get the better of any alliance : but I must con- 
 fess that, until by the vast increase of our national naval 
 armament we become more equal antagonists in the na- 
 tional duel, I should prefer not to diminish the ditficulties 
 of our invasion. Public belligerent force is our weak 
 point: — whether it be traceable to the nature of our in- 
 stitutions, or an unguarded policy: — this is perfectly well 
 known to the statesmen of Europe, and when to this are 
 added existing sectional animosities, should they conceive 
 the project, as they may, of assimilating or subordinating 
 the Western to the Eastern Continent, could anything be 
 more flattering to their hopes than the fact of our having 
 voluntarily enabled them to swallow at a single gulp our 
 comparatively little navy and army? 
 
 I beg pardon for saying so much, although I could add 
 a great deal more. Too much philanihropy is the vice of 
 the age. The Absolutists despair of their millennium, 
 unless they can somehow get the better of American pe- 
 culiarities. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 117 
 
 No. 81.-T0 ME. MAKOY. 
 
 LoNDOx, December 12, 185G. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Accept my thanks for your private note 
 of the 24th ult. I can very well realize the business op- 
 pression to which you are all now liable, and to which you 
 especially, in maintaining the reputation achieved within 
 the last two years, are forced to submit. You must not 
 suppose me so inconsiderate as to expect punctual replies 
 to the private letters I write. I am quite satisfied in be- 
 lieving that they tend to keep you familiarly acquainted 
 with political incidents and prospects, and the general 
 tone of feeling prevalent here. 
 
 The '-'■ Besolate" has been in the newspapers for some 
 days past. Of course, not having heard from you any- 
 thing upon the subject, I can only speak of her departure 
 and destination, in ordinary conversation, as they are rep- 
 resented in the American journals recently received. It 
 is obvious that a disposition exists to regard the restora- 
 tion of the alleged derelict (though in fact and in law no 
 derelict at all) as something very extraordinary and liand- 
 some. Preparations to receive her are being made by the 
 scientific sympathizers with her Arctic exploration, and 
 her officers will, on reaching Portsmouth, find themselves 
 objects of all sorts of public feasting and welcome. It is 
 possible, however, that the continued stay in the country 
 of the chiefs of the departments at this season of the year, 
 may deprive the manifestation of its more formal official- 
 ity. It is somewhat agreeable (in a way you will under- 
 stand) that the determination to send a successor to Mr. 
 Cran,ipton, which I communicated a week ago, was an- 
 nounced before the news of the sailing of the "Resolute" 
 had reached here, and without any reference to it what- 
 ever. 
 
 I have felt restrained, by a paragraph in your private 
 letter of the 4th of August last, from opening to Lord 
 Clarendon the views of the President on the Abolition of 
 Privateering. Great Britain has in no respect, directly or 
 indirectly, imitated the example of the other powers who 
 constituted the Congress of Paris, in consulting upon this 
 subject the sentiments of the United States. She has 
 maintained perseveringly and no doubt intentionally strict
 
 118 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 silence. I am a little at a loss how exactly to regard this : 
 — but on the whole take it to indicate a consciousness that 
 the proposition originated with her, and is thought to be- 
 tray no friendly purpose. Be this, however, as it may, 
 while she abstains from intercourse in relation to it, I pre- 
 sume I am bound to remain aloof. Circumstances have 
 given me the impression — I believe I have heretofore re- 
 ferred to some of them — that your amendment will pre- 
 vail, if the Conference reassembles, an event not yet ab- 
 solutely certain. Quere? — would it be prudent, in advance, 
 to have the entire programme of change in maritime law 
 sanctioned by a resolution of the Senate? It is best to 
 keep in mind that this Parisian Congress has not thcchar- 
 acter of a permanent body, and may be persuaded to 
 doubt whether your amendment is not of uncertain re- 
 sult, or deficient in the full and definite constitutional 
 obligation. Such a doubt might be advantageously played 
 upon by those who affect to understand the structure of 
 our government, reasoning with Prussia, Austria, Turkey, 
 Russia, France, or even Sardinia. I ought to beg pardon 
 for presumptuously poaching on Mr. Mason's preserve. 
 
 Great interest is felt to ascertain what you propose 
 doing to maintain inviolate the security of the Panama 
 route. I do not believe that any disposition prevails to 
 adopt the newspaper slang, and to be uneasy about your 
 cautionary measures in that quarter. The necessity of 
 doing something is frankly admitted : — and if what you 
 do be in the interest of general commerce, you will not 
 be quarrelled with should you hold a tight rein over that 
 inefficient, though possibly well meaning, State of Gran- 
 ada. 
 
 I send you, more as a curiosity than anything else, a 
 copy of two memorials addressed to the Congress of" the 
 United States, and which I was requested, in all form, to 
 transmit to the proper official authorities. It emanates 
 from a self-constituted Committee at Sheffield, who have 
 kindly undertaken the management of Foreign Affairs 
 and the control of diplomacy everywhere. The felicitous 
 ease with which they impute treason to the functionaries 
 of their own government, and abuse a foreign one, is 
 quite refreshing. I certainly could not become accessory 
 to the presentation of any such alien document ; and have 
 therefore left them to seek a hearing through the channel
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 119 
 
 of the post-office, frankly telling them that, according to 
 prescribed rules, I did not feel at liberty to use the agen- 
 cies of the Legation in forwarding their papers. This is 
 a single illustration of very many attempts made to get 
 countenance and importance by your minister's endorse- 
 ment. The other day, a political enthusiast in the centre 
 of Germany wrote me a violent philippic against Mr. 
 Miller, our Despatch Agent, for not stuffing the bag with 
 countless pamphlets addressed to all the Legislators and 
 Governors of the Union, and coolly demanded that I 
 should instruct Mr. Miller to transmit what he denominated 
 his "precious discoveries" in political science. Of course, 
 I answered him with an entire approval of Mr. Miller's 
 conduct, gilded by the expression of a profound regret 
 that the statesmen of my country should thus incur "the 
 hazard of remaining ignorant of his "precious discov- 
 eries." 
 
 Owing to an inflamed eye, I eschew for awhile the use 
 of spectacles, and have been therefore obliged to employ 
 the pen of one of my domestic secretaries. 
 
 By-the-by, have you noticed that Mr. Consul Matthew 
 has been appointed to Odessa? Mr. Oramptou being 
 knighted, and Mr. Rowcroft dead, the only one of your 
 victims remaining undisposed of is Mr. Barclay, in w^hose 
 favor invention is fruitlessly racked. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — You will see by the enclosed slip just cut from 
 the Globe newspaper that Mr. Cobden anticipates for your 
 conditional surrender of privateering, an almost unani- 
 mous decision in the House of Commons in its favor. This 
 is a sincere, and I believe a sound opinion, viewing the 
 question as an English one. They will gain everything, 
 first, for the security of their commerce, and, second, in 
 the concentrative efficacy of their prodigious naval arma- 
 ment. War will not endanger their merchant ships or 
 their manufactures, and thus, relieved from all care about 
 these vital interests, they may send their fleets to bully 
 and thunder where they please. Opposite results may be 
 drawn from an American view. Losing the right of priva- 
 teering, in other words, of assailing the vital interests of 
 our adversary, our means of aggression are nil. Our navy 
 must be docked ; and we must be content with whatever
 
 120 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 terms the adversary in this national duel ma}^ prescribe 
 for a peace, if indeed a peace would ever be' desirable or 
 attainable. You see, I have my misgivings on your great 
 measure of chan2:e in the ris-hts of nations at war. If our 
 .navy approached anywhere near to the power of the one 
 displayed off Portsmouth last spring, I should be quite 
 willing to let it take its chance in defending our coast: — 
 but as it now is, and as I am afraid, by an unwise economy, 
 it may be long kept, it is impossible to say at how many 
 points of landing along our coast, a war would rapidly be- 
 come one of invasion. However, you have no doubt con- 
 sidered all these matters with 3'our accustomed sagacity, 
 and your policy must be made to triumph. 
 
 G. M. D. 
 
 ^ No. 82.-T0 MK. MAROY. 
 
 London, December 16, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Our steamers are rather disappointing 
 us. The America which left Liverpool on the 6th Decem- 
 ber, and the Hermann which left Southampton three days 
 before, have both been forced back by damage from tem- 
 l^estuous weather. I had mails in each : but I presume 
 they will reach you by other vessels. 
 
 The arrival of the "Resolute" has created quite a sen- 
 sation. Capt. Hartstene came to London on the afternoon 
 of Saturday the 13th instant, and I at once prepared a 
 communication, agreeably to your I^o. 36, to ascertain 
 from Lord Clarendon, whether we might be allowed to 
 restore the vessel to the British navy. This went to the 
 F. 0. on Sunday morning. Hartstene dined with me 
 that evening : and at about 9 o'clock, while yet 'at table, 
 I received a telegraphic express from our consul at Ports- 
 mouth, requesting me to apprise Capt. Hartstene that the 
 Queen had intimated an intention to visit the Resolute on 
 Tuesday morning, and to beg his return to the ship. Of 
 course, the Captain started back to Portsmouth early yes- 
 terday morning, and by this time, her Majesty has gra- 
 ciously welcomed her new and gallant guests. At the 
 time I wrote to Lord Clarendon the official letter I have 
 mentioned, I also sent a private note requesting an inter-
 
 TO MR. MARCr. 121 
 
 view in the course of yesterday, asking leave to bring 
 Capt. Hartstene with me. He was out of town, and only 
 received my communications late in the day at* his coun- 
 try residence; sending me an answer on Monday that he 
 would meet me and Capt. Hartstene at the F. 0. to-day 
 at 3 P.M. My object is, should I find that this govern- 
 ment intend to accept the Resolute, of which no doubt is 
 entertained, to have some understanding as to the pre- 
 ferred manner of having her formally made over to Sir 
 Charles Wood's Board of Admiralty. Perhaps I may have 
 time to add to this letter a short account of to-day's inter- 
 view. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — Just back from F. 0. His lordship had the an- 
 swer to my letter tendering the Resolute lying before him 
 unsigned, and said he would send it in the course of the 
 evening. He is also to put me without delay in com- 
 munication with the Admiralty, though he believes Sir 
 Charles to be out of town. 
 
 Lord C. specially requested me to repeat to you what 
 he had said at the Brazilian minister's dinner about send- 
 ing you a British minister. His manner intimated some 
 ditiiculty in choosing out of a number of candidates. But 
 the cabinet were upon it, and would lose no time. 
 
 G. M. D. 
 
 No. 83 -TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, December 26, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Putting myself in the Confessional, I 
 should be inclined to think that I was bound to acknowl- 
 edge having too hastily " acquiesced" in the return of 
 Captain Hartstene and his associates on board of a British 
 steamer. No matter, however: — second thoughts have 
 prevailed : — satisfying reasons have been assigned for the 
 change of mind : and these gallant objects of a boundless 
 hospftality will speed their way back (as now intended by 
 the Commander) by the packet which leaves Southamp- 
 ton' on Wednesday next, the 31st instant. What, in the 
 mean time, will be done with them, on the score of com- 
 
 VOL. I. — 9
 
 122 TO MR. MARCr 
 
 pliments, deputations, feasts, testimonials, photographs, 
 and newspaper eulogies, it is impossible to conjecture. 
 The enthusiasm does not yet seem to ebb, and it may take 
 a fresh start. Lord C. writes me a private note, sajnng 
 that her Majesty's government desire to present to Capt. 
 Hartstene a Sword of Honor; and that the Queen had 
 said to him (Lord C.) that she was much pleased with 
 the Captain ! The restoration of the Resolute has cer- 
 tainly been the happiest act of comity to a friendly power 
 ever devised. The feeling it has excited would seem 
 exaggerated: — yet there it is, eager, universal, and loud. 
 I am told (though not by our officers) that some of those 
 who left her in the ice shew mortification, and look ask- 
 ance at the restorers : — but they are few, and avoid attract- 
 ing notice. The Washington, the steamer from Southamp- 
 ton, is a slow vessel, and our men may therefore have 
 a long, cold, and disagreeable voyage. Capt. H. will of 
 course hurry to Washington, and give Mr. Dobbin a full 
 narrative. 
 
 The quarrel about the insurrectionists of Neufchatel is 
 rapidly reaching the war point. Prussia is openly and 
 ostentatiously arming. Switzerland, with admirable com- 
 posure, exhibits the unshaken resolution of conscious right. 
 Her spirit is up, and her people seem unanimous. The 
 Absolutists may deem it expedient to stop the matter in 
 some way or other, because to allow the general peace to 
 be broken merely to gratify a king's personal pride, or 
 to assert a shadowy suzerrdnete, don't suit modern notions, 
 and might disturb all the elements of democracy. Eng- 
 land just now appears inclined towards the Swiss: — but, 
 in my opinion, she will join ISTapoleon in mediating, upon 
 some plan which may ostensibly save the honor of both 
 disputants and keep things quiet. The sturdy land of 
 Tell will, by the force of circumstances, her position, the 
 justice of her cause, the dread of subterranean fires, and the 
 cool and manly attitude she has taken, come o& the vic- 
 tor, or I shall be much mistaken. The thrones of Europe 
 are all equally affected by the epidemic of a holy horror 
 of agitation : — even the great spider in the centre of the 
 web keeps a steady eye on popular commotion and has 
 misgiving fits. 
 
 I should find it difficult to convey to you a correct idea 
 of the effect produced on this side of the water by your
 
 TO MR. MARGY. 123 
 
 departmental reports of the 1st December. Of these, the 
 most impressive and appreciable is the Treasury. They, 
 somehow or other, insinuate themselves almost every- 
 where, and are more read than is generally supposed. 
 Some men receive them with frank delight: — but the pre- 
 vaiHng feeling Avhi'ch they produce is of a different char- 
 acter, resembling that which we owned in the United States 
 when the assault upon the MalakofF and Redan proved 
 successful : — we could not deny the magnificence of the 
 feat, but we did not relish it, and would have preferred 
 its failure. Precisely so with the undeniable achieve- 
 ments, the wonderful'prosperity and substantial power of 
 our political system : — they can't be disputed, have even 
 the eulogy of words, but they inwardly provoke dislike. 
 
 No one can say when the Paris Congress will reassem- 
 ble. Its day has been sliding along through December, 
 without settling yet. The talk is for the 29th instant: but I 
 perceive causes for floating doubts still : and it would not 
 astonish me if events postponed the matter until spring. 
 Have you noticed that the ministerial press, unable since 
 Lord Palmerston's Liverpool speech to make open fight 
 against your offered amendment to the Abolition of priva- 
 teering, are contriving modes of avoiding it ? They say, 
 it is vague in its terms, that you are insincere, that the 
 President's message attributes to the European programme 
 what it never meant, and so on. I^Tow all this appears to 
 me as merely preliminary to intriguing the Congress into 
 a doubt as to whether the subject might not be wisely post- 
 poned to some indefinite future day. ISTo doubt, however, 
 you have armed my colleague of Paris with all the means 
 and powers necessary to surmount these captious pretexts. 
 
 The East India Company's war with Persia has become 
 a fixed fact, and of course involves, without regard to Par- 
 liament or People, the whole of the British Empire. What 
 with this last movement, the quarrel with I^aples, the 
 growling with Russia, the stir about Switzerland, the jeal- 
 ousy as to France, and the approach of the session of Par- 
 liament, Lord Palmerstou would seem to have his hands 
 full. 
 
 Faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 124 TO MR. MAR or. 
 
 No. 84 -TO MK. MAKOT. 
 
 London, December 30, 1856. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Owing to the slow sailing of the "Wash- 
 ington, I would decline writing by hei' and wait for the 
 America on Saturday next, but as Captain Hartstene and 
 his crew return to the United States on board of her, I 
 wish the same vessel to carry a notice to you. 
 
 Although I will trouble you with a despatch by the 
 steamer of the 3d January, 1857, there are a few topics 
 worth adverting to in advance. 
 
 1. Mr. Villiers has, by the advice of his physician, after 
 deliberatinarfor afortnis-ht, refused the American mission. 
 It is now at the disposition of a Scotch Peer, whose name 
 I am not free to mention, who is distinguished in the 
 diplomatic line for great intelligence, winning deportment, 
 and ultra liberalism of opinion, who is about forty years 
 of age, and was Secretary of Legation at St. Petersburg 
 with Sir Hamilton Seymour before the recent war. 
 
 2. The minister from Greece, Mr. Tricoupi, with whom 
 I am on sociable and kind terms, begged me two days 
 ago, in consequence of instructions he had received, to ask 
 whether it would not be agreeable to our government to 
 change the officer who represents it at Athens from a 
 Commercial Agent to a Consul. His reason for urging this 
 is the real desire felt to draw closer the ties of intercourse 
 between the United States and Greece. Nothing of nego- 
 tiation or public attention can, by etiquette and usage, be 
 extended to a commercial agent, even though the King 
 and Court would wish to make an exception in favor of 
 the American. 
 
 While on this subject, I take occasion to send you a 
 newspaper published at Athens, Le Moniteur Grec, of the 
 9th of December instant. It contains Mr. Ranjabe's 
 much celebrated delineation of the present social and po- 
 litical condition of Greece — which, if well translated, 
 might be allowed to grace the columns of the Union. 
 
 3. The Sword of Honor designed by this government 
 for Commander Hartstene will, I have reason to believe, 
 be given this direction : — Lord. C. will transmit it to me, 
 accompanied by a letter of compliment, requesting that 
 I would forward it to the American Executive, to be
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 125 
 
 handed, if compatible with law, to the gallant officer who 
 has won the Queen's heart. Of course, I will do with it 
 most cheerfully and promptly whatever the Earl may sug- 
 gest, and I hope the Commander may find Congress dis- 
 posed to let him wear his badge of courtesy. 
 
 4. Mr. Miller has brought to me, on deposit, a quarto- 
 sized paper envelope, with the "Department of State" 
 earmark on the north-east corner, and addressed to "J. 
 A. Barnard, Esq., London and Port Stanley Railway 
 Company, Secretary's Department, London." Both the 
 man and the Company are, as the polished Parisian would 
 say, introuvable, or, as the classical Floridian would call it, 
 non-comeatibus in swampo ; for 1 dare say it is some scheme 
 which vanished in the making. Pray tell me what I am 
 to do with it. 
 
 5. Your letter of the 12th December, whether "private," 
 " strictly private," " confidential," or public, don't exactly 
 appear, has reached me. It tells me that I should receive 
 with it, what I have not received, to wit, a Cipher for our 
 Minister Resident at Berne; and it omits to tell me that I 
 would receive what I did, namel}', a bidkish packet for the 
 Austrian legation here, which I presume ma}^ be the rati- 
 fied Extradition Treaty transmitted to you through me 
 some month or two ago. I have delivered the bidkish 
 packet, but feel anxious and discomposed about the Ci- 
 pher. 
 
 It may amuse you for a vacant half hour to look over 
 the slip I cut from the Globe of last evening on Maritime 
 War. You are aware that this newspaper never contains 
 an article repugnant to ministerial views. This is the 
 second of the same sort — tha first I sent hastily over to Mr. 
 Mason. They lead me to suspect that the Premier, not- 
 withstanding his Liverpool speech, will give your amend- 
 ment a go-bye. 
 
 Always truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 85.-TO ME. MAKOT. 
 
 London, January 6, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Very severe storms have occurred at 
 sea, and disasters are being constantly reported. The
 
 126 TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 coasts, it would seem, on both sides of the Atlantic, are 
 strewed with wrecks. I feel some anxiety about the 
 America, which left Liverpool on last Saturday, the 3d, 
 and must have been that very night in a perfect tempest. 
 She bore to you my ]S[os. 35 & 36. Winter voyages are 
 rather to be avoided. 
 
 Can anything, however, in the shape of physical violence, 
 be as shocking as the bombardment of Canton ? Talk of 
 Greytown after that! The massacre of the innocents was 
 comparatively heroic. Poor, liarmless, unarmed, ignorant, 
 and unconscious creatures, men, women, and children, by 
 tens of thousands, butchered with shot, shell, and fire, to 
 avenge a disclaimed insult to a fraudulent flag! 
 
 There would seem to be accumulating a heavy score 
 against the ministry, for Parliament to force to settle- 
 ment. The public sense is greatly shocked by Admiral 
 Seymour's infliction, and it may be that the administra- 
 tion will disavow. Yet, there is the amateur Persian 
 war: and the milk and water I^Teapolitan fizzle: and the 
 fast and loose game about the Treaty of Paris : and the 
 relaxation in the Gallo-Anglican ties: and the alliance 
 with Austria : and the lack of sympathy for Switzerland : 
 and the shabby trick about the Income Tax: and the Pre- 
 mier's oft-hand blunder in meddling with the Southamp- 
 ton election: and so on, and so on. Then the Opposition 
 are said to be secretly organizing under fresh leaders, 
 Gladstone and Graham, and to be fatally bent on mis- 
 chief. Still and nevertheless, to my calm and disinter- 
 ested eye. Lord Palmerston steadily consolidates his 
 power, and becomes more popular and more necessary 
 every hour. lie and his colleagues are strong, too, in 
 their harmonious unanimity. 
 
 Statistical philosophers have suggested as one of their 
 deductions that assassinations are epidemical. First, the 
 King of Naples attempted: — now the good Archbishop 
 of Paris slain at the very altar : — who next? and how 
 many? Some self-exalted William Tell may be moodily 
 prowling about the streets of Berlin ; or, if the path of 
 the disease be religious, why may not the Pope fall as 
 well as his representative? Crimes in England are count- 
 less and frightful : but their incentive is not piety nor 
 liberty; it is money, nothing but money. 
 
 I gave you some idea of Lord Kapier, who is coming
 
 TO 3IR. MARCr. 127 
 
 over to you as minister; but in the Times of this morning 
 is an article which on his subject you may as well read, 
 and which I therefore cut out and enclose. The sole 
 ground of objection is practically shallow; for a man of 
 iSTapier's mind and character, instead of being deluded, 
 is disgusted by absolutist absurdities, and the better fitted 
 for republican simplicity and truth and reason, after pass- 
 ing through them, 
 
 N^othing yet about the law of maritime war. The Con- 
 ference would seem to have finished its business, except as 
 to fixing the time for final departure from the Principali- 
 ties and Black Sea by Austria and England, which is left 
 to be announced as soon as the rectified line of the Bessara- 
 bian frontier is actually surve3'ed and verified. What di- 
 rection, then, have you given to j^our amendment? Will 
 you ott'er it to each Power separately ? and, having ob- 
 tained the adoption of the majority, will you give it to 
 the world by proclamation? I see no objection, but 
 much to attract, in this course, except that Great Britain, 
 who has somewhat suspiciously stood aloof from you on 
 the whole business, may meet you at the close by saying 
 she was no party to your modification. 
 
 The financial situation of this government, always ex- 
 cepting their debt, looks just now very prosperous. Their 
 revenue has largely increased. Of a consequence, the 
 ipopular demand is for a reduction of taxes and a return 
 to the peace footing existing before the recent war. That 
 demand will be gratified only to a limited extent. The 
 military taste has been pampered unceasingly during the 
 last six months, in all sorts of ways, shows, reviews, pa- 
 rades, feasts, speeches, etc., and now one is afraid to talk 
 of such a process as ours in 1816, of razeeing. 
 
 I send a wooden box addressed to Mr. Dobbin. It is a 
 lithograph-portrait of the Bark Resolute, — a vessel des- 
 tined to outlive in histor}^ in song, and on canvas, the 
 one that bore Jason in search of the golden fleece, or 
 Ulysses seeking Penelope, or even Cleopatra when fight- 
 ing by Antony's side ! 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 128 TO MR. HUTCHINSON. 
 
 No. 86 -TO ME. HUTCHINSON. 
 
 London, January 12, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Tours of 24th Dec. received. 
 
 I propose sending to your address shortly, for our City 
 Library, a set of the Patent publications of this govern- 
 ment. The despatch agent will manage their transmis- 
 sion for me, so as to incur as little expense as possible. 
 "What you have called Blue Books are valueless trash, and 
 a collection of them might fill a 74. 
 
 I will send at the same time, and for the same destina- 
 tion, an antique daub, painted, as is believed here, in 
 1720, purporting to be " The South-East Prospect of the 
 City of Philadelphia, by Peter Cooper, Painter." It is 
 on torn canvas, some 8 feet long by 1| wide. One of the 
 members of Parliament, in peering among the rubbish 
 of a city curiosity shop, picked it up and brought it to 
 me. The principal buildings of the town of that day 
 are pointed out, and twenty-four good old Philadelphia 
 householders are named in a margin. Although worth- 
 less on every score but that connected with " auld 
 lang syne," it presents at half a glance so striking a con- 
 trast to the " Consolidated City " of 1857, that it has its 
 interest for a corner in Franklin's institution. If your 
 colleagues repudiate it as unworthy, keep it for me. 
 
 Owing, I presume, to the tempestuous character of the 
 season, we have been unusually long without news from 
 home. I am not as sanguine as you appear to be about 
 the Central American arrangement, and therefore desire 
 to know the decision of the Senate. There are trifling 
 points in it, at which a filibustering spirit may possibly 
 carp. Indeed, in order to appreciate it correctly, much 
 more study of details and bearings is necessary than will 
 be given to it. If it be rejected, some of the rejectors 
 should be required to devise and carrj^ a better scheme. 
 We are bound by the Clayton and Bulwer treaty of 1850, 
 and, starting from that, any project that will remove the 
 difficulties which have arisen from opposite construc- 
 tions, may now be calmly discussed. If I have done 
 anything by coming here, it is by bringing about a dis- 
 position to listen without losing temper, and honestly to
 
 TO MR. 0' SULLIVAN. 129 
 
 contrive expedients to get rid of obstacles and avoid quar- 
 relling on trifles. This state of feeling will, in the end, 
 secure something; effective. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 '& 
 
 No. 87.-TO ME. O'SULLIVAN. 
 
 London, January 12, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 6th December, which was 
 slow in reaching me, relates to an interesting subject on 
 which I have felt myself somewhat restrained by the reti- 
 cence of this government and my instructions. It has never- 
 theless entered into my correspondence with both Mr. 
 Marcy and Mr. Mason. I believe England is the only one of 
 the Powers represented in the Congress whicli announced 
 the new programme of maritime war, that has abstained 
 from presenting it to the United States. Quite explainable ! 
 
 In the actual attitude of Nations, I entirely coincide 
 with you in the opinion that Mr. Marcy's proposal to 
 exempt private property on the high seas from capture, 
 would work so advantageously for England that her states- 
 men ought at once to close with it. I believe they will. 
 Mr. Cobden does not doubt that when understood it will 
 obtain the unanimous sanction of the House of Commons. 
 Lord Palmerston avows his theoretical approbation ; but 
 forbears to shew an exulting eagerness to catch at it. 
 
 But — how about the United States? Will they be 
 benefited by abandoning the principle and practice of 
 voluntary action, and by so doubling at a single stroke the 
 already resistless power of Great Britain's naval means of 
 invasion and blockade ? Are they prepared and disposed 
 for the national duel wherein the parties shall be a small 
 squadron to the West, and a cloud of concentrated fleets 
 to the East ? Will they make safety secondary to trade ? 
 Or can they forego the simplicity and economy of their 
 federal system, and ceasing to trust emergencies to the 
 spontaneous movements of popular defence, enter upon 
 the creation of large standing armies and great navies? 
 I do not intend that these interrogatories shall be consid- 
 ered, 2>er se, argumentative. They are only sent to you as
 
 130 TO JUDGE KING. 
 
 evidence that my mind rather inclines, in the existing re- 
 lations of America and England, and perhaps always jeal- 
 ous of an excess of philanthropy in public policy, to doubt 
 the expediency of yielding the right to employ privateers, 
 no matter how modified and upon any consideration what- 
 ever. To be sure, these combined potentates of Europe 
 may try to force their international code upon us, and one 
 of these days, with the joint condemnatory standard of 
 " Abolition of Slavery and Privateering," they may put 
 us on our mettle ; — but the probability of such an attack 
 is not to be avoided, need not be deprecated, and may not 
 be lessened, by our voluntarily diminishing the weapons 
 to repel it with. 
 
 I am truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 Ho. 88 -TO JUDGE KING. 
 
 London, January 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Judge, — I agree with you, the wa3's of life are 
 a labyrinth, and our two actual positions are striking illus- 
 trations. My peregrinations, to be sure, are nothing com- 
 pared to yours. You have wandered almost the world 
 through : I have (as yet !) only crossed the Atlantic. But 
 it would have batfled, some thirty years ago, the most fore- 
 seeing prophetic vision to have traced us to where we 
 now are. 
 
 I don't know that I am yet entitled to the praise you 
 give me for restoring the pacific relations of the two coun- 
 tries permanently. It may possibly turn out to be but a 
 deceptive truce. The scheme of arrangement is before 
 the Senate, and, if sanctioned by that body, I verilv believe 
 it will put an end forever to all Central American difficul- 
 ties, without the slightest departure from principle or honor, 
 and secure in that region the most glorious fiekl and high- 
 way of active and untrammelled commerce men have ever 
 witnessed. The Senate may think otherwise. It is not 
 impossible that in removing all the points of controversy 
 under the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, I have crossed the grain 
 of some who wished to get rid of that contract : — and it is 
 very likely that, in both countries, I have provoked large
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 131 
 
 bodies of turbulent spirits, by preventing them from com- 
 ing to blows. These are incidents inseparable from such 
 public measures, and must be philosophical I}- foreseen as 
 liable to take place. Still, Marcy and his colleagues have 
 approved and adopted, and I cannot but hope the Senate 
 may do so too. 
 
 Do you propose a trip to London ? Or what are your 
 plans ? I send my notion on the legal proposition you 
 have stated, separately. 
 
 I am truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 89.-TO ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, January 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Since my despatch of the 9tli instant, 
 nothing of interest has occurred worth relating, unless it 
 be the visit volunteered yesterday by Lord Napier. 
 
 He stayed for about two hours, and conversed freely. 
 His personal desire is to reach Washington as early as 
 possible, not later, he proposes, than the middle of Feb- 
 ruary. He brings his wife and children with him, and is 
 anxious to secure for them, in advance, a furnished and 
 healthfully situated house. 
 
 There was peculiar and attractive frankness in many of 
 his remarks. He said that he had no political position at 
 home, and no fortune ; and although he had a title, he was 
 quite conscious that, in America, w^ould avail him nothing, 
 if indeed it would not do him harm. He was aware also 
 that in England there was a considerable party who would 
 not consider him the proper man for the mission, who 
 appreciated its great importance justly, and desired the 
 selection of such a statesman of acknowledged weight as 
 Lord Carlisle, or the Duke of Newcastle, or the Earl of 
 Elgin. These ideas made him uneasy. But he had been 
 habitually and from convictiou an admirer and student of 
 American character, and he hoped to get on by promoting 
 with his best exertions the friendly relations of the two 
 nations. 
 
 Of course I encouraged his modesty, and assured him 
 that success or failure in his mission, as far as our public
 
 132 . TO MR. MARCY. 
 
 men and society were concerned, would depend upon 
 himself alone. 
 
 At first, this gentleman will seem to you cold, a little 
 awkward, and disposed to silence, like all the best bred 
 and best minded Englishmen I have yet met : — but I think 
 it fair to sa}^ that, in the course of the two hours he gave 
 me, notwithstanding his comparatively youthful appear- 
 ance, I became aware that he was a man of remarkable 
 ability, of sound unprejudiced judgment, and of elevated 
 sentiments of morality and honor. I hope and believe 
 that you will like him. 
 
 For the first time an intimation is given in one of the 
 morning journals that the Queen may be- disabled, from 
 her early expectations, opening Parliament in person. 
 
 The Canada is in her 14th day, and not yet heard of! 
 This goes to you by the Arago. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 90.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, January 20, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your private letter of the 5th January 
 I received yesterday. 
 
 Your original suggestion, not to initiate ofiicially with 
 this government any interchange of views on the Priva- 
 teering question, I have watchfully conformed to : — 
 always, however, upon the slightest approach, prepared 
 to shew the philanthropy, justice, and generosity of your 
 ofter. They have studiedly kept away from the subject, 
 although many opportunities for opening and discussing 
 it frankly have presented themselves. I suspect the exist- 
 ence of divided councils-^indeed so equally divided as to 
 prevent movement. We shall have it in the House of Com- 
 mons shortly after the session opens, a fortnight hence. 
 
 Until within this last year, I had been accustomed to 
 regard the perpetual untruths which disgrace our news- 
 papers as rather the results of mistake or the discolora- 
 tions of fancy, than as intentional falsehoods. My charity 
 has lately been much shaken : — for I have seen so many 
 utterly unfounded statements respecting myself, that I can
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 133 
 
 find no mode of accounting for them but in a malignant 
 invention steadily pursuing some unseen objects. 
 
 I need hardly say to you that the paragraphs which in 
 our journals connect my name with the coming cabinet, 
 are all, from first to last, false and flimsy. Since he left 
 London in March last, not a syllable has reached me from 
 our President elect; — and my correspondence to him has 
 been confined to two letters, one relating to the sad 
 drowning of a Lancaster gentleman, Mr. Witmer, and 
 another, more recent, covering a congratulatory note from 
 Lady Alice Peel, which, being addressed simply to " the 
 President of the United States, '' exacted a short explanation 
 from me, of my reason for knowing that it was intended, 
 not for General Pierce, but for him. Nay, more ; I have 
 written to you much oftener and more freely than to any 
 one else, and I am quite sure that nothing has escaped me 
 respecting possible appointments that was not of the most 
 general character. The stream of misrepresentation will 
 probably be kept flowing until after the 4th of March. 
 
 Chess players are sometimes blind to the most power- 
 ful moves with which they can fortify their game. Those 
 gentlemen who are unable to see the preponderating in- 
 fluence in Central America, and all around that region, 
 secured, by the scheme of pacification, to the United 
 States, her policy, and her citizens, had better give up the 
 ?'ofc of statesmanship, and confine themselves to the art of 
 managing personal and prurient explosions of predatory 
 violence. Your treaty does everything for the honor and 
 interest of the nation, and for the independence and safety 
 of the Central American States, in all future time ; but 
 these sages think nothing done because Walker is not 
 patted on the back ! Well, if the spirit of filibusterism 
 can't see beyond the tip of its nose, and, like abolition- 
 ism, it increases in force, we shall ultimately have, I sup- 
 pose, to submit to our " blind guides," and let them lead 
 us to calamities which they have not the sagacity to pro- 
 vide against. If, however, they will go on in their own 
 way, do, I beseech you, encourage them to appropriate, 
 boldly and promptly, all the surplus revenue to fleets and 
 forts. 
 
 The Chinese and Persian wars are daily becoming 
 more substantial : the Prussian and Swiss one has fiz- 
 zled out under the soothing assurances of England and
 
 134 TO MR. 3IARCY. 
 
 France : — and King Bomba is let alone. It is well for 
 quidnuncs that Parliament approaches. Lord Palmer- 
 ston will meet it in a spirit of exultation ; and unless Lord 
 John Russell be soured, the opposition will be faint. The 
 effect of the Senate's declining to ratify will be worth 
 watching. 
 
 I have taken it for granted that Mr. Fay has apprised 
 you, as he did me, of his having' safely received the 
 Cipher. 
 
 You will have by this opportunity, the Baltic, the 
 brother of your minister at Constantinople. He brings 
 you a ])urely commercial treaty with Persia for ratifica- 
 tion. He has been a good deal with us, and we have 
 found him a very intelligent and agreeable traveller. 
 
 Though not as cold as with us, the weatherhere, for full 
 three months past, has been raw, uncomfortable, and sug- 
 gestive of suicide. Very little snow or ice, but much 
 rain. 
 
 I received in the Despatch Bag yesterday a letter from 
 Paris, of the 11th December, 1856, which had taken the 
 circuitous route of getting to London by first going to 
 the United States ! It was from Mr. J. Y. Mason, and 
 fortunately did not relate to anything of importance. 
 Such a mistake, however, might, under other circum- 
 stances, cause great embarrassment. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 91.-T0 ME. MAEOY. 
 
 London, January 23, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — After having sealed the despatches and 
 letters for the steamer of to-morrow, I have just received 
 a note from Lord Clarendon, in which he seems much 
 worried by the delay of Lord Napier's departure, arising 
 exclusively out of domestic arrangements. He tells me, 
 too, that he has written you a letter accrediting Mr. Lum- 
 ley as Charge, so as not to postpone any longer " the 
 formal official renewal of our diplomatic relations." 
 
 How far, in all this loss of time, the reported non-rati- 
 fication of the treaty may have had its effect, I cannot
 
 TO LORD CLAREN7)0iV. 135 
 
 pretend to say. Of Lord C.'s sincere desire to do every- 
 thing that can contribute to make by-gones by-gones, I 
 am unable to entertain a doubt. Still, negotiators, like 
 other parental personages, are not apt to be gratified by 
 the crucifixion of their offspring. At least such is my 
 opinion just now. 
 
 I send you to-day three swords, and all for naval officers. 
 
 The quarrel between Prussia and Switzerland is "a 
 dead cock in the pit," and the prisoners are at large. 
 
 There are editorial hints of changes in the ministry : — 
 the ejection of Sir Robert Peel, and a coalition with the 
 Peelites upon giving appropriate places to Mr. Gladstone 
 and Sir James Graham : — but I consider the whole rumor 
 apocryphal. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 92.-T0 LOKD OLAEENDON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, January 24, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — Your note of yesterday, 
 though received at the eleventh hour, came in time to 
 permit my writing to Mr. Marcy, and I did so. 
 
 I have always supposed that our scheme of pacification 
 would encounter the resistance which was met by the 
 Clayton-Bulwer treaty : — aggravated, perhaps, by the de- 
 bility incident to a retiring administration. Opposition, 
 therefore, does not surprise me. But the newspapers 
 exaggerate it, on the principle of "fanning the embers." 
 I have many private letters from gentlemen on whose in- 
 formation and judgment my reliance is implicit, and all 
 unite in saying that the ratification is certain. Still, like 
 yourself, I am anxious, and iriipatiently wait the next 
 steamer, which will be due to-morrow. The secret ses- 
 sions of the Senate are invaded by those only who cater 
 to an appetite for new excitements ; and the deliberations 
 and prospects connected with a matter so important as 
 the treaty, are sure to be falsely represented. Remem- 
 ber, too, that as the ratification requires two-thirds of the 
 Senators present, there is always room for hostile specu- 
 lation and prophecy.
 
 136 TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 . I cannot think the enlightened and judicious body be- 
 fore which the plan is pending, will be unwise enough 
 not to accept it. 
 
 Always faithfully and sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 93.-TO ME. GILPIN. 
 
 London, January 30, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 25th December came 
 just in time to prevent my giving you up, as relapsed into 
 that feverish antipathy to pen, ink and paper, for which 
 more than a year ago I worried you with prescriptions. 
 I heartily thank you for it. The contents were in every 
 way kind and consolatory. The truth is, for the last five 
 months the business-of the legation has kept me hard and 
 close at work, making it impossible to leave town, while 
 all the rest of the world were away : — and, even during the 
 hours of daylight, that is from 10 to 4, no time was given 
 for relaxing and refreshing pursuits. Strange as it may 
 seem to those who entertain the common notion as to the 
 idleness of diplomatic life, although I have been more 
 than ten months in London, and constantly anxious to 
 visit objects worthy of attention, my feet have not yet 
 crossed the thresholds of Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, 
 the Tower, and hundreds of other interesting edifices, 
 made classical by recollections associated with them, or 
 by the purposes to which they are now devoted. I have 
 allowed myself to be perhaps too much absorbed by the 
 substantial business undertaken a year ago, and which, 
 while a vestige remains to do, jealously excludes all 
 thoughts of other matters. I must confess that after so 
 much systematic devotion to it, the prospect of the non- 
 ratification of the treaty is not the most digestible thing 
 imaginable. To be sure, the old hostility to the Claytou- 
 Bulwer Convention would naturally spring up again, in 
 the hope of ultimately so impeding the pacific execution 
 of that, as to render a formal legislative declaration of its 
 annulment necessary : — this I expected : — but the possi- 
 bility of its even approaching to success never entered se- 
 riously into the account. I cannot help thinking that the
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 137 
 
 scheme of adjustment is not properly studied in its de- 
 tails. Certainly it contains no pledge, direct or indirect, 
 to sustain or encourage the individual Walker: — if that be 
 deemed essential, another negotiator is necessary, both to 
 make the proposal, and to bear its rejection: — but, as re- 
 gards the expansive policy of our country, and especially 
 the future opened for American enterprise and commerce 
 in the Central American and West Indian regions, I am 
 quite convinced and conscious that the plan far outstrips, 
 though in a peaceful, just, and honorable manner, the 
 crude, fitful, and unlawful projects of our filibuster-states- 
 men. If it fail of adoption, these gentlemen will defeat 
 their own alleged objects because they are not permitted 
 to carry them out in their own peculiar and unjustifiable 
 way: — a way which is founded upon the great vice of our 
 public men, namely, a restless want of confidence in the 
 natural energies and persevering -progress of American 
 citizens. Under the stimulus of a safe and uninterrupted 
 trade, the cloud of British naval armament dispelled, and 
 one or more free cities as appids, we should in less than 
 five years exercise controlling influence on the Isthmus, 
 elbow out the Mosquitoes, render the Belise a compara- 
 tively neglected and dwindling settlement, and possibly 
 entertain volunteered ofters from their respective owners 
 for the purchase of Cuba and Jamaica. Walker, Nica- 
 ragua Walker, is, by habit, incapable of waiting this de- 
 velopment, and may be excused if he blunder so egre- 
 giously as not to catch at the arrangement proposed; but 
 that Judge D., Mr. S., or Mr. M. should fail to appreciate 
 correctly the practical consequences of it, is marvellous 
 and incomprehensible. Delay may have sharpened their 
 sagacity : — if so, the treaty will be ratified. 
 
 I interrupt my Lord JSTapier's industrious preparations 
 for his voyage by a diplomatic dinner (12 only") to-morrow ; 
 and this I mention to shew you my disposition to secure 
 his favorable reception in the United States, by such en- 
 dorsement as I can ofiicially give. The young gentleman 
 I propose introducing to you, and to Mr. Everett and Mr. 
 Bancroft ; he is of those tastes and attainments, of simple 
 and unaffected manners, and, I think, of more intellect 
 than Crampton : — his wife is said to be quite an agreeable 
 person. He has published a book or two in the nature of 
 
 VOL. I. — 10
 
 138 TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 travelling observations. He is of excellent Scotch lineage; 
 his great-great-grandfather having invented Logarithms, 
 and the Duchess of Inverness (now resideut in Kensing- 
 ton Palace) being his aunt. There is in my office, hang- 
 ing over the fireplace, Doo's celebrated engraving of Wil- 
 kie's picture of John Knox preaching to Mary Queen of 
 Scot^, and on his first visit to me, Napier pointed at the 
 little boy standing near the desk under the pulpit, with 
 his back to the spectator, and looking up as if riveted by 
 the roaring speaker, and he said thai was his renowned 
 ancestor. Perhaps he may, but my opinion is that he will 
 not, reach Washington before the inauguration. 
 
 I am convinced on reflection that, in a former letter, I 
 told you of my having left the parcel you sent for Sir Charles 
 Fellowes. It was done on the same day we visited Mr. 
 and Mrs. Grote. The two last called in about a fortnight, 
 having come in from •the country for the purpose; the 
 former has been content with the parcel. Your friend 
 Bright is in Algeria or Italy, in pursuit of health. No 
 one entertains a hope of seeing him again in public life, 
 though his relish for it obviously lingers. Mr. Cobden 
 will probably take an active part in the proceedings of 
 Parliament, which opens on Tuesday next, and expects 
 (naturally, from an English stand-point of view) to get a 
 unanimous vote catching at Mr. Marcy's ofier for the 
 abolition of privateering. The ministry are likely to be 
 stronger and more popular than ever. They derive won- 
 derful security from the absence of men fit to take their 
 places. The Queen foregoes reluctantly the ceremony 
 she delights in of opening Parliament in person — odd 
 enough! since writing the preceding line, I have been 
 told that her Majesty has suddenly announced her deter- 
 mination to attend, quand meme. Lord John says, nolo 
 
 European politics have, just now, all the insipidity of 
 a game of chess without a plan : — no great piece is called 
 into action, and pawns are straggling over the board, 
 surprised at their own progress. The affairs of Naples 
 and Switzerland are by-gones. The system of confederat- 
 ing, for mutual support and security, all the monarchies, 
 through the agency of Parisian Conferences, is I think 
 firmly inaugurated. We have on hand, however, two 
 pretty cousiderable wars, the Chinese and Persian: — and
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 139 
 
 the condition of Spain promises an early explosion and 
 imbroglio. » 
 
 My despatch bag demands its food. 
 
 Pray remember us all most kindly to Mrs. Gilpin. 
 
 Always sincerely and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 94.-T0 GENERAL PIERCE. 
 
 London, January 30, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — A highly respectable deputation waited 
 upon me yesterday with the request that I would transmit 
 to you a Memorial from the European and American 
 Electro-Telegraph Company. They assured me that their 
 only desire was to let Congress, no*v contemplating legis- 
 lation upon the subject, be apprised, if you deemed it 
 proper, of the advantages which they conceived their 
 scheme to hold out. I promised simply to forward their 
 paper, and do so now. 
 
 Since I left home, eleven months ago, Gov. Marcy has 
 despotically monopolized through despatches and letters, 
 all the thoughts worth sending from the legation. I beg 
 however to say, that I have taken it for granted that what 
 I wrote reached you with as much certainty as if directly 
 addressed to you, and of course with less appearance of 
 presumption on my part. In this view I ought perhaps 
 to apologize for having so often intruded upon you the 
 light, crude, and fugitive ideas and opinions of the current 
 hour in this place. ISTevertheless, I cannot permit you 
 to renew your enjoyments and repose in private life, 
 without once more, and that shortly, putting you to the 
 trouble of reading a letter from, dear Sir, 
 
 Ever most respectfully and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 95.-T0 MR. MAROY. 
 
 London, February 3, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — At the soiree of Countess G. last night, 
 were a number of the Privy Council (in their gold em-
 
 140 TO MR. MAR or. 
 
 broidered suits), and one of them said to me that the 
 Queen's speech to-day contained a sentence or two upon 
 the United States. I am therefore anxious to be at the 
 opening (which is by Commission) and hope to get home 
 again before 5 o'clock, and make a brief report to you 
 for the steamer of to-morrow morning. 
 
 Lord Panmure took me apart to express his sentiments 
 upon the subject of the Report of our Secretary of War to 
 Congress : and pressed me very warmly to convey to 
 General Davis his grateful sense of the manner in which 
 the courtesies shewn to our commissioners, Messrs. Dela- 
 field, Mordecai, and McClellan, had been noticed by him. 
 
 An expectation is prevalent that the ministry will be 
 more severely tried than I had supposed. It is thought 
 that they may founder on the sharp rocks of finance. 
 The call for reduction of taxes is loud and general; and 
 though this call is met by the new wars of China and 
 Persia, those wars are themselves condemned as artfully 
 predetermined in order to save the Income tax. The 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, an honest and able man, is 
 prosaic : and in view of this characteristic, and of the 
 emergency, it is foreseen that an effort will be made to 
 bring in the brilliant oratory of Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 Lord Napier tells me that he has directions to proceed 
 to Washington without delay. But he represents the 
 difiiculties of getting ready in a manner that satisfies 
 me he will not reach Washington before the middle of 
 March. 
 
 * * * * -pj^e Queen's speech, as read by the Lord 
 Chancellor, contained as little as it was possible to put 
 together. On our subject not a word but that she had 
 been negotiating, and hoped all differences would be 
 settled. A single j^oini, the only one, is the adoption of 
 the Canton massacre. 
 
 My diplomatic colleague of Lisbon, Mr. O'Sullivan, is 
 expected here on a visit in the course of the present week. 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARCY. 141 
 
 No. 96.-T0 ME. MAEOT. 
 
 London, February 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Europe would seem to be settling herself 
 for another long spell of peace. Fresh negotiations on 
 the Persian war are opened at Paris between Lord Cowley 
 and Ferouk Khan : — though the Shah vents a measure 
 of indignation on the abrupt capture of Bushire. If the 
 quarrel be not arrested, Russia must obviously take her part 
 in it, and is already approaching the frontiers of Persia, as 
 an ally in case of need. A member of the cabinet told 
 me recently that it would soon be settled. 
 
 The question as to the union of the two principalities, 
 now that Bolgrad and the Isle of Serpents are disposed 
 of, is looming up into the importance which I originally 
 ascribed to it. One of its first fruits is to create a new 
 division of cabinets: Russia, France, and Prussia on one 
 side, for the unity : — England, Austria, and Turkey against 
 it. The inhabitants are represented as disposed to form a 
 single nation and to choose a foreign king. The 3Iomteiir 
 has avowed the imperial sentiment and policy. Qu. ? Is 
 he forecasting for a throne for Prince Jerome ? 
 
 The affair of ISTeufchatel is being arranged, as fast as 
 gout or grippe will permit the negotiators to indoctrinate 
 Louis Napoleon. It cannot possibly be allowed to disturb 
 the serenity of European order again. 
 
 You will have noticed the "adjourned question of ve- 
 racity," in the House of Commons, between the Premier 
 and Mr. Disraeli, on the assertion made by the latter that 
 "a secret treaty" was actually entered into, with the assent 
 and approbation of this government, between France and 
 Austria, by which the Italian possessions of the latter were 
 guaranteed to her by the former, while at the same time 
 the ministry were seeking popularity by a public affecta- 
 tion of desiring Italian nationality. Three passages of 
 arms have come off'; and, until the one of the last evening, 
 opinion leaned in Palmerston's favor. His admission 
 that, after all, such a Convention was signed in December, 
 1854, reinstates the discredited veracity of his opponent 
 and leaves him nothing to stand upon but the general 
 reasoning as to the nature and circumstances of the treaty
 
 142 TO LORD CLARENDON. 
 
 not justifying the conclusions drawn from it. HhQ fact 
 which he pronounced a romance he finally concedes. 
 
 I told Lord Napier, who leaves in the Persia on the 2l8t 
 instant, and therefore cannot reach you until after the in- 
 auguration, that he would experience no difficulty at our 
 custom-house on arriving. But to obviate the possibility 
 of embarrassment, may it not be expedient that special 
 directions should issue? 
 
 The Queen came in from "Windsor Castle to Bucking- 
 ham Palace yesterday. Her confinement is expected early 
 next month. 
 
 By the time this reaches you, the new cabinet will be 
 known. Wherever I go, I am eagerly questioned as to 
 its composition ; — but I remain as profoundly ignorant as 
 if, instead of being at the grand distributing office of in- 
 formation and news, I was immured in an Esquimaux hut, 
 at or near the north Pole. I dare say, the good quid- 
 nuncs here disbelieve in my alleged emptiness and regard 
 me as a sham. My correspondents, yourself among the 
 number, have been singularly reticent upon the subject. 
 
 Your winter seems to have been unusually severe. 
 Here, more frost than is common. But the last three or 
 four days have been delightful weather ; and the approach 
 of spring is heralded by the appearance of bunches of 
 crocuses and violets offered for sale in the streets. 
 
 My respects all round. 
 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 97.-T0 LOED OLAEENDON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, February 15, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — While impatiently wait- 
 ing the result of Senatorial advisement (of which I have 
 just received cause for entertaining less doubt than ever), 
 it has struck me that your lordship might be pleased to 
 see that there was one man at least in the United States 
 who seems to have seized, in the midst of its details and 
 complications, the essential spirit of our treaty. I enclose 
 an editorial cut from a New York paper that reached me 
 yesterday. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR, CASS. 143 
 
 No. 98.-T0 LOED CLARENDON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, February 23, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — I received several letters 
 yesterday from Washington. The prospect of ratification 
 is ver}^ gloomy, but the finality not yet reached. It is 
 barely possible that the vigorous exertions of the Chair- 
 man of the Committee may save the substance of the 
 treaty : but I must confess, after what has been said and 
 done, my hope, as a Yankee v^^ould say, has been whittled 
 to the smallest end of nothing. 
 
 The end cannot be reasonably expected for a week. 
 Always faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 99.-TO LOED OLAEENDON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, March 3, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — The treaty was again 
 reported by the Committee to the Senate, with several 
 really unimportant amendments. Forty-five members 
 were present, and thirty votes, therefore, necessary to rati- 
 fication. Its friends seem to have determined to avoid a 
 vote on that final question, and to let the responsibility 
 lie with the incoming administration. Five more votes 
 would have been enough to ratifi/, but twenty-five were a 
 majority and suflicient to postpone the consideration of the 
 subject to the 5th of March, the day following the inaugu- 
 ration : that was effected by 25 ayes to 20 noes. 
 
 My letters do not warrant me to encourage a hope less 
 attenuated than the one I described in answer to your 
 former note. 
 
 Believe me faithfully and resp. yrs. 
 
 No. lOO.-TO MR. CASS. 
 
 (Unofficial.) London, March 10, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It may be important that you should 
 have early the first indications of opinion among public
 
 144 TO MR. WOLFF. 
 
 men here on the Anti-Privateering question. This ^morn- 
 ing's Times contains the report of a debate last evening 
 in the House of Commons touching that subject, and I 
 have cut out the enclosed as worth sending to you. 
 
 At this particular juncture, when both political parties 
 are preparing for a popular canvass, Lord John Russell 
 seems to have more than usual influence and weight. He 
 is averse to the proposal made by Mr. Marcy in the letter 
 to Mr. Sartiges, and of course to the Convention I have 
 recently submitted. 
 
 Mr. Cobden expresses an opposite sentiment. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer speaks on the point 
 with great caution, and, I think, justifies an inftrence that 
 we shall have no reply to the invitation until the elections 
 are over. 
 
 I am very respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. lOl.-TO ME. WOLPr. 
 
 24 Portland Place, March 11, 1857. 
 
 My dear Mr. Wolff, — I send you, in reply to the mem- 
 orandum which accompanied your note, some remarks 
 and references, which, though themselves very imperfect, 
 may be serviceable to Sir John Burgoyne, in his researches 
 respecting the militia of the United States. 
 
 Very sincerely yrs. 
 
 MEMOKANDUM. 
 
 The numher of the militia of the United States, as appears by the 
 Army Eegister of 1856, is 2,421,163. The return for the present year 
 will probably be about 2,500,000, as it will include what was omitted in 
 1856, the returns from the State of Iowa and the Territories of New 
 Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska. 
 
 1st. The Constitution of the United States, Art. 1, Sect. 8, CI. 16, vests 
 in Congress the power to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
 ing the militia, and for governing such part of them as maybe employed 
 in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively 
 the appointment of the otficers and the authority of training the militia 
 according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 
 
 The following laws may be examined to show how this constitutional 
 power has been exorcised : 
 
 1. An act more etfcctually to provide for the national defence by estab- 
 lishing an uniform militia throughout the United States. — Passed 8th 
 May, 1792—1 vol. U. S. Statutes at Large 271.
 
 TO MR. HUTCHINSON. I45 
 
 2. Act of 6th July, 1798. 1 St. at Large, 576. 
 
 3. Act of 2d March, 1803. 2 St. at Large, 207. 
 
 4. Act of 3d March, 1803. 2 St. at Large, 215. 
 
 5. Act of 10th April, 1806. 2 St. at Large, 359. 
 
 6. Act of 18th April, 1814. 3 St. at Large, 134. 
 
 7. Act of 20th April, 1816. 3 St. at Large, 295. 
 
 8. Act of 12th May, 1820. 3 St. at Large, 577. 
 
 2d. The enrolment in the militia is variously regulated in the different 
 States, and is enforced hy moderate pecuniary fines. 
 
 3d. The mustering, training, and service are gratuitous. 
 
 4th. The officers are generally elective, and commissioned by the Gov- 
 ernor of the State. 
 
 5th. Arms, ammunition, and accoutrements are furnished by the sev- 
 eral States, and deposited in arsenals under State militia officers. 
 
 6th. Clothing is not furnished, nor do the militia, unless formed into 
 vohmteer companies or called in the service of the United States, wear 
 uniform. 
 
 7th. The acts of Congress already referred to will show the authority 
 for calling out the militia ; but a clear comprehension on this point may 
 be formed by consulting the following cases decided by the highest ju- 
 dicial tribunal : Martin v. Mott, 12 Wheaton's Reports, 19 ; Houston v. 
 Moore, 5 Wheaton's Reports, 1. 
 
 8th. Numerous public documents upon the subject may be consulted in 
 the two folio volumes of American State Papers which are appropriated 
 to " Military Aflairs," and which, I presume, can be, as they ought to be, 
 found in the Library of the British Museum, and perhaps in the Libra- 
 ries of Parliament. 
 
 No. 102.-T0 ME. HUTCHINSON. 
 
 London, March 16, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I hope the five cases have safely reached 
 you. One of the bills of lading accompanied them in the 
 " City of Baltimore:" the other I have retained, 
 
 Mr. M.'s bill of charges is enclosed : — in all <£5. 12. 0. 
 The Library Company can either remit this amount, or, 
 if they prefer it, I will pay Mr. M. and be reimbursed 
 when I get home. The charges and the freight, £1. 7. 
 10, — say sixty-three dollars, constitute the entire cost of 
 what I think may be esteemed one of the most valuable 
 acquisitions. I owe you many thanks for having sug- 
 gested to me this mode of being accessory to benefiting 
 our city and State. 
 
 The ministry, outvoted on the Canton outrage in the 
 House of Commons, dissolved Parliament, and are hast- 
 ening their appeal to the country. They are confident 
 of a triumph, and indications are thus far strongly in
 
 146 TO MR. DIXON, 
 
 their favor. Lord Palmerston's personal popularity has 
 some resemblance to that of General Jackson : his parti- 
 sans concede his violence and his arrogance, but call 
 them an excess of patriotism. Bluster seems, in all coun- 
 tries, to have its charms for the mass. The new Parlia- 
 ment will meet probably about the 25th of May. 
 Remember us all afiectiouately to your family. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 103.-T0 MR. DIXON. 
 
 London, March 23, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — We were all gratified at hearing from 
 Fitz that the Russian helmet, picked up on a Crimean 
 battle-field the day after the head had been knocked out 
 of it, was acceptable to you. Armor of this sort aug- 
 ments in interest in a collection like yours, and with the 
 lapse of every year. 
 
 I think your beautiful work on Surnames is faultless in 
 its new edition. Mrs. D., Phil, and I have many thanks 
 to make for our respective copies. In speaking of it, by- 
 the-by, some days ago, to an acquaintance, he said he had 
 in his library a book upon the subject, which he regarded 
 as a curiously labored production, and which he sent me 
 to look over. It is in two small octavo volumes, and is 
 entitled " An Essay on Family N'omenclature, Historical, 
 Etymological, and Humorous." The author is 'Mark 
 Anthony Lower.' It is probable that you know and have 
 the work, as its third edition was printed in 1849. 
 ' I looked for his notices of our three names. Of Dixon, 
 he says in his list of " sonnames, nurse names, and diminu- 
 tives " — what you seem to agree with, thus " Richard, 
 Richards, Richardson., Ritchie, Rickards, Hitchins (!), 
 Hitchinson, Hitchcock (!), Dick, Dickson, Dixon, Dick- 
 ens, Dickinson, Dickerson." 
 
 Oi Homer — he ranks it in a batch corresponding with the 
 designations of " the divinities and celebrated persons of 
 classical antiquity, such as Venus, Mars, Bacchus, Homer, 
 Tull}^ Horace, Virgil, Ctesar. These are doubtless de- 
 rived from traders' siffus. The former three would be
 
 TO DR. DUGAGHET. 147 
 
 appropriate for Inns : — the remainder for the shops of 
 mediaeval dealers in books or their materials. So re- 
 cently as the last generation a celebrated publisher gave 
 his establishment the name of the ' Cicero's Head.' " 
 
 Of Dallas — he places it in a class deriving the second 
 syllable from '■'- Housed This, with your signification of 
 Dall, would make the name purport " the house in the 
 valley." I remember that my father used to sport, by ad- 
 dressing my mother with a quotation from Swift, " Mrs. 
 Dal/ioi/^fe, great Goddess of War!" etc., etc. 
 
 Always most truly yrs. 
 
 No. 104 -TO DE. DUOAOHET. 
 
 London, March 25, 1857. 
 
 My dear Dr. Ducachet, — I send you an exceedingly 
 interesting judgment, but now pronounced by the Ju- 
 dicial Committee of the Privy Council on points of church 
 furniture and ornamentation, parts of 'which would seem 
 somewhat applicable to our dear old St. Stephen's. 
 
 The suits began in the Co'nsistorial Court, where decrees 
 were given by Dr. Lushington broadly against the use of 
 crosses, candlesticks, credence tables, and altars. Appeals 
 were taken to the Court of Arches, and Dr. Lushington's 
 decisions were affirmed. Finally, the cases were taken 
 before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and, 
 after a protracted and able argument, have ended in the 
 judgment I enclose, which affirms in part and reverses in 
 part, and which is characterized by such deep research 
 and sound sense that I presume it will be accepted as 
 conclusive on the merits of the controversy. 
 
 It would appear to be distinctly adjudged that the Com- 
 munion table should be of wood and movable: — and I am 
 under the impression that ours is of white marble, and 
 too ponderous to be stirred without machinery. How is 
 this ? If as I suppose, then I think it would be wise to 
 consult upon the subject in vestry, and, under your con- 
 trolling advice and wisdom, to have such steps taken as 
 may prevent any charge of deviation from material forms. 
 Of this, however, I am rather presumptuous in making
 
 148 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 a suggestion. You will excuse (won't yon ?) what springs 
 only from an affectionate interest in all that relates to 
 yourself and our temple of Protestant worship. Perhaps 
 you know that many years ago, I assailed in verse the 
 cross surmounting the steeple of St. Peter's : — Bishop 
 Doane replied to my rhymes: and it is now authorita- 
 tively established that I was wrong and the learned 
 Bishop right. ^^ Stare decisis" is a rule alike orthodox 
 and conservative. 
 
 Your disciples here are all in good health, and send 
 their kindest regards to Mrs. Ducachet and yourself. 
 
 Always your faithful & sincere friend, etc. 
 
 No. 105 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, Ai^ril 2, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Let me thank you for your two private 
 letters of the 11th and 17th of March, which reached me 
 at the same time three days ago. They have led me to 
 think that the informal and unofficial correspondence 
 which I kept up with Mr. Marcy may not he unacceptable 
 to you. One prefers, in lounging or in writing, not to be 
 in full dress. 
 
 I pity you all from the bottom of my heart. Nothing 
 can be more deplorable than the harassing state of siege 
 to which every new administration is subjected. Your 
 description — which almost resolves the whole country into 
 a heaving mass of Ins and Outs — reminds one of the re- 
 cent bo7i-7)iot of the Duke D'Aumale who, speaking of the 
 social state of Paris, said there were but three classes, 
 "les fonctionnaires, les factionnaires et les actionnaires." 
 
 The elections here have absorbed attention. The whole 
 operation has been efiected with a sort of '■'' snap-judgment 
 rapidity," — much faster than a debatable question would 
 be brought to a vote in the Senate. John Bull can't bear 
 being without his omnipotent Parliament for a moment. 
 lie fancies the whole social edifice at hazard, and he hur- 
 ries blindly to manufacture a new one. Not one-sixth of 
 the old body will undergo change : — and such changes as 
 are made do not spring from calm consideration, which
 
 TO MR. CASS. 149 
 
 moves slowly, but from the personal passions of the mo- 
 ment, which are quick in striking. Two features of 
 result are already quite obvious : — a great accession to the 
 incongruous strength of what is called the Liberal party, 
 and a decisive individual triumph to Lord Palmerston. 
 The early scenes of the coming Parliament will be full of 
 ministerial exultation; but in the belief of many astute 
 politicians, this will be short-lived, for the elements of dis- 
 cord among Liberals are countless and impracticable. If 
 Lord John Kussell exhibit his usual tact, the city of Lon- 
 don has re-endorsed him in a manner which may make 
 him an early successor to Lord Palmerston. Much, but 
 not everything will be indicated by the choice of a 
 Speaker ; — and it is amazing how few gentlemen of either 
 party are admitted into the category of the competent. 
 
 Nothing worthy of a regular despatch. l!^ot a syllable 
 from the Foreign Office on the maritime war Convention. 
 The attitude of Lord John Russell as to this will seriously 
 tend to defeat the movement. Besides, Cobdeu and 
 Bright and Gibson and Walmsley have lost their elec- 
 tions. Yet, it is worth while noting that a correspondent 
 of the Post is laboring a series of essays, and with some 
 adroitness leans to the j^'t^ojei of Mr. Marcy. I am quite 
 in a fever to hear from you on the subject. 
 
 Somebody, it appears, finds access to the -penetirilia of 
 your department: — for I find in the Morning Star of to- 
 day, as extracted from the ]N"ew York Herald of the 19th 
 March, what 2^rof esses to be a copy of the Central American 
 Treaty, but what in fact is a copy of one of its projets sub- 
 sequently altered. So that even your unperfected docu- 
 ments are, for some purpose or other, dug from their 
 dormitories and paraded in the papers. I wonder whether 
 the Senators may not have been perplexed with the several 
 draughts, adapted to my several instructions, which I trans- 
 mitted to Mr. Marcy? The mistakes in newspapers as to 
 the provisions and phraseology of the instrument, are in- 
 numerable and to me incomj^rehensible. But fifteen days 
 remain of the six months during which the ratifications 
 are to be exchanged. I suppose they will complain here 
 of the short time left them for deliberation on the amend- 
 ments. They will have ten days, not more, should your 
 final instructions come by the next steamer. Perhaps the 
 whole period will be allowed to run out ! As soon as it
 
 150 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 appears that the proper moment has arrived, I shall 
 write you a special letter ou a special topic as regards 
 myself. 
 
 Ferouk Khan (pronounced here Oawn), the Persian 
 ambassador, cottons singularly to your minister. He 
 prides himself upon having made the Treaty with Mr. 
 Spence: and proposes to remain here until he can ex- 
 change its ratifications. If he did not suffer dreadfully 
 from sea-sickness, he assures me that he would visit the 
 United States, and expresses a hope that the two coun- 
 tries may soon interchange diplomatic representatives. 
 
 Seiior Don Bravo, the newly arrived envoy from Spain, 
 is quite an agreeable gentleman : — a genuine black-eyed, 
 blaK3k:-browed, black-haired, black-moustached, sallow- 
 tinted, short, and compact caballero. With a smattering 
 of his tongue, fetched from the memories of.fifty years ago, 
 I get along with him tolerably well. They say there are 
 shades on his past ; but of that I know nothing. 
 
 The Greek minister, whom I esteem as one of the most 
 intelligent and estimable of the Corps, was enchanted on 
 my shewing him that by our new Tariff', currants, under the 
 description of dried fruit, would be admitted at a duty of 
 8J instead of the old 40 per cent, ad valorem. By-the-by, 
 I wrote Mr. Marcy that this gentleman, in order to culti- 
 vate the intercourse between our and his country, had 
 been instructed to suggest the expediency of our con- 
 verting the Coinmerdal Agent of ih.Q\]miQdi States in Greece 
 into a Consul: the latter allowing more public manifesta- 
 tion of regard from the Court. He has spoken to me 
 again on the subject. I presume Mr. Marcy was preoccu- 
 pied with arranging old matters, and avoided new ones, 
 as he did not notice the idea. 
 
 The news from China, given out by the ministerial can- 
 didates at the hustings, to the effect that the Emperor did 
 not approve the conduct of Commissioner Yeh, does not 
 seem to have been well founded. Now that it has served 
 its purpose, it is discredited. The electric telegraph is not 
 the most reliable agency. I perceive prevailing here among 
 official men a solicitude that the United States should join 
 England and France in their proposed pressure against 
 the wall of exclusiveness within which the Chinese choose 
 to exist. I retain the opinion expressed in a former letter, 
 that the two powerful allies meditate a serious aggressive
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. * 151 
 
 movement, if not a military occupation, in the disorgan- 
 ized land of Tartars, Teas, and Junks. The moment is 
 propitious. ISTeither Louis N'apoleon nor Lord Palmer- 
 ston is averse to maintaining tranquillity at home, by turn- 
 ing the public gaze to military proceedings at a distance. 
 The merchants do not seem to apprehend, as a conse- 
 quence, any important disturbance of commerce. 
 
 Allow me to enforce the suggestion made in my last 
 despatch, respecting the Supreme Court's decision in the 
 case of Dred Scott, by adding that if we do not, in some 
 authentic form, let this prejudiced portion of the world 
 have access to the lohole truth, it is a hundred to one that 
 the dissentmg ojnnioiis of Judges McLean and Curtis will 
 be represented and almost universally received as the Judg- 
 ment. As to obtaining from the Press here, or anywhere 
 in Europe, a fair and impartial exposition of the relation 
 of slavery to our national constitution, so as to vindicate 
 the principles and practice of our national democracy, no 
 hope can be conceived more chimerical. 
 
 Parliament is to assemble on the 30th of this month. 
 I am told that the swearing in of the members will con- 
 sume a week, and no important business will take place 
 before the expiration of that time. The Queen will not 
 open it in person, as she will hardly have recovered the 
 fatigue of dropping another pearl in the jewelry casket 
 of her devoted subjects. Her Majesty still drives out 
 every day, showing that if there be no royal road to 
 learning in general, there is undoubtedly one to the mul- 
 tiplication table. Pray present my respects and regards 
 to all around you, and believe me 
 
 Always cordially yrs. 
 
 No. 106.-T0 ME. MAEKOE. 
 
 London, April 3, 1857. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Don't abuse me — though you have 
 certainly a right to do so — for putting ^our kind energies 
 under contribution to accomplish, if possible, two small 
 purposes which I found it impossible to avoid under- 
 taking.
 
 152 >♦ TO MR. MARKOE. 
 
 Primero. Can the Secretary of War, under the state- 
 ments of the two notes I enclose, be induced to spare 
 poor Mr. W. H. B., who unwittingly enlisted in our 
 army, and has incurred the penalty of desertion ? His 
 family is of high respectability, and I should be much 
 pleased if they could be gratified by having their reckless 
 kinsman sent home. 
 
 Secondo. Has there not been published in Washing- 
 ton a work entitled " Report on the Commercial Rela- 
 tions of the United States," Vol. 1? The Department of 
 State ought to possess it for distribution among the for- 
 eign legations. I certainly ought to have a copy. But I 
 specially want a copy for " The Statistical Society," and 
 if your department can't order it sent to me, you must 
 be kind enough to direct any one of the librarians on the 
 Avenue to address it to me in the next despatch bag, 
 letting me know the price and debiting me. Pishey 
 Thomson, or his successor, I dare say has the book. 
 
 Let me say to you — of course in profound personal con- 
 fidence — that the amendments made to the treaty by the 
 Senate are a series of miserable little criticisms, doctrinal 
 and verbal, utterly unworthy the dignity of the body and 
 the gravity of the occasion. I can scarcely understand 
 how, by the utmost excitement of filibustering declama- 
 tion, such paltry picking should have occupied that great 
 council for three months. In a little while the minority 
 will have no resort but to laugh oif their folly as well as 
 they can. But two weeks left for the exchange of ratifi- 
 cations, and yet I have nothing on hand ! Perhaps this 
 beautiful exhibition of senatorial wisdom is to be rounded 
 off by — but, n'irnporie! — the thing was satisfactory all 
 round, to both Governments and both Peoples — con- 
 formed rigidly even as to phrases and terms to instruc- 
 tions, and was most flatteringly eulogized by Marcy " for 
 judgment and skill" of negotiation, and eagerly sanctioned 
 by President Pierce and Queen Victoria, and the Press on 
 both sides : — but it got into a dark hole and has been 
 nibbled at by rats in search of food for faction. Unless 
 we go on sinking deeper and deeper in the mire of filibus- 
 terism, and encouraging the revival of the age of buccaneer- 
 ing — an ignominy not altogether impossible — the treaty, 
 with all its faults, will, as John Q. said, " stand the test of 
 time and talent." I especially think so, because, after
 
 TO MR. CASS. 153 
 
 being buffeted about by eminent men so long, its sub- 
 stance and spirit remain unchanged, 
 
 I am waiting to hear from Washington about two mat- 
 ters which must be detinitiv^ely disposed of before the mo- 
 ment can arrive for adopting jour hint as to the mode of 
 acting on my own subject. I have no idea of a peevish 
 and petty course-: — and the instant all misconception of 
 motive can be avoided and all imputation of idle pique, 
 it may be proper to act frankly and finally. Tliere has 
 been "negative pregnant" enough not to be mistaken, 
 and I am quite ready for what was thought not unlikely 
 when I started on the mission. I find no fault anywhere. 
 
 Palmerston's star is in the ascendant for another i/m?' at 
 least. His party, and his ministerial associates particu- 
 larly, are fiushecl with victorious exultation. 
 
 My affectionate regards to all. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 107.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 LoxDON, April 7, 18o7. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have not had time to prepare a de- 
 spatch since Mr. Evans came an hour ago with the Central 
 American treaty, and your accompanying otficial letter 
 of instruction. Yet I do not like to allow the Fulton to 
 leave to-morrow morning without a word from me. 
 
 This matter will, of course, have my earliest atten- 
 tion ; and, as I agree with you that the real substance of 
 the arrangement remains unaffected by the amendments 
 of the Senate, I have strong confidence that this govern- 
 ment will, without much delay, pursue the wise example 
 of the President. Varieties of opinion on an entangle- 
 ment so complicated and so multifarious in its bearings, 
 cannot be avoided. It is the fruit of the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty. 
 
 I have yet ten days before the period for an exchange 
 of ratifications expires. All the necessary copies will be 
 prepared this evening, and the matter fully submitted to 
 Lord Clarendon to-morrow mornino;. The only expuno-ius: 
 
 VOL. I.-ll ° J f a >D
 
 154 TO MR. KNEASS. 
 
 on which it is possible they may hesitate is that relating 
 
 the grants of land. 
 
 Since my last, the result of the election in Middlesex 
 
 s given 
 stoniaus. 
 
 to the grants of land 
 
 20, 
 
 has given a still loftier tone of exultation to the Palmer- 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 108.-T0 LORD OLAEENDON. 
 
 24 Portland Place, April 7, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — I shall be able to send 
 3'our lordship, in the morning, otticial copies of the treaty, 
 with the Senate's amendments, and the President's ratifi- 
 cation, and the letter of instruction to me from Mr. Cass 
 on the subject. 
 
 In the mean while, I have thought it might be agreeable 
 to you to have the draft I prepared for my own use, by 
 which the locus in quo and bearing of each amendment 
 might be seen at a glance. 
 
 The temper of the President is most admirable : — his 
 acts better natured even than his words. Your lordship 
 need not be reminded that ten days only are left of our 
 prescribed time. 
 
 With assurances of the highest consideration. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 109.-T0 ME. KNEASS. 
 
 London, April 9, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 19th ultimo reached 
 me a few days ago. 
 
 I have procured and now transmit to you the Act of the 
 British Parliament, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120, which you think 
 may be usefully added to the library of your Department 
 of Surveys in the city goverimient. 
 
 On the subject of Sewers and Drains, great activity and 
 research have recently been manifested by the Board of 
 Public Works, at the head of which is Sir Benjamin Hall, in
 
 TO MR. CASS. 155 
 
 order to effect a permanent purification of this vast city : — 
 and it will give rae pleasure to find myself, on taking the 
 necessary trouble, able to send you something from this 
 source of value to the future health and comfort of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Very respectfully your friend and servant. 
 
 No. IIO.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 10, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Although I have several irons in the 
 fire, there is no business sutficiently ripe for a despatch. 
 
 I sent the whole Central American Record to the F. O. 
 three days ago, and I saw Lord Clarendon yesterday. It 
 is obvious that the amendments are not thought materially 
 to change the original design and text, except as to the 
 Land Grants. Some soreness is felt at the abrupt treatment 
 experienced by the second clause of the second separate 
 article, though substantially and practically it reaches the 
 same end. His lordship, however, had not consulted his 
 colleagues, and did not intend expressing any opinion 
 before doing so. Some apprehension as to Parliament 
 was intimated ; and he reminded me that Mr. Gladstone 
 had already attacked the ministry for aliening a colony 
 without the consent of Parliament and without considera- 
 tion. He said, too, among other things, that their treaty 
 with Honduras remained yet unratified, and this broad 
 handing over the Bay Islands bodily, contained in the 
 amendment, to Honduras, though heretofore not asked by 
 Honduras, might put her up to reject the treaty, — a far- 
 fetched supposition to be sure, considering how immensely 
 advantageous to Honduras that treaty was in respect to 
 the railway. He wanted me to agree to extend the time 
 for ratification : — the cabinet was scattered : and its regu- 
 lar meeting would not take place before next Thursday, 
 the 16th. I said that was entirely out of my power: — 
 the expiration of the time was prescribed in the instru- 
 ment ratified by the President, and nothing could now 
 suspend or change it. This conversation was casual, and 
 apparently so unofiicial that I am rather reluctant in
 
 156 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 repeating it. It certainly, however, involved nothing 
 detinitive, and had only a tendency to disclose the per- 
 sonal opinions and thoughts of Lord C. for the time 
 being. They have left me under the impression, that, 
 notwithstanding the rough handling of the Senate, the 
 treaty will finally be ratified, and the ratitications ex- 
 changed this day week or sooner. 
 
 The spring is hastening on, with rich green turf, glow- 
 ing flowers, and expanding shrubbery. The parks and 
 gardens and terraces of London are already beautiful, and 
 give great comfort to those who are kept in town. Ah- 
 senie ParUamento, fashion has flown back into the coun- 
 try ; — to return about the 10th of May. 
 
 The new House of Cofiimons, it is agreed on all sides, 
 will have an unwieldy and unmanageable weight of Liber- 
 alism in it. If that weight can be solidified as a party, 
 distinct and 'pronoi}cee, and be once brought to move, it 
 will rush into Reform in a manner to constitute an epoch 
 in British history. The number of able, influential, and 
 active men who think, talk, and act for sweeping political 
 and social changes, is greater all over the country than in 
 the United States is imagined. 
 
 Lord C. told me that Lord ISTapierhad written home in 
 the highest delight with his new residence : — that he was 
 enthusiastic about everybody and everything: — and that 
 in such a spirit he could not fail to please. 
 
 My best respects to all around you, and in particular to 
 Miss Cass. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. Ill -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 17, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Lord C.'s proposed j^romo strikes me as 
 much more open to the senatorial objections than was the 
 clause as originally framed. It enlists the United States 
 in favor of the ratification of the Honduras Convention, 
 and so aftects them with a full knowledge and approba- 
 tion of all its terms : — it connects the two treaties by a 
 direct and indissoluble link.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 157 
 
 ISTow, the sole and declared object of tlie original pro- 
 vision was to express the fact which removed the Bay 
 Ishxnds from the category of ditferences : — that fact being 
 one derived exclusively from her Majesty's Foreign Office, 
 to wit, that they had ceased to be a British colony whose 
 existence was irreconcilable with the purpose and in 
 violation of the letter of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, but 
 had become, under the admitted sovereignty^ of Honduras, 
 a free territory. All that loe had to look to was the 
 extinction of the British pretension to sovereignty there, 
 and the retrocession of the islands to Honduras in any 
 form or shape that she, Honduras, might be freely willing 
 to accept them. We could, consistently with our public 
 principles, interfere with the terms of a contract over 
 which Honduras had absolute and rightful control, only 
 by refusing to treat with England at all unless she 
 announced the restoration of the islands to Honduras, and 
 their voluntary acceptance as restored by that republic. 
 As to the conditions upon which this bargain might be 
 made agreeable to each other, either in reference to the 
 actual inhabitants of the islands, or to the opening of an 
 inter-oceanic railway, or any other measure of sovereign 
 action, our intermeddling would be intrusive and absurd. 
 
 These were the views of my instructions. Hence the 
 original provision in the 2d clause of the second Separate 
 Article, with which Mr. Marcy expressed his approbation, 
 as in fact he and General Pierce did with the whole 
 projei when matured. But the Senate did not like the 
 provision, and have substituted another more substantial 
 and direct. And now comes Lord Clarendon with a jiro- 
 viso that means to assert, if it mean anything, that England 
 had a mental reservation, not expressed in the original 
 provision or in any part of the treaty, not to hold herself 
 bound, unless the convention with Honduras was ratiiied, 
 by her distinct, palpable, and positive engagement with 
 the United States "to recognize and respect in all future 
 time the independence and rights of the said free terri- 
 tory as part of the Republic of. Honduras." What had 
 the United States to do with the ratific-ation of their con- 
 vention ? That was their own lookout. K they enter- 
 tained a doubt about it, why not offer to refer to it in 
 some way? If they entertained, as probably they now 
 entertain, no doubt at all, then it is not surprising that
 
 158 TO MR. KENNEDY. 
 
 they considered the mere making of the convention as 
 equivalent to its ratification, and so at once, and without 
 deeming it at all expedient to communicate its contents, 
 they agree to start from its making, and make the stipu- 
 lations for all future time which I have recited. Wait for 
 ratification, indeed ! Look to Honduras for the efiicacy 
 of our treaty with Great Britain ! I can understand why 
 Lord C. may shrink from doing what the Senate requires, 
 but that he should hope to extenuate his shrinking by 
 oflfering a jiroviso whose purport never would have been 
 and never can be accepted is incomprehensible to me. 
 
 It is said to be useless to " cry over spilled milk." The 
 philosophy is sound and practical. Nevertheless, in ex- 
 treme anxiety to do nothing that may afltect the public 
 interests injuriously, I shall Avait to hear from you on this 
 finality to the year's efiforts to adjust the Central Ameri- 
 can questions. 
 
 •I have been obliged to write in great haste, and possi- 
 bly with a looseness which will tax your indulgent kind- 
 ness. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 112.-T0 ME. KENNEDY. 
 
 London, April 21, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your parcel addressed to the Bishop of 
 Oxford arrived safely; and of course you know that I shall 
 take pleasure in conforming to your wishes about it. 
 
 I furnished his lordshi];) in July last some American ex- 
 perience on the execution of capital sentences in private: 
 — too late for use in the then existing Parliament. He 
 has the reform much at heart: but all reforms here are 
 slow in gathering confidence, and their advocates omit 
 nothing to strengthen themselves against resistance, be- 
 fore making the final push. The United States is a quiver 
 full of arrows for them : — teeming with successful experi- 
 ments in all practical improvements. It is really quite 
 surprising, and certainly not disagreeable, to note the 
 numberless ways in which the new world has turned 
 teacher to the old.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 159 
 
 I will not forget the Dean of St, Panl's. 
 
 The relations of the two countries are, I hope, inde- 
 pendent of diplomatic formularies: as the Central Ameri- 
 can treaty returned here with only a single feather on its 
 back that broke it down. The point of difference be- 
 tween the Senate and the ministry was whittled to the 
 smallest end of nothing. It is possible, after swallowing 
 a camel, to gasp at a gnat. 
 
 Pray present the best regards of Mrs. D. and myself to 
 Mrs. K. 
 
 Very sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 113 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, April 24, 1857. 
 
 , My dear Sir, — ^You get by this steamer more of my 
 writing than yon will be able to tolerate. 
 
 ^Mr^^. was yesterday entrusted with a despatch which oV'/ 
 failed to go on Wednesday owing to an accident happening 
 to the Hermann. He carries also back, in virgin purity, 
 the unexchanged ratification of the Central American 
 treaty. As bearer of a private letter from Mr. Buchanan 
 to Lord Clarendon, he was most kindly and courteously 
 treated by his lordship. 
 
 The coap-de-grdce given to the treaty has, as yet, been 
 unnoticed in the newspapers. This I presume to arise 
 from an uncertainty as to the most expedient course in ' 
 reference to its effect on the new Parliament. Even the 
 fact is unmentioned. 
 
 The foreign ministers at this Court are invited (or sum- 
 moned) to be present in Manchester on the 5th of May 
 next, at the opening of the Art Treasures Exhibition, 
 destined, under the auspices of Prince Albert, to surpass 
 everything of the sort ever undertaken ! 
 
 Lord Lyndhurst sets us all a capital example. He is 
 85, and yet, as Mr. E. will tell you, at a crowded soiree 
 two nights agafhe was the observed of all observers as 
 well with ladies as gentlemen : — that too in the drawing- 
 room of a Liberal, although he is an incurable Tory, 
 
 The Queen recovers more rapidly than would a farmer's 
 
 ^ /
 
 160 TO COL. MURRAY. 
 
 wife. It is even surmised that her Majesty may be ener- 
 getic enough to open Parliament in person this day week. 
 She is fond of going through that ceremony, which she 
 is said to perform with peculiar grace and emphasis. 
 
 The imbroglio between Austria and Sardinia promises 
 to disturb the serenity of European politics. Count Ca- 
 vour overwhelmed Count Buol with too much united 
 force and quiet: — the latter, of course, can't forgive. As 
 to Switzerland and Prussia about llTeufchatel, the contro- 
 versy is finally hushed up by Fiance and England to the 
 disadvantage of the Republic. She pays money, and 
 permits a title derogatory to her territorial independ- 
 ence. 
 
 Lord Elgin is ofl' for Hong-Kong, So are land and 
 naval reinforcements, quite enough to plant a colony 
 wherever they please among the distracted and decadent 
 Chinese. 
 
 Cordially yrs. 
 
 No. 114 -TO COL. MUKEAY. 
 
 London, April 28, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your packet for Mr. D. was received 
 and forwarded to Mr, Mason in a despatch bag. 
 
 General Mercer is one of those clear thinkers who are 
 not easily misled by mere appearance or sound. Our 
 sj'stem constitutes, as the final negotiator of treaties, a 
 popular body of 62 members! They amend such instru- 
 ments with all the freedom they amend ordinary bills, 
 engrafting each his peculiar notion, and indulging clap- 
 trap and bunkum without stint. This is diplomacy run 
 riot: — and one must not be astonished at finding foreign 
 powers occasionally restive under its operation. As early 
 as 1794, our Senate struck whole clauses from Chief Jus- 
 tice Jay's treaty: — in 1824, they so mutilated one made 
 by Mr. Rush, that this government refused, just as they 
 have now refused, to exchange the ratifications. Who- 
 ever was the Senator to ofter the amendment to strike 
 out and insert the twenty words about the Bay Islands, he 
 alone has the glory of killing the treaty : — as to all the
 
 TO MR. CASS. 161 
 
 other paltry picking, it was regarded with indifference : — 
 that was esteemed an intolerable dictation, and, though 
 with extreme reluctance, was visited with a tit for tat. 
 Nothing was more perfectly innocuous than the clause as 
 it originally stood ; hut its treatment has, I fear, given 
 the adversary a very dangerous weapon to light with. 
 Whence came that truly valiant and filibustering amend- 
 ment ? — that, to us, is shrouded in senatorial secrecy — 
 but // is known here, and will amaze us, they say, here- 
 after. An outside concoction ? 
 
 The Cobden party committed a blunder, and dearly 
 have they answered it: — not in moving against the Chi- 
 nese war, but in, immediately upon success tliere, con- 
 senting to assume a defensive attitude against the charge 
 of coalition. They found out their mistake at too late a 
 stage of the canvass. 
 
 After all, blustering goes a mighty distance in practical 
 politics — and of that Lord Palmerston employs no small 
 a load. 
 
 Very truly always yrs. 
 
 No. 115.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 28, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I send a cutting from the Spectator of 
 the 25th inst. It is, as you know, the best iceeldy pub- 
 lished in London. This is the first and only notice yet 
 taken of the non-exchange of ratifications. I do not 
 doubt that the intimation in the last line is, in a certain 
 sense, well founded : — and that the ministers prefer that 
 the annunciation of their having rejected the S.enate's 
 amendment shall be made by them in reply to parliament- 
 ary "interpellations," accompanied by such justificatory 
 and soothing remarks as they may think the occasion 
 calls for. 
 
 The negotiation as to modifying the rules of maritime 
 war has been formally suspended. Ihave reason to know 
 that the answer to our proposal has been prepared in 
 two forms, and was on the point of being laid before the 
 cabinet and then sent to me. Both forms declined : —
 
 162 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 one assigning reasons at length, the other merely saying 
 that just now the ^wqjet was not expedient in the jndg- 
 ment of her Majesty's government. My belief is that 
 Lord Palmerston favors it, and that as soon as he can re- 
 inforce his strength in the House sufficiently to beat Lord 
 John Russell's opposition to it down, he will make it a 
 cabinet question. Mr. Lindsay, a most intelligent and 
 re-elected member, and a devoted friend of Mr. Cobden 
 as well as of free trade, said to me the other day that this 
 was the second time on which, in reference to surrendering 
 the right to use privateers, we had retracted at the very 
 moment when they were persuading the government to 
 close with the offer. " To me," he added, " it is perfectly 
 incomprehensible how you can think of giving up priva- 
 teers, when you contrast the size of our two navies." 
 He is amazed that Mr. Marcy's proposal was not instantly 
 closed with. 
 
 The Speaker of the House will be chosen the day after 
 to-morrow. Then the swearing in will go on for a week. 
 And on Thursday, the 8th May, Parliament will be opened 
 by Commission: — unless "the little lady" should, in the 
 mean time, muster strength enough to go through a 
 shewy ceremony in which it is said she acts her part ad- 
 mirably, and of which she is therefore naturally very fond. 
 
 You notice the assiduous and unremitting courtship of 
 France and Russia. It will yet end in something ecla- 
 iante : — especially if the British press perseveres in its re- 
 cent labors to mortify and exasperate the self-esteem of 
 the " degenerated race." The Edinburgh Review and the 
 Tiynes\i?iYQ forcible and humbling thrusts at the undenia- 
 ble diminution of French numbers and " physique." The 
 Grand Duke Constantine is now the Imperial guest at 
 Paris: — and his Majesty the Czar is said to contemplate 
 a visit in the course of the summer. 
 
 Your refusal to join the hunt against the Chinese is not 
 relished. It is characterized as a cold, selfish, and iso- 
 lating policy : — not actually disapproved, but extremely 
 disliked. If they can't get your representative out there 
 to combine with them, they will probably try their best to 
 make his time unpleasant: — if he side with them in the 
 remotest manner, that will be enough to produce upon 
 "the ignorant Chinese" all the "moral effect" they de- 
 sire. 
 
 With cordial respects yrs.
 
 TO LADY MORGAN. 163 
 
 No. 116.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 8, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The oracular speech of her Majesty, 
 delivered yesterday, through the Lord Chancellor and 
 his fellow-commissioners, to Parliament, was sent to me 
 from the F. 0. late last night. I enclose it. You will 
 note the 5th paragraph as amazingly precise, explana- 
 tory, and clear ! 
 
 Observe also, that though Reform be allowed a place, it 
 is only Liaw reform. Expressio unius, etc. For this ses- 
 sion, then, the ministry are for that onltj. It is certainly 
 important : — but a great deal more is expected, and the 
 opposition will probably hurry to get in advance. Opin- 
 ion is becoming every day bolder. At large public meet- 
 ings, one hears not unfrequently "No State Church," 
 " No legislative Bishops," "No hereditary law-makers," 
 "No property franchise," etc., etc. 
 
 I cannot resist the impression that this government 
 contemplate taking possession of a large portion of the 
 southern territory of China. An adequate military force 
 will soon be there, both French and English : — and our 
 squadron will tind it hard work to abstain from the general 
 foray. If you have Mr. Reed still with you, tell him there 
 is a capital article on the Chinese Question in the last, or 
 April, number of the Edinburgh Review. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 117.-T0 LADY MORGAN. 
 
 London, May 9, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lady Morgan, — It was my intention to seize 
 the pleasure which your remark to Mrs. D. held out, 
 although somewhat apprehensive of being an intruder. 
 Your kind '•'■ remind'' of this morning gives to the lunch 
 on Monday an attraction not to be resisted, and as my 
 countrymen say when wishing to make an impressive ap- 
 pointment, "You'll iind me thar." 
 
 Always faithfully, your Ladyship's 
 
 Most obedient servant.
 
 164 TO MR. PISHEY THOMSOiV. 
 
 No. 118.-T0 ME. PISHEY THOMSON. 
 
 London, May 9, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Pray accept mj'^ very cordial thanks for 
 your letter of the 2d instant. It would have been replied to 
 at once, but that I was preparing for an absence of seve- 
 ral days in Manchester. 
 
 I have been much interested in your account of the 
 Memorial proposed to be erected to the Rev. Jolin Cot- 
 ton in the Chapel connected with the Church of St. Bo- 
 tolph in Boston, Lincolnshire; and I shall feel it a 
 high privilege to attend at the contemplated ceremony 
 in grateful remembrance of that eminent clergyman. 
 Whether I shall be able, at the time that may be fixed 
 upon for the inauguration, to quit London, I cannot at 
 present say; but, as soon as apprised of the day's being 
 ti^nally designated, — which I understood the Rev. G. B. 
 Blenkin to say might be at the close of July next — I will 
 promptly determine that point and let you know. This 
 reticence is in a measure dictated by my knowing that 
 you desire to give to the solemnity a partly international 
 aspect, which I am not quite certain that three months 
 hence it will be in my power to aid you in doing. 
 
 Mr. Ingram was kind enough to offer to send me an 
 account of your city, and I frankly accepted his ofier, 
 supposing that it would be in the shape of an ordinary 
 pamphlet or guide-book. He has, however, sent me 
 your really magnificent and costly folio of " The History 
 and Antiquities of Boston, etc., etc." The work is truly 
 beautiful : — but is it not too valuable for me to retain? 
 
 I remember you at Washington with much pleasure, 
 and regret to hear that your health is bad. Should 3'ou 
 visit London while I am here, I beg that I may have an 
 opportunity to renew our acquaintance. 
 
 Very faithfully and sincerely yrs. 
 
 #
 
 TO MR. M. 165 
 
 No. 119 -TO ME. M. 
 
 London, Mny 14, 1857. 
 
 ]\Iy dear Mr. Markoe, — A thousand thanks for " The 
 Commercial Rehitions," one half at least of which I beg 
 yon to present to Mr. Flagg. The volume graces the 
 library of the Statistical Society, and lies ready to be 
 devoured on my table. 
 
 As many acknowledgments for your successful interces- 
 sion with Secretary Floyd about young Bamping. 
 
 Indeed, I am very much in your debt for these and simi- 
 lar acts of assistance. So, to wipe off a score or two, let 
 me amuse you with a reference to a recent symposium. 
 
 On jMonday last, Lachj Morgan (Sydney Owensou, the 
 Wild Irish Girl, Ida of Athens, etc.) summoned me to meet 
 a friend of hers at lunch. 1 went at half-past two. Her 
 house is a small curiosity shop, crowded with interesting 
 relics. She has Voltaire's writing chair, and a sketch 
 of his study. The walls are literally concealed by like- 
 nesses and autographs. Everything, like herself, is "e?z 
 petit" and antique, except the music she never fails to enlist. 
 She is so short that when sitting her feet can't reach the 
 floor. Her vivacity is boundless, and her intellectual attrac- 
 tions recognized, as you will see, by the first minds of the 
 age. She dresses as you must imagine a discreet sylph 
 would dress, that is, in a mass of light, many-colored gos- 
 samery stulf, with ribbons flying in all directions, and a 
 fanciful coquettish cap. Well ! she rouges highly, and, 
 though turned of eighty, might under the magnetic mask 
 of wit, were her sight and hearing not imperfect, pass for 
 something over fifty. She placed me on her right at her 
 little round table, and inquired in a whisper if I was aware 
 of the celebrities present. " They were a cluster of bril- 
 liants, and I knew them all." Here you have them. Close 
 on my right sat 3Iacaulai/, the fullest and fastest man 
 in conversation I ever met with: — his only defect an 
 uncontrollable eflbrt, arising from excessive self-esteeni, 
 to monopolize the talk. On the left of Lady Morgan was 
 Lord Carlisle, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (Morpeth). 
 Then came Hallam (Middle Ages), a most interesting 
 person in appearance and manners, suflfering to such an
 
 166 TO MR. M. 
 
 extent from disease as to be unable to walk without help, 
 and perhaps evincing a partial loss of mental energy. 
 There too was that most excellent historian of Greece, 
 Grote, whom I like and respect the more every time I see 
 him. Near him and opposite the hostess twinkled away 
 the pink eyes of Albino Lowe, the only highly gifted indi- 
 vidual of that species perhaps in being: and we rounded off 
 with Charles Villiers, a true, talented, and uncompromis- 
 ing liberal, I had almost said democrat, albeit the brother 
 of Clarendon : 3Ionckton 3TUiies, a poet, politician, parlia- 
 mentary speaker, and ready converser: — and, though last 
 far from least, Lady Combermere. 
 
 Now I won't indulge in repeating the numberless admi- 
 rable things said at this cosey lunch, during about an hour 
 and a half. The eagerness to talk far outstripped the 
 eagerness to eat. At one time, I believe every man was 
 leaning forward over the table and giving to the whole 
 unlistening company his particular idea. The bursts of 
 merriment were unceasing. If I were a bookmaking 
 tourist, I am certain that I could expand the intellectual 
 gold at this lunch through an octavo of leaves. Review 
 the names, and realize its character. 
 
 I think it very probable that you would prefer a descrip- 
 tion of some geological cabinet, but I have no relish for 
 that sort of thing. Sir Roderick Murchison now and then 
 walks me through his rich collections of fragments of ores, 
 spars, rocks, etc., and I take it for granted that they are 
 all very curious, very valuable, and very instructive : — but, 
 '■'■ chacun a son gofit" and mine never ran in that direction, 
 farther than to admire your drawers full of what I would 
 scarcely be willing to allow house-room. 
 
 Did you get Guizot's study of Feel? That and Dr. 
 Kane's book have aroused raovQ furore among the ordinary 
 run of readers here than any other new publications. 
 Lever has just launched a new novel, "The Fortunes of 
 Glencore," which can be read at a single sitting, though 
 in three volumes, and is really full of strong pictures and 
 capital notions of life. 
 
 I have a mind to rush you into the Art Treasures Ex- 
 hibition at Manchester, whose opening I felt it a sort of 
 oihcial duty to attend. But the labor would be intolera- 
 ble. You must wait until another appropriate fit comes 
 over me.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 167 
 
 "We are all well. Your notion of Florence is too wise 
 to lust. It would benefit .you, your wife, and the whole 
 family : — therefore, I take it for granted you have long since 
 given it up. 
 
 My best love to every one at home. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 120.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, May 15, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The officers of the Niagara have 
 crowded my despatch bag with letters, official and private. 
 You will probably, therefore, have full accounts of her 
 performance in crossing the Atlantic. Their representa- 
 tions are glowing in her favor. She was able to accom- 
 plish two-thirds of her voyage in six days : — subsequently 
 she took it leisurelj', and reached Gravesend on the eigh- 
 teenth after leaving the Narrows. 
 
 I am afraid matters are not as advanced on this side as 
 they seem to have been thought by Mr. Toucey. There 
 is a difficulty, owing to her draft of water and certain 
 unfinished dredging, in her taking the place in the Thames 
 originally assigned, and, indeed, it was contemplated, a 
 few hours before she entered the Downs, to have signalled 
 and sent her to Liverpool. I cannot learn that the Cable 
 is near ready : and when it shall be, the calculation seems 
 to be that it cannot be stowed on board the ship at a rate 
 more rapid than twenty miles of its length per day : — so 
 that full two months will be consumed in shipping alone the 
 1200 mnles. Should she begin to receive her cargo, which 
 is a bold hope, by the 1st of June, she cannot finish load- 
 ing before the 1st of August, even supposing no accident 
 or delay: — and thus the most advantageous season for 
 laying the wires must be lost. It would, I think, be im- 
 j)rudent to run the risks of September or October. On 
 the whole, unless Captain Huason, or Professor Morse, 
 apply the screw effectually to the operatives here, and 
 piush them to a speed beyond all their habits, the grand 
 consummation will be delayed till next summer. As 
 in military, so in mechanical, exploits England always
 
 168 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 lags until tlie second or third campaign. The thing will 
 be achieved no doubt: but not by any means so promptly 
 or punctually as American goaheadness would exact. 
 
 Queen A^ictoria, in spite of the prevailing popular pre- 
 judice, has invited the Russian Grand Duke Constantine 
 to pay her a visit. Of course such a summons brings him 
 shortly to Osborne : — although it is gossiped as an unpre- 
 cedented barbarism that, some years ago, when the pres- 
 ent Emperor Alexander was here and at a ball, on being 
 apprised by the Master of Ceremonies that her Majesty 
 required him as a partner in the next quadrille, he very 
 coolly and imperturbably answered that he was engaged, 
 and declined the honor ! Constantine is said to be fatally 
 bent on the mischief of breaking asunder the Anglo-Gal- 
 lican alliance. Success to the Imperial politician ! 
 
 You must not let me worry you unreasonably with these 
 letters. My aim is to keep you au fait to current yet 
 unofficial topics in this maelstrom of intelligence and 
 bustle. Stop me unhesitatingl}^ as soon as joii tire. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 r. S. — Mr. Marcy made some arrangement with the 
 captains of the Cunarders, by which our despatch bags 
 were confided exclusively to their control and care. I 
 hate suspicion, and the plan may in the long run work 
 well : — but when I look at your violated letter about New 
 Granada, which came by the Arabia, and compare its con- 
 tents with the speech of Lord Palmerston on the 15th inst., 
 I feel as if I could not explain, without offence to some 
 one, so singular a coincidence. If our negotiations become 
 delicate, it would be well not to flinch from employing 
 special messengers. Economy is an excellent aim, but it 
 is possible to overshoot it. 
 
 G. M. D. 
 
 No. 121.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, May 26, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mr. William Brown, of Liverpool, ad- 
 dressed to me the enclosed letter somewhat too late to be 
 sent in the last despatch bag. He is so worthy of every
 
 TO MR. CASS. 169 
 
 consideration, and respect that I am sure you will not 
 object to hear his appeal for aid as to the survey of the 
 railway route in Honduras, although it be informally made 
 and may not obtain the least acquiescence. 
 
 I suppose we cannot have too many lines of Isthmian 
 transit. Until some thirty years hence, when a direct com- 
 munication with the shores of the Pacific shall run upon 
 the surface of bur own soil, it will not be wise to rely 
 on a single road at Panama, or San Juan, or Tehuan- 
 tepec. We cannot perhaps have too many strings to our 
 bow. Still, the extent to which we will co-operate with 
 others, either governments or companies, in projects for 
 opening these passages, deserves careful consideration. I 
 think it quite obvious that the commercial interest of 
 England is contemplating an extensive settlement on the 
 cotton-yielding lands of Southern China, and looks to 
 hold direct and rapid intercourse across the Isthmus. As 
 peaceable competitors, our merchants, with the advantage 
 of location, would distance them in this trade, as they are 
 fast distancing them everywhere: — yet it might not be 
 prudent to facilitate their selling cheap China cotton to 
 the manufacturers of Manchester. 
 
 Your private letter of the 5th instaft reached me but 
 two days ago. This slow progress may have an accidental 
 cause: — but my despatches from the United States have 
 recently so regularly been violated on their way, that I 
 ~ am really growing suspicious. I mentioned to you on a 
 former occasion that your despatch about New Granada 
 had been torn open ; — and by the very next bag, a large 
 communication, with the seal of the department, had 
 undergone the same treatment. The apprehensions cre- 
 ated by such a state of things destroy the unreserved char- 
 acter of correspondence. There is a mischievous Paul 
 Pry somewhere between this and Washington. 
 
 Thus far the votes in Parliament indicate, to a casual 
 observer, a large and firm Palmerstonian majority. Know- 
 ing ones, however, say significantly "wait a little:" — and 
 they mean by a little a whole year at least. B}' that time, 
 the strong infusion of Reform in the new House will have 
 fermented, found its way to the top, and be prepared and 
 able to shake the smooth surface of the ministerial cal- 
 dron. It is astonishing how patiently they bide their 
 time. The power to "wait" is a great one. 
 
 VOL. I. — 12
 
 170 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Of course quidnuncs affect great anxiety as to the rela- 
 tions between the two countries. The rejection of the 
 treaty, which they now realize, and the spirited articles 
 in our newspapers just received, have created a lively stir. 
 The Press here still holds back; an abstinence which may 
 be ascribed to a dread of provoking the Premier to exhibit 
 his, at this moment, Irresistible power in the Commons, 
 and so committing the country to an extravagance which 
 in a twelvemonth he will find impossible. 
 
 The Russian minister seems pleased with his news from 
 Washington, and prophesies the abrogation by Congress 
 of the treaty of 1850 : — a proceeding quite unequivocally 
 represented to Lord Clarendon when I read to him Mr. 
 Marcy's No. 13, of 24th May, 1856, where it is stated as a 
 resort to which we might be ultimately driven. 
 
 The difficulties about the Niagara rather increase than 
 lessen. The officers, however, behave exceedingly well 
 under the circumstances. They still hope not to lose the 
 summer. 
 
 Yery faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 122.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, June 5, 1857. 
 
 My deak Sir, — The "Whitsuntide Holidays dispersed 
 the members of Parliament throughout the country: — 
 and, under the influence of animal magnetism perhaps, I 
 too went out of town for several days. It is impossible to 
 imagine anything more beautiful or more perfect in all 
 its details, intra et extra mosnia, than the rural life of a man 
 of fortune in England. Wlien the clear and comfortable 
 weather of early June is superadded, a miserable devil 
 emerging from the smoke, dust, fog, and odor of London, 
 finds himself in Elysium among the hills of Hampshire. I 
 came back yesterday. 
 
 Our good countrymen, in heavy battalions, are winding 
 their way across the island, to spread themselves all over 
 Europe and part of Asia. I found my table covered with 
 their cards and introductories, and they are most cordially
 
 TO MR. CASS. 171 
 
 welcome. There are among them Professors, Chancel- 
 lors, Bishops and Clergymen mns nombre. 
 
 The Niagara goes to Portsmouth to-day, to be so altered, 
 as I understand, as may tit her for receiving the subma- 
 rine cable. She will be put in one of the Royal Docks 
 for the purpose. I am asked to give my official assent to 
 this proceeding: — but, although M'illing to aid the great 
 object in every possible way, I do not feel empowered, 
 and must leave the matter in the sound discretion of Cap- 
 tain Hudson. The Susquehanna also is in the Thames. 
 Captain Sands and his first lieutenant were with me yes- 
 terday. You will have noticed that, as a little lucky acci- 
 dent would have it, they were first in saluting the Kussian 
 Grand Duke Constantine as he entered the British waters 
 on board of a royal yacht from France, on his way to the 
 Queen at Osborne. You would be amused to see how 
 this casual and light incident is remarked upon. 
 
 The French elections come off on the 20th instant, and 
 inspire some interest: — though why, it is difficult to say. 
 Great care has been officially and openly taken to secure 
 to the Imperial government an immense majority both of 
 representatives and votes. The suffrages are expected to 
 exceed nine millions. 
 
 I enclose some papers which the Greek minister has 
 put into my hands as explanatory of his great desire that 
 something may be done in respect to the matter I have 
 
 heretofore written about. He says that Mr. is 
 
 really not entitled to act as consular representative, and 
 that his informal authorization from Mr. DiomatarLhas 
 expired many years ago; that as a missionary he is con- 
 stant]}' provoking the public mind hj proselyting — a course 
 prohibited by the Constitution of Greece. Can you em- 
 power me to say a word to him ? or is it necessary that 
 the subject should assume greater formality? 
 
 I have nothing worthy of a regular despatch, and can- 
 not have the means of enlivening you until some move- 
 ment in the political atmosphere disturbs the existing 
 serenity and dulness. 
 
 It is supposed that Parliament, which reassembled last 
 evening, may continue in session till August and yet their 
 proceedings be quite devoid of general interest. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 172 TO MR. HUTCHINSON. 
 
 No. 123.-T0 ME. HUTCHINSON". 
 
 London, June 12, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have yours of the 26th of May, cover- 
 ing the letter from the Library Company to Mr. Wood- 
 croft, and have immediately forwarded the latter. It 
 gives me great pleasure to perceive that the Directors 
 justly appreciate the value of the Patent Publications, and 
 have complied with the engagement as to binding them. 
 
 I have come across, in the possession of a fashionable 
 widow, a Frenchwoman who married an Englishman, 
 a painting which I wished were in one of the rooms of 
 the Library. It is an admirable portrait of Franklin, 
 when our minister in Paris, by a great contemporary 
 artist ranking now as one of the masters, Greaze. He is 
 taken in his morning wrapper of green velvet with fur 
 collar. The widow has repeatedly and significantly called 
 my attention to it as an object of historical art which 
 ought to be in America. But I remain stupid to the hint, 
 as it would be beyond my dilettanti zeal to encourage re- 
 publicans to give a thousand guineas for a Greuze. 
 
 When you tell me that beef in the Philadelphia market 
 is from 20 to 25 cents a pound, you describe a condition 
 worse even than the one existing in this overcrowded and 
 extravagant capital of carnivorous gourmands. You can 
 get the choice pieces, from the butchers' stalls here, the 
 tenderloin at 9 pence the pound, the ribs at 8 pence half- 
 penny. Our victuallers are making too high a profit on 
 their business : but we are fond of good eating and seem 
 willing to pay for it at any exalted rate. Some scheme 
 should be adopted, of setting off one meat against another; 
 of bringing beef down to reason by eating mutton alone 
 for awhile, or by resorting to lish and fowl. As long as 
 everybody covets beef, and permits the audacious butcher 
 to run the price up-hill, we shall have shillings instead of 
 sixpences for mouthfuls. 
 
 Politics are just now serene and quiet. Louis Napo- 
 leon waves a more powerful wand over all Europe than 
 his uncle did, and has a better right than Nicholas to an- 
 nounce that Order reigns, not merely in Warsaw, but 
 throughout the monarchies. Austria has an aspect of
 
 TO MR. CASS. 173 
 
 liberalism: — Prussia lets go of Neufchatel : — Russia, 
 France, and England (perhaps the U. S. too ?) are creep- 
 ing silently after the eggs of the Shanghais: and the only- 
 ripple to be discerned on the surface is in a pretty little 
 flare-up against priestly encroachment and practices in the 
 domestic legislation of diminutive Belgium. Can't we 
 break the universal peace, by a row on the Isthmus? 
 Why not monopolize all the transits ? 
 
 The weather has been warm, for a day at a time: — but 
 the general temperature is yet too cool to admit of the 
 slightest diminution of woollens. I suppose you are swel- 
 tering under a fierce sun,, or rushing to the sea-shore. 
 By-the-by, be good enough not again to be tempted to try 
 the treacherous waves of inland waters. 
 
 We are all in good health, thank Heaven, and hope to 
 remain so, even in spite of the incessant entertainments 
 and soirees to which we are obliged to go. Like good- 
 natured eels, we are growing callous to this sort of mar- 
 tyrdom. The "season," however, will not last beyond the 
 middle of July^ 
 
 Present us all to your sons and daughters most affec- 
 tionately. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 124 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, June 12, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is quite an uncommon serenity 
 just now in the political heavens. Were it not for the far- 
 off quarrel with China, the anti priest excitement in Bel- 
 gium, and the French elections on the 21st — -all rather 
 tame subjects — the quidnuncs would be utterly dumb. 
 ParUament is coolly discussing domestic topics, the camp 
 at Aldershott, the law of divorce, penalties on fraudulent 
 trustees, improvement of parks, reformatories, etc., etc. 
 The ministry appear wonderfully at ease, and my Lord 
 Palmerston could yesterday mount a fine spirited horse at 
 Windsor, ride to Ascott, in the Queen's train, stay to the 
 races, and ride back again, without feeling the weight of 
 duties or years.
 
 174 TO DR. SHA W. 
 
 Opposite to all this, I fear, from the statements in the 
 newspapers just received, that the condition of things with 
 you is much disturbed. I hope a great deal from Mr. 
 Walker's ability and manliness in Kansas, from Harney's 
 inflexible firmness in Utah, and from the force of the 
 Supreme law in Ohio. In Granada, you will probably find 
 little further difiiculty, unless indeed the incredible story- 
 be true that England has got another Ruatan on the Pa- 
 cific side of the transit at Panama. These really grave 
 subjects, superadded to the oppressions, complications, 
 and bitternesses, springing almost necessarily out of your 
 official patronage, must tax your patience and philosophy 
 not a little. God grant you a safe deliverance! 
 
 Please let Mr. Toucey know that Captain Hudson 
 .having apprised me of his intention so to change the 
 I^iagara as to fit her for the reception of the submarine 
 telegraphic cable, at the expense of the company and with- 
 out injury to the ship, I applied, at his request, to Sir 
 Charles Wood for an order that the work might be done 
 expeditiously, safely, and well by the operatives in the 
 public employ at Portsmouth. Sir Charles telegraphed Ad- 
 miral Seymour immediately. The alterations will proba- 
 bly be completed in two weeks. Everybody appears now 
 sanguine that the cable will be on the bottom of the At- 
 lantic in the course of the summer : — let us hope, with 
 the two ends tight to Newfoundland and Ireland respect- 
 ively. 
 
 The British Museum has recently had its attractions 
 increased by the noblest room for a library now existing. 
 It is an immense circle lighted from a lofty and beautiful 
 dome. Our congressional apartment devoted to the same 
 use is quite ecljpsed by it. 
 
 You see how dull I am forced to be. 
 
 W^ith my best regards to Miss Cass, 
 
 I am faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 125.-T0 DE. SHAW. 
 
 London, June 27, 1857. 
 
 My dear Dr. Shaw, — Pray excuse my delay in answer- 
 ing your note of the 24th instant: — it has been owing to 
 absence from Loudon and other causes.
 
 TO LORD CAMPBELL. 175 
 
 The last session of Congress was the short one, that is, 
 from December to March 4th. Still, the general subject 
 to which yon refer was not entirely neglected. Two hand- 
 some and adequate appropriations of $6760 and $25,000 
 were made : — the first, " for preparing for publication the 
 surveys of the late expedition to the North Pacific Ocean 
 and Behring's Straits, and for finishing the publication 
 of the charts made by the late expedition for the explora- 
 tion and survey of the river La Plata and tributaries:" — 
 and the second, "to authorize the Secretary of the ISTavy 
 to cause to be extended and completed the explora- 
 tion of the Parana and the tributaries of the Paraguay 
 river," 
 
 This, to be sure, is not much : — but it may help you out 
 of a tight place. 
 
 I received about two months ago a ponderous quarto 
 from the United States Coast Survey Department: — the 
 Superintendent's Report of the proceedings during the 
 year 1855 : — it is an exceedingly elaborate and interesting 
 expose, aided by many admirable charts. Have you got 
 it? My only copy was given to Dr. Whewell of Cam- 
 bridge, Master of Trinity. 
 
 Always most respectfully and truly yrs. 
 
 No. 126.-T0 LOED CAMPBELL. 
 
 June 29, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Campbell, — I must beg you to run your 
 eye through the enclosed letter received hy me from the 
 United States this morning. 
 
 It will shew your lordship that I have been anxious to 
 fulfil my promise, and that probably the failure to do so 
 must be ascribed to a mistake of memory in both Judge 
 Rogers and myself. My correspondent is a member of 
 the Bar, of established repute for diligent and accurate 
 investigation. 
 
 With the hio^hest consideration, etc.
 
 176 TO JUDGE KANE. 
 
 No. 127.-T0 ME. THATEE. 
 
 London, July 3, 1857. 
 
 My dear Thayer, — You will see by the enclosed how 
 very much your letter of the 10th June has gratified the 
 Lord Chief Justice as well as myself. 
 
 Ey-the-by, talking of judges: — there is hanging in the 
 gallery of the British Exhibition this year, a very large- 
 sized and admirably painted portrait of Judge King. He 
 is in full Turkish or Egyptian costume, with magnificent 
 turban, sabre, shawls, and withal a fine flowing white 
 beard reposing on his breast. The likeness is speaking : — 
 and he ought never to appear in any other dress. It was 
 sent over from Paris, where he now is, and where it was 
 painted by Kellogg. 
 
 Love to all — ever yrs. 
 
 No. 128.-T0 JUDGE KANE. 
 
 London, July 6, 1857. 
 
 My dear Judge Kane, — The busts have only just 
 reached me, and, in honest truth, our recollections are too 
 vivid to allow us to like them. The artist has fallen short 
 of justice to his subject. He has failed to delineate, as he 
 might, the traits of thought, enterprise, vivacity, courage, 
 and endurance : — these constituted the heroic original.* 
 For my own part, too, I miss the beard which was the 
 necessary consequence and companion of his greatest 
 exploits. Still, we unite in thanking you warmly for the 
 present. 
 
 I sent the copy intended for the Royal Geographical 
 Society lo Sir Roderick Murchison. If his acknowledg- 
 ment come soon enough, it will accompany this. 
 
 With the best regards of all mine to all yours, 
 
 Faithfully yrs. 
 
 * Dr. E. K. Kane.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 177 
 
 No. 129 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, July 17, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Observing m the newspapers that you 
 have returned from your northern journey, I venture upon 
 resuming my private missives. 
 
 Recent events have disturbed the political serenity on 
 which I commented a month ago. The rebellion in India, 
 the elections in France, the explosion and failure of the 
 Mazziiii scheme at Genoa, and renewed disturbances in 
 Spain, are all very interesting in their details and proba- 
 ble consequences. 
 
 A grand drama seems preparing from one end to the 
 other of Hindostan. Every effort is made to conceal or 
 disguise the fundamental cause of the disaffection. May 
 they not be playing over again the game of lordly red- 
 coats and paltr}^ provincials? The outbreak at Meerut 
 has been expected somewhere by intelligent observers, for 
 several years back. The Home government imprudently 
 repelled warning and advice. The larded cartridge was 
 merely the last feather on the camel's back. Proofs 
 of a vast preconcert, requiring much time to mature, 
 are manifest. The elevation of a King at Delhi is a 
 measure of permanent bearing. The simultaneous muti- 
 nies of widely separated regiments of sepoys cannot be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 Passion is in the ascendant here. Perhaps this is inevi- 
 table while their relatives and friends are being butchered, 
 and worse than butchered, by the revolted slaves. Too 
 much force cannot be sent out to execute a prompt ven- 
 geance. I^^o money to be stinted. No mercy to be shewn. 
 The "fanatic natives" are destined to a worse fate, by fire 
 and sword, than our blacks undergo after insurrection. 
 There are represented to be about 70,000 British, of all 
 descriptions, military, civil, and mercantile, in India ; and 
 the}' are maintaining the sway of this island over 170 mil- 
 lions ! The reinforcements in motion are said to be about 
 25,000 men: among which are counted the troops going 
 out to China, but which the Governor-General, Canning, 
 has intercepted and ordered to Calcutta. 
 
 It would seem that Cavaignac and Carnot have decided
 
 178 TO MR. CASS 
 
 on taking the oath of allegiance to the Imperial dynasty. 
 Their constituents insist that it is a condition prescribed 
 by irresistible force, and if the}^ don't take it they abandon 
 their country to her fate. 
 
 I hope 3'ou benefited by your absence for a time from 
 the turmoil of Washington. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 130 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, July 19, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is a carelessly worded sentence in 
 one of my despatches (No. 61, 10th July, 1857), which, if 
 I had the power, I would like to correct. Fortunately it is 
 of no importance, being a bald expression of opinion : but 
 then it would seem to assert a sentiment of my own, which 
 was not intended. It relates to Cavaignac and Carnot 
 taking the oath of fealty, and begins, "They should not 
 hesitate, for what is the obligation of an oath enforced by 
 500,000 bayonets?" — Had I merely used the words "ii! is 
 urged thai they should not," then my exact aim would have 
 been reached. There is enough strength in the view to 
 puzzle casuists: — but I am not prepared to adopt it, though 
 powerfully enforced. Pray don't suppose me willing to 
 treat official swearing lightly for any purpose. 
 
 The death of Mr. Marcy was announced to us by the 
 steamer which arrived yesterday. The " inevitable hour " 
 came to him in an enviable manner. ISTo sickness, no de- 
 bility, no pain, no disquietude. I presume it was a sudden 
 stoppage of the heart's action. Being at the Premier's 
 drawing-room last night, I observed that it awakened 
 about as much interest as would the decease of any sepoy 
 in India. 
 
 A fierce struggle getting up between the two Houses 
 of Parliament on the Jew question. Lord John Russell 
 moved a new bill, giving to a former act authorizing oaths 
 to be administered to witnesses in the manner binding on 
 their consciences, an extension to legislative oaths : — and 
 if the Lords throw this out, he avows his readiness to call 
 Baron Rothschild into the Commons, and to have him take
 
 TO MRS. GALES. 179 
 
 his seat, omitting the clause "o?z the true faith of a Chris- 
 tian." Such a course, if the Peers be tirm, must bring on 
 a most unseemly collision. Lord Chief Justice Campljell 
 has ir2iXik\y jwejudged it as a violation of positive law. The 
 truth is, the movement of Lord John is as clearly revolu- 
 tionary as was the effort of the black republicans to com- 
 pel or nullify the Senate on the Kansas question. Mr. 
 Roebuck and many of the newspapers denounce the Lords 
 with all the bitterness and contempt used by the old 
 Jacobins of France against the nobles. If we examine 
 symptoms closely I think we should come to a conclu- 
 sion that the upper House is fast losing its prestige, 
 and that its end may be looked for as soon as some iive 
 or six of its veteran sages are removed — Lyndhurst, 
 Brougham, St. Leonards, Lansdowne, Aberdeen — I doubt 
 whether our Senate has ever had so little hold upon popu- 
 . lar respect. Still, a fondness for aristocracy and a subser- 
 viency to wealth leaven the whole lump of British society, 
 and an attempt to extinguish or curtail the legislative 
 power of the Peers is always in danger of reaction. The 
 Crown too shields them by its popularity. If George IV". 
 were on the throne, both would be in imminent danger. 
 
 "We have here a number of distinguished Americans : — 
 among them, Ticknor, Sparks and Sumner. The last is 
 quite a favorite as the sutFering champion of Abolition. 
 Ticknor and Sparks have no politics, and are delightful. 
 Doctors Mutter and Gibson of Philadelphia are also in 
 London, the former very ill of the gout. A rally of 
 American sojourners takes place on the 21st instant, the 
 day after to-morrow, at Boston in Lincolnshire, to " assist " 
 at the inauguration of a Chapel in honor of the Pilgrim 
 father, -John Cotton. I am bound to be there. 
 
 "We cannot have farther news from India before the 
 latter part of this week. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 131 -TO MRS. GALES. 
 
 London, July 20, 1857. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Gales, — It is extremely provoking to be 
 obliged in frankness to confess the entire failure of my
 
 180 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 efforts to carry out your suggestion as respects Miss 
 Juliana May. 
 
 I reserved an answer to your letter in the hope that, be- 
 fore the season finally closed, something might enable me 
 to write more agreeable prospects : — but the concerts and 
 parties at the Palace are now over. 
 
 I cannot venture to say why the royal attention was not 
 attracted to Miss May. Her Majesty and the Prince Con- 
 sort justly take pride in selecting the most accomplished 
 and skilful musicians and songsters for their concerts; and 
 Miss May, under her engagement with Mr. Lumley, had 
 publicly, though under some disadvantages, exhibited her 
 fine vocal powers. The number of great '-'■ cantatrices" 
 from which to select, has no doubt embarrassed choice : 
 and there are obviously some personal friends, like JSTo- 
 vello and Balfe, with whose uniform preference no com- 
 petitor could hope for success. 
 
 I cannot say, for honestly I do not believe, that any 
 prejudice exists against a voice simply because it is Ameri- 
 can : high art is too much cultivated, too ardently pursued, 
 too triumphantl}' fashionable for that : — nothing so cosmo- 
 politan : — but we have yet to achieve for our country the 
 reputation of a land of song ; and until that be achieved, 
 and made undeniable, we must not wonder if even the 
 excellence we know we possess fails to be sought for. 
 
 Had I been able to accomplish your wish, my being 
 accessary to the happiness of Mrs. May and her daughter 
 would have given me unalloyed pleasure ; and certainly 
 110 one would be more eager than myself to contribute in 
 any degree to your gratification, or to that of Mr. Gales, 
 whom I can never regard in any other light than as an 
 old friend of my father's and I hope of mine. 
 
 Always most faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 132.-T0ME. OASS. 
 
 London, July 24, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It has struck me to be expedient to send 
 you the accompanying copies oi private letters on the sub- 
 ject of handsomely inaugurating the wire which is to run 
 under the Atlantic from Valeutia to St. Johns.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 181 
 
 I hope the President will approve my giving the note 
 of preparation to Lord Clarendon. It was marked "pri- 
 vate " because there is not absolute certainty that the en- 
 terprise may not be balked by one of the thousand acci- 
 dents that are possible, and so the two governments be 
 made to appear too confident. 
 
 One can scarcely yet credit the realization of this most 
 vast, yet most delicate, conquest of science and machinery. 
 The tirst spark that goes from Buckingham Palace to the 
 White House will, like mercy, be twice blessed, securing 
 immortality at once to giver and receiver, in more durable 
 records than those of politics. 
 
 Mr. HuiFnagle, our consul-general for British India, is 
 now here. Nothing as j^et from that region to allay the 
 general anxiety. There seems, indeed, a prevailing im- 
 pression that the mutineers at Delhi are numerous, strong 
 in arms and ammunition, and skilful as soldiers: so that 
 the siege may be a protracted one and encourage disaffec- 
 tion elsewhere. The rumor of defection in the army at 
 Bombay does not seem to be well founded. 
 
 The course of the three leading republicans lately elected 
 in Paris," Cavaignac, Carnot, and Godchoux, as to the oath 
 of fealty, seems still undecided. The constituencies press 
 the argument I have heretofore stated, and the general 
 impression is that it will prevail. 
 
 The facilities and comforts of locomotion by railways 
 are capital aids to the harmony and distinctive power of 
 crowned heads. Continental royalty has fairly overrun 
 England lately. Whether thej* come like shadows and so 
 depart, can only be guessed. We have had from Austria, 
 the Grand-duke Maximilian : — from Prussia, Prince Wil- 
 liam : — from Spain, the Duke and Duchess of Montpen- 
 sier: — from Belgium, nearly the whole reigning family: — 
 from France, Prince Napoleon : — from Holland, the Queen 
 of the Netherlands (the Duchess of Van Buren): — and. 
 Louis Napoleon promises a quiet call at Osborne with his 
 empress in the course of a fortnight! — Jam satis terris nivis 
 atqae dine grandlnis ! When curiosity is once gratified, 
 these personages are rather inconvenient to the corps di- 
 plomatique, at least to our portion of it. " To meet her 
 Majesty," or "to be presented to H. R. H. ;" — hie labor, 
 hoc opus est ! 
 
 The toast given at the banquet in Boston to the Presi-
 
 182 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 dent of the United States was received with a cheering 
 altogether vehement and remarkable, by a company of at 
 least 300. It was prefaced by an elaborately prej^ared and 
 really forcible speech from the historian of Boston (whose 
 work, by-the-by, is a magnificent folio volume, got up with 
 a superabundance of elegance in engravings, type, paper, 
 and binding), Mr. Pishey Thomson, whom we all knew 
 as an admirable bookseller for so many years on Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue. The learned and eloquent Bishop of Lin- 
 coln was there, and gave us a speech. So was our Bishop 
 Smith of Kentucky, who did ditto. So also, Erskiue, 
 Dean of Ripon, son of the old first Lord. And so, too, a 
 succession of members of Parliament. The Mayor pre- 
 sided. Our flag waved all day upon the topmost turret of 
 the beautiful tower of St. Botolph, which is three hundred 
 feet high. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 133 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, July 28, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is here next to impossible to procure 
 authentic information of what is meditated at Madrid re- 
 specting Mexico. Don Bravo left London some months 
 ago to meet the Cortes, and Comyn, the Charge, is either 
 unable or unwilling to talk on matters of public interest. 
 The newspaper correspondents only invent and mislead. 
 It is now alleged that the mediation of England and France 
 has been accepted. It is, I think, rather to be suspected 
 that the Spanish movement was from the first unreal, and 
 meant more to cover Cuba from apprehended filibustering 
 than to invade Mexico. At all events, just now the con- 
 dition of Spain is too much disturbed and uncertain for an 
 important military expedition to the other side of the At- 
 lantic, which might furnish us a plausible ground of action. 
 Spain will be very shy of doing what might possibly swell 
 to overflowing the popular current in the United States. 
 The mediation has, in all likelihood, been part of the 
 original plan, and invited by her. 
 
 A moderated tone on the subject of Slavery is undoubt-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 183 
 
 edly observable even in Parliament. IIow explainable ? 
 1. The pressure of the truth as to their West Indies. 2. 
 The pressure of the rebellion in Bengal, 3. The pressure 
 of the China light. 4. The shake recently given to the 
 Napoleonic throne. 5. The annexation of Perim, pro- 
 tested against by Turkey under impulse from Fran ce : — and 
 with all these, 6. The hourly increasing conviction that 
 there is no safety for the ascendency of the Liberal Party 
 except in honest friendship with the United States. It 
 may be that this abatement in the crusading spirit is pre- 
 paratory to aiding us to acquire Cuba: — for as they 
 despair of stopping the trade from Africa, they may see 
 reason to prefer the institution as it exists with us to the 
 one on the Island. 
 
 The French ambassador urged me by letter, three or 
 four days ago, to obtain for an Imperial hydrographic en- 
 gineer, the privilege of accompanying Captain Hudson 
 in the Niagara, during the voyage for laying the sub-At- 
 lantic cable. The ship was on the eve of departure, and 
 I had no time to correspond with her officers. I sent his 
 Excellency a short note addressed to Captain Hudson, re- 
 questing, if no orders or rules were in the way, that he 
 would invite and receive the engineer, a Mr. Dehimarche, 
 on board the frigate. I hope the President will approve 
 what it was impossible to avoid or evade without extreme 
 discourtesy. The correspondence on the subject I have 
 thought it proper to send to Mr, Toucey, 
 
 You will see by the newspapers that the Jew's Oaths 
 question has taken a more decided phase than ever. Mr. 
 Horsman, an able and influential liberal, has twitted the 
 Premier, in language to which that functionary is not ac- 
 customed, on his duties as the party leader : — intimating 
 that the Earl of Harrowby, Lord Privy Seal, cannot be 
 permitted, while a member of the cabinet, to withhold his 
 vote in the House of Lords from the bill, and that the 
 whole united and active power of the ministry must be 
 given to the measure, on penalty of whig denunciation 
 and disorganization. 
 
 Still no fresh news from India, though expected every 
 hour. In the House of Commons last night Mr. Disraeli 
 made a very tedious and elaborate speech on the causes 
 of the disaffection and the proper course of government 
 now that it had exploded. A worse picture of political
 
 184 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 administration could not easily be painted : — far exceed- 
 ing, especially in its deep shades of usurpation and confis- 
 cation, the recapitulated grievances in our Declaration of 
 '76. It fell, however, very flat on the ear, though I was 
 a patient listener during the whole of it, from 5 to 8 
 o'clock. Lord John Russell, who just now resembles an 
 inexpert swimmer trying to buoy himself with awkwardly 
 entangled bladders, gave Mr. Disraeli's motion a patri- 
 otic direction. 
 
 I was earnestly assured, during the concert at Apsley 
 House last night, by Lord Stanley, whom I think better 
 informed as to the condition of the British colonies than 
 any other man in England, that the whole affair was a 
 mere military enieute, and would certainly be at once re- 
 pressed. And yet an Indian Commissary-General, Col. 
 R., veYy lately returned home, is anxiously in doubt as to 
 the result, looking to the fall of Delhi before the besiegers 
 as indispensable to the safety of the whole against the 
 pervading discontent. Oile thing is quite certain : — that 
 this country will concentrate all its energies against the 
 insurrection, first to put it down, second to revenge its 
 cruelties, and third to reform its causes. 
 
 Mr. Hufi^hagle, our consul-general in the East, is return- 
 ing home from Calcutta, wholly unable to meet the ex- 
 penses of his post by his salarj-. I have long known him, 
 and believe him, as a public agent, to be eminently relia- 
 ble for intelligence and integrity. At this interesting 
 moment of Chinese and Indian perturbation, he will have 
 a fund of valuable practical knowledge to lay before you. 
 That region of the earth is looming up into so much im- 
 portance that I should think it wise, rather than lose the 
 public benefit of his skill and experience, if he were per- 
 mitted his salary unencumbered by his actual expenses. 
 
 Those fierce and endless riots in JSTew York make very 
 disagreeable echoes in the ears of Americans abroad. 
 We cannot vindicate or excuse them. I really hope they 
 will soon die out. 
 
 My latest official Register is that of 1855 ; and I often 
 want the Army and Navy Registers for the cttrrent year. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 P. S, — Your old assailant, Brougham, in his 80th year, 
 was last night busy among groups of beauties, chatting 
 and laughing as a boy long after midnight !
 
 TO MR. J. M. M. 185 
 
 No. 134 -TO ME. J. M. M. 
 
 London, July 28, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Although extremely indignant, I was 
 not sorry to see the venom spit at you by the Yankee par- 
 son. I was sure of the rebound ; and it has come in the 
 best possible way and to the greatest possible effect: — 
 subserving not so much the individual — for really he 
 could not be harmed — as the cause with which he is 
 identified. 
 
 You notice the progress of things here? China, India, 
 Paris, Italy, Spain, Parliament? I .thought the world 
 going to sleep ; when it suddenly, like a drowsy lion, stood 
 up and shook itself all over. I am afraid, ho\ve\^er, that 
 the monster won't keep on his legs, but will sink into 
 deeper slumber than ever. 
 
 Two or three things are worth noticing. 
 
 There's the wonderful readiness of the oldest and ablest 
 men to mingle, night after night, and all night, in the 
 light gaieties of life. Lyndhurst (85), Brougham (80), 
 Lansdowne (77), St. Leonards (76), Palmerston (73), Camp- 
 bell (78), Aberdeen (73), Combermere (77), Wensleydale, 
 Baron Parke (75), etc., may be found wherever amuse- 
 ment, though it be in the form of mere show, is to be had. 
 So with the very ancientest of ladies. The effect on so- 
 ciety generally is salutary and obvious. To be sure, the 
 very ^^oung are rather cowed. 
 
 There's also the busy and widespread eagerness to re- 
 vive church ornamentation. I have recently visited a 
 number of Cathedrals and Parish Churches, and, being 
 a tolerably good Episcopalian, have trembled to notice 
 the immense backsliding to Romanism in the crosses, 
 altars, painted windows, symbols, mottoes, sedilias, pisci- 
 nas, etc. They look more like niches in the vast St. Pe- 
 ter's, or even chapels in the Greek Kazan. A fierce con- 
 troversy, to be sure, is waging on the subject: the news- 
 papers and periodicals are full of it. I went into Wilt- 
 shire, and saw a church on which Mr. Sydney Herbert, 
 the M. P., had spent a fortune: it had 754 pillars, big and 
 little, no two alike ! I went, in the opposite direction, to 
 Lincolnshire, and there saw another on "which its wealthy 
 
 YOL. I. — 13
 
 186 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 rector, called Barridge, was in progress of lavishing his 
 money, making it, to my eye, a glittering temple for 
 Catholicism rather than a house appropriate to Protestant 
 worship. The religious archaeologists are raking up and 
 restoring, under one pretence or another, all the Roman 
 abominations denounced by the Reformation. 
 
 Confound it: — I am in a garrulous vein, and here sud- 
 denly comes the necessity of a despatch ! 
 
 Ever yrs. 
 
 No. 135 -TO LORD CLARENDON. 
 
 London, July 29, 1857. 
 
 My dear Lord Clarendon, — Definitive information 
 may I think be expected as to the prospects of the sub- 
 Atlantic cable in about two weeks from Monday next, 
 the 3d August. In the mean while, I am promised a tele- 
 graphic despatch from the Niagara when she will have 
 successfully laid three hundred miles of the wire: — and 
 this shall be sent to you as soon as received. 
 
 The message from her Majesty it would seem prudent 
 to have in readiness for transmission by the 10th of Au- 
 gust; and I would respectfully suggest that it should be 
 placed in a seo.led envelope addressed to the President, to 
 be opened only upon the instant the communication be- 
 tween Valentia and St. John's is certain. The envelope, 
 in a letter containing this instruction, should, I am in- 
 formed by Mr. Cyrus W . Field, be forwarded to " George 
 Saward, Esq. — Secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- 
 pany, Valentia, Ireland." 
 
 With sentiments of the highest respect, 
 
 I am faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 136.-TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, July 81, 1857. 
 
 AiY DEAR Sir, — The news from India, which reached 
 here the day before yesterday, has augmented alarm and 
 affected the funds. Delhi holds out, with a force of 30,000
 
 TO MR. CASS. 187 
 
 mutineers, against General Barnard ; and sorties, thoiio;li 
 not successful ones, are made frequently and with spirit. 
 It is admitted that all Bengal is disaffected. The "plot" 
 was on the eve of exploding at Calcutta, and was only 
 stayed by a sudden disarming. The King of Oude has 
 been arrested and imprisoned. A large body of revolted 
 sepoys are encamped, and yet, it would seem, unattacked 
 outside of the walls of Delhi. The loyal profession so 
 much magnified and relied upon by the native troops, was 
 ardently repeated by a regiment which on the next day 
 massacred all its officers and dispersed. Christian mis- 
 sionaries are being mercilessly slain. Madras and Bom- 
 bay, though agitated and anxious, have yet witnessed no 
 overt acts. These are the leading traits of the telegraphed 
 news. When we get the details, by the correspondence 
 on its way here, it is supposed the picture will be much 
 more gloomy. 
 
 Troops are forwarding as fast as they can be got ready. 
 Large inducements are offered to those whose terms of 
 service have expired, to re-enlist. Some intimations are 
 given of French assistance : — but there is an instinctive 
 jealousy of that. It may, however, be confidently expected 
 that for two or three years to come, England will think of 
 nothing but India. Even if she puts a prompt close to 
 the present insurrection, she will have to increase her Eu- 
 ropean forces there immensely, and inaugurate an entirely 
 new system of government. She has, for more than a 
 century, been arrogant, cruel, rapacious, intolerant, and 
 mercenary, and yet she expresses surprise at the rebel- 
 lion ! — thinks she has nursed the Hindoos into civilization 
 as an affectionate "mother" would train her children ! and 
 now finds in the monstrous ingratitude she meets a justi- 
 fication for dooming the race to a dreadful retribution. 
 Barre's portrait of her parentage to us is no doubt true 
 in application to her colonies in general. She is the 
 reverse of Rome. 
 
 I have heretofore referred to the question of the Moldo- 
 Wallachian Principalities as one calculated in its progress 
 to disturb existing combinations. You perceive that it 
 is now working. France, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia 
 are on one side: England, Austria, and Turkey on the 
 other. Their representatives have reached the point of 
 angry rupture.
 
 188 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 You have probably had your mhul recalled to the ques- 
 tion of the Right of Search by the case of the Panchita. 
 Does not that case, and the actual position of this govern- 
 ment present a most favorable conjuncture for quietly 
 putting an end to that pretension ? 
 
 Pray sa3'to the President that the Queen of the Nether- 
 lands specially enjoined it upon me to express her pleasure 
 at hearing of his complete restoration to health, and to say 
 that she remembered with much gratification his visit to 
 Holland, where he had left many agreeable recollections. 
 Her Majesty speaks English like a book. 
 
 There can be no doubt that every eftbrt will be made to 
 break up the refuge which the unhappy continental demo- 
 crats find in this countrj'. Sovereigns are, for this pur- 
 pose, in their turn "conspiring." The failure at Genoa, 
 and the implication by arrested men in Paris of Mazzini 
 and Ledru KoUin in a design to assassinate Louis Napoleon, 
 furnish the pretext. The Press here will resist gallantly: 
 — but it will not surprise me if, as one of the possible re- 
 sults of the actual predicament of England, the visit of 
 the Emperor to Osborne on the 5th proximo were to be 
 followed by some harsh measure against aliens. 
 
 To-day, it is thought, will realize the recent giving out 
 of Lord John Russell, and see Baron Rothschild sworn 
 in by resolution in such form as he may deem obligatory 
 upon his conscience. Such a course promises to be the 
 initiation of a protracted contest. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 137.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, August 4, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Lafragua, the Mexican minister in 
 Madrid, is reported as gone to Paris, but it is believed in 
 order to facilitate the accepted mediation of England and 
 France. Were anything serious and critical impending, 
 
 Mr. would not keep it from me. As it is, nobody 
 
 anticipates a belligerent course from Spain. There is, 
 however, great difficulty in getting at the truth. 
 
 The recognition of the free navigation of the Danube,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 189 
 
 and the extiiignisliment of the Sound Dues, have very 
 naturall}' brought into question another kindred matter, — 
 the tax levied by that great potentate the King of Hano- 
 ver upon commerce on the Elbe. Goods crossing a line 
 running from the mouth of the Schwinge, a small Hano- 
 verian river, nearly due east across the Elbe to the opposite 
 Holstein shore, are subjected to a toll ranging from f to 
 I and I per cent, ad valorem. The exaction is enforced 
 even though the vessels are merely passing up the river, 
 and do not stop in the Hanoverian sovereignty, which does 
 nothing to preserve or improve the channel. Is it not 
 worth while inquiring how far our trade is aifected ? — 
 perhaps it has been done already — and whether it be 
 worthwhile to make the stand against the "Brunshausen 
 Toll," which you took the lead in making against the 
 Sound Dues ? 
 
 I send you a fat parliamentary volume in the nature of 
 a Blue Book. Lord Clarendon was kind enough to let me 
 have two copies : — one will adorn the library of your de- 
 partment, the other that of this legation The contents 
 are valuable and interesting. 
 
 The contest about the Jew's Oath waxes warm. Lord 
 John Russell has again shifted his ground, and now relies 
 upon the general language of a forgotten and disinterred 
 statute of William IV. He has got the Attorney-General, 
 Sir Richard Bethell, to agree with him in its interpreta- 
 tion, and so may find his position strong notwithstanding 
 the clear and powerful dissent of Sir Frederick Thesiger, 
 certainly one of the ablest, if not the very ablest, lawyer 
 in the House. A committee to construe the Act, to con- 
 sult, and report, will probably be appointed this evening. 
 Lord Palmerston reserves himself for their interpretation 
 
 The details of the news from India are frightful : — but 
 they do not attest that disaffection among the people out 
 of the ranks of the army without which the militar}' mu- 
 tiny must soon fizzle out. Delhi hfts probably succumbed 
 to the army of General Barnard, say about 12,000 to 13,000, 
 though we have no authentic account of the fact. The 
 zeal here i^ unabated : — their empire in the East must be 
 saved at every cost: the sentiment is common to all 
 shades of party. 
 
 Do you notice the peremptory violence of the French 
 minister at Constantinople on the Danubian Principalities
 
 19C TO MR. CAS3. 
 
 question? A la Menschikofhe threatened to quit, and the 
 frightened Turk changed his cabinet to prevent his de- 
 parture. How Lord Stratford will stomach this remains 
 to be seen. This political arrangement of the Treaty of 
 Paris always struck me as having in it the seeds of great 
 controversy. 
 
 The Queen, in person, will probably prorogue Parlia- 
 ment about the 23d instant, and proceed the next day to 
 Balmoral. Everybody that can will imitate her example 
 in hastening out of London. I propose, after having en- 
 dured city confinement continuously for 16 months, to give 
 my family a swallow of sea air, on the eastern point of the 
 Isle of Wight. The heat has been trying for a week past, 
 the mercury sometimes at 90°. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 138.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, August 7, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — At Lord Palmerston's, the night before 
 last, I had a short dialogue with Mr. Comyn, the Spanish 
 Charge. 
 
 D. I notice in the Post that your Chef is coming back. 
 When will he be here ? 
 
 C. He intends returning, but has not yet left Madrid. 
 
 D. He will probably be able to tell us how your contro- 
 versy with Mexico gets on. 
 
 C. Oh ! for the present, and perhaps finally that is dis- 
 posed of. We have accepted the mediation of France and 
 England. But, Mexico is impracticable; and it is diffi- 
 cult to say how we are to get a guaranty that she will not 
 repeat her barbarities. 
 
 D. Her domestic politics are very much distracted, and 
 her government took no part in the injuries of which you 
 complain. 
 
 C. May be so. 
 
 1). And, after all, an attack from you might do her an 
 essential good. You would rouse her to union and ac- 
 tion : — as to reconquering her, that, of course, you know is 
 an impossibility. Where is Mr. Lafragua? 
 
 C. I believe at, or on his way to, Paris.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 191 
 
 The French sovereigns arrived at Osborne yesterday 
 morning. Prodigious pains are taken by military, naval, 
 and police to secure their personal safety. Nothing was 
 allowed, on the water, to approach within two miles of 
 them. A body of Parisian detectives forms a cordon 
 round them at a distance. And yet the eagerness of his 
 Majesty to greet Prince Albert, when near the landing, 
 led to his stumbling down the paddle-wheel and falling 
 heavily on the deck, thereby, as it is said, "grazing his 
 face and shaking himself considerably." Mazzini should 
 provide a Roman augur to make the most of the Omen ! 
 
 Parliament will remain in session some two weeks 
 longer. A general desire prevails to hear something 
 definitive from India before adjournment: — and the 
 grouse can wait a fortnight. 
 
 Lord Carlisle fastened the European end of the sub- 
 Atlantic telegraph wire to its place at Valentia yesterday 
 morning, and away westward steamed the little squadron! 
 I am hourly expecting a message from Mr. Field, who is 
 on board the Niagara, and who promised one when the 
 expedition has prosperously got 500 miles forward. 
 
 I send you the copy of a letter which I received j'ester- 
 da}' from a leading commercial house here, one of whose 
 partners, Mr. G. Moffatt, is a member of Parliament. It 
 complains of what it calls "an anomaly" in our recent re- 
 duction of the tariff, passed March 3d, 1857. Tea was a 
 non-enumerated article in the schedules of the tariff of '46, 
 and therefore by a special clause made subject to a duty 
 of 20 percent., ^'■when imported direct from the place of its 
 groiDth or production in American vessels, or in foreign vessels 
 entitled by reciprocal treaties to be exempt from discriminating 
 duties, tonnage, and other charges.'' The object of the dis- 
 crimination is obvious: and yet, perhaps, while the Chi- 
 nese market is affected by political difficulties, we should 
 find benefit in suspending its operation. "What thinks the 
 President, or Mr. Cobb? 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 192 TO MR. EVERETT. 
 
 No. 139.-TO MR. SAWAED. 
 
 LoKDON, August 9, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I enclose a sealed letter addressed to you 
 from " Osborne," and must beg you to apprise me of its 
 having reached you safely. 
 
 Trusting confidently in the success of your great enter- 
 prise, notwithstanding the croaking prophecies of failure, 
 
 I am very respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 140,-TO ME. EVEEETT. 
 
 London, August 11, 1857. 
 
 My dear Mr. Everett, — Your volume of Cushing's 
 Lex Parliamentaria Americana for Speaker Denison has 
 reached me just as I was preparing the despatch bag for 
 to-morrow by the steamer City of Baltimore. I will take 
 care that it gets to him immediately. 
 
 Your letter accompanying this book evinces an appre- 
 hension that I may be overwhelmed with letters of intro- 
 duction. Pray dismiss it. My countrj^men come over in 
 shoals, and are all heartily welcome, especially those who 
 bring me a line from esteemed friends. I can be of little 
 service to any of them, farther than to receive them 
 frankly, and give advice if need be or an occasional official 
 facility. As a general rule, they appreciate the matter 
 correctly : if some do not, they might as well. 
 
 Rest assured, my dear sir, that a note from you always 
 gives me pride and pleasure. I am quite sure of my 
 visitor, and feel entirely at ease, if so vouched. 
 
 You see what was done at mother Boston, for the re- 
 habilitation of old John Cotton. The Church is a noble 
 one. The new Chapel small but neat, and admirably set 
 olf by your tablet. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 1
 
 TO MR. CASS. 193 
 
 No. 141.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, August 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir — The arrival of Gov. Wrio;lit in the 
 steamer Atlantic took me by surprise. Mr. Vroom has 
 left Berlin, and will reach Paris to-morrow or the next 
 day. He proposes to embark for the United States on 
 board the Arago which leaves Southampton on the 26tb 
 instant. Gov. Wright, who has been with me all the 
 morning, is worried at not having got to his post before 
 his predecessor quitted it, as he very naturally hoped to get 
 the benefit of his local knowledge on modes and means of 
 life. Hence he hastens across the channeL 
 
 You observe that Lord John Russell's Committee on 
 the Statute of William IV., after complying with the de- 
 cencies of consultation for two or three days, put a nega- 
 tive upon the hoped-for construction which would apply 
 the words ^'^ body corporate and -politic" to the House of Com- 
 mons, and Baron Rothschild is again put off'. This failure 
 of Lord John will, I think, strengthen the position of the 
 House of Lords, and, with the help of the Church, set the 
 current against the Jews. 
 
 Louis Napoleon managed matters on his recent visit 
 with singular adroitness. He has obviously carried his 
 present, if not his ultimate, point as regards the Princi- 
 palities, and induced Lord Palmerston to confess in the 
 House of Commons, with some disingenuous distinctions, 
 a change or surrender of policy. The truth, however, is 
 that India, and India alone, is the predominating and con- 
 trolling thought; — nor should I wonder if the offer of a 
 regiment or two of Zouaves had proved more attractive 
 than the mere abstract theory of bolstering the independ- 
 ence of Turkey by keeping Moldavia and Wallachia di- 
 vided. Nous verrons. 
 
 You know how impossible it is for an Englishman to 
 understand and apply the limited nature of our federal 
 constitution and system. They all hope and believe here 
 that you are about to extirpate the Mormons, and rejoice 
 as much at the prospective overthrow of that fanaticism, 
 as at the cherished expectation of the triumph of another 
 in 1860. Perhaps (according to a favorite form of speech) 
 you may not gratify them on either point.
 
 194 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 One of the Parisian correspondents of a daily journal 
 here invents the idea that Mexico has taken the stud at 
 Spain's backwardness to accept her proffered hand, and 
 has instructed Lafragua to make not a step farther in con- 
 ciliation. If Mr. Corayn spoke truth to me, and I cannot 
 doubt it, the mediating powers, having got the matter in 
 charge, will soon end it. 
 
 I am sending my family for a short period to the Isle of 
 "Wight : — a distance which I can conveniently run over on 
 the railway in four or five hours. 
 
 The ministerial white-bait dinner, precursive of parlia- 
 mentary prorogation, has been announced for the 19th 
 instant. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 142.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, August 18, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The failure as regards the electric cable 
 is a sad affair. It would not appear to be relieved by any 
 promising or remediable symptom. The sudden rising 
 of the ship, in obedience to the swell, must necessarily 
 test the strength of the wire, and may be more or less 
 violent: — a rise which does not jerk might be harmless 
 notwithstanding the weight already immersed : but even 
 a momentary pause in paying out would risk a snap. 
 However, a great result is rarely achieved by a first experi- 
 ment, and we have many reasons for confidence in the 
 power of mechanism scientifically directed. 
 
 The Niagara and Susquehanna went into Plymouth. 
 They will probably remain on this side of the Atlantic 
 until their officers have had opportunity to consult with 
 their associates in the enterprise, and the prospects of the 
 future as well as the facts of the past are capable of being 
 embodied in a report, 
 
 Mr. P. reached here on the 14th instant, and has brought 
 me letters from yourself and Governor Wise. I have not 
 yet had the pleasure to see him, and, of course, do not 
 know the aim of his mission except very generally. The 
 American demand for English capital is increasing and
 
 TO MRS. BACHE. 195 
 
 almost unlimited: — but I should hope that the timidity of 
 money-lenders would subside in sight of such security as 
 the State of Virginia can exhibit. The letter printed by 
 Governor Wise a short time ago, and of which he was 
 kind enough to send me a copy, put the resources of the 
 Ancient Dominion in a striking light. All our States, how- 
 ever, are still suifering, more or less, the disrepute in- 
 flicted by the caustic and undiscriminating pen of Sydney 
 Smith. 
 
 Parliament will close with this week, and the world of 
 official business and of fashionable toil will immediately 
 disperse to the four quarters, not to be reassembled before 
 late in February, unless the Indian rebellion assume a 
 size — digims vindice nodus. 
 
 I have recently obtained for our worthy historical com- 
 piler, Dr. Jared Sparks, the permission of Lord Clarendon 
 to rummage through and extract from the diplomatic corre- 
 spondence in the State Paper Office carried on daring our 
 revolutionary struggle, between the ministry here and 
 their representatives in Spain and Holland. He goes to 
 the Hague, too, to see if Mr. Belmont can obtain for him 
 there the like opportunity. He is a slow, pains-taking 
 and honest compiler, and, as we have a vast deal of this 
 sort of work to do before the foundation of our national 
 history can be thought fairly and securely laid, it would 
 be a wise measure in Congress to authorize his permanent 
 engagement for the purpose. 
 
 I hope your eyes are less enfeebled by use than mine : — ^ 
 if not, I am afraid that you must regard the deciphering 
 of my cramped handwriting as rather more troublesome 
 than satisfactory. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 • No. 143 -TO MKS. BAOHE. 
 
 BoKCHURCH, Isle of Wight, August 18, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sister, — We have got ourselves temporarily 
 ensconced at one of the most picturesque points of this 
 beautifal island. Facing south, we have immediately be- 
 low us a hidden cluster of houses : — beyond these a lower
 
 196 TO MRS. BACHE. 
 
 clifF, witli a precipitous fall of some three hundred feet, 
 and then, all open to the eye, the wide sea rolling or glit' 
 tering to the Bay of Biscay or the coast of Spain. Just 
 in our rear frowns the first of a succession of cliff's north, 
 on whose side we have ventured to clamber a little, but 
 whose top has thus far proved inaccessible to us. Our 
 cottage rests, amid trees and flowers, on one of the plat- 
 forms, as it were, of this mountainous stairway called the 
 underclift': — we have no neighboring houses in sight, except 
 the belfry and cross of an old chapel far below us, although 
 elegant villas are numerous all about and their sites may 
 be guessed at by the curling smoke from their kitcheri 
 fires. We are said to be in the village of Bonchurch, to 
 have the town of Ventnor on our right, to the west about 
 a mile off, and the City of Ryde nearly due north, distant 
 a two hours' stage. This is said, for unless we journey 
 away we are actually able to see only the ocean at our feet 
 or the broad green cliff in the clouds. 
 
 So far for position, to which my description necessarily 
 fails to do justice. Our home is what a man of fine taste 
 and adequate means would adapt to such a locale. It is 
 the perfection of a Swiss cottage, in exterior architecture, 
 and its interior is inimitabl}' arranged for hall, parlors, 
 dining-room, six chambers, kitchen, servants' apartments, 
 and so forth. The furniture is exceedingly neat, and 
 evervthino: in the hio;hest order of Eno;lish cleanliness. I 
 have rented it for six weeks for forty-two guineas, say 
 $220. The principal incidental expense of this delightful 
 rustication is that of moving to and from London : — for, 
 of course, my presence at the legation must not be sus- 
 pended, if there be the smallest occasion for it. The jaunt 
 by railway to Portsmouth, thence across the Solent to 
 Ryde, is three hours : — and to Cliff-Den by coach an hour 
 and a half more. 
 
 A favorable wind, like the one which began two days 
 ago and still continues, gives us the finest imaginable ma- 
 rine panorama. All the harbors of Holland, Belgitim, 
 France, and the eastern front of England, disgorge their 
 ships and steamers for the western and southern voyages. 
 I have counted as many as 36, 46, and 48 vessels in full 
 sail, and visible from the piazza. Sophia and the girls 
 have been enchanted by a short absence from the London 
 heat, smoke, and dust, to which they have clung contin-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 197 
 
 uoiisly for sixteen months ; and I sincerely hope it may 
 brace them to bear another of those delirious "seasons" 
 two of which have gone roaring by. 
 
 While thus writing, don't think that I am forgetting 
 whom it is for. The good accounts latterly received of 
 your improving state induce me to suppose that I may 
 amuse you and beguile a few moments of slow recovery. 
 
 We are just now expecting a visit from two ladies of 
 Philadelphia, Mrs. E. and Mrs. J. And here in fact they 
 are ! Mrs. E. says she has come on purpose to be able 
 to report faithfully the character of our cottage when she 
 gets to the XJ. S. by the steamer Baltic early next month. 
 They will honor us for two days, and then travel through 
 the little isle on their way back to London. 
 
 Ever most alfectionately yrs. 
 
 No. 144.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, August 25, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — !N'o cit}^ can be imagined duller or more 
 repulsive than London during the hot season of August 
 and September, when Parliament, public functionaries, 
 club frequenters, the Court, and fashion have all sped away 
 as if flying from pestilence. Everything becomes insipid, 
 lauiruid, and listless. The resorts, the libraries, the gal- 
 leries, the shows, are shut up. The great thoroughfares 
 are thinned. The crowds of equipages have vanished. 
 The Squares are without life or light, every house de- 
 serted, and the four blocks of buildings staring vacantly 
 over the area with doors and shutters tightly closed. To 
 be sure the summer's sun treats most towns in this way : 
 — but the eftect is worst in London, because of its vast- 
 uess, and because of its multitudinous swarms at other 
 times. 
 
 I have adverted to this matter, because the genius 
 loci seems to have dried np the springs of these private 
 letters to you. I can hear nothing, see nothing, read 
 nothing, think nothing, worthy to be written to a Secre- 
 tary of State, even had he not the superadded dignity of 
 being on the other side of an ocean, four thousand miles
 
 198 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 off. It's a sad dilemma. A diplomat without a topic ! 
 An envoy without food for a despatch ! and that too in 
 this huge ^^poluphloisbos thalassa" of intelligence and 
 news! One consolation: — you will certainly not regret 
 the absence of what must be so vapid and empty. 
 
 All eyes, all hearts, all heads are lixed on India. The 
 accounts, since my despatch of last Friday, are gloomy and 
 heavy. Butcheries, savage, indiscriminate, and fanatical, 
 are pouring in. The climate, too, takes sides with the 
 natives. Generals Barnard and Lawrence dead : all Oude 
 up: the circle of mutiny and murder widening every hour. 
 The 1500 men intended to back Lord Elgin in China have 
 found their way to Delhi. At farthest by the month of 
 November — and they could not stand the heats earlier, 
 there will be in Bengal thirty-one thousand British sol- 
 diers: — a force quite ample to reconquer Hindostan, if 
 properl}^ commanded : and I must confess that my per- 
 sonal intercourse with Sir Colin Campbell, the new com- 
 mander-in-chief, has inspired me with great contidence in 
 his military capacity and qualities. If he fail, or sink 
 under the climate, — to which fortunately he is partially 
 accustomed, — the prospect will be dark. 
 
 Suppose the rebellion put down, as it may effectually be 
 by this time next year, then comes the problem what, 
 under the new circumstances, will be done with India? 
 An indifferent stranger almost shudders to think what 
 may be done. The population is so great, so ignorant, so 
 superstitious, so vindictive, so cruel, so utterly unprinci- 
 pled, that, with the zealous counsel of missionaries, no 
 government will be thought capable of lasting six months 
 which is not preceded by overwhelming strokes of ven- 
 geance and accompanied by a system of inflexible and un- 
 relenting oppression, political, religious, and social. It 
 will require all the exertion of all the ablest writers and 
 statesnien of England to prevent this consummation, so 
 inconsistent with her humanity, toleration, and justice. 
 
 The accident to the sub-Atlantic electric cable is by no 
 means regrettable. Such a thing is natural enough at any 
 time and in any hands: — it is not discreditable. But, 
 had it not happened — had they gone on depositing at the 
 rate they did, — they must inevitably have developed, "not 
 a crime, but something worse, a blunder." For, only 
 think, notwithstanding the several voyages, the soundings,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 199 
 
 the calculations, the consultations, the experiments, — their 
 cluster of scientific and mechanical experts had actually- 
 provided a cable five hundred miles too short ! Captain 
 Hudson tells me that the length payed out exceeded ex- 
 pectation 25 per cent., owing to depths, currents, etc., 
 and that no doubt they would have fallen several hun- 
 dred miles short of reaching St. John's: — one mile of 
 which would have been just as fatal as one thousand ! 
 
 A project of a Red Sea electric telegraph is much talked 
 of: — the India difficulties make it exceedingly desirable; 
 and there is great probability that the East India Com- 
 pany will purchase the Atlantic cable at its cost, and apply 
 it to their more urgent purpose : — leaving the Atlantic 
 Company to construct a new one by next spring. 
 
 Parliament may be prorogued to-morrow or the next 
 day, or it may hnger on for several days. The Queen 
 will not be kept waiting, and so it is given out that the 
 prorogation will be by commission. One cause of uncer- 
 tain delay is the Divorce bill, now gone amended back to 
 the Lords : another is the expectation of receiving some- 
 thing decisive from India by Thursday next, when parlia- 
 mentary votes of supply for a great military eftbrt may be 
 required. Lord Panmure said, while I was in the House 
 of Lords last night with Mr. Preston, that they had out 
 upwards of 550 recruiting parties, and had enlisted in one^ 
 week about 1600. 
 
 I bade Governor and Mrs. Vroom good-by on Saturday 
 last. They were leaving for Paris and will join the Arago 
 at Havre to-day\ 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 145 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, September 1, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — These missives of mine must be regarded 
 with indulgence. I am quite aware that they must often 
 be vapid and flat. That is unavoidable in a correspond- 
 ence continuously kept up at brief intervals. It is impos- 
 sible to find the supply of news always equal to the de-
 
 200 TO 3IR. CASS. 
 
 mand. Still, I am unwilling that you should be long 
 without at least a line from me. 
 
 1. Lafragua, the Mexican Envoy to Madrid, is ^'■innubi- 
 bus." No one can say where he is, or what he is at. The 
 last theory represents him as having gone to Cadiz, to 
 embark for home, in a pet: a theory on which no reliance 
 can be placed. 
 
 2. The affair of the steamer Cagliari is being exagge- 
 rated by quidnuncs and newspaper scribes into a ground 
 of war between Piedmont and Naples. She was the ves- 
 sel seized by certain of her Mazzinian passengers and 
 employed in reaching Sicily. Having been taken into 
 custody, the King declines restoring her to his brother of 
 Sardinia: — and so the seed of quarrel is fresh planted in 
 the soil of old grudge. 
 
 3. Vogorides has had all his electioneering trouble and 
 squabbling for nothing. He is obliged to repeat the same 
 game, as the Sultan has consented to cancel the former 
 result. The Union party in Moldavia is strong, but not 
 believed to be in the majority. The management of Vo- 
 gorides tricked and overwhelmed it. Wallachia will prob- 
 ably remain steadfast to the principle of Union : — backed 
 by the potent influences of Russia and France. Austria 
 is particularly and angrily averse to the Union, and tlie 
 
 ^Porte dislikes and intrigues against it. England has 
 cooled in her zeal about the matter, under the shadow of 
 the India revolt and the sunshine of the Imperial visit 
 to Osborne. The chances are not bad that we shall wit- 
 ness the creation of a new Monarchy and a new lioyal 
 Dynasty. 
 
 4. The world of London is dispersed. The rush abroad 
 and into the country preceded the prorogation and left 
 scajjcely a " Corporal's Guard" to do the ceremony. Loco- 
 motion will soon be the pastime of all the sovereigns. 
 Queen Victoria has gone to Balmoral, taking Ijord Claren- 
 don in her train. The Empress Eugenie has had her Sun- 
 day sport at bull-baiting, and is off to Plombieres. Louis 
 Napoleon is whisking from one town to another, and, it is 
 thought, after the review at Chalons, will contrive to meet 
 the Czar somewhere in Germany. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 201 
 
 No. 146.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, September 14, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir,-- :I have availed myself of a few days in 
 the country to draft *a letter to Lord Clarendon on the 
 Panchita business. It rather grew under the pen as I 
 analyzed the papers you sent me. His lordship is, how- 
 ever, in attendance upon her Majesty at Balmoral, and I 
 may not get an answer these two months. 
 
 Fresh news hourly expected from India. In the mean 
 time, the old dishes of insurrectionary atrocity are re- 
 . hashed and daily spread in the newspaper columns. They 
 certainly are shocking. The Weekli/ Press, Mr. Disraeli's 
 special puffer, told us on Saturday, the day before yester- 
 day, of a suspicion that government had received further 
 accounts so disastrous that they kept them back until 
 well ventilated. This is mere party coinage. 
 
 The populace are becoming irreverent. The ministry 
 are assailed for absenting themselves on grouse plains, 
 stalking moors, and watering-places, at a moment when 
 the empire is shaken to its foundations. Even the Queen 
 is thought to fall too easily into the bull-baiting track of 
 the Empress, when she celebrates the massacre of her sub- 
 jects in Bengal by festive sports in Scotland. 
 
 The quarters whence men receive help in life are some- 
 times very hidden and odd. You perceive that Macaulay 
 has been made a Peer. Well, I ascribe his promotion as 
 much to Horace Greeley, of the ^ew York Tribune, as to 
 a real sense of his merits. For, you must know that just 
 as the public were discussing "a creation " of Lord John 
 Russell, Lord Bobert Grosvenor, Lord this and Lordtiiat, 
 out from o^ev the Atlantic came a caustic and dogged 
 article in a number of the Tribune on the discomfiture of 
 Thackeray as a candidate for Oxford, and dwelling with 
 gnashing teeth upon the indiiference shewn even by the 
 liberals to ability when contending with family and title. 
 It had no look towards Macaulay : — when it was penned, 
 the great historian had not been thought of: — but its drift 
 touched a sensitive spot, and, in true Palmerstonian style, 
 without a word said, what was meant as a practical dis- 
 proof brought up Macaulay. " There's more in heaven 
 
 VOL. I. — 14
 
 202 TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. 
 
 and earth, Horatio, than is dreamt of in (even !) your phi- 
 losophy." 
 
 The two Emperors, of Russia and France, design to 
 meet and embrace at Stutgard on the 25th or 26th in- 
 stant. Cid bono ? — unless to swear eternal friendship as 
 their predecessors did at Tilsit, and then straightway fall 
 to fighting, it is hard to say. Perhaps, Louis Napoleon, 
 assuming the character strongly hinted for him in the 
 last Edinburgh Hevieio, of the Roman Augustus, being a 
 nephew of another Julius, meditates the golden era of 
 universal peace, as the sequent of his uncle's everlasting 
 wars. If India permit, I think Palmerston or Clarendon 
 will meet Walewski there. Suppose the world parcelled 
 into tranquillity by a national triumvirate which will se- 
 cure China to the Czar, Egypt to Octavius, and Hindostan 
 to Yernon Smith ! 
 
 My theory about the Spanish menace against Mexico is 
 merging into reality. The dread of our seizing the plausible 
 opportunity to acquire Cuba has put them into fidgets to 
 prevent the quarrel. All over Europe just now, there is a 
 disposition to regard the United States as a sort of "Jb/m 
 Jones of the War Office" ! — a belligerent individual to be 
 encountered wherever there is a muss, and who tannot be 
 put down ; — when he looms up the alarmed gaze at him, 
 as Alpine travellers watch the impending avalanche, which 
 a single musket-shot may bring crashing down upon them. 
 You'll say, this is flighty figure : I insist that four-fifths of 
 it are positive matter of fact. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Note. — The note addressed to Lord Clarendon, referred to in the first 
 piirngraph of tlie foregoing letter, was printed in a Blue Book furnished 
 to Parliament six or eight months after its date. It is extracted from 
 the Blue Book. 
 
 Inclosure 1, in No. 580. • 
 
 MK. DALLAS TO THE EAEL OF CLAEENDON. 
 
 Legation of the United States, London, ^ 
 September 16, 1857. J 
 
 My Lord, — It has been made my duty to call to the notice of her Ma- 
 jesty's government, certain proceedings of Commander Fairfax Moresby, 
 of the Koyal Navy, on the Western Coast of Africa, in the early i)art of 
 Maj' last ; and to avert, if possible, any unfavorable influence which tliose 
 proceedings miglit liave ujmn the relations of the two countries, by invit- 
 ing from your lordship such early and distinct disclaimer and assurance
 
 TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. 203 
 
 as may be esteemed adequate. No doubt is entertained that the acts of 
 Commander Moresby were unauthorized ; that, however ph\usibly pur- 
 sued, they were the suggestions of his own discretion, not of his otBcial 
 instructions, and that all danger of their repetition will be promptly re- 
 moved. 
 
 The barque ^^Panchita," Frederick B. Sladden, master, owned by citi- 
 zens of New York, with an American register, and trading under the 
 flag of the United States, was, on the 9th of May, 1857, lying at Punta 
 de Lenha. At the same date, in the river Congo, was her Majesty's 
 sloop ^^ Sappho," commanded by Commander Moresby, one of the British 
 squadron tlaen stationed oif the African coast to prevent the TratSc in 
 Slaves. The ^^Pcmchitn" had, in some manner, awakened suspicions as 
 to her objects in the mind of Commander Moresby, who (agreeably to his 
 own narrative) with "the pinnace and gig" of his armed vessel, pro- 
 ■fceeded to Punta de Lenha "for the purpose of examining her." Meeting 
 Captain Sladden, Commander Moresby "expressed" to him " a wish to 
 muster his crew," and "no objection being made," went, accompanied 
 "by Mr. Frederick Wells, master of her Majesty's sloop under his com- 
 mand, on board the ' Pa7ichiin ;' " mustered the crew; asked, and was 
 refused, permission to look into the holds ; became confirmed in his 
 "opinion" of her being "engaged in the illegal TratBe of Slaves," and 
 was thus "induced to inform" Captain Sladden, that he should "detain 
 him," with a view to give him over to the iirst American man-of-war he 
 Could meet. Finally, the "suspicions" of Commander Moresbj^ being 
 "by the vast quantity of freshwater" aboard "still further corrobo- 
 rated," he took "upon himself the great responsibility of sending" the 
 barque to New York "for the decision of the United States authorities," 
 detailing for that purpose. Lieutenant C. D. J. Odevaine, with a party 
 of seamen, and giving special and prudent directions for their conduct. 
 
 It may be added that the "Panchita" duly arrived at New York, was 
 transferred to the custody of the Marshal of the United Slates for that 
 district, and was libelled in the proper Court of Civil and Admiralty ju- 
 risdiction as a forfeiture. The question whether or not her voyage was, 
 either in fact or intention, connected with the Traffic in Slaves will ulti- 
 mately be determined in that still pending judicial proceeding; but its 
 decision, one way or the other, can have no bearing on the violation of 
 sovereign right now brought to your lordship's attention. 
 
 This statement of Commander Moresby's conduct is made, as already 
 intimated, almost exclusively in his own words: nor is it deemed neces- 
 sary to the design of the present communication that the striking discre- 
 pancies of detail between his statement and that of Captain Sladden 
 should be drawn into relief by comment. They illustrate, it is true, the 
 conflicts to which a course of action like that of Commander Moresby 
 necessarily leads, so liable to exasperate popular sensibilities on either 
 side, and, in the end, to endanger the friendship and peace of nations. 
 But I am unwilling to mix with the public aspect of the subject the color- 
 ing of individual imputation. 
 
 The Earl of Clarendon will, then, perceive that Commander Moresby, 
 on the occasion described, impelled by "suspicion," actually effected a 
 visitation, search, and seizure of the ^^Pcmc/iUa:" that he knew her to be 
 an American vessel; that, for predetermined "examination," he went to 
 her, accdmpanied by a show of force, namely, the master of the " Sappho," 
 and two boats' crews from his sloop-of-war ; and that, excited by discov- 
 ering what he construed to be badges of a criminal employment, he as- 
 sumed the responsibility of disregarding the flag she bore, and of wresting 
 her from the control and possession of her American captain.
 
 204 TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. 
 
 Against each leading feature characterizing this transaction — the visit, 
 the search, the seizure — the government of the United States has uni- 
 formly, on all appropriate opportunities, for more than fifty years, openly 
 and effectually protested, as inconsistent with the laws of nations, sanc- 
 tioned by no Treaty, subversive of the separate rights and derogatory to 
 the honor of independent communities. It was not the exercise of any 
 fancied privilege of war, for profound peace prevailed ; and yet, without 
 the pretence of belligerent necessity, in respect to contraband or blockade, 
 the property and citizens of a friendly Power were invaded and ar- 
 rested, and the protecting presence of their national symbol irreverently 
 slighted. 
 
 The flag of the United States has a meaning which should not be hastily 
 overlooked. Like that of Great Britain, or of any other civilized coun- 
 try, no matter how distant the sea, or humble the lorcha on which it 
 floats, it implies a pledge of a nation's power and honor to shelter what' 
 is beneath it from invasion or wrong. All flags are but hoisted emblems 
 asserting the national presence and jurisdiction. Commander Moresby, 
 even while recognizing the genuineness of the ^^Panchita's" flag, failed 
 to appreciate its real dignity and inviolability. 
 
 The reasons assigned for this extraordinary proceeding are certainly as 
 distinctly confessed as they are frivolous. They are found in the report 
 of Commander Moresby to his superior oflicer. Commodore John Adams, 
 of her Majesty's ship " Scourge," dated the 15th of May, 1857. They do 
 not call for much elaboration of analysis or remark. 
 
 Commander Moresby "suspected," say, confidently believed, that the 
 " Panchita" was engaged in the illegal Traflic of Slaves. 
 
 I need not remind your lordship that since the United States led the 
 way, by their Federal Legislation, to the abolition and penal proscription 
 of the African Slave Trade, they have manifested, in every manner 
 deemed compatible with their fundamental institutions, the fixed opinions 
 of their people, and considerations of the highest moment, the utmost de- 
 termination and sincerity in carrying out that policy of philanthropy and 
 justice. But the United States, although they went far, stopped at the 
 line which the reckless zeal of Commander Moresby overleaped. Though 
 often persuaded, they have invariably declined to concede to any nation, 
 upon any terms, for any object, a right irreconcilable with the perfect 
 immunity of their mercantile marine from foreign interference. With- 
 out their previously obtained consent, no visit, or search, or seizure, of 
 an American vessel can take place except with defiance and insult to their 
 flag. The Convention of the 9th of August, 1842, signed at Washington 
 by its negotiators, Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton, with the princi- 
 ples and provisions of which your lordship is familiar, arranged for a 
 small squadron of the United States Navy on the coast of Africa, in order, 
 first, that their public force might co-operate with that of her Majestj'in 
 extinguishing the Slave Trade; and, secondly, that their merchant ves- 
 sels, if suspected, or ■even flagrantly guilty, should, nevertheless, be liable 
 to visitation, or search, and seizure, by the officers and seamen of their 
 own country only. Eagerly, even at great cost, as the suppression of the 
 noxious Traflic might be sought, it was still not an aim to which the 
 United States would consent to sacrifice the more dearly valued exemp- 
 tion of their own citizens from coercion by strangers. I onay he pardoned 
 for hern advertinfj to the language used on this very topic, by one of the 
 ■ brightest and "inost authoritative ornaments of English judicature : "No one 
 nation has a '-iglit to force its tray to the liberatio7i of Africa by trampling 
 on the i>idrj)P)if/rnre of other States, oi' to j)ress forward to a great principle 
 by breaking through other great livincipleti that stand in the way. The right
 
 TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. 205 
 
 of visitation and search on the high seas does not exist in time of peace. If 
 it belongs to one nation, it equally belongs to all, a7id would lead to gigantic 
 mischief ajid imivevsal war."* 
 
 It is hardly worth adding that the raere " suspicion " or belief of Com- 
 mander Moresby of the illegal occupation of the " Panchita " cannot be 
 accepted as the slightest possible basis for his proceeding, when the open 
 avowal or the living proof of the supposed fact of guilt is not itself ad- 
 mitted, by compact between the two nations, to be a justification of search 
 or seizure. 
 
 Some difficulty is naturally felt in adverting to the remaining reasons 
 with the respect due to an olficer honored in the possession of the Queen's 
 commission. But I feel assured that Lord Clarendon will understand 
 me as only desirous to bring out the true lineaments of the transaction. 
 
 Commander Moresby informs Commodore Adams that in sending the 
 ^^Panchita" across the Atlantic, in charge of his lieutenant, to New 
 York, he was "incited by the unfortunate fact of the total absence of any- 
 thing like an American naval authority, and that in consequence the 
 ' Panchita' s ' detention may be prolonged for an indefinite period." 
 
 It would, perhaps, ffb harsh and invidious to scan too closely the state- 
 ment that the sending the vessel to New York was regarded as the step 
 which involved him in his alleged "great responsibility." In the chain 
 of his acts, that one is the only link not liable to objection, at least on 
 the part of the United States. The American government is outraged, 
 not by the subsequent misgiving and politic device of a reference to its 
 own tribunals, but by the violation of its flag at the outset, the unwar- 
 ranted intermeddling with the property and pursuits of its citizens, the 
 "examination" and "detention." 
 
 Actual trial for a number of years has, perhaps, demonstrated the in- 
 adequacy of the squadrons on the Western Coast of Africa to accomplish 
 the great end contemplated by their respective governments. The ves- 
 sels are, probably, too few ; necessarily distant from each other ; and oc- 
 casionally disabled by the diseases incident to climate, or the disasters of 
 weather. They certainly cannot be ubiquitous, and yet without that at- 
 tribute they are no match for the wary and covetous slave-traders on that 
 extensive shore. Such difficulties, if remediable at all, are to be remedied, 
 not at the discretion of any one, or all, of the naval agents in both ser- 
 vices, but by the concurring action of the two governments. Commander 
 Moresby alleges " the total absence of anything like an American author- 
 ity ;" but such absence (in one aspect, rather fortunate than otherwise) jus- 
 tified, as regards the flag of the United States, and the lives and property 
 over which it waved, no arbitrary substitution of himself in the stead 
 of the American absentee, for the purposes of visitation and search. An 
 American authority might, very possibly, upon receiving from Commander 
 Moresby a revelation of his "suspicion " of the "Patichiia," have done pre- 
 cisely what Commander Moresby did; but Captain Moresby could under 
 no circumstances or pretext whatever do it, without usurping a super- 
 visory function, not only not confided, but expressly forbidden, to him. 
 
 It would seem as if the imposed restraints, and the purposed omissions, 
 of the Treaty of 1842, were not in harmony with the speculative opinicms, 
 and chafed the eager spirit, of this subordinate officer. He entertained " a 
 firm conviction that if some steps be not taken, there is nothing what- 
 ever to prevent the American flag from sanctioning any vessel, openly in 
 the eyes of the world, equipping and trading with slavers in any part of 
 the African coast;" and he proceeded to take the reformatory steps of 
 
 * Lord Stowell.
 
 206 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 visitation and seizure of the "Panchita." This may be one mode by 
 which the Gordian knot of the "consuetudinary Law of Nations," "great 
 principles that stand in the way," and even precise conventional stipula- 
 tions, can be cut. But Commander Moresby has to learn from your lord- 
 ship that it is an absurd and indefensible mode. It is absurd, as having 
 a tendency to alienate and detach from the united undertaking a power- 
 ful people who first legislated to abolish the Trade ; who first, by muni- 
 cipal enactment, made that Trade punishable as piracy ; and whose armed 
 force has been perseveringly stationed to watch and prevent it. It is in- 
 defensible, as placing the matured policy and peace of nations at the 
 mercy of their rash and presumptuous servants, and as "leading to 
 gigantic mischief and universal war." 
 
 It would be unjust to ascribe to Commander Moresby the mistaken im- 
 pression that, because the Criminal Code of the United States denounced as 
 piracy the Tratfic of which he suspected the ^'■Panchito." to be guilty, he was, 
 therefore, at liberty to search and seize that vessel and her crew as " ene- 
 mies of the human race." He puts forward no such erroneous reason for his 
 conduct. Ignorance of the wide distinction between the Law of all Nations, 
 and the Municipal Law of a single one, cannot fairlj^be attributed to him, 
 or to any British officer. The protection or rescue of the American flag 
 from prostitution to illegal aims, still rests exclusively with the Ameri- 
 can government and people, whose will and ability to enforce their own 
 statutes cannot, or need not, be questioned. On one or more occasions, 
 the Secretary of State, by direction of the President — both of them ar- 
 dently disposed to combined movement against the Trade, and stimulated 
 by a Eesolution of the House of Kepresentatives — proposed to her Majes- 
 ty's government a scheme for the extirpation of that condemned com- 
 merce, to be incorporated, by universal consent, into the Law of Nations, 
 and involving mutual concessions of the right of search. The discussions, 
 perplexities, and obstacles encountered by that proposition need not be 
 recalled; it is enough to say that its ultimate failure left the Law of 
 Nations, which it was designed to modify on the point referred to, unal- 
 tered. 
 
 I trust I am not too sanguine when anticipating that her Majesty's 
 government, aware how occurrences such as the one on which I have thus 
 animadverted grate upon the sentiments of an independent people, and 
 how rapidly they become unmanageable causes of estrangement and quar- 
 rel, will promptly mark the act of Commander Moresby with just re- 
 proof, and otherwise render its repetition extremely improbable. 
 
 Copies of the documents transmitted to me from Washington, and which 
 have been observed upon, accompany this communication. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 (Signed) G. M. DALLAS. 
 
 No. 147.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, September 17, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I had scarcely closed my letter of the 14th 
 instant under the impression that it would go in the 
 steamer of the 16th, when I found that fresh Indian news 
 had arrived.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 207 
 
 Nothing more auspicious, however; — perhaps a still far- 
 ther sinking in the morass of rebellion. Anotlier general 
 forced by ill-health to quit the siege of Delhi, which has 
 made no progress. The Bombay Presidency disatfected 
 and doubted. The rainy season, with all its difficulties 
 and diseases, fairly set in. Yet Havelock has marched 
 from one victory to another, has probably relieved Luck- 
 now, and possibl}^ terrified Nana Sahib into suicide. Sir 
 Colin Campbell had reached Calcutta. I shall be mistaken 
 if he do not hasten to attempt Delhi by assault. 
 
 More will be made of the Imperial coincidence at Stut- 
 gard than is generally supposed. It will probably origin- 
 ate a Congress. 
 
 Lord Clarendon has been relieved of his attendance on 
 the Queen in Scotland, and may give attention to my Pan- 
 chita despatch within a reasonable time. I suppose Com- 
 mander Moresby will, for his reckless zeal, be ultimately 
 rewarded with knighthood. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 148 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, September 28, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am somewhat exercised to deter- 
 mine which conspiracy against common right will be the 
 less injurious to the United States, the existing one 
 between France and England, or the one concocted at 
 Stutgard between Alexander and Louis Napoleon. That 
 the Emperors contemplate an alliance which will affect 
 the relations and policies of all the European governments, 
 no one doubts : that it must ultimately embarrass, perhaps 
 endanger, this country, is gloomily anticipated : — but its 
 power to extend its influence across the Atlantic nobody 
 believes. The course of British cabinets, in the constant 
 snarling and arrogant tendency to alienate America, has 
 perhaps accomplished its natural result and rendered it 
 impossible to bring our people to sympathize, much less 
 co-operate, with John Bull in his contests with continental 
 despotisms.
 
 208 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 The effect to be produced on the domestic politics of 
 England, by the measures of the new alliance, is dreaded 
 by some, and exultingly foreseen by others. It is said, the 
 ministry must be changed: that Palmerston, though very 
 well for ordinary times, is not competent to a great na- 
 tional crisis : that he cannot enact the wonders of Pitt. I 
 think this impression of his capacity is very general. But 
 what then? Is there a stronger man to be had? Cer- 
 tainly not among the Whigs, properly so called. Claren- 
 don ? Granville? Lewis? Panmure? Labouchere? Yer- 
 non Smith — ? No, no, no ! But can't better be extracted 
 from the Tory ranks ? Derby ? — not relished. Disraeli ? — 
 very respectable as subordinate, preposterous as Prime. El- 
 lenborough ? — ditto. In sober truth, the eye ranges over 
 the whole Held without encountering a single mind up to 
 the mark of command. Perhaps we might, as the best of 
 a bad bargain, pick up Lord Stanley. 
 
 I have a perfect horror of Mormonism. It is a sort of 
 carbuncle on the body politic, which will get worse and 
 worse every year, and inflame the whole system unless 
 resolutely extirpated. I know the Constitutional and legal 
 difficulties in the way : — but sincerely hope that you will 
 seize the first fair opening for a decisive swoop. The 
 subject is one for conversation here almost constantly. 
 Within the last few weeks some of the Elders, roaming for 
 converts, have held meetings in London, and inspired ex- 
 treme disgust. 
 
 A dread prevails as to what may be the character of the 
 hourly expected news from India. It is feared that the 
 cholera may have compelled an abandonment of the siege 
 of Delhi; that Lucknow Fortress may have fallen before 
 Havelock reached; that he may be surrounded by an 
 overwhelming force of sepoys and annihilated; that there 
 may be a preconcerted rush, during the Mohammedan 
 Festival, from Delhi all along the Ganges to Calcutta; 
 and that Madras and Bombay will be unable to withstand 
 the torrent of insurrection. It is said that no substantial 
 succor can arrive until late in October, by which time 
 irreparable mischief may be done. 
 
 It is a curious fiict that there is a considerable party in 
 Ireland, headed by the newspaper The Nation and not 
 a little countenanced by Cardinal Wiseman, Avhich takes 
 sides with the llindoos, against the Euylish filibusters. It
 
 TO MR. CASS. 209 
 
 would be difficult to find a stronger illustration of tlie 
 liberty of the Press as it prevails here. 
 
 Of course you notice that Lafragua has received instruc- 
 tions authorizing him to accept the profifered mediation. 
 By the latest hypothesis (for facts are unattainable) the 
 arrangement will be negotiated in this city. 
 
 Xot a single member of the ministry is in town ; unless 
 he have casually strayed in for a few hours to or from 
 scenes of social enjoyment. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — September 29, 1857. Last night's telegram (a 
 newly coined and most convenient noun) of events in In- 
 dia, although not as bad as was supposed possible, gives 
 additional shades to the picture. Havelock had been un- 
 able to advance for the relief of Lucknow as late as the 12th 
 of August, and the gloomiest apprehensions prevailed as 
 to the fate of the thousand English, men, women, and 
 children, who had taken refuge there, but who had esti- 
 mated their provisions to last only to the 6th of August. 
 Delhi as heretofore. General Nicholson had reached there 
 with reinforcements, though not suflacient to justify an as- 
 sault, say 2000. The spirit of mutiny seems spreading : — 
 to the southwest of Delhi, at Judpore, at Belguum, in the 
 Bombay Presidency, and in Bombay itself, where they were 
 disarming particular native corps; and in Madras. Lord 
 Canning is the object of much attack, as inefficient and 
 too forbearing. It is said that he and Sir Colin Campbell 
 had had serious difterences, and that Lord Elgin took 
 sides with the latter. Nothing short of prompt vindic- 
 tive cruelty towards the sepoys will go down now. John 
 Bull doubts the capacity and patriotism of every man who 
 is not implacable ; he exacts tprrents of black blood, and 
 razed cities. Canning will probably be recalled because 
 he don't play the part of a British Nana Sahib. Lord El- 
 gin may be summoned from Hong-Kong, whither he has 
 returned, to assume the Governor-generalship. Nobody, 
 just now, cares for China. 
 
 Lord Clarendon has appointed a new consul-general at 
 New York, Mr. E. M. Archibald, the brother of the gen- 
 tleman who has been lately actively soliciting the place 
 and who is known I believe personally to the President. 
 The consul was formerly the attorney-general of New-
 
 210 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 foundland ; and had retired on a pension. He was pre- 
 ferred to his brother because younger, being within 50 
 3^ears of age, the maximum of consular appointees, agreea- 
 bly to the rules of the Foreign Office. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 G. M. D. 
 
 No. 149 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 5, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is said we need expect nothing far- 
 ther from India for a fortnight. During that period 
 anxiety will work itself into fever. 
 
 I think I perceive much effort and dexterity in prevent- 
 ing really bad news from striking too suddenly upon the 
 public mind. One of these finds facility in the little 
 known geography of Hindostan, and the unpronouncea- 
 ble nomenclature of its towns and districts. As an in- 
 stance: A mutiny of 20,000, with a Rajjah of Akulkote at 
 its head, is announced as having occurred at or near Shu- 
 lapore : well, it produces no special sensation, because 
 few are able to separate it from the general melee in Ben- 
 gal between Delhi and Calcutta. But if you once turn to 
 the map and gazetteer and discover this formidable out- 
 break to be in the Bombay Presidenc}^, about 250 miles 
 southeast of the city of Bombay, then you perceive it tells 
 an ominous story of the extension of the rebellion some 
 seven or eight hundred miles from its place of origin, far 
 in the interior, and in a region whose order was still mat- 
 ter of boast. Perhaps I ascribe unmerited importance to 
 this fact ; but on carefully, hunting up its locality, it ap- 
 pears to me terribly significant. One immediate effect of 
 these sporadic outbreaks is to render a concentration of 
 the British forces sent out quite impossible. 
 
 The large expenditures incident to the exactions of this 
 "servile war" will bring the skill of Sir George C. Lewis, 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, into play. Government is 
 more earnest and lavish now than in the Crimean war. 
 Yet, by an official abstract it appears that the receipts in 
 the Treasury during the quarter ending 30th September, 
 contrasted with those of the corresponding quarter of
 
 TO MR. CASS. 211 
 
 1856, shew a decrease of X900,000 : althougli comparing 
 the entire years, that of '56 surpasses '57 by only £170,000. 
 ISTow the principal decrease has been in the Excise and 
 property tax, amounting jointly to upwards of £500,000 : 
 and it may well be predicted that the reductions effected 
 last fall will have to be undone, and that the Income tax, 
 with such modifications as will prevent its becoming 
 unpopular, which it certainly ought not to be, will be re- 
 established and possibly increased beyond any rate it has 
 yet attained. The amount of taxation which this people 
 will bear is wonderful. Their capacity to borrow on 
 emergencies is the only more wonderful thing : — their 
 credit being literally inexhaustible, as the annual profits 
 of their industry are enormous. 
 
 Your ITos. 80 and 81 by the Europa came this morning. 
 Now do, pray, attend to what I have to say about the die 
 from which you send a gold medal for Captain De Gruchy. 
 So many have passed through my hands that I am almost 
 ashamed of havino^ been accessarv to infiictino- so much 
 discredit upon the artistic taste and skill of the country. 
 ^Nothing can be worse imagined or worse executed. We 
 formerly had die-sinkers who produced beautiful medals. 
 In the Mint at Philadelphia there are some that do credit 
 to American art. But this! ye gods, it is frightful! 
 Gold cannot make it tolerable, although it burnishes and 
 recommends everything else. In silver, worse. Now, in 
 this dilettanti age, we are snubbed at the sight of such 
 specimens from the government studio. If the stamp is 
 worth' having at all, it is worth having such as will stand 
 criticism. "Reform it altogether." 
 
 I send you what I think rather an interesting and tell- 
 tale slip just cut from a newspaper. It shews the troops 
 sent to India, vessels, and dates: and you will perceive 
 that the greater portion can hardly be expected to reach 
 their destination before November. Hence, no doubt, it 
 has been resolved to try the shorter cut by the Isthmus 
 of Suez and the Red Sea. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 212 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 150 -TO JUDGE WOODWAED. 
 
 London, October 6, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I had not supposed that it would take 
 Lord Clarendon so long to deliberate upon the expediency 
 of allowing me to have a copy of Major Butler's report. 
 It is near a month since I wrote to him, and his answer 
 came last evening. You will observe too that he has 
 thought proper to omit some portions. Of the nature of 
 these suppressions, it is useless to conjecture, though one 
 can hardly avoid thinking that they might possibly have 
 exhibited the combined forces of savages and English as 
 committing equal, mayhap greater excesses than are now 
 fierceh' denounced as unpardonable barbarities by the 
 "black lieuds" of Bengal. This sensitiveness to national 
 character is rather laudable than otherwise, but had better 
 not be indulged at the expense of historical truth. The 
 Earl is himself so excellent and amiable, that I am not 
 surprised at his shrinking from disclosing how worse than 
 wild Indians his countrymen sometimes are or have been. 
 Copies of the letters which passed between us are enclosed 
 for your private information. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 151.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, October 13, 1857. 
 
 !My dear Sir, — There is a great likelihood that the King 
 of Prussia will shortly die. I presume we shall all be 
 bound to go into mourning for his Majesty, especially as the 
 marriage of his nephew with the Princess Royal has made 
 so much stir in Parliament and elsewhere. By-the-by 
 (even the d — is entitled to his due), I have been assured 
 most positively that the alleged intemperate habits of the 
 King were the false inventions of English travellers, that 
 he is uncommonly abstemious, drinks nothing beyond 
 wine and water, but that he has a silly trick of lowering 
 his eyes and shaking his head, which suggested the notion
 
 TO MR. CASS. 213 
 
 that he was vinum guzlando potens. His intellect is fast 
 yielding, and he now fails to recognize his oldest friends. 
 "When he is iinally off, I suppose there will be an immense 
 rajyprocheinent between the Courts of Potsdam and St. 
 James. 
 
 The Queen will honor the southern section of her do- 
 minions by returning from Balmoral to Windsor on Satur- 
 day next the 17th. Her Majesty stops a day, in the royal 
 progress, at Haddo House with the Earl of Aberdeen. I 
 take it for granted that this great dull town will feel the 
 influence of regal vicinity, and be restored to the life so 
 essential to sustain these private letters of mine. 
 
 Your idea of improving our foreign diplomacy by hav- 
 ing each minister apprised of the principal objects pur- 
 suing at every Court is excellent. I urged something 
 analogous to it upon Mr. Forsyth, while I was at St. Pe- 
 tersburg, and I pressed it upon Mr. Webster when Secre- 
 tary of State. It is the great practical advantage enjoved 
 by the diplomats of Russia. It produces a harmony of 
 action and inculcatkm that, in a long run, tells conclusively. 
 Mr. Webster's difiiculty was in the great labor which it 
 must throw upon somebody in the department, already 
 overtaxed. How that may be, I can't pretend to say : — 
 but if there be an}- use at all in having missions dotted 
 over Europe, they might as well be made to co-operate iu 
 the general policy of the goyernment as run the risk of 
 impeding it by a want of information from the fountain- 
 head. Take an instance somewhat illustrative. I had 
 been here but three or four months when, at an interview 
 in the Foreign Office, Lord Clarendon suddenly asked me 
 whether a treaty had been made between the United 
 States and Persia, by which we had engaged to lend some 
 naval squadrons to the Shah, and were to be indemnified 
 by the possession of certain trading stations in the Gulf: 
 — and he produced two or three long articles extracted 
 from the instrument. What could I reply ? There was 
 no practice of communicating from the department on 
 which I could rely, and I had never heard of the treaty. 
 Fortunately, I took a strong impression that his lordship 
 was making, rather hastily, a ground of complaint against 
 us as a set-otF to Crampton's affair, and that the alleged 
 treaty was absurdly uuconstituti,onal. I pondered over 
 the paper he put in my hands for a minute or two, and,
 
 214 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 aware that his eyes were fixed with suspicion on my 
 face, I slowly relaxed into a smile, and then exclaimed, 
 langhing, "My lord, you are hoaxed: this is a document 
 which no American statesman would dream of making: 
 — some one has played upon what he believed to be the 
 readiness of the ministry to think the United States capa- 
 ble of any enormity." — Now, this was little more than 
 good luck, and certainly was not founded on any positive 
 knowledge of facts, one way or the other. It struck his 
 lordship forcibly, but did not convince him, and at his 
 special request I wrote to Mr. Marcy inquiringly upon 
 the subject. The hoax was proved : — but the risk run in 
 denouncing it, at the outset, weighed upon my mind for 
 some time. 
 
 Lord C. has just sent me two large Blue Books, pur- 
 porting to be official correspondence on the Slave-Trade 
 up to March, '57. Do you want them? I have not yet 
 had time to open their pages. Indeed, I look upon these 
 compilations, laid upon the parliamentary tables with ex- 
 ceeding regularity, as mere sops to Cerberus, intended to 
 gorge the anti-slavery appetite, so keen throughout Eng- 
 land, and to take from the Opposition one of the popular 
 themes of declamation and attack. It is hard work to 
 wade through them. 
 
 There is heavy sighing on the London Exchange and 
 Paris Bourse. The calamitous panic in America, and the 
 financial confusion in India are creating mischief every- 
 where, and the end is not yet. Consols, in one day, yes- 
 terday, fell near 1 J per cent. This was accelerated by the 
 unlooked-for action of the Bank of England, in raising 
 her rate of discount, before 10 a. m. to 7 per cent. Pri- 
 vate failures are beginning to pour in, among the Scotch- 
 American houses particularly. Some anticipations are 
 gloomy enough to embrace a stoppage of the bank in pay- 
 ing specie. Gold and silver are flowing westward, across 
 the Atlantic. A million of dollars, it is said, will be 
 shipped to-day from Liverpool. The French funds under- 
 went a rapid declension. The newspaper accounts from 
 the United States are exceedingly distressing : — but, un- 
 like any derangement of credit or currency we have here- 
 tofore experienced, it would seem that the present one 
 is in no manner whatever ascribed to, or inflamed by, 
 politics. Ilence, I am inclined to augur an earlier re- 
 covery.
 
 TO SIR W. G. OUSELY. 215 
 
 I should doubt whether the Central American Treaty 
 will receive the attention of this government until they 
 are relieved of anxiety about India. My impression is 
 that, rather than quarrel, they will yield their interpreta- 
 tion of Mr. Clayton's unhappy Convention : — but they will 
 be extremely reluctant to do so in a direct manner, or at 
 a moment when it would seem extorted from their na- 
 tional embarrassment. When they do it, they will want 
 it to appear a concession to amity. Perhaps, too, at this 
 moment, the sore is a little too fresh. 
 
 The rage is for Imperial Conferences. These dignita- 
 ries are just now all three comparatively young men, and 
 are naturally disposed to scan each other's figures. Aus- 
 tria and France meet next : — time and place not 3'et deter- 
 mined. As to my predicted Congress, to come out of 
 the Stutgard " embraces," it is getting along slowly but 
 surely. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 152.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — My Bag has gone, and I have only a 
 moment to say that Sir William G. Ousely will be sent 
 out, as a Commissioner of some sort, to settle the Central 
 American question. 
 
 He comes to Washington first, and then proceeds to 
 Central America. He leaves here in about a fortnight. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 153.-TO SIE W. G. OUSELY. 
 
 London, October 18, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir William, — Pray receive two packages, 
 one composed of official documents, which I beg 3'ou to 
 keep, and the other of two volumes, being Squier's work 
 
 • •
 
 216 TO MR. J. M. M. 
 
 on the region yon are abont visiting, and which, as a gift 
 from the author, I am bound not to part with. 
 
 If, on farther rummaging, I find anything more that 
 can possibly be serviceable, I shall do myself the pleasure 
 of sending it. 
 
 Begging you to make my best compliments to Lady O. 
 whose prospect in the coming month I cannot help envy- 
 ing, I am, 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 154 -TO ME. J. M. M. 
 
 London, October 16, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is great difficulty in forming a 
 satisfactory judgment on the actual state of things in In- 
 dia, or the prospects. So much is exaggerated, so much 
 concealed, and so much thrown into confusion by endless 
 repetition. My opinion, however, is that the rebels have 
 done their worst, have leavened nearly all Hindostan with 
 their spirit of mutiny without being able to produce a 
 general explosion, and will now be rapidly reduced to sub- 
 jection. The great body of the forces recently levied will 
 reach the field of action before the 1st of November. 
 They may find the country already nearly restored to 
 tranquillity, by Sir Colin Campbell, Havelock, and Nichol- 
 son: — if not, their own numbers are abundantly sufficient 
 to eflect that end. England has exhibited more than 
 usual military vigor and capacity, at this crisis. The 
 beastly butcheries of women and children have stirred 
 the blood in the lowest depths of John Bull's heart. 
 So too, the British soldiery in Bengal have exhibited ad- 
 mirable courage and endurance. To be sure, everything 
 has been made to give way before the resolution to save, at 
 every cost, the Indian empire. They will soon begin to 
 discuss the principles on which to refound their govern- 
 ment there. The Bishop of Oxford and Mr. Gladstone 
 have opened the theme with some impressiveness: — the 
 former is for giving Christianity "/rt/r|>>fo^," by which he 
 means proselyting : the latter is rather too much of a states- 
 man and philosopher for that. I am, on the whole, inclined 
 
 • •
 
 TO MR. CASS. 217 
 
 by the signs of the times to think that, after the subject 
 has been" well buffeted between parties, and hammered 
 to death in the journals, it will gradually lull into silence, 
 be forgotten, and the old course of proceeding resume 
 tranquilly its march. To be sure, this will lead to future 
 outbreaks periodically, but what of that ? In politics, as 
 in monetary atiairs, panics, though momentarily frightful, 
 have their permanent advantages. 
 
 The King of Prussia threatens to die. His brother and 
 proper successor meditates renunciation or abdication (at 
 least so your excellent friend Mrs. E. just from Paris told 
 me she had heard), and then Prince William, with his 
 British bride, the Princess Royal, mounts the throne. 
 Victoria gets ahead of Louis Napoleon by this family ar- 
 rangement. 
 
 Spain is at a loss to get men willing to assume the respon- 
 sibilities of governing her. That race, so renowned some 
 centuries ago, is fast sinking, indeed already sunk, into 
 wretched impotency. Queen Isabella, sick of all the fac- 
 tions around her, musters character enough to insist upon 
 presiding at the Council ! 
 
 Our yellow fogs have begun, and her Majesty has come 
 "frae Scotia:" — so London will be rapidly repeopled. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 155.-T0 MK. CASS. 
 
 London, October 20, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Bank of England yesterday raised 
 her rate of discount to 8 per cent.: — a rare, if not the 
 single, instance of its being placed so high. Of course Con- 
 sols fell : — they are 84J, and all stocks are affected. The 
 continental banks are taking the same steps. A feverish 
 anxiety pervades the mercantile classes. The danger is 
 attributed to the disruption of credit in the United States, 
 and particularly to the lawless course of our banks. These 
 institutions seem subject to periodical epidemics; and as 
 the respective States have, over and over again, shewn 
 their incapacity to control them, could Congress apply the 
 constitutional power to better purpose than by enacting 
 
 VOL. I. — 15
 
 218 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 a bankrupt law for their exclusive benefit? It is quite 
 clear that while they are at liberty when a storm comes 
 to find shelter in suspending payment, they will never 
 take in sail, or fasten the hatches down. They should be 
 forced to forecast : — when the fit is actually upon them, 
 measures of mitigation, compromise, and relief seem un- 
 avoidable : — the only plan is to prescribe, while they are 
 sound, a rule which will keep them so. Hang the birch 
 on the wall of the school-room. 
 
 This India convulsion will more or less affect the politi- 
 cal attitude and pretension of England for some years to 
 come. Hence it may be important to us that its real bear- 
 ings and perpetually shifting phases should be distinctly 
 understood. Is it to weaken her? Isit to tone her down? 
 Will her relations with Persia or Russia become compli- 
 cated with it ? What branches of trade, or supplies for her 
 manufactories, are put in jeopardy ? These and many other 
 questions naturally spring up, and I am inclined to think 
 that Anglo-Hindostanee study might be very useful to our 
 politics, if not now, at least soon. The Press is teeming 
 with publications of great interest and authority upon the 
 subject: — and I have sometimes wished that I had it in 
 my power to send them to your departmental library, and 
 add them to that of the legation. Here are some twelve 
 or fifteen works — among them, that mine of exact* and 
 useful information of all kinds " Thornton's Gazetteer of In- 
 ch'a," without which a practical statesman's shelves are im- 
 perfectly supplied. What say you ? 
 
 A continental and no unfriendly paper warns English- 
 men not to be too sanguine in the expectation of repressing 
 the rebellion, and points significantly to. the Sikhs, as a 
 probable source of great danger, though at the moment 
 friendly. The warning is rather late, be its foundation 
 what it may. John Bull thinks he has already strangled 
 the tiger. The Globe, a few days ago, chanting the in- 
 vincibility of the Anglo-Saxon, declared that even the 
 American Revolution would have been crushed had not 
 France lent her aid ! 
 
 Isabella of Spain has at last a new ministry, of which 
 Admiral Armero and Mon are the chiefs. The rest of the 
 component members as yet unannounced. 
 
 Prussia will probably follow the example of Sweden, 
 and have her Regency. From regent Prince Oscar, we
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. 219 
 
 are to have a new member of the diplomatic corps at this 
 Court, — Count de Platen, in the place of old Baron de 
 Hochschild. 
 
 The Queen and Court ensconced themselves at Wind- 
 sor on Saturday last. 
 
 All Americans abroad recur with pride to the heroism 
 of Herndon and his companions. An act which illustrates 
 and dignifies national character should, somehow, receive 
 national notice. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 156.-T0 ME. MAEEOE. 
 
 London, October 23, 1857. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Oh ! for some sassafras, or slippery 
 elm, vegetable simples apparently unknown to the phar- 
 macopoeia of this Babylon ! — for the very act of putting on 
 my specs reminds me that the rebellious eye of which I 
 complained about this time last year, has come back to 
 worry and disable. 
 
 The money mutiny, like that of the sepoys, is slowl}^ but 
 surely yielding to the force of metal. Consols closed yes- 
 terday at 88f , a shade better than the day before. All 
 the world here is engrossed by two possibilities ; universal 
 bankruptcy and the loss of India: one just as likely as the 
 other, and both mere air-drawn daggers. 
 
 I have omitted to thank Mr. Chilton for his few beau- 
 tiful lines on Herndon. Pray do it, and most cordially, 
 for me. This incident is unequalled in moral beauty. 
 The case of the British frigate Birkenhead was like it, 
 but inferior in the fact that the saving of the women and 
 children was the result of military discipline, and not of 
 purely voluntary heroism. I hope the subscription for the 
 family will succeed : but I look at the act in another point 
 of view. It is a great event, illustrative of, and tending 
 as long as remembered to mould, the national character. 
 Our history has some, though few, of such significant and 
 immortal utterances of high-souled humanity : — the clod- 
 hoppers rejecting Andre's bribe is one, and Miller's "I'll 
 try" another: — but nothing so calm, so utterly unselfish,
 
 220 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 so simultaneously good ajid great, has yet been recorded. 
 It should live and speak forever. Perhaps it is unsuited 
 to the cold material of the sculptor : — but ten or twenty 
 thousand dollars appropriated by Congress for a vigorous 
 effort of Horace Vernet's brush, to be hung in the Capitol 
 or the White House, would secure an everlasting discourse 
 upon the glories of a subject far exceeding any -military 
 achievement on which we habitually expend folios of 4th 
 of July Orations. I should like to enlist Mr. Pearce, of 
 the Senate, and some such high-feeling and bold-speaking 
 man as Governor Wise, in the House, for this. 
 
 But my eye is furiously angry, and threatens if I go on 
 to burst — into tears. 
 
 Our countrymen are hurrying home in shoals, terrified 
 at what the panic has done or may do. 
 
 Ever truly yrs. 
 
 No. 157 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 23, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The despatch on this occasion will bring 
 you a formal notification of Admiral Seymour's blockade 
 of the port and river of Canton. This may possibly inter- 
 fere with our trade somewhat seriously. It puts a stop to 
 the chuckle I have seen in some of our papers to the 
 effect that we might reap a harvest while they were quar- 
 relling. 
 
 This war is one between Sir Michael Seymour and Com- 
 missioner Yeh, or between England and Canton, not be- 
 tween the two Empires of Great Britain and China : — and 
 certainly no declaration of war has yet appeared. I suppose 
 therefore we are to regard it as an imperfect or limited 
 war, though it looks more like a " Plug Ugly " skrimmage 
 than a national war. 
 
 The panic in the United States acts upon our travelling 
 countrymen like the " rappel " or beat for a retreat. They 
 
 are fast thronging homewards. Mr. told me that on 
 
 one morning, after the receipt of disastrous failures and 
 suspensions the night before, one hundred and fifty had 
 departed from the Hotel du Louvre at Paris to get on 
 board the Vauderbilti
 
 TO MR. CASS. 221 
 
 Consols were yesterday a scintilla below 89. This is 
 slight but perceptible improvement. The great effort is, 
 if possible, to prevent the shipment of gold and silver to 
 the United States. Such consignments are so immensely 
 remunerative just now, that the Bank of England repels 
 by an 8 per cent, discount notes designed to draw out her 
 coin. She has succeeded, it is thought, quite suificiently 
 to avert the danger. 
 
 We can expect no news from India short of a week 
 hence. Boys in the streets are, to be sure, every night 
 shrieking out, "Delhi fallen," "Havelock defeated;" — 
 but their newspapers contain nothing of the sort. 
 
 An inflammation in my left eyelid, engendered by a 
 fierce midnight lamp and the intolerable types of the New 
 York and Philadelphia, journals, absolutely compels me 
 to stop short. I dare say you will breathe a " thank 
 gracious!" for if the members of your diplomatic mena- 
 gerie throw at you such heaps of paper j^ellets as I do, 
 it is not in human nature to avoid a sense of patience 
 overwhelmed. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 158.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, October 30, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The last news from India, although ac- 
 companied by the storm of Delhi, is of a mixed character, 
 and scarcely justifies the exultation expressed in the Press 
 here. The capture of the city was not attained except 
 with immense comparative loss, especially of officers, and 
 it proved an almost empty acquisition, as the great body 
 of the rebels, with their new King at their head, had skil- 
 fully managed to evacuate the place, to cross the Jumna 
 by a bridge of boats, and to efi'ect a compact and safe re- 
 treat. The details of the assault, if allowed to appear, will 
 probably be frightful ; as it was protracted for six days, 
 during the greater part of which the fighting was con- 
 ducted in the streets. Such disastrous and inconclusive 
 successes, in a civil or servile war, ought not to be vapored 
 about. The escape of the King and garrison, which re-
 
 222 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 quires explanation, makes the whole siege measurably 
 abortive. 
 
 It is also quite obvious that, instead of being overawed 
 and checked, the disaflection is becoming wider and bolder. 
 The son of the deposed King of Oude, but 15 or 16 years 
 of age, has been hoisted into the throne of his father, and 
 his ministers have organized a force to impede the march 
 of Havelock and Outram to the relief of Lucknow. Sev- 
 eral sepoy regiments heretofore relied on have mutinied. 
 The English battalions, to be sure, seem invincible where 
 they stand: — but their power is confined to that ^^pos- 
 sessio pedis " and they do not put down the insurrection. 
 By this time, however, the new levies have reached the 
 scene of action, and we may expect to witness something 
 definitive. 
 
 The question as to the union or status quo of the Danu- 
 bian Principalities is rapidly ripening into what may prove 
 a quarrel after the approaching Conference at Paris. 
 France, Russia, Prussia, and Sardinia favor the consolida- 
 tion, with a new King chosen from the western dynasties: 
 England, Austria, and Turkey are averse to anything of 
 the sort. The Principalities themselves have recently by 
 large votes in their respective divans pronounced for 
 union. The difiiculty will not be removed when the 
 Powers come to consider the Treaty of Paris (or of Peace) 
 of the 30th of March last: — on the contrary, it will be 
 augmented. For it is clear that by Article 25, if the Sul- 
 tan alone holds aloof and refuses to agree to any proposed 
 definitive organization of these provinces, he is at liberty 
 to do so, and his "suzerainete" remains unimpaired. But 
 he has done so already, in advance of the Conference : — 
 he has formally repudiated the new monarchy scheme as 
 one to which he will never assent or submit; and while 
 apparently silent, both England and Austria vigorously 
 back him up in this stand. The majority of the Powers 
 in conference, sustained by the regularly ascertained sense 
 of the Principalities themselves, will not readily or cheer- 
 fully submit to the Sultan's veto. Hence it is not impos- 
 sible that the consulting physicians may disseminate an 
 opinion that " the sick man " is, after all said and done, 
 pretty much as Dr. Nicholas thought him, and that deple- 
 tion, drenching, and straight-waistcoating constitute the 
 only promising treatment.
 
 TO MR, CASS. 223 
 
 By tills occasion, you have consigned to you Sir Wil- 
 liam Gore Ousely and his charming American wife, 
 whose transmission by her Alajesty to Central America 
 (pray where is that government?) I apprised you of in my 
 note of the 13th instant. 
 
 I had the pleasure to welcome Secretary Cobb's Commis- 
 sioner on International Coinage two days ago. Professor 
 Alexander shall certainly have the benefit of all the aid I 
 can give him in getting access to the officers of govern- 
 ment to confer on the interesting subject intrusted to his 
 care. The topic, however, is not one to which attention 
 can, just now, be turned. 
 
 Prussia, you will have observed, has lapsed into a Re- 
 gency. The King, confiding everything to the hands of 
 his brother, proposes travelling southwards to Rome and 
 ^Naples. He will hardly get through the winter, and may 
 be regarded, like the generality of patients whom their 
 physicians recommend to travel, as a rapidly '■'•dissolving 
 view.'' The circumstances connected with the event seem, 
 somehow or other, to interfere with the programme of the 
 marriage of Prince William and the Princess Royal : — a 
 postponement to the spring is already hinted. 
 
 The alarm excited here by the monetary panic in the 
 United States is subsiding. Few failures : — among which 
 only one Bank, the Borough Bank of Liverpool. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 159.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, November 6, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The commercial fright, which seems 
 generally swelling into terror, is the only thing which 
 might possibly be beaten up to an importance sufficient 
 for a despatch. Everything else since the fall of Delhi 
 was announced is flat and fugitive. England has rather a 
 heavy load upon her back at present, and this last mone- 
 tary pressure threatens to make her stagger. Every fresh 
 steamer (the Vanderbilt last evening) brings gloomier ac- 
 counts from the United States. All the merchants and 
 manufacturers connected with American trade are startled
 
 224 TO MR, CASS. 
 
 and trembling. The Bank already appeals to the forbear- 
 ance of her depositors and customers, and tells them that 
 if they act upon their fears and ask her bullion, she can- 
 not stand it. Her interest is raised to 9 per cent., and 
 another puff of the western sirocco will lift it to 10. What 
 then ? Why, then she must cry out to Lord Palmerston 
 and Parliament, "help me, Cassius, or I sink!" — What 
 if they refuse ? Why, then I should be disposed to re- 
 member that the population of this Babel might become 
 feverish and excitable under the influence of an infusion 
 of some hundreds of thousands of discharged ojjeratives, 
 and that it might be prudent to have the Stars and Stripes 
 ready for exhibition from one's balustrade ! Bread riots, 
 however, are not famous for discrimination. 
 
 The failure to lay the Atlantic electric cable has been 
 followed by the failure to launch the Great Eastern, or, as 
 christened, "The Leviathan." An attempt on the 3d in- 
 stant, to permit the monster to slide sideways down an 
 inclined plane into the Thames was frustrated by some of 
 the workmen mistaking a signal shewn by Mr. Brunei 
 from his elevated position on the deck : — the effect being, 
 that one part of the ship obeyed the signal and moved some 
 three or four feet, while the other part remained sta- 
 tionary. It was accompanied by some sad accidents. 
 Still the operation might have proceeded, and it probably 
 would have proceeded, but that the river was densely 
 thronged by crowded steamers and boats, and the mishap 
 already experienced made it not impossible that another 
 might occur, and precipitate the vast unmanageable bulk 
 to overwhelm and deluge everything within two or three 
 miles of her. She is now resting on the inclined plane, 
 and it is feared that as that is constructed on piles, her 
 enormous weight, say 14,000 tons, may gradually settle 
 down and become immovable by any known mechanical 
 force. The second of December is given out as the day 
 for another trial: — but it would not surprise me to hear, 
 that, in order to avoid the obvious and imminent dangers 
 of a multitudinous collection, distracting and intimidating 
 those engaged in managing the machinery, she had been 
 safely launched without public notice. 
 
 Parliament has been prorogued to the 17th next month, 
 and will probably, as usual, be again prorogued to the 
 beginning of February.
 
 TO MRS. EDGE. 225 
 
 The United States frigate Niagara, Captain Hudson, 
 left Plymouth yesterday morning, homeward bound. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Uo. 160.-T0 MKS. EDGE. 
 
 London, November 9, 1857. 
 
 I REGRET, my dear Mrs. Edge, that consistently with 
 truth I am not at liberty to confirm your hope of our re- 
 lationship. Judging exclusively by the intelligent and 
 frank tone of your letter, it would have afiforded me great 
 pleasure to do so. 
 
 My father's name was not Joseph, but Alexander 
 James: my own name is not George Mills, but George 
 Mifflin. 
 
 My grandfather, somewhere in the middle of the last 
 century, was a physician in Edinburgh, Scotland: — he 
 married a wealthy lady of the Island of Jamaica, and had 
 numerous sons and daughters, all born in that colony. 
 His name was Robert Dallas. The estate upon which he 
 lived and died was known as "Dallas Castle." His widow 
 subsequently married a Mr. Sutherland : and these two, 
 in some way or other dissipated all the family property, 
 and threw my grandfather's sons upon their own energies. 
 All of them became eminent, but none except one called 
 Charles Stuart, or Stuart 'Charles, accumulated fortune. 
 
 My father, after marrying in Count}' Devon, a daughter 
 of Major George Smith, of the British Army, sought his 
 future in the United States in the year 1783, when about 
 25 3'ears of age. I was born in 1792 in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 This short narrative shews you that, although our 
 branches of lineage may have a common trunk, some- 
 where in distant times, they have extended far apart, and 
 it would be impossible to trace their connection beyond 
 the name. 
 
 Of the name, I knew there existed, during the last fifty 
 years, in America, several very respectable families : — but 
 enquiries have always ended in failing to prove that any 
 one of them was of the origin of my own. 
 
 . Very sincerely and respectfully yrs.
 
 226 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 161.-T0 MK. CASS. 
 
 London, NoTember 10, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The worst apprehensions are fast seiz- 
 ing upon the merchants. The Bank of England raised 
 her interest on discounts to 10 per cent, yesterday. Sev- 
 eral heavy failures have been announced, among them 
 the great firm of Dennistoun,of Glasgow; and others are 
 hourly expected. Not a ray of sunshine breaks upon the 
 gloom from any quarter as yet. Men look as if they were 
 beneath an impending avalanche and scarcely dare to 
 breathe. This applies to the great banking houses with- 
 out exception, whose names I will not trust to paper, but 
 whose deep anxieties are manifest. 
 
 Dr. Peter Parker, our late Commissioner in China, ar- 
 rived here last evening, and has just paid me a protracted 
 visit. Mr. Reed, according to the doctor's calculation, 
 will arrive at Hong-Kong at about this date. He seems 
 to regret that he was not left, like his colleague. Dr. Bow- 
 ring, to aid the minister whom the condition of public 
 afiairs rendered it expedient to send out. His purpose is 
 to proceed to the United States in about two weeks and 
 to visit Washington without delay. 
 
 I have written only because of my wish to send you a 
 line by every leading steamer, for I really am left by the 
 extreme dulness of the times, without topics for letters. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 162.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 London, November 13, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The panic proceeds : — leaving deeper 
 vestiges of its march on this side of the Atlantic than with 
 you. Yesterday, the cabinet took a step which cannot 
 fail to be impressive, for good or evil, and which may 
 produce serious discord in the approaching Parliament. 
 They determined to throw the government as an impedi- 
 ment in the way of the spreading commercial embarrass-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 227 
 
 ment: — and the Globe of this afternoon contains the letter 
 of Lord Pahnerston and the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 addressed to the Governor and Deputy Governor of the 
 Bank, authorizing a violation of the Charter by extending 
 their issues beyond the limits prescribed by Sir Robert 
 Peel's great and approved Act of 1844 : and this, though 
 with deprecatory language, at their discretion ! The min- 
 istry pledge themselves to ask from Parliament a bill of 
 indemnity, to save the Bank harmless, if it will break 
 through the fetters of law, and give the merchants an un- 
 limited supply of its notes : — And they omit the slightest 
 provision calculated, if that be at all possible, to prevent 
 the depreciation of the paper. After such a measure, it 
 is quite time that the English journals should pause in 
 their prolonged attacks on our Bank suspensions and their 
 legislative legalizations. 
 
 ITot all yet. An early meeting of Parliament is to be 
 summoned, probably before the close of this month. 
 Having taken the irrevocable step, the Premier resolves 
 to face the music at once. To this conclusion the govern- 
 ment would seem to have been hurried by two things : — 
 first, by the violent disorders menacing Glasgow, on the 
 stoppage of the Bank of that city, which demanded the pres- 
 ence of a military force : and second, by the example of 
 Louis JSTapoleon, who, the day before, to wit Wednesday the 
 12th, came out in the Moniteur with a letter addressed to his 
 Minister of Finance, stigmatizing the panic as a creature 
 of the imagination, disclaiming any design to employ 
 empirical measures, and counselling simple and tempo- 
 rary measures of prudence. The simple measures were 
 immediately adopted by the Bank of France, and the in- 
 terest on discounts made to rise according to the length of 
 the note to 8, 9, or 10 per cent. 
 
 The vice of all this is governmental intermeddling. It 
 depreciates the obligation of law, intimidates trade, and 
 tampers with currency. Men struggle boldly and success- 
 fully, amid commotions incident to the natural elements 
 of their business : — but if these are to be changed or con- 
 trolled at the will of government, results cease to depend 
 on individual energy and sagacity. When the fermenta- 
 tion is under way, abstinence is the true wisdom : wait 
 till spontaneous, self-creating clarification takes place. 
 
 The last news from India has caused much relief and
 
 228 TO MR. BATES. 
 
 exultation. The reeonquest of Delhi and the complete 
 success of Havelock in his movements on Lucknow are 
 undoubtedly pregnant facts. The old Mogul King (90 
 years of age) and his old wife, with their three sons, have 
 been pursued and captured : the superannuated couple 
 spared, the rest executed. Still, the confessed loss in hard 
 lighting, especially among the officers, has been immense. 
 Two generals, Mell and Mcholson, among them. There 
 is more disaffection reported : — a new and younger King 
 has been proclaimed: the rebels of Delhi have gone in 
 masses to other places to maintain and encourage mutiny: 
 the cholera rages : and General Wilson has been 'driven 
 from his command by ill health. 
 
 I am informed by one acquainted with him and his 
 family that General Havelock has had, during all the time 
 he has been pressing so gallantly forward, a daughter 
 among the besieged at Lucknow! 
 
 The new ministry in Belgium is of advanced liberalism ; 
 so, it is said, is the new ministry in Madrid: Rogier and 
 Mon are the respective vital spirits. I look to see, at an 
 early date, the linger of Napoleon in both of these pies, 
 disturbing the crust and displacing the plums. 
 
 Please say to Mr. Cobb that his Commissioner on Inter- 
 national Coinage, Professor Alexander, after a short dela}^, 
 accompanied me to-day to the Foreign Office, was intro- 
 duced to the Earl of Clarendon, and received every neces- 
 sary direction as to putting himself "ew rapporV with the 
 ^'- proper functionaries''' mentioned in the Act of Congress. 
 The subject occupies many of the iirst minds in this coun- 
 try, and I think the time may come when the two govern- 
 ments will mature it into practice. At present ever}'-- 
 thing financial and commercial is too dislocated and 
 disturbed to allow the necessary attention to be given to 
 the project. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 163.-TO ME. BATES. 
 
 London, November 15, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your proposal as to Christmas is too kind 
 and cordial to be resisted, notwithstanding our conscious-
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 229 
 
 ness of the mnltitude it embraces. "We anticipate great 
 pleasure in conforming precisely to your programme, and 
 in being with you and Mrs. Bates at Sheen on the 23d to 
 the 28th December. 
 
 I am given always to doubt the virtue of nullification 
 of law, whether it be executive or popular : — but cases of 
 sudden necessity may arise which excuse, if they don't 
 justify, a government in assuming the responsibility of 
 doing it. The precedent set in 1847, of suspending the 
 operation of Sir Robert Peel's Bank Act, was very seduc- 
 tive at this crisis ; and the manner in which that bold 
 breach of positive legal injunction was treated may be 
 fairly regarded as equivalent to a legislative modification 
 or relaxation of the terms of the Charter. No ministry 
 can hereafter, under the same circumstances, venture to 
 hold on to the law inflexibly. One position, ^Hta lexscrip- 
 ta," must yield to another, '■^ comimunis error facii jus." 
 
 I hope what you say of the storm here may be true also 
 of the storm in the United States, though you perceive that 
 our Secretary of the Treasury recoiled from doing what is 
 somewhat analogous to Lord Palmerston's proceeding: — 
 he would not throw the doors of the sub-treasury vaults 
 open, in face of an Act of Congress, although extremely 
 inclined and tempted to do so. My letters are still full of 
 sad foreboding, but I think a streak of sunshine returning 
 here and there breaks through the dark cloud. We shall 
 revive in sixty days, but we shall miss from the herd many 
 a noble animal who carried veteran and magnificent 
 antlers but two months ago. 
 
 Pray ofter to Mrs. B our warmest regards, and be- 
 lieve me always 
 
 Most faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 164 -TO ME. GILPIN. 
 
 London, November IG, 1857. 
 
 My deae Gilpin, — It puzzles me to find excuses for 
 your long protracted silence. I hear and sincerely hope 
 that Mrs G. has perfectly recovered her health. If not, 
 then to be sure the puzzle is explained.
 
 230 TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 Mr. Cobden brought Mr. Bright to see me about a week 
 ago. The latter looks the type of florid health ; but I 
 doubt its entirety and permanency. He, several times in 
 the course of an hour's talk (for visits here are very pro- 
 longed), put his hand to his head as if to aid the process of 
 thought: — once, perceiving that I remarked the gesture 
 with a slight sympathy, he said that he still felt a remnant 
 of his complaint in being unable to push vigorously to 
 concentration the course of his ideas : — that he was appre- 
 hensive he would find it hard, if not impossible, to take 
 his old position in parliamentary debate: that in other 
 respects his restoration was perfect. I told him that in 
 convalescence, -the mind, like the body, required gradual 
 exercise ; that his had been idle for nearly two years, and, 
 though perfectly sound, was relaxed; and I exhorted him 
 not to postpone exertion to the House of Commons, but to 
 try himself first among his friends after a public dinner, and 
 then at one or two political meetings. I added, that one of 
 my chief inducements in consenting to come on this mis- 
 sion was the opportunity of hearing Mr. Cobden and him- 
 self in full blast on the free trade topic, and I did not want 
 to be wholly disappointed. These gentlemen carried their 
 Manchester Peace principle to an extreme, at a moment 
 when the nation was irrevocably committed to war, and, 
 as a necessary consequence, their popularity waned. Mr. 
 Cobden lost his election last spring, only because of his 
 constant opposition to vigorous measures against Russia. 
 I do not yet perceive a prospect of his regaining his 
 ground. His friend is younger, less dreaded or disliked, 
 promised not to carry his Quaker notions into the Indian 
 struggle, is re-elected, and if he will only surmount, by 
 the regimen I have prescribed, his diseased want of self- 
 confidence, must become the leading spirit of the House of 
 Commons. Of course, I took the occasion to speak of 
 you, whom he remembered with obvious pleasure, and to 
 place in his hands the package of books you sent for him 
 a year ago. No doubt he will acknowledge to you their 
 receipt. 
 
 The very last accounts from India create extreme anx- 
 iety for the fate of Generals Outram and Ilavelock and 
 their army about 3500 strong. They reached Lucknow 
 and relieved the European men and women besieged in a 
 fortress : — but they can't themselves get out again : the
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 231 
 
 masseg of Mussulmans in the city of Lucknow itself are 
 watching an opportunity to overwhelm them ; the road 
 back to Cawnpore is infested with small armies of muti- 
 neers ; Nana Sahib, with thirty or forty thousand men 
 and munitions in abundance, is surrounding them; and a 
 month at least must elapse before adequate reinforce- 
 ments could reach them. After all the sulfering endured 
 and gallantry exhibited by Havelock and his men, their 
 sudden destruction, by Nana Sahib too, would be as se- 
 vere a blow upon the heart of this country as could be 
 struck. It looks at this moment to be almost inevitable. 
 Havelock will no doubt sustain the character he has 
 achieved by a most desperate defence : but the odds are 
 too great. Men argue here that the fall of Delhi and the 
 capture of the Mogul King will dispirit the rebels at Luck- 
 now : — perhaps so, and perhaps not. The city was a bar- 
 ren conquest: — it was kept with acknowledged courage 
 and skill by the sepoys for months: it Avas abandoned by 
 them when no longer tenable : and the}' have escaped to 
 rally and continue the war elsewhere : the superannuated 
 monarch was a mere effigy, though a cherished one, and 
 the treatment shewn him, with the execution of his sons, 
 may possibly produce more exasperation than fright. 
 Nana Sahib, with all his atrocities exaggerated, is yet 'ad- 
 mitted to possess talents, bravery, and resources : — he may 
 also see in the extirpation of the King's family, an open- 
 ing for the establishment of a new dynasty : he may be a 
 Spartacus, and yet hope to avoid the fate of Spartacus. 
 
 Parliament will meet in the first week in December. It 
 is hurried up by the government to pass an Act of Amnesty 
 for the benefit of the Bank, which, at the instigation and 
 request of the ministry, openly violates the express restric- 
 tions of its Charter in issuing an unlimited amount of its 
 notes and retaining its coin. There is precedent for this ; — 
 in 1847 : — and the nullification of positive law not only does 
 not create surprise, but seems to receive unanimous appro- 
 bation. The panic has made its own law. I am told by the 
 first city merchants that the " storm is over," that the 
 breath of Lord Palmerston has stilled the agitation, and 
 arrested an explosion on the brink of producing wide- 
 spread ruin. The "Omnipotent" Assembly, whose past 
 decrees are thus slighted, will register a new one with very 
 little if any demur. It will continue in session for a week
 
 232 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 or two, and then be prorogued, probably to February. It 
 will only take time to utter a few speeches about India, 
 China, and perhaps Central America. 
 
 The book of the day is Livingstone's Africa. Read it. 
 Don't be repelled, as I was on the point of being, by the 
 first fifty or sixty pages. You will come to curious and 
 interesting details of natural history which will abundantly 
 delight you. * 
 
 We all unite, nem. con., in sending the kindest re- 
 
 gards to Mrs. G. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 165.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, November 17, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The meeting of Parliament will precede 
 that of Congress by four days. It was prorogued to the 
 17th of December, but the Queen has by proclamation yes- 
 terday hastened it a fortnight. Officially., the object is " the 
 despatch of divers urgent and important affairs:" generally, 
 it is understood to be the passage of an act to amnesty 
 and guarantee the Bank : — really, it is for these purposes, 
 and specially perhaps to authorize a loan for the relief of 
 the East India Company's finances. This last point will 
 be a sore matter, notwithstanding the military glory which 
 is represented to have been gained in the rebellion; — for 
 John Bull thinks that the expense of the struggle should 
 all be extracted, by the East India Company and the local 
 government, through confiscations and fresh taxes, out of 
 the natives, and not be wrenched from him. 
 
 It is doubtful whether the Queen will open Parliament 
 in person. And why ? You will be surprised to hear. 
 The reason is that if her Majesty does open Parliament, 
 she must, of necessity, advert to the gallantry exhibited 
 in Bengal by the British generals, and particularize them 
 by name. Public feeling will not be satisfied with cold 
 comprehensive praise from her: — and yet she cannot step 
 out of a dull formality without stirring the hot embers of 
 an established feud in the India service, the feud between 
 those called ^^ Queen's men" and those called '•'• Company's
 
 TO MR. CASS. 233 
 
 men." I have the disclosure of this covert bnt practical em- 
 barrassment, of which I was not before aware, from a highly 
 distinguished and intelligent gentleman in office. How the 
 difficulty bears upon Wilson, Lawrence, Havelock, ISTich- 
 olson, Mell, and Outram respectively, it will be curious to 
 enquire, and may be a key to explain future honors or 
 slights. Thus far Havelock has borne off the palm, and 
 he is even compared with Wellington : — although a morn- 
 ing paper, in view of his actual danger in Lucknow, de- 
 nounces his advance to that place as the precipitate mis- 
 take of the campaign. His popularity here is unbounded, 
 and may extort from Majesty a F. Marshal's baton. 
 
 There are philosophers everywhere who think them- 
 selves peculiarly competent to cure all existing evils. 
 Such no doubt is the gentleman who wrote the accom- 
 panying pamphlets on monetary matters, pamphlets which 
 he is anxious to administer, as a sort of homoeopathic dose, 
 to Brother Jonathan, in the convulsive crisis of his affixirs. 
 He has begged me (by the letter enclosed) to send them 
 to the President, a courtesy to him which I cannot pre- 
 termit: — but, as I am averse to call attention from vastly 
 more important affairs to the lucubrations of Mr. John M. 
 Knott, a perfect stranger, I must, even, with a thousand 
 apologies, transfer the burden to your broad shoulders. 
 
 There are puffs of news from China. Lord Elgin had 
 greatly benetited his health, which was assailed by fever, 
 by his voyage to Calcutta : but he ascertained, on his re- 
 turn to Hong-Kong, that he would have to remain in 
 Southern China, until at least the next spring. The 
 blockade had been pushed up to Canton itself. Several 
 skirmishes had occurred, and, in the main, the English, 
 under Commodore Elliott, came oft' second best. The 
 French Embassy had reached Singapore. The Russian 
 envoy had managed to communicate with the Imperial 
 government at Pekin, and had then gone to Shanghai 
 to wait reception and presentation, but it was believed 
 that he had received information of the Emperor/s un- 
 willingness to accept his visit. With the exception of 
 Canton, commerce with all the ports of China is as 
 lively and tranquil as ever. "How very odd!" Commo- 
 dore Tatnall, who arrived here a week ago, will proceed 
 on his voyage to relieve Commodore Armstrong, in the 
 course of a few days. 
 
 VOL. I. — 16
 
 234 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 We are called upon by the Court official to mount 
 mourning for the deceased Duchess of JSTemours, as cousin 
 of her Majesty ! that is, I believe, she was the daughter of 
 the personage who first married the Queen's aunt, and 
 secondly married her mother! — well, according to the 
 regulations of your department, our suits of sable are 
 always on hand, and always "full dress," 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 166 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, Novem'ber 20, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The progress of commercial disaster 
 does not appear to have been arrested by the ministerial 
 intervention. The Bank, to be sure, lends more freely, 
 but the list of daily failures gets longer and longer. Un- 
 less the grand panacea of governmental guaranty prove 
 effective soon, I don't see what is to prevent a general 
 break-down, attended by great social disorders, far worse 
 than any we need fear in the United States. 
 
 The ambassadors from the First and tSecond Kings of 
 Siam, with their presents of rich barbaric gold and jew- 
 elry, were received by the Queen (upon the throne !) at 
 Windsor yesterday. I met these illustrious mulattoes at 
 the dinner of the Lord Mayor in honor of the Duke of 
 Cambridge. Wretched, squat-faced, inexpressive, animal- 
 looking creatures ! in every possible trait inferior to our 
 Indians. Strong and sinewy, with teeth stained jet-black, 
 hair equally dark and cropped close, and tight- fitting 
 gowns of thin cloth of gold : — admirable laborers for a 
 Southern cotton-field. 
 
 Yesterday, too, Mr. Brunei made a second failure with 
 the Great Eastern. He attempted to move her nearer to 
 tlie water and applied a force which made the piles sup- 
 porting the rams give and break without budging her. 
 This trial was a private one : and no doubt all future ones, 
 until the huge fabric is afloat, will be conducted without 
 public notice. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 235 
 
 No. 167 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, November 24, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Stillness precedes a stir: — and by that 
 reflection I account for the silent smoothness with which 
 political atfairs are gliding to the meeting of Parliament 
 on the 3d of December, and of the Congress at Paris 
 shortly after. Nothing agitates the air but the fall, actual 
 or prophesied, of some great commercial house, or the 
 learned declamation of an "Oxon." on the duty of mak- 
 ing a Christian demonstration against Juggernaut in Ben- 
 gal, so that future divine judgments may be averted. 
 Two parliamentary, or rather ministerial, dinners are for- 
 mally announced for the 2d of December : — one by Lord 
 Granville, the other by the Premier. 
 
 The Reform party, headed by Mr. Roebuck, think 
 the moment propitious for a fresh movement, and have 
 issued a sort of manifesto which may be characterized as 
 a cowed utterance of Chartism. I think Mr. Roebuck one 
 of the ablest, he is universally admitted to be the most 
 independent, of the members of Parhament: — but the 
 country is, at this moment, tamed by two wars, by the 
 alarm-bell of the Exchange, and by the prospect of popu- 
 lar commotion and suffering excited by augmented taxa- 
 tion. The period is unwisely chosen. Although Lord 
 Palmerston explicitly pledged himself to introduce a Re- 
 form Bill at the present session, no one expects him to do 
 it, and already the matter is treated, in conversation and 
 in the press, as indefinitely postponed. Mr. Roebuck's fol- 
 lowers are suificient neither in number nor moral weight 
 to make head against the quiet overslawmg current of the 
 time. 
 
 The death of Cavaignac was thought to be the knell of 
 the Freneh Republican party : — yet the factthat Carnot and 
 Goudchaux have refused to swear allegiance to the Em- 
 pire indicates very strongly the reverse. I am told that, 
 owing to some yet undeveloped cause, the popularity of 
 Louis Napoleon among the Parisians is perceptibly waning. 
 This ma}' be tested by the new election ordered. 
 
 You will receive this at about the opening of Congress, 
 and I cannot repress an entreaty that I may be promptly
 
 236 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 supplied with 1. the President's Message, 2. the Report of 
 Mr. Cobb, and 3. the Congressional Dir■eeto^3^ 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 168.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 8, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Arabia brought me, late yesterday, 
 your interesting Nos. 85, 86, and 87. Their tone implies 
 a policy which has my zealous sympathy, and which I am 
 eager to see distinctly announced in the President's Mes- 
 sage. At this moment, public opinion all through Eu- 
 rope is prepared for the new American Executive's cutting 
 through all the protracted and complicated cobwebs of 
 controversy which it has been the pleasure of England to 
 spin out of the fruitful womb of the Clayton-Bulwer 
 Treaty. Lord Napier's letter to you of the 9th October 
 looks very like a deliberated effort to lay the foundations 
 of another series of batteries for arguments long drawn 
 out. Your reply of the 20th probably created a flutter, 
 a suspension of works, and an appeal for further instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 If the Message be what I have thought likely on our 
 Foreign Relations, Parliament will reassemble (it ad- 
 journs on Monday the 14th) after the holidays in a temper 
 very difi:'erent from the quiet and passive one it now ex- 
 hibits. Not a word given to the United States, or Cen- 
 tral America, in the Queen's speech !* a fact commented 
 
 * Diary : December 3, 1857. — "The opening of Parliament by the Queen 
 in person this morning was altogether a handsome and suggestive cere- 
 mony. Here, in a vast and rich hall, was in fact concentrated the govern- 
 ment of a widespread Empire: — Koyalty, Princes, Peers, Nobles, Bish- 
 ops, Law-Judges, and Commons. Her Majesty wore a crown of brilliants, 
 and jewels sparkled over her person. Her principal garment was a glit- 
 tering skirt of striped golden stuff, and she removed from her shoulders 
 the weight of a cloak of crimson velvet bordered with ermine. She was 
 preceded into the Housq of Lords, from the corridor, by high officers, who 
 bowed to the yet vacant throne as they passed it. She was handed up 
 to the throne by the Prince Consort. On her immediate right stood 
 Lord Winchester, holding a gold stick surmounted by a large red velvet 
 cap, with gold tassel, termed the Cap of Maintenance. On her immediate
 
 TO MR. CASS. 237 
 
 upon by the Journal des Debats, and deemed significant 
 of disturbances )>ehind the scenes. And a representative 
 of France, Mr. Belly, has proceeded to join Sir W. G. 
 Ousely, in order to realize Lord Clarendon's old declara- 
 tion as to the universal bearing of the Anglo-Franco Alli- 
 ance. Very well ! There is nothing so impressive upon 
 the majority of the House of Commons as decided lan- 
 guage from the chief of our "fierce democracie," and 
 Lord Palmerston may find himself suddenly unhorsed by 
 the influence of terrified manufacturers already tortured 
 by the panic. It is an epoch at which the very question- 
 able opinions and interpretations of a Premier will not be 
 sustained by the popular branch of Parliament at the 
 hazard of reviving the hostile feelings of the two coun- 
 tries. 
 
 I went last night to both Houses. The Lords were on 
 India, the Commons on the Bank : — but the benches were 
 almost empty while Lord Derby was speaking in the one, 
 and a Scotch member in the other. It is understood that 
 the ministry have their way on both questions ; and the 
 opposition, after a few speeches, retires listlessly from 
 contest. 
 
 I hope you have noticed that the great English historian, 
 like a wise man chary of fame already acquired, has re- 
 tained his name and taken the oaths in the House of 
 
 left was Earl Granville, grasping and keeping erect, with fixed solemnity 
 of look, the huge decorated Sword of State. The Lord Chancellor, Cran- 
 worth, was next to the Marquess of Winchester, and held in his hand the 
 Address, which he subsequently gave, kneeling, to the Que(3n, to be read. 
 Lord Lansdowne carried a Crown qj)on a cushion. The Princess Royal 
 and Princess Mary of Cambridge, seated themselves in front on the 
 "Woolsack, with their faces to the Queen, their backs turned necessarily to 
 the crowd. The chamber was full of elegantly dressed ladies : — the Peers 
 present were few. As soon as the obstreperous rushing in of the disor- 
 derly Commons to the Bar, headed by their Speaker, had subsided, the 
 Address was read by the Queen, still sitting, and was well read : — her 
 Majesty manifesting a slight and attractive agitation at first. There was 
 much to gratify in the whole performance : — but it seemed to me that its 
 charm arose from its being headed by an exemplary lady not yet old enough 
 to have lost beauty, grace, and sweetness of voice. Her husband occu- 
 pied what might be regarded as a secondary throne, on her left beyond 
 Lord Granville. The Address read and returned to the Lord Chancellor, 
 the Queen rose immediately, and, handed by the Prince Consort, bowed 
 to the audience, who all stood up, and left by the door and corridor 
 through which she had come. The Prince of Wales was not present. 
 Prince William of Prussia was."
 
 238 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Peers, with the title of Baron Macaulay. If he choose 
 it, he will carry great weight with his new associates. 
 
 You have doubtless heard that we are in the middle of 
 the JSTineteenth Century. What a mistake ! The illus- 
 trious ambassadors from Siam, on being introduced into 
 the presence of the Queen, actually and in a group fell 
 upon their faces, crawled on all-fours to the foot of the 
 throne, and presented her Majesty with the right royal 
 and magnificent present (among others) of a spittoon ! 
 Shade of Basil Hall, and Genius of Trollope ! what think 
 ye of this intrusion by the representative of " the lilthy 
 practices of Americans" into the very sanctuary of tran- 
 scendental retinement ? I wonder if these eastern savages 
 are given to practical jokes, or have in their wit a spice of 
 sarcasm. 
 
 Commercial skies are slowly brightening. The reported 
 failures are becoming few and far between. The example 
 of the Bank of France will probably be soon followed, and 
 the Dame of Threadneedle Street begin to lower her in- 
 terest on discounts. At Hamburg, however, and it is 
 feared at Copenhagen and Stockholm, the financial as- 
 phyxia threatens universal ruin. How singularly similar 
 to the progress of an epidemical cholera has the advance 
 of this monetary derangement been! only it travels in an 
 opposite direction, from West to East. 
 
 Mr. Brunei has not yet got his Leviathan into her ele- 
 ment : unless she rushed down in the course of last night. 
 One half of her journey homewards is not yet accom- 
 plished. All things, however, inspire confidence, and 
 very soon the astronomers in the Moon will rejoice in the 
 discovery of a great spot upon the Earth's disc. 
 
 I ought to make — and therefore I do make — a thousand 
 apologies to the Secretary of State for this mixture of in- 
 congruities : — but, as Monsieur Crapaud says, ^^Que voulez- 
 vous ?"" — my notes are as musical as I can nudvo them. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. J. M. M. 239 
 
 No. 169.-T0 MR. J. M. M. 
 
 London, December 11, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The President's Message is eagerly 
 awaited. Misgivings as to its tone are prevalent. It may 
 rouse an opposition in Parliament which, disposed to any- 
 thing rather than quarrel with America, will oblige Lord 
 Palmerston to quit the helm. The administration, say 
 rather the President, has a glorious opportunity for in- 
 augurating a grand international clearing-house. 
 
 The French scheme for reviving the Slave Trade, osten- 
 sibly a mere license to a firm. Regis & Co., to ship from 
 Africa large numbers of negroes, as free laborers, for the 
 "West Indies, will probably be abandoned. Some people 
 think, though I do not, that the functionaries of this 
 government would have connived at the project had it re- 
 mained sub rosa : — but the keen-sighted and loud-tongued 
 abolitionists gave the halloo, and now Lord Clarendon, 
 when waited upon, gives positive and impressive assur- 
 ances that their great and faithful ally beyond the Chan- 
 nel will effectually prevent the mischief. The conception 
 of the plan is a proof of the straits to which they are 
 reduced, as to labor, by their fanatical humanitarianism. 
 Observe, the English statesmen and editors have had a 
 measure of rationality infused into their doctrine of uni- 
 versal emancipation by their fight with the Indian se- 
 poys: — for though, like the scrupulous framers of our 
 Constitution, they sink the word slaves, they in reality 
 inflict a servitude more abject and galling than is known 
 to our Southern States. 
 
 The House of Lords will this afternoon dispose of, by 
 passing, the Bill of Indemnity to the Bank and the minis- 
 try for violating its Charter. That proceeding certainly 
 seemed to lull the commercial tornado which threatened 
 universal break-down. Until the government cried " let 
 go and hawl," the vessel, in general opinion, was upset- 
 ting: — that spell righted her, and she has ever since, on 
 an even keel, been slowly getting into smoother water. 
 Failures, to be sure, are almost daily announced of houses 
 connected in business with distant continental places, 
 Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vieima, Constantinople,
 
 240 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 and St, Petersburg, to wliicli the tempest lias pushed and 
 where it is expending its expiring force. But the worst 
 is over, here ; as I fervently hope it is with you. 
 , It is curious t© observe how popular sentiment z^*«7Z force 
 its way in this country through all sorts of aristocratic 
 finesse and obstacles. I have noticed many instances: — 
 but here is a new and signal one. General Havelock, by 
 a series of gallant exploits, made himself the favorite 
 of the day, and the people called lustily upon royalty 
 for his reward. Well, they first settled upon him a 
 wretched annuity of £100. Pish ! cried John Bull, that 
 will never do ! Then, they made him a Baronet: — Bah ! 
 grumbled John, that may do for Sir William Williams of 
 Kars, but here's a soldier pf a dozen victories ! Then, 
 the Queen, by special message, graciously hoped her 
 Parliament would vote, and her Parliament has voted, 
 £1000 per annum during his life. Still the heart of John 
 Bull is swelling and dissatisfied, and he is demanding 
 something like what was done for Marlborough or Wel- 
 lington — for John solemnly believes Havelock to have 
 saved the British Indian Empire — and he now insists upon 
 a peerage and a fortune to maintain it. Success to him ! 
 and succeed he will, if he but stick obstinately to his de- 
 mand. Havelock's present position at Lucknow, however, 
 renders it extremely doubtful whether he will survive to 
 wear his honors. He is beleaguered by 70,000, and wants 
 food; and though Sir Colin Campbell may rake together 
 a force of 5000 to go to his assistance, a deep dread pre- 
 vails that he will be too late. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 170.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 15, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sie, — Parliament has adjourned to the 4th 
 of February next. It was in session neaily nine work- 
 ing days. The Lords met on Saturday last the 12th, 
 merely to receive the Queen's assent to the act relieving 
 the Bank. Little positive legislation beyond that was 
 attempted. A Committee of broad investigation as to 
 currency was reappointed : General Havelock was voted
 
 TO MR. CASS. 241 
 
 a pension of £1000 per annum for life : and a pretty dis- 
 tinct intimation was thrown out that the government 
 would be obliged to go to the relief of the funds of the 
 East India Company. As to Reform, explicitly promised 
 in the Queen's speech, the Premier merely added in de- 
 bate, " you must wait till after the holidays for our plan : 
 — we have no notion of allowing the critics to broo'd over 
 it during the recess." One thing was too obvious for 
 doubt: on none of the existing public measures is the 
 opposition capable to make a stand. It is difficult to 
 imagine a British ministry more unchecked in pursuing 
 whatever course they like, than thai of Lord Palmerston. 
 i^or can any change be anticipated as the fruit of some 
 measure of domestic .policy. Even a ridiculously small 
 instalment of reform — a wee bit — will fail to exasperate a 
 serious resistance. There may possibly spring up a for- 
 eign question to disturb this smooth ascendency, but it is 
 not easy to designate the quarter whence it can come, or 
 to say how it will divide parties when it occurs. The 
 practical power wielded by Lord Palmerston would make 
 me anxious lest, to attain some sinister purpose, it should 
 be exerted against the United States, but that I feel as-- 
 sured that he and his cabinet are too sagacious voluntarily 
 to run the risk of the only national quarrel which their 
 countrymen cannot and will not uphold. His lordship's 
 theory of administration certainly leads him to keep open 
 an issue of war, as a vent for the humors of John Bull: 
 and if he closes the Indian struggle, as appearances indi- 
 cate that he soon will, you may expect to see Canton 
 sacked, and Pekin menaced. But he must be very tightly 
 cornered before he will aim at America, and so revive the 
 swarming of the hosts of manufacturing hornets upon his 
 head. 
 
 The solicitude about Outram and Havelock, cooped up 
 in Lucknow with an extra train of women and children, 
 continues, although somewhat less desperate owing to re- 
 cent accounts. The contending forces are converging to 
 that point, and the result of an assault by Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell will probably close the insurrection. He was near 
 being captured on his way to take the command. Travel- 
 ling en courrier without an escort, in order to be quick, he 
 pounced suddenly upon a considerable body of mutineers, 
 and narrowly escaped by the fleetness of his horse.
 
 242 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 In the course of next month the marriage of the Prin- 
 cess Rojal is to attract hither an immense flight of crowned 
 personages, their families, or representatives. Her Ma- 
 jesty has not palaces enough to accommodate her guests, 
 and is obliged to engage public hotels in advance. The 
 chief theatres will, in the same service, be thrown gratui- 
 tously open for several weeks. Every eftbrt at brilliant 
 eclat will be made. You probably experienced and re- 
 member the effect of such whirling court festivities upon 
 a republican minister. 
 
 The money crisis seems to subside quite as fast as the 
 monster steamer : — both are, however, still upon the stocks. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 171.-10 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 22, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Message reached London at about 
 5 A.M. yesterday. I read it in bed and compo8edl3\ It 
 appeared, in pretty large fragments, in most of the morn- 
 ing papers. It is frankly and distinctly praised, except in 
 that portion which deals of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. 
 The Times and the Post of to-day contain comments; and 
 perhaps these, better than my impressions formed in so 
 short a space of time, will enable you to see the reception 
 it has had here ; and although I know you have files of 
 these papers sent to you, it may be convenient to have the 
 slips I now enclose. By the interference of Terence's play 
 at the School of Westminster with the free agency of one 
 of my guests at dinner yesterday, I missed the opportunity 
 of being told the sentiment of Lord Clarendon, who had 
 in the early part of the day talked fully to him on the 
 subject. I got my copy before sunrise, by virtue of an 
 arrangement to expedite it from Liverpool on the arrival 
 of the Arabia. 
 
 Commercial matters appear to be improving. They 
 have not been as bad in France as either here or with us. 
 They are still deplorable in Germany; and some intelligent 
 merchants anticipate that the failures in that quarter, espe- 
 cially the north, will react upon France, and make matters
 
 TO MR. CASS. . 243 
 
 worse than they have yet been. Consols have run up to 
 within a shade of 93 : — but the Bank still exacts 10 p. c. 
 interest. 
 
 The town is deserted and dull. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 P. S. — The Message is printed at full length, not in 
 fragments, in to-day's Tbnes, partially disfigured by the 
 headings to the several topics, originally devised by the 
 K'ew York Herald. 
 
 No. 172 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 29, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It occurs to me as possible, that the 
 many interesting subjects which are hourly demanding 
 your attention in Washington may make you give less 
 , welcome than heretofore to these desultory letters of mine. 
 I hope you will not hesitate, if so, to tell me to relax the 
 stream. 
 
 It is €]uite apparent that the two leading topics for par- 
 liamentary disposition, in February, will be representative 
 Reform, and a modification of the government in India. 
 The minister will, after all and possibly very unwillingly, 
 be obliged to offer his bill. A scheme novel in its char- 
 acter has been recommended to him, in a formal Memorial, 
 by a large number of influential persons headed by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. After the fashion of think- 
 ing which prevails here, the plan has its plausibilities. It 
 rests upon the idea of creating a new and distinct constit- 
 uency, to Ije composed of those who have been ^'- liberally 
 educated;^' — that is, according to English common par- 
 lance, of the professions — of lawyers, physicians, and par- 
 sons. These, throughout the Empire, are designed to be 
 jumbled into a separate mass, and to send their represent- 
 atives from specified localities to the House of Commons. 
 It is calculated that this constituency will furnish about 
 seventy members, contributed in prett}' nearly equal pro- 
 portions by the Bar, the Faculty, and the Clergy. It is 
 class representation, intended and avowed, according to 
 some narrower examples already existing. Much atten-
 
 244 . TO MR. CASS. 
 
 tion has been awakened to it, and it may not be entirely 
 excluded from the ministerial project. In discussing it 
 the other day, at a dinner table, before some Judges and 
 Members of the House, I took the liberty to characterize 
 it as a sop thrown to Cerberus, oiled with conservatism, 
 which, instead of satisfying, would only sharpen appetite : 
 and that, after all, if they wanted to do justice to their 
 fellow-men, nothing was so conservative as universal suf- 
 frage, the very opposite of such class preferences. 
 
 You notice that Baron Brunow returns to this Court, 
 which he left when the Crimean war broke out. I hear 
 through a diplomatic colleague that Count Kreptowitch, 
 owing to some unexplained cause, went back to St. Pe- 
 tersburg somewhat under a cloud. Sed, de hoc quxre? 
 
 Count and Countess Platen, who succeed, from Swe- 
 den, Baron and Baroness Hochschild (the former dead), 
 are plain, unpretending, and attractive persons. The 
 Count told me he had begun life in the British navy, 
 had been in the Swedish ministry, but had retired many 
 years ago from public affairs. He is owner of a large for- 
 tune. They knew intimately m}^ old friend Mr. Christo- 
 pher Hughes, whose daughter married Senator Kennedy 
 of Maryland. 
 
 The Spaniard, Bravo, is off again to Madrid. He left 
 here on the 21st instant. The very nice young gentle- 
 man whom he leaves Charg^ d' Atftiires, Conti, says that the 
 minister is a leading member of the Spanish legislature, 
 and that his presence in the Body is occasionally indispen- 
 sable. Nothing need be apprehended against Mexico. 
 The movement of General Walker may possibly revive a 
 little alarmed bustle — for Spain regards all filibustering as 
 ultimately destined against Cuba — but the President's 
 Message effectually secures her good behavior. 
 
 The vestiges of the commercial panic are fast disappear- 
 ing. The Bank suddenly dropped her rate of interest 
 from 10 to 8, and will shortly lower to 6. She does but 
 conform to the street rate. The storm is, however, growl- 
 ing as it retreats on the Continent. Everybody eulogizes 
 Mr. Cobb's report, and the tendency to American invest- 
 ments will before long be greater than ever. 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell has done his job handsomely, with 
 only such an amount of wound as would attest his per- 
 sonal activity and exposure. The details of his relieving
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. 245 
 
 Liickuow have not yet arrived. He is conjectured to have 
 returned to Cawnpore, there to organize an overpowering 
 force for the subjection of the kingdom of Oude. 
 
 Can it he possible that while the case of the "Panchita" 
 was being disclaimed and apologized for, the same thiug 
 was going on with dozens of our vessels and flags ? 
 
 Many happy returns of the season. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 173.-TO ME. MARKOE. 
 
 LoNDOX, January 5, 1858. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Your letters are full of interest to 
 me, of one sort or another, and I thank you heartily for 
 them. 
 
 General Cass has been, I honestly fear, palled by the 
 ceaseless stream of those I have written to him. During 
 the active labors thrown upon him by the session of Con- 
 gress, he can hardly have leisure to break their seals. 
 Miscellaneous and transient as their topics are, the desire 
 to keep them up as long as they can prove, in the remotest 
 degree, useful or agreeable, has kept me watchful of all 
 the minor incidents of the day, and constantly on the qm 
 vive. They cost me a great deal more in attention and 
 thought, than the routine of otficial despatches : — and yet, 
 I have a misgiving lest they oppress the General and be 
 really valueless. Tell me the bald truth, without a 
 mincing Avord. 
 
 I think I drew your curiosity before I left home to 
 "Christie Johnstone," one of Reade's lirst novels. Well, 
 now get his last, "White Lies." It is written with the 
 same boldness of conscious power, is thoroughly and de- 
 signedly French,* and has a noble tone of domestic virtue 
 and of moral. » 
 
 Tell M. that the general inclination here is to disbelieve 
 in the Leviathan. Another failure yesterday almost ex- 
 tinguishes hope; — but it arose from an outside piece of 
 carelessness : a bark ran into and disturbed one of the 
 barges essential to the operation : and so / keep a stiff 
 upper lip of confidence in ultimate success. 
 
 Always sincerely yrs.
 
 246 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 174.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, January 8, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Yesterday's telegram of Indian news 
 announces the death of General Havelock b}^ dysentery, a 
 few days after his leaving Lncknow, and the defeat of 
 General Wyndham near Cawnpore by the Gwalior contin- 
 gent of sepoys. This last force of mutineers was, about 
 ten days subsequentl}^ attacked and routed by Sir Colin 
 Campbell. It is difficult to understand the defeat of 
 AVyndham : but its effect must be greatly to reanimate 
 and encourage the rebels. Explanatory details will not 
 reach here for a week or ten days. 
 
 The necessity of Parliament's authorizing the East India 
 Company to effect a loan in England of about £8,000,000, 
 seems generally conceded. It will probably precede, and 
 not embarrass, the fundamental change contemplated in 
 the mode of governing "the Eastern Conquest." That 
 change will mainly consist in bringing the political sover- 
 eignty of the Empire, passing by the " Company," to bear, 
 in name and in reality, upon all Hindostan as a national 
 conquest : in founding a new ministerial department ex- 
 clusively devoted to the supervision and control of that 
 immense region : and in fact, at the expiration of more 
 than sixty years, to take the defeated scheme of Mr. Fox, 
 and abandon for it the disproved one of Mr. Pitt. This 
 important topic of legislation will go far to elbow out of 
 the coming session every other, and may help especially 
 in still farther putting off definitive action on Parliament- 
 ary Reform. 
 
 I can't avoid thinking that the present moment is pecu- 
 liarly favorable for relieving our country from so much of 
 the Ashburton Treaty as calls for the constant presence of 
 an American squadron on the "Western , Coast of Africa. 
 1. The plan is, confessedly on all sides, a failure. 2. The 
 wliole system of British emancipation is combated. 3. 
 The demand for black labor in the West Indies is loud 
 and imperative. 4. France is obviously reluctant to yield 
 up her cunningly devised method of reviving the trade by 
 seeming to pay wages to ignorant brutes eager to exchange 
 the actual servitude under their barbarous chiefs for the
 
 TO MR. CASS. 247 
 
 prospective and ameliorated one under white masters. 
 6. Is it not an "entangling alliance," of a nature to make 
 us, ostensibly in pursuit of a common object, always play 
 a secondary and equivocal part? 6. The press here, so 
 long and so energetic in the negro policy, is backing 
 before the logic of experiments and facts; — not a little 
 perhaps affected by the consciousness of a glaring incon- 
 sistency in the two crusades, one against African slavery, 
 the other for Hindoo slavery, both black! 
 
 Two great institutions, the Bank and the Leviathan, are 
 nearing smooth water. The former lowered her interest 
 to 6 p. c. yesterday ; and the latter has become so tract- 
 able that she has gone on her ways rejoicing at the pro- 
 digious velocity of eighteen feet in forty-eight hours. 
 Eheu ! These monsters, nevertheless, are very ditferently 
 actuated. One shuns, the other seeks, liquidation ! 
 
 A German paper suggests the probability that the 
 Prince of Prussia, now vested with the powers of Regent, 
 will, on the death of the deranged King, carry into effect 
 an often declared purpose of abdication : — so that the 
 Princess Royal of England, having married his son, may 
 first put her foot in Berlin as Queen of Prussia. 
 
 Our steam communication is becoming less frequent, 
 irregular, and uncertain. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 'to" 
 
 - Fo. 175 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, January 15, 18-58. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Times of this morning contains a 
 telegram from Paris, dated at 10 o'clock last night, an- 
 nouncing that the Emperor had been shot at as he was en- 
 tering the Opera House. Some few features of personal 
 display and of popular sympathy are stated, but we await 
 the details. You ma}- have noticed that, during this 
 lively season of the year, his Majesty has, with much 
 ostentation, seemed to give himself confidently to his sub- 
 jects, to walk about the streets in plain dress and without 
 attendants, and to talk occasionally with a lively '■'• boati- 
 quiere." This was done, I think, twice, and duly noted in
 
 248 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 the newspapers. Whether the vigilant agents of the po- 
 lice, as at Osborne, encircled the Imperial person and gave 
 him the ease of perfect secnrit}', no one knows. Suddenly, 
 in the darkness of night, and without being touched, he 
 is fired at: what next? All history tells how such inci- 
 dents are used, to avoid an impending danger : — how can 
 a generous people allow a chief who shews such free and 
 confiding trust in them, to be victimized by conspirators 
 and assassins? So, then, body guards, spies, and the 
 army ! Besides, is it not well to divert men's thoughts, 
 in the profound tranquillity of politics which now prevails, 
 by initiating a fresh series of arrests and of '■'■ causes cele- 
 hres"? The worst interpretation which can be put upon 
 the event, is precisely that which best harmonizes with the 
 character of its principal personage. 
 
 The Bank of England, yesterday afternoon, lowered her 
 rate of discount to 5 per cent., and thus I think has dis- 
 charged the farewell volley over the grave of the departed 
 panic. She may reduce still farther: — but that will be 
 owing to the plethoric fulness of her vaults. 
 
 Walker's capture by Paulding, and his subsequent al- 
 leged enlargement, are variously commented upon. Lord 
 Palmerston's organ rails like a very drab. Generally, 
 however, the arrest is regarded as a lucky thing, though 
 accompanied by a violation of a foreign territorial juris- 
 diction. ISTicaragua is clearly the only authority oflended 
 and entitled to complain, but will she be absurd enough 
 for that ? In converting into pirates those who offend our 
 neutrality laws, and so making them like slave-traders 
 seizable under the statute anywhere, it would seem to me 
 that the Commodore has not manifested the discrimina- 
 tion of a criminal lawyer. Perhaps he remembered Por- 
 ter's pursuit of pirates to Foxardo, and Jackson's follow- 
 ing the Indians across the boundary into Florida : — if so, 
 I am afraid he has confused extremely dissimilar cases. 
 My curiosity is up to know exactly what you propose to 
 do with this little complication. Perhaps, having the 
 breaker of the law actually in your power, you will send 
 him to a jury, and then appease Nicaragua by disclaiming 
 the act of taking him on her soil. If you don't deal with 
 him, his security in Kew Orleans will probably hasten to 
 take him on a bail-piece. 
 
 Col. P. of Virginia, who tells me that he has succeeded
 
 TO MR. CASS. 249 
 
 in effecting an arrangement with a French Railway Com- 
 pany, and Mr. John AI. B., who has been visiting Russia, 
 are both here on their way homeward. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 176.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, January 21, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I was not far out of the way when, in 
 my last, some of the philosophy of history was hastily ap- 
 plied to the recent escape of Louis Napoleon from assassi- 
 nation. He has hurried onward, while the explosions ot 
 the bombs were still echoing, to destroy every vestige of 
 freedom. His address to the legislative body, written 
 with uncommon ability and beauty, is simply a declara- 
 tion of absolute despotism in maintenance of his dynasty. 
 Repression must be the order of the day, to silence oppo- 
 sition and establish safety : — national prosperity can only 
 be permanent when all resistance to him, as '■''the just,'' is 
 extinguished. Already, two journals, Le Speciateur, and 
 Revue de Paris, are suppressed. The Ordinances of Charles 
 X. were nothing to this : — and yet all Paris, under the ex- 
 citement of an abortive conspiracy, is showering upon him 
 enthusiastic congratulations as the protected of Provi- 
 dence, and assurances of devoted allegiance ! How far 
 this country connives at this "conspiracy" to rebuild the 
 edifice of arbitrary power, it is not difiicult to perceive. 
 Telegraphic messages of sympathy stream between the 
 Tuileries and St. James: and in all the court circles, 
 and special court papers, the moment and the man are 
 avowed to be propitious for chaining down the monster 
 democracy. ^'■Laissez alkr T' While the army remains at 
 his beck, he can go on : but let that falter for an instant, 
 and France will spring up more anti-monarchical than in 
 1789. The faster he goes, the sooner will return the dawn 
 of liberty. 
 
 The vehemence with which the Parisian orators and ed- 
 itors demand that England shall cease to be the sanctuary 
 for refugee contrivers of revolution, may lead to import- 
 ant consequences. The cabinet is unprepared for a de- 
 VOL, 1.— 17
 
 250 TO MR, CASS, 
 
 cided stand either way. The impression is that the topic 
 has created internal dissension, and that the Premier is 
 disposed to measures which will enable the government 
 to order away whomsoever the French Emperor may de- 
 sire to be so treated : — but he is alone in that opinion. 
 This subject is connected in common conversation with 
 another which is supposed also to threaten the " entente cor- 
 diale," and that is, JSTapoleon's private determination to ad- 
 here, for the benefit of Guadaloupe and Martinique, to 
 the policy of the Regis contract. He is said to insist that 
 it involves no violation of treaty, and that the interest of 
 France demands a supply of black labor for her West In- 
 dian islands. The other night at a state ball, the Hanove- 
 rian expressed himself as anxious and apprehensive that 
 " these contrarieties would make them very angry at St. 
 Cloud!" To avert such an appalling danger, we shall prob- 
 ably witness all sorts of propitiatory attempts and speeches 
 in the Parliament, which reassembles on 3d proximo. 
 
 We have a new member of the corps, in the person of 
 Mons. Van Dockum, who succeeds the President's ardent 
 friend General Oxholm, as minister from Denmark. The 
 subject which engrosses that kingdom, and may involve a 
 war, is the controversy with the Duchies of Holstein and 
 Lauenburg. The army is being increased. 
 
 Spain has had another spasm or "crisis." Armeroand 
 Mon have thrown up, in view of their defeat in the elec- 
 tion of a President of the Cortes, and we have, for per- 
 haps a brief spell, an Isturitz ministry. The old mother 
 Queen Christina is still anxious to augment the value of 
 her large investments in Cuba, and her Court influence 
 at Madrid is perhaps greater while she is absent. Your 
 plan of communicating to our foreign legations the outline 
 of what is designed and doing at each Court, would have 
 told me your intentions as to the ultimately inevitable 
 island. Of course I am scrupulous of touching, without 
 some sort of authority to do so, an}^ diplomatic purpose 
 outside of Great Britain. But might I not lubricate a 
 little wheel or two in casual conversation ? As I under- 
 stand it, the mountain which impedes our progress and 
 through which we have to tunnel with care is the hurt 
 feeling of national and really false pride. Such an obstacle 
 may prove impenetrable and insurmountable ; but, all cir- 
 cumstances considered, I doubt whether you can have a
 
 TO MR. CASS. 251 
 
 fitter moment than the present for nndertaking it. The 
 ruffled sense of honor is soothed by the sentiments of the 
 Message on filibustering, while it is by no means easy for 
 the pinched and disordered treasury of Spain to meet the 
 amount of our just reclamations. There is, too, just now, 
 among. so//^e who could aid your purpose, an opinion which, 
 thougii adverse to slavery in general, deems it to be less 
 reprehensible under the laws and morals of the United 
 States than elsewhere^ and would feel rather philanthropic- 
 ally employed than otherwise in being accessary to its 
 transfer from Spain to us. 
 
 The Almanach cle Gotha is enjoying its triumph in 
 London. The hard names, complicated pedigrees, and 
 endless titles of German royalty, are exercising the oldest 
 and best of us. The palace swarms with the kindred of the 
 Queen, actual and contemplated, for the wedding festivi- 
 ties : — and I must frankly own that these continental for- 
 eigners, both male and female, are very conspicuous for 
 reiinement of manners, delicacy of look, and absence of 
 afiectation. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 177 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, January 26, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is difficult while in tlie rapids o^ wed- 
 ding festivities^'^ to stop and gather sober thoughts and facts 
 
 * Diary: January 26, 1858. — "Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Vic- 
 toria Adelaide, Avas yesterday married to Frederick William, the Prince 
 Eoyal of Prussia. The ceremony took place in the Chapel Koyal at St. 
 James' Palace, and in the presence of a comparatively small number 
 of persons. The diplomatic corps were provided with seats as advan- 
 tageous and comfortable as the building afforded, in the gallery facing 
 the altar. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London per- 
 formed the service : — the Bishop of Oxford and another being in the back- 
 ground, on the ^ haut pas.' About three hundred people in all witnessed 
 the proceeding, which was as brilliant and effective as such a spectacle 
 could possibly be. All the appropriate roj'alties, appropriately disposed, 
 and making appropriate movements at appropriate moments, executed 
 their re:?^ective parts in the interesting show to the general satisfaction. 
 The a})pearance of the Queen, surrounded by her brood of children and 
 seemingly flurried by natural excitement, inspired the kindest sympa-
 
 252 TO MR. CASS, 
 
 for a Secretary of State. In truth, since I wrote hy the 
 Canada on the 23d instant, nothing of political bearing 
 has occurred or, at least, caught my attention. I have, to 
 be sure, a few items for a formal despatch, but the}^ are in- 
 complete, and I shall not trouble you with them until by 
 doing so I am able to dispose of them finally. They are 
 quite unimportant. 
 
 The President is doubtless well acquainted with Lord 
 Overstone, formerly Samuel Jones Lloyd, created peer in 
 1850. He is, as I conceive, the highest financial authorit}^, 
 theoretically and practically, now living in England. At 
 the state ball, a few nights ago, I expressed to him the 
 gratification I had received in reading in the Edinhurgh 
 JRevieiD of the present month some comments upon his 
 monetary and banking papers. He immediately insisted 
 upon sending me his two volumes published last year. 
 They came to-day, accompanied by the note of which the 
 enclosed is a copy. I enclose it because of its reference 
 to the President's Message and Secretary Cobb's Report, 
 as the opinion of so competent and fair a judge cannot 
 but have its interest to those gentlemen. 
 
 The diplomatic illuminations of last night were exceed- 
 ingly dazzling. That with which your representative con- 
 tented himself was a simple and brilliant star. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 thy: — the bridegroom's gallant and graceful kissing of the ring as he 
 put it in the hand of the Archbishop: — the beautiful group of eight 
 bridesmaids uniformly dressed in white, with their hair encircled by a 
 wreath of pink roses: the 'abandon' of the embraces and felicitations 
 among the newly created kindred after the marriage was finished : — the 
 joyous aspect of the couple as they left the chapel ^man and ivife:' — the 
 rich and rcgvilated music : the gorgeousness of the toilettes : — all these 
 striking features combined to invest the first wedding in the family of 
 Victoria and Albert with a charm I had not expected. We went to it at 
 9| A.M., and were at home again at 1^ p.m. At 10 at night a monster 
 concert in the great ball-room of Buckingham Palace."
 
 TO LORD OVERSTONE. 258 
 
 No. 178 -TO LOED OYEKSTONE. 
 
 London, January 27, 1858. 
 
 My dear Lord Overstone, — Allow me to thank you 
 for the very welcome present you sent me yesterday of 
 the two volumes of your excellent tracts on metallic and 
 paper currency. They are a mine of thought, experience, 
 and logic, whence I propose to draw much instruction and 
 conviction. 
 
 The monetary science has a wide field to explore and 
 watch in the United States. Although the Federal govern- 
 ment has, by the Constitution, the exclusive power to coin 
 money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin and 
 fix the standard of weights and measures, and although 
 the respective States are expressly prohibited from emit- 
 ting bills of credit or making anything but gold and silver 
 coin a tender in payment of debts: — yet by an early ju- 
 dicial construction given to these provisions, the right of 
 each State to create banks of issue and discount, and to 
 manage its own currency, was recognized. This "State 
 Right" decision, though often argumentatively contro- 
 verted and deplored, has, for half a century, continued 
 unreversed, and I fear must be deemed irreversible. 
 Hence the control and operations of the currency are, 
 practically, not in the single general government, but 
 in the local legislatures, who are of various intelligence 
 and , motive, and who have deluged the country with 
 separate floods of paper from more than twelve hun- 
 dred banks. I mention this in order to shew you how 
 deeply interesting to the statesmen of America such pro- 
 ductions as your Tracts must be; and at the same time to 
 intimate how really powerless and irresponsible our Presi- 
 dent and Secretary of the Treasury are, notwithstanding 
 the soundness of their views. 
 
 This latter gentleman will, I am quite sure, be highly 
 gratified should you determine to send him a cop}^ of the 
 Tracts; and it will give me much pleasure to forward 
 them, with a note from you, in the despatch bag of this 
 legation. 
 
 Reiterating my iicknowledgments for your kindness, I 
 have the honor to be, * 
 
 My lord, yours faithfully.
 
 254 TO MR. J. R. McCULLOCH. 
 
 No. 179.-T0 MR. J. E. McOULLOOH. 
 
 London, February 4, 1858. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Allow me to express the very great pleasure 
 you conferred by sending me a copy of the Treatise on 
 Money and Banks.* It is now man}^ years since a work 
 on political economy first introduced me (if I am not mis- 
 taken) to a name which has been held thenceforward in 
 high estimation. 
 
 I am happy to find that the sound views on Banking 
 contained in the President's first Message to Congress 
 have your sanction. They are undoubtedly those main- 
 tained by experienced and enlightened statesmen through- 
 out the United States. But, in carrying them out, we are 
 encountered by difficulties such as, in a different system 
 of government on this side of the Atlantic, you can but 
 partially appreciate. The constitutional power to create 
 a national bank is denied to the Federal legislature: — 
 while, within their respective limits, the separate States 
 charter money corporations, privileged to issue and dis- 
 count ad libitara. Hence the channels of circulation are 
 crammed with paper which loses nearly all value the in- 
 stant any derangement of business creates distrust. Un- 
 der such circumstances, the Federal authority is powerless 
 over the currency, except so far as, within its own spheres 
 of collection and expenditure, it maintains the solid supe- 
 riority of its gold and silver coin. Something is achieved 
 by keeping the government at Washington "a hard money 
 government:" — and yet, until in the several States a reform 
 of ideas on banking be thoroughly effected, the country 
 in all its departments of tuade and labor must continue 
 liable to the shocks and mischiefs of redundant and incon- 
 vertible currency. It is no easy matter to correct per- 
 verted theories as they exist or arise at the thirty-one 
 birthplaces of more than twelve hundred banks : — but I 
 trust that even this is not impossible* under the steady 
 inculcations of our executive state papers, and of such 
 authoritative treatises as that with which you have hon- 
 ored me. 
 
 Repeating my sincere thanks, 
 
 I am with the highest respect yrs. 
 • 
 
 * Treatise afterwards printed in the Encyclopxdia Britannica.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 255 
 
 No. 180.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 London, February 5, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There are two volumes in the Bag of to- 
 day for Mr. C . They are the " unpublished " (that is, 
 
 printed for private circulation only) tracts of Lord Over- 
 stone on Currency, collected by the political economist, Mr. 
 J. R. McCulloch. Of these papers, an article in the January 
 number of the Edinburgh JReview says, "As literary compo- 
 sitions, they are master-pieces : — as contributions to mone- 
 tary science, they rank with the congenial and analogous 
 productions of Adam Smith, Horner, and Ricardo." "As 
 regards the investigation of questions peculiarly relating 
 to tlie regulation of the circulation, and to the theory of 
 Banking, Lord Overstone is in some respects superior 
 to his illustrious predecessors." The author has been 
 extremely pleased with the financial doctrines of the Presi- 
 dent's Message, and with their elaboration in the Report of 
 the Secretary of the Treasury. Hence, as a mark of high 
 respect, he has begged me to be the medium of conveying 
 this compilation. 
 
 The two houses of Parliament had a reasonably short 
 session yesterday, and the leaders of the opposition, Messrs. 
 Derby and Disraeli, made their customary opening procla- 
 mations. By the reply they received, it is obvious that, 
 under the pretext of only doing what is just, the ministry 
 is prepared with a bill on the Refugee question by which 
 to deprecate the wrath of the new Csesar and his menac- 
 ing legions. On this delicate point, the state of excite- 
 ment throughout the country, in the press and among the 
 people, has been such that the course proposed will be as 
 severe a blow upon the pride and pretension of John Bull 
 as he has ever experienced. Disguise the concession as 
 they may, it will be ever adjudged an undignified and 
 frightened retreat from the very citadel of their own most 
 boasted laws, before the threats of Louis ISTapoleon. See, 
 how just after vaunting their prowess in repelling, on be- 
 half of Europe, the approaches of the northern Colossus 
 of Absolutism, they connive at and cower to a fiercer and 
 more proscriptive military tyranny in their ally ! 
 
 The active measures of repression and precaution taken 
 by Bonaparte are generally construed to betray great alarm
 
 256 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 founded upon the knowledge of some facts not yet pub- 
 licly known as to the extent and resources of the con- 
 spiracy against his throne. He has gone farther than can 
 be otherwise explained : as, for instance, in not merely 
 dividing France into five military districts with a Mar- 
 shal resident in each, but chiefly in authorizing each of 
 these otiicers. on any supposed emergency, to act with his 
 whole force without waiting the orders of the Emperor. 
 
 The wars in India and China are exacting reinforce- 
 ments, and great exertions are being made to get recruits. 
 It is understood, however, that the operation is flat and 
 unproductive. From India we have no recent news of 
 importance. Appearances indicate a protracted and ex- 
 hausting struggle. From China, news is hourly expected 
 of the bombardment and capture of Canton. Of course 
 no one dreams that the assault of English and French 
 forces combined can be repelled by the refractory Yeh. 
 Some of " our own correspondents," to be sure, have re- 
 peated a rumor that the principal streets had been mined, 
 with a determination that the city and its invaders should 
 be destroyed together. That's the Russian mode of 
 action ; — not the Chinese. 
 
 The East India Company has been both industrious and 
 spirited in resisting the transfer of her government to the 
 Crown. The directors and proprietors have held a num- 
 ber of public meetings: — and the speeches and addresses 
 have made out a better defence of their administration 
 than was thought possible. A lively essay in Blackwood's 
 Magazine for this month, entitled a letter from John Com- 
 pany to John Bull, gives a familiar and pretty fair view of 
 the controversy. 
 
 The vacuum created in public solicitude by the Levia- 
 than having floated safely to her moorings at Deptford 
 and the Bank's weekly reduction of her interest until she 
 has sunk to 3| per cent., is being refilled by fresh move- 
 ments preparatory to laying the Atlantic telegraphic 
 cable. 
 
 All the festivities of the royal wedding having been 
 brought to a close, and the young couple being ensconced 
 in their Berlin home, we are suddenly called upon to don 
 our suits of sable for the Grand Duke of Baden, who died 
 pending the marriage ceremonies. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO COL. MURRAY. 257 
 
 No. 181.-T0 OOL. MUERAT. 
 
 London, February 8, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have lots of thanks to hand you from 
 Mr. H. and myself for your kmdness in procuring the in- 
 formation wanted respecting our coinage. 
 
 It might be supposed that so important and interesting 
 a state paper as the Annual Report of our Secretary of the 
 Treasury must have been transmitted to this legation from 
 the State Department long before now. Alas ! no — we 
 foreign agents of the government must be contented with 
 what we can pick up in the newspapers as to current mat- 
 ters: — by-and-by, when they have become antiquated and 
 stale, then we are deluged with floods of Executive and 
 Congressional volumes which the public printer furnishes 
 for the benefit of his own finances. I am yet without a 
 document of national manufacture since J^ovember last. 
 
 You observe how incontinently the great allies are 
 getting by the ears. Louis Napoleon seems to have been 
 somewhat upset b}" those hand grenades of Orsini, and is 
 pursuing measures of tyranny "hand over hand"! He has 
 the talent of looking cool : — but his acts betray supreme 
 terror for his person and his dynasty. A man who usurps 
 power with the incidents of the coup cVetat should be con- 
 scious that millions are, at every minute, aiming to "hit 
 back again," and become callous to attentats. He, however, 
 seems s^irprised ; and he encourages a blustering attack 
 upon England by his ofiicers of state, his army, and his 
 press, as the sheltering den of miscreant assassins. Well ! 
 all England bristles up with indignation, talks back the 
 libel, reviews "the Little" from top to toe, and hurls the 
 phrases "murderer" and "conspirator" in his teeth. A 
 pretty little quarrel as it stands ! But old diplomatic 
 heads will take care not to let the skrimmage go too far. 
 Already the Premier has interposed a soothing draught in 
 the House of Commons. It may be discussed this after- 
 noon. Like a bread pill, it may make the Imperial pa- 
 tient believe he is taking something very composing and 
 satisfactory, while in fact it is inoftensive nothing. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs.
 
 258 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 182 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, February 9, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — N"o preparations were made for sending 
 anything to you by the Arago from Southampton to-mor- 
 row: — but as Mr. Pierce, the secretary of legation at St. 
 Petersburg, being on his wa}^ home, has offered to take 
 charge of a Bag, I have suddenly determined to send one. 
 
 The tempest of excitement against Louis N'apoleon for 
 having " insulted and threatened England," after raging 
 in the Press, has found its way into both houses of Par- 
 liament. Mr. Roebuck, last night, in the Commons, and 
 Lord Lyndhurst, in the Peers, exhibited great feeling and 
 vindicated the public clamor. The attempt to appease 
 indignation by an equivocal apology for the publicity 
 given in the MonUeur, did not produce the success antici- 
 pated. The debate, which arose on a bill offered by Lord 
 Palmerston to change the criminal law so far as to make 
 a conspiracy to murder, in or out of England, instead of a 
 misdeyneanor 'pmushahle by fine and imprisonment, a felony 
 liable on conviction to the minimum of five years, and the 
 maximum of perpetual imprisonment, and to iransportation, 
 continued for several hours and was postponed without 
 conclusion till to-day. It is curious to note that the Tim.es, 
 while advocating in its editorials the passage of this meas- 
 ure, supplies in the letters of its Parisian correspondent 
 the most sharp and powerful weapons employed by its 
 opponents. Thus, — that correspondent dwells upon the 
 unquestionable fact that the present Emperor has hunted 
 up and paid to Cantilo the legacy left to him by Napoleon 
 I. as a reward for having attempted to assassinate the 
 Duke of Wellington : and thus, too, he points out that 
 the Colonels, who have in their addresses been especially 
 abusive of "the den of assassins," have received the cross 
 of the Legion of Honor, and promotion ! 
 
 This subject absorbs the attention and feeling of the 
 public. My opinion is that the ministr}-, aided by a large 
 number of Conservatives, will carry their propitiatory 
 measure. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 259 
 
 No. 183.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, February 12, 1858. 
 
 My DEAR Sir, — Enclosed are copies of two ^'Private" 
 notes between Mr. H. and myself. I applied some ten 
 days ago for the surrender of a man who was charged 
 with murder on the high seas, on board of an American 
 vessel. They seemed dilatory at the Foreign Office, and 
 I addressed a "remind" to Lord Olarendon. Hence 
 these epistles. I caijnot conceive that the broad terms 
 used in the extradition treaty will receive from the Crown 
 officers the restricted or qualified construction which has 
 suggested itself to the mind of her Majesty's principal 
 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Ngvel interpreta- 
 tions of the plainest international engagements are, how- 
 ever, a little too much the order of the day. This one, if 
 persisted in, is so palpably wrong, that I should be dis- 
 posed to regard the treat}^ as fit for the category of the 
 Clayton-Bulwer, that is, fit for abrogation. 
 
 When I receive a formal communication from the Earl 
 upon the subject, it shall become a part of a despatch, into 
 which 'private notes from under-secretaries should perhaps 
 not be introduced except on extraordinary occasions. 
 
 Lord Palmerston's bill, on the Refugee question, was 
 allowed to be read a first time by a very large majority, 
 in the House of Commons. It will, however, be attacked 
 in committee, and be strenuously opposed at every stage. 
 I was last night told by a Peer, that neither this measure, 
 nor the Premier's India Bill (which he offers this after- 
 noon), nor his Reform Bill, can pass in the Lords ; and 
 that he might cease to be the head of the government be- 
 fore the present session closed. These representations I 
 suspect to be the ofi'spring of party feeling, for I can per- 
 ceive no diminution in his popularity or power. 
 
 You will have noticed fresh successes by Sir Colin 
 Campbell in India, and the capture of Canton by the allied 
 forces. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 260 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 184.-T0 ME. HAMMOND. 
 
 LoNDOK, February 12, 1858. 
 
 My dear Mr. Hammond, — I can entertain no doubt as 
 to tlie construction heretofore put by the government of 
 the United States upon our Extradition Treaty of 1842. 
 
 The point arose when a similar treaty was negotiating 
 by Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, and Baron Gerolt, 
 the minister from Prussia, at Washington, in 1852. The 
 language used in the Xth article of our Treaty, " all per- 
 sons," was perceived to be too comprehensive for the 
 powers of the King of Prussia, and of a large number of 
 the German States (parties to the treaty) as restricted by 
 their respective constitutions and laws : — and so in the 
 preamble was specially recited the limited sense given to 
 the general phraseology, and its cause. 
 
 I think, indeed, that owing to the constant employment 
 of the seamen of each nation on board of the other's 
 vessels, an extradition treaty which left either at liberty to 
 decline the surrender of its own citizens or subjects, would 
 lose more than half its value to both. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 185.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, February 23, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The despatch of to-day tells you of the 
 sudden downfall of Lord Palmerston. It is possibly like 
 that of the Son of the Morning, irreparable. The ground 
 upon which it was achieved is undeniable as a fact, and as 
 a sentiment irresistible. He neglected, is the charge, to 
 maintain the national honor when it was assailed in the 
 insolent and exacting letter of Walewski. This is the 
 point on which he has heretofore, and justly, plumed him- 
 self for promptness and boldness, the lack of which at 
 Vienna kept another statesman for some years under a 
 cloud. Certainly nothing could be more insufferabl}^ offen- 
 sive than the French tone ; and John Bull has suddenly
 
 TO MR. CASS. 261 
 
 awakened to the conviction that his old hatred is as bitter 
 as ever. 
 
 Among the rumors of the day, I have been told that the 
 French minister, Mr. Persigny, while the Conspiracy Bill 
 was pending, visited Lord Derby, and in the course of 
 conversation, impressively urged its early passage. Well, 
 said Lord D., it may get through ; — but it may not, and 
 what then ? What then ? exclaimed the ambassador, — 
 " la guerre!^' Ah ! was the cool reply, you had better go 
 and tell that to Clarendon ! His Excellency left for Paris 
 the next day : — the papers report him gone to a country 
 seat; and it is conjectured that he may not return to 
 London. 
 
 One of Lord Derby's earliest calls, after being invested 
 with the power to construct a ministry, was on Mr. Glad- 
 stone. That accomplished gentleman expressed a readi- 
 ness to join him, on one condition, however, namely, that 
 his political associates, the principal of whom are I^ew- 
 castle, Herbert, Grey, Graham, and Cardwell, would go 
 with him. All of these, when asked, flatly refused. 
 
 On the day of the ministerial resignation, Saturday last, 
 I dined at the Palace, and met at table, among a number of 
 guests, two of the retired secretaries. Lord Clarendon and 
 Sir Charles Wood. Their happy exhilaration was quite 
 unusual and striking. Xo doubt, they felt personally the 
 relief of having thrown off an immense weight of compli- 
 cations, commitments, and responsibilities. Such loads 
 as the Conspiracy Bill, the India Bill, the Reform Bill, 
 the war in China, and the Sepoy war, are not easily car- 
 ried. 
 
 At the dinner, when my turn to receive a gracious word 
 from her Majesty arrived, she informed me that she in- 
 tended writing to the President on the subject of her daugh- 
 ter's marriage, and to send him a medal which she had 
 had struck in commemoration of that happy event. These 
 medals are of three descriptions, gold, silver, and bronze; 
 and they are represented as exceedingly beautiful in de- 
 sign and execution. Of course, I made the proper assur- 
 ances of the high gratification with which such a remem- 
 brance from her Majesty would be received by the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 262 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 186.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 5, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The "inaugural" speech of the Prime 
 Minister in the House of Lords on Monday was faultless 
 in manner, and in general tone l)ecoming. It was, how- 
 ever, impossible not to perceive that Lord Derby was op- 
 pressed by a consciousness of party weakness, and of his 
 being at the mercy of the Liberal majority in the Com- 
 mons. He enunciated no distinctive policy, assumed no 
 elevated stand, but on the contrary seemed to deprecate 
 the antagonism of those he had overthrown, by generally 
 adhering to their recent measures, and by some instances 
 of special compliment. He would go on with the India 
 Bill: — he would continue the war in China; he would 
 conform to the advanced state of public opinion by ma- 
 turing a Reform Bill : and for the first time, he relaxed 
 the rigid character of his conservative party by defining it 
 as read}' to introduce safe improvements of every sort. 
 He eulogized the management of the army by Lord Pan- 
 mure and the Duke of Cambridge. On the ruling topic 
 of the day, the Imperial demand that the English criminal 
 law should be made more stringent, he was puzzled how 
 to shape his course dift'erently from the one pursued by 
 his predecessors. The French alliance was of incalculable 
 value; and yet his countrymen were justly indignant at 
 the libels and menaces which had been vented by certain 
 official and military functionaries, and which had been 
 crowding the Parisian papers headed by the Moniteur. He 
 would take the vote of the House of Commons on Mr. 
 Milner Gibson's motion as the voice of the people of Eng- 
 land : — he would make that the groundwork of his action; 
 he would, by a paper already prepared by Lord Malmes- 
 bury, answer appropriately Count Walewski's despatch of 
 the 20th of January, and he should receive in reply such 
 disclaimers of injurious meaning as would satisfy British 
 honor and preserve the alliance. 
 
 At the close of this address, Lord Clarendon vindicated 
 his forbearance in not at once answering the offensive 
 letter, by a speech unusually lucid and able. But there 
 was this obvious misapprehension of the gist of the matter 
 running through the whole: — namely, he treated Walew-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 263 
 
 ski's letter, not as a notional act but as an indiscreet ebulli- 
 tion of personal excitement, an imprudence tliat might be 
 easiest got over in conversation between Lord Cowley and 
 the Count. Every one must have felt that this secret 
 mode of adjusting a public point of national honor would 
 not do : — the affront should be repelled and disclaimed as 
 it was given. 
 
 I have been struck by the series of incidents which led 
 to this sudden change of the government. It is difficult 
 to ascribe the immediate resignation of Lord Palmerston 
 solely to the equivocal, and by no means impressive, censure 
 of Milner Gibson's resolution. Perhaps I regard it from 
 an American point of view: — but I cannot help thinking 
 that, had not the roar ot the angry and approaching 
 masses been heard, the retirement would have been less 
 precipitate. The plain truth is that on this point of con- 
 ceding to foreign dictation and menace, the hearts of the 
 people were in advance of the heads of their representa- 
 tives of both political parties : — a case we have often seen 
 ilkistrated in our own history. After all said and done, 
 there are special occasions on which it may be accepted as 
 Gospel that Vox populi est Vox Dei. The roar is less loud 
 for the moment, that Lord Derby may have a fair chance : 
 — but let him tamper for an instant wnth this deep and 
 deaf popular sentiment, and he w^ill have to follow the 
 footsteps of his illustrious predecessor. 
 
 In the midst of all these grave proceedings, one cannot 
 help being amused at some few manifestations of harle- 
 quinade. Almost in the same hour, some score of pon- 
 derous politicians invade the Palace, hand their seals 
 (supposititionsly ?) to the Queen, kiss her hand, and 
 bow backward into the grave of private life: and then ad- 
 vance an equal score among whom the seals are re-dis- 
 tribated, who kiss hands, and who stream like eagles, 
 from the presence of her little Majesty, to the pinnacles of 
 power! Observe, too, that the change in government 
 exacts other more visible changes, as for instance, whereas 
 the former score of functionaries sat, in either House, on 
 long benches at the right of the presiding officer. Chan- 
 cellor or Speaker, and the present score sat on similar 
 benches on the left, now they must cross hands and front 
 each other from exactly opposite quarters. And, as their 
 chiefs do, so must the whole body of each of the political
 
 264 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 parties do : thus placing the ministry for the time being 
 always on the right and the opposition always on the left. 
 ISo doubt there is practical convenience in this conven- 
 tional course of action, but it reminds one comically of 
 the dancing among the Shaking Quakers. 
 
 You observe that Changarnier declines returning to 
 France, until her population is " in possession of laws pro- 
 tecting their dignity and safety." This is throwing the 
 glove at the foot of the throne, and, connected with sub- 
 terranean rumors which have reached me, has much more 
 than its apparent significance. 
 
 The new ministers are rapidly getting re-elected to their 
 seats in the Commons : and I presume all will be ready 
 by the 15th instant, the day to which Parliament ad- 
 journed. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 LETTERS FROM LONDON, 
 
 TOLUMB II. 
 
 VOL. II. — 1
 
 LETTERS FROM LONDON. 
 
 No. 187.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 12, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Two things are just now overshadowing 
 the India and China wars, and intently engaging attention : 
 1. the uncertain tenure of the new cabinet, and 2. the 
 critical relations with France, 
 
 Lord Derby is undertaking to do what has never been 
 done before, that is, to conduct the government with a 
 large majority against him in the House of Commons. 
 That majority, however, is itself divided into Liberals, the 
 greatest faction, — the Radicals — the Lord John Russellites 
 — and the Peelites ; and it will require some address to 
 start a measure of leading importance which will concen- 
 trate enough of these subdivisions to outvote the minis- 
 try. Of course much speculation is indulged as to the 
 advance by which the opposition will find it politic to 
 bring on the decisive contest. I received a hint last night 
 from an eminent member that I had better be in the 
 Commons this evening, wlien Parliament reassembles, as 
 some demonstration is expected whence it may be possi- 
 ble to foresee the fate of Lord Derby. It will be too late 
 for your enlightenment by this opportunity. 
 
 The alliance with France is fast taking the aspect of "a 
 dissolving view." Very bitter feelings have seized the 
 populations of both countries. France would seem to go 
 with her military chiefs in pursuit of some external quar- 
 rel whose effect at home will be the consolidation of the 
 Imperial dynasty, and a succession of fields of glory. 
 Nothing more in harmony with prevailing passions, or 
 more promising, than a war with England. I think it a 
 mistake to suppose this state of things to be the sudden 
 
 (3)
 
 4 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 creation of recent events. It has been long brewing; — 
 and, as the Hindoo mutiny found its vent in greased car- 
 tridges, so this is rounded by the grenades of Orsini. 
 You will see in the newspapers a remarkable paper, ob- 
 viously emanating from the Napoleonic bureau, the tone 
 of which is quiet and deprecatory, but the real influence 
 of which is to prepare the French mind, by insidious allu- 
 sions to Waterloo, St. Helena, and the Crimea, for an ex- 
 plosion of the alliance. On the other hand. Lord Derby, 
 in the existing mood of his countrymen, in and out of Par- 
 liament, will tind it hard to pursue steadily the policy of 
 peace. The Times of to-day says they are "drifting into a 
 war," and speculates on the facility with which they can 
 protect the island from invasion and demolish Cherbourg 
 at a blow ! Should the Premier exhibit the spirit and 
 faculties of a war minister — and he has already shewn 
 some symptoms of the kind — he may become master of 
 the political-party position, and through the ruling interest 
 of the day greatly augment his popularity. 
 
 I must add to these views and impressions the undoubted 
 fact that disaftection to Louis Napoleon is becoming wide- 
 spread and menacing. Arrests have been multiplied : — 
 spies, informers, and police swarm all over France : gen- 
 erals are planted in civil posts : Changarnier and Bedeau 
 reject, rather contemptuously, the imperial invitation to 
 Paris : Chalons,- not far from the capital, has been the 
 theatre of an Smente, during which was heard the omi- 
 nous trumpet call "Vive la Republique!" and I was read 
 parts of a letter from a highly distinguished and reliable 
 source, two days ago, which depicted France as ^'■honey- 
 combed" with secret and affiliated societies. I think I 
 perceive in my general intercourse, the existence of that 
 vague and undetinable expectation of some coming events 
 which is said to precede a convulsion. 
 
 All this may blow over: — it would seem hardly possi- 
 ble, and yet it may. But sliould it not, what then ? We 
 have vast interests, material and political, involved in the 
 measures which it may please the two great European 
 belligerents to take against the commerce and possessions 
 of each other. The violence, which followed the rupture 
 of the treaty of Amiens may be revived under fresh Ber- 
 lin decrees and Orders in Council : perhaps impressment! 
 but I suppose we are not yet near enough to the catas- 
 trophe to render forecasting necessary.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 5 
 
 Colonel "Williams is here, on liis way to Constantinople. 
 He will probably remain for a week or ten days. 
 
 The Turkish Embassy to this Court express great grati- 
 fication at the manner in which you have welcomed their 
 High Admiral. 
 
 You will much oblige me by saying, to Mr, Toucey that 
 I have been earnestly requested to intercede on behalf of 
 the Atlantic Telegraph Company for another steamship 
 as a consort to the Niagara : — but I forbear troubling him, 
 because quite sure that he will do what is right. 
 
 A gentleman just in from Paris states the universal dread 
 of something impending as prevailing there : that the 
 funds have gone down and are still sinking: that the rail- 
 ways are nearly all insolvent: and that business and move- 
 ment are completely arrested. This is the very latest pic- 
 ture of that metropolis: what will be the next? 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 188 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 LoxDON, March 19, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I cannot permit the .Persia to go to- 
 morrow without a line, although I have really nothing 
 worth communicating. 
 
 Since my No. 94 of the 17th instant, everything (always 
 excepting the spiteful degladiation of the London and 
 Paris presses) has been quiet. A few symptoms indicate 
 that neither country is quite satisfied with the manner in 
 which their respective governments have closed the discus- 
 sion on the Refugee question. After some subterranean 
 fermentation, it is not unlikely that there will break out a 
 fresh stream of hot lava. 
 
 You will have heard from Madrid that the actual min- 
 istry discountenanced war with Mexico : that Zuloaga 
 has recalled Lafragua and promised another envoy : and 
 that the" prospect is fair for an amicable settlement under 
 the mediation of France and England. 
 
 Everybody is anxiously gazing on the military move- 
 ment against the Sultan of Utah. When you have dis-
 
 6 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 persed the Saints and their seraglios, it is possible that the 
 Church of England may proclaim a special thanksgiving. 
 
 Mr. Disraeli constantly and fervently begs for quarter. 
 There is a beseeching character about his whole manner 
 in the House of Commons which really begets a generous 
 sympathy and forbearance. 
 
 I was a guest — the only intruder — at a consultation 
 dinner caucus the other day, about 20 in all. They were 
 maturing a plan for abolishing light-house duties, follow- 
 ing our example therein. It has to be managed with 
 great caution and skill to avoid corporate and vested in- 
 terests. It will, however, be soon stirred. 
 
 A telegraphic despatch from Naples announces that his 
 Majesty has released the poor insane engineer Watt, 
 though he retains unrelaxed his clutch upon the other 
 Englishman. Public feeling is more excited here on this 
 topic than it has yet been. " Civis Roinanus sum." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 189.-TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, March 26, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir,. — Count Persigny withdrew from the 
 French Embassy here, and we are expecting his successor 
 in the person of the Duke of MalakofF. There are very 
 many causes to which this change is attributable : — the 
 simplest is perhaps the etfective one, to wit, the personal 
 rivalry and ill will between Walewski and Persigny. The 
 former did not feel the extreme solicitude to preserve the 
 alliance felt by the latter, and suppressed or mutilated 
 papers elaborately prepared to attain that end : he treated 
 his subordinate as too English; and preferred, at any cost, 
 to maintain in the Refugee controversy, the "dignity of 
 France" and her position. Persigny saw, or thought he 
 saw, that this was not the I^Tapoleonic idea, and has thrown 
 up in disgust. He is said to be resolved on private life, or 
 at most to restrict himself to the duties of a member of 
 the Council of Regency. He has been devoted to the 
 Emperor; is at heart, like most of the French absolutists 
 of the hour, a republican : possesses independent lauded
 
 TO MR. CASS. 7 
 
 estates: and is hardly fifty yet. His lovely and pleasure- 
 loving wife, grand-danghter of " le brave des braves," 
 is weeping her eyes out at the prospect of quitting her 
 London throne of fashion for a rural isoleinent. 
 
 As far as I have yet been able to learn, the Duke of 
 Malakoif is fitter for an Algerine Arab hunt than to hold 
 the reins of diplomacy. Some regard his mission as a 
 threat, or as a reply valiant to the manner in which the 
 British Parliament and press have been lately dealing 
 with the "cock-a-doodle-doo" loyalty of the French 
 colonels and army: — others, on the contrary, and this is 
 the construction most favored, esteem it as the highest 
 possible pledge to preserve unimpaired the fraternization 
 of the Crimea. Nous verrons. 
 
 I thought myself yesterday on the eve of another of 
 those wretched pouts about Court Costume with which, 
 as an intermittent, every Master of Ceremonies is liable 
 to be afflicted. The new functionaries did not exactly un- 
 derstand or quite relish two suits of sable with which two 
 of oar countrymen shaded the brilliancy of the Levee on 
 the day previous ; and one of these functionaries very 
 civilly called at the Legation to enquire the particulars of 
 the understanding between Mr. Buchanan and Sir Edward 
 Cust which might authorize the appearance of those " betes 
 noires." I frankly told him all about it, assumed the respon- 
 sibility of the Yankee wardrobe, asserted its entire confor- 
 mity with all the essentials of etiquette, and then told him 
 he had better see Sir Edward Cust, and dive into the mys- 
 terious depths of the great subject, before he formed any 
 conclusion, or said anything farther on the subject. Fortu- 
 nately for the pacific relations of the two countries, my 
 visitor was a gentleman, a gentleman in manners, senti- 
 ments, and ideas, Mr. Ponsonby, once in Washington with 
 Sir Richard Pakenham, and he went away to investigate. 
 On his return, after a long consultation, he declared my 
 view to be entirely right, that he would make an official 
 record of his decision, and that henceforward there could 
 be no doubt or difficulty about presenting American citi- 
 zens to her Majesty, from the General Circle, in the very 
 dress of their diplomatic representative. Laiis Deo ! — for 
 I think this will enable our ministers here to walk, on this 
 treacherous element of dress, as on thick ice, not as here- 
 'tofore on what boys call "kiddly benders." !N"ow that
 
 8 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 this 4tli of July equipment lias reached the zenith of its 
 triumph, I am tempted to shew that it has its injurious as 
 well as its beneficial influences. But I won't. Let me 
 only say that when worn amid a thousand embroidered 
 red coats, it produces a peculiarity which necessarily gives 
 the very distinction it professes to avoid, and so cultivates 
 in the wearer anything but a plain republican spirit. 
 Crede experto. 
 
 Both the English engineers are released by the ISTeapoli- 
 tan monarch: — a fact which may be esteemed prelimi- 
 nary to his being readmitted to fellowship with France and 
 her ally. Sardinia is, however, very emphatic in demand- 
 ing the Cagliari, as yet without success. 
 
 Parliament has got along with the present ministry thus 
 fiar pretty well. Prodigious efforts to propitiate members 
 by the attentions and blandishments of private intercourse 
 are obviously unremitting. They will have their effect: — 
 and probably that will be first seen in the care with which 
 a test question will be avoided by the extreme Liberals. 
 There will be an adjournment, possibly to-day, to the 12th 
 of April next. 
 
 At the Marquess of Salisbury's last night. Sir Charles 
 Lyell informed me that General J. A. Thomas, recently 
 Assistant Secretary of State, had suddenly died in Paris 
 from the effects of a neglected influenza. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 190 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 30, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Lidia bill, introduced by Mr. 
 Disraeli on Friday last, as a substitute for Lord Palmer- 
 ston's, absorbs attention. It is ascribed to the eccentric 
 talent of Lord Ellenborough, and may be described as a 
 brilliant specimen of imaginative statesmanship: — various, 
 complicated, and incongruous. Some of its features are 
 decidedly republican. It obviously aims to propitiate all 
 sorts of interests, prejudices, and theories. The govern- 
 ment is that of a representative council, under a minister 
 of the Crown: — and the constituencies are executive, popu-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 9 
 
 lar, financial, and municipal. A scheme so odd and intri- 
 cate can hardly commend itself to the gravity of Parlia- 
 ment, and its failure will be the knell of the Derby minis- 
 try. As soon as the Easter recess is over, this bill will be 
 treated as the great cabinet measure, will be picked to 
 pieces, and probably condemned by an overwhelming 
 vote. Lord Derby will then determine whether to hand 
 the seals quietly back to Lord Palmerston, or appeal to 
 the people by dissolving a refractory legislature. Either 
 course can be sustained by peculiar reasons. 
 
 ]^o thing not military floats now in France. The Duke 
 of Malakofi:", even as ambassador here, will be encircled 
 b}' his aids-de-carap. The English press tries hard to con- 
 template this aspect of things graciously : — but winces in 
 a manner prophetic of early distaste and alienation. It is 
 impossible to be blind to the war-footing on which Louis 
 Napoleon is hastening to place his Empire, or to be deaf 
 to the doctrines preached by his five Marshals at their re- 
 spective divisional headquarters. There are gloomy fore- 
 bodings among the City merchants. Austria characterizes 
 the course of the French Emperor, in his repressive laws, 
 his numberless arrests, his stringent system of passports, 
 his ubiquitous espionage, and his filling civil posts with 
 soldiers, as dangerous to the peace of Europe. 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell is besieging Lucknow with a force 
 of about 50,000, and we are in daily expectation of news 
 of the downfall of that great capital of Oude. It will prob- 
 ably be accompanied by immense slaughter. 
 
 It is said from China that Mr. Reed has joined the other 
 plenipotentiaries in moving upon the Emperor at Pekin. 
 I am often questioned about our policy in that region : — 
 but you have not yet carried out your plan which would 
 enable me to shape an answer. 
 
 I have just received the President's letter to the Queen : 
 — also the draft in favor of Mr. F. L. Campbell. By-the- 
 by, the Danish minister has been empowered to receive 
 the money payable on account of the extinguishment of 
 the Sound Dues, and is on the qui vive to hear of its arrival. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 10 TO MR. LINDSAY, M. R 
 
 No. 191.-T0 MR. LINDSAY, M.P. 
 
 London, April 5, 1858. 
 
 My dear Mr. Lindsay, — You must not suppose that 
 because I have delayed answering your letter of the 30th 
 inst., I am insensible to its admirable object, your medi- 
 tated "History of Siiipping." On the contrary, I have 
 been thinking how I could most effectively throw in a 
 mite of assistance as to that portion of your labors which 
 will relate to the United States. Were I at home, in the 
 midst of my own books, I should tind no difficulty : — but 
 here, I want -the familiar instruments of action, and am 
 unwilling to rely on memory. 
 
 The British Museum ought, I think, to possess in its 
 library a volume published some forty or fifty years ago, 
 entitled "Seybert's Statistics of the United States." If 
 my recollection be accurate, the author devotes several 
 chapters and tables to merchant shipping, bringing down 
 his narrative to a date subsequent to 1800. I knew him 
 personally and well as a friend and associate of my father, 
 and am sure that he enjoyed a high reputation, as a pains- 
 taking, discriminating, and trustworthy compiler. 
 
 The legislation of the United States immediately after 
 the adoption of the Constitution in 1789, may usefully be 
 consulted. We then had, at the head of our financial de- 
 partment, one of those leading and powerful minds that 
 never fail to send their practical wisdom down to a distant 
 posterity, Alexander Hamilton. H'e was indefatigable in 
 putting the new government into operation, especially as 
 to the machinery for the "regulation of commerce" ex- 
 clusively vested in Congress. 
 
 In our principal ports, Boston, Kew York, Philadelphia, 
 Baltimore, I^ew Orleans, there are committees or boards 
 of trade, emanating generally from the active shipping 
 merchants, who would, I cannot doubt, take pleasure in 
 collecting such local information as you might desire to 
 have. 
 
 But I reserve myself for another note after I shall have 
 heard from the United States. In the mean while, I beg 
 you to be assured that I shall take great interest in your 
 arduous enterprise. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 11 
 
 No. 192.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, April 6, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Arago, which quits Southampton 
 to-morrow, is a favorite steamer, or I should be tempfed 
 to leave you without a line until Saturday : — there is so 
 little worth saying. 
 
 Indications are strong that an effort will be made on the 
 India bill to cut short the ministry of Lord Derby as soon 
 as Parliament reassembles. The Palmerstoniaus have 
 had frequent private meetings: — and the "extreme left" 
 or radicals strongly denounce the scheme of government 
 proposed by Mr. Disraeli. The success of the movement 
 may be doubted, for thus far the cabinet has rather gained 
 ground than otherwise. Observe, however, that they who 
 want to return to office cannot safely allow their adversa- 
 ries to be gradually creeping into public favor. A gen- 
 eral impression prevails, without any decided cause for 
 it, that an election is not far off. Candidates are being 
 put in train. Should Lord Derby be in a minority on a 
 division in the House, it seems agreed that he will march 
 to the last Tory pitched battle — the Waterloo — by a dis- 
 solution. 
 
 The fondness of the good Queen Victoria for her hand- 
 some and irreproachable husband remains unabated; and 
 I think it may enter into the propitiatory policy of the 
 present ministry to gratify that conjugal feeling by pro- 
 posing to Parliament that the former Prince Albert, the 
 present Prince Consort, should be hereafter recognized as 
 King Consort. What her Majesty takes to heart, her de- 
 voted subjects, however they may temporarily grumble, 
 will not long withhold: — and, as a mere piece of tactics, 
 Lord Derby, as champion of the Queen's private wishes on 
 this score, would not iind his strength at the hustings im- 
 paired. A petition to Parliament, the natural start of an 
 appeal to popular sentiment, is drafted and seeking signa- 
 tures. The Prince is not as universally liked as he really 
 deserves to be. He has exhibited great discretion in a very 
 trying position for many years: — but he is a German, and 
 much jealousy is cherished as to his absolutist principles 
 and his secret affiliations with the continental Courts. At
 
 12 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 this particular juncture, his known and busy liaison with 
 Louis Xapoleon is regarded with disfavor. 
 
 The French Emperor, although his diplomats are suffi- 
 ciently soothing, takes care to keep alive among his subjects 
 those reminiscences which invigorate their hatred of Eng- 
 land. Waterloo, St. Helena, Libels on his great uncle, are 
 common topics. By-and-by he will find it impossible to 
 keep his throne without yielding to the " vis a iergo." In 
 allusion to the mission of Pelissier to London, one of his 
 newspaper wags has remarked that at the beginning he 
 said, "■ U Empire, c est la Paix" now, by the slightest niodu- 
 lation of tone, he converts it into, ^^L' Empire, c'estVJEpee !" 
 I am told his ambassador will bring in his suite some 
 six or eight of those redoubtable colonels whose recent 
 figures of valiant loyalty so exasperated John Bull. 
 
 ]^ews from Lidia is daily expected to announce the 
 bombardment and fall of Lucknow. It is, however, but 
 one of a hundred strong fortresses in Oude. The Chinese 
 demonstration, though successful against Yeh, looks, in 
 other and broader aspects, very much like a "iizzle." 
 The Cagliari affair has ceased, by the discharge of the two 
 engineers, to have any English interest: — but between 
 Piedmont and iN'aples it is rankling into bitterness. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 193 -TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, April 16, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — l!^ow that we are officially and formally 
 told that the extinction of the Clayton-Bulwer Treat}' will 
 be followed by no discontent or protest, might it not be 
 well to effect the abrogation, if possible, by convention? 
 It would seem best to avoid throwing this complicated 
 subject into the House of Representatives for endless de- 
 bate, as must be done to obtain a statute of abrogation : 
 and I do not see but that a treaty, although the supreme 
 law of the land, may be rescinded b}' the modus operandi 
 in which it was created. 
 
 This subject reoccurs for reflection, in consequence of 
 a short conversation had with Lord Derby at his reception
 
 TO MR. CASS. 13 
 
 on the 14tli instant. He expressed a wisTi to know how- 
 soon they would be likely to hear of the result of the 
 legislative movement to abrogate; for, said he, "though 
 we make no objection, we should like to be apprised, as 
 soon as it takes place." Of course, I could not say when : 
 perhaps a mo)ith hence, perhaps more, perhaps less. 
 
 You are the best, and indeed the only, judges how far 
 it may be prudent to precipitate the annulment of the 
 treaty. There may be something in the actual relations 
 between this government and the Central American 
 States, and in the amount of British naval force present 
 at San Juan or Panama, which may suggest the expedi- 
 ency of at all events not immediately relieving England 
 from the obligation not to acquire dominion in that quar- 
 ter. The effect of a sudden push might be inconvenient: 
 and, although I can perceive no just reason to apprehend 
 anything of the sort, yet no harm can be produced by 
 treating it as imminent. 
 
 The arrival of the Duke of MalakofF, although publicly 
 attributed to other causes, has been delayed by a lady's 
 being obliged unexpectedly to keep her chamber in the 
 hotel of the Embassy. He is now in London. 
 
 At the Levee on Wednesday, Baron Brunow said to me 
 that he intended calling on me, with a view to a conver- 
 sation respecting Russian and American policy towards 
 the Chinese. Here again I experience the disadvantage 
 of not knowing the objects Mr. Reed may have been in- 
 structed to pursue. The Baron will doubtless be very 
 communicative, but he will get nothing in return, for I 
 am in the safe position of having nothing to give. 
 
 The desire to monopolize the commerce with the west- 
 ern coast of Africa, under the guise of philanthropy, be- 
 trays itself more and more every day. They are quite 
 convinced here, by their explorers, geographers, and lec- 
 turers, that they are opening a new India in that quarter. 
 The coast will soon be too hot for any trade but their own. 
 Spain is making reclamations like ours, for honest and 
 legal voyages harassed, impeded, and broken up on the 
 slightest pretexts. No merchants can stand this: — and in 
 less than ten years, if these obstacles continue, all but the 
 English flag will have disappeared. Monrovia may enjoy 
 the benefits of a British protectorate. 
 
 You can see in the newspapers of this morning the
 
 14 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 debate in the House of Commons on Light-house Dues. 
 I suppose it a result of the dinner caucus of members 
 to which I referred in my letter of the 19th of March 
 last. We are largely interested in the success of the move- 
 ment. Lord Clarence Paget exhibited great research and 
 ability in his opening speech. Lord Palmerston, though 
 when Foreign Secretary in 1850 he resisted the diplomatic 
 notes of Mr. Lawrence, seemed yesterday a convert. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 194 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 23, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — We are now in the enjoyment of the 
 Duke of Malakoff's presence. He is an undersized, 
 chunky, compact, white-haired figure, with a fine dark 
 eye, black and arched eyebrows, jet moustache, and a 
 manner at once tranquil and impressive. Efforts are ob- 
 vious to give his advent the appearance of popularity. At 
 his residence yesterday, on his return from the Queen's 
 Drawing Room, a crowd assembled and cheered him. He 
 will doubtless accept the compliment as an ample amende 
 for the acquittal of Dr. Bernard. 
 
 This verdict cannot be misunderstood. It has no con- 
 nection whatever with the evidence on the trial. It is 
 John Bull's natural protest against an excess of gallicism 
 in the government and at the palace. Had the proof been 
 ten times as pungent and cumulative, the "]^ot Guilty" 
 would only have been pronounced with tenfold emphasis. 
 A great Law-Lord ascribes it to the republicanism with 
 which the mass of the people are becoming thoroughly 
 imbued. And, notwithstanding all this, the mere mention 
 of the verdict, no matter in what circle it l)e made, is ac- 
 companied by a smile of secret satisfaction ! 
 
 I think the ministry are gradually getting firmer in their 
 seats. Their movements have, thus far, had lucky results. 
 They have raked Watt and Parke, the engineers, out of 
 the ISTeapolitan fire. They have adjusted satisfactorily the 
 vexations of the passport system. They have dodged an 
 open breach with France. They have steered their India
 
 TO MR. CASS. 15 
 
 bill, piloted by Lord John Russell, into smooth no party 
 waters. And now Mr. Disraeli, in a speech of clearness 
 and ability, has introduced his Budget, which is praised 
 and accepted by the practical financiers of the City. To be 
 sure, parliamentary reform may almost at any moment 
 rise to alarm them : — and if the Brights, Roebucks, and 
 Miluer Gibsons can content themselves with what, on that 
 subject. Lord Palmerston or Lord John Russell is willing 
 to concede, then the Derby cabinet must disappear like 
 a whiff of smoke : — but there lies the perhaps insurmount- 
 able difficulty of the opposition. The extreme Liberals 
 whom I have named want manhood, or universal, suffrage, 
 and regard the ballot as a sine qua non. Besides, they 
 begin to look proudly on the ministry themselves, and I 
 doubt whether any effective reconciliation between the 
 disjointed sections of the Liberal party which does not 
 make Bright and Gibson members of a new government, 
 be at all possible. 
 
 Th^ Greek minister, Mr. Tricoupi, has repeatedly 
 begged me to say to you that the gentleman whom the 
 President has appointed consul in his country occupied 
 that post some years ago ; — that he will undoubtedly be 
 received and treated with the respect and confidence due 
 to the United States : — but when he was there before, he 
 did something which obliged the Greek government to 
 complain; and on the present occasion, nothing more is 
 wished than that he should be instructed not to inter- 
 meddle in the politics of Greece. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 195 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, April 30, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is a current of conversation among 
 politicians leading me to think that a decisive effort will 
 soon be made by the Liberals to eject the present Conser- 
 vative ministry. The rank and tile within, and the editors 
 without, are beginning to reproach Lord Palmerston and 
 his colleagues with too easy an acquiescence in the exclu- 
 sion of the party. More vigor and readiness to rescue the
 
 16 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 government are called for. The practical embarrassment 
 in effecting the necessary understanding among the sec- 
 tions of the opposition is the claim of Lord John Rus- 
 sell to the Premiership. Lord Palmerston will not be re- 
 stored while his restoration requires votes from the Bright 
 and Gibson division: — but if this rivalry of the whig 
 chiefs could, in any way, be surmounted, say by adopting 
 another leader, as Granville or Clarendon, the doom of 
 the Derby cabinet would be immediately sealed. 
 
 You will have noticed that Mr. Disraeli, though unex- 
 pectedly and admittedly successful with the Budget, has 
 greatly damaged the position of the ministry by his man- 
 agement of the India bill. That measure was timidly 
 sacrificed to a menace from Lord John Russell, and now, 
 this very evening. Sir Harry Vane proposes to move, and 
 with every prospect of success, that the subject of a new 
 government for India be postponed to the next session. 
 The directors of the East India Company may thus, as I 
 have expected they would, triumph by the quarrels of 
 their assailants. 
 
 It is difiicult to say in what way the issue will be made 
 up for the final struggle. The gentlemen in power are so 
 concessive, as to make a positive conflict upon a cabinet 
 question hard to bring about. Their adversaries may be 
 obliged to introduce a motion of a want of confidence. 
 Room for such a step is afiforded by 1. The weakness 
 shewn on the India topic : 2. The implacable spirit against 
 the admission of the Jews into Parliament: 3. The bun- 
 gling in the War Department as to military commissions: 
 and 4. The general inability or reluctance, springing 
 from internal dissension, to assume and avow a distinct 
 line of policy on any subject. 
 
 It is not believed that a disposition exists, either in the 
 two countries themselves or elsewhere, to push the con- 
 troversy between Piedmont and Naples about the Cagliari 
 to extremities. The point of international law, as to the 
 right of capturing the vessel, is knotty enough to divide 
 professional men of the highest ability and repute. King 
 Bomba will continue to be gracious, as in the cases of 
 Watt and Parke, and liberate the steamer: or the dispute, 
 now the cause of bold and loud words, will be permitted 
 to "fizzle" out, in subdued tones, at the Paris Confer- 
 ence.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 17 
 
 Sir Edward Oust, the Queen's Master of Ceremonies, 
 who carries the warlike title of Major-General, has just 
 put to press a military work to which he is paternally 
 anxious to draw attention. He has begged space in the 
 despatch bag for two copies, one addressed to the Presi- 
 dent, the other to General Floyd, and you will please to 
 ensure their prompt reception. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 196 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, May 7, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Lord Palmerston in opposition is singu- 
 larly diiFerent from what he was as Prime Minister. He 
 has become patient, discreet, and even conciliatory. He 
 helps, with his whole following, Mr. Disraeli, whenever 
 that gentleman is supposed to be in a tight place. He did 
 so to the overwhelming discomfiture of Lord Harry Vane's 
 motion against any present legislation on India govern- 
 ment: and only the night before last, he repeated the 
 movement, by planting himself and forces under the walls 
 of the cabinet, against which Mr. Gladstone and the 
 Peelites, with Lord John Russell and the Radicals, were 
 briskly aiming an address to the Queen in favor of the 
 union and independence of the Moldo-Wallachian Prin- 
 cipalities ! The tendency of this course of party action is 
 to strengthen the roots of dissension among the Liberals. 
 Recently, a caucus of these in number about 120, convened 
 in a committee room and coolly denounced, as unsatisfac- 
 tory or treacherous, all the whig leaders of late years : — 
 resolving that until the Liberal party could be organized 
 upon a broader and firmer platform, it would be unwise 
 to oust Lord Derby. 
 
 The "Niagara," with more than 1400 miles of an elec- 
 tric cable on board, will be ready to begin the experi- 
 mental trip by the close of this month. Captain Hudson 
 goes to Paris this afternoon, and will ascertain what Rus- 
 sian or French guest he is to have with him. He and 
 his officers are all sanguine that the improved machinery 
 will secure success. The melancholy condition of the 
 
 VOL. II. — 2
 
 18 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 " Susquehanna " will, it is concluded, prevent her partici- 
 pating in the exploit. 
 
 Consider me, my dear sir, as saying all that a modest 
 man ought to say, in acknowledgment for the kind words 
 in your letter of the 15th April, just received.* 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 197.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 11, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — We have a second youthful Queen at 
 Buckingham Palace, who received the homage of the 
 diplomatic corps on Saturday last. Her father, here also, 
 is of the multitudinous secondary shelf of royalty, the 
 German House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Some few 
 years ago he abdicated, being too poor to maintain the 
 dignity of independence, and ceding his position, what- 
 ever it was, to the King of Prussia, that sovereign dubbed 
 him "Highness," and made him a Prince of his royal 
 family. His daughter, "Stephanie," married by proxy to 
 the King of Portugal, is on her way to Lisbon, and very 
 naturall}^ stops here to make her curtsy to Queen Victoria, 
 the central link of the marriage compact uniting Prussia, 
 England, and Portugal. She is just twenty-one, looks 
 like an unaiFected modest American girl, ancl probably is 
 a little perplexed in thinking that, if the recent attempt 
 to poison her morganatic better half had succeeded, her 
 position as Queen and yet no Queen, as civiliier wife and 
 yet religiose not wife, would have been rather anomalous 
 and embarrassing. 
 
 The struggle between the Lords and Commons on the 
 Oaths bill — properly called the Jews' Admission bill — is 
 
 * The " kind words " alluded to were the following, and they are ex- 
 tracted as the stimulus and apology for the present publication : 
 
 " I thank you very much for your graphic letters. I read them all to 
 the cabinet, where they are listened to with great interest. Your facts 
 and speculations are just what we want, and what we can get nowhere 
 else. I will say to you what I have said elsewhere, that since the days 
 of Horace "VValpole I have seen no more successful effort of this kind 
 than is furnished by your lifelike correspondence."
 
 TO MR. CASS. 19 
 
 ripening to coercive legislation. Lord John Russell, last 
 night, seconded ably and sternly by the late Attorney- 
 General, Sir Richard Bethell, threw the gauntlet of defi- 
 ance by moving the disagreement to the Peers' amend- 
 ment of his measure, and his motion prevailed by a heavy 
 majority. There will be a conference: and it is believed 
 that some expedient will spring out of it to enable the 
 hereditary wisdom to succumb gracefully to the elective. 
 I doubt that. Lord Derby and his new Lord Chancellor 
 have taken their stand ^'' inter aim-es juris,'' and will I think 
 inflexibly wait the "hazard of the die." If so, then will 
 the Commons be invoked to rush into the illegal, and 
 therefore unconstitutional, step of seating the wealthy Jew 
 by a mere resolution of their own, dispensing with the 
 phrase ^^ iq)on the true faith of a Christian." At that point 
 the fight may flag. Men, however disposed to urge into 
 practice the principle of religious toleration, may recoil 
 from the uncertain consequences of a really revolutionary 
 step in parliamentary action. They are not ready to set 
 the precedent of a single House of Legislature. 
 
 A new and grave topic of political contest has arisen. 
 The Governor-General of Lidia issued, on the taking of 
 Lucknow, a somewhat ferocious proclamation, confisca- 
 ting the territory of Oude, with certain exceptions in favor 
 of loyal chiefs and inhabitants. It has been disapproved 
 by the India Directors, and by the President of the Board 
 of Control, Ellenborough, in a manner highly oft'ensive 
 to Lord Canning and his friends. The first effect is a 
 meeting of Liberals at Cambridge House, Lord Palmer- 
 ston's, on Sunday, the da}' before yesterday, who seem to 
 have seized upon the occasion as a peculiarly fortunate 
 and promising one for an onset to overturn the ministry. 
 Something will be attempted to this efifect on the 13th in- 
 stant. If it be shewn, as vehemently asserted in conver- 
 sation, that, owing to local ideas. Lord Canning is right 
 and Lord Ellenboroughruinously wrong, then the cabinet 
 ignorance of the true policy towards India, connected with 
 the terrible break-down of their India bill No. 2, may 
 make very dangerous a resolution of want of confidence 
 on the great subject of their Eastern Empire now upper- 
 most in the thoughts and feelings of the nation. Here is 
 a battery suddenly and indiscreetly provoked to open its 
 deadly fire on an administration already tottering!
 
 20 TO MR. CASS. ■ 
 
 I have received a perfectly reliable letter, which has not 
 been sent to you simply because you are worried more 
 than enough already by unimportant matters, complaining 
 that owing to some irregularities or neglect of the agents 
 you employ, the books intended by the government for 
 the British Museum very often fail to reach their destina- 
 tion. This is a waste or a misappropriation which per- 
 haps a word from you might arrest. 
 
 Our quondam friend. Sir Henry Bulwer, functus as 
 Commissioner to the Moldo-Wallachian provinces, has 
 gone to the Porte, successor to Lord Stratford de Redclitfe. 
 This appointment is deemed a good one, and may, in a 
 measure, be traced to the connexion of Sir E. Bulwer 
 Lytton, his brother, with the party in power. I have had 
 the good luck to form a pleasant acquaintance with Lord 
 Stratford, and to find that he has agreeable recollections 
 of his stay in the United States as well as an exalted es- 
 timate of the ultimate destiny of our country. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 198.-TO MR. OASS, 
 
 London, May 14, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The specialty of the moment is the 
 ministerial crisis. Mr. Cardwell's resolution, decidedly 
 equivalent to one of a want of confidence, so accepted in- 
 deed b}^ both sides, was postponed from yesterday and 
 will be discussed in the Commons to-night. Lord Shaftes- 
 bury has a corresponding motion, though less compre- 
 hensive and pungent, with which the Lords will be occu- 
 pied at the same time. I don't think hereditary wisdom 
 will be excited to censure by this last, because Lord Ellen- 
 borough, against whose indiscretion in giving publicity to 
 his despatch disapproving Lord Canning's proclamation 
 it is particularly directed, has suddenly, obviously to save 
 the cabinet, resigned. But Mr. Cardwell in the Commons 
 is "an ugly customer." He has moulded his missile into 
 a deadly shape : — if it hits, it must kill. I had an oppor- 
 tunity last evening, at the Admiralty, to ascertain the 
 forecastings as to the result. All admitted the "tight
 
 TO MR. CASS. 21 
 
 place" of the ministry. Some affected to regard the self- 
 immolation of Ellenborough as an adequate atonement. 
 The great hope, however, seemed to be in the extreme 
 difficulty if not impossibility of combining a sufficient 
 number of Radicals with the Whigs in the vote. Mr. 
 Bright and Mr. Milner Gibson are, for the emergency at 
 least, in '■^entente cordiale" with the cabinet: — but Lord 
 John Russell, though not immovably fixed, is deeply 
 committed against. Gossip says that a perfect reconcilia- 
 tion would be immediately effected between Lord John 
 and Lord Palmerston, and the Liberals at once disperse 
 the Tories, but for certain in-door rivalries, each Lady's 
 conjugal pride claiming the premiership. Those most 
 intimate with the eminent quartette are profound, though 
 probably deluded, believers in that article of secret his- 
 tory. 
 
 Possibly to-morrow's Tijnes may take you the finale of 
 the great debate in the very steamer to which I am 
 obliged to send the Bag by 5 p.m.: — but I doubt its end- 
 ing so soon : and if it be adjourned beyond Sunday, it may 
 be prolonged to Wednesday the 19th instant. If beaten 
 by a large majority, Lord Derby will probably acquiesce, 
 and retire as promptly as he went in : if the majority be 
 small, or in other respects equivocal, he will resort to a 
 dissolution of Parliament, should the Queen consent. 
 
 Have you noticed the contemptuous manner in which 
 the Commons treated the amendments made by the Peers 
 to the Oaths bill? A precedent of 1715 has been disin- 
 terred upon the strength of which Baron Rothschild, the 
 Jew bone of contention, without having qualified, but 
 simply upon his electoral return, is sent as a member of 
 the Committee to confer with the Lords ! Lord Chelms- 
 ford, being a parvenu on the woolsack, and full to over- 
 flowing in zeal for his new Order, can scarcely articulate 
 his oftended dignity. 
 
 I sincerely congratulate our whole country, and your- 
 selves especially, upon the news which reached London 
 yesterda}^ of the final votes on the Kansas question. 
 
 How odd, that you are still, after the lapse of seven 
 months, as much at a loss to see the special and definite 
 purpose of Sir W. Ousely's mission as I was when an- 
 nouncing it immediately subsequent to a personal inter- 
 view with him ! Diplomacy brings i-ep roach upon itself
 
 22 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 by whatever looks double and disingenuous. Lord Na- 
 pier labors very hard, and probably controls his real na- 
 ture, in his explanatory and excusatory note of the 26th 
 April last. 
 
 The opposition in Paris have carried their man : and 
 thus, of that representation there are two to one against 
 the Empire. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 199.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 18, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — As soon as my despatch bag had been 
 forwarded to Liverpool on the 14th instant, with my letter 
 to you of that date, I hurried to the House of Commons, 
 and sent an aid to witness and report the proceedings of 
 the Lords. 
 
 The truth is that more than the usual interestis felt at this 
 legation as to the result of the vote of censure on the pres- 
 ent ministry, proposed by Mr. Gladstone in the Commons 
 and Lord Shaftesbury in the Peers. This arises from a 
 strong impression that the gentlemen in power have in 
 twenty various ways manifested towards the United States 
 a more just and conciliatory disposition than was shewn 
 by their predecessors. 
 
 The debate in the upper chamber closed on the evening 
 it began, with a division of 9 in favor of government: — a 
 small majority, which would have been smaller had Lord 
 Aberdeen, with two proxies in his pocket, remained to 
 vote. The announcement was cheered by the opposition, 
 who expected a worse defeat. 
 
 Li the Commons, the discussion is unfinished, and may 
 be protracted beyond to-night. It was opened with meas- 
 ured care by Mr. Cardwell, who was poorly seconded by 
 Mr. Deasy, and was fortified only when Mr. Lowe and 
 Lord John Russell spoke. The weight of the last against 
 the cabinet was the greater, as his course was ascribed, 
 more or less, to a definite understanding with Lord Pal- 
 merston about the future. An adjournment to yesterday 
 was asrreed to after midnie-ht. The defence has been
 
 TO MR. CASS. 23 
 
 marked by great ability and eloquence. Certainly the 
 best speech I have heard in England was delivered by 
 Cairns, the Solicitor-General, who was vigorously aided 
 by Lord Stanley. Yesternight the debate continued 
 until half-past 12, the principal advocates of the censure 
 being Sir Charles Wood, and Sir George C. Lewis, and 
 against it Whiteside, Roebuck, and Sir Robert Peel. 
 It was again adjourned, to be resumed this afternoon. 
 
 The question may be taken to-night, as the Races are 
 attractive : possibly it may be suspended till Friday next : — 
 but what is expected to be the result ? Judging from the 
 sentiments expressed by the innumerable experts whom I 
 have conversed with, the result may be considered doubt- 
 ful : — but on the whole I incline to think that Lord Derby 
 must sink under the united pressure of Liberals, Peelites, 
 and crotchety Radicals. Let us hear, however, Palmer- 
 ston, Gladstone, Graham, and Disraeli. The physiog- 
 nomical expression of the last, in his seat on the Treasury 
 Bench, imports the agony of crucitixion. 
 
 Our grand, full-dress, diplomatic, annual. Birthday din- 
 ner came off at the Foreign Olfice on Saturday last. - 
 Everybody, not excluding Mr. Cobb's Commissioner on 
 International Coinage, was in appropriate costume. The 
 Turkish ambassador, seated on Lord AIalmesbury's?e/i( — not 
 the French on his right — toasted the Queen : and shortly 
 afterwards a little epigram in action made me and others 
 smile. Our host had to embrace in one sweeping respon- 
 sive sentiment the national constituencies of all his guests. 
 He rose, hemmed repeatedly as Englishmen invariably do 
 when about to speak — ^^ Messieurs, buvons a la santedes Sou- 
 VEKAiNS (here his eye became fixed on mine, he paused, 
 hemmed again, and suddenly add'ed) et aux Etats do7it les 
 honorables representants soni ■presents F* Of course, you 
 remember that at such a table, even in London, no tongue 
 can be admitted as either " a la mode" or universal, ex- 
 cept the French. The Duke of Malakoff, I understand, 
 can but won't speak the language of this Court. 
 
 Lord Derby, if censured, will resort to a dissolution: — 
 in doing which I am satisfied that, considering the condi- 
 tion of parties, he will act as a leader most unwisely. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 24 TO MR. dASS. 
 
 No. 200.-TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, May 21, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The difference, in respect to us, between 
 the Tory cabinet of Lord Derby and a Liberal ministry 
 selected and headed by Lord Palmerston, is perhaps dis- 
 tinctly illustrated by the slip which, cut from the Money 
 Article of yesterday's Times, is enclosed. Contrasting the 
 recently expressed sentiments of Lord Malmesbury, as to 
 all the southern portion of the North American continent 
 and as to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, with the tone of this 
 piece, it is not difficult to see that whereas the ins are 
 frankly favorable to the maintenance of the most pacific 
 relations, the outs, now vehemently struggling for restora- 
 tion, are disposed to pledge themselves to an opposite 
 course. In the existing attitude of things, I cannot wish 
 success to the pending motion of censure upon the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 That motion is still under animated debate. Its fate 
 will, no doubt, be decided by 2 o'clock a.m. to-morrow 
 morning, and be carried as the latest telegraphic news 
 from Liverpool to Halifax by the present steamer. I have 
 heretofore thought that it would prevail by so large a 
 majority as would make it idle for Lord Derby to resort 
 to a dissolution. Just now, appearances and impressions 
 run in the other direction; and one cannot help thinking 
 that there is a great probability of Mr. Cardwell's resolu- 
 tion being rejected, or, if carried, carried by so small a 
 majority as would entirely justify an appeal to the people. 
 The defence has been conducted with a striking superior- 
 ity of boldness, fairness, and ability on the side of the 
 ministers. Two important men, one a Peelite, the other 
 a Radical, Sir James Graham and Mr. Bright, threw their 
 weight into the scale of the government last night. Mr. 
 Roebuck states in private that the censure will be nega- 
 tived by a decisive vote: — but he is a sanguine mutineer 
 in the ranks of liberalism. Lord Palmerston, who ex- 
 hibits quiet confidence in the result, reserves himself ap- 
 parently for the final onset of this evening, and will rally 
 his whole party with his accustomed skill. But, "lying 
 low," ready for a spring, is Disraeli, and "keeping dark," 
 to shock by a surprise, is Gladstone.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 25 
 
 The electoral triumph of Migeon, in the Haut Rhiu 
 department, against the open and peremptory injunctions 
 of the Imperial functionaries, Canrobert, Espinasae, the 
 Minister of Police, and the Prefects, is a manifestation 
 strongly resembling those which first developed the ex- 
 istence of our secret Know-Nothings. The candidate had 
 neither character, capacity, nor influence : — but, without 
 a symptom of organized eftbrt, he is suddenly, as a sign, 
 lifted to alarm Louis Napoleon on the score of his favorite 
 pretence as to universal suffrage. This "portent" occa- 
 sions much remark. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 201.-TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, May 25, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The motion to censure the ministry 
 broke down on the very day it was expected to triumph. 
 The adjournment for two days to enable members to at- 
 tend the Derby, gave just time enough for the arrival of 
 explanatory documents from India, which were of a char- 
 acter to make the motion too palpably unjust to be farther 
 pressed. Its withdrawal was loudly called for, and finally 
 took place early in the evening of the 21st instant. Per- 
 haps it might still have been urged to a division, but that 
 there was a grim lion in the way to which the young 
 members were unused and whose aspect, the more it was 
 looked at, the more terror it inspired. The dissolution of 
 Parliament, positively resolved upon by the Premier, if 
 the attack prevailed, was fraught with so much uncer- 
 tainty, expense, and trouble, that a large number, elected 
 scarcely a year ago, could not bear to risk its possibility. 
 
 The efiiects of this abortive impeachment may, I think, 
 be regarded as threefold. 1. It permanently splits, and 
 so kills, the Peelite party. 2. It postpones for a consider- 
 able time any farther assault, and will probably involve in 
 that postponement any definite legislation as to India. 
 3. It goes very far to produce throughout the country 
 an impression that the men at present at the helm un- 
 derstand steering a little better than their opponents-, and
 
 26 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 may be safely permitted to command the ship until some 
 ruder emergency occur. Lord Derby will not be dis- 
 turbed for a year to come; and the condition of the 
 Liberal party will have to be vastly improved by the sacri- 
 fice of personal aspirations and antipathies, before it can 
 disturb him at all. I repeat what I have before said, that 
 I do not perceive as yet the slightest reason why the 
 United States should regret the ascendency of the existing 
 phase of conservatism here. 
 
 At the request of the Royal Geographical Society, I at- 
 tended their session of yesterday, and received for the 
 Superintendent of your Coast Survey, the great Victoria 
 Gold Medal, awarded to him by those learned pundits. 
 It is transmitted in the despatch bag.* 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 202.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 4, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You must bear with all due patience 
 my douche of despatches by to-day's Bag. If I could only 
 
 * On the delivery of the Medal, the following remarks were addressed 
 to Sir Eoderick Murchison : 
 
 Mr. President, — I receive with much gratification, on behalf of my 
 eminent fellow-citizen. Professor Alexander D. Bache, this mark of the 
 approbation of your learned society. 
 
 The fame of her sons in the noble brotherhood of science is a most cher- 
 ished part of my country's wealth and strength ; and, as her national 
 representative, I thank you, gentlemen, for thus adding to her store. 
 
 Professor Bache has for many years discharged elevated, interesting, 
 and arduous duties under the government of the United States. He was 
 specially fitted for these by academical training and successes, by educa- 
 tional labors, by an intellect at once lucid, profound, and persevering, 
 and by an aptitude, not too common with reserved students and philoso- 
 phers, for practical method and administration. Without adverting to 
 a rich series of prior and of accessary performances, I speak with entire 
 certainty'in saying that his chief work (though yet uncompleted), the 
 Survey of the American Coasts, Sounds, and Estuaries, in all their expan- 
 sion, intricacies, and characteristics, admirably delineated as if daguer- 
 reotyped in charts of extraordinary perfection, has earned for him a solid 
 and enduring reputation in this, as in our own, hemisphere. 
 
 I believe him, Sir, in every respect entitled to the high honor you con- 
 fer by awarding this Medal, and am happy in being made by your dis- 
 tinguished association the medium of its safe transmission.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 27 
 
 effect tliereby a perfect ivater-cure, that is, a perfect relief of 
 the Seas from the constipation of visitation and search, it 
 woukl rather please me than otherwise to pour out a del- 
 uge by every opportunity for a month to come. Pray, be 
 enduring. A little while, and that word '■'•discontinue," if 
 quietly but steadily used (a la Foplicola), will put into the 
 President's bonnet something worth a whole "forest of 
 feathers." The issue has been impudently forced upon us 
 by the sudden and simultaneous spanking of our skippers, 
 and that too under our very nose: — and now let Jonathan 
 keep a flock of starlings to iterate and reiterate, at every 
 point of the compass, the cry of '■'■discontinue,^' in every 
 note of the gamut, ^'■advienique j^oiirra," — not "war"! but 
 " discontinue "! 
 
 Yau will possibly think this a light mode of treating a 
 grave topic, and not precisely ambassadorial. Well, you 
 are entirely right : — but I seek a temporary relaxation 
 from the oppressive solemnity of remonstrance at the For- 
 eign Office, and I cannot but feel how gloriously right 
 you are. 
 
 That sweeping search of our shipping at Sagua ought 
 to be, as the French say, constate . with, greater amplitude 
 and authenticity. It is the grand climacteric, at which 
 every independent nation will startle and mutter " Shame !" 
 The informant of our consul may be mistaken, and the 
 act is so transcendently outrageous as scarcely to be 
 credible from the lips of one man only. 
 
 I have a fine group of compatriots here just now : — the ' 
 Aikens, the Fishs, the Fishers, the Sparks, the Tot- 
 tens: — but, alas, like an ill-omened bird whose shadow 
 deepens the blackness of the storm, onward comes flying 
 the perturbed Senator ! This advent is regarded as most 
 unfortunate. Will your minister be countermined ? If 
 so, have we not a penalty in the Criminal Code ? What 
 says your Attorney-General ? If I had a modicum of 
 secret service money, this mole's underground activity 
 might be w\atched and thwarted. However, a good 
 cause, like good wine, needs no bush. Surveillance is 
 almost as mean as treachery. 
 
 Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton has entered the cabinet and 
 taken the Colonies from Lord Stanley. The latter is 
 transferred to the Presidency of the Board of Control. 
 Both must be re-elected : and I tremble for my friend the
 
 28 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 great novelist. His nerves are strung to the trial, and 
 Ms address out. Mr. Gladstone, after nibbling at the bait, 
 peremptorily darted oif. 
 
 While your representative was yesterday distilling his 
 brains to form a decoction at once powerful and pahitable 
 for Lord Malmesbury, the Prime Minister of England 
 was dashing away, indifferent to the cares of Empire, at 
 the Ascott Races ! 
 
 Mr. Locke King succeeded, the night before last, in the 
 House of Commons, in carrying the second reading of his 
 resolution for abolishing the property qualification of 
 members, by a majority of 126. A pretty broad and flat 
 "vestige" or footprint of republican progress! The old 
 fogies of the close-borough genus, especially of the Ger- 
 man order, are stupendously aghast. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 203 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, June 11, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — "While I was sending my last despatch 
 on the afternoon of the 8th instant by the Vanderbilt, the 
 Foreign Secretary, on an interpellation by Lord Claren- 
 don, was giving the House of Lords a very cautious insight 
 into the arrangement I had effected with him that morn- 
 ing. This, I presume, you have seen. All right, as far 
 as it goes. It made me, however, rejoice to remember that 
 his lordship had himself made a ivritien minute* of the 
 
 * The " Minute " is as follows : 
 
 " Minute of Conver'sation between Mr. Dallas and Lord Malmesbury^ 
 Junes, 1858." 
 
 " Her Majesty's government are not prepared ti) justify or excuse such 
 acts on the part of their officers as have been complained of by the United 
 States government, if they are truly reported. 
 
 "Her Majesty's government recognize the principles of international 
 law as laid down bj^ General Cass in his note of the 10th of April, '58, 
 and that nothing in the Treaty of 1842 supersedes that law. 
 
 "Her Majesty's government, however, think it most indispensable, in 
 the interest of civilization and the police of the Seas, that there should be
 
 TO MR. CASS. 29 
 
 agreed points. Had these points been less full and dis- 
 tinct, there would have been no agreement at all. His 
 speech bears marks of an apprehension that he will be 
 attacked for having 3nelded. Our old Palmerstonian 
 haters are said to be already on his track : — but they will 
 be kept at bay by the threat of exposing the orders issued 
 to British naval officers by the former government, which 
 are hinted to have involved not merely a search against 
 slave-traders, but one also against William Walker and 
 his associate filibusters. At the royal ball, the night be- 
 fore last, I was assured, with emphasis, by one of the min- 
 istry, that he positively knew what had caused and motived 
 the sudden outrages upon our vessels : — he did not feel at 
 liberty to communicate it: but it would come out. The 
 men now in power had nothing to do with it. He rather 
 thought too much had been conceded, but, he added, I am 
 content, as, rather than bring our two countries into col- 
 lision, I would concede a great deal more. 
 
 My colleagues of the diplomatic corps have, one after 
 another, expressed their congratulations. They seem to 
 regard with pleasure every check given to the maritime 
 arrogance of England. Even Malakoli" said he supposed 
 I was now in good humor, or softened. There is no 
 country in Europe which does not look upon the Right of 
 Search as a weapon in the hands of a single bully: — espe- 
 cially since your famous letter which stopped Louis Phi- 
 lippe's signing the Quintuple Treaty.* 
 
 a power of verifying the nationality of a vessel suspected on good grounds 
 of carrying false colors. 
 
 "Her Majesty's government would wish to learn from the United 
 States government their views in detail on this point, in the hope that 
 some mutual arrangement, by way of proceedings to be executed by our 
 respective officers, may be found effective, without being offensive. 
 
 " The French liave lately proposed and laid down this rule, viz.: that 
 a boat may be sent alongside of a suspected ship and m&y ask for papers, 
 but not, unless invited, board the vessel. Such is our arrangement with 
 France. 
 
 "Lord Malmcsbury has given Mr. Dallas a copy of our instructions to 
 our officers. Pending our negotiations on the above point, orders will 
 be given to discontinue search of American vessels." 
 
 * Diary: July 17, '58. — "At 11 o'clock p.m. went to General Peel's. 
 Here met for the first time Mr. Guizot. A small figure, white hair and 
 crowning scratch, dressed in black, with large star on his left breast, and 
 much activity of manner. His eye remarkably fine and expressive. He 
 boarded me at once with a compliment for having removed the last 
 source of quarrel between this country and the United States. He said 
 he had tried the same thing while here as French Envoy, but could ac-
 
 30 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 We have apprehended some contest with the vessels 
 you have ordered to the West Indies. Although far from 
 afraid to measure swords the third time, I hope, as dis- 
 claimer and discontinuance have promptly followed your 
 demand, that we shan't be embroiled just now. 
 
 The Magara left Plymouth yesterday, on the final trial 
 to submerge the cable and unite the two continents. I 
 have my doubts : — as the experimental trip had its acci- 
 dents. We shall know the result in three weeks or less. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 204.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 22, 1858 
 
 My dear Sir, — The two principles of the Manchester 
 men — peace at any price and anti-slavery — came into con- 
 flict on our subject, and you will see by the debates that 
 the latter has been made to kick the beam. Mr. Bright, 
 their leader, will not consent to force philanthropy down 
 revolting throats at the point of the sword. 
 
 You will have noticed that the ministry of Lord Derby 
 has continued in the groove of good luck. They obtained, 
 on demand, £3000 for Watt and Parke, and, without any 
 demand, the Cagliari for Piedmont. This sort of fortune 
 imparts a prestige which is often equivalent to actual 
 strength. Lord Malmesbury in addressing Carafa seems 
 to have taken a leaf from our book. 
 
 English ill-will on the subject of the slave-trade takes 
 a strong direction against France. In the recent discus- 
 sion of the Lords, language of bitter blame was not spared. 
 It will farther concentrate there, when the letter of Mr. 
 Cobb to the Collector of Charleston becomes known. The 
 press here is in the habit of saying that we secretly import 
 slaves through Cuba : — the Secretary nails the falsehood 
 
 complish nothing. It was a great 'resultat,' and would be felt every- 
 where. Enquired about the President's health : — he had seen him in 
 Paris about two weeks before his linal return to America. I shall prob- 
 ably permanently regard this accidental meeting with Guizot as among 
 the most agreeable incidents of my mission to London. However de- 
 batable he may be, he has made a strong mark on his times as a states- 
 man and an author."
 
 TO MR. S AWARD. 31 
 
 on the front, and I shall try to have it generally seen. 
 "No admittance here !" 
 
 Much is printed, and more spoken, about the quiet 
 armament of France. In private circles anxiety and sus- 
 picion are apparent. Each neighbor is on the look-out: 
 Belgium, Austrian Italy, and England. 
 
 IsTothing yet from the squadron engaged on the sub- 
 Atlantic cable. Indeed, as they start the submerging in 
 mid-ocean, we cannot hear anything with certainty before 
 the way is completed by attaching one end at Valentia. 
 The Foreign Secretary and I have interchanged notes pre- 
 paratory to the transmission of messages. If it succeed, 
 however, this will be rather late notice to you. 
 
 There is a vague rumor that the Emperor is somewhat 
 dissatisfied with his Ambassador in London : — that this 
 great functionary has sliewn towards the Duke d'Aumale 
 too warm a sense of Algeriue reminiscences, quite an in- 
 convenient explosion of old companionship: — that, be- 
 sides, his brusquerie among the ladies of the Court has occa- 
 sioned some extravagant scenes; and, in fine, that he him- 
 self feels like a fish out of water, and longs to return to 
 his Parisian element. '•'■Se non e vero," etc. 
 
 The heat has been more oppressive than any I have be- 
 fore known here. Thermometer in the shade 91 and 92. 
 The efiluvia from the Thames alarms Parliament and 
 threatens disease. There is, however, enough unfinished 
 public business to keep the session going for at least 
 another month. Lord Derby has been incapacitated by 
 illness for attendance during a week past. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 205.-T0 ME. SAWAED. 
 
 London, June 22, 1858. 
 
 Sir, — I will thank you to present to the Directors of the 
 Atlantic Telegraph Company my cordial acknowledg- 
 ments for the case of specimens of the component parts of 
 their cable which you were kind enough to send me yes- 
 terday. It is a most interesting and highly appreciated
 
 32 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 memorial of a vast undertaking whose success will be 
 hailed with exultation by all civilized humanity. 
 Accept the assurance of my sincere esteem. 
 
 Most respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 206.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 25, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Bishop of Oxford's hereditary horror 
 of slave-trading has drawn the House of Lords as it were 
 to the confessional, and they have made a clear breast of 
 it as respects the coolies. The middle passage was nothing 
 worse than the accurate exposures of Lord Carnarvon. 
 Here was a vindication of America for you ! Here was 
 something with which Walewski might unanswerably 
 twit the expounders of the "modern requirements of a 
 higher morality" ! Nothing was left to the magnates but 
 to get angry with themselves and the rest of mankind: 
 and certainly the language of Earls Grey and Malmesbury, 
 of Brougham, Clarendon and others, exhibited unsparing 
 and undiscriminating rage. It is quite interesting to note 
 the ferocity of the attack upon the great ally whom their 
 post-prandial eloquence is apt to make an idol of. The 
 British Peers and the Parisian press are interchanging a 
 brisk fire of ^^ falsehood," ^^infami/," '■'- hypocrisy,^' ^'■barbar- 
 ity" '•'■murder" and other equally courteous accusations. 
 Of course, an occasional shot strays to the United States : 
 but, like eels, we are used to skinning ; and, on the whole, 
 the two new targets, Spain and France, have been much 
 worse riddled than we. That affair of the " Regina Cceli," 
 in which t\iQ fettered free laborers rose upon the crew and 
 butchered all but the surgeon, is not without its parallel 
 on our record. Lord Brougham, like Mr. Adams, thought 
 the "killing no murder." ^Notwithstanding all this, the 
 Duke of Malakotf, the daj^ before yesterday, at the Lord 
 Mayor's dinner to her Majesty's ministers, was embalmed 
 in unguents of flattery and applause ! There is an inexpli- 
 cable subserviency to the alliance, which may possibly out- 
 live fanatical anti-slavery; rival pretenders just now. 
 
 The horrible condition of the Thames, aggravated by
 
 TO MR. SAWARD. 33 
 
 unusually hot weatlier, is the universal town talk. The 
 parliamentary windows, overlooking the widespread flats 
 of poisonous filth at low tide, have to be tightly closed; 
 and so the heat becomes in its turn insufferable. The 
 sickening odors, however, cannot be excluded from the 
 passage ways and committee rooms, and these furnish a 
 second-hand supply to the Lords and Commons. Perhaps 
 the matter may be exaggerated by those who want to 
 adjourn. 
 
 Nothing yet from the Atlantic Telegraph Squadron. 
 We ought to hear in a week. I reminded the Foreign 
 Secretary by note of the preparation made last year for 
 inaugurating the cable by messages between the Queen 
 and the President, and, at his request, sent him a copy of 
 what Lord Clarendon had intended should be first trans- 
 mitted. He will probably use it, if he have a chance : and 
 of that you will b'e -apprised before receiving this letter. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 207.-T0 LORD MALMESBUEY. 
 
 London, July 2, 1858. 
 
 My dear Lord Malmesbury, — Your message of last 
 evening will be forwarded to Valentia without delay. 
 
 I hoije it may be in time to inaugurate the work, and yet 
 I fear it will have to wait another year or two. Shoals 
 of my countrymen, arrived by the last steamers, represent 
 the weather to have been very unpromising, if not un- 
 manageable. 
 
 Always faithfully your lordship's 
 
 Most obedient servant. 
 
 . No. 208 -TO MK. SAWAED. 
 
 London, July 2, 1858. 
 My dear Sir, — Conforming to the course intended to 
 have been pursued last year, I transmit to you the eu- 
 
 VOL. II. — 3
 
 34 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 closed from the Foreign Office, containing the message 
 which it is desired may be the Jirst or inaugurating one 
 sent across the Atlantic to the President of the United 
 States, as soon as the communication is established. Pray 
 let me hear of its safely reaching your hands: — and should 
 any unexpected circumstances prevent the attainment of 
 its object, you will oblige me by returning the package 
 unopened. Ardently wishing success to your great under- 
 taking, 
 
 I am very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 209.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, July 6, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I put into the Bag to-day a long narrow 
 box addressed to Mr. Cobb, which I will thank you to 
 have sent to the Treasury Department. It contains draw- 
 ings of the life-boat preferred in this country, and which 
 the Duke of Northumberland, on behalf of the Society 
 over which he presides, wishes to engage the attention of 
 our government, I enclose also copies of the two letters 
 written upon the subject. 
 
 They are still fashioning upon the parliamentary anvil 
 a government for India. Perhaps, as the bill was last 
 night ordered to be reported to the House, it will soon be 
 adopted and sent to the Lords. That job accomplished, 
 there will be great anxiety to adjourn, as the Thames con- 
 tinues to throw out a most disturbing effluvia. 
 
 Her Majesty has gone to Osborne; and, as soon as Par- 
 liament disperses, designs visiting German}^, expecting to 
 meet her daughter the Princess Roval at Cologne. 
 
 I am hoping to receive by the steamer which will be 
 due the day after to-morrow, a despatch from you on the 
 subject of the "ifiwiwfe;" for although I have been ap- 
 prised of its safe arrival, my solicitude is not quite extinct, 
 and will not be until I hear from you. 
 
 • Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 35 
 
 No. 210.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, July 16, 1858. 
 
 jSIy dear Sir, — The Queen must, of course, keep her 
 engagement with the Emperor, to grace the festivities at 
 Cherhourg, by a sliort stoppage on her way to Cologne, 
 and so, perforce, Parliament must adjourn before the 4th 
 of August. It is easy to create a necessity, when the 
 moors are attractive and the Thames offensive. You hear 
 a grumbler, now and then, like Mr. Charles Villiers, while 
 he throws an angry glance across the Channel towards the 
 frowning fortification, ask, " Wh}^ does her Majesty go re- 
 joicing there?" but such rough notions and suspicious 
 jealousies are injurious to the alliance; and, though deeply 
 felt in honest humbler classes, are repudiated by Court and 
 ministry. 
 
 It is difficult to avoid seeing how closely the ties are 
 drawing between Russia and France. The meeting at 
 Stutgard is fructifying fast. The night before last, while 
 "assisting" at a ball in the hotel of the Russian Embassy, 
 I stood for five minutes ruminating before two magnifi- 
 cent full-length portraits, just put up, of Louis !N"apoleon 
 and Eugenie ! Ex pede Herculern. Nothing i n themselves ; 
 only, going back for a couple of short years, one thinks 
 of the ants in amber and wonders "how the devil they 
 got there." The recent flagrant massacres of Christians 
 at Jidda, and in Candia, by Mussulman mobs may give 
 rise to a fresh enquirj^ about the condition of "the sick 
 man," under a new combination of the consultative faculty. 
 
 You will have noticed how exceeding angry, indeed irre- 
 pressibly furious, Spain has been at the language used in 
 the House of Lords, and especially by the Earl of Malmes- 
 bury, on her slave-trade connivances. A word, said the 
 Times in reply, from his lordship, would give Cuba to the 
 United States. The Thunderer, indeed, seems so exasper- 
 ated that he has been known to insist in private, as well 
 as preach in public, that' the fanatics against the traffic 
 can best and easiest extingliish it by transferring the jewel 
 of the Antilles to the zone of Columbia. Mr. Cobb's 
 letter, prohibiting the desired clearance for a vessel avow- 
 edly destined to bring a return cargo of Congo free labor-
 
 36 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 ers, has produced an agreeable surprise. It could scarcely 
 at lirst be credited as anything but an elaborate and in- 
 genious hoax — like Locke's wonders of the Moon — but it 
 crept into the Globe, and is producing much sober 
 thought. 
 
 Accounts from India are bad. The mutiny is spreading 
 through all the Central districts. The numbers and re- 
 sources of the rebels seem constantly on the increase. The 
 scorching heat is decimating the European forces. A 
 speculation admits as far from impossible that their armies 
 may be driven for refuge and be besieged in Calcutta, 
 Madras, and Bombay : — there finding safety in their in- 
 exhaustible navy. It would be a curious fact, if, as the 
 Lords finish the Government of India bill, they perceived 
 that there was no India to govern! Yet, it is within the 
 range of possibilities, or, as gamblers say, "within the 
 cards." Their total eftective strength has dwindled to 
 26,000 men. 
 
 The President has failed to receive the sub- Atlantic mes- 
 sage of the Queen. The fates are averse. All the elements, 
 above and below, combined against it. A more fearful 
 storm than that wliich separated the vessels and enraged 
 the sea, cannot well be imagined. It is a miracle that the 
 Agamemnon survived. And yet the tempest is not the 
 gloomiest occurrence of the abortive effort. There is a 
 sad sense of a mysterious and unfathomable agency of 
 some sort in the "lowest deep," which takes the liberty, 
 at discretion, to treat the cable as a thread of sand: — 
 separating, perhaps dissolving it, without any kind of 
 warning and at the most promising moment! Here is a 
 problem which may baffie even Lieutenant Maury, unless 
 some modern Empedocles will do the world the favor to 
 engage the Nautilus, and dive three miles to verify the 
 subaqueous facts. It is a terrible lion crouched in the 
 pathway of the spark. 
 
 'Eo doubt you are suffering from incessant toil and a 
 burning sun: and I would not have my solicitude relieved 
 at the cost of a single additional grain to your heap of 
 troubles. Only bear with me while I say that you have 
 had that little "J/mwfe" about visit and search ever since 
 the 21st of June, or twenty-five days, without a word to 
 say what you think of it. Mr. Fitzgerald, to be sure, has 
 eased me off in some measure by reading to the House of
 
 TO MR. CASS. 37 
 
 Commons Lord Napier's official narrative of his interview 
 with you on the subject. But I had rather get a mono- 
 syllable from yourself than a quarto from his lordship. I 
 have a faint hope that the Persia, due to-morrow, may be 
 freighted with a line for me. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 211 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, July 23, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The day after the departure of the Eu- 
 ropa I received, as was expected, your welcome letter of 
 the 1st July, by the Persia. 
 
 The generous notice you take of my course in bringing 
 about the abandonment of the vexed and vexatious pre- 
 tension of visit and search, is most valued because it as- 
 sures me of your continued friendship. I did my best, 
 in seizing the occasion: — but what would that have 
 availed, without the firm attitude and language of the 
 President, and your overwhelming letter to Lord I^apier 
 of the 10th of April ? Armed with such weapons as these, 
 almost self-acting, it was enough to follow the injunction 
 " Carpe diem,'' and point them at the adversary. 
 
 I do not think it enters into the policy or character of 
 this government or people ever to resume an international 
 doctrine which they have once formally surrendered. 
 They fight to the last for a false position which props a bad 
 practice, but the instant they give it up, they rather hurry 
 to deny they ever took it. This is a result of an exorbi- 
 tant self-respect, the rivalry of political factions, and a 
 quickly detective press. Hence, I did not anticipate that 
 the " Minute" of what was settled at the interview between 
 Lord Malmesbury and myself on the 8th of June, could 
 occasion doubt or misgiving. When those big fates, com- 
 monly called big wigs, the "law officers of the Crown," 
 harmonized with Lord Derby's policy, and made a clean 
 breast by honestly and frankly avowing the soundness of 
 your public law, visit and search fell dead, and went to 
 that bourn whence no mere expedient subtleties ever re- 
 turn. Peaceful resurrection is impossible. As to war, its
 
 38 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 chances, instabilities, and vainglorious fruits are proverb- 
 ial: — and were force ever resorted to to restore a disclaimed 
 principle, all we could do — and that is the ultima securitas 
 — is to invoke Shakespeare and cry "lay on, Macduff, 
 and d — d be he who lirst cries hold, enough." England 
 will never try our mettle again; and least of all on this 
 confessedly untenable pretence. 
 
 The Atlantic Cable Squadron are out again on their 
 desperate enterprise. None but enthusiasts look for suc- 
 cess. They left Queenstown on Sunday last, and we may 
 hear of them again in ten days. 
 
 The Queen's visit to Louis ITapoleon at Cherbourg, like 
 that of Sheba to Solomon, will be an affair of much osten- 
 tation. Her Majesty proposes to have a train of ministers, 
 peers, and members of the House of Commons, flounced 
 off by a fleet of some twenty ships of war ! Newspapers 
 affect great indignation at her going, and have urged a 
 "town meeting" to stop her. When Victoria once an- 
 nounces her purpose, after accepting an invitation, all 
 that's left is to shrug one's shoulders and make the best 
 of it. A resolution against her Majesty would be hooted 
 down even in "Rag Fair." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 212.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, July 30, 1858. 
 
 My deae Sir, — You will have noticed that Lord Lynd- 
 hurst, in asking for the production of papers on Monday 
 the 26th instant, prefaced his capital speech by quoting 
 from the Times report of my remarks at our 4th of July 
 celebration here.* *Those remarks had their purpose, and 
 
 * The report in the Times of the 5th of July, '58, was as follows : 
 "His Excellency Mr. Dallas rose to acknowledge the toast, and was 
 received with loud cheers. He said, — Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Citi- 
 zens, I had promised myself, in consequence of continued ill-health for 
 some time past, to abstain from anj'thing so exciting- as public speaking; 
 but it is, unfortunately, the 4th of July (laughter and cheers), and I tind 
 it impossible to remain silent on such a day after you have received the 
 mention of my humble name so kindly and so cordially. A few years 
 ago it would have been thought discourteous and intrusive had one or
 
 TO MR. CASS. 39 
 
 have attained it. The slis^ht doubt hinted in some news- 
 papers, as to the extent of the renunciation on the board- 
 more American citizens ventured upon the celebration of the 4th of July, 
 1776, in the great city of London. The old wounds were still fresh, old 
 feelings still survived, aiid the citizens of the United States who were here 
 had the good taste as well as the forbearance not to do that which might 
 have been misconstrued so as to be disagreeable to those among whom 
 they were residing. (Hear, hear.) But now, gentlemen, we feel much 
 more at ease. The principles of the American revolution have gone on 
 conquering and to conquer. (Cheers.) They have received the approba- 
 tion, cordially but certainly, of all the wise and good in England as well 
 as in the United States. They have become perfectly well understood — 
 they have beaten down the impressions of hostility which, being misun- 
 derstood, they originally created. The principles of the American revo- 
 lution are acceptable here as they are at home. (Cheers.) The men of 
 our heroic days — our Washingtons, our Jeft'ersons, our Madisons, and 
 our heroes in the battle-field, are known now in England almost as well 
 as they are in the United States, and are honored as much here as there. 
 (Cheers.) The progress, then, of the principles of the Kevolution of the 
 United States has been striking, and has produced that to which I have 
 already adverted — the propriety of our meeting to celebrate the origin of 
 those principles in London as well as elsewhere. (Hear, hear.) Do not 
 for a moment suppose that I am availing myself of a detached part of the 
 toast just given in order to draw the conclusion that the recognition of 
 those principles has been brought about in any degree by the diplomacy 
 of the United States. ('Hear,' and a laugh.) The truth is — and you 
 are, perhaps, not aware of the fact — that we have no American diplomacy. 
 (A laugh.) In England and on the Continent diplomacy is a lifelong 
 career. With us.it is nothing of the sort. American diplomacy, com- 
 pared to European diplomacy, maybe likened to the militia as contrasted 
 with the regular army. (Laughter.) To be sure, in the United States, 
 from the outset, we have always had a partiality for the militia. (Hear, 
 hear.) Our first military achievements were gained by men among whom 
 were some of the rawest possible militia. ('Hear,' and a laugh.) And 
 it has so happened, probably by accident, that our militia has over and 
 over again proved equal to the best regulars of Europe. (Cheers.) It 
 is in that way, perhaps, that the diplomacy of the United States has 
 been able to do something towards giving expansion and popularity' to the 
 principles of the American revolution. Although our Ministers abroad 
 have been drawn from the ranks of private and professional life, on very 
 many occasions, at the most distinguished Courts of Europe and through- 
 out the world, in conflict, or rather in argument, with the most refined di- 
 plomatists of any country, those militiamen of .diplomacy have achieved 
 remarkable success. (Hear, hear.) I might refer, if I were disposed to 
 empty upon you the archives of the American Legation here or elsewhere 
 (a laugh), to many striking instances of this kind ; and as I propose to con- 
 clude my remarks by suggesting a particular name to your approbation, it 
 may be proper to say that the list of our American diplomatists, beginning 
 with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and William 
 Pinkney, includes a long array of illustrious 'militiamen diplomatists,' 
 who have left behind them a record of the most glowing and gratifying 
 character. (Cheers.) At this very Court some of my predecessors may 
 be compared to the very best of the drilled cohorts of European diplo- 
 macy. There is one little comment, which is to a certain extent connected
 
 40 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 ing question, and the reticence of ministerial M. P.'s when 
 interpellated, seemed to make it important that the exact 
 character of what had been done should be fixed before 
 Parliament adjourned, and before the possible contingency 
 of a change from Derby to Palmerston could take place. 
 The post-prandial device worked to a charm : — and Lords 
 Lyndhurst and Malmesbury have left nothing to desire in 
 their public and precise avowals. The same thing as to 
 the press. And now England, through her omnipotent 
 Wittenagemote, through all her leading journals, specially 
 the Thunderer and Lord Palmerston's organ, as well as by 
 table oratory, is made to know the identical pretension 
 her government has finally withdrawn from as illegal. 
 After-claps, such as followed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 
 are impossible. By a lucky accident, Mr. John Y. Mason 
 and myself were in the diplomatic gallery when Lord 
 Lyndhurst addressed the Peers. I felt personally a little 
 awkward at being present to hear my own name men- 
 tioned: — but the gratification of your Parisian representa- 
 tive at the force and lucidity of the Sage of 87 years was 
 unmeasured. It was, indeed, a rare realization of Homer's 
 iSTestor : — and it beat down the assault of mere party. 
 
 with American diplomacy, on which I will say a word. You know that we 
 have recently had some little difficulties on the coasts of the United States 
 and in the West Indian Sea (hear) — a matter with which, as one of the 
 militiamen in the diplomacy of the United States, I was lately charged. 
 Now, without referring to that question more closely, it is a point which 
 is essentially connected with one of the fundamental principles of the 
 American revolution, — that principle being the necessity of maintaining 
 on behalf of the great American people, as a great community, the inde- 
 pendence of their flag. (Cheers.) Well, I am not going to argue the 
 question as to visit and search. It has been over and over again, for 
 years back, argued and re-argued. But I should like on the 4th of July 
 to announce to my fellow-countrymen that visit and search in regard to 
 American vessels on the high seas in time of peace is frankly and finally 
 ended. (Tremendous cheering, the whole company rising and manifest- 
 ing the liveliest enthusiasm.) While, gentlemen, I am able to announce 
 this gratifying fact, I think it ought also to be accompanied by the assur- 
 ance that the termination of that for which we have struggled for nearly 
 half a century has been brought about with a degree of honorable candor 
 and fair dealing on the part of the British government which is worthy 
 of every acknowledgment on our part. (Loud cheers.) With a view to 
 draw these remarks to a close, I beg leave to oiferyou as a toast the name 
 of one of the earliest representatives alike of the principles of the Ameri- 
 can revolution and of the Constitution of the United States — I mean 
 Thomas Jefterson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 "The toast was drunk in solemn silence."
 
 TO MR. CASS. 41 
 
 Cherbourg will throw into shade the Field of Golden 
 Cloth. But her Majest}'^ will not, as has been erroneously 
 rumored, be escorted by a large fleet : — nor will her sub- 
 jects cease to grumble or soon forget this her first omis- 
 sion to uphold their national pride. Lord Derby did not 
 foresee or he would have deprecated an invitation. As it 
 is, "there's nothing left for it!" 
 
 The American horse "Charleston," running for the 
 Groodwood Cup, has been terribly beaten, coming in only 
 7th. The Niagara and the electric cable are unheard of 
 since leaving Queenstown for a re-trial. The driving cur- 
 rent of American travellers to the Continent knows no 
 abatement. It is a social phenomenon. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 213 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 * London, August 6, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The salvos of artillery at the meeting of 
 the Sovereigns 3^esterday in the basin of Cherbourg were 
 drowned by the sudden and unexpected annunciation that 
 the Atlantic cable was laid! All London is in a tumult 
 of surprise and exultation. The stock, which two days ago 
 stood at £200 or £300, has with the quickness of its own 
 electric fluid, risen to £800 or £1000. New Columbia (Fra- 
 zer's river) is, at once, to the great relief of Sir E.B. Lyttou, 
 brought within hailing distance. I hope the Secretary of 
 the Company, to whom it was specially confided, has not 
 failed to transmit to the President the inaugurating mes- 
 sage of the Queen. The reply ought to reach us to-day !* 
 
 * The telegrams here referred to were the following : — they were un- 
 dated, but were interchanged on the 18th and 19th of August, 1858 : 
 
 1. — From he?' Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to his Excellency the 
 President of the United States. 
 The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon the successful 
 completion of this greatinternational work, in which the Queen has taken 
 the greatest interest. The Queen is convinced that the President will 
 join with her in fervent hope that the electric cable, which now already 
 connects Great Britain with the United States, will prove an additional
 
 42 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 I received on Sunday last an exceedingly interesting 
 letter from Mr. W. B. Reed, written on the very day, the 
 20th May, of the taking of the Chinese forts at the 
 mouth of the Peiho by the allied squadrons. He appears 
 to have acted with great judgment and forbearance: — and 
 yet perhaps the vigorous movement of Lord Elgin and 
 Baron Gros in pushing nearer to Pekin may break down 
 oriental form, and incline the brother of the Sun and Moon 
 to be as courteous and kind to the Earth as are his rela- 
 tives. Mr. Reed kept pace with the advance, a mediating 
 pacificator always at hand. The complication is delicate 
 and very interesting; and our representative expresses a 
 doubt where it will end — possibly in territorial acquisi- 
 tion by one or the other of the allies. 
 
 Was there ever any paper so wretchedly devised and 
 penned as the speech on the prorogation? And yet there 
 are in the ministry Bulwer Lytton, Disraeli, Stanley, and 
 Cairns ! It must have been left to the bewildered cookery 
 of a Law-Lord. 
 
 Mr. Miller, our Despatch Agent, whom I had desired 
 to keep a sharp look-out for the Blue Book promised by 
 Lord Malmesbury on the boarding question, informs me 
 that he has ascertained it will not appear before the next 
 session. There is an habitual, and often an inexplicable, 
 fondness for procrastination : — they don't think it the thief 
 but t\\Q physician of Time: possibly, on this occasion, dis- 
 
 link between the two nations, whose friendship is founded upon their com- 
 mon interest and reciprocal esteem. The Queen has much pleasure in 
 thus directly communicating with the President, and in renewing to him 
 her best wishes for the prosperity of the United States. 
 
 2. — The President of the United States to her Majesty^ Victoria, Queen of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 ' Washington City. 
 
 The President cordially reciprocates the congratulations of her Majesty 
 the Queen on the occasion of the great international enterprise accom- 
 plished by the skill, science, and indomitable energy of the two countries. 
 It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than 
 was over won by a conqueror on the field of battl '. May the Atlantic 
 Telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual 
 peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument 
 destined by Divine Providence to ditfuse religion, civilization, liberty, 
 and law throughout the world. In this view will not all the nations of 
 Christendom spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be for- 
 ever neutral, and' that its communications shall be lield sacred in passing 
 to the place of their destination even in the midst of hostilities? 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 43 
 
 creet views of party popularity suggest the expediency of 
 extending the record. 
 
 You have no doubt remarked the interest attached to a 
 recent and absorbed interview between the French Em- 
 peror and the Sardinian Prime Minister, Cavour. The 
 general impression forecasts a breach with Austria and 
 the Unity of Italy. As this country may probably side 
 with Austria, hence the expediency of having Cherbourg 
 in the rear, more as defensive and a refuge than a measure 
 of invasion. 
 
 Lord Stratford de Redcliife returns to Constantinople. 
 Poiirquoivient-il, V enrage f asks Thouvenel. His lordship 
 says, to take leave of the Sultan: — others intimate, to 
 teach, as privy councillor, the Divan how best to act in 
 existing difficulties. Perhcqys, Sir Henry Bulwer has 
 missed a figure somewhere, and made the temporary 
 presence of De Redclifle necessary. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 214.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, August 13, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — !N"othing exceeds the desertion of Lou- 
 don — except the crowds in the streets. The heat, the 
 odorous Thames, the Royal Highnesses in Prussia, and 
 the whirring grouse of Scotland, are fast depopulating all 
 the great Squares and abandoning the Parks to the mil- 
 lion. The clubs are vacant. The theatres slam to their 
 doors. Science closes her lecture rooms, and Art wraps 
 her galleries in muslin. Even the Press, the Metropolitan 
 Press, — unheard of thing! is somniferous and stupid. 
 In such a state of afiPairs the affidrs of State are apt to sym- 
 pathize, and the despatch of a diplomat takes irresistibly 
 a turn of tameness. I doubt much whether this my weekly 
 missive don't fall sound asleep. , 
 
 It would seem that Lord Elgin and Baron Gros have 
 a fair prospect of demolishing the Great Wall. They are 
 comfortably seated at Tien-Tsin, about sixty miles from 
 Pekiu, in daily communication with a new Grand Com-
 
 44 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 missioner clothed with the indispensable fall powers; they 
 have propounded their ultimata; and they give infinite 
 persuasion to these by the display of 2500 European 
 soldiers before 300,000,000 of Asiatics! Mr. Reed and 
 Count Putiatin follow the belligerent Admirals in a Rus- 
 sian vessel called the America, with their respective flags 
 flying, steadily prepared to join the triumph and partake 
 the gale ! It is diflicult, with our " western" habits of 
 thought, to realize this extraordinary invasion of the old- 
 est and hugest existing empire on earth. And yet there 
 they certainly do go — winding their diminutive cavalcade 
 through river and canal towards the Imperial palace, with 
 that sort of audacious indift'erence to the Chinese that 
 Cortez exhibited to the Aztecs ! 
 
 Parties here are at odds about the character which the 
 parliamentary and oflicial measures of the ministry ought 
 to bear. "Well ! — as a stranger, a mere looker-on, I can 
 judge impartially. Lord Derby has shewn wisdom, tact, and 
 statesmanship, far beyond what was expected from him, 
 and the natural result is a corresponding triumph over 
 public opinion. The spirit of exterior conciliation is quite 
 distinct. He soothes and satisfies everywhere: France, 
 United States, ^Naples. At home, he has ceased to fight 
 with the age, concedes more liberally than he ever prom- 
 ised, accepts the Jews, abolishes property qualification, 
 contemplates manhood sufl'rage if not the ballot, gives a 
 government to India, and makes an acceptable budget ! 
 Surely, there is nothing equivocal in these traits of a six 
 months policy : — shewn, too, in the midst of difliculties, 
 which might have provoked their angry relinquishment 
 without exciting surprise. I have no tendencies to what 
 is called Toryism (perhaps you know tliat without my tell- 
 ing it!) and I may rather fall short of than exaggerate the 
 merits of the Premier and his colleagues. If — as some 
 anticipate, especially since that passage of the Queen's 
 speech read on prorogation, which refers to the exercise 
 of members' mjiuence during the recess — a dissolution be 
 attempted in the spring, it would not surprise me to find 
 tbe new House of Commons more disposed than the 
 present one to sustain the existing government. 
 
 We are having hourly messages from the Niagara, but 
 none yet from the Oflice on shore. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 45 
 
 No. 215 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, August 27, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — j^ote, that Marshal Pelissier is about 
 marrying. At Cherbourg the predestined couple met for 
 the first time. " Mons. le Due," said the sovereign, Eu- 
 genie, '^prenez la main de la Comtesse Paniega j^our le sou- 
 per ; — eh! pourquoi pas pour la vie V and so, we shall have a 
 Duchess added to our corps in less than a fortnight. Mala- 
 koft'is affectedly pitied as a victim though 62 : his intended 
 being 30 and surpassingly lovely. 
 
 Count Persigny deems it necessary to spread more sail. 
 He would probably like to regain his diplomatic residence 
 in London. So he has made a long speech at the Council 
 General of the Loire, in which he reminds the world that 
 he was among the first to attach himself to the fortunes of 
 Louis I^^apoleon, and that the French and British alliance 
 is essential to the interests of both nations. Although he 
 used some very offensive words in addressing the Lord 
 Mayor after Orsini's attack in Februar}^ last, yet, take him 
 for all in all, he is rather a fjivorite here. 
 
 Royalty has periodical fits of peripatetic restlessness. 
 Just now, the great thrones are vacated. France, Russia, 
 England, Prussia, Spain, Holland, have their monarchs 
 wandering. Queen Victoria returns from her trip to Pots- 
 dam during the next week, and will hold a Privy Council 
 at Osborne on the 2d September. 
 
 Lord Elgin has effected his objects : — opened China to 
 commerce and Christianity, got an indemnity of $6,000,000, 
 and made Pekin a residence for foreign diplomats and 
 consuls. Such at least is the credited news from St. Pe- 
 tersburg. It is understood that the quiet Putiatin has 
 dexterously managed to obtain great advantages for Russia. 
 France claims a large half of the "glory" of the enter- 
 prise. 
 
 The Conferences at Paris have closed. The details of 
 the arrangement respecting the Danubian Principalities 
 have not transpired. Generally it is said the Suzerainet^ 
 of Turkey is maintained: Wallachia and Moldavia are 
 each to have a Hospodar elected for life and a separate 
 legislature: on what points a junction is effected, whether
 
 46 ' TO MR. CASS. 
 
 ecclesiastical, judicial, or electoral, don't appear yet. It 
 is strongly illustrative of the irresistible tendency of the 
 age that these consultative agents of despotic powers could 
 come to no result but one e«sentially republican. 
 
 Doubts are whispered as to the state of France. The 
 steadily continuing transportations of squadrons of " sus- 
 pects" to Cayenne, indicate a widespread discontent, and 
 must aggravate, not repress it. Your old assailant Loi^d 
 Brougham, in the course of a long call with which he 
 honored me, expressed serious anxiety as to what might 
 soon follow. By-the-by, after all his termagant fury 
 against your defeat of the Quintuple Treaty, he has come 
 round to your letter of the 10th April last, and sa3's that 
 visit and search are the same, both against the law of na- 
 tions, cannot be forced, but he hopes a succedaneum may 
 be devised by negotiation. A few tirm phrases in the 
 President's message will place "The Police of the Seas" 
 beyond the reach of the hand of resurrection. 
 
 Lord Derby obtained the prompt consent of her Majesty 
 to the publication of the telegraphic messages between 
 herself and the President. They appeared in the Times and 
 other journals of the 23d instant. The contrast between 
 the manner in which the success of the cable has been 
 treated here and in the United States, is very marked and 
 strange. Except at the first surprise, and in the rise of 
 the company's stock, nothing symptomatic of enthusiasm 
 has broken out: not even a dinner! Some hyfalutin arti- 
 cles got into a paper or two: — obviousl}^ however, more 
 inspired by pique against the glorification at Cherbourg, 
 than by joy over the wire. What is the cause of this dif- 
 ference ? Is it that your ecstacy arises from an instinctive 
 consciousness that the cable will be a medium for propa- 
 gating quickly and directly your swelling thoughts ? — of 
 indoctrinating this old continent with your principles and 
 aspirations ? There is vastly more in it, rest assured, than 
 trade, and peace, and fraternity. If not, why is the lion 
 tame and tranquil, while the eagle is huzzaing in the 
 clouds? 
 
 I am meditatino^ a short visit to Tunbrido:e Wells with 
 my family, to give op})ortunity for certain repairs and im- 
 provements in the house I occupy. If I do not write as 
 often as before, ascribe it to this and to the intolerable 
 duluess of everything in London. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 47 
 
 No. 216.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, September 10, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — An annoying nncertainty lingers about 
 the Atlantic cable. It has stopped speaking: — and 
 Whitehouse, the electrician who has heretofore taught it 
 speech, ascribes its present dumbness to some injury in- 
 flicted upon the small line of wire by the violence of the 
 sea off the Irish coast. He applied a remedy once, and 
 can, he thinks, apply another: — but, then, men of science 
 are akin to poets, the genus irritabile, and the cluster around 
 the telegraphic instruments have got squabbling. The 
 physician who cured the disease was dismissed as soon as 
 he succeeded : — but now comes a fresh attack, and he 
 won't stir unless soothed by ample reparation. If the 
 Professor be not promptly propitiated the mischief may 
 get beyond the power of repair : — and then, how idle the 
 conflagration of the City Hall! 
 
 The cable's rival, Cherbourg, the ^^ standing menace," 
 seems to have won the day. John Bull is still loquacious 
 about the splendor of that spectacle, and harps, at politi- 
 cal meetings and dinners, about its incidents and mean- 
 ing. He comforts himself, under the warnings of Koe- 
 biick and Lindsa}", by preaching faith in the alliance, by 
 mounting a few enormous cannon pointed in the direc- 
 tion of the French fortification, and by frequent iteration 
 of " forewarned, forearmed!" But the old gentleman 
 cannot divest himself of uneasy feelings: and a stern de- 
 termination is everywhere evinced that Parliament, at its 
 next session, "must not lose an hour in strengthening the 
 defences of the country. In connection with this, observe 
 that Paris is flooded with anti-Anglican pamphlets, foster- 
 ingand augmenting every sort of national prejudice : — and 
 remember that the completion of Cherbourg places a 
 weapon in the restless hands of the metropolitan blouses 
 which they will long to try. Should the army, to whom 
 Louis Napoleon has undoubtedly pointed the way to ■* 
 England, become infected by the same popular yearning, 
 nothing is left for it but a trial, either with or without his 
 Imperial Majesty. You may have noticed that a wag, 
 during the magniticent pyrotechnics, construed the initials
 
 48 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 K E. (Napoleon, Eugenie) and V. A. (Victoria, Albert) 
 as an implied compliment to the Czar on the. Neva. Who 
 knows? 
 
 The news from China is not yet definitive. No doubt, 
 however, is entertained that Lord Elgin has accomplished 
 all that mere treaties can secure. I have just received an 
 interesting letter from Mr. Reed, dated at Tien-Tsin on 
 the very day, the 18th June, on which he signed his own 
 treaty, which he describes as entirely satisfactory. I 
 should judge from what he says, that he and the British 
 Plenipotentiary have not harmonized. Some supercilious 
 flings have already appeared in the newspapers here, 
 against the American mode of getting honey without 
 working for it, which are perhaps distillations of diplo- 
 matic ill-humor. 
 
 Much noise is just now occasioned by a Protest or Re- 
 monstrance against the intolerance of Sweden for having 
 driven into exile some half dozen converts to the Roman 
 church. The paper, signed by the great body of ecclesias- 
 tical dignitaries, headed b}' the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 was formally sent to Count Platen, the Swedish minister 
 at this Court: — and his reply to it is at once curious and 
 dignified: curious, as it explains the intolerance to be the 
 law, wliich the legislature will not, though pressed by the 
 Sovereign and Court, change: and dignified, as his Excel- 
 lency plainly intimates the impropriety of one country 
 meddling with the institutions of another. 
 
 Permit me to offer to yourself and your daughter my 
 sincere felicitations upon the event which I see announced 
 in the public papers. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Uo. 217.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, September 17, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — My despatch by this Bag will lead 
 you to speculate as to what may be the possible objects 
 of Lord M's. sudden eruption. It may go farther than 
 it has gone. "Whether the deficiency of party capital 
 be felt and must be made up : — or whether it be conceived
 
 TO MR. CASS. 40 
 
 necessary to "tack ship and about," on the visit ques- 
 tion: or whether the everlasting dripping of fresh reclama- 
 tions for "outrages" has wrought what the French term 
 "wn acces defievre:'' or whether the atmosphere of Pots- 
 dam exerted an unwholesome influence: or whether, after 
 all (for Oxenstiern found the world very contemptible), 
 there be at bottom meaner promptings than these, — -let 
 us leave the future to disclose. As for my own action, 
 it lies plainly before me, and I have to make it clear by 
 quietly repelling encroachment, preserving both temper 
 and dignity. 
 
 Mr. Klicker, the minister of the Hanse Towns, who, by- 
 the-by, has greatly lifted his mission by marrying an ex- 
 ceedingly pretty and most fashionably toiletted wife, has 
 once more begged me to intrude the " Stade Dues" upon 
 your notice. Europe is not unwilling, on some topics, to 
 feel us on this side of the Atlantic. The House of Com- 
 mons has had its committee, a copy of whose report I send 
 you. Is it worth our while to take, as respects our treaty 
 with Hanover, the course Eno-land is takino; with hers? 
 One word in reply, to assuage the solicitude of the Han- 
 seatic diplomat. 
 
 Russia has, Avith sly insinuating softness, nestled herself 
 at Villafranca with Sardinia. She has bought a steam- 
 navigation depot on the shores of the central sea: — and 
 already England foresees naval rivahy and is, of course, 
 vehemently excited. Lord Derby will be interpellated to 
 explain how he happened to be thus outwitted. But the 
 step was, it is said, accompanied by political engagements 
 of much significance: — Russia promising to aid Piedmont 
 should she be assailed by Austria. 
 
 Another letter from Mr. Reed, dated at Tien-Tsin 1st 
 July last. The airs played off by the British Peer among 
 the effeminate Orientals are approvingly described in the 
 Times: — Mr. Reed speaks of them in a wholly different 
 strain. 
 
 The Cable don't speak: — the cause is yet undetected, 
 not ^^ innubibu-s" but '■'■mprofiindis:" and the electricians 
 are at loggerheads. Everybody looks blank, and croakers 
 are beginning their bull-frog songs with, " Well, you 
 know I always doubted!" The absolutely perfect isola- 
 tion which it is necessary to secure for the wire through 
 the whole 2000 miles may remain for a short time: — but 
 
 VOL. II. — 4
 
 50 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 can it, in reason, be expected to last amid the lashing 
 grindings, abrasions, and corrosions of our stormy sea? 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 218.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 London, September 23, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — ISTothing more from Lord M. after the 
 lapse often days: — so I suppose he may be considered as 
 persuaded that " Her Majesty's Captains who visit sus- 
 pected vessels" may sometimes be handled without kid 
 gloves, and yet no offence be justly taken. 
 
 Mr. Bradley, our consul at Ningpo, who accompanied 
 Mr. Reed up the Peiho, passed through London to Gal- 
 way, bearing with him our Chinese Treaty. Ho must 
 reach you some days before this note. Lord Elgin is 
 much eulogized, no doubt deservedly, but he has obtained 
 nothing which does not enure to the equal advantage of 
 the United States, and there are stipulations in Mr. Reed's 
 treaty which they are here congratulating themselves will, 
 under the most favored clause, enure to the benefit of 
 England. 
 
 Lord Brougham has made a most elaborate aiid un- 
 readable speech on the occasion of inaugurating, the day 
 before yesterday, at Grentham, a statue in bronze to New 
 ton. He exhibited his own familiarity with the highest 
 ranges of science: — but he does not appear to have, by 
 effective words and generalization, brought into any 
 stronger relief the creative genius of Sir Isaac. There 
 are some fames, such as Johnson considers Shakespeare's, 
 whose adamant nothing can strengthen or impair. 
 
 The Premier, apparently sacrificing his stud to his 
 studies, tried a sale by public outcry: — but his heart 
 caved in, and he fixed such enormous prices upon his 
 favorites — on one, Toxopholite, 15,000 dollars — that all 
 the really good nags are left upon his hands. He will be 
 obliged to retract his abjuration of the turf Why, indeed, 
 should a man affect to be what he is not, even though he 
 be prime minister? 
 
 Every day gives rise to some new theory as to the cause
 
 TO MR. CASS. 51 
 
 of the Cable's failure. The last is the least hopeful : — it 
 is in the shape of a report from an enquiring electrician, 
 appointed for the purpose by the Company. He seems 
 to think that an injury may have been inflicted when the 
 Agamemnon, overrunning her log, unconsciously quit the 
 submarine plateau of Maury: — or, as he intimates, the 
 excessive force with which the fluid was impelled at each 
 extremity may have transcended the ability of the wire to 
 hold it, and so ignited the contiguous coating to a con- 
 siderable length : — at any rate, he doubts whether the 
 fatal wound was given short of 300 miles from shore, and, 
 since it was given, whether it was by Are, or water, or 
 rock, it may have spread its coils several hundreds of 
 miles. I hope you quite understand this, although it be 
 too erudite for me, partaking as it does of the wild inven- 
 tion and incomprehensibility of Southey's Curse of Ke- 
 hama. Vates ambo ! 
 
 You must not find fault with the subjects on which I 
 Avrite. At this season, I grasp at whatever has any sort 
 of interest. The Atlantic Cable has, besides, risen to be 
 a great political institution, and its flaws have a tendency 
 to check international intercourse and universal civiliza- 
 tion ! Ask Mr. Cyrus Field if that be not so. The wits 
 of Paris, after long calling by the name of "canard" any 
 piece of false news, have now christened immortally, every 
 signal failure " a cable." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 219 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, September 28, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I avail myself of the steamer " City of 
 Baltimore" in order to beg your attention for a moment 
 to the subject of the enclosed copy of a letter from solici- 
 tors long connected with this legation. 
 
 It is quite clear that a sharper has been for some time 
 at work defrauding mau}^ of our too credulous countrymen 
 by pretending to have discovered property in this coun- 
 try to which they are entitled : and inducing them to 
 transmit small sums of five or ten pounds to meet the fees
 
 52 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 and costs of preliminary enquiry. The expediency of 
 a short and prompt notice is suggested : and I submit 
 whether something of the sort may not with propriety be 
 inserted in the Union and Intelligencer. 
 
 The dumbness of the Cable seems alike incurable and 
 inexplicable. Every day brings out a tedious rigmarole 
 of imaginary causes: — but as yet no positive action to fix 
 the distance or character of the mischief. 
 
 The Queen of Greece has resolved upon restoring the 
 Olympic Games : — not, Mr. Tricoupi tells me, on or near 
 Mount Olympus, nor exactly in their ancient simplicity: 
 — but on an estate left for the purpose by a private mil- 
 lionaire, near Athens, and much in the forn;i of modern 
 industrial exhibition ! 
 
 The very last on-dit about the Prussian crisis seems to be 
 that the Prince has become permanent Regent, the King 
 incurable. When his Majesty dies, it is not improbable 
 that the Regent will abdicate and permit his son, who 
 married our Princess Royal the other day, to take the 
 crown. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 220.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 8, 1858'. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The rumor of the day is that apology 
 and reparation are to be made for Captain Pullen's 
 bombardment of Jidda! How diiferent this from what 
 would have taken place had Lord Palmerston remained 
 in oflice may be seen from a characteristic anecdote which 
 I know to be true. His Ex-premiership recently met 
 Fuad Pacha, the Turkish plenipotentiary in Paris, who 
 complained to him bitterly of the cruelty of firing upon a 
 defenceless town, especially as the ofi^ence given was in 
 train of diplomatic enquiry and reparation. Very harsh 
 and very sad, was the reply : — but as the fanatic massacre 
 at the consulate was incontestable, ha(J I been minister I 
 would have ordered the immediate destruction of the 
 town. This goes a little farther than the precedent set at 
 San Juan.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 53 
 
 Another long and able report from the electrician Hen- 
 ley on the Atlantic Cable. He permits a scintilla of hope 
 to survive that, by the use of his instruments, the mischief 
 may be gradually remedied. He leans, however, to the 
 opinion that the fault was in the cable when laid, and that 
 it would have been discovered had a proper series of ex- 
 periments been previously made. There are some sub- 
 jects on which scientific men seem to delight in theorizing 
 fancifully : the two most attractive just now are the deepest 
 in earth and the loftiest in the heavens — the Cable and the 
 Comet. I am told that the Earl of C. has written a book 
 to prove that this latter beautiful visitor is on an errand 
 to execute the judgment of Daniel and destro}^ the world! 
 Implicit fixith is due to the sacred prophets: — the diffi- 
 culty lies in fallible constructions and calculations by im- 
 aginative laymen. However, nothing is too incredible 
 not to have some believ^ers. Credo, quia impossibile. 
 
 Lord Derby, though physically excruciated by the gout, 
 continues politicall}- in the groove of good luck. The pub- 
 lic revenue has augmented beyond expectation. Some, to 
 be sure, predict a deficit of £6,000,000 at the end of the 
 year: — but the most sagacious are unable to perceive 
 whence it can arise. The ministry are allowed six months 
 longer life by their sanguine opponents : — the lapse of that 
 period brings them to the second month of the parlia- 
 mentary session, and what may then be the topics of 
 eventful discussion it is impossible to foresee. Reform 
 will not shake them. 
 
 Lord Canning has written a very able defence of his 
 policy against the attack made in Lord Ellenborough's 
 celebrated despatch, condemning his confiscating procla- 
 mation. His defence, to be sure, consists more in aver- 
 ments of intention than in denying f\icts : arguing it to be 
 wise to declare the territorial forfeitures, but not to retain 
 them : — to restore or re-distribute them. 
 
 The Czar says he will visit Paris and London, if possible, 
 in the spring. He had better move slowly in the cause 
 of serf-emancipation, or his boyars will make the visit im- 
 possible. He has been, as it were, "stumping" his em- 
 pire : and his published addresses are underlaid by an 
 apparent consciousness that the task which bafiled his 
 fiither may endanger him. 
 
 Alwa3'S faithfully yrs.
 
 54 TO MR. MARKOE. 
 
 No. 221.-T0 ME. MAEKOE. 
 
 London, October 8, 1858. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — You never write. The steamers 
 bring me nothing. I hope you are taking your fall trip, 
 for that will be your best apology by giving me the assur- 
 ance that your health is invigorating. 
 
 I suppose an Ex-Premier may be likened to an " arch- 
 angel ruined," and so, worthy even in his fall, of some 
 respect. Well ! — the ladies, by a rapid interchange of 
 'notes, so iixed it that we closed our vagabondish month 
 of September by a visit of five days to Broadlands, Lord 
 Palmerston's delightful residence in Hants. What a 
 lovely region of country. That river Tesk ! running at 
 the foot of the lawn, in all sorts of curves, limpid, crys- 
 talline, sparkling, murmuring, with the quick-eyed trout 
 stemming its current while seemingly motionless three 
 feet below the surface ! The huge elms, with trunks thirty 
 feet in girth : the towering C3'presses : the pinnacled cedars : 
 the age-worn oaks: the magnolia grandifloras with their 
 capacious (but not fragrant) white ilowers : the glowing 
 beds of roses, geraniums, rhododendrons, heliotropes, 
 pinks, chrysanthemums — the sculptured vases, fountains, 
 cascades: the interminable park, clusters of trees, gravel 
 , walks, and clouds of ever-cawing rooks : — and there, right 
 in front, high in the heavens, yet glittering in the rip- 
 pling Tesk, shines the magniticently tail-bearing Comet ! 
 
 Don't ask me about paintings and rare objects of vertu. 
 I am not now in their vein. Take them to be multitudi- 
 nous and infinitely curious. I >vant to boast, that while 
 Morphy was challenging and beating all Europe at chess 
 in Paris, I was following his illustrious and patriotic ex- 
 ample by conquering the conqueror of Derby at billiards, 
 and by outshooting him marvellously during a five hours' 
 tramp after partridges : — he in the finished jaunty costume 
 of a thoroughbred English sportsman, I under my heavy 
 beaver, in common frock coat, and light thin boots. Oar 
 coveys were shy, and required more than usual activity of 
 pursuit, and it was glorious to see how this veteran man- 
 aged to keep up his animation and brisk step to the very 
 last: dressing and coming to dinner too in an hour after- 
 wards as if he had been upon a satin sofa all day. 
 
 J
 
 TO MR. CASS. 55 
 
 Don't abuse me for this harum-scarum style of epistle. 
 If I stopped long enough to arrange ideas and words, I 
 should be worse fagged than I was in shooting, and you 
 would lose this precious piece of fanfaronade by the flight 
 of my Bag. 
 
 Ever faithfully yrs. 
 
 * No. 222.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 . London, October 15, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Emperor and his resolute minister 
 Walewski shew no yielding on their device of black emi- 
 grants from Africa to the tVest Indies. You have doubt- 
 less noticed the new case of the ship ^'■Charles et Georges" 
 seized off Mozambique by the Portuguese, first for being 
 in prohibited waters, and second for carrying on the pro- 
 hibited trade. She was crammed with negroes, and 
 crowded with fetters: both of which "our great and good 
 ally" vindicates b}' the presence of a public " Commissaire 
 de France " on board. Sent for condemnation to Lisbon, 
 two Imperial liue-of-battle-ships have repaired thither, 
 anchored in the stream, and demand that either she shall 
 be forthwith surrendered, with indemnity, or that Louis 
 Napoleon's diplomatic representative shall repair to Paris. 
 Of course, poor Portugal will have to succumb, violate her 
 own laws, annul the judgments of her courts, and sacrifice 
 the vested rights of her subjects. There is a talk of saving 
 honor, etc., by a mediation. What will England say? 
 Vivelasainte alliance? — maugre the capture of a slave-ship 
 flagrante delicto. 
 
 His Prussian Majesty has finally withdrawn before a 
 Regent, and may be regarded as a "dissolving view." 
 Like several other supernumerary royalties, he ceases to 
 be talked of, and must soon either die or be forgotten. 
 
 Tiie condition of the Venezuelan controversy is just now 
 somewhat inaccessible. Lord M. sticks tenaciously to his 
 " shooting box" in Scotland, and nobody in London cares 
 a pinch of snutF for all the parties concerned. Monagas 
 is reported to be in Paris. But your ex-minister, Eames, 
 must by this time have repaired to Washington and put
 
 56 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 you au fait. A loose rumor represents the difficulty as 
 settled by mutual concession. 
 
 The Duke and Duchess of Maiakoft", married two days 
 ago, ought to be in London this afternoon. Thus far the 
 Crimean conqueror has been a model of loyal acquiescence 
 to a command which secured for him a combination of 
 Venus and Juno. His predecessor, as I suspected in one 
 of my former letters to you, is longing to return to Albert 
 Gate: — and his pretty countess haunts, like a desponding 
 spirit, the courtly scenes of her past enjoyment. 
 
 The Association of Social Science, me't and still sitting 
 at Liverpool, is really exhibiting great ability aad vigor. 
 Still it is noticeable what an infinity of talent and trouble 
 they expend in proving positions long since accepted by 
 us as almost axiomatic truths. Lords John Russell, 
 Brougham, and Shaftesbury are the leading figures. 
 
 Though no chance of acting efficiently for some time is 
 apparent, I hope our Coast Survey is on the alert to seize 
 the first opportunity oflfered by the Cable for fixing the 
 longitude by means of clocks at each end. Men of science 
 are referring to this here. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 223.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, October 22, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The first duty and pleasure of the mo- 
 ment is to thank you for your private letter of the 4th 
 instant. 
 
 I wish I could answer your enquiry as to the personal 
 deportment of the explosive petard of the Foreign Office : 
 — but I cannot: — he has been shooting grouse or stalking 
 deer in Scotland, or perhaps, preparing like an irritated 
 lion for another spring, he coolly for the present lies low 
 and keeps dark. However, to speak seriously and sin- 
 cerely, my impression is that his rage exhausted itself in 
 his note from Potsdam, that he has not a drop left with 
 which to treat ray reply, and that we shall slowly (on my 
 part very slowly) resume our previous relation. You will 
 have seen that our diplomatic correspondence on other
 
 TO MR. CASS. 57 
 
 topics has not liacl the fauitest smack of this particular 
 acid. 
 
 Will 3'ou have the Bahamas ? They are not as attractive 
 as Cuba, and scarcely comparable to the bay of Samaria : — 
 but tliej lie in the great thoroughfare of our Gulf, aud 
 might yield a cluster of harbors for coaling or against 
 storms. What will j^ou bid for them? The "Baron E. 
 Graves van der Smissen," a highly intelligent Dutchman 
 of about 33, claims them or rather their sovereignty as 
 vested in himself and co-heirs under an express grant of 
 Charles I. The Baron is a grandson of Admiral Graves, 
 whom I knew here in 1814, who had been naturalized in 
 the United States and married there. The Baron can and 
 will deploy a perfect title : — he has undertaken to put it 
 on paper, to exhibit copies of deeds, and to set forth the 
 chain of proofs. His price is reasonable. Will you 
 ofter ? 
 
 I send you the copy of a letter addressed to me by a 
 surgeon of the 2d West India Regiment. He thinks him- 
 self entitled to a share of the $3000 appropriated in JTune 
 last to make suitable acknowledgments to the Jamaica 
 authorities for the relief extended to the sick officers and 
 crew of the Susquehanna. Not, as it would seem, that he 
 actually partook in the kind offices rendered, but that he 
 was on board of the vessel which carried the sufferers to 
 New York, might have succored their bodies had his aid 
 been invoked, and no doubt soothed their minds by the 
 consciousness that he was at hand. The surgeon might 
 quote precedents of high authority. 
 
 The Chinese Treaties are still favorite topics. Of 
 course, John Bull claims all the merit. Even Baron Gros 
 was on the point of yielding to the views of forbearance 
 and national courtesy inculcated by Mr. Reed : — but Lord 
 Elgin held on his course sternly. 
 
 The Queen returned from Edinburgh to Windsor Castle 
 on Wednesday last: — of course with her usual '■'■ entou- 
 rage.^' All the peripatetic royalties have gone back to 
 their homes. 
 
 I am strongly inclined to convey- to you my specula- 
 tions on the drift of political aftairs just now, this side of 
 the Atlantic : — but this letter is already too long, and you 
 are too busy for generalities. To me, let me say brieiiy, 
 the indications of approaching change, convulsion, and
 
 58 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 war, are marked and multitudinous. " Watchman, what 
 of the night?" Shadows, ck)uds, and darkness rest upon 
 it. Keep our western star steadily shining, that the world 
 may see it above the storm. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 224.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 26, 1858. * 
 
 My dear Sir, — What of Lord M. ? — you will ask. 
 Well ! these collateral entanglements about words are by 
 no means the easiest to unravel : and they who rush im- 
 petuously into them must sometimes be fain to creep back- 
 wards out as they may. Plis lordship would appear un- 
 able or unwilling to put in a replication to my answer, 
 and so resolved, after six weeks' meditation and a visit to 
 the Premier at Knowsley, to bury the hatchet with short 
 blessing, and with as much grace as his nature would 
 allow. He invited me to the F. O. and I went yesterday 
 at 4 P.M. I entertain a high and sincere respect for the 
 Earl: — none the less because as a British statesman he 
 has done the United States justice on a point of momentous 
 concern long in angry controversy. Let me then restrict 
 myself to saying that after I had tranquilly looked at him 
 for one or two minutes, waiting the communication he 
 had invited me to receive, he went on to talk, discursively 
 and incongruously upon all sorts of topics, without for 
 one instant adverting to the one uppermost in ni}' thoughts, 
 and the one which it was impossible not to perceive was 
 the bee in his own bonnet. A pointless and profitless 
 course of commonplace was selected as the harmless 
 means of bridging over the fissure in our relations. He 
 began by awkwardly saying that though he had requested 
 to see me, he really had nothing to communicate ; and he 
 proved his words by much talk on ordinary topics which 
 he forbore to illuminate by the least novelty of idea. I 
 saw very soon tliat the controlling sentiment was "the 
 least said soonest mended;" and I abstained, during the 
 fifteen minutes' visit, from mterfcrinni; in the slifirhtest de- 
 gree with what was no doubt prescribed as the course
 
 TO MR. CASS. 59 
 
 fittest and fairest for all concerned. There then is an end 
 of that tantaniarara: redeunt saturnia regna: — and you may 
 rest assured that your minister is henceforward safe from 
 such storms. 
 
 Lord Malmesbury's department would seem to me to 
 give him something better to attend to than deer-stalking. 
 This abandonment of Portugal to the swoop of the Impe- 
 rial eagle, on a point too of so much professed tenderness, 
 puts a sharp arrow into the quiver, as well as a broad grin 
 on the face, of the Palmerstonian opposition. One of two 
 things : — either the government of Lord Derby did, or did 
 not, intervene to shield at least the honor of their feeble 
 friend : — if they did, why was their intervention repelled 
 by their dear ally? — if they did not, why thus palpably 
 sink from the position of a first rate power ? The ques- 
 tion grates closely on the very spirit which, suddenly 
 evoked by Milner Gibson, deposed Lord Palmerston. 
 The French editors, too, are taking now pretty much the 
 contemptuous and defiant attitude taken by the French 
 colonels then. Popular feeling is rousing: and by the 
 time Parliament meets, it may become a small hurricane 
 like that of February last, only taking the opposite direc- 
 tion. 
 
 Flags, as well as feathers, shew how the wind blows. 
 On the very day that Portugal surrendered the " Charles 
 et Qeorges^' at the summons of Louis ]!^apoleon, Marshal 
 Pelissier, for the first time, hoisted over his embassy at 
 Albert Gate, the tricolor, and there it has continued, 
 fiouting the air, and exciting curious enquiries as to its 
 import. Just at the same time, as if to console by blan- 
 dishment, the excellent Count and Countess Lavradio are 
 commanded to Windsor Castle. Of course, the despatch 
 of the Count soothed the Court of Lisbon with the idea 
 that his flattering reception at such a juncture was an 
 ample equivalent for the loss of the slaver. 
 
 Tlie controversy about the Jewish boy, who was bap- 
 tized into Christianity by a sort of nurse, then taken in 
 charge by the Roman priests as a brand plucked and to 
 be saved from the burning, and as to whose restoration to 
 his parents the Pope says '•'-non possumus^" is in full blast 
 all over Europe. It is egging on Louis Kapoleon to a 
 quarrel with the Hoh^ Father; some say, nothing loth to 
 find pleas for re-enacting his uncle's coronation courtship
 
 60 TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 of Pins VII. If the case of this child, Mortara, were for 
 judgment before King Solomon, he would be puzzled, as 
 be was once before: -and I think that I perceive that his 
 reference to the headsman is a hint for the disposition of 
 such knotty points not altogether forgotten, though per- 
 haps perverted. The lad, at a college of catechumens, 
 is reported very, very ill. 
 
 Much power of oratory expended on her Majesty's sub- 
 jects of late! as a general current, not unlike the dull, 
 turbid, and repulsive Thames of the last summer solstice. 
 Mr. John Bright, M.P. for Birmingham, has, however, in 
 addressing his constituents the day before yesterday, made 
 a stirring speech on Reform, almost sufficiently democratic 
 for a 4th of July at Tammany Hall. This rich cream is 
 more to one's taste than the bonny-clabber of the Liver- 
 pool meeting of the Social Science Association. One re- 
 sult of these agitations is striking, and is apparent more 
 to veterans than to novices like myself: — they are said to 
 foreshadow the early downfall of the present ministry. In 
 liis brief compliment to Lord John Russell, Mr. Bright is 
 thought to have indicated the only Premier the Manches- 
 ter party will accept as successor to Derby. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 225.-T0 ME. GILPIN. 
 
 London, October 31, 1858. 
 
 My dear Gilpin, — Mr, Bright's picture of England's 
 domestic politics must have its " pendant" on foreign 
 policy: — so here it is, and perhaps you will say the better 
 of the two. 
 
 I forget whether even a scrap of the eloquence of either 
 of the Gracchi has come down to4is : (how is that ?) they 
 were always favorites of mine : — now take the two speeches 
 of Mr. Bright together, and do they not give him a claim 
 to rank with these jewels of Cornelia, and as a diamond 
 of the first water ? 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 61 
 
 No. 226.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 LoKDON, November 5, 1858. 
 
 Mt dear Sir, — One can't help being struck by the 
 singular sensitiveness which seems to prevail here about 
 a French invasion. All the stump speakers, all the daily 
 papers, all the ponderous periodicals, do their best to argue 
 it doAvn, or laugh it off. This very effort keeps it on the 
 qui live. Two days ago, at Queenstown, in Ireland, a 
 junior lieutenant, left by superiors in command of a war 
 steamer, took it into his head, after a late dinner given to 
 some shore companions, to signalize the occasion by a suc- 
 cession of salutes. He fired away, larboard and starboard, 
 for some twenty minutes, and this far in the night. Con- 
 iicuere omnes, intentique : — "the French are come!" the 
 whole town shook with panic. Officers convened, move- 
 ments were concerted, deputations arranged, and imagina- 
 tive ladies fainted. Returning silence set guessing at 
 work; and when day came it was soon ascertained that 
 the eccentric and insubordinate son of a gallant old Ad- 
 miral had kicked up all that there was of a "French in- 
 vasion." In revenge for the terror he had inspired, he 
 was arrested; and I suspect he will have a hard time of 
 it for causing the universal apprehension to betray itself. 
 All this is natural when you consider the peculiar local- 
 ity, press, principles, pretensions, and antecedents of Eng- 
 land. As her hand is ready against every other nation, 
 she instinctively feels that the hand of any one sufficiently 
 powerful must be against her. 
 
 The Times of this morning contains a merciless column 
 against the present ambassador of France. It rakes up 
 the savage exploit of burning 500 Arabs in their rocky 
 den, and quotes the strong denunciations pronounced at 
 the time in Paris against so barbarous an act. What is 
 meant hereby? To make London, like the refuge of his 
 victims, too hot to hold Pelissier? To prepare the rein- 
 statement of Persigny ? Or is it a mere catering to the 
 existing and sweUing discontent with the Imperial ally? 
 Most likely, the last : — for the Times has gone far and deep 
 in multiplying attacks on Louis Napoleon, especially since 
 his treatment of the Portuguese for intermeddling with 
 ihe black emigration scheme.
 
 62 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London is reviving. The members of the cabinet 
 have returned to their official residences. The Queen has 
 held a Privy Council at Windsor. Courts of Justice have 
 begun business. Galleries of Art are opening. Science 
 is marshalling her lectures. Soirees, theatres, and equip- 
 ages are agog. "The noise of battle hurtles in the air." 
 Be patient a little while, and I shall have more dainty 
 food to dish up in these '■'■iiotce variorum." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 227 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, November 12, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mr. Pickens has sent me by a private 
 messenger such loads of despatches from St. Petersburg, 
 which he describes to me in a note as specially confiden- 
 tial, that I shrink frohi putting anything in the Bag which 
 can distract your attention, especially at the season when 
 the Message is on the anvil. 
 
 Count Montalembert would seem to have a peculiar 
 relish for martyrdom. His pamphlet of panegyric upon 
 England in derogation of France introduces him to a 
 criminal court in the manner most acceptable to the Em- 
 peror, for it brings the national feeling to co-operate with 
 the Crown in its policy of silencing the Press. The 
 gauntlet thus indiscreetly thrown is instantly picked up 
 by one who, in so doing, loses the character of oppressor 
 and becomes, as against a hated rival, the champion of 
 his country. This result is being aided by the Times, 
 which devotes countless columns of exultation to the re- 
 publication of the essay. The Count's purpose was doubt- 
 less a generous and brave one: — but like many an impru- 
 dent advocate, he has, in his anglomaniac zeal, given to 
 his cause the very worst stab it has yet received. 
 
 In general opinion here, the Morning Henild is the 
 government paper. It has latterly sought to be interest- 
 ing by commenting upon our uncontrollable tendency to 
 expand and annex. The Monroe doctrine is stigmatized 
 as a "6'0/> addressed to American vanity :" and it is insisted 
 that on the other, as on this side of the Atlantic, a
 
 TO MR. FAIR. 63 
 
 ^'■balance of power must be upheld." Yesterday the Central 
 American States were the pivot on which these remarks 
 revolved ; to-day it is Mexico, and the necessity of Euro- 
 pean intervention to preserve her demoralized weakness 
 • from sinking into our athletic embrace is distinctly stated. 
 Xow, this is all fanfaronade if it be not ministerial : — but 
 if the latter, it mounts into importance, is inconsistent 
 with protestations to which I have heretofore listened at 
 the Foreign Office and have formally reported to you, and 
 is entitled to grave attention. Spain may yet under the 
 auspices of England be tempted to make a spasmodic 
 effi)rt for the restoration of her Mexican dominion. A 
 word, a single word, importing American unanimity and 
 inflexibility on the topic, would crush the egg-shell pro- 
 ject forever. 
 
 Yon have doubtless observed the French Emperor's re- 
 treat from his free emigration scheme as to the negroes; 
 his letter to Prince Jerome directing a thorough investi- 
 gation, and hinting that white slaverj^ is perhaps as good 
 as black, and that Coolies may be made to work as well 
 as Africans. Some persons are ill-natured enough to re- 
 gard this as a mere ironical feint on the part of his Ma- 
 jesty. I do not. He is a sincere politic penitent. "Xe.s- 
 Ainis des Noirs" are at once numerous and fashionable in 
 Paris : — while pig-tailed and scalp-tufted Chinese are rare 
 and no go. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 228 -TO ME. FAIR. 
 
 Lo^TDON, November 16, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 13th instant is just 
 received. 
 
 The positive provision of the act of 1856, that " no at- 
 tach^ shall be allowed in any case," has, I presume, been 
 conformed to by our foreign legations since it became 
 known. I am aware of but a single instance of what bore 
 the appearance of its evasion : — that of a young gentle- 
 man whose card, brought in to me about a year ago, 
 described him as '^secretaire in time de S. E, le 31inistre des
 
 64 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Etats-Unis.'" Perhaps as personal or private secretary he 
 obtained all the circulation he desired. 
 
 The mischief aarainst which the law is aimed had lono; 
 been noticed at the department of iState, and was often em- 
 barrassing to our diplomatic representatives. Under the* 
 old usage, unpaid attaches might be created without stint 
 as to number: and a train so composed was thought, and 
 justly thought, to give eclat to a mission. Kow it fre- 
 quently happened that the minister, always conscious of 
 the invidious nature of selecting from his young country- 
 men, preferred giving his appointments without discrimi- 
 nation and to every one who asked. American attaches 
 became as plentiful as blackberries, and sometimes de- 
 ranged by their intermeddling the business of, or by their 
 deportment, threw discredit upon, the legation. Con- 
 gress, moved no doubt by the Secretary of State, Gov. 
 Marcy, who was pitiless against showy pretension, struck 
 at the root of the evil by an express prohibition. I have 
 occasionally wished to possess the discretion : — but on the 
 whole perceive many inconveniences in which I should be 
 involved by it, and have therefore no reluctance in strictly 
 complying with the law. 
 
 Do me the favor to believe that it will always give me 
 pleasure to be allowed to interchange with j-ou^ views on 
 public topics. 
 
 Faithfully and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 229.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, November 19, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You wiH find in the Bag 'of to-day a 
 despatch addressed to Mr. Toucey which conveys an in- 
 teresting document respecting the pay and allowances 
 of British naval officers, and will enable him satisfactorily, 
 as far as this country is concerned, to answer a resolution 
 of the House of last session. Pray expedite his reception 
 of it. 
 
 You will have noticed that England has rather tired 
 of the Protectorate assigned to her over the Ionian 
 Islands, and is planning to pick the plum out of the pud-
 
 TO MR. CASS.* 65 
 
 ding, that is, to retain Corfu, as a military post, and let 
 the rest go to Greece, or elsewhere. This course, hardly 
 reconcilable with her public obligations, must be made 
 at least plausibly proper: — and so Lord Derby has lately 
 sent Mr. Gladstone to visit these Homeric regions and to 
 report what is best to be done, not doubting that he will 
 reach the conclusion already attained by the cabinet. The 
 member for the Oxford University, the finished scholar 
 and too musical rhetorician — the Preston, as I might de- 
 scribe him, of the House of Commons -scarcely crossed 
 the Channel, in his progress up the Mediterranean, before 
 out came a series of oiiicial documents in the newspapers 
 shewing that the alleged enquiry for which he was ap- 
 pointed had been fully, eifectually, and satisfactorily made 
 by the British representative actually there. All the op- 
 position at once open cry. It is termed a shabby and 
 treacherous treatment of an eminent statesman, who com- 
 mitted himself by accepting office under this ministry 
 merely because he wished to render a patriotic service. 
 Mr. Gladstone is depicted as placed in a most awkward 
 and ludicrous predicament : — to get out of which it is pre- 
 dicted that he will at once throw up his commission in 
 disgust. What follows on the heel of this seemingly well- 
 founded explosion? Why, another complication. The 
 Colonial Department, under the signature of Sir Edw'd 
 Bulwer Lytton's private secretary, alleges that the official 
 documents have been surreptitiouslj' taken from the tiles 
 and published, without the assent or knowledge of her 
 Majesty's government! This is the present almost ab- 
 sorbing topic. No doubt the desire is great to " fan the 
 embers" of a quarrel which may induce the Peelites to 
 merge into the ranks of opposition. 
 
 The appointment by Prince Jerome of Count Persigny, 
 whose anglomania is even greater than that of Montalem- 
 bert, to be president of the committee to examine and 
 report upon the nature of the Black Emigrant scheme, re- 
 moves all doubt, and is thought to denote a foregone con- 
 clusion in the Imperial mind to give it up. 
 
 Lords Palmerston and Clarendon have gone to Com- 
 piegne, and the political reunion, or rather the reunion of 
 politicians at that place, is regarded as something signifi- 
 cant. Of one thing its significance is strong, to wit, that 
 her Majesty's late Premier and principal Secretary for 
 
 VOL. II. — 5
 
 66 TO MR. TOUCEY. 
 
 Foreign Affairs are being very careless of their popularity 
 at home. This visit of theirs gives countenance to the 
 subservient predilection of which they have been accused, 
 and the belief in which produced their fall on the 19th of 
 February last. Ordinary minds draw ordinary conclu- 
 sions, and this sort of intimacy, wholly uncalled for in the 
 existing state of feeling among the masses of both coun- 
 tries, gives rise to the most prejudicial inferences. 
 
 Parliament has undergone a second prorogation, to the 
 2d of January, when a similar formality will be enacted 
 for the first week in February and — for the despatch of 
 business. 
 
 Lord Elgin's two brothers, Brnces, mount the back of 
 his Chinese Treaty, one as Ambassador to Pekin, the 
 other as Governor to the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Since my last week's note, I observed in a newspaper's 
 correspondent at Madrid that, after a long interview held 
 with the Foreign Secretary by the English and French 
 ministers, a squadron had been ordered to Vera Cruz. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 230.-TO ME. TOUOEY. 
 
 London, November 29, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — After my letter to you, returning the 
 credit on the Barings for |500, Colonel Guernsey obtained 
 the written consent of the Queen to his engaging in our 
 service, and shewed me a note from Mr. Hammond say- 
 ing that the document was at the Foreign Office, to be 
 had on the payment of about fifty dollars office fees. He 
 exhibited also strong testimonials from the Duke of Cam- 
 bridge, General Burgoyne, General Evans, General Hill, 
 etc. etc., as to his military qualifications: and he impressed 
 me with a conviction that his familiarity with the topo- 
 graphical features and garrison equipments of Paraguay, 
 would make his presence on board our squadron quite 
 useful. Military operations, dependent upon the depth of 
 water in the river, could not begin before February: — so 
 that there was ample time for him to reach Buenos Ayres. 
 
 I determined to send him: and arranged with Messrs.
 
 TO MR. SPEAKER DENNISOX, 67 
 
 Baring Brothers & Co., for an advance of $500 to pay his 
 expenses out. During the whole of last week, I expected 
 him daily at the legation to complete the transaction, 
 bring me her Majesty's leave, take his money, letters and 
 final instructions, and speed to the rendezvous. I agreed 
 that his compensation should be at the rate of pay allowed 
 in our army to a Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers. He 
 came not: and my two successive notes to you of the 23d 
 and 26th instant were written in impatient expectation of 
 his coming. 
 
 The mystery of his dilatory action has been suddenly 
 solved. The evening newspaper of last Saturday, the 
 Globe, contained a detailed examination at the Bow Street 
 Police Court on that morning, shewing his arrest and 
 commitment upon the criminal charge of having stolen 
 the much-talked-of Ionian despatches from the Colonial 
 Office! So, there is an end to this Free Knight: — he 
 won't destroy Lopez ; he won't disgrace the American 
 service, and he won't pocket our cash! I send you a 
 printed narrative. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 231.-T0 MR. SPEAKER DENNISON. 
 
 LoxDOX, December 4, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I beg you to excuse my apparent re- 
 missness in not before answering your note of the 22d 
 ultimo: — attributable to a short absence from town and a 
 press of official engagements. 
 
 The spirit of party, in America as in all free countries, 
 is prone to goad in moments of excitement to acts of in- 
 justice. Majorities, each in turn, may abuse power by 
 dealing with the minority impatiently and illiberally. 
 But what has long stood its ground as a rule of legislative 
 action, surviving changes in party ascendency and the 
 criticism of tranquil times, must be presumed to possess 
 substantive and independent merit. Such I regard to be 
 the case with our Congressional ^'■Previous Question." 
 
 It is not practised in the Senate, whose numbers are 
 comparatively few and graver in age. But in the House
 
 08 TO MR. SPEAKER DE^NISON. 
 
 of Representatives it is resorted to, with a view to expe- 
 dite measures known to be exigent, and to break through 
 the entanghng meshes of amendments, or to close a worn- 
 out debate. The Rules of the House, carefully matured 
 in advance, prescribe its modes of use and its effects. It 
 has disadvantages no doubt: — but its conceded beneficial 
 working on the whole has preserved it through shifting 
 currents of political storms. Public opinion, which soon 
 becomes all-powerful with us, has never yet condemned 
 the "Previous Question" as exercised in the House. On 
 the contrary, it has been generally esteemed, as well by 
 the enlightened as the popular mind, a check upon fac- 
 tious dissipation of time and money, and a wholesome 
 corrective to profuse or " bunkum" speaking. 
 
 Your "distinguished American who was in London 
 last year" had perhaps personally suffered under the rule, 
 and owed it a grudge. If he mentioned the instances of 
 the Annexation of Texas and the Fugitive Slave Law as 
 unaccompanied by discussion, he was sadly in error. Par- 
 don a few particulars to shew this. 
 
 The former question not only occupied the whole coun- 
 try during the Presidential canvass of 1844, in which one 
 party made it the principal and victorious issue, for the 
 popular verdict, but, after being recommended to Con- 
 gress by President Tyler in his Message on the 3d of De- 
 cember of that year, it was on the 19th, in the form of a 
 Joint Resolution, referred to the " Committee of the whole 
 House on the State of the Union ;" and thenceforward, at 
 fifteen full meetings of the House in Committee, during 
 nearly half the session, it was debated with great ability 
 (but '■'■usque ad nauseam^'), and it was only (a directory or- 
 der for closing the discussion having passed the House on 
 the 21st of January, '45, by 102 to 54), finally decided 
 under the "Previous Question" on the 25th of January, 
 '45, 120 to .98. 
 
 Being now transferred to the Senate, it underwent far- 
 ther and more elaborate consideration. The same ques- 
 tion had engaged that body upon movements of its own 
 members. One Senator, McDuffie, had introduced a 
 joint resolution for the annexation of Texas, on the 
 10th December, '44 : another, Niles, on 7th January, 
 '45: and a third, Foster, on the 13th January: — but 
 the great debate, or pitched battle, was reserved for the
 
 TO MR. SPEAKER DENNISON. 69 
 
 coming House measure. That measure came in on the 
 28th January, '45, was sent to a committee, was re- 
 ported upon adversely on the 4th of February, but was 
 taken up in its order on the 13th February: and thence- 
 forward, at every daily meeting of the Senate, and some- 
 times twice a day, it was the standing order and exclusive 
 topic, until the 27th of Februarj^ (within four days of the 
 close of the session of Congress), when, debate being 
 drained to the lees, no one capable or willing to add 
 another word, it passed by a majority of two votes only. 
 
 I very much doubt whether any act of legislation has 
 undergone a more thorough, full, fair, and satisfactory 
 discussion than did the annexation of Texas by Congress. 
 
 As to the Fugitive Slave Law, the sphere of its discus- 
 sion was, owing to exceedingly special circumstances, 
 almost exclusively the Senate. It was introduced there 
 by the Committee on the Judiciary, on the 16th of Jan- 
 uary, 1850, and was soon after made by Mr. Clay one of 
 a set or cluster of measures which constituted his cele- 
 brated Compromise of that year. As a feature in his com- 
 prehensive plan, it underwent debate, as unrestricted as 
 able, for thirty-three days. So much time, indeed, was 
 taken up by these discussions, that the bill did not reach 
 the House of Representatives until the 26tli of August, 
 nine months from the opening of the session. As a com- 
 ponent and indispensable part of the adjusted compromise, 
 its prompt adoption, in the approved shape, was required 
 by the state and voice of the country. It passed upon a 
 demand for the "Previous Question," on the 12th of Sep- 
 tember, 109 to 76 : — and Congress closed one of its longest 
 and most agitated sessions in about two weeks after- 
 wards. 
 
 I have gone into these two cited instances of what is 
 thought an abuse of the "Previous Question" by the 
 House of Representatives, as pieces of legislative history 
 which you will perhaps think interesting, and principally 
 to shew you how little they justify the grumblers against 
 its exercise. 
 
 I have said, it has not found its way into the Senate. 
 But there is another expedient there for maintaining, on 
 emergencies, the rightful power of the majority to control 
 the business of the Body : — that is, a motion to lay what- 
 ever is under discussion upon the table: whence, indeed, it
 
 70 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 may be subsequently taken, but not without a successful 
 motion to that eflect. 
 
 Always very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 232.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 10, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The young roues of London, on cross- 
 ing the Atlantic, would naturally be curious to see the 
 wild life of the Western savages. JSTo one, therefore, 
 doubted the rumor, published two days ago, that the three 
 English noblemen who have been travelling in the States, 
 had penetrated far into the northwest of Canada, had had a 
 tight with a tribe of natives, and were all murdered. The 
 sensation produced was after their own hearts. Fortu- 
 nately, Lord Shaftesbury, one of the fathers, had received 
 an explanation of the story and was able yesterday, as he 
 says ^'■providential/A/" (for his lordship is of the class particu- 
 larly pious) to contradict " the massacre " taken from 
 " American journals " whose origin is only "the murder 
 of two traders " by Indians last August. Poor traders ! — 
 still, we are all pleased to hear that the nobles are safe. 
 
 Louis Napoleon and Montalembert are still at their 
 game of chess. It is the Emperor's move. The epigram- 
 matic pardon (whose sting lay in reminding the Count 
 that he was among the faithful actors of the 2d of Decem- 
 ber) is spurned, and the appeal perfected. Can his Ma- 
 jesty pardon what Mr. Berryer reasons and the court may 
 adjudge to be no oft'ence ? Various are the opinions on 
 this subtle point. The Count is pushing boldly before 
 the Judges to checkmate his adversary: — let him take 
 heed, lest by the sudden refusal of the Procureur Imperial 
 to make another move, the game takes the unsatisfactory 
 turn of a ^^ stale." That would subject him to the " hides 
 suspects " of last February for the rest of his life, or rather 
 for the rest of the Emperor's reign, which promises to be 
 the shorter of the two. Professors Morphy and Stanton, 
 hide your diminished heads ! 
 
 A bitter hatred to each other is vented daily by the 
 masses on the two sides of the Channel. It is getting be-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 71 
 
 yond the power of repression by the respective govern- 
 ments. As I ventured to foresee would be the case, the 
 visit of Lords Palmerston and Chxrendon to Corapiegne 
 has brought a cataract of reproaches upon their heads. 
 Count Montalembert is prosecuted without a single popu- 
 lar murmur, because he praises England. Where is the 
 wisdom that can tell which of these two nations is right in 
 her hostility ? Or are both wrong ? One thing is clear to 
 the rest of the world, to wit, that it is easier to like a volatile 
 Frenchman than a bullying Briton. Here is a mangy 
 M. P. — one Henry Drummond — an F. R. S. (which may 
 sometimes mean a Fellow Rather Savage), who, because he 
 chooses to pick a controversy with Mr. Bright, snarls at the 
 whole world, and especially snaps at the United States in 
 the following precious sentences : — '•'■Their 'pretended love 
 of freedom is the most barefaced falsehood that ever existed. 
 They are utterly without 'private or public honor, and the only 
 people on earth who ever avowed that gain was their sole object 
 in every relationship of life." That from an F. R. S. of 72 ! 
 Out upon such fellowship. If English philosophy deal in 
 calumny, in what ma}^ not English anger and arrogance 
 deal ? We can't honestly saj^ "a6 uno disce omnes ;" — but, 
 in reference to national attributes, it is impossible not 
 to acquiesce in the '•^ ex pede Hercidem." Drummond, it 
 may be feared, is a specimen brick. 
 
 A careless phrase or two, let drop at a review by the 
 King of Sardinia, combined with a general restlessness 
 and discontent in the north of Italy, fanned by the anti- 
 Austrian feeling in France, gives promise of an outbreak 
 in the spring. Let it come. For really Europe, under 
 the auspices of a Bonaparte too, is retrograding so fast 
 into medieval wretchedness, that nothing can save it but 
 a grand smash. This is not mine, but the sentiment of 
 the day. At present, Victor Emmanuel is busy in riveting 
 the afl'ections of Russia, conceding Villafranca, and enter- 
 taining most cordiall}' H. I. H, the Grand Duke Constan- 
 tine and his household. 
 
 I ought to hurry in retracting some of the conclusions 
 expressed in my last, drawn from the premature publicity 
 given to the despatches of the High Commissioner of the 
 Ionian Islands. It now appears that these documents 
 were purloined by a military engineer (upon whom, by- 
 the-by, Mr. Toucey and I were very near conferring the
 
 72 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 immortality of sharing in our Paraguay demonstration) 
 from the Colonial Office; that their contents never had 
 received the approval of government : and that the duty 
 of adhering to provisions of the Treaty of 1815 estab- 
 lishing the Protectorate is recognized and avowed. To 
 be sure, this would seem to reduce the extraordinary 
 and vaunted mission of Mr. Gladstone to a mere act of 
 patronage. 
 
 Lord Derby steers more skilfully than was anticipated. 
 A few things have recently deepened the groove in which 
 he moves. The proclamation of the Queen on assuming 
 the sovereignty of her 200,000,000 of Indian subjects, ob- 
 tains unanimous praise. It is ascribed to Lord Stanley. 
 So, the discountenance given to the efforts of ship owners 
 to unsettle free-trade by insisting upon sharing in our 
 coast trade as a right of reciprocity, is commended by the 
 opposition. Then again the decided aversion to filibus- 
 tering, manifested in the repulse of Rajah Brooke of Sar- 
 awak, is favorably contrasted with the foreign policy of 
 Lord Palmerston, and what perhaps just now tells power- 
 fully on popular sentiment is the cooler distance taken 
 towards French rulers and men, set in contrast Avith the 
 course of their rivals both before and since downfall. It 
 is said that Lord Palmerston frankly declares that a change 
 would not at present be an improvement. Mr. Lowe, 
 whom you had in Washington two years ago, a man of 
 great political acuteness, told a large dinner party of his 
 constituents two days ago, that he was unflinchingly de- 
 voted to the late Premier, but that his restoration could 
 not be thought of for a year or two to come. All things 
 are uncertain : — but I am inclined to think that, sports- 
 man as he is, more of the stable will be found in Lord 
 Derby than in most prime ministers. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 233.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 17, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mr. Toucey, like all the London public, 
 will be surprised to hear that my quondam recruit for Para-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 73 
 
 guay, Colonel William Guernsey, has been tried for lar- 
 ceny of the Ionian despatches and — acquitted! His dex- 
 terous counsel triumphed over the Attorney-General and 
 the court; — making the jury believe that to purloin in 
 order to publish an official paper, not to appropriate it to 
 his own profit, was an offence which lacked the essential 
 quality of a felony. Government prosecutions thrive only 
 in France : — here, as with us, juries like to rescue hapless 
 sufferers from the grasp of authority. 
 
 You will have noticed that while the Emperor's com- 
 missioners are actively engaged in ascertaining for him 
 the real character of free emigration from Africa, and just 
 at the moment when they are supposed to be ready to re- 
 port in its favor, a case like that of the " Charles et Georges " 
 occurs on the western coast of Africa. The zealous com- 
 mander of H. M. S. "Alecto" (you remember that name, 
 don't you, in connection with Cobb & Ellis's "Caroline" ?), 
 egged on by the President of Liberia, captured the French 
 vessel " Phoenix," with an Imperial representative on board 
 and negroes stowed in the hold. The culpable craft was 
 taken to Monrovia. As this government lost, in the esti- 
 mation of Europe, much of its dignity by failing to shield 
 Portugal from the peremptorv resentment of Louis Napo- 
 leon, it may be willing to lose a little more by disavowing 
 Captain Hunt's act, and pointing to President Benson as 
 the scape-goat. 
 
 The Reform leader, Mr. Bright, is steadily making head- 
 way. He successfully, if not victoriousl}-, withstands the 
 combined contumely of the Times, the Morning Herald, and 
 Punch. His speeches are read by everybody : his photo- 
 graphs hang in all public nooks and corners : his audiences 
 are multitudinous and enthusiastic. If he maintain his 
 attitude in the House of Commons, and once enforce a 
 principle by carrying a measure, it will be difficult to 
 assign a limit to his progress. 
 
 All the world are on tiptoe for the Message. It cannot 
 reach us until two days after this letter shall have left 
 Liverpool. These democratic state papers have now for 
 more than half a century been giving annually their pon- 
 derous blows upon the intelligence and integrity of Eu- 
 rope, until they seem to be accepted as the periodical 
 strokes of some great spiritual bell marking the advances 
 of humanity.
 
 74 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 I am disposed to think, notwithstanding some equivo- 
 cal indications, that you will not be harassed with fresh 
 complications in Central America, arising out of the land- 
 ing of troops. Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, of the Foreign 
 Office, has just proclaimed with emphasis that non-inter- 
 vention is Lord Derby's cardinal principle : — and, to say 
 the truth, I have more confidence in Mr. Fitzgerald than 
 in the Earl of Malmesbury. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 234.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 24, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — During the last day or two a protracted 
 spell of some six or eight weeks of wretchedly dark and 
 damp weather has been broken in upon by glimpses of 
 sunshine. Let us postpone the project of suicide, at least 
 during the festivities of Christmas. So, many compli- 
 ments of the season to you I 
 
 General Pierce is tracing the vestiges of his executive 
 predecessor Tiberius at the delicious little island of Capri 
 in the mouth of the Bay of I^aples. I heard from him 
 yesterday. The cold at Florence was disagreeable and 
 unkind to Mrs P., who, though improved by travelling, is 
 still exceedingly delicate. The picturesque islet promises 
 much better, and will be adhered to until the close of next 
 month. Thence, to Rome. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the game of chess played by 
 Napoleon and Montalembert has dwindled to a drawn one, 
 or which of the champions comes off the better The 
 Count exults in having by his appeal proved the absurditj' 
 of his pardon ; in reversing that portion of his sentence 
 which subjected him to tiie arbitrary provisions of the 
 February law of "suspects;" and in reducing by one half 
 the term of his imprisonment. The Emperor, on his part, 
 makes a merit of mercy, fastens upon his victim the dis- 
 credit of petty police offences, has him roundly lashed for 
 anglomania l)y the eloquence of the Procureur-General, 
 Destange, and either puts him in jail for three months or 
 forces him to swallow the pill of a pardon. IsTo political
 
 TO MR. CASS. 75 
 
 result can follow: because there is nothing excessive in 
 the penalties, and praise of England is treason to France, 
 in the sense of the Blouses. 
 
 You must not be too credulous of the Earl of Eglin- 
 toun's Proclamation. There may be secret societies in 
 Ireland as elsewhere: apprentices, clerks, and counterboys 
 achieve importance and notoriety by mysterious aflllia- 
 tion: — but there are no revolutionists, and no filibusters. 
 The arrests thus far have pompously secured some twenty 
 lads of 14 or 15 years of age, accused of drilling at night 
 in the open fields, and one girl charged with writing sedi- 
 tion ! And these are the heroes said to be awaiting the 
 arrival of Generals Walker and Henningsen! It is hard 
 to discover a decent apology for all the police pother of 
 the Viceregal government. 
 
 The signal failure of General Prim in the Spanish 
 legislature to have a war with Mexico discountenanced, 
 would seem enough to put you all upon your guard. The 
 only question is whether the invasion which it means is 
 to be a joint one by France, England, and Spain, or a 
 separate one by Spain only. 
 
 ISTo doubt your news from China is later than mine. 
 But it may not be amiss to say that my last letter from 
 Mr. Reed is dated Shanghai, 20th October. He had re- 
 turned from Japan, and was engaged with a new tariif. 
 He quits for home about the present time, and contem- 
 plated reaching London, via Bombay, Egypt, Malta, and 
 Italy, in March next. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 235.-TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, December 31, 1858. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mr. H. F. Polydore, a much-respected 
 English solicitor, desires to express his thanks all round, 
 for the rescue of his 3'oung daughter from the sink of 
 Mormonisra. I enclose you a copy of his exceedingly 
 well-worded letter to me. The facts are doubtless fresh 
 in your remembrance. As the incidents which preceded 
 the child's abduction, and captivity in Utah, have been
 
 76 TO ME. CASS. 
 
 extensively published, and as lier restoration to her father 
 is a pleasing episode of warlike operations, I suggest the 
 propriety of letting Mr. Polydore's gratitude find vent 
 through the Intelligencer and Union. 
 
 You are tired hearing of Montalembert, are you not? 
 Well, this is "positively for the last time." He is par- 
 doned again, nett and comprehensively, without a witti- 
 cism, and even his companion in oftence, the straw pub- 
 lisher of the Correspondant shares the Imperial quotation 
 of Uncle Toby's address to the fly — "there, go: room 
 enough in the world for both of us !" 
 
 As the result of the bold speeches made by Dufaure and 
 Berryer on this trial, I think the press in Paris appears 
 disposed to resume a little more liberty. It is plausibly 
 argued that the prevailing silence fosters secret disaflfec- 
 tion, and that the dynasty founded on universal sufiVage 
 and aiming at universal good, must be invigorated by a 
 certain legally limited freedom of discussion. Fortunatel}' 
 for the world, despotism cannot be rational. 
 
 I suppose you have noticed the admirable example set 
 by the Servians, how to eifect a revolution promptly, 
 quietly, and without shedding a drop of blood. Almost 
 as smooth a process as our State-constitution-making. 
 The people of Servia discovered their Prince Alexander 
 to be no 'better than he should be: — they invited an ex- 
 traordinary session of an old body called the Shupkina 
 (something analogous to the French States-General), and 
 when this assembly met, it composedly adopted a resolu- 
 tion deposing Alexander, who took sanctuary in a Turkish 
 garrison, and recalling, as purified by adversity, their for- 
 mer Prince Milosch. The scale is small, but the fact as 
 a movement of popular self-government is immense: and 
 how it will be regarded by the adjacent neighbors, Aus- 
 tria, Russia, and Turkey, is an interesting question. 
 
 Annexation of contiguities is an impulse of govern- 
 ments at once instinctive and irresistible. All past na- 
 tions have exhibited the disease in its natural form, and 
 all existing ones are constantly breaking out with it. 
 Here now is Greece, little, delicate, infantine Greece, 
 eager to embrace and absorb Corfu, Kefalonia, Zante, and 
 the others of the seven Ionian Islands ! No child ever had 
 the measles more virulently. Mr. Gladstone finds a sym- 
 pathizing disorder impetuously proclaiming itself among
 
 TO MR. PIERCE. 77 
 
 the islanders wherever he goes. What's to be done? The 
 Colonial minister, Bulwer Lytton, seems, by a very neat 
 despatch, recently written to Lord High Commissioner 
 Young, disposed to treat the case as the old physicians 
 treated the small-pox, by fastening down the window 
 sash, excluding the air, locking the door, throwing the 
 key away, and preventing all spread of the malady by de- 
 claring intercourse impossible ! This won't do. Sir Ed- 
 ward ! You have, bj^ sending the Homeric statesman on 
 his mission, created the occasion for a full and frank inter- 
 change of sentiment, and must not now turn a deaf ear to 
 unanimous utterances. Parliament will no doubt, as soon 
 as it meets, be exercised upon this topic. The Manches- 
 ter men are in favor of letting people whom they do not 
 regard as fellow-subjects manage their own destijiies as 
 they like best. 
 
 Although I am before an 8 or 10 feet wide window, 
 extending to the ceiling, I have not been able, from 11 
 o'clock in the day, to write this letter without the aid of 
 two candles. Such has been the wretched, smoky, foggy, 
 dirty, rainy atmosphere for the greater part of six or eight 
 weeks! One comfort: — my daughter reports Paris to be 
 quite as bad, if not worse. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 236 -TO ME. PIERCE. 
 
 London, January 2, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 15th ultimo reached 
 me some days ago, and communicated so much pleasure 
 that I have chafed a good deal under the pressure of en- 
 gagements which prevented an immediate reply. It was 
 warmly welcomed because in the first place it assured me 
 of the well-being of Mrs. Pierce and yourself, and, in the 
 second place, it flattered me with the intimation that my 
 course of action in this arduous diplomatic post had not 
 disappointed the expectations of the gentleman who sent 
 me to it. Many, many thanks for the kindness. 
 
 What you have noticed in the newspapers about me has, 
 . as far as I myself know, no foundation whatever. I have
 
 78 TO MR. PIERCE. 
 
 not invited a recall, and do not believe one to be contem- 
 plated. At this particular moment, the step would be an 
 unwise one, and would be so until the Central American 
 complications are definitively unravelled and settled. The 
 period for their adjustment is not far ofl". On purely pub- 
 lic considerations, there should be no change in this mis- 
 sion 2'>^ndente lite. As to private considerations, I confess 
 myself agreeably disappointed by the hospitality and re- 
 spect which have invariably been she^yn me: — but my 
 anglomania is not sufficiently intense and concentrated 
 to survive three years' close observation of the mediaeval 
 barbarism of caste by which the social intercourse of this 
 country is broadly and painfully marked. Democracy is 
 less at ease in England than in Imperial France or Russia. 
 
 How I should have enjoyed being with you at Capri! 
 In the course of my life I have made several desperate 
 efforts to get to Italy : — one, forty- four years ago, at Ghent, 
 trunk packed, and bills of exchange ready, when the veto 
 of Mr. Gallatin interposed, and whisked me off to Mr. 
 Madison. By-the-by, Miss Julia Kavanagh, in a course 
 of volumes, has given us her " summer and winter in the 
 two Sicilies" so agreeably that I commend it to Mrs. P. 
 while she is yet in the scenes described. 
 
 The Persia, which arrived yesterday, brought nothing 
 worth telling from home. A sharp letter of 5lr. Slidell's 
 published on Judge Douglas. A fight on the Avenue 
 between two members of Congress, Messrs. English and 
 Montgomery. Governor Wise nominated for 1860 by 
 the Richmond Enquirer. A message from the Governor 
 of South Carolina recommending the dissolution of the 
 Union and the creation of a Southern Confederacy. 
 Lord Napier's recall universally regretted. Public sen- 
 timent, recently much excited by British folly at San 
 Juan, has swung to the opposite extreme and represents 
 everything to be settled. 
 
 Mrs. D. sends her best regards to Mrs. P., as we all do 
 en masse. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. 79 
 
 No. 237 -TO ME. MARKOE. 
 
 London, January 9, 1859. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Your last letter springs from too 
 solicitous a friendship and shews me that you are greatly 
 more anxious about this mission than I can bring myself 
 to be. 
 
 It is about eighteen months since I wrote to General 
 
 in reply to a kindly meant intervention on his part, 
 
 and explained the principle of public action on which alone 
 the President would probably act, and on which alone I 
 could consent to accept or retain any foreign appointment 
 whatever. That letter w^as, with more than my usual 
 caution, enclosed to you unsealed, and, if it obtained the 
 sanction of your friendship, it was to go to the General, 
 and from him to Mr. Buchanan as I did not doubt. You 
 approved, and it went on its way. I believe its contents 
 gave no dissatisfaction to the President: — indeed, they 
 were such as could not be a cause of difference between 
 men of just and honorable sentiments. "Well, that letter 
 marked out my permanent attitude as respects this post, 
 and I am without any new motive or reason for changing 
 it in the slightest particular. I cannot perceive that what 
 I have been doing for nearly three years has suddenly be- 
 come wrong: — and unless that were to stare me in the 
 face, why am I virtually to admit my error ? 
 
 It is wished that I should write letters to the President 
 himself and so avoid a threatened storm. Perhaps I write 
 oftener than any minister ever did: — what I write goes to 
 the President, but it is addressed to the Secretary of State, 
 because it would really be intrusive in me, considered 
 persoualh' or ofBcially, to be perpetually courting the eye 
 of the Executive with matters which, though interesting 
 or entertaining, are more private than public. I do not 
 believe that Mr. Buchanan can view this in a different 
 light. He is too much a man of the world not to see that 
 ni}' notes to General Cass, on the topics they contain, are 
 really as open to him, and indeed his whole cabinet, as to 
 the Secretary. Their shape only saves them from the 
 wretched fate of public despatches, I wrote to General 
 Pierce but once, as he was on the eve of quitting Wash- 
 ington.
 
 80 TO MR. MARKOE. 
 
 As to the prospective storm, so like a tempest in a tea- 
 pot, I cannot see whence, where, how, or why it is to 
 i)low: — but if it rage fiercely enough to tumble the Capitol 
 into Goose Creek, I would not stir one inch to avert or 
 allay it. Precedents are as plentiful as blackberries : and 
 the minister has clearly the right to make what arrange- 
 ments with the government he deems will best secure the 
 character, dignitj^ and interests of the station he is about 
 holding which that government approves. My notions 
 upon the subject are the results of experience and obser- 
 vation. When I went to Russia in '37, Mr. Van Buren 
 invited me to take as secretary a gentleman unknown to 
 me except as unreliable, and I declined. Every one of 
 our legations furnishes, almost annually, proofs how far ill- 
 assorted public agents disturb their business, depreciate 
 their character, and torture their incumbents. These 
 things have to be encountered by many, but when it is 
 possible to avoid them it is wise to do so. 
 
 Everybody knows that nothing is so easily found, when 
 wanted, as a pretext. If one thing don't answer, another 
 will. Now, if there be a disposition to assail — of which 
 it is naked justice to say I have seen no proof whatever — 
 how practically absurd it would be to expect to sweeten 
 that disposition, or foil it, by disingenuous and altered 
 action ! Even in the light of personal policy, every man 
 only lays Ifimself more open to attack by abandoning the 
 position he deliberately and openly took at the outset. 
 Having taken a stand, unless convinced that it is wrong, 
 he had better accept firmly all its consequences. 
 
 I should not write thus to anybody else. You have a 
 right to my inmost thoughts. And though I cannot 
 adopt the course of action you recommend, I am pro- 
 foundly convinced that it has sprung out of a friendship 
 I am proud to have kindled and to reciprocate. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS, 81 
 
 No. 238.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, January 14, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The signs of war accumulate. Since 
 the oracular words to Baron Hiibner on New- Year's day, 
 every sort of soothing and explanatory construction has 
 been attempted in the Paris newspapers to no purpose.* 
 The Bulls and Bears are convinced, and funds are stead- 
 ily going down. Austria has hurried into Lombardy thirty 
 thousand additional men. The address of the Sardinian 
 King to the legislature, just assembled, was clearly mar- 
 tial, and drew forth loud manifestations of popular adhe- 
 sion. But it is in the arranged marriage that veteran 
 politicians see conclusive proof. Victor Emmanuel, though 
 ranking among young sovereigns, is in his thirty-ninth 
 year of age and has a daughter, Clothilde, of attractive 
 sixteen, whom he gives to Prince N"apoleon. Their engage- 
 ment is publicly announced. The Prince, only two years 
 younger than his father-in-law, quits Paris to-morrow for 
 Turin, to spend a week in courtship of his girl-bride. 
 This is admirable preparation for a Bonapartean king- 
 dom of Savoy. 
 
 Two or three other war-pointing straws are in the wind. 
 Baron Hiibner is reported, prematurely I suspect, to have 
 suddenly left the French capital for Vienna. The French 
 marshals and generals, absent from their respective posts, 
 are ordered to return to them. And the Austrian vessels 
 of war in the Adriatic are exhibiting more than custom- 
 ary uneasiness and activity. I have thus, I believe, like a 
 faithful Pliny, given you the leading premonitory symp- 
 toms of the approaching eruption. 
 
 * Diary : January 8d, 1859, Monday. — '' The first flash of lightning 
 procursive of the storm has startled everybodv. The French Emperor 
 at his Levee held on the 1st instant, Saturday, addressed the following 
 words to Baron Hiibner, the Austrian minister, with marked excite- 
 ment and emphasis : — ' Je regrette que nos relations avec voire Gouverne- 
 ment ne soient pas aussi bonnes que par le passe : — tnaisje vous prie de dire a 
 VErnpereitr que nies sentlniens per son7iels pour lui lie sont pas changes.' 
 Marshal Yaillant, who was by, followed it up by adding to the minis- 
 ter : 'After that, I suppose I am not at liberty to shake hands with you.' 
 This sudden revelation of the purpose us to Italy is a striking imitation 
 of the conduct of Napoleon I. towards the British ambassador. Lord 
 Whitworth, preparatory to the rupture of the Treaty of Amiens. To be 
 sure, there is moi-e graciousness, less downright insult in it.'' 
 VOL. II. — 6
 
 82 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 It may be doubted wbether our great and good friend the 
 Czar will iind it quite convenient to pay his promised visits 
 in Ma}^ next to Paris and thence through Cherbourg, to Lon- 
 don, I ventured, from my remembrance of what his sterner 
 father experienced, to predict, in the course of a letter to 
 you a year ago, that his ardor *for serf-enfranciiisement 
 would receive a check from his nobles and might disturb 
 the Empire. Well ! the committee to whom the matter has 
 been entrusted, and who manifested great zeal, have sud- 
 denly insisted that the reform shall not stop half way, that 
 it must be extended to other classes besides the serfs, and 
 (tell it not in Glath !) that the States General should be con- 
 voked ! Of course Imperial indignation will be roused : — 
 but what can be done? His Majesty set the ball rolling, 
 and these really revolutionary ideas emanate from the 
 very Council charged to keep it rolling. There is some- 
 thing in reform like the electrical fluid : — generate it once 
 and it will run to the end of the wire. In England, long 
 training has taught how to effect it "bit by bit:" — but in 
 Russia the spirit is a novelty — how to fetter or graduate 
 it unknown. ^ 
 
 The heir apparent to the Protestant British Crown is 
 oft' to Rome. His visit, though the result of natural and 
 laudable curiosity, is not the most prudent or wise thing 
 that could be done. The press has already regarded it 
 with jealousy. "ISTo Popery" is a chord which is made 
 to vibrate in England just now with the slightest touch. 
 He may not be converted: — but, if he ever reign, he 
 will be taunted, by one party or the other, with the taint 
 of the Vatican. In France, an ultramontane journal has 
 already interpreted this tour of the Prince of Wales to 
 mean such an approach to Roman Catholicism as is in- 
 volved in the alleged Puseyism of Queen Victoria ! The 
 age (17) and character of the lad invest his course of travel 
 with other aspects of hazard. 
 
 Two days ago, the 3d of February, was fixed upon for 
 the meeting of Parliament. Her Majesty's Proclamation 
 appeared and the farther prorogation to that day, and 
 then for the despatch of business took place. All the 
 ministers are now at their posts in London. Their scheme 
 of electoral representation, though avowedly on the anvil, 
 has been kept profoundly secret. Although there are 
 several other important topics on which, during the recess,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 83 
 
 they have laid themselves open to serious interpellations, 
 this of Reform, notwithstanding the atiected disdain of 
 "John Bright," is the impracticable maelstrom which 
 endangers their safety. 
 
 Always faithfull}^ yrs. 
 
 No. 239.-T0 MR. KNOTT. 
 
 The Minister of the United States has received the note 
 of the 18th inst. addressed to him by Mr. S. Dyer Knott 
 from "Alphington, Devon," requesting an autograph. 
 
 JS'ow, '•'■Alphington., Devon," are words singularly persua- 
 sive with the minister, who yet hopes to secure before he 
 recrosses the Atlantic, a daguerreotype sketch of the 
 Church of that Parish. 
 
 Let there be, then, a Yankee bargain. 
 
 The minister will send his autograph with pleasure to 
 Mr. Knott, if Mr. Knott will kindly procure and send to 
 the minister a mem. from the proper functionary of the 
 entry in the Register or Record of the Church at '■^Al- 
 phingion, Devon.! ^ of the declaration of Banns and the 
 marriage of '•^Alexander James Dallas and Arabella Muda 
 Smith," who became husband and wife in that Church 
 about 1780 or 1781, and who, subsequently emigrating to 
 America, in the course of ten years summoned the min- 
 ister into being. 
 
 Such a mem. with a a note of whatever fee should be 
 remitted the functionarj^ wull, on being received, be in- 
 stantly followed by the transmission to Mr. Knott of the 
 minister's thanks and autograph. 
 
 Is it a bargain ? 
 
 Legation of the Ukited States, \ 
 LoNDOif, January 19, 1859. / 
 
 No. 240.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, January 21, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have tried, during the last week, for 
 your benefit, to form a judgment on the probabilities of
 
 84 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 war. It is no easy thing to do so. Opposite views, hopes, 
 and interests are in loud and indefatigable conflict. Facts 
 are invented or exaggerated every day on one side or the 
 other. Schemes to hft or lower the rates on the Parisian 
 Bourse are hourly creating panics or composure, both 
 alike treacherous. Immense efforts have clearly for their 
 sole object to arrest or mitigate the effect, upon property 
 and prices, of Napoleon's sudden revelation of '^ the situa- 
 tion'' on New- Year's day. It is impossible to deduce any- 
 thing satisfactory from this boisterous chaos of statements 
 and denials. There is no safety for opinion in attempting 
 to discriminate between them. What, then, is there no 
 clue to the labyrinth? None, except to set aside all the 
 contradictory clamors and pretences of the last three 
 weeks, and coolly weigh the import of the admitted in- 
 ternational incidents bearing on the question. 1. The 
 foregone conclusion in the Imperial mind of France as 
 uttered to Baron Hiibner. 2. The rapid concentration of 
 Austrian forces in Italy. 3. The explosive disaffection of 
 all that part of Italy. 4. The vigorous speecli of Victor 
 Emmanuel and the enthusiastic echo it evoked from the 
 Sardinian legislature. 5. Ttie nuptials which unite the 
 destinies of the two dynasties, Bonapartist and Piedmont. 
 6. The military vis a tergo to which Louis Napoleon is 
 subject. 7. The ambitious entrainement of both sover- 
 eigns. 8. The vast armies and wounded pride of Austria. 
 9, The death of Ferdinand II. (Bomba) just announced. 
 He was 49 years of age. His successor, Francis, Duke of 
 Calabria, is 23, and married but recently a German prin- 
 cess, though it must be remembered that his mother was 
 an aunt, and that he himself is therefore a cousin, of Vic- 
 tor Emmanuel. 
 
 War may be averted. The moneyed power of Europe 
 may keep it off". But the advancing apparition is obvious ^ 
 to sight, like a comet "shaking its liery tresses in the 
 air." 
 
 The last number (January, '59) of the Edinburgh Re- 
 view, just distributed, has come in aid of the Parliament- 
 ary Reformers, in a short but effective article. Its incul- 
 cation is an adherence to the principle of the Act of 
 1832, with such practical extensions "as the great inno- 
 vator Time" calls for: and, asserting every free govern- 
 ment to be founded on a system of compromises, it insists
 
 TO MR. KNOTT. 85 
 
 upon a plan which shall duly combine numbers, property, 
 intelligence, and locality. Its language is moderate and 
 persuasive: — and I think it may be regarded as fore- 
 shadowing what will be realized. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Uo. 241 -TO MR. KNOTT. 
 
 London, January 26, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You have executed your part of the 
 proposed fanciful bargain so promptly and so kindly that 
 I feel ashamed of the little to be done on my side. Some- 
 thing more than a humble autograph must prove how 
 much pleasure you have given. I propose, as soon as I 
 can command the time, to tell you briefly the brilliant 
 career run, in the new world, by the disobedient couple who, 
 at the ages of 21 and 16, fled from the house of an aunt 
 named Barlow, at Devonport, and were married in Al- 
 phington Church on the 4th of September, 1780 
 
 I must beg you not to place me under any heavier obli- 
 gation by taking the trouble to search for and send me a 
 sketch of the Church. An engagement with an admira- 
 ble artist was entered into some two years ago : — he under- 
 took to accompany me, with his instruments, into Devon, 
 at a moment's warning, and give me a perfect daguerreo- 
 type of a venerable building, which to me has a higher 
 charm than architecture or picturesque position can possi- 
 bly confer. 
 
 You are right as to the witness, Charles Stuart Dallas: 
 — he was myfather's elder brother: and adhering to the 
 island of Jamaica, accumulated a large fortune as a lawyer. 
 His son was recently Speaker of the House of Assembly. 
 
 I consider myself strictly bound, independent of this 
 letter, to furnish for your curiosity album the accompany- 
 ing detached and worthless signature of. 
 Dear Sir, very sincerely 
 
 Your obliged humble servant.
 
 86 TO MR. SICKLES. 
 
 No. 242.-T0 COL. MURKAY. 
 
 London, January 28, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — My present object is iSpecial and urgent. 
 I know your energy and activity when once under way in 
 a good cause, and Iwaut to stir into immediate movement 
 yourself and through you, your Mayor, Collector, District 
 Attorney, etc. etc. The King of Naples has consigned to 
 New York, as a sort of New- Year's gift, a collection of 
 about 200 of his political victims, among whom are those 
 noble specimens of the genus homo., Poerio and Settembrini. 
 All good men here wish them' health, honor, and happi- 
 ness. Brown, Shipley & Co., of Liverpool, will address 
 their branch in your city most generously about them. 
 Bornba has sent them to Cadiz, whence they are to be 
 shipped in merchant vessels.* They are probably now 
 a third of their way across the Atlantic. Some persons 
 dread the operation of a State or municipal law which 
 would reject them as convicts- and paupers palmed upon 
 your poorhouses. Do, in the name of all that is just and 
 generous, prevent anything of the sort. Rather give 
 these inflexible foes of tyranny the ovation they merit on 
 reaching our shores. I shall hide my diminished head if 
 you act otherwise. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 243.-T0 ME. SICKLES. 
 
 London, January 28, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir, — You will have noticed that the King of 
 Naples has recently liberated some two hundred of his 
 political prisoners upon certain conditions, among others 
 exile in America. He will suffer them no nearer than 
 
 * They left Cadiz on board the American ship " David Steward," Capt. 
 Prentiss : — but, when at sea, combined to compel the officers of the ves- 
 sel to shape her course for Ireland ; and, going into Cork, were received 
 with great enthusiasm and hospitality.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 87 
 
 New York. They were sent to Cadiz, to be thence for- 
 warded on board of one or more merchant vessels, and 
 are probably now crossing the Atlantic. Among them are 
 Poerio and Settembrini, who, the best known and appre- 
 ciated, may be regarded as types of the entire company. 
 
 Now any man of liberal thought and generous feeling 
 must wish that the sufferings and wants of these victims of 
 tyranny should be cared for and lightened Avherever they 
 go. Fears are entertained that, as destitute convicts and 
 paupers, the}^ may be repelled at New York by some State 
 or municipal law and thrust back into the cells of Boniba. 
 For God's sake, move heaven and earth to prevent the 
 possibility of an incident which, coming from our coun- 
 try, would require endless explanation, and would he the 
 thrust of an icicle through the heart of every friend to 
 constitutional liberty in Europe. 
 
 I am very truly and respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 244 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, January 28, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — His Majesty of Naples, though supposed 
 a sufferer by partial paralysis (courteously ycleped rheu- 
 matism), did not die, as was somewhat victoriously an- 
 nounced by the Morning Post. He is recovering fast ; and 
 let us hope that his political victims, to wh*ose pardon he 
 has managed to give the torturing keenness of exile, may 
 yet, auspice Najyoleoncino vel Maratto., find means to confront 
 him somewhere on the plains of Italy : — the nearer to one 
 or the other crater of Vesuvius or Etna, eager to receive 
 him, the better. 
 
 I returned a call of Lord Lyons two days ago. A war 
 steamer takes him to Boston or New York on the 15th of 
 February. I knew his father, the Admiral, and was there- 
 fore partially inclined towards him. Perhaps, he may 
 succeed in pleasing as well as Lord Napier, though the 
 latter has the immense advantage of being charmingly 
 married. A legation without a lady is but half com- 
 posed : — a column sans capital, piano sans pedal, coiffure 
 sans curls. I suspect the ages of the two lords are much
 
 88 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 the same : — Lyons is 42. He lives at ISTorfolk House, 
 whose Duke married his sister. 
 
 An official decree is out in Paris, prohibiting free negro 
 emigration on board French vessels from the eastern coast 
 of Africa, Whether this affects the existing contract of 
 Regis & Co. may be doubted. As far as it goes, however, 
 it is a homage to the British monomania. 
 
 The marriage at which, according to the French phrase, I 
 assisted jnst one year ago (25th January, '58) in St. James's 
 Palace, was yesterday signalized at 1 p.m. by the produc- 
 tion of an heir to the Prussian throne. The annunciation 
 shot from Berlin to Windsor in six minutes. Her Ma- 
 jesty has become a grandmother while yet some three or 
 four months short of 40. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 245 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, February 4, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Of course your British legation were in 
 full force representing you in the House of Lords yester- 
 day at the opening of Parliament by the Queen. 
 
 The Speech, though unusually long, was extremely cau- 
 tious both in what it said and in what it left unsaid. In 
 referring, in the fourth clause, to the desire "to maintain 
 inviolate the .faith of public treaties" and to contribute 
 "to the preservation of the general peace," you lind the 
 key to the remarkably bold and anti-]^apoleonic exposi- 
 tion of policy made by Lord Derby in the evening. I 
 listened very attentively to the outspoken Premier, and 
 was led to the conclusion, 1. that he was making rather a 
 menacing effort to arrest a war which he feared was im- 
 pending: 2. that he chose an attitude of neutrality, and 
 3. that if obliged by events to change that, he would em- 
 brace the Austrian cause. 
 
 A telegram reached the Brazilian minister yesterday, to 
 the effect that his sovereign had been invited to act as 
 mediator between the United States and Paraguay, and 
 that his Imperial Majesty had consented to do so. 
 
 Since the 1st of January, and a fortiori since the mar-
 
 ro MR. CASS. 89 
 
 riage of Prince JSTapoleon and Princess Clothilde, I have 
 not been able to doubt that hostilities would soon, upon 
 some pretext or other, he made to break out on the banks 
 of the Ticino between the confronting troops of Piedmont 
 and Austria. That now is all that is wanting to produce 
 a French rush into Lombardy. My opinion is confirmed 
 by a letter which has just been received here from Mr. 
 Guizot. Lord Brougham, immediately from Cannes, a 
 sort of observatory for Mediterranean and Italian politics, 
 told the Peers last night that the popular sentiment was 
 altogether undeniable and universal. It is barely possi- 
 ble, nevertheless, that the unanimity of Parliament may 
 check the impetuosity of Victor Emmanuel and Louis 
 Napoleon. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 246 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 LoNDOK, February 11, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You will perceive by the map trans- 
 mitted how easy a thing it is to settle to one's mind a re- 
 construction of European nations, on paper. Some thou- 
 sands of this document crossed the Channel three days ago, 
 copies of it have been multiplied on this side, and many 
 a startled and staring diplomat has had his nightmare 
 under the weight of so fantastic a sheet. Rumor preluded 
 it as a Napoleonic study and cartoon direct from the Im- 
 perial press. Farther scrutiny seems to ascribe the in- 
 vention to a Belgian priest. Tiien, again, it is thought to 
 be a monster device which, by the argument of contrast, 
 may make the mere expulsion of Austria from Italy seem 
 a small affair. 
 
 Since my last week's note, two very strong shadows of 
 the coming event have been thrown on the dial of time : 
 a pamphlet* plainly if not avowedly Bonapartean, entitled 
 
 * Diary: February 5, 1859, Saturday. — "A tremendous Pamphlet just 
 out in Paris. It is obviously the offspring of Imperial 'inspiration.' 
 Nothing could be more like ^ Lea Idees Napoleoniennes.' Its title is 
 ' Napoleon III. et I'ltalie.' It inculcates with remarkable power and dis-
 
 90 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 "Napoleon III. et I'ltalie," and a speech from the throne 
 to the French Chambers : — both, in my judgment, power- 
 ful yet guarded expressions of an unalterable purpose. 
 The pamphlet is a manifesto and appeal really unanswer- 
 able, or answerable only by the charge of ambitious mo- 
 tives: — the speechis assailable and assailed, merely because 
 it forbore to repeat from the Queen's address to Parliament 
 the inviolable character of the Treaties of 1815 — those 
 monuments of the overthrow of " My Uncle" ! Austria 
 may be expected to circulate her reply through diplomatic 
 channels: — audi alteram partem ! — but the controversy ad- 
 vances and embitters. 
 
 To these ind,ications must be added the return of bodies 
 of troops from Algeria to Marseilles, the storing of fabu- 
 lous amounts of ammunition, the gradual adoption of a 
 warlike tone by the Parisian press, the fifty million loan 
 voted by the legislative chamber of Sardinia in a paroxysm 
 of anti- Austrian ardor, and, last not least, the very decided 
 written and oral utterances of Count Cavour, whose posi- 
 tion as a wise, virtuous, patriotic, and skilful statesman 
 is overtopped by no one in Europe. 
 
 But what's the prevailing opinion ? Some wish peace 
 to continue, and that wish is father to their judgment. 
 Others deem it a duty to humanity to clamor down war. 
 Many of the best thinkers are mystified by conflicting 
 representations, and incapable of forming a conclusion or 
 even a firm guess. I have recently and most industriously 
 attended the soirees, to deduce from their chatting coteries, 
 for your enlightenment, the general impression. Well ! 
 — at the Marquess of Salisbury's, at Lord Palmerston's, at 
 Lord Derby's, and particularly at the Prussian minister's 
 last night, the current of opinion ran war, not immediate, 
 but inevitable war. Her Majesty's cousin, the Conmiander- 
 in-chief, personally intimate with the Imperial character, 
 disclaims emphatically any doubt about it. 
 
 Do you notice how amusingly the Union-loving senti- 
 
 tinctness the necessity of preserving the peace of Europe by insisting 
 diplomatically and if need be militarily upon the withdrawal of Austria 
 from Lombardy, and the construction of an Italian Confederation of 
 Nationalities. It opens by a distinct declaration of aversion to the Trea- 
 ties of 1815: — no wonder, for they are the monuments of the degrada-- 
 tion of France and the Bonapartes by the Holy Alliance. This splendid 
 manifesto is clearly meant as a semi-official preface to a great drama."
 
 TO MR. WINTER OP. 91 
 
 mentof the Principalities has flouted the iDJuuctioii of the 
 Congress of Paris in 1856? It was formally decided by 
 thataugust body that they should live separate and apart, 
 and each havehei' independent Hospodar. The elections 
 coming on, Moldavia chose for her chief Prince Couza, 
 and Wallachia ran after and chose the very same man for 
 herself, thus concentrating in one personage the executive 
 authorities of both states! There's a complication tor 
 you ! The Sultan is said to be enraged: — he can, how- 
 ever, like Austria in reference to the revolution in Servia, 
 do nothing alone beyond a protest: he must await the re- 
 assembling of the Conference, an event whose non-concur- 
 rence is among the possibilities on the cards. 
 
 I will not release you from;this note until I apprise you 
 that my admirable and able friend Mr. Richard Cobden 
 will go by the same steamer, Canada, to the United States. 
 He has just called and bade me good-bye. He will strive 
 to reach Washington before the dispersing day of the 4th 
 of March. Bid him, All Hail ! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 247.-T0 ME. WINTHEOP. 
 
 London, February 17, 1859. 
 
 My dear Mr. Winthrop, — Your letter in regard to the 
 recall of Lord !N"apier and the shameless explanation of it 
 attempted in the Boston paper by a penny-a-liner corre- 
 spondent here, deserved a prompt acknowledgment. I 
 think your appreciation of his lordship strictly just. We 
 cannot hope to have a more acceptable British minister 
 at Washington. A great mistake is involved in his re- 
 moval; and though his successor be quite unexception- 
 able, the rdle he played in cementing the kindly feel- 
 ings of the two countries can scarcely be acted with equal 
 efficiency by any one else. 
 
 I am not quite sure that the ministry were insensible 
 to the motive imputed for the treatment of this distin- 
 guished gentleman. Some of our travelling countrymen 
 are inconsiderate enough to bring abroad the party asper- 
 ities they cultivate at home; and though in the general
 
 92 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 they take nothing by doing so, or rather are positively 
 disrelished for their lack of natural patriotism, still oc- 
 casionally and on particular points they achieve more 
 mischief to the country than it is easy to repair. 
 
 You do not, I perceive, shrink from the sarcasm of 
 Carlyle, who, in his Life of Frederick the Great, calls all 
 antiquaries by Scott's descriptive cognomen, Dryasdust. I 
 forward you a diploma sent to me from Somerset House. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 248.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 ' London, February 18, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The unanimity in Parliament on the 
 still pending war question seems to have a composing 
 efiect as to party difl'erences. l^othing as yet has rut- 
 fled the smooth current of legislation. Even the Right 
 of Search, which gave Lord Clarendon an opportunity to 
 awaken a titter at the expense of Lord Malmesbury, 
 passed off without leaving a furrow behind it. By-the- 
 by, her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign 
 Altairs said that a series of naval instructions, as to the 
 mode of verifying the flags of traders, had been prepared 
 by France and England, and were now under considera- 
 tion at Washington. He anticipates from their adoption 
 an international millennium. Pray suffer me to see this, 
 not quintuple, but tripartite proposal. 
 
 I have a letter from Mr. Reed, of the 10th ultimo, 
 Colombo, Cejdon. He expects to leave Bombay behind 
 him on the 25th, to be in Malta on the 14th February, 
 in Rome on 1st March, and here before April. I am thus 
 particular to enable you, if occasion occur, to let Mr. 
 Ward know how he may run a fair chance of meeting 
 his returning predecessor. 
 
 I have no modifications to make in the views hereto- 
 fore expressed as to the likelihood of a struggle over a 
 new map of Italy. Every well ascertained incident throws 
 fresh light and reality on the prospect. The Bulls and 
 Bears are fertile in rumors to help along their specu- 
 lative objects: — but the steady, calm, and vigorous man-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 93 
 
 ner in which both the great parties are taking what Mr. 
 Madison called their "attitude and armor" permits one 
 conclusion only. It is barely possible that the Conference 
 about to be held in Paris to deal with the contempt com- 
 mitted by Hospodar Couza — a sort of political bigamy — 
 may wish ampUare jurmlictionem., and to throw oil upon 
 the troubled waters: — but the matter has gone too far, 
 and backing down, even to preserve the peace of Europe, 
 is un-imperial and too shockingly distasteful. 
 
 The relations of the mutually dependent partners, 
 Messrs. Demand and Supply, are oddly illustrated just 
 now. There's a plethora of money everywhere, and down 
 conies a cataract of projected public loans ! Mr. Bates tells 
 me the Austrian proposals have failed. Turkey, like a 
 Phoenix, makes her own fire with her own fuel. Sardinia 
 designs to try the same experiment for the fifty millions of 
 "'lire" she wants. Lord Stanley thinks nothing of ask- 
 ing from English capitalists, for his new empire of India, 
 thirty-five millions of dollars. 
 
 The Court of the " Parvenu " has signalized itself by the 
 introduction of a new feature of etiquette. At the grand 
 ball at the Hotel de Ville, two days ago, in honor of the 
 recent marriage, the girl-bride, like a " little Miss Creeper 
 left in the lurch," instead of being handed into the 
 crowded salon by Prince Napoleon her husband, was per- 
 mitted to walk behind him ! Magnificent, cry all the 
 newspapers ! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 249 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, March 1, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The review which Lord Palmerston took 
 in his speech last Friday evening of the causes and char- 
 acter of quarrel just now between France and Austria, 
 was marked by more than his usual discretion and for- 
 bearance. Mr. Disraeli, in making answer to his en- 
 quiries, shewed equal sense of the dignity due to the 
 occasion : — and his announcement as to the prospect of 
 preserving peace was uncommonly effective. But I am
 
 94 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 disposed to think that those who heard him were a little 
 misled by their hopes, and did not notice the extremely 
 measured and cautions words (no doubt pre-arranged, for 
 they were repeated later in the evening by Lord Malmes- 
 bury in the Lords) which he used. " Her Majesty's gov- 
 ernment had received communications from which they 
 had reason to infer that the two powers would withdraw 
 their respective armies from the Papal States simulta- 
 neously, and upon the invitation of the Pope." 
 • A very extraordinary result is expected to be achieved 
 over the cabinet of Vienna by the energy, skill, and sup- 
 pleness of Lord Cowley: — no less than its acceding, not- 
 withstanding all its recent acts and language to the 
 contrary, to the original proposal of Louis Napoleon. 
 One is accustomed to predicate of Austrian statesmanship 
 nothing but pretension and obstinacy: — and the ministry 
 will be singularly lucky if, in the full tide of these char- 
 acteristic qualities, they get Francis Joseph to " eat his 
 leek." They themselves entertain grave doubts : — for 
 Lord Lyndhurst told me that when the Premier heard of 
 what Mr. Disraeli had said in the Commons, he remarked 
 " he has gone too far"! Such an expression lacks reli- 
 ance on the diplomatic expedient. Li Paris, it woiild 
 seem to be very little relied upon : — indeed, there the 
 evacuation of the Papal States is but a small part of the 
 solution of the Italian question. 
 
 Pray let me ask you to give consideration to the accom- 
 panying copy of an advertisement which contains matter 
 of great historical interest to our country. The two 
 hundred letters and documents connected with the nego- 
 tiation of what Mr. Adams called "Our Treaty of Inde- 
 pendence," and the map of the United States traced by 
 Franklin, ought certainly to be in your department. I 
 can receive the expression of the President's wishes upon 
 the subject before the 6th of" April, the day appointed for 
 the sale. 
 
 I was last evening seven continuous hours in the diplo- 
 matic gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the 
 introduction of Lord Derby's Reform bill. It is as infini- 
 tesimal a dose as any homoeopath could administer, and is 
 essentially a mere sham of words. Lord John Russell 
 denounced it at once; Mr. Bright termed it frivolous, 
 trifling, absurd, and disgusting, Not a shadow of enfran-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 95 
 
 chisement extended to the working classes. Lord Pal- 
 raerston and his serried ranks of friends remained quiet, 
 while the measure underwent violent castigation from the 
 ultra Liberals and was falteringlj sustained on the Treas- 
 ury side. Mr. "Walpole, Home Secretary, and Mr. Hen- 
 ley, President of the Board of Trade, have resigned : Lord 
 John Manners is expected to follow suit: General Peel is 
 said to be giving way for Lord Elgin, and Sir E. B. Lytton 
 for Gladstone. On the whole, the cabinet seems sponta- 
 neously dissolving. 
 
 Mr. Ward and his family have been here for the past 
 week. I have been able to keep him advised of Mr. 
 Reed's course and progress homewards. He will meet 
 that gentleman in Paris on the 15th instant, whither he 
 proceeds to-morrow. You have probably already heard 
 that there has been fresh fighting near Canton between 
 the English troops and Chinese braves, as late as the 8th 
 of January. It is said that the Imperial government 
 secretly disclaim Lord E^gin's Treaty as the work of com- 
 pulsion. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 250.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 4, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Her Majesty's government have been 
 caucusing. Lord Derby invited two hundred and eight 
 of his partisans of the House of Commons to meet him at 
 the Treasury Department in Downing Street on Tuesday 
 last: — the gravamen, the Reform bill. He plumply in- 
 formed the assembled gentlemen that every one of them 
 must vote for every part and the entirety of the measure 
 unflinchingly: and that, if it finally failed, he would dis- 
 solve Parliament. It is customary to regard our President, 
 not in the light of the Sovereign here, but as a Prime 
 Minister: — now, what would be thought of him all over 
 the world, and what would the Representatives say and 
 do, if our Chief Executive were to take a leaf out of Lord 
 Derby's book, and, surrounded by his cabinet, were to in- 
 doctrinate, menace, and^ marshal the legislative phalanx?
 
 96 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 « 
 I think we should all be long before we heard the last of 
 it. This jumble of separate and co-ordinate powers is the 
 natural, if not necessary consequence of permitting minis- 
 ters to hold seats in Parliament: — a practice accompanied 
 by certain administrative advantages, though subversive 
 of fundamental principle. Be this as it may, Lord Derby 
 had his caucus, and he and they have resolved to go it 
 blind for the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill. 
 Now, I can't express a confident opinion as to how this 
 will end, and I must tell you why. Lord Palmerston is 
 at heart no reformer; he does not wish to reattain power 
 upon that issue: and he would probably be averse to 
 larger concessions of political franchise than are made by 
 Mr. Disraeli. I have observed, upon this topic, unequiv- 
 ocal symptoms o^ rapprochement h^tweQu his followers and 
 those of Lord" Derby ; and, to defeat the ultra Liberals, 
 Bright, Gibson, Roebuck, and Russell (!), they may lind 
 themselves on a test vote in the same lobby. Generally 
 speaking, it is thought the bill cannot be saved, and that 
 a dissolution is unavoidable. Nous verrons on next^Mon^ 
 day fortnight, or shortly after. 
 
 Plon-Plon, having sacriliced himself to the Imperial 
 policy by marrying a youthful princess, swells with self- 
 importance, and takes airs: — snaps his lingers at the 
 Treaties of 1815 : and snubs Persigny, even in the great 
 presence at the Tuileries, and to the well-aflected amaze- ^ 
 ment of the Court, by loudly telling him that, let England 
 or all Europe say what they please, the honor and safety 
 of France demand and will exact the independence and 
 nationality of Italy. 
 
 Lord Cowley is on his return to Paris : — but the fruits 
 of his mission remain undivulged: — while ^^ rentes" are 
 sinking and armies concentrating, the Kaiser at Vienna 
 openly abusing the Kaiser on the Seine, the Holy Father 
 and Cardinal Antonelli "ungratefully insulting" France, 
 and the remains of the patriot Dandolo are being b^iried 
 at Milan in a row ! 
 
 Mr. Gladstone is said to be coming home to fill the 
 Colonial Office now occupied by Sir E. B. Lytton. He is 
 conveniently at present in Piedmont, interchanging views 
 with Count Cavour. 
 
 I am afraid I have overwhelmed you lately with official 
 despatches. The constant effort is to prevent accumula-
 
 TO MRS. BACHE. 97 
 
 tion and to be brief. I was told by Mr. P., at Cambridge 
 House last nigbt, that, in the Foreign Office, Lord Lyons 
 and Lord Stratford de Redcliffe were esteemed their ablest 
 writers. 
 
 Always faithfull}'^ yrs. 
 
 Wo. 251 -TO MKS. BAOHE. 
 
 London, March 10, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sister, — Julia has made for you copies of a 
 series of small notes which have passed between a gentle- 
 man living at Alphmgton and myself, the contents of whieli 
 will I think interest and amuse you. The whole, except 
 the photograph of the church, are enclosed. 
 
 I meet at the leading receptions and soirees no one 
 more punctually than Mrs. Mansfield, your Baltimore 
 friend of early life. Her son has been distinguished as a 
 general in the Indian war: — and she is sedulously engaged 
 in chaperoning her grand- daughter, about 18, through the 
 mazes of a tirst season out. 
 
 All the inferior world of Europe is waiting impatiently 
 to know what the two angry Emperors of France and 
 Austria are going to do : — to make war or prolong peace. 
 At this moment, after much vaporing and bluster, there 
 is a lull — inspiring hope which enables the stock exchanges 
 of Paris, Vienna, and London to take a little breath. It 
 is attributed to the supposed success of Lord Cowley's 
 mediatory mission, and it may be dispelled in twenty-four 
 hours by some fresh blast. There is obvious dissension 
 in the French cabinet on the point : — Prince i^apoleon 
 though just married upon the strength of his belligerent 
 inclinations, resigning his ministry of Algiers and retreat- 
 ing before his adversaries, Messrs. Walewski and Fould. 
 This is likely to tell. 
 
 Dallas has, I presume, recorded his annual victor}- over 
 the enemies of the Coast Survey. You would be sur- 
 prised if told how much anxious interest is expressed here 
 in his labors. 
 
 I am told that your spirits are good, that you do not 
 
 VOL. II. — 7
 
 98 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 suffer pain, and that yon enjoy the presence of affectionate 
 children and friends. Such newsMs comforting. 
 
 Always your devoted brother. 
 
 No 252 -TO PKOPESSOK ALEXANDEK. 
 
 London, March 11, 1859. 
 
 My dear Professor, — Thank you very many times 
 for your obliging and most agreeable notes. ISTothingbut 
 positive lack of time has prevented my writing in reply : — 
 and now, with the Bag yawning for its food by my side, I 
 must be brief. 
 
 If there be such a volume as the Parliamentary Rules of 
 Order and Debate, I will procure and send you a copy : — 
 " else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land?" I'll catch 
 the Speaker by the button, or Lord John by his keen 
 circling look, at the next reception, and soon know the 
 truth. If it exist, consider it yours. 
 
 We" have reached a very brisk part of the rampant 
 "season," and yet retain our health and senses. Pray 
 remember us all most cordially to Mrs. A. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 253.-TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, March 11, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Our friend her Majesty's principal Sec- 
 retary of State for Foreign Affairs has been subjected to a 
 heavy critical bombardment, in both parliamentar}' cham- 
 bers, for what was represented as his dulness, indiffer- 
 ence, and mismanagement of the " Charles et Georges'' 
 affair between France and Portugal. Lord John Russell 
 was extremely and unusually tart. In defence, but one 
 really good speech was made, that by Cairns, the clever 
 Solicitor-General. Had not the prospect of expelling the 
 ministry upon their Reform bill assumed an almost cer-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 99 
 
 tain aspect, I think the Opposition would have rallied on 
 this iiekl. and carried a vote of censure. 
 
 Lord Cowley gets back to-day from Vienna. Nothing 
 yet known as to what he has achieved : and that circum- 
 stance in itself leads me to suspect that in his main and 
 indispensable point, the abandonment of the special trea- 
 ties, he returns as he went. The government must have 
 been apprised by the electric telegraph of any decidedly 
 favorable concession, and would be eager to tell it. Their 
 omission to do so, in the existing tremulous state of 
 stocks, would be regarded as almost criminal. 
 
 !N^apoleoncino, alias Prince Xapoleon, alias Prince Je- 
 rome, alias Plon-Plon, has retreated before his adversaries 
 in council, "Walewsld and Fould, from the ministry of 
 Algeria. He is perhaps too impatient and impetuous : — 
 wanting at once to give the quid pro quo for his bride by 
 devotion to the policy of Victor Emmanuel. To that com- 
 plexion, postpone it as they may, it will come at last. A 
 sweep in the Imperial cabinet is no improbable occurrence 
 as soon as the failure of their agent Lord Cowley is 
 ascertained. It will be the first step in a great European 
 war. 
 
 Two days ago the harbor of Cork was invaded by the 
 revolted Neapolitan prisoners whom the gracious Sover- 
 eign of the Sicilies had consigned to New York on board 
 of an American vessel ! They have been welcomed with 
 loud hurras and open arms. These victims of ro3'al per- 
 jury and cruelty, headed by Poerio and Settembrini, are 
 irreproachable, talented, and upright men, whose presence 
 in London will probably tap man}' a purse and spread 
 many a table. 
 
 It is perhaps incumbent upon me, at least thus inform- 
 ally, to say that the Queen, at her dinner last evening, 
 very graciously enquired about the President and Miss 
 Lane, of whose health I was fortunately enabled by a re- 
 cent private letter to give welcome assurances. Her 
 Majesty has really been benefited by becoming a grand- 
 mother. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 100 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 254 -TO SIK E. B. LYTTON. 
 
 London, March 17, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir Edward, — Your note of yesterday reached 
 me late at night. 
 
 Our Senate is, in its several aspects, legislative, execu- 
 tive, and judicial When acting executively, it sits with 
 closed doors, deliberates on treaties sent to it for ratifica- 
 tion or rejection by the President, and on appointments 
 to office. With these functions the House of Representa- 
 tives has nothing to do. Foreign affairs necessarily en- 
 gage the Senate largely: — not merely the Committee, but 
 the body itself: — the Committee is only an agent to 
 examine closely and report in detail. 
 
 But you are not strictly right in saying that the House 
 of Representatives "does not discuss foreign affairs." 
 There are many cases in which negotiations with foreign 
 nations end in tariffs, or engagements to pay money: — 
 these to be carried out, require legislation, and so become 
 legitiynately topics of discussion in the House. And there 
 prevails a practice which rather irregularly and illegiti- 
 wa^e/^ constantly converts the representative chamber into 
 an arena for discoursing "c/e omnibus rebus et quibusdam 
 aliis.'" This happens whenever on motion it resolves 
 itself into a " Committee of the Whole on the State of the 
 Union:" — the comprehensive character of which opens 
 every field of debate, domestic and foreign : — practically, 
 a great safety valve. 
 
 Faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 255.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 18, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Among the veteran and vigilant states- 
 men whom I meet in clusters at social gatherings there 
 would seem to be an almost unanimous belief that war is 
 inevitable. To be sure, the course taken by the inferior 
 sovereignties of Germany has been calculated to check 
 the impetuous progress of the French Emperor, for it
 
 TO MR. CASS. 101 
 
 threatens a revival of the Coalition of 1815: and we are 
 still kept in the dark as to what has been effected by Lord 
 Cowley, which may possibly transfer all difficulties to the 
 domain of diplomacy: — bat, the immense military pre- 
 parations on both sides, and the mutually incriminating 
 tone of their state papers and journals, daily diminish the 
 probability of peace, I am told that in the commercial 
 circles of the City the conviction is so strong that bets have 
 been offered that the first gun has been fired ! Austria is 
 evidently greatly emboldened by the attitude of Prussia, 
 the utterances of the German Confederates, and the inter- 
 vention of this government. At Vienna, her inflation has 
 chalked the walls with the vowels, A. E. I. O. U. — which 
 do plainly signify that " Austrise Est Imperare Orhi Uni- 
 verso:" — and smacks of the democratic arrogance which 
 we may remember adorned the fences and bricks of Wash- 
 ington, "54.40 or fight"! 
 
 To welcome and relieve the Neapolitan prisoners landed 
 at Queenstown is the order of the day. Very imposing 
 committees are already formed and generous contributions 
 made. You are entitled to know that, owing to some 
 letters written home, I was wanted on the first committee 
 organized, but declined, pleading the restraints and re- 
 serves attached to position. I think I perceive that this 
 hospitable movement is very much, if not exclusively, in 
 the hands of Liberals: — not unnaturally. 
 
 The first prosecution of the members of the "Phoenix 
 Society" in Ireland has failed, although pressed with abil- 
 ity and energ}^ by the Attorney-General, Whiteside. The 
 jury disagreed. It is becoming a religious struggle: and 
 apart from the big words used in the indictment, the acts 
 of the conspirators appear very frivolous. A government 
 should ignore the fantasies and follies of exuberant youth: 
 — 7iec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus. 
 
 I am on tiptoe for the Cass-Yrissari and Ousely treaties: 
 taking it for granted that Nicaragua will baptize them as 
 twins at or about the same time. 
 
 Our winter has been remarkably mild, more so than 
 fifty years have witnessed. Little or no ice formed; and 
 fruit trees in full blossom three weeks ago. Lord Eversley 
 (the late Speaker, Lefevre) told me that he has covered his 
 trees, down in Hampshire, with woollen netting to protect 
 them from any possible return of frost. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 102 TO MR. KNOTT. 
 
 No. 256 -TO PKOPES&OR OWEN. 
 
 London, March 18, 1859. 
 
 My dear Dr. Owen,— After thorough search, one 
 volume only of Commodore Perry's visit to Japan has 
 been found in the legation: — and that I now send you. 
 Let me beg you to retain it sine die. At a future day I 
 hope to be able to send you its mate. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 257.-T0 ME. KNOTT. 
 
 London, March 19, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am afraid that my tardiness in acknowl- 
 edging the great kindness of your last letter, accompanied 
 by a sketch of Alphington Church, may have lost me 
 some of your good will. I must throw myself upon your 
 indulgence, simply assuring you that my engagements 
 have been constant and monopolizing. 
 
 The delay has relieved me of one perplexity: — how to 
 fulfil, without too much intrusion upon a stranger, the 
 promise respecting the career in America of those whose 
 Banns were declared in Alphington in 1780. Since 
 making the promise, I have received a very valuable 
 work published in my native city of Philadelphia, called 
 "A Dictionary of British and American Authors:" — and 
 herein I find a short notice of my father which contains 
 quite as much as you ought to be troubled with. So my 
 daughter has been good enough to transcribe this article, 
 and I enclose it. 
 
 Allow me to repeat to you the very grateful thanks 
 with which I shall always remember the part you have 
 taken in our correspondence. 
 
 You enquire whether either of my parents resided in 
 Alphington when they were married. I believe not. 
 My mother was at the time under the care of an aunt, a 
 venerable single lady named Barlow, wiiose home was in 
 Devonport. 
 
 Faithfully and respectfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 103 
 
 No. 258.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 25, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — We may now safely conclude, as I for- 
 merly surmised, that Lord Cowley's mission to Vienna 
 produced — nothing. So close, however, upon its heels 
 came a proposal from the Russian Czar for a Congress, 
 that an undiscriminating public has given his lordship 
 the merit of that suggestion. This European Areopagus 
 will be constituted of plenipotentiaries from France, Rus- 
 sia, Austria, England, and Prussia; Count Cavour goes 
 to Paris to insist upon the presence of Piedmont, and it 
 may be that considering the peculiarly Italian purpose of 
 the consultation, the minor States of the peninsula may 
 creep in. As all such assemblages are designed, not so 
 much to confer and discuss, as to give impetus and weight 
 to a decision already reached by one or more of the cabi- 
 nets, I think we shan't be wide of the mark if we antici- 
 pate that the issue of a scheme of settlement devised at 
 St. Petersburg, and instantly adopted at the Tuileries, will 
 bear hard upon Austria. Thence springs the question, will 
 it be frankly acquiesced in? — Assuredly not: and so no- 
 thing will have been gained by the expedient except those 
 inestimable matters — time for preparation and a tempo- 
 rary rise in stocks. We are already told that Prince 
 Napoleon is designed to be the " alter Ego'' of his Imperial 
 cousin at the Congress. The landing at Cannes suddenly 
 dispersed a body of this sort in 1815 ; and, indeed, unless 
 there be great haste in meeting at Geneva, or Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle, all accounts agree in predicting a revolutionary 
 movement in or near Rome, or a conflict on the Ticino, 
 which will sup'ersede all deliberation : — the decies repeiita 
 story of Brennus. 
 
 An amusing and much-laughed-at instance of Lord M.'s 
 propensity to indoctrinate with simple and wholesome 
 truths, took place in the " Charles el Georges" case, when 
 he pinioned the veteran Malakoif to his fauteuil at Wind- 
 sor Castle, and inculcated " the immortal truth, that time 
 undermined prejudices as well as unveiled facts." 
 
 You will notice that last night's debate in the House of 
 Commons, brought out through Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald,
 
 104 TO MR. CASS: 
 
 Under Secretary of State, the acknowledgment that "re- 
 presentations had been made by the French government 
 respecting the conduct of her Majesty's commander of the 
 steam sloop ^Aledo' (Hnnt !) in boarding the Phoenix while 
 the latter was engaged in procuring laborers (under the 
 system which had been so much discussed) on the west 
 coast of Africa." When the particulars of this domiciliary 
 visit are laid upon the table, they may help Cobb & Ellis 
 to form an estimate of the real character of the selfjusti- 
 iied agent of maritime police who so hanxilessl}^ seized, 
 carried off, and kept in durance vile, for two days, their 
 dirty little "Caroline." 
 
 The government's Reform bill has occupied the House 
 of Commons every day of this week, except Wednesday, 
 and many suppose the debate will not close before Tues- 
 day night next, 29th March. Amid a mass of " intolerable 
 rubbish," there are here and there speeches made of real 
 powder, as well on one side as on the other. Bulwer Lytton, 
 the Colonial Secretary and charming novelist, defended 
 the bill in a manner which would have done honor to 
 Fox, Chatham, Sheridan, or Erskine, in his palmiest day. 
 Cairns, the Solicitor-General, was equally successful. Lord 
 John Russell, whose motion aims to strike down the bill 
 and the ministry too, has been supported abh^ from every 
 section of the Liberal party, and partially from the Tories. 
 Sir Charles Wood, Sidney Herbert, Bernal Osborne, John 
 Bright, and Milner Gibson have taken leading parts. 
 Nobody doubts the result; except perhaps myself. I 
 cannot, until he himself declares it, believe that Lord 
 Palmerston and his personal tail will contribute to what 
 cannot, with their assistance, fail to be the triumphant 
 Premiership of Lord John Russell. Lord Palmerston was 
 to have addressed the House last night, and, according to 
 universal conviction, in maintenance of the motion: — he 
 will speak to-night, and let us see whether he does not, in 
 some way or other, repress the expanding glories of his 
 rival. Perhaps, for this purpose, he may dexterously 
 yield to Mr. Gladstone, or Sir James Graham. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 105 
 
 No. 259 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 1, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — In the House of Comnions, at 1 o'clock 
 this morning, the resolution of Lord John Russell, immo- 
 lating the ministerial Bill of Reform, was carried by a 
 majority of 39 out of 621 votes. An adjournment took 
 place to Monday the 4th instant, giving to the cabinet an 
 oppor-tunity to determine on their course, whether of a 
 new bill, a resignation, or a dissolution of Parliament. 
 Much could be said in favor of each of these courses: but 
 my knowledge of Lord Derby and his colleagues induces 
 rae to believe that the last will be preferred. Certain formal 
 and indispensable steps of supply must be first taken, and 
 the maturing of these may consume a week or ten days. 
 It is not impossible that, in the generous hour of triumph, 
 the opposition may allow to be wasted as much time, I 
 think about a fortnight, as is necessary to ripen the title 
 of Mr. Disraeli to a pension of two thousand pounds an- 
 nually for an aggregate service of two years. It is hard 
 to see such luscious fruit turn to ashes on the eve of being 
 clutched. The disinterested independence of Mr. Wal- 
 pole in resigning when similarly tempted to hold on, has, 
 however, been greatly eulogized. 
 
 If a new ministry, who are likely to compose it? 
 There is no redundant ability, experience, and influence 
 at command. As to the Premiership, the hostile attitude 
 of Palmerston and Russell must embarrass: — for you will 
 notice that, agreeably to the anticipation with which I 
 closed my letter of this day last week, the former of these 
 gentlemen, while sustaining the motion of the latter, took 
 a course to damage any ambitious hopes its author might 
 entertain very seriously. Some speak of Lord Granville 
 as the chief who could enlist both in an administration 
 and bridge the gulf which divides them. Others think a 
 Russell Reform cabinet ma*y be made stronger (through 
 the Radicals) without than with Palmerston. Sir James 
 Graham and Mr. Milner Gibson will doubtless be pro- 
 vided with seats. On the Department of Foreign Affairs, 
 Lord Clarendon seems to have an almost undisputed 
 lien: — and that is our principal concern.
 
 106 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 1^0 place yet definitively fixed for the proposed Congress. 
 Berlin, Geneva, Baden-Baden, and Mannheim have been 
 successively named. As to its result, meet where and 
 when it may, the opinion I have heretofore expressed re- 
 mains unchanged. Count Cavour has returned from a 
 victorious sojourn at the Tnileries to Turin, radiant with 
 smiles: — and Count Cavour's vista has no limit short of 
 relieving Italy of every Austrian foot. 
 
 I am afraid that these two great topics have lost some 
 of their interest: — but until they are on the track of human 
 affairs in a settled shape, I don't know how to avoid them. 
 So, be merciful. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 260.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 15, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — A thin and glimmering ray of possible 
 peace has suddenly shone on the dark cloud of approach- 
 ing war. My colleague and neighbor, tbe Belgian min- 
 ister, regards it as a rainbow, precursive of a bright sky. 
 He may possibly be right: — but I cannot say that the in- 
 cident appears to me of much importance. It is the last 
 proposal made by Austria : — that there shall be a general 
 disarmament, and the Italian question referred for defini- 
 tive adjudication to the Congress at Baden. JSTow, what 
 is this but an affectation of fairness? — an offer originating 
 in financial difficulty, and which cannot, without self-stul- 
 tification, be accepted by the quarrelling powers. Ac- 
 cordingly France replies at once, she has not armed, and 
 cannot therefore disarm : — a reply about as ingenuous as 
 the proposal itself. Sardinia declares she cannot safely, 
 and therefore will not, take a single step backward, while 
 her enemy remains in Lombardo-Venetia. The truth is, 
 it is essential to both parties \o satisfy the opinion of Ger- 
 many : and hence'the game of constantly recurring efforts 
 to put each other in the wrong. The instant these efforts 
 are exhausted, artillery will be heard,* whether preceded 
 by a declaration or not. The acknowledged and extraor- 
 dinary popularity of Louis Napoleon, notwithstanding all
 
 TO MR. CORYELL. 107 
 
 that lie has been doing since the 1st of January last, 
 amply disproves the change in the French character which 
 it is the fashion here to insist has been effected by the last 
 eight years of peace. They love glory, and will follow 
 this Bonaparte in pursuit of it just as readily and heed- 
 lessly as they did the other. 
 
 On this absorbing subject we are promised by the cabi- 
 net a full development of the course they have taken, and 
 of the actual "situation." It was designed for this even- 
 ing, but was last night postponed to Monday next. My 
 own impression is that we shall be told of the fiiilure of 
 every mediating effort, and perhaps of an impending de- 
 claration of war by Austria against Piedmont, which will 
 be a "tocsin" to France. 
 
 Mr. Reed reached here the evening before the last. He 
 must hav^e crossed Senator Clingraan on his way to Paris. 
 He tells me Mr. Mason has no doubt of war. 
 
 I am quite sensible how much your time must be filled 
 up with more peremptory claims, and therefore am really 
 very grateful for your delightfully long note of the 18th 
 ultimo. 
 
 The members of the Commons are very generally off to 
 the hustings. It is not easy to form a House. The elec- 
 tion will be a spirited one : — perhaps at some places it may 
 be marked by violence. Mr. Cobden is up for Rochdale; 
 — his armor bo-rne in his absence by his Patroclus, Mr. 
 Bright, who has no dread of his own defeat at Birming- 
 ham. The dissolution iinds little favor with either party. 
 When coolly considered by-and-by, it will be looked upon 
 as a most unnecessarj' and dangerous departure from the 
 settled principles and practices of this government: — a 
 step, however, rather stimulating towards republicaniza- 
 tion. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 . No. 261 -TO ME. OOEYELL. 
 
 London, April 21, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Your letter of the 4th instant is before 
 me, and I thank you for its contents. It is impossible for
 
 108 TO MR. CORYELL. 
 
 me to be more active in private correspondence than I am. 
 There are so many subjects for official thought and atten- 
 tion constantly arising that I am obliged to rest satisfied 
 with the modicum of personal writing within my power. 
 I bombard General Cass by every steamer. 
 
 What a deplorable picture you draw of the condition of 
 our good old party ! It must be much worse, however, 
 before I can persuade myself to think that there is real 
 danger. As to my own action, I have grown old sticking 
 inveterately to one groove of straight line motion, out of 
 which I have neither the wish nor the ability to budge. 
 My faith in pure democracy is now exactly what it was 
 when I embraced or inhaled it fifty years ago. Perhaps 
 this will be esteemed blind idolatry. Be it so. I steer 
 by an old compass : and, sink or swim, amid shallows, 
 rocks, flats, or icebergs, I'll keep on to the last. When I 
 see men, like fretful painters, displeased with their own 
 work and dashing their brushes in a rage at the canvas, 
 I feel more pity than surprise at an intemperance which 
 visits the imperfection of a .slight part upon the great 
 whole Because they can't make a nose as straight, or an 
 eye as blue, as they conceive it ought to be, they indig- 
 nantly spoil their still beautiful creation. None do more 
 harm to fundamentals than they who are over-righteous 
 and are "wise in their own conceit." iTou must make 
 the application of these "saws :" for yoxi perceive I have 
 a latent reluctance to do so. 
 
 So, the delusive chirrup with which warm-hearted 
 friends are wont periodically to be excited as with an in- 
 termittent, has again, for the fifth time, buzzed in the 
 breeze ! At this distance it is quite inaudible. The 
 speaking-trumpets of the press communicate no sound of 
 the sort. The cars are crammed with candidates steam- 
 ing to Charleston. I'll accept cheerfully any one of them : 
 preferring to be sure a Southerner, but never discontented 
 with the best practicable result. When we can't do the 
 best, let us at least do the best we can. Be the candidate 
 whom he may, nail the flag, and never despair of the Re- 
 public ! • 
 
 We have not got war yet, though I expect it every day. 
 France and Austria have had a protracted game of politi- 
 cal chess, and I rather think the former will prove the 
 Morphy of the occasion. The number of men under arms
 
 TO MR. CASS. 109 
 
 ill Europe, fully equipped and ready to give battle, may 
 be estimated at two millions five hundred thousand. 
 These are the bulwarks of despotic thrones ! Can we 
 wonder that thrones still stand? 
 
 Remember, when you have a chance, to give my kindest 
 regards to Mr. Ingham : — also Judge Joel Jones, etc. 
 
 Very faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 262.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 « London, April 22, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I see a good deal of Baron Poerio, the 
 minister in '49, and ever since the imprisoned victim, of 
 the now dying King of Naples. He is a short, slender 
 gentleman, rather bald, of unaffected quiet-toned manners, 
 and of clear mind. I should presume him to be about 55 ; 
 he attracts much kind notice, and circulates actively. 
 The deportment of all these escaped prisoners has been, 
 since they reached England, most admirably becoming. 
 They are not generally military men, but they seem to 
 regard the Sardinian army as their natural resource. 
 
 Two brilliant intellects of the 19th century have just 
 died out : De Tocqueville, at Cannes, on Saturday last, 
 and Lady Morgan, at London, on the preceding Wed- 
 nesday. 
 
 The heavy sword of Brennus has suddenly been pitched 
 into the scales, though not exactly from the quarter I had 
 anticipated. Yesterday morning, the funds rose. Lord 
 Malmesbury's indefatigable and inexhaustible proposals 
 for peace, disarmament, and a Congress seemed every- 
 where accepted, and even my obstinate convictions were 
 giving way; when, crack! came the thunderclap of the 
 afternoon's telegram from Turin, announcing that Giulai, 
 the Austrian Commander-in-chief at Milan, had sum- 
 moned Piedmont to disperse her soldiers and volunteers 
 under penalty of war and invasion at the expiration of 
 three days! I do not believe the fact to be so, but it looks 
 very much as if England had busied herself in adminis- 
 tering opiates and sedatives to Louis Napoleon, while the 
 black double-headed eagle was stretching its wings for a
 
 110 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 spring and a swoop. For, what can Victor Emmanuel 
 do now? He must fly before the immense forces he is 
 wholly incapable of repelling; his capitals must fiill in 
 quick succession: and when he is irreparably ruined, and 
 perhaps a suicide after the fashion of his father, then 
 possibl}' France, delirious with shame, may rush to re- 
 venge him. If the French talie up this notion, that their 
 honor has been compromised by too blind a reliance upon 
 their dear allies, whither will they not impetuously turn 
 to strike? Scotch "second sight" is hardly necessary to 
 make palpable the crowded harbor and bristling batteries 
 of Cherbourg. And Queen Victoria is without her Par- 
 liament, her Channel without a fleet, her coasts without- 
 defences, and her militia, without arms or practice! Here 
 is a complication from which you may deduce the likeli- 
 hood of a violent demand for the restoration of Lord Pal- 
 merston, the recognized War minister, to power. 
 
 I wish Congress could be persuaded to place at the dis- 
 position of the American minister here a reasonable credit 
 with the house of Barings, to be applied, under Presi- 
 dential sanction in each case, to the purchase of rare relics 
 illustrative of our national history. Besides the catalogue 
 of Franklinian and Revolutionary articles sold on the 6th 
 instant, but which you plead poverty for not buying, here 
 is a manuscript of extreme interest by Bradford, the nar- 
 rator of the preparations, voyage, and settlement of the 
 Pilgrims, quormn jMrs fuit: and here, telling a tale of our 
 complete and minute custom-house subserviency, while 
 colonies, to the London establishment, is the very copper- 
 plate wdience were struck, and sent over, certificates of 
 assessed valuations of imports! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 263 -TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, April 29, 1859. 
 
 My dear SiRb — The Foreign Office and the Exchange 
 are equally under a panic. Stocks are tumbling head- 
 long, with curses louder and deeper than any heard since 
 '48. As to Lord Malmesbury, he is fiercely assailed in the
 
 TO MR. CASS. Ill 
 
 newspapers for absence and neglect of duty at an appalling 
 crisis. It will turn out, as I believe, that the Secretary, 
 over-zealous to avert war, has hurried to Paris to present in 
 person England's final ofl:er of mediation. The treaty of 
 alliance offensive and defensive between Russia and 
 France, executed three days after the date of the Austrian 
 summons to Piedmont, and immediately announced, has 
 created o-eneral surprise and consternation. The Czar's 
 troops are in two armies of observation, composedly ex- 
 ercising surveillance, one on the eastern frontier of Prussia, 
 the other not distant from the eastern frontier of Austria. 
 They will cross the boundary at the signal of Louis 
 Napoleon, who sped from Paris yesterday for a field of 
 battle in the vicinity of that of Marengo. The Duke of 
 Malakoft'is still here, and possibly may linger for several 
 days: — but he has left what I take to be his farewell 
 cards. He has often said that the Emperor was no general 
 and never could be one. His Majesty has nevertheless 
 organized a magnificent campaign, and if he come out as 
 well as he goes into it, the Marshal will be obliged to eat 
 bis words. In the course of the present week the soil of 
 Piedmont will be trodden by little less than 350,000 
 armed men, marshalled by three sovereigns, and bent on 
 a pitched battle whose importance far transcends that of 
 Waterloo. 
 
 The pei'plexities and tribulations of Lord Malmesbury 
 are, as we may readily imagine, au comble. But the real 
 state of things is every instant thrown into doubt by fresh 
 telegrams across the Channel. Since I began this letter, 
 a distinction is taken between a treaty ofl'ensive and de- 
 fensive, and a 'perfect understanding, in explanation of the 
 Czar's attitude. Bonaparte's quitting Paris is said not 
 to be definitive, and hence he don't empower the regency 
 to act: — he will be back before he enters Italy. He is 
 gaining time by forbearing to slam the door against me- 
 diation. All the while, however, it is certain that im- 
 mense bodies of troops are pouring across the frontiers of 
 Piedmont. 
 
 Should this European war proceed, of which I have 
 hardly had a doubt since the 1st of Januj^ry, would it not 
 be well to suggest to General Floyd the expediency of 
 allowing some of our most promising ofiicers to witness 
 its operations? Vast improvements in military weapons,
 
 112 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 it is said, will have their first practical trials; and the 
 French Emperor has studied out, and meditates exhibit- 
 ing, new strategical movements, the very hints of which 
 have thrown all the young Gallic mousquetaires into ec- 
 stacies. For my own part, I should like to see, if the com- 
 batants would permit it, an American historiographer, 
 Major Delatield for instance, at or near every battle. ♦^ 
 
 The election is going on with less agitation than was 
 expected. The coffers of the Carlton Club are crammed 
 with means for "paying expenses." 
 
 . Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 264.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 London, May 3, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It may be important that you should 
 promptly know the judgment passed by this government 
 upon the proceedings of their negotiator in Nicaragua; 
 and I therefore availed myself of the earliest opportunity 
 by. the Arago from Southampton. The tone of censure 
 used by Lord Malmesbury is somewhat softened in my 
 report. Such unexplained departures from prescribed 
 duty could, he said, be only attributed "to the loss of his 
 faculties " ! 
 
 I introduced conversation by complimentary reference 
 to the Secretary's great exertions for the preservation of 
 peace in Europe. The truth is, I felt the extraordinary 
 alteration his appearance had undergone. lie looked 
 abatiu, exhausted, worn, grave: as if ten years of suffering 
 had intervened since I last saw him. He said he had 
 given fourteen hours of every day for two months to 
 efforts to keep people from fighting, but fight they would, 
 in spite of everything he had been able to say or do : — all 
 mediation or intercession was at an end : — and (pausing to 
 reflect) they fight this very day ! 
 
 War then is opened. The white-coated legions, with 
 their black dou We- headed eagles, have crossed the Ticino, 
 and Austria is in Piedmont on the banks of the Sesia ! 
 Nothing as yet but a lively skirmish : — the Sardinians 
 killing a colonel and fifteen privates, and then retreating. 
 
 J
 
 TO MR. T. 113 
 
 The French are hastening to the theatre of action, through 
 all the passes, in great corps and high spirits : — forty thou- 
 sand of them at Genoa from Algeria and Toulon. Revo- 
 lution has exploded at the approach of the tricolor in 
 Tuscany (whose ducal family have fled), in Parma (whose 
 duchess is among the missing), in Modena ; and even in 
 Rome, popular "manifestations," after taking a decided 
 course, tending to the overthrow of the Pope's secular 
 power, have only been suspended by the persuasive exhor- 
 tation of the French General Guyon. The respective diplo- 
 matic vindications of the tliree belligerents are now ad- 
 dressed and circulated at the bar of European opinion. Xa- 
 poleon, however, is still in Paris, and Malakoft" in London. 
 
 At present the policy of maintaining a pacific neutrality is 
 here ascendant. All the hustings proclaim it. The pipe 
 of every section, Derby, Palmerston, Russell, or Bright, 
 discourses the same eloquent music. Yet the Mediterra- 
 nean squadrons and garrisons are reinforced, and the Chan- 
 nel fleet is in process of doubling. Volunteers, too, are 
 drilling with rifles: — the militia embodying: — and the 
 coast fortifications are anxiously brushed up. There is no 
 knowing, indeed, in what direction the lava of a volcano 
 may scoop its channel. 
 
 The complexion of the new House of Commons cannot 
 yet be determined. The Conservatives will gain, say their 
 adversaries, about ten members, — not enough to enable 
 them to retain the government. Lord Palmerston antici- 
 pates another ministry, and another dissolution consequent 
 upon the adoption of another Reform bill in less than a 
 twelvemonth. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 265 -TO MR. T. 
 
 London, May 7, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I got yours of the 2d instant with its 
 enclosure. 
 
 When Mr. asks " for such information, in regard 
 
 to international law, as will define the rights, obligations, 
 and responsibilities of neutral ships," he asks a pamphlet, 
 
 VOL. II. — 8
 
 114 TO MR. PICKENS. 
 
 not to be struck oif (according to the newly coined phrase) 
 as quick as 1 o'clock. I think it one of the most violently 
 unreasonable requests ever made to a public officer who 
 has current business exacting attention. If I can manage 
 to get time enough to compress a few leading principles, 
 rules, and cases, witliin something short of an octavo, you 
 may have a chance to hear from me; otherwise, hint to 
 Mr. that what he wants he can easiest and safest pro- 
 cure by administering a handsome fee to some eminent 
 professional counsel. 
 
 Faithfullv vrs. 
 
 No. 266.-T0 ME. PICKENS. 
 
 London, May 8, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Tour highly interesting letter of the 
 19th ultimo would have been answered before, but that 
 our Central American relations suddenly required recti- 
 fication here and exacted exclusive zeal. It will be a 
 source of great pleasure to me to exchange thoughts with 
 you occasionally. I cherish many delightful remem- 
 brances of my short residence in St. Petersburg during 
 the years '37, *38, and '39, and feel much interest in the 
 movements of the present Czar, in their bearing on 
 foreign politics, or domestic ameliorations. He became 
 of age while I was at his father's Court. 
 
 The condition of things at home seems rapidly im- 
 proving. All the elements of prosperity are vigorously 
 pushing upwards. Coal, iron, cotton, corn, railways, are 
 emerging from the fogs of panic. An excess of imports 
 is apprehended: — a dangerous consequence, but sure 
 proof, of renovated enterprise. The incumbent of the 
 Treasury, after suffering the chilly horrors of emptiness, 
 will have to watch and subdue the tendencies to repletion. 
 
 The Paraguay Armada returns ; having accomplished 
 very little, but that little quite enough. Peace and good 
 will are pearls for which we must sometimes pay a high 
 price. \Ve probably saved in the future a good deal by 
 the size and vigor of the demonstration. 
 
 The very equivocal — rather the unequivocally wrong —
 
 TO MR. PICKENS. 115 
 
 course taken bj the British negotiator in Nicaragua, 
 threatened to necessitate a similar movement in that 
 quarter. I think, however, it will be abstained from. 
 The fault was clearly more in Sir "William G. Ousely than 
 in the local statesmen; and the remedy sent from the 
 Foreign Office will doubtless be efficacious; we shall 
 have the Cass-Yrissari Treaty imre et simple: the transit 
 opened, permanently neutral to all the world : the Mos- 
 quito Protectorate at an end ; and the Bay Islands re- 
 stored to Honduras : — these arrangements leaving the 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty free of contestable points. 
 
 If, in addition to the Right of Search question, the 
 China question, the Paragua}' question, and the Central 
 American question, the President shall be able to adjust 
 advantageously the wretched Mexican question, his for- 
 eign policy will stand a very good chance of being esteemed 
 historically as fortunate, no matter how his personal popu- 
 larity at home may stand. 
 
 The existing war is an exceedingly interesting event. 
 Of the real, though distant, source whence it springs, one 
 can scarcely doubt. "When you hear of an unaccountable 
 murder, you ask " who benefits by it?" It is possible that 
 Italy may incidentally be relieved of Austrian tyranny : 
 but the Emperor of Russia would appease his Sire's ghost 
 by occupying the halls of Stamboul, and a large print of 
 the foot of Xapoleon I. is indelible at the base of the great 
 Pyramid. At the expiration of this struggle, unless the 
 maritime power of England energetically intervene, the 
 Crescent will have disappeared from Europe, and Egypt 
 be annexed to Algeria. That is the only los^ical end to 
 the beginning. 
 
 Just now, the public men of Great Britain, high and 
 low, in and out of office, on the hustings and in private, 
 unanimously inculcate neutrality. The policy is wise, — 
 for the time being: but it will not continue wise or safe, 
 as soon as the vista shall open of a redistribution of em- 
 pire in especial reference to the crowns at Paris and St. 
 Petersburg. For one, or two, or three years, England 
 may husband her vast resources and concentrate her scat- 
 tered forces: and then, on seeing the danger patent, she 
 will find herself able to compel a peace. You will prob- 
 ably have remarked that the instant her efforts at media- 
 tion failed, she pushed forward the doubling of her lleets,
 
 116 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 the restoration of her garrisons,, the embodying of her 
 militia, the recall of her troops, and the recruiting of sea- 
 men with a ten-pounds bounty. I am quite satisfied that 
 she will try to avoid being drawn into the maelstrom of 
 war, until she feels so strong and so secure that she can, 
 by going one side or the other, bring it to a close. Up to 
 the point of driving the Austrians into the Adriatic, my 
 sympathies all run with the Italians, and even with Louis 
 ISTapoleon : " apres cela, rien si non le deluge!'^ 
 
 I agree with you in believing that our American in- 
 terests are beyond the reach of injury by this war. In- 
 deed, as neutral carriers, our merchant vessels may be 
 much benefited; especially under the operation of th6 
 2d, 3d, and 4th clauses of the "Declaration concerning 
 Maritime Law" in the Treaty of Paris of April, '56, al- 
 though Mr. Marcy refused his assent. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No, 267.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 13, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There are but two topics, the war on 
 the Po and the tight at the Polls. The latter is just clos- 
 ing: — shewing twenty Liberal members captured by the 
 enemy, but still leaving a large superiority of force, say 
 55, with the opposition. Is it not quite shocking to per- 
 ceive that, in this highly moral and religious country, so 
 given to inculcate virtuous principles and practices upon 
 "all the world and the rest of mankind," this change of 
 twenty constituencies is authoritatively (Sir James Gra- 
 ham), scarce disputably, attributed to bribery, bribery with 
 a Carlton Club fund! 
 
 Governments are very generally and distinctly announc- 
 ing neutrality as the order of the day. In the actual war, 
 Russia declares herself neutral : so does Prussia : so does 
 Switzerland : so does Belgium : so does Holland : so does 
 the Roman Pontiff: so does expiring Bomba : so does 
 Denmark : and so shortly will England, either by orders 
 in Council, or unequivocal declarations in Parliament. 
 Thus the war in Italy assumes the aspect of a prize tight:
 
 TO MR. CASS. 117 
 
 three bruisers without backers hemmed in by a complete 
 cordon of neutrals. How long this cordon will last; 
 whether it will not soon prove itself a rope of sand; 
 whether the German States will not be frightened into 
 fits of intermeddling; whether Russia may not on tiptoe 
 creep to the bedside of the "sick man;" whether Hun- 
 gary may not invite the Czar to liberate her on his way to 
 enlarge Greece by territorial annexations; and whether 
 splicing Egypt to Algeria may not fall like "a stunner" 
 upon Britannia : are all speculative questions of easy 
 starting but of slow solution. 
 
 The French Emperor reached Genoa yesterday. To- 
 day he is doubtless in Turin. Whether he will execute 
 his promise and get to Milan in three weeks, nous verrons. 
 He left Paris on the surge of the highest swell of popular 
 enthusiasm, and (a comforting fact) carrying in his port- 
 folio the spontaneous pledges of the " Mariamne " and the 
 Socialists that they would guaranty the safety of his dy- 
 nasty and family during his absence. His command is 
 already 180,000 men. 
 
 We are bound to celebrate her Majesty's birthday on the 
 19th instant at the Drawing Room in St. James's Palace, 
 at the Foreign Office dinner, and at the Prime Ministers' 
 ball: and all this by conventional arrangement, when the 
 excellent Queen was really born on the 21th of May. Quite 
 immaterial, when once settled. 
 
 Marshal MalakofFis succeeded at this court by corpora- 
 tion-scolding Count Persigny. The former went ott" in a 
 hufl:', at being sent to Nancy to await the possibility of 
 getting the command of a division at some future day. 
 Perhaps it is intended that, in order to have a pretence for 
 concentrating the army, he shall do something to provoke 
 a German breach of neutrality. Since his marriage, I 
 think he has become "the soldier tired of war's alarms." 
 
 Lord ]!!Tapier and family arrived safely at Plymouth a 
 few days ago. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 118 TO MR. H. 
 
 No. 268 -TO MR. H. 
 
 London, May 17, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your note of the 14th instant was handed 
 to me yesterday. In it you request my opinion as to your 
 contracts to ship provisions and coals to France, and as to 
 your position in executing these contracts, per English 
 vessels, under the recently issued Proclamation of the 
 Queen. 
 
 You leave me in the dark as to the dates and terms of 
 the contracts, the expressed purposes to which your sup- 
 plies are destined, the nominal parties, and the places of 
 delivery. All these are matters which, more or less, affect 
 the character of your proceedings. One thing, however, 
 is I believe indisputable: — your contracts arcAvith the Im- 
 perial government, not with private persons, and it would 
 be difficult, therefore, should obstacles interpose, to resist 
 the presumption that your shipments were designed for 
 military, not domestic use. 
 
 The penalties and forfeitures provided in the act of 
 Greorge III. recited in the Proclamation, are meant to en- 
 force a high national policy, that of strict neutrality in an 
 actual war between two foreign powers. Such shipments 
 as you propose would certainl}' help the belligerent move- 
 ments of one of these powers injuriously to the other: if 
 that be undeniable, do they not necessarily violate the 
 neutrality proclaimed? and so subject the shipper to pro- 
 secution for misdemeanor and his vessels to condemnation. 
 If the Proclamation means less than this, it is mere pre- 
 tence. 
 
 But perhaps you hope that the doctrine promulgated in 
 the Times is sound, to wit, that the statute does not apply 
 to American citizens or vessels. I am sorry to be obliged 
 to think otherwise. The very words of the act refer to 
 " any person " and " any vessels." Our citizens domiciled 
 as merchants in England, and our ships in British ports, 
 cannot claim immunity from the operation of the statute 
 upon any principle of which I am aware. 
 
 These views are hastily submitted to you. I should 
 much have preferred expressing them orally: — because I 
 do not like to give a hurried opinion on so grave a topic. 
 Please, regard them as coniidential.
 
 TO LADY S. 119 
 
 Let me conclude by saying that, notwithstanding the 
 sugge-^tions I have made, the shipment of lorovisions only 
 seems to me so little likely to be noticed or complained of 
 by Austrians, that, were I embarked in the business, I 
 should not be deterred from going on. 
 
 Very respectfully yrs. 
 
 No. 269.-TO LADY S. 
 
 London, May 18, 1859. 
 
 My dear Lady S., — Your note of the 16th instant in 
 reference to Mr. has had all the favorable considera- 
 tion which any request from you is sure to command from 
 me. I cannot doubt the excellent qualities of one whom 
 you desire to serve : — and in promptly conforming to your 
 wish, it would be a source of additional satisfaction to me 
 to contribute, however slightly or indirectly, to an appoint- 
 ment which would please the several highly cherished 
 friends whom you name. 
 
 If on any occasion Lord Malmesbury were to honor me 
 by touching on the subject and asking my opinion, I might 
 feel at liberty to express myself in harmony with your 
 suggestions. But, to go farther than this, or to initiate 
 the topic, is out of my power, as I am prohibited by posi- 
 tive law. What course of conduct heretofore pursued by 
 the representatives of the United States at any foreign 
 Court may have suggested the expediency of the legisla- 
 tive injunction is unknown to me: — but in 1856 Congress 
 passed an act prescribing, among other matters, that " no 
 diplomatic officer shall recommend any person, at home or abroad, 
 for any employment of trust or profit under the government of 
 the country in which he is located: nor ask or accept for him- 
 self or any other person any present, emolument, pecu- 
 niary favor, office or title of any kind from any such 
 government." 
 
 This law, my dear Lady S., renders me powerless to 
 aid your gracious object: and I have no mode of miti- 
 gating the regret felt at abstaining to execute your wish 
 except by frankly shewing the obligation of duty. 
 
 The departure of his Grace, the Duke of Leeds, shocked
 
 120 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 us all by its suddenness. Short as our acquaintance with 
 him was, the kindlj' and generous features of his charac- 
 ter had produced an impression not to be easily effaced. 
 With the sincerest respect I am, my dear Lady S., 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 270.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, May 20, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Lord and Lady Napier had a prosperous 
 and quick voyage home. They are fall of grateful remem- 
 brances for kindnesses, and express themselves to every- 
 body with warmth. 
 
 Your representative at the Court of Lisbon, the gallant 
 General Morgan, is at present here. He escorts Mrs. 
 Morgan to Liverpool, on her way to the United States 
 by the steamer of to-morrow. They did us credit yes- 
 terday at the birthday Drawing Room of the Queen, 
 
 We were thirty-two plates at the diplomatic feast of the 
 Foreign Office. Among us shone, in a perfect wilderness 
 of diamonds. Prince Obrenovitch, son of the recently 
 reinstated Miloch of Servia. This specimen of the race 
 is exceedingly imposing, and dwarfs nearer and older 
 royalties. 
 
 "What of a battle? — coming, not yet come. Strategy, 
 manoeuvre, observation, inspection, distribution, but no 
 light. They say we are to hear of one to-night. Sympa- 
 thizing with Italy, I almost fear the news: — the Austrians 
 have been so cautious and concentrated, the allies so dash- 
 ing, brisk, and loud. Then the military theories of Louis 
 Napoleon, however brilliant, do not give the confidence 
 imparted by the experience and practice of Hess and 
 Gyulai. And again, even the Emperor himself appre- 
 hends mischief from the rash levity of his new troops. 
 I would be content to ensure a drawn game or two for the 
 next month. 
 
 Count Persigny has resumed his embassy. He said to 
 me yesterday that he would not have come, had he not 
 regarded his coming as an earnest of the Emperor's good 
 will towards England. Something, then, makes it expe-
 
 TO MR. T. 121 
 
 (lient to prop up the belief of that sfood will even by small 
 matters ! Words have lost their efficacy. No wonder, for 
 the world is pretty generally convinced that the extraor- 
 dinary armament of this country has its impulse in the 
 knowledge of the secretly agreed designs between Russia 
 and France. I think the leaning of sentiment and com- 
 ment too here is towards Austria. The Times has man- 
 aged, it is said through the agency of Lord Aberdeen, to 
 plant a "special correspondent" at the head-quarters of 
 the Tedeschi on the Po: and able letters have already 
 appeared, eulogizing and vindicating the invad'ers. The 
 Regent of Prussia, too, father-in-law oi our Princess Royal, 
 in his farewell address to the dissolving landtag, though 
 still ambiguous, shews more anti-gallicanism than was 
 expected. 
 
 The new Parliament convenes in ten days. The Liberal 
 majority is iifty-one, nominally: in reality, it may some- 
 times be many more, and sometimes wholly disappear, ac- 
 cording to the questions for decision. Great exertions are 
 being made to keep the party united, until at least a change 
 of government be etiected. If Reform be early brought 
 upon the iayis, the ministry will fall: but if, as I hear, 
 a resort be had to any other expedient, such for instance 
 as a vote of want of contidence, on account of failure to 
 prevent the war, or on imputations of electioneering cor- 
 ruption, the "independent members" will bolt, and Lord 
 Derby be firmer than ever. I am, as you know, not much 
 of a political conjurer: but, were I to wager, it would be 
 that the cabinet will last another year. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 271.-T0 ME. T. 
 
 {Unofficial.) London, May 22, 1859, 
 
 My dear Sir, — If I do not misapply the present Sab- 
 bath, I am afraid that an answer to your letter of the 20th 
 instant will run a chance of almost indefinite postpone- 
 ment. Perhaps, too, what may be said will reach all the 
 practical objects aimed at by your friend. 
 
 The memorandum, now returned to you, of the legis-
 
 122 TO MR. T. 
 
 lative provisions by which our shipping, in its titles, trans- 
 fers, and privileges, is governed, however correct in itself, 
 does not seem to me applicable to the enquiry on foot. 
 Our custom-house regulations are not what you want. 
 You are seeking a solution of the illusory problem started 
 in several newspapers since the Queen's Proclamation of 
 neutrality, to wit, whether the penalties prescribed by the 
 act of George III. can be avoided by shippers in England, 
 if they employ American instead of British bottoms and 
 flags. Now, on this question, our peculiar customs laws 
 have no bearing whatever. 
 
 1. AVhen a war is declared or explodes between two or 
 more nations, the normal relation of other nations to that 
 war is one of neutrality : signifying, engaged on neither 
 side. 
 
 2. To preserve unquestioned this condition of neutrality, 
 some governments deem it expedient to warn and deter 
 the people by threatening with penalties and forfeit- 
 ures; other governments simply go on their usual course, 
 having nothing to say or do with quarrels which don't 
 concern or involve them, and leavinsj intercourse and 
 commerce to private enterprise and prudence. Great 
 Britain, on the occurrence of the actual war, has chosen 
 the former proceeding: the United States have mostly 
 heretofore, and probably will now, take the latter. This 
 difference in the manner of municipal action towards their 
 respective peoples does not, in the slightest degree, vary 
 the character of their' international relation: — they are 
 both neutral to the fullest extent. 
 
 3. The statute of George III., recited in her Majesty's 
 Proclamation, makes amenable to domestic or municipal 
 criminal procedure, certain acts tending to bring the 
 national neutrality into suspicion, against wltich we in the 
 United States have not thought it necessary to take such 
 stringent steps. Both countries have what are called per- 
 manent neutrality laws (ours you will find dated the 20th 
 April, 1818), but the oflences made punishable are not the 
 same in reality or in terms. 
 
 4. Observe that the language of the statute Geo. III. 
 very properly makes the penalty and forfeiture attached 
 to the commission of the described misdemeanor, appli- 
 cable to all ^^persons^' and ^^ ships" within British juris- 
 diction. It would have been strange if '■'■ foreigners,"
 
 TO MR. T. 123 
 
 domiciled Americans or any other class, had been allowed 
 an immunity for oftences alleged to endanger the national 
 good faith, honor, and interests. We have not declared 
 in our criminal code the acts thus denounced to be misde- 
 meanors: but had we done so, certainly aliens or strangers 
 would have been made equally liable with citizens. 
 
 5. Breaches of neutrality are of various kinds and fol- 
 lowed by various consequences. It is impossible, for me 
 at least, to state in advance every case that would be con- 
 strued into a breach. Take it as a fundamental rule that 
 fraudulent neutrality is no neutrality : and, then, that in 
 general a violation is committed by supplying one of the 
 belligerents, directly or indirectly, with contraband of 
 war. 
 
 6. What articles are contraband of war must be too 
 commonly known to require mention. They are, broadly 
 and comprehensively, such things as contribute to, and 
 are designed for, military use. Provisions may become 
 contraband, if destined to feed a population intentionally 
 condemned, by siege or other plan of operations, to star- 
 vation : and the necessities of steam navigation would 
 seem, in these modern times, by parity of reason, to con- 
 vert coals into contraband, if freighted for a belligerent 
 navy. 
 
 7. I have been surprised, under the influence of these 
 views, at tinding some portion of the English press making 
 the unusual concession that commerce can be more safely 
 carried on from tbeir ports in Ameftcan ships and under the 
 American flag than with their own. This compliment has 
 too little foundation to be accepted. As I have said, both 
 nations are neutrals, in reference to the war now waging. 
 To be sure, an English merchant in Liverpool, who fits out 
 an English vessel in the Merse}^ with a cargo of coals or 
 salt beef, and orders her to Toulon, may be, and his ship 
 also, in more immediate peril than would be an American 
 merchant in Xew York who fits out an American vessel in 
 the Hudson with a like cargo for the same French port : but 
 the greater peril does not spring out of the nationality of 
 the citizen or ship : it is the consequence of a local criminal 
 law, the statute of George III., which at Liverpool applies 
 indiscriminately to every person and every vessel, but 
 which at ISTew York don't exist at all. On the high seas, 
 in the view of the parties at war, and in reference to the
 
 124 TO MR. DILLER. 
 
 doctrine of contraband, as the two nations are equally 
 neutral, it is quite immaterial whether the carrying craft 
 be British or American. If the freight be internationally 
 lawful, it is as secure against invasion in one as in the 
 other: — if it be unhiwful, it will in both be liable to 
 seizure and condemnation. 
 
 8. War has its rights as well as neutrality. These rights, 
 in regard to maritime captures, are enforced by courts of 
 admiralty, whose decisions rest, or ought to rest, upon 
 the established principles of international law. Whether 
 a vessel seized for breach of neutrality be good prize or 
 not, is often a complicated, nice, and difficult question, 
 requiring the closest study of facts, documents, circum- 
 stances, and designs. In every civilized country, admi- 
 ralty tribunals have been established to which either 
 party to a war may resort with alleged prizes to obtain 
 judicial decrees of condemnation, unless, indeed, for the 
 stricter maintenance of neutrality, such resort has been 
 prohibited. 
 
 But you will say enough, and more than enough ! I 
 believe so too. Tliese suggestions have been made, to 
 indicate what I conceive to be the right track of thought 
 on the new phase of our commercial relations by which 
 your mind is exercised. Each of them, could be ampli- 
 fied into the pamphlet held over you in terrorem, by illus- 
 trations, exceptions, and book authorities ; — but I forbear 
 to do what would consume much precious time (both 
 mine and yours) withoftt yielding a corresponding profit. 
 One reflection I must add : indeed " situated as I am" (as 
 Sir Patrick Plenipo adroitly intimates), I do not feel at 
 liberty to omit it: viz. that what I have written to you on 
 this grave topic, if used at all, should be used with ex- 
 treme discretion. 
 
 Faithfully yours. 
 
 So. 272.-T0 MR. DILLEE. 
 
 {Unofficial.) London, Maj' 24, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have received your excellent letter of 
 the 20th instant. It is one among many from our foreign
 
 TO MR. DE LA HENRIERE. 125 
 
 consuls which the war has induced. All, I helieve, are 
 anxious to do right: — but all are not as inflexible to sur- 
 rounding and misleading influences as I take great pleas- 
 ure in finding you to be. 
 
 Your law on the mooted topic is incontestably sound, 
 and your official morality, in refusing to be an agent to 
 eflfectuate a fraudulent cover, not to be questioned. Never 
 do what is tainted even with the suspicion of mala Jides. 
 In God's name, why should the seal or the flag of the 
 United States be debased by bolstering or disguising what 
 is false? We should recoil from such profanation instinct- 
 ively. 
 
 There is a certain amount of discretion vested in you by 
 the 637th paragraph of the Regulations. There sliould be 
 proof that 1. the purchaser is a citizen of the United States, 
 and 2. that the transaction is bona fide: — and you are to d&- 
 \evvil\ue^\\\Q,t\\QV thaXlwoof he satisfactory : you are the officer 
 to be satisfied: and though I would never embarrass a fair 
 transaction of business by captious difficulties as to evi- 
 dence, yet, if I doubted its integrity, I would probe it 
 resolutely, and exact all-sufficient proof. 
 
 Of your power to administer an oath whenever you 
 think it necessary or proper in fulfilling your duties, no 
 doubt can possibly be entertained since the passage of the 
 24th section of the act of the 18th of August, 1850. 
 
 I will only add that the advantage to be derived by one 
 neutral ship-owner in selling to another neutral, even as 
 a cover, is imperceptible to me: for, in time of war, no 
 flag can protect against the belligerent right of search. 
 Very respectfully and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 273.-T0 ME. DE LA HENKIERE. 
 
 London, May 25, 1859. 
 
 Sir, — I beg to thank you for your note receivec^two 
 days ago, and for the spirited little volume, the Handbook 
 of Reform, which accompanied it. 
 
 As the dispassionate conclusion of an enlightened stran- 
 ger, your estimate of the Constitution of my country is 
 exceedingly welcome. Born under the beneficent opera-
 
 126 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 tion of that instrument, I have yet to experience my first 
 doubt of its great wisdom, or to shew my first rehictance 
 to maintain it unaltered. 
 
 With sentiments of esteem and good will, 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, yrs. 
 
 No. 274.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, May 27, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The French Ambassador fairly cor- 
 nered me at a reception the day before yesterday, and 
 with unmistakable empressement and perseverance went 
 through an elaborate vindication of the Emperor's entire 
 course respecting the war. It was necessary to give my 
 whole attention: — for Count Persigny speaks poor Eng- 
 lish, and is too courteous to insist upon his own tongue, 
 though I hinted he might. Well! he produced in my 
 mind a conviction that iSTapoleon III. regards it as essen- 
 tial to his dynastic and national policy that he should end 
 the war and leave Italy to her own population and self- 
 government, as soon as he has driven the Austrians into 
 the Adriatic. JS^othing, said his Excellency, can be more 
 unjust and preposterous than the English notion that he 
 wishes to go beyond the independence of Lombardo- 
 Venetia: that he wants crowns for his cousins: and is 
 preparing to confront all Europe in battle. If anything 
 of that sort result from the intermeddling of the German 
 States, the fault will not be his. Securing the Peninsula 
 against revolution, and France against its contagion, by 
 giving the oppressed and misgoverned people the po*ver 
 to act for themselves, is the great guaranty he proposes 
 to efl:ect for his throne and fame. Victory, it is true, 
 deals with the general as brandy deals with the toper: — 
 but inebriation may possibly be escaped, and the Count 
 has implicit faith in the strong head of his Majesty. So 
 have I. 
 
 Once or twice heretofore you have had my deduction 
 from various and numerous small matters, that the tend- 
 ency of the Derby government is to rajjprochement with 
 Austria. That, I am convinced, is their gravitation.
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. 127 
 
 Neiitralit}', vigorously arming neutrality, as long as Na- 
 poleon has his hands full in Lombardy, and while Prussia 
 is settling the Germanic pre-eminence: but, when all's 
 ready, the ministry, in harmony with the Court, will elude 
 the popular vigilance and place England, before she is 
 aware of it, at the head of a general coalition hostile to 
 France. One event may defeat this, — a ministerial change : 
 for all admit that no administration which could be formed 
 by Lord Granville, Lord John Russell, or Lord Palmer- 
 ston, would allow the pacific position, now unanimously 
 chosen, to be disturbed, in order to reinstate or uphold 
 the oppression of Italy. 
 
 Her Majesty's mother, the Duchess of Kent, about 73, 
 has just undergone a severe and alarming attack. Should 
 it prove fatal, the Queen's afHiction will be ample ground 
 for putting off an}^ rough handling of her official servants. 
 The Tories would rejoice, as brands from the burning, if 
 they could tranquilly tide over the next two months. 
 Poor old lady! she little thinks that such hopes have been 
 kindled by the report of her illness! 
 
 Senator Seward has been here a week, and purposes to 
 remain until November. Sir Henry Holland talks of vis- 
 iting the President in September. He likes the sea, and 
 has American investments. 
 
 The battle of Montibello, though unquestionably a 
 French success, is not esteemed here as much more than 
 a sanguinary skirmish with little result. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 275 -TO ME. MAEEOE. 
 
 London, June 1, 1859. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — The military movements in Italy 
 are very engrossing. To-day brings us a second sanguin- 
 ary fight atPalestro; in which the Piedmontese carry off 
 the palm, and the Austrians are beaten. Their chief, 
 Gyulai, is reported among the slain. The carnage, both 
 here and at Montibello, is out of all proportion with the 
 result as affecting the campaign. 
 
 In the north, at Como, Garibaldi has received a check;
 
 128 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 a thing that will do him no permanent harm, for he was 
 moving oh, like mad Anthony, rather recklessly, too much 
 despising his adversary. A little more caution and arma- 
 ment, and he may yet be the tirst in Milan. One can't 
 help wishing this, for he is their best type of liberty and 
 independence: — republican, ab ovo usque ad mala. 
 
 Odd enough, I am getting to believe in the sincerity of 
 Louis ISTapoleon's professions about the only purpose of 
 the present war. 1 have persuaded myself into the con- 
 viction that it is the interest of his dynasty and fame and 
 future power to stop, at least for some years, as soon as he 
 drowns the Austrians in the Adriatic: — and as he has 
 sagacity enough to see his interest, so, setting aside the 
 notion that a despot can be a liberator, he may see his 
 own selfish and solid advantage in accomplishing what all 
 Europe will praise him for, if he be content as soon as it 
 is done. Of course. Englishmen and Germans can't reason 
 in this way; they remember too keenly, and are nervous. 
 
 Prussia is fast taking the pre-eminence and lead among 
 the German powers. If Austria yield her the pas in 
 political arrangement, she may be flattered to a rap- 
 prochement, and then if the French Emperor forget the 
 moderation inculcated by Eugenie, she, with England at 
 her side, will create a coalition for the House of Haps- 
 burg, which even Russia might not be averse to joining, 
 and which IS^apoleon is not vigorous enough to withstand. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Mo. 276.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 3, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am told by a confidential and reliable 
 Whig, that all eflbrts to bridge over the chasm between 
 " Lord Pam and Lord John" have failed. Neither will 
 enter a new government except as Prime Minister. If 
 such be the irremediable fact, the great Liberal party, 
 with its majority of fifty in the House of Commons, must 
 fly to pieces on the first occasion next week, leaving Lord 
 Derby "calm as a summer's morning." Mr. Roebuck, 
 the fiercest of the Independents or Radicals, and Sir John
 
 TO MR. CASS. 129 
 
 Ramsden, a sterling member of her Majesty's opposition, 
 have recently made speeches which disclose a very un- 
 promising prospect for those who covet seats on the 
 Treasury bench. 
 
 The battle of Palestro was signalized by the exhibition 
 of great daring on the part of Victor Emmanuel, and by 
 the first command given by Louis Napoleon., which directed 
 the Zouaves to an irresistible attack. It was reported, but 
 without foundation, that Gyulai had been killed. As the 
 allies contemplate a combined movement to cross the 
 Po in face of the Austrians, a general and most destruc- 
 tive conflict is hourly expected. 
 
 Some of our distinguished army officers, Crittenden, 
 Carr, Todd, Leroy, Glitz, have been attracted to this side 
 of the Atlantic by the war. They would like to be ob- 
 servers at head-quarters: — but there are, I fear, insuperable 
 obstacles in their way. 
 
 The legation was, the day before yesterday, specially 
 honored b\^ receiving her Majesty's commands inviting 
 Bishop Delancey, of New York, and Mr. Senator Seward, 
 to a concert at Buckingham Palace. The Queen graciously 
 permitted the presentation of Mr. Seward between the 
 acts of music : — I had, some weeks ago, introduced the 
 Bishop at a regular Levee. 
 
 This morning I received official notice that her Majesty 
 will in person open Parliament on the 7th instant. What 
 has been doing since the 31st May is preliminary only: 
 the election of Speaker, Mr. Denison again, and swear- 
 ing in of members. 
 
 You will doubtless have seen in the public journals, or 
 received from our consul there, Mr. Ferdinand Sar- 
 miento, the official notiiication of the blockade of Venice 
 by the French fleet. This is, I believe, the first maritime 
 act of the kind in the present war. All the belligerents 
 have referred to the Treaty of Paris of 1856 for their rule 
 as to blockades : — we did not adopt the declaration con- 
 tained in that treaty, but I suppose the rule would act 
 upon all commerce without discrimination. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 VOL. II. — 9
 
 130 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 277.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, June 17, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The world's movements have hitterly 
 been brisk: — the Tories driven out, and the Austrians be- 
 yond the Adda! To signalize these events duly, I send 
 you a list of the new government, and the huge blue-book 
 of correspondence on "the aiFairs of Italy" from the For- 
 eign Office. Of the first, it may be said that, like the 
 pudding, its proof will be in the eating: — the flavor is not 
 peculiarly palatable to us, but it may improve on tasting. 
 Of the second, this is clearly true, that it does great credit 
 to the industry and fairness of Lord Malmesburj^ as a 
 European statesman : the Continent will read and digest 
 it with avidity, and perhaps hasten to regret the downfall of 
 Lord Derby. These gentlemen, after all, quit power with 
 grace: — a grace that has emboldened the Queen, notwith- 
 standing the condemnatory vote of the Commons, to con- 
 fer the Garter on the retiring Premier, and the red ribbon of 
 the Bath upon his principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 
 as also upon his first Lord of the Admiralty, Sir John 
 Pakington. 
 
 The virtues of a caucus were signally shewn by the op- 
 position. They convened to the number of 274, the day 
 preceding the opening of Parliament: were addressed by 
 Palmerston, Russell, Bright: and although tempted into 
 dissension by Roebuck, Lindsay, and Horsman, they stead- 
 ily resolved to move an amendment to the Address, de- 
 claring a want of confidence in her Majesty's ministers. 
 After nearly a week's debate, the amendment prevailed, 
 in a House of 633, by a majority of 13. Had no prelimi- 
 nary and conciliatory meeting shewn the possibility of 
 union on interchanges of mutual pledges, it is quite cer- 
 tain that the government would have stood. 
 
 The distinctive feature of the new cabinet, as a political 
 agency on this side of the Atlantic, is an avowed sympathy 
 with the Italian cause as espoused by ISTapoleon III. To 
 be sure, neither Palmerston, Russell, Granville, nor Glad- 
 stone will dream of quitting neutrality in order to aid that 
 cause: — but as soon as it triumphs by the expulsion of 
 Austrian power from the Peninsula, they will firmly in-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 131 
 
 sist upon a peace by their mediation, and upon guaranties 
 of independence and improved administration. If you 
 can aftbrd a few liours, I recommend to your perusal that 
 cogently argumentative and wonderfully witty book, 
 About's ^^ Question Homaine.'^ You will there see, dis- 
 sected and phosphorescent, the corruptions which make 
 changes absolutely indispensable. I think the oppor- 
 tunity is at hand for their cure: — but it will be like 
 drying the sores of Lazarus. 
 
 You will observe that the cabinet I send 3^ou requires 
 the Queen's assent : — that will be announced in the two 
 Houses of Parliament this afternoon, and probably with- 
 out modilication. On the score of ability, it will pass 
 unchallenged. A greater infusion of" Independent Lib- 
 erals" and less of " Peelites" might have improved the 
 " pudding." Whether Mr. Cobden will accept the Board 
 of Trade is questionable : he and Mr. Milner Gibson are 
 the representative men of the extreme left " below the 
 gangway," and they rather seem fobbed off with pieces 
 de resistance, hard and homely places. Mr. Gladstone 
 and Mr. Cardwell are assigned the posts for which they 
 are respectively admirably fitted: but, as to the former, — 
 just radiant under the patronage of Lord Derby, eulogistic 
 of rotten boroughs as nurseries of statesmen, and voting 
 unabated confidence in ministers — one " wonders how the 
 devil he got there !" The three plain Misters, pray 
 remark, are counterpoised by a cluster of Dukes: — New- 
 castle, Argyll, Somerset; the best tried and least excep- 
 tionable of their class. A happy hit brings in Lord Elgin, 
 and makes the government overwhelmingly strong in the 
 House of Peers: — even though the despotic Lord John 
 preferred himself to Lord Clarendon, who may most justly 
 question the wisdom of the preference. Personally, the 
 Premier has limited himself to keeping his faithful " cor- 
 poral's guard" the three Sirs, Wood, Lewis, and Grey. 
 A "broad-bottomed" administration here was once short- 
 lived: — perhaps one on a " broad basis" (for that was the 
 improved phraseology of the present coalition) may last 
 a little longer. Bottom and Basis! tweedledum and 
 tweedledee ! the end may be the same. 
 
 The Austrian Emperor has taken command of his army 
 in Italy, as a preliminary to a last desperate battle. He 
 stands at bay in what military men call "the famous
 
 132 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 quadrilateral position," or the area flanked and defended 
 by four great fortresses. The allies will undoubtedly 
 rush upon him: if their attack succeed, the work of the 
 campaign may be regarded as accomplished, for they will 
 then have nothing to do but to invest the garrisons, and 
 await the inevitable capture of Venice by the French 
 fleet. There is really no reason why the war should not 
 be closed by N^ovember next: — for, observe, that the atti- 
 tudes respectively taken by Russia and Prussia, per their 
 recent diplomatic manifestoes, render it in the highest 
 degree improbable that any testy or terrified member of 
 the Germanic body will intermeddle with the struggle. 
 Thus localized, like a malignant disease boarded up in 
 an infected district, it must soon die out. I do not say 
 that all difiiculty will cease when war ceases and Francis 
 Joseph renounces his provinces: — for it is quite obvious 
 that as arms are laid down, up will spring a multitudinous 
 crop of complications respecting the Pope, the Legations, 
 the Duchies, and the Two Sicilies: — but these fall to the 
 department of diplomacy. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 278.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 24, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The new ministry are m, but not fairly 
 under way. Until re-elected to their seats, vacated by ac- 
 cepting office, those of the House are busy with their con- 
 stituents. With some it will probably be a hard road to 
 travel : — among these Mr. Gladstone, the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer, and Mr. Sidney Herbert, Secretary of 
 War. The former, but recently twice chosen by the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford, has exasperated toryism by joining Lord 
 Palmerston, and I am assured by a gentleman just re- 
 turned from that seat of learning and conservatism that he 
 will be defeated by his competitor the Marquis of Chan- 
 dos. It will be something odd if circumstances should 
 make it appear that, in his panegyric about two months 
 ago on nomination boroughs, he was under the influence
 
 TO MR. CASS. 133 
 
 of a prophetic spirit as to his own impending necessities. 
 Herbert is hated for his Romanism (he built a church 
 which for excess of ornamentation illustrates a bad taste 
 run mad) and for being a Peelite. 
 
 The expenditures of the government of Lord Derby in 
 military defences are beginning to be denounced, and it 
 is said Mr. Gladstone intends their reduction. This de- 
 sign is connected with the sympathy felt in the Italian 
 cause, more genuine and sincere than that of the preced- 
 ing ministry, with the greater devotion to the French 
 alliance, and with the perception that the extraordinary 
 armament of England is represented at Paris as a menace 
 to France, wliile it sets an example of which the continen- 
 tal states avail themselves. Prussia has put on her coat 
 of mail and seems more than half inclined to forbid the 
 allies crossing the Mincio. In taking this step she would 
 undoubtedl}' place herself at the head of the German Con- 
 federation: — but she prudently looks right and left: on 
 the right, for an intimation from Lord Palmerston, and on 
 the left, to note the Muscovite coj'ps cVarmee. The step 
 once taken, unless Victor Emmanuel and his all-powerful 
 colleague are willing to eat dirt, a thing altogether in- 
 credible, the war, like a vast maelstrom, will very rapidly 
 if not instantly suck into its vortex every European nation. 
 I don't think anything can be done to restore peace until 
 both Lombardy and Venetia are independent; aiming at 
 that, the struggle has, in the course of aix weeks, sacrificed 
 some fifty tliousand lives. 
 
 Do you observe that, animated by the republican spirit 
 of our Congress of '89, the Hospodar of Wallachia and 
 Moldavia, Couza^ has actually abolished all titles except 
 those descriptive of oflicial duty and authorized by the 
 new Constitution ? 
 
 The Queen's concert on Wednesday was graced by the 
 presence of the Belgian King and members of his family. 
 The deaf, and loud-talking, Prince Esterhazy was there also. 
 Movements in these elevated circles are just now supposed 
 all to have their meaning. What is the import of his Ma- 
 jesty's ? Is it to act as medium between Palmerston and 
 Prussia ? Is it to fan the flame of Germanism in this 
 Court ? Speculation is rife. Leopold could not withstand 
 the reconstruction of the map of Europe, which a great 
 and authentic literary discovery has proved that even
 
 134 TO MR. CASS, 
 
 Charles X. sketched and encouraged, and which Louis 
 Napoleon may be provoked into attempting. 
 
 Don't say, " rather dull !" — for my consciousness is so 
 sensitive that, if you do, I shall hear it on this side of the 
 water. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 279.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, July 1, 1859. 
 
 My deak Sir, — With equal personal safet}' and eclat, 
 Mr. Cobden has crossed the Atlantic, and Napoleon III. 
 the Mincio: — the former welcomed by troops of eulogizing 
 friends, the latter accompanied by a victorious army. 
 
 You will notice the very warm expressions of Mr. 
 Cobden about the kindness he experienced in the United 
 States. They are among his earliest outpourings on land- 
 ing in Liverpool. We could not act otherwise: he might 
 have imitated Basil Hall, or Morpeth, or Dickens, or 
 Grattan. 
 
 At the Queen's ball the night before, last, I met Milner 
 Gibson, Lord Clarence Paget, Monckton Milnes, Charles 
 Villiers, and others of that ilk, whom I was astonished to 
 find io;norant of the advent of Mr. Cobden. Their anx- 
 iety was extreme to ascertain whether from what he had 
 said and done, there was a likelihood of his accepting the 
 Board of Trade. They wanted him to do it: — but ob- 
 viously feared his Roman inflexibility.' His decision is 
 yet unknown; and the advice of Mr. Bright may disin- 
 cline him to the post. The woman who deliberates is 
 lost: — it may be so with the politician, and I rather infer 
 from silence and suspense that Mr. Cobden consents. It 
 is a matter of almost vital importance to the Palmerston- 
 Russell ministry, both of whom met him, ere he landed, 
 with letters of invitation and courtesy. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone will be re elected member for the Uni- 
 versity. He has been violently shaken, almost toppled 
 over; but he will retain his seat. The election closes this 
 afternoon. Mr. Secretary Cobb, with fellow feeling, will 
 felicitate his brother financier on his good luck in finding
 
 TO MR. CASS. 135 
 
 the national income better than it was a year ago. The 
 customs, and indeed all the sources of revenue except the 
 income tax, have been very productive. 
 
 There is a singular identity of character in the battles 
 in Lombardy. The last, that of Solferino, like those of 
 Palestro, Montibello, and Magenta, can scarcely be said 
 to be a victory for either belligerent: almost a drawn, 
 certainly an inconclusive, though a horribly bloody, fight. 
 The Austrians, under the command of their Emperor, 
 against respectful but urgent remonstrances of General 
 Hess, advanced across the Mincio, 200,000 strong, to meet 
 the coming French and Sardinians, 180,000, and strug- 
 gling for lifteen hours on a Held of fifteen miles in length, 
 with alternations of success and failure, finally retreated 
 unpursued and in order over the river, amid the natural 
 obstacles and terrors of a dark tempestuous deluge. The 
 French Emperor, it is undeniable, exhibited consummate 
 strategetical ability, combined with omnipresent activity 
 and luckless courage. .Gossip, not credited, says that 
 one of his epaulettes w^as shot off by a Tyrolese rifle- 
 man. 
 
 It is impossible to see one's way through the many 
 complications incident to this war. I think the chances 
 of a general European convulsion, revolutionary as well 
 as merely belligerent, have been largely increased by 
 recent events. At Vienna, I am told by Mr. Villiers, who 
 referred to letters received by his brother, the popular 
 rage and mortification are threatening to explode against 
 the incapacity of the sovereign and his generals. AH the 
 French diplomatic and consular agents in Turkey have 
 been mustered at Paris, have received fresh instructions, 
 and have gone back to work up a rebellion against the 
 "sick man" of which the Czar may avail himself. The 
 covert but obvious encouragement given to Kossuth and 
 Klapka, if it do not lead to insurrection in Hungary, can 
 hardly fail to exasperate into action some of the German 
 States, and as sure as any of them crosses the frontier 
 to aid Austria, Bonaparte, now raising 450,000 new levies 
 and thus lifting his forces in and out of France to a figure 
 exceeding a million, will burst like a torrent over the 
 Rhine. Prussia, with all her dignity and composure, 
 secretly dreads this irruption, and is indefatigable to 
 repress the angry spirits of the Confederation : — yet Sax-
 
 136 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 4 
 
 ony, through her Metternich, Beust, replies to Gortscha- 
 koff's warning in a tone plausible and taunting. Rumor, 
 to be sure, brings upon the tapis armistices, mediations, 
 concessions: — but clearly the moment for any of these is 
 not yet: — and precipitancy in proposing them would 
 make matters worse, by leading to their scornful and ir- 
 reparable rejection. Louis Napoleon has deemed it inex- 
 pedient to rouse the enmity of the forty thousand Roman 
 Catholic priests in France by countenancing any assault 
 upon the secular dominions or power of the H0I3" Father: 
 — yet it may be doubted whether the revolutionary 
 patriots of the Peninsula will be satisfied with this for- 
 bearance. It must also be remembered, as a fact estab- 
 lished historically if not argumentatively, that blood once 
 tasted, the craving for it becomes, as Senator Seward 
 would say, "irrepressible," and th'at Bonaparte's triumph- 
 ant conscripts may insist upon no halt until they reach 
 Vienna. Even Professor Espy, though claiming the 
 ability to raise a storm, did not, I believe, pretend to the 
 power of dispelling it. 
 
 Mr. Murphy, your representative at the Hague, has just 
 visited me. He accompanies some members of his family 
 to Liverpool to embark them for the United States. 
 
 Ex-Speaker Winthrop has reached England, intending 
 to travel, first through the island and then on the Conti- 
 nent. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 280 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, July 8, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have been anxious to do something 
 which would shew my attention to the joint resolution of 
 Congress on the Tobacco Trade to which your printed 
 circular of the 20th April last applies. The unsettled 
 condition of the ministry "suspended everything for a 
 time: — but I had some conversations which led me to 
 think that a change in the duties favorable to our purpose 
 could not be looked for. Suddenly, I notice the news- 
 paper paragraph which is enclosed : the foundation for
 
 TO MR. CASS. 137 
 
 which may possibly be found real when Mr. Gladstone 
 opens on his budget. 
 
 An armistice between the two Imperial fighters seems 
 agreed to, though its duration and terms remain to be 
 fixed by commissioners. I have reason to believe this 
 measure, altogether operating in favor of Italian independ- 
 ence and almost necessarily leading to peace, to be the 
 result of prompt and energetic steps taken by Lord John 
 Russell, backed by the Prussian Regent. If this be so, 
 the new cabinet in Downing Street will have consolidated 
 itself and resumed for England the prestige in Europe so 
 much impaired of late. Yesterday I had the pleasure to 
 dine with her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Aftairs, and late at night bustled to the soiree of 
 the Secretary of the Admiralty, Lord Clarence Paget. I 
 returned from these two excursions of fashionable gaiety 
 with the conclusion mentioned. 
 
 It is remarkable how little confidence is expressed by 
 the leading intellects here in the designs of the Emperor 
 Napoleon, whom they nevertheless still call their "great 
 ally." His total want of sincerity and truth, even in his 
 most formal public documents, is regarded, in every theory 
 as to his course, to be a conceded postulate. The dread 
 that he may yet direct his now acknowledged military 
 genius towards this country is almost universal. Lord 
 Lyndhurst, 3'ou will have noticed, and Lord Brougham 
 have sounded the alarm in the House of Peers : — and even 
 Mr. Cobden, though he declares that he sees no danger 
 of invasion, bends before the prevailing nervousness, and 
 is willing to double the national debt rather thifn have a 
 French army for a month in London! 
 
 The terrors of the Thames are taking rank with those 
 of Bonaparte. Pestilence is thought to be brewing in its 
 waters. The horrid odors which accompany its returning 
 tide are worse now than during the heats of last summer. 
 Members of Parliament, suffering seriously, are perplexed 
 what to do, for the}' fear to excite among the wretched 
 classes of this vast population an apprehension of cholera. 
 They are careful what they say upon the subject, and will 
 work hard in order to adjourn soon. The armistice may 
 give a better grace to this purpose. 
 
 General Pierce reached London on Tuesday last, the 5th 
 instant, from Brighton, where he had been for several
 
 138 TO MR. EVERETT. 
 
 days. lie is in excellent health, For the benefit of Mrs. 
 Pierce, who is still very delicate, he has taken lodgings 
 at the village of Norwood, close to the Crystal Palace. 
 He will perhaps remain in England until late in the 
 autumn. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 281.~TO ME. EVERETT. 
 
 LoNDOK, July 13, 1859. 
 
 My dear Mr. Everett, — Your letter of the 28th ult. 
 reached me the day before yesterday. Its enclosure 
 and accompaniment came safely also. I obtained from 
 Count Bernstorff the exact address, and have sent to Mr. 
 Miller as you desired, the letter for " his Excellency Baron 
 Bunsen, Heidelberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany." 
 
 The power of your pen is strongly and delightfully 
 shewn by the eulogy of Thomas Dowse. " Phoebus ! what 
 a name to fill the long resounding trump of Fame !" I 
 am a little exercised with the doubt whether you had a 
 conscientious right to set him thus in amber: — and would 
 be greatly pleased to hear, through the medium of Judge 
 Edmonds, whether the modest spirit of the leather- 
 dresser don't shrink from your brilliant casing, and 
 
 "wonder how the d he got there !" Certain humble 
 
 merits, one likes to see drawn out, and given the fame they 
 were pi^vented achieving by circumstances. But had 
 Dowse those merits? Was he a practical philanthropist? 
 Was he an ardent patriot? Did he devote a long life to use- 
 ful public purposes? Is it enough for the immortality you 
 have conferred, that he had seltish though correct tastes, 
 and took delight in books and pictures which he held to, 
 notwithstanding nephews and nieces, until he felt he could 
 keep them no longer, and then passed them to your His- 
 torical Society ? As an author, does he prove a title to 
 the splendid niche you harve worked, by twenty short 
 lines on Franklin, orby paying for a monumental column? 
 He was lame, and no doubt that lameness helped to make 
 him solitary, selfish, and silent: — but how many thousands 
 suft'er in this form who nevertheless seek society, love their 
 kind, and charm with sentiment and wit? — which are the
 
 TO MR. A. DICKENS. 139 
 
 worthier? ITave you not in fact thrown a handful of 
 pearls — to where the}' were not claimed and are ill suited? 
 You see, I am jealous that such consummate power of 
 rhetoric should expend itself indifferently upon a "Wash- 
 ington or a Dowse. 
 
 I shall be happy to welcome you to London, and must 
 beg 3'ou not to hesitate a moment to charge me with any 
 commissions or wishes I am able to execute. 
 
 Always, my dear sir, sincerely yrs. 
 
 No. 282.-T0 ME. A. DICKENS. 
 
 London, July 15, 1859. 
 
 My dear Mr. Dickens, — I got your note of the 1st 
 ultimo, and went straight to enquire the reputation of 
 the auricular professors so full of promise in the adver- 
 tisement you enclosed. ISTSthing good could be picked 
 up: — but, finally, the parties in command of countless 
 names, were charged with conspiracy to defraud, before 
 tbe Recorder, and, after much evidence, were each sent to 
 18 months' imprisonment. I send you the report of the 
 case. 
 
 There is, however, another invention of which I have 
 heard, and to which I shall direct my attention. A lady, 
 by whom I sat at a dinner, observing that my right ear 
 was imperfect, invited me to look into hers; and there I 
 noticed, tightly embedded and scarcely visible, a minia- 
 ture trumpet. It effectually restored her power to hear, 
 and she employed it whenever she went into society for a 
 limited time. But she had a vague dread of its w.odus 
 operandi. The compression of something like a delicate 
 watch-spring, one end of which kept the tiny instrument 
 in the ear, and the other passed through the hair to the 
 top of the cranium, was sure to produce pain, occasion- 
 ally violent. She recommended my trying it: — but really 
 her look at the time made me think it better to be con- 
 tent with the good organ left. I will, however, search 
 farther, and let you have the result. Nothing would give 
 me more sincere pleasure than being able to send you 
 some relief. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 140 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 N0..283.-TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, July 15, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The quick incidents of the day are gen- 
 erally thought full of approaching mischief. The peace 
 of the two Emperors, signed at Villafranca on the 11th 
 instant, is not yet clearly comprehended, but every one 
 sees that something ?iot seen has rehabilitated Austria in 
 Italy at the very moment she was being extinguished : — 
 every one sees that Sardinia has been coldly thrown her 
 stipulated pound of tlesh without a drop of blood in it: — 
 every one sees that the despotic principle rejoices in an 
 overshadowing triumvirate : — everyone sees that the move- 
 ments of Prussia and the press of England are already in 
 the crucible to produce the amalgam of another war: — 
 every one sees that the eagles which flew across the Alps 
 can as rapidly perch upon the hilU around Cherbourg: — 
 every one sees that the abru^ft abandonment of one pro- 
 gramme necessitates the annunciation of a second still 
 more exciting and acceptable : — in fine, every one sees, or 
 thinks he sees, a huge finger, or an air-drawn dagger, over 
 the " Iiivalides," pointing to the chalky cliflfe of perfidious 
 Albion. There are not wanting those who already give 
 up the struggle, who deem successful resistance impos- 
 sible, and who would rather propitiate than exasperate 
 the invader. One public and forcible writer recommends 
 an immediate appeal to the liberty-loving and arms-wield- 
 ing citizens of the United States! All this springs from 
 exaggerated alarm : an alarm to which the recent shifts of 
 Imperial policy lend the character of patriotism. 
 
 Napoleon is looked for in Paris to-day. Some have 
 fancifully thought that neither his own army, nor the 
 revolutionists, nor the corps of Garibaldi would suffer 
 him to quit Italy alive. He comes without his soldiers, 
 and postpones an ovation until they arrive to participate 
 in it. 
 
 I have written several rather lengthy notes to enquiring 
 consular functionaries on the rights and duties of neu- 
 trality. The trouble might have been saved, for the 
 present at least. As the newspapers report you to be 
 engaged on a comprehensive manifesto of the kind, I
 
 TO MONCKTON MILXES, M. P. 141 
 
 hope 3'oa will have finished it before you hear of the 
 peace. 
 
 Pray notice the denunciations passed by Lord Brougham 
 and other anti-slavers upon the horrors and infamies of the 
 Coolie trade. Poor Jamaica! she can't be allowed labor, 
 black or white. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 284 -TO MONOKTON MILNES, M. P. 
 
 London, July 28, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The subject of your note of the 25th 
 instant has, for many years, engaged the attention of my 
 predecessors and myself. I have meditated sending you 
 the dead fruits of our etibrts: — hence my delay in answer- 
 ing: — but I find that doing so would involve too much 
 copying either for the shorttime you have left me or for 
 your patience. 
 
 If, as an M, P. you have access to the pigeon-holes of 
 the Foreign Office, you can perhaps come across a long 
 letter addressed by Mr. Buchanan to Lord Clarendon, on 
 the 1st March, 1855. This letter was the epilogue of many 
 conferences. It offers three articles for consideration, the 
 third of which was intended to remedy the practices of 
 which the Pamphlet '■'■Unpunished Cruelties" so justly and 
 persuasively complains, and the mode of cure was pre- 
 cisely the enlargement of consular jurisdiction you sug- 
 gest. 
 
 The project failed, and my eftbrts to revive it have been 
 fruitless: — much, I beHeve, against the personal leanings 
 of Lord Clarendon, but under authoritative opinions from 
 Law Oflicers of the Crown, who saw something in the 
 arrangement incompatible with fundamentals. Certainly, 
 a good deal of novelty and machinery ma}^ be seen, which, 
 according to the constitutions and laws of both countries, 
 can only be vindicated on the maxim, consensus tollit 
 erroreni. 
 
 Possibly a Parliamentary Resolution (if that be in 
 order) recommending a Consular Convention with the 
 United States, to arrest these mischiefs and others of a
 
 142 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 kindred character, might embolden the ministry to make 
 the experiment even under the frowns of the law^-ers. I 
 believe it would work practically well. 
 
 Faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 285.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 London, July 29, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — One life is not much, and yet some- 
 times, though far from protracted, it witnesses, in its 
 course, really wonderful progress. When I started, men 
 of taste were not very laudatory in front of paintings by 
 Copley, Trumbull, West, and Stewart. To be sure, we 
 praised, because we had no idea of not being patriotic 
 even more than critical, and, perhaps, because we knew 
 no better. Well ! God bless the aspiring genius of my 
 countrymen, w^e are already at the head of sculpture, and 
 here comes " The Heart of the Andes,'' to challenge com- 
 petition from any century of old Europe. The chief dilet- 
 tanti. Lord Lansdowne, considers it an unequalled pic- 
 ture, and Lord Stanley, who has travelled these Cordil- 
 leras, pronounces it a faithful portrait. No landscape was 
 ever yet put on canvas more absorbing, more rich in va- 
 rieties of beauty, or more true to nature. I wish it were 
 of our Rocky Mountains ! IS'importe, it hails from the easel 
 of " Church, of New York." 
 
 It seems possible to delineate the heart of the Andes, 
 but who will undertake to map out that of Louis Napo- 
 leon ? What is really in contemplation, at present, 
 as to the future, no man ventures to assert. There 
 are reticences which cannot be dragged forth, depths 
 unfathomable, darkness impenetrable : — or it .may be, 
 that drifting on the current of events, and watchful 
 only for the approved opportunity, the avenger of Water- 
 loo calmly bides his time. At Zurich, the peace will 
 be given definite shape. Will it be followed by a Euro- 
 pean Congress? What for? Simply to do what was left 
 undone at Paris in 1856, to soothe the seething cauldron 
 of revolution in Italy? Lord John Russell, in his speech 
 last night on foreign affairs, threw but a faint light
 
 TO MR. CASS. 143 
 
 athwart the gloom. He was cautions almost to cowardice. 
 Remark, however, that apparently without intending it, 
 he developed the ruse to which, at Villafranca, Francis 
 Joseph became dupe : — conclusively shewing that the 
 draft of terms of mediation and peace, shewn as if agreed 
 upon hy Prussia, England, and Russia, and which he has 
 characterized as worse on the part of his " natural allies" 
 than those of his conqueror, was concocted in the bureau 
 of Count Walewski, never assented to here or at Berlin, 
 and was therefore most deceptivel}" used by Napoleon in 
 the interview with his brother Emperor. If there be a 
 Congress — resisted only by Austria — England will hardly 
 withhold her presence : — for though she has nothing to 
 do with the points to be adjusted, and is choice in praise 
 of non-intervention, yet Lord John (for such is the pith of 
 his address in the Commons) has read and felt the ''me- 
 lancholy chaunts" of Petrarch and Leopardi ! How capi- 
 tal this in a parliamentary leader! 
 
 Bonaparte has determined that his armaments, both on 
 land and sea, shall be ^'•remises sur le pied de Ixipaix^' and 
 Great Britain breathes "freer and deeper." His ykd de la 
 ■paix is probably what it was when he told Austria the 
 same thing just before he threw 150,000 men across the 
 Alps, It is, however, extremely annoying to be in con- 
 stant panic ; and so a prodigious effort will be made^here 
 to restore the public equanimity, on the basis of this most 
 oracular and illusory phrase in the Moniteur. The alarm 
 has certainly been universal and excessive. Lord Lynd- 
 hurst exhibited its extent when he forcibly inculcated* 
 "distrust, distrust, distrust." How, indeed, is it possible 
 for a manufacturing and trading people, who are not 
 familiar with the use of arms and who cannot muster a 
 force of 100,000 men, to banish " distrust" when they see 
 but thirty miles off, under the absolute control of a vic- 
 torious avenger, a standing and irresistible army, with 
 numerous steam transports ready to annihilate the dis- 
 tance in three hours? Ay, but the Channel feet! — un- 
 fortunately nobody knows where it is, and everybody 
 knows that it is not ubiquitous. 
 
 I have had on hand lately many of my distinguished 
 fellow-citizens. Mr. Seward, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Motley, 
 General Pierce, Mr. Winthrop, and lots of others whom 
 it has atforded equal pride and pleasure to welcome to my
 
 144 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 diplomatic domain. They scatter, however, rapidly : — 
 some to the attractive mountains of Switzerland : — some 
 to the capital or " vine-covered hills and gay regions of 
 France:" — some to the Scotch and Irish lakes: — some 
 nestle in the Isle of "Wight: — and some take a long sight 
 for the Pyramids, the Holy Sepulchre, or the Acropolis. 
 Anywhere and quick, rather than remain breathing the un- 
 usually hot malaria of London, and the pestiferous efflu- 
 via of the Thames. Parliament will, I think, soon follow 
 this rational example. Though the da}^ of adjournment be 
 not yet fixed, many members assure me that the session 
 cannot be protracted beyond the 18th proximo. 
 
 The committees of the House have been laying bare 
 the corruptions of the last election. Bribery in every 
 shape, bold and unblushing. Employments secured, pub- 
 lic offices promised, executions paid, and golden sover- 
 eigns openly laid upon tables to be picked up by voters ! 
 A more scandalous exhibition cannot be imagined. A 
 contest costs, in this utterly shameless way, not less than 
 thirty thousand dollars, to the victor. One of the unseated 
 
 gentlemen is , who married an heiress, and who 
 
 "bled" profusely to attain "position." The thing is so 
 little regarded that when, on the evening his election was 
 declared null, I met him at Mr. Sidney Herbert's, he was 
 full off fun about it, and smiling sympathies passed current 
 through the company. When matters come to this point, 
 which are we to prefer, the universal suffrage under Na- 
 poleonic surveillance by Prefects, or English limited suf- 
 I'rage gorged with golden baits? 
 
 We are promised, in the newspapers, visits from the 
 three Emperors in the course of the summer. I have no 
 idea that the promises are more than " canards." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 286.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, August 5, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It seems agreed, that at the last election, 
 both political parties, Conservative and Liberal, thrust 
 their arms to the elbows into the depths of bribery. • The
 
 TO MR. CASS. 145 
 
 expositions made before scrutinizing committees of the 
 direct and open use of money amount almost to the bur- 
 lesque. In his tierce indignation, Mr. Roebuck drags the 
 case of a member for Bodman before the House this after- 
 noon. Now, this gentleman occupies a half-way house be- 
 tween Whigs and Tories, and fairl}^ represents both: — is 
 a scholar, author, and old legislator: — yet is he personally 
 picked out and denounced for undeniable corruption ! He 
 is striving to escape the ^elat by a compromise with his 
 assailant and by accepting the Chiltern Hundreds: — but 
 Mr. Gladstone claims this myth as the only sphere of pa- 
 tronage attached to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, 
 and denies him the sanctuarj' unless he first plausibly ex- 
 plains. Let us see whether the onslaught of Mr. Roebuck 
 be not something of a feint, intended to subside into a 
 fizzle. 
 
 Opportunities of personal intercourse with Lord John 
 Russell occur just now less frequently, owing to the death 
 of his father-in-law, the Earl of Minto, a few days ago, in 
 his 78th year. 
 
 We are expecting an inundation of Russian Imperial 
 visitors. The Czar himself was supposed coming, but 
 that is given up. The Grand Duke Constantine is hourly 
 looked for, and was thought to have reached Osborne 
 last Sunday merely because a sudden convocation of min- 
 isters at that royal residence was noticed. The Grand 
 Duchess Maria, whom I saw married to Maximilian the 
 Prince of Leuchtenberg in July, 1839,* and who, having 
 
 ■ * Diary: July 14, 18S9, Smiday. — "Went to the "Winter Palace, agree- 
 ably to invitations, to. witness the marriage of tlie Grand Duchess Maria 
 and Prince Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. Julia, Elizabeth, and Sophia, 
 having obtained tickets of admission through the kind activity of the 
 French Ambassadress (Madame de Barante), were escorted by Madame 
 Daschkoff to a window gallery in the Chapel which overlooked the cere- 
 mony. The foreign ministers and their ladies, after waiting with the 
 general company for some time, were shewn by Count Woronzoff into 
 the Chapel and arranged on the two sides nearest to the chancel, forming 
 aft alley for the Imperial cortege. Among us were interspersed Count 
 Nesselrode, General Count Woronzoff, Governor of Odessa, Count Orloff, 
 Count Platen (Russian Ambassador of Paris), the Marquess of Anglesea 
 and his three sons, Count Levaschoff, Count Cancrine, Count Tscherny- 
 schew, etc., etc., etc. We noticed that two pairs of pigeons entered at the 
 open windows, and alighted, after flying roiind the dome, over the altar: — 
 an incident that may have been accidental, but which many conceived to 
 have been prearranged. The Metropolitan and a concourse of twenty or 
 thirty Priests, robed in rich vestments of crimson thickly crossed with 
 TOL. II. — 10
 
 146 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 lost her husband some seven years ago, lost it is said also 
 by a subsequent mesalliance her caste, has found her way 
 to Torquay with a miniature Court or entourage of some 
 six or seven. She is represented as rivalling, in the arts 
 of diplomatic intrigue, the late Princess Lieven : — Is that 
 a role to be played now and here? Qiden sabe? 
 
 I hope you will specially authorize me to meet at once 
 any proposition for a Consular Convention which this 
 government may make in consequence of the motion of 
 Mr. Milnes in the House of Commons, explained in my 
 official despatch of to-day. There are other points of 
 great practical interest beside the "unpunished cruelties" 
 to be attended to. You will find these detailed in the 
 admirable draft of a treaty submitted by Mr. Buchanan 
 in 1855 and the correspondence connected with it. The 
 obstacle encountered at that time may possibly be now 
 kept out of view: especially if you should instruct me to 
 say that a total suppression of that obstacle, and the full 
 attainment of the arrest of merchant-seamen deserters, are 
 sine qua nons to any arrangement whatever. The humani- 
 
 gold embroidery, and with mitres glittering with jewels and enamel pic- 
 tures — some bearing the sacred images and others carrying wax lights — 
 stationed themselves at the grand entrance to receive the Imperial party. 
 Everybodj' wore their richest clothing : — all the ladies having long trains, 
 and all, except the diplomatic ones, having the Kakoshinnick brilliantly 
 studded with diamonds, or otherwise ornamented. The bride wore a su- 
 perb diadem of diamonds and on the very top of her head a crown of the 
 same description. Her train was an immense one of crimson velvet 
 deeply bordered with ermine. Of the religious ceremonies I could un- 
 derstand nothing: — they were exceedingly tedious. There Avas an inter- 
 change of rings between the bride and groom eifected through tlie agencj' 
 of the Metropolitan : they sipped the consecrated wine from the same 
 golden goblet : and during a part of the proceeding, for about twenty 
 minutes while the Metropolitan was reading to them, golden crowns were 
 held over the heads of the couple — over that of the Grand Duchess by her 
 brother the Hereditary Grand Duke Alexander, and over that of the 
 Prince by Count Pahlen. At one time the couple were led, with their 
 hands united by the Metropolitan, three times round the altar. At the 
 close of the ceremony, the groom handed his bride to the Emperor, who 
 bade him embrace her, and then followed the family felicitations and 
 kissing. The Court choir performed the great Te Deum most effectively, 
 and the cannon of the Fortress, aided by peals from all the huge bells of 
 the innumefable churches, sent forth a deafening yet exhilarating uproar. 
 After kissing a number of the Priests in succession, the Imperial circle 
 left the Greek Chapel and went to where a temporary Roman Catholic 
 Chapel had been constructed in some interior apartment, and the mar- 
 riage ceremony'was repeated. "We got home as expeditiously as we could 
 at about 4 o'clock."
 
 TO COL. MURRAY. 147 
 
 tarian zeal which in a case of black and white cliscrirai- 
 nates in favor of the former, may accept compensation 
 founded on the prevention of " unpunished cruelties." 
 
 Parliament may drag its slow length along for another 
 week. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 287.-TO COL. MURKAY. 
 
 London, August 5, 1859. 
 
 My dear Colonel Murray, — Your letter of the 1st 
 
 June, enclosing one from Mrs. and another addressed 
 
 to the Queen, has reached me. 
 
 Instinct makes me always anxious to do what any lady 
 seriously desires me to do. Independent, therefore, of 
 some misplaced suggestions made by your fair friend, it 
 would and will give me pleasure to accomplish her object, 
 if I discover a mode of doing it compatible with funda- 
 mental rules. At this Court, it is much easier to man- 
 age an important national negotiation than to break 
 through the gossamery fencework with which aristocratic 
 exclusiveness has hedged in the sovereign. I would per- 
 sonally prefer entering upon a complicated question of 
 peace or war, to manoeuvring for the mere autograph of 
 her Majesty. The request, no matter how meritorious its- 
 purpose, involves considerations of extreme delicacy: — 
 its gratification would set a precedent of which millions 
 would be eager to avail themselves: — the sale of the 
 signature might be a mortifying one: — and the danger 
 of its misapplication by an unknown purchaser is not 
 slight. 
 
 Besides this, Mrs. has transmitted the letter to the 
 
 Queen sealed., and has not sent me a copy of it. I cannot 
 break the seal, have no certainty of its precise character, 
 and am therefore without the means of giving to an inter- 
 mediary officer of the government or of the Court the 
 indispensable knowledge of what it is he is conveying to 
 her Majesty. 
 
 You will do me a favor by explaining to Mr. S. and to 
 Mrs. the embarrassments I feel: — assuring them at
 
 148 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 g the same time that my disposition to meet their wish is 
 sincere and will be watchful. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 288.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 LoNBON", August 19, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Queen goes to Scotland in the 
 course of three or four days: and, as her Majesty must be 
 accompanied by one or the other of the Secretaries of 
 State, she takes with .her on the present occasion our 
 " chef," Lord John Russell. He has engaged a house in 
 the vicinity of Balmoral, and may remain resident there 
 for five or six weeks. I am almost the only member of 
 the diplomatic corps who may possibly miss him, my col- 
 leagues having diverged from London to all quarters of 
 the compass. 
 
 Louis ]!^apoleon has certainly the art of concentrating 
 upon himself the universal gaze. No one else in Europe 
 is just now visible, and everybody intently watches each 
 successive movement. He is another Blondin, whose 
 figure is strongly delineated on the sky, advancing stead- 
 ily upon a tight rope, over a boiling and unfathomable 
 abyss. At this moment, he is doing the graceful. One 
 decree amnesties all political prisoners under sentence or 
 ^'' l^Toscrits :" — this opens France to about two thousand 
 of her ejected sons, among them Changarnier, Louis 
 Blanc, and Victor Hugo. Another fiat enjoins the 
 promptest execution of the amnesty in all the colonies, 
 to be hailed with rapture at Cayenne. And a third 
 launches a ray of promise at the press, by nullifying 
 all the warnings that have been given. At his recent 
 fete the clap-traps were innumerable and irresistible. 
 The speech to the banqueting generals was short, frank, 
 and soothing. Victory seems to have given him confi- 
 dence, and confidence brings into play the generosity of 
 his nature. Or, is it purely the attitudinizing of a skilful 
 acrobat? — So thinks Louis Blanc. 
 
 Mr. Cobden's two addresses to his constituents of Roch- 
 dale maintained in undiminished solidity his past reputa-
 
 TO SENATOR G. W. JONES, BOGOTA. 149 
 
 tiou. I presume I was the only foreio:;ii minister invited 
 by the Committee to his soiree; and it would have given 
 me peculiar pleasure to attend. As, however, I am scru- 
 pulous of participating in party politics here, it was with- 
 out regret that I found myself obliged to be elsewhere. 
 Everybody praised these speeches, their force, originality 
 and tone. His explanation of his refusal to enter the 
 ministry is at once so manly and conciliatory that many 
 regard it as a sort of pledge to take the place offered, some 
 six months or a year hence. According to conventional 
 ideas in England, he is too strong a man on the Liberal 
 side to Be allowed to remain out of the government. 
 
 The Great Eastern (she has resumed her original name, 
 because positively destined to ply between this and Aus- 
 tralia), after trying the suppleness of her joints by an ex- 
 perimental trip, will, on ISth of September next, bridge 
 the ocean between the two Portlands, Portland in Dor- 
 setshire and Portland in Maine. She is open to pas- 
 sengers, and Sir Henry Holland and T have calculated 
 that she may accomplish the transit in five days. What 
 if she do! an Atlantic voyage in 120 hours! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 289 -TO SENATOK 6. W. JONES, BOGOTA. 
 
 London, August 27, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Immediately on the receipt of your 
 letter, I took the necessary steps to enable you to have by 
 return packet, the Daih/ Times and the Illustrated News. 
 It is to be hoped therefore that you will get them at the 
 time you get this. The subscription, as you directed, was 
 made for one year : and finding payment in advance in- 
 dispensable, rather than allow you to be disappointed I 
 sent the money. Copies of the papers are enclosed. 
 
 The real state of things in Europe is never what it super- 
 ficially appears to be. The press is wise to a certain 
 extent, and is always striving to seem wiser : — but the 
 select few who wield the powers of nations cover their de- 
 signs in impenetrable mystery, which is only broken by 
 sudden action. Hence it is dangerous to speculate as you
 
 150 TO MR. GILPIN. 
 
 wish me to. The Zurich Conference proceeds slowly : — it is 
 scarcely across the threshold. A Congress is yet uncertain, 
 though more likely than it was a month ago. The Peace 
 of Villafranca adds nothing to the security of this countrj^ ; 
 far, very far otherwise. She steadily advances in arma- 
 ment and apprehension : — so much so, that she is hazard- 
 ing her polity by training her yeomanry to the use of the 
 rifle. 
 
 I am just now on a visit to Brighton, whose attractions 
 are too great for much letter-writing. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 290.-TO ME. GILPIN. 
 
 Brighton, August 29, 1859. 
 
 My dear Mr. Gilpin, — The manner in which I have 
 had your silence accounted for worries me a good deal. 
 I am told that you are not well, and have been ailing for 
 some time. If this be mistaken rumor, pray let me hear 
 so, as soon as you can and as shortly as you please. 
 
 London is a horrid hole in hot seasons. The Thames, 
 the Serpentine, the sewers, the crowd, the dust, are all 
 horrid. So, w^e have escaped, and taken a house here for 
 a month : — close to the sea on the Marine Parade, with a 
 balcony whence we look across the Atlantic up to the 
 corner of Spruce and 11th Streets. I must have been 
 made sensitive to atmospherical conditions by continued 
 stay in the murky Babylon sixty miles off", for I never 
 before noticed such purity and perfection of air as we are 
 breathing. Merely to inhale it seems to satisfy us all : — 
 and, although nearly a week since we came, we have felt 
 no inclination to do the sights of the city, beyond the 
 Cliff, the Pavilion, and the Pier. As to company, catch 
 us at it! 
 
 I can't get a word from home about politics, although 
 really feeling my habitual interest in the customary 
 tangle. The democratic embroglio seems to be eschewed 
 as a disagreeable topic, which one's friends erroneously 
 suppose I can't want to hear about. Don't they know 
 that distance blends and softens coloring? What seems
 
 TO MR. GILPIN. 151 
 
 to shock them, as for instance Wise's letter to Donnelly, 
 creates with me only a smile at its naivete! Mr. Everett 
 sent me that little epistle, as if he regarded it as almost 
 the crack of our doom : I read it, and, strange to say, 
 laughed at so characteristic a specimen of eccentricity at 
 full gallop. 
 
 But if people won't indite politics to me, how dare I 
 venture on politics to them ? Simply because what is exotic 
 is relished in every locality. Well! Europe is lulling at 
 this moment. Crowns are perplexed by efforts to rectify 
 the blunders they have been committing. They can't 
 bear to be sneered at for incompetency and rashness, and 
 so they hugger-mugger at Zurich to put things to rights. 
 Will they succeed? Yes, if Plon-Flon be planted in 
 Tuscany: — yes, if the so-called Italian Washington, 
 Garibaldi, be strong enough to inaugurate the Confeder- 
 ation and upset the Pope: — yes, if the Iron Crown, 
 filched from Milan and locked up in Vienna, be sent in a 
 satin reticule worked with golden bees, to the Charle- 
 magne bathing at St. Sauveur : — yes, if Victor Emmanuel, 
 dropping the victor and assuming the chatferer, will 
 agree to pay more gold than his people have yet paid 
 blood, for Lombardy: — and finally, which ought to be 
 firstly, yes, if Lord Palmerston will consent, which he 
 won't, to a Congress without his condition precedent. 
 Otherwise no, no, no. 
 
 Something like a squadron of cavalry has just gone by, 
 — here on the brink of the ocean! — with carbines under 
 arm ! ! Take that as an indication of the " English 
 Craze" at present raging about invasion and armament. 
 They can't sleep quietly for Cherbourg, looking as if 
 ready to vent itself in this direction, or Lille, looking as 
 if ready to brush away our Uncle Leopold. 
 
 General respects and regards to Mrs. G. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 152 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 291 -TO MK. OASS. 
 
 Brighton, September 1, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — You must not suppose me slow or dull 
 as to the main topic of the despatch to-day. I think of 
 nothing else, feel all the urgency of the case, and will omit 
 nothing. If professions mean anything, an abundance of 
 steam has been let on to accelerate the engine in reaching 
 every one of the stations in quick succession — all, in the 
 course of two or three months. But, while from this 
 point a brisk readiness may shew itself, there can cer- 
 tainly be nothing expected from the Isthmus but delay, 
 prevarication, and petulance. Without fancying to exist 
 a profligate disregard of good faith and truth, the fault is 
 not here, but there. 
 
 Her Majesty took with her to Balmoral, the day before 
 yesterday, as the Secretary of State "in waiting," not Lord 
 John Russell, but Sir George Grey. This change of pro- 
 gramme was simultaneous with a sudden summons ad- 
 dressed to all the scattered cabinet for a meeting in 
 Downing Street: — and they came rattling from every 
 quarter of the compass. As Polonius would say, put that 
 and that together and it may not be ditficult to surmise 
 that " something's in the wind." What that something 
 may really be ; whether the belligerent aspect of an 
 increase of French force at Lille, designed to overawe 
 and prevent the Belgic fortifications at Antwerp, or the 
 emergency created by the determination of a large body 
 of English soldiers not to re-enlist but to return home 
 from India, or the new aspect of the Napoleonic policy as 
 regards the banished dukes in Italy, or the still meditated 
 Congress, nobody can tell. The Conference at Zurich 
 engages little attention: — seeming to divide its time be- 
 tween apoplexy (Count Colloredo) and waiting for instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 Have you ever been at Brighton? I am here for sev- 
 eral weeks, owing to the adoption of some new system of 
 drainage in London which imposes the necessity of repul- 
 sive repairs in my quarters. The rapidity of travel on the 
 railway here, the regular express train darting at the rate 
 of sixty miles an hour, puts me as near to the Foreign
 
 TO PROFESSOR BACHE. 153 
 
 Office as Mr. Bodisco or Mr. Crampton was to the Depart- 
 ment of State, when residing on the hills of Georgetown. 
 Judged by difference of atmosphere, however, I am a 
 thousand leagues away : — a boundless- sea, a dazzling sky, 
 a clear, pure, and bracing air, and endless lines of white 
 palaces surmounting chalky cliffs; such are the features 
 of Brighton. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 P.S. — By a memorandum just received, I find that the 
 presence of Sir George Grey with the Queen during her 
 journey to Scotland misled me, when I concluded that he 
 had been substituted for Lord John Russell. The Foreign 
 Secretary, with his family, left London two days ago for 
 Abergeldie Castle, assigned by her Majesty as their resi- 
 dence while she remains at Balmoral. Before his lord- 
 ship's return, ample time will elapse to enable me to hear 
 again from you as to Wyke and Central America. 
 
 No. 292.-T0 PROPESSOE BAOHE. 
 
 Brighton, September 5, 1859. 
 
 My dear Professor, — Your note, accompanied by the 
 letter of Mr. G. W. Blunt respecting Lights on the 
 Bahamas, reached me a day or two ago. I have been 
 here ten days, and intend staying two weeks morre, in 
 order to enable my landlord to make some offensive re- 
 pairs as to drainage and painting. I mention this to ex- 
 plain why, at a distance from records, I don't give, in 
 what I am going to say, exact dates and results. 
 
 By enquiry at the Treasury Department you will be 
 able to obtain full information .as to the extent to which 
 this government deems it expedient to go in constructing 
 Light-houses on the Bahama Islands. And should ad- 
 ditional ones be called for, you will find the course here- 
 tofore taken to have been this: — Mr. Guthrie during the 
 summer of '56 wrote to me to see whether I could get 
 more Lights put up by the government, and if not, whether 
 I could induce them to authorize the United States to 
 build them. I begged him to furnish me with the evi-
 
 154 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 dence upon which he thought the Lights necessary and at 
 what points. He sent me a Report from the Light-house 
 Board, and a very admirable and large manuscript chart: 
 on the strength of these, I went to work. After transmit- 
 ting all the ideas and explanations in my power in writing, 
 I had several conversations with Lord Stanley of Alderley, 
 and other members of the Board of Trade, on the sub- 
 ject. If I remember aright, they took a long time to de- 
 liberate, and finally they expressed to me, through the 
 Foreign Office, the opinion that the Lights already up 
 were sufficient, and that those suggested by our Board 
 could really be of no aid to navigation. All this will, I 
 take for granted, be on file in the Treasury Depart- 
 ment: — certainly, my correspondence with Governor 
 Marcy cannot but indicate every step taken. 
 
 If a renewed effi^rt be thought expedient, let it begin 
 by such measures in the Light-house Board as will de- 
 velope the positive want ; then a representation to Mr. 
 Cobb; then an application by him to the Secretary of 
 State requesting him to direct my exertions to the attain- 
 ment of the desired objects. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 293.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 London, September 15, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It would seem that on this side of the 
 Atlantic we are about entering upon a fresh score of im- 
 portant public events. 
 
 1. The tangled condition of the Italian question is already 
 regarded as incapable of solution except by the sword. 
 Since the Monitcur avowed Napoleon's altered attitude as 
 to the Duchies, nothing but hasty belligerent action by 
 either the French or Austrian forces lingering in Lom- 
 bardy, is looked for as a result of the Imperial conjunc- 
 tion at Arenenberg. A step not the less willingly made, 
 perhaps, because it slightly promises to draw this govern- 
 ment out of their entrenchment of neutrality and non- 
 intervention. 
 
 2. The attempt of the allied fleet in China to force a
 
 .. TO MR. CASS. 155 
 
 pathway to Pekin for their ambassadors has been unex- 
 pectedly baffled by an army of Mongols at the Taku 
 forts. Four hundred and seventy-eight of the peremptory 
 assailants were killed and wounded, among them sixteen 
 officers, including the British Admiral (Hope) and two 
 captains. Three vessels of war were sunk, and the squad- 
 ron retreated to Shanghai ! Of course this news, which 
 reached here by telegram from thesecretary of the British 
 minister in China, via Constantinople and Alexandria, on 
 the 12th instant, has caused great solicitude and excite- 
 ment. The feeling is none the less sharp because the story 
 goes that our envoy, Mr. Ward, politely characterized as 
 the " submissive rejmblican,'' has quietly found his way to 
 the capital and been cordially welcomed. I think Mr. lieed 
 foresaw the likelihood of these events, as consequences of 
 too harsh and dictatorial a manner. The fiery cross is, of 
 course, rapidly circulating, and the croaking ravens of the 
 press all "bellow for revenge." Observe, that the Chi- 
 nese objected, not to the ambassadors, but to their naval 
 and military escort; a distinction vrith great ditference. 
 
 3. The aspect of India too is inauspicious and sullen. 
 Financial matters get worse and worse. The English 
 soldiers in Bengal, to the number of eight or ten thousand, 
 disregarding the remonstrances of Lord Clyde, insist upon 
 discharge, and are returning home. Rebels are still on 
 foot, fighting the Sikhs in Nepaul. It is curious as a po- 
 litical coincidence, that just at this moment an emissary, 
 M. de Sercy (was he not once in Washington ?), of the de- 
 voted ally, has come back from a thorough exploration of 
 Hindostan, and has officially reported to his superior, 
 Count Walewski, that everything there threatens confu- 
 sion and ruin ! 
 
 Our friends in Portland, remembering the "frantic 
 follies" incident to the landing of the western end of the 
 Atlantic Cable, must be cautious in preparing a glorifica- 
 tion on the coming of the Great Eastern. Her progress 
 down the Channel was partially interrupted, opposite the 
 town of Hastings, by the tremendous and murderous ex- 
 plosion of one of her water-funnels, killing by scalding 
 some seven or eight of her engineers, and, without seri- 
 ously afi^ecting the body of the huge vessel, knocking 
 saloons and staterooms into such pi as must occasion a 
 month or more's delay for repair. The stock of the com-
 
 156 TO MR. CASS. „ 
 
 pany has gone up because the ship didn't go down : — a 
 strong illustration of how to make the best of a bad bar- 
 gain. 
 
 Lord John Russell continues in Scotland, and may not 
 be in Downing Street for a month to come. 
 
 You have noticed that Hospodar Couza has been per- 
 mitted by the Conference at Paris to retain his two politi- 
 cal brides, Moldavia and Wallachia, provided he keeps 
 them apart from one another. The federative principle 
 is making its way. 
 
 In Russia, the generous Czar is countenancing the crea- 
 tion of elective municipalities, with powers of local govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 294-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, September 23, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Sentinel aloft must have smiled 
 at the superfluous philanthropy which wasted our blood 
 and treasure in searching for Sir John Franklin. He and 
 his associates were all dead before we resolved to share in 
 the scientific honor of restoring them to their country. 
 The officer sent out by Lady Franklin in the .screw vessel 
 the Fox, F. L. McClintock, has returned with manuscripts 
 and relics, found in the undisturbed desolation of Arctic 
 cold, which disclose the sad secret. The gallant explorer 
 perished more than twelve years ago, on the 11th of June, 
 1847. The details of this successful discovery are exceed- 
 ingly interesting, minute, and authentic. 
 
 Public sentiment is somewhat inflamed by the imper- 
 fect accounts we have received of General Harney's pro- 
 ceeding at the islet of San Juan, and the prospect of colli- 
 sion arising out of Governor Douglas', so-called, prompt 
 and judicious course to substitute the Royal standard for 
 the Stars and Stripes. The provincial chief in the far 
 northwest seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of 
 Admiral Hope in the extreme east, and, without asking 
 explanations or purposes, resolves to cut the matter short 
 by Sappers and Miners. It is possible that the General
 
 TO MR. CASS. 157 
 
 may Lave been precipitate, and, if so, the Governor should 
 have abstained from following a bad example. Public 
 agents, except in cases of necessity, should await their cue 
 from their superiors, and not, defensively or offensively, 
 assume to involve two nations in war. Patience is a great 
 power, and never fails to strengthen the party that exer- 
 cises it. 
 
 General Duff Green was kind enou2:h, on reachino; Eno;- 
 land, to run down to Brighton, and to place in my hands 
 his several commendatory credentials. I detained him tor 
 dinner, and we were all much gratified with his flourish- 
 ing accounts of the Washington Panorama. I am yet a 
 little at fault in forming a practical conception of what he 
 aims at by his visit, if it be more than to obtain the co- 
 operation of capitalists in building his projected railway 
 across Texas. His views as to the political relations of 
 the Quited States, England, and Mexico, are broad, com- 
 prehensive, and sound: and as he naturally likes to incul- 
 cate them, he shall have all the opportunities among the 
 public men here I can fairly give him. At the moment, 
 however, in the slang phrase, nobody is in London, and 
 that nobody will be in London for some weeks to come. 
 
 Two ninety-two gun steamers have been ordered by the 
 Admiralty to prepare for sea: probably as members of the 
 contemplated Anglo-Gallicau expedition to revisit the 
 Taku forts at the mouth of the Peiho : — possibly, to see 
 how the Sappers and Miners get on in San Juan. 
 
 Zurich still fizzles slowly. Arenenberg postponed. A 
 Congress getting put aside, the loadstone is at Biarritz, 
 and thither diplomats of all sorts are thronging from every 
 European Court. The Belgian monarch returns from the 
 Imperial hug, with the conviction that he has bagged an 
 Italian kingdom for his younger son. ^sop's Lion hold- 
 ing his levee is magnificently revived, with a new corps 
 of performers and fresh decorations. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 158 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 295.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, September 30, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Governor Douglas of Vancouver has 
 sent to London an explanatory and accusatory messenger, 
 Col. J. S. Hawkins. This "gallant" officer, who reached 
 here on the 27th instant, went straight to the Foreign 
 .Office and "transacted business." A sj'stematic effi3rt to 
 pla(?e General Harney in the category of "American fili- 
 busters" and to put our government in the wrong as to 
 the channel or Canal de Haro, is of course just now the 
 outburst of newspaper loyalty and patriotism. In deploy- 
 ing the argument there is manifest ignorance or misrepre- 
 sentation: — take as illustration that they sa3^ 
 
 1. We never made claim till gold was found on Frazer's 
 River! — a naked untruth. 
 
 2. The island is of no use to us! — yet it lies south of 
 49° and fronts our coast its whole length. 
 
 3. It is in the track of British intercourse with Van- 
 couver! not unless that intercourse pass through admitted 
 American territory. 
 
 4. Starting from a point on the 49th degree, we can't 
 reach the Canal de Haro by sailing "southerly" as the 
 treaty directs! — most assuredly we can : — "southerly" is 
 not equivalent to "due south," but on the contrary im- 
 plies a partial admixture of easting or westing: and it is 
 obvious to inspection that to proceed from the given point 
 to Rosario Strait much more easting has to be taken than 
 need be taken of westing to get to the Canal de Haro. 
 
 5. At the date of the treaty, no " Channel" navigated 
 or known, but that of Rosario ! Untrue again : — the name 
 Haro is itself disproof given by one of its oldest and ear- 
 liest, if not its very first, navigator. 
 
 I hope General Harney will disclose good cause for his 
 proceeding: — for if he do, San Juan is too clearly ours to 
 be allowed again to go adrift. 
 
 Lord John Russell, though a veteran and able states- 
 man, has perhaps rarely if ever visited Scotland before the 
 present season: — for he has just been admitted to the 
 Freedom of the City of Aberdeen. 
 
 General Green is now, as always, sanguine of success in
 
 TO MR. CASS. 159 
 
 his projects: what they are exactly I do not know. He 
 has seen and indoctrinated Mr. Cobden and others of that 
 ilk: and your letter emboldened me to give him personal 
 notes of introduction to Lords Palmerston and John Rus- 
 sell. He talks of returning to you by the steamer of the 
 8th of October, but he will probably wait for the 15th. 
 
 Regimentals are your only wear for Europe. The tend- 
 ency to enlarge military establishments, as siiie qua nons 
 of safety, is shewing itself almost everywhere among the 
 minor States of Germany. Tlie Continent, with unim- 
 portant exceptions, is covered with an agglomeration of 
 camps. "Poor human nature !" sighed Jacob Faithful. 
 
 ^N^othing more burlesque than the laborious idleness and 
 unproductiveness of the " three men of Gotham who went 
 to sea in a bowl " at Zurich ! They are about to make six 
 bows to each other, and leave the future to a Congress 
 which won't meet. Some gloomy quidnuncs anticipate 
 an Austrian movement in Italy to restore the Dukes; Na- 
 poleon leaving the struggle to Victor Emmanuel and Gari- 
 baldi. The whole conduct of Central Italy has been so 
 admirable that Lord John Russell openly avowed at Ed- 
 inburgh that the ministry were with it. Perhaps a compro- 
 mise upon KingPlon-Plon, with indemnity to the excluded 
 princes, may be the destination to which public opinion 
 is agreed to be led. 
 
 The press looks at last in France fierce and nearlj' unani- 
 mous for law and legal trial against administrative caprice 
 in warning and controlling its utterances. The minister, 
 Due de Padoue, or as he has been nicknamed, the Duke of 
 Padlock, provoked great excitement by his measures; 
 and now there are grave thinkers on this side of the 
 Channel who predict that Bonaparte will soon follow in 
 the footsteps of Charles the Tenth and Louis Philippe! 
 Tell that to the marines. A devoted arm}' of four hun- 
 dred thousand men, with a great name at their head, just 
 reburnished by Magenta and Solferino, are not readily 
 put to ilight by printer's blacking balls and types. There 
 must be subsisting discontent to work upon. 
 
 The Turks say that Schamyl was bought not beaten, that 
 gold corrupted all his followers, except the few with whom 
 he took refuge in Gounib, a fortress which was esteemed 
 to be impregnable. He bore himself sternly when cap-' 
 tured: — was a bigoted Mohammedan fatalist: indulged in
 
 160 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 pretensions to supernatural colloquies with the Prophet : — 
 he was brave, patriotic, and national, sometimes cruel : — 
 how will he fare in St. Petersburg ? — probably better than 
 the prisoner of St. Helena. 
 
 Mr. Ward has found his way to Pekin, though after a 
 fashion somewhat comical. It may be that what appears 
 to us ludicrous and derogatory was esteemed by the 
 Celestial masters of ceremonies as the ne ])lus ultra of 
 civility and etiquette to which they could go compatibly 
 with their usages. Even the western barbarians would 
 regard it as an act of unusual courtesy if an arriving 
 Envoy were facilitated to the seat of government by an 
 express train or a coach and four, with an escort of pur- 
 veyors, cooks, and valets. The floating or oxen-dragged 
 chamber of the Chinese looks like their substitute for all 
 this. I very much doubt its being meant as rude inso- 
 lence. Very possibly French and English editors will so 
 represent it: — but they are naturally nettled at Mr. Ward's 
 success, and would not be unwilling to provoke us into 
 joining the new military enterprise for vengeance. I send 
 a slip of what the Paris Pays reports upon the subject. 
 
 Your highly recommended friend the ship builder, 
 Daniel McKay, has been warmly welcomed here. It gave 
 me pleasure to obtain for him from the Admiralty (as I 
 immediatel}' did notwithstanding Lord John Russell's 
 absence) the run of the dock-yards and naval establish- 
 ments. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 ' No. 296.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, October 14, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The Sovereigns of the French returned 
 to their capital from Biarritz and Bordeaux late in the 
 evening of the day before yesterday. In adverting to 
 Italy's future he still restricts his speech to dubious 
 oracular utterances. It would seem as if these and the 
 long-drawn-out futilities at Zurich owe their origin to a 
 reactionary policy, which for its excuse wants and waits 
 such outbreaks as butchered Colonel Aviti at Parma.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 161 
 
 The Imperial reply to the Archbishop is double: devotion 
 to the Pope, and his abandonment by the withdrawal of 
 French forces from Rome : — two pills, one- opiate and 
 soothing, the other inflammatory and alterative. On dit 
 that a huge bolus is compounding for Victor Emmanuel 
 in the form of a summons to foot the bill of his kins- 
 man and ally for the expenses of the recent war: — say 
 250,000,000 of francs: — and this, it is expected, will 
 eventuate in a compulsory compromise ceding Savoy. 
 
 The Local Science Association — not socialists, remem- 
 ber, oh! by no means — are mimicking the Institute this 
 year at Bradford, in the "West Riding of York. Lord 
 Shaftesbury presides, recapitulates, and preaches : Lord 
 Brougham thunders in ferocious eloquence against 
 Bribery and Bonaparte : and there is a perfect flood of 
 philosophers, each holding in his hand a homoeopathic 
 dose of science which he complacently regards as a 
 panacea for some one or other of life's evils. Onward, 
 gentlemen! the Augean stable is large and crammed 
 with filth, but each of your countless crowd is a self- 
 esteemed Hercules! Eureka, Eureka! Victor Hugo's 
 new poem, at present in two, but designed hereafter to be 
 extended six octavos more, '■'■La Legende des Siecles," has 
 prophesied the end of all this labor after perfection, and 
 says that man 7nust invade the skies through clouds and 
 stars ! — certainly, and the Association, during its short 
 existence of three years, has already ballooned us into 
 the former. 
 
 Some strange, discredited but adhesive, rumors are just 
 now afloat, chilling the funds somewhat. Rome has 
 risen into revolution: — how can that be while Guyon is 
 still there? The French and English squadrons oflT 
 Morocco have had a conflict: — all circumstances con- 
 sidered, se non e vera, e hen trovato. Baron de Bourqueney 
 has gone off from Zurich in a laugh ; — very natural, there- 
 fore likely to be true. 
 
 I am afraid that our lively countrymen at Portland 
 will not have a chance this year to hail the Leviathan's 
 advent. Little annoying accidents succeed each other 
 almost as often as the monster moves ; and there appears 
 to be in the hold of the big ship, as in the Christian 
 Church, an irreconcilable conflict between fate and free 
 will, which disturbs her management. She has had her 
 
 VOL. II. — 11
 
 162 TO LORD NAPIER. 
 
 trial trip, was pushed to seventeen miles an hour, and re- 
 sumed her tremendous anchorage, waiting for a visit from 
 the Queen : — hut, she pitched and rolled, while meeting 
 or siding the waves, far more than exact mathematicians 
 had calculated or foretold. Nimporte ! — she's a wonder. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 297.-T0 LOED NAPIEE. 
 
 London, October 19, 1859. 
 
 My dear Lord Napier, — Your kind note of the 30th 
 ult. and the package for Mrs. E. were received after the 
 lapse of several days: — the latter crossed the Atlantic in 
 the Bag by the Europa of the 8th instant. Let me assure 
 you that one of the most valued sources of permanent 
 gratification which I have had the good fortune to meet 
 with in my wanderings on the arid desert of diplomacy 
 has been the acquaintance made with yourself and Lady 
 I^apier. This is so true, that I am wondering at the time 
 which has elapsed without my answering your letter : — 
 but perceive how exactingly General Cass has dealt 
 with me. 
 
 There is no wisdom in the world: — it is a myth which 
 seems possible but is never met with. Certainly it was 
 unwise in the two governments to neglect their boundary : 
 — certainly unwise in Harney to plant his Picket in a 
 neutral enclosure : and nothing can transcend the wwwis- 
 dom with which the newspapers, by taunts, sneers, and 
 invective, fret and exasperate the wound inflicted upon 
 the public sentiment of both countries. The President 
 has rapped the general over the knuckles, has sent Scott 
 to put an extinguisher ur)on him, and has openly declined 
 to order any additional naval force to that distant "jump- 
 ing-ofl' place:" a course which you will agree with me in 
 considering somewhat less unwise than the menacing one 
 of hurrying ofl:' several screw J^l's and a parade of more 
 sappers and miners. This last is a sad error. 
 
 The Yankees are taking the matter coolly : — unanimous 
 in disapproving Harney, and unanimous in believing 
 the islet theirs. How the question may, at the coming
 
 TO MR. CASS. 163 
 
 session of Congress, be harangued into the Presidential 
 canvass, you have seen enough to imagine. Your friends 
 Seward and Douglas will think nothing said while aught 
 remains to say, in carpentering a new plank for their re- 
 spective platforms. 
 
 Mr. Everett cannot leave home. He has too many 
 engagements as a writer and lecturer. His son came 
 over and has gone to Cambridge. 
 
 Pray make my respectful regards acceptable to Lady 
 Napier, 
 
 And believe me. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 298.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, October 28, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Maps are statements, oculis submissi 
 fdelihas ; producing more permanent impression than mere 
 words. Hence it is that, to afiect the general mind, the 
 London shops and their windows are being crowded with 
 charts of the islands and channels between Vancouver 
 and the Continent, purporting to delineate the boundary 
 as provided in the Treaty of '46 by a deep "?W line" 
 starting from a point in the Gulf of Georgia and running 
 with pictorial emphasis down Rosario Strait. Mr. "Web- 
 ster in '42 allowed his technical tendencies to conjure up 
 difficulties asj-egards a more ancient '■^red lijie:" — it was 
 cunningly po-pohed by Lord Ashburton, when at the very 
 moment there could be seen, in one of the governmental 
 offices here, a carefully neglected map which had de- 
 scended from the royal negotiators of '83, whose ^^ red line" 
 conclusively sustained the one rather punctiliously aban- 
 doned by our great lawyer. Mr. Webster erred on the 
 right side, and nobly declined resting his case on what he 
 had not proof to shew might not be a " suggestio falsi :" — but 
 this highly moral monarchy then took, and has ever since 
 kept, the fruits of an admitted ^^suppressio veri.'' Ask them 
 if the wrong ought not to be remedied, and what answer 
 will you get? a shrug and a chuckle. By-and-by, we 
 shall be appalled by the resurrection of some long buried
 
 164 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 map of Vancouver's, on which the '•^red line" will speak, 
 as a voice from the grave, in corroboration of those now 
 addressing the public eye. I see by an extract of a letter 
 from some Washington correspondent, in the Times of 
 this morning, that you have replied to the extraordinary 
 instructions given on the subject of San Juan by Lord 
 John to Lord Lyons before any intimation of General 
 Harney's proceeding had crossed the Atlantic. My soli- 
 citude to see this reply is extreme, and I hope to receive 
 it by the steamer due on Sunday or Monday next. 
 
 Mr. Lesseps, with his Suez scheme, lingers longer in 
 the public gaze than M. Belly with his Nicaraguan. The 
 latter gentleman seems to have fallen like the stick of a 
 rocket: — but the Emperor ISTapoleon relieves the former 
 from the averted gesture of the Sultan, pats him cheer- 
 ingly on the back, and inculcates patience. When the 
 Mediterranean becomes a French lake, which the alliance 
 with Spain against the Moors brings into a shorter range 
 of telescopic view than heretofore, it will be both more 
 safe, and more economical in time and money to forward 
 legions to India through a perforation in the Isthmus than 
 round the Cape of Good Hope. This is perfectly under- 
 stood and appreciated by all classes: — and hence ^'ow may 
 have noticed that of three leading investing countries, 
 contributing to the Lesseps project an aggregate of 
 $22,669,900, Great Britain, the plethoric capitalist, oflers 
 only $408,500, Holland only |261,400, while France sub- 
 scribes for the whole residue, $22,000,000! 
 
 It is rather a strange fact that the cousin of the " dear 
 ally" should come ostentatiously to England, announced 
 in advance as purposing to meet Queen Victoria on board 
 the Great Eastern, should pay his visit to the big ship, 
 should travel rapidly about, should stop in London several 
 days, rest at Portsmouth, and finally go back to Paris with- 
 out having had the honor of seeing or hearing from her 
 Majesty at all ! There may be something in Prince Na- 
 poleon, disagreeable and repulsive, though Mr. P. who 
 chaperoned him through the Museum thinks otherwise ; 
 or there may have been dropped unguardedly a stitch in 
 that mysterious woof of etiquette which surrounds royal 
 intercourse : — whatever the cause, the truth is notorious 
 and leads to all sorts of renijirk and surmise. 
 
 Lord Brougham is just now the order of the day. He
 
 TO MR. CASS. 165 
 
 has been honored with a grand "Banquet" at Edinburgh, 
 in the course of which, it is said, he pronounced an ehibo- 
 rate philippic against the Emperor of the French. Under 
 the new act of Parliameut authorizing the appointment 
 (without sahiry) of a Chancellor of the Scotch University, 
 he and the Duke of Buccleugh are competitors for the post. 
 A good deal of critical analysis of their respective merits 
 and demerits is circulating: — but I think the Lord Harry 
 is far ahead. 
 
 Count CoUoredo has succumbed, at Zurich, and the two 
 incomplete treaties must be signed by a new and special 
 minister from Austria. 
 
 The cabinet came to town yesterday from all points of 
 the compass, and are now in session. On the 6th of No- 
 vember they will be here again and then remain to meet 
 for five or six days in succession. 
 
 Yesterday Parliament was formally and farther pro- 
 rogued to the 15th of December, on the coming of which 
 day it will be put over to the beginning of February. 
 
 One of this morning's journals prints a telegram from 
 Hong-Kong, saying that Mr. Ward had not effected the 
 ratification of the treaty at Pekin. Possibly : — but I doubt, 
 on the foundation of a statement made to me by Major 
 McDowell, recently an aid of and introduced by General 
 Scott. He says that while at St. Petersburg, ten days 
 ago, Mr. Pickens informed him that the Russian Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs announced at an interview that Mr. 
 Ward had been treated with the utmost respect and kind- 
 ness, had exchanged ratifications, and was invited to drink 
 tea with the Emperor ! The truth is, that the contrast 
 between peaceful and bullying diplomacy is becoming 
 painfully clear, and must be obscured by canards. 
 
 The French Imperial Court go to Compiegne next 
 month. Of course, dependent and fraternizing sovereigns 
 are expected to rendezvous there. The Grand Duchess 
 Maria, whose marriage I witnessed in 1839, and who has 
 the unenviable reputation of being a consummate politi- 
 cian, will be first and most favored. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 166 TO MR. REED. 
 
 No. 299.-T0 MR. EEED. 
 
 London, Novem'ber 4, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Yours of the 16th enclosed one ad- 
 dressed to Sir George Grey of Cape Colony. Until this 
 morning, I was at a loss for his residence: — nobody as yet 
 being known to be in London. He has your letter now. 
 
 The perversity about China is still surprising. Louis 
 i^apoleon will beheld to his engagement for a joint expe- 
 dition of vengeance, and that may shield the government 
 from Parliamentary condemnation : — for, the high point 
 of acting independently of their great ally is not yet 
 reached, either on "the floor" or the hustings. Mr. 
 Ward has on the whole acted well. I saw from the first, 
 and so wrote home, that the box, on which our piqued 
 friends here were so lavish of their wit and sneers, was in 
 fact designed in kindness and courtesy. At Pekin they 
 went very far in conceding their Court ceremonial in or- 
 der to bring about an Imperial reception: — farther, in my 
 opinion, than you would get the Arbiter elegantiarum of 
 Queen Victoria, Sir Edward Cust, to go. Crede experto. 
 But this is Europe, whose traditionary futilities of five 
 hundred years must be respected; while those of Asia 
 whose roots have been deepening for 3000 years are fit 
 only to be bullied down ! I thought Englishmen more 
 right-minded and just than this Chinese experience shews 
 them to be. All their newspapers except one, and their 
 hustings orators without exception, take special pleasure 
 in striving to make Mr. Ward ridiculous:— ;-and yet they 
 owe to the manly and generous impulses of this gentleman 
 at the critical moment of fight before the Forts, the lives 
 of their admiral and his officers, and the rescue of such 
 of their gunboats as were capable of rescue ! The incon- 
 sistencies of false pride know no end. 
 
 We have a war, a small war in iwesenti but a huge one 
 infiduro, Spain vs. Morocco. This and the coming Con- 
 gress are possibly the means wherewith to provoke a 
 quarrel with England. 
 
 Truly yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 167 
 
 No. 300.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 London, November 11, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — When you get this, the Message will 
 probably be in print, possibly in Congress: — and I must 
 express a confident assurance that upon considerations of 
 a public and pressing nature it cannot reach here too 
 soon. 
 
 The treaties of Zurich, after a succession of obstacles 
 and delays approaching the burlesque, were on the point 
 of signature, when the cabinet of Vienna, in the true 
 virus of the age, suddenly felt the inspiration of money- 
 making, stopped the pens as they touched the parchment, 
 and asked 400,000 dollars morel "My representatives," 
 said Napoleon, "do you attach your names and seals to 
 those instruments, and leave them to remain incomplete 
 if others so choose." This command bore a serious sig- 
 nificance. So Francis Joseph made a virtue of necessity, 
 withdrew his demand, and the treaties became /aite accom- 
 plis late yesterday afternoon. " I tell the tale as it was 
 told to me." 
 
 Count Montalembert does not feel himself martyred 
 with sufiicient emphasis. He was being forgotten: — a 
 wretchedness quite intolerable to a Frenchman who has 
 once tasted fame of any sort. So, now he has rushed 
 into print with two strings to his bow, resolved to be sac- 
 rificed by Napoleon and sainted by the Pope. His bro- 
 chure '''■Pie IX. et La France en 1849 et en 1859" has drawn 
 upon the Correspondant an avertissement ; and will prob- 
 ably make him once more the hero of a public prosecu- 
 tion. On the present occasion he does not, as he did on 
 the last, enjoy the sustaining sympathies of John Bull : 
 for that unselfish old gentleman has been thrown into a 
 perfect splutter of vexation, by finding that this apostate 
 from anglomania has branded his conduct as ^Hgnoble" ! 
 the felicity of which epithet is not diminished by its be- 
 longing to both tongues. 
 
 Your late diplomatic representative at the Argentine 
 Kepublic, Mr. B. C. Yancey, is here. Did he not hail from 
 Georgia I should take him for the brother of the member 
 I once knew from Alabama. He returns to the United
 
 168 TO MRS. SCHOOLCRAFT. 
 
 States ill the painful predicament of Mr. P , to settle 
 
 and realize a fortune of a million left by a deceased father- 
 in-law. 
 
 The foray of Ossowatomie Brown and his band has been 
 commented upon here with a little less of the anti-slavery 
 monomania than usual. The favorite cant ascribes it to 
 " madness." To me there seems so much method in this 
 madness that I cannot but regard the whole as meriting a 
 thorough investigation by commission or committee. Our 
 national future may depend upon the manner in which 
 this plot is dissected and exhibited. To pass it over as a 
 freak will ensure it many imitations. Besides, the con- 
 duct of those who were to he forced into liberty, willy-nilly, 
 goes an immense way to shew the real character of their 
 condition as laborers: — and at the same time may satisfy 
 the most fanatic abolitionist how utterly nonsensical as 
 well as desperate is the object at which he aims. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 301.-TO MKS. SOHOOLOEArT. 
 
 LoNDOK, November 19, 1859. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Schoolcraft, — I received late in Sep- 
 tember last your letter of the 29th of August with its en- 
 closed circular, and fear that I may have incurred your 
 displeasure by submitting to the heavy pressure of offi- 
 cial engagements before making this acknowledgment. 
 
 ISTo one holds in higher estimation than I do the great 
 success achieved by your husband in his history of the 
 aboriginal race of our Continent; — and it will afford me 
 sincere pleasure to avail myself of every opportunity to 
 draw attention to the edition you contemplate publishing. 
 
 In June last I was the happy medium of conveying to 
 the Queen the sixth volume of Mr. Schoolcraft's work, in 
 the name of the President. I presume that the emphatic 
 acknowledgment made by her Majesty, through Lord 
 John Russell, the principal Secretary of State for Foreign 
 Affairs, came to his knowledge. Her Majesty expressed 
 her " very great pleasure in accepting this magnificent 
 and interesting volume," and requested that I would have
 
 TO MR. CASS. 169 
 
 the o^oodness to convey to " the President her sincere 
 thanks for the present of a work which reflects honor both 
 upon its author, and upon the government under whose 
 auspices it has been published." Such praise as tliis, from 
 a Sovereign so universally beloved, and a Secretary so 
 high in literary reputation, should give the work unlimited 
 circulation. 
 
 I am, my dear Mrs. Schoolcraft, with profound respects 
 to your husband, 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 302.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, November 25, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Since my despatch by the Europa of the 
 19th instant, nothing has occurred worthy of otiicial com- 
 munication. 
 
 I am told by Sir Henry Holland that Lord John 
 Eussell has, for the last four or iive days, been so un- 
 well as to be contined to his apartments. Even if this 
 were not so, I have no reason to expect an early attention 
 to the title or taking of San Juan. N"o doubt your 
 thoughts have been turned to the expediency of having a 
 limit assigned to all discussion upon the subject. It is not 
 enough that we should be in possession, though it is a 
 great deal. 
 
 Although I can imagine the multitudinous distractions 
 to which, at the opening of the present Congress, you 
 must be subjected, yet I doubt your being half as much 
 puzzled how to act as Lord Palmerston and his colleagues 
 now are or seem to be. On receiving, the other day, a 
 deputation respecting an improvement in the Law of 
 Bankruptcy, the Premier, thinking that the matter ought 
 regularly to have been carried before Lord John Russell, 
 amused his visitors by a comical excuse for that Secretary, 
 in consequence of the deluge of difficulties pouring into 
 his department from all quarters of the earth. To these 
 cares may probably be soon added that of representing 
 his country at the European Congress to convene in Paris, 
 possibly as early as the 15th of December next.
 
 170 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Lord Cowley paid us a flying visit at the beginning of 
 the present week, and is believed to have borne iVoni Com- 
 pi^gne the cunning proposal of a simultaneous disarma- 
 ment. No ministry could outlive for a week an attempt 
 to arrest the actual movement for defence against possible 
 invasion. Stop the Naval Reserve! Stop the Rifles! 
 Stop the Armstrong guns on their way to the chalky 
 clifis! The astute Emperor probably understands this 
 perfectly: — and only strengthens his own position and 
 plans by offering what is sure to be refused. 
 
 A casual interchange of question, answer, and remark, 
 at the Russian Embassy, with her Majesty's principal 
 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. His lordship an- 
 ticipates much good from the visit of General Scott to 
 Bellevue: — he also has great confidence in the wisdom 
 and forbearance of Admiral Baines: — his principal objec- 
 tion to Harney is the rough or rude style in which he re- 
 plied to Governor Douglas' disproof of Hubb's story that 
 the Hudson Bay's Company had threatened to carry off 
 an American who had killed a pig! I expected him to 
 tell me, but he did not, that Governor Douglas had been 
 recalled. It is so rumored. Not a word yet from the 
 new Envoy, Mr. Wyke, who deflected to Guatemala. I do 
 not ascribe much importance to these chats en salons, but 
 they are not wholly void of significance, and certainly 
 in the one referred to I could perceive nothing inconsist- 
 ent with the impressions heretofore conveyed to you. 
 
 I have just been told, by a perfectly established author- 
 ity for penetrating and disseminating political secrets, that 
 Garibaldi has been invited to Compiegne. The tyrant 
 and the tribune in conclave! There is something Napo- 
 leonic in the conjunction: as it shews a consciousness that, 
 of all the brood of monarchs, he alone, as the offspring of 
 universal suffrage, can handle unharmed the hot irons of 
 democracy. 
 
 Persons recently from Italy (English and American) 
 say that no ejaculation is more frequently heard among 
 the common people than "Oh! if we could only find a 
 "Washington !" Uttered in the sincerity of a trying crisis 
 by the descendants of Brutus, Cato, Gracchus, etc., are 
 we not excusable if proud of these words? Garibaldi is 
 assuredly not an entire Washington : but he is as nearly 
 so as perhaps any man can be not born on the Western 
 Continent.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 171 
 
 Prussia, stimulated by her traditions, is believed to 
 intend, at the coming Congress, to press the adoption of 
 Governor Marcy's proposal to substitute for the abolition 
 of Privateering the entire immunity of private property 
 from capture. It is perhaps to be regretted that we are 
 not 3^et prepared for this beneficent measure. Our great 
 instruments of war on the ocean are the swarms of vol- 
 unteer clippers with which we can so harass the com- 
 merce of an enemy in all parts of the world as speedily 
 to bring him to terms. We deprecate standing armies, 
 huge navies, and our policy is not only peace but perma- 
 nent disarmament. What's to become of us if this last and 
 congenial resource be diplomatized out of our power ? 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 303.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, December 9, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — This note must be accommodated in size . 
 to the little patience you will have left after reading three 
 dull despatches. 
 
 1. My confidence in the punctuality of steam inclines 
 me, as you open this letter, to step out, mingle in your 
 interchange of visits, and very heartily to wish you a 
 merry Christmas! 
 
 2. The early meeting of Parliament, 24th Januarj^, is 
 ascribed to a determination on the part of the cabinet to 
 begin the session with a Reform bill, and to push it 
 steadily through before the holidays. Mr. Bright has 
 just announced at an assenting assemblage of reformers, 
 that he will accept what is supposed to be the ministerial 
 projet, namely the measure explained in the House by 
 Lord John Russell, after the Derby administration had 
 been fatally stricken : i.e. a ten-pound franchise in counties, 
 a six-pound rental one for boroughs, with a large extin- 
 guisliment of seats in small boroughs, and the transfer of 
 those seats to more important constituencies. 
 
 3. This government were, through the Admiralty and 
 admiral, so prompt, quiet, and eflective in rescuing the 
 property of Grinnell and Minturn, on board the Sea
 
 172 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Serpent, from the dangers of a violent mutiny, that 
 though I may feel bound to say something, would it not 
 be well that I should be authorized to convey your formal 
 acknowledgments ? 
 
 4. It is confidently believed, though not technically 
 certain, that the Congress at Paris, which assembles on 
 the 15th or 20th instant, will have Lord Cowley alone as 
 the British representative. 
 
 5. For the first time in England, I was yesterday 
 honored by a visit from Mr. Louis Kossuth. He looks 
 much improved. He is somewhat subdued by long de- 
 ferred hope making the heart sick. He does not, hov^- 
 ever, complain, even of Louis Napoleon. His eye bright- 
 ens, and his arm makes an oratorical gesture, as he refers 
 to the incidents transpiring in Hungary. He says he is 
 growing old. I think not. He is but 57, and his beard 
 only enriched with lines of silver scattered on light- 
 brown. 
 
 6. Of course you have noticed the act of the four Liver- 
 pool merchants who undertook to eclipse the famous 
 Sheffield Foreign Affairs Committee, by addressing a 
 joint note of interrogation to the Emperor, demanding to 
 know what he meant. The thing is too silly to be the 
 burden of remark : — and yet H. I. Majesty has not let 
 slip the opportunity of sending a few keen darts of min- 
 gled encouragement and scorn across the Channel, i^ever- 
 theless his reply don't silence the Laureate's invocation, 
 "Form, form. Riflemen, form!" Drills are enacted 
 everywhere. The Judges and Lawj^ers "play soldiering" 
 every afternoon in Westminster Hall ! 
 
 Always fkithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 304.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, December 16, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Accept my best thanks for your full and 
 kind letter of the 26th November last. I cannot think 
 that the democratic statesmen of the United States will 
 fail, under passionate excitement, to turn to the best ac- 
 count what appears to me the most auspicious period fur-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 173 
 
 nished by our political history for vindicating the social 
 humanity, as well as the national wisdom, of the assailed 
 clauses of the Constitution. 
 
 The diplomatic movement at the Porte, insisting upon 
 the concession required by Mr. Lesseps, is very signiiicant. 
 The Sultan is beset by the combined representatives of 
 France, Russia, Austria, Prussia (?), and Sardinia, who 
 simultaneousl}^ demand that he shall recede from the en- 
 gagement of his Prime Minister with Sir Henry Bulwer, 
 and authorize the canal. Such a pressure is not to be re- 
 sisted by the "sick man." It is, as I regard it, the sud- 
 denly revealed consummation of a profound JSTapoleonic 
 policy, which has been characterized in a recently pub- 
 lished and powerful pamphlet by Emile de Girardin, as 
 the ultimately fatal thrust of the French rapier into the 
 British cuirass. 
 
 Pius the Ninth commissions Cardinal Antonelli to the 
 Congress at Paris. Thai, of course : — for he has no other 
 competent man at his service; but then, feeling the 
 majesty of the Pontificate, he formally claims for the repre- 
 sentative of 160,000,000 of Roman Catholics the Presi- 
 dency of the Assembly. The demand can scarcely be 
 entertained by a Protestant power : — even France may 
 be embarrassed by it : — nor is it altogether impossible, if 
 it be seriously and iirmly pressed, that the contemplated 
 Congress may disperse in anger before organization. I 
 wish this: — and would almost agree to be Mortara-ized, 
 if the Holy Father would effect it:— for, in verity, as Eu- 
 rope is now composed, these general Congresses are mere 
 trumps in the hands of a despotic copartnership. 
 
 All Ireland is getting to be deeply stirred. Meetings 
 are numberless, crowded to excess, extremely violent, 
 and openly proclaiming a higher loyalty than that to the 
 Queen. 
 
 The Russian is beginning to perceive that he has a hard 
 road to travel in effecting the emancipation or enfranchise- 
 ment of the serfs. " The course of true love never did 
 run smooth." Our wishes for his success are rather damped 
 by the bold attitude and language of the dissenting nobles. 
 
 Senator Seward returned home the day before yester- 
 day, I believe by the Arago. As I send you, from the 
 Azores Consulate, a letter respecting the yacht " Wan-
 
 174 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 derer," it may be agreeable to have the enclosed news- 
 paper slips, reporting the subsequent career of her captain. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 305 -TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, December 23, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — A telegram from Galway brings news 
 from the United States as late as the 13th instant, and 
 announces that, at that date, there were still no Speaker 
 and no Message ! However provoking, pretty much as 
 was expected. I cannot help thinking and hoping that 
 the true cause will lose nothing by debate in the House : — 
 but the consequent detention of the great annual expo- 
 sition of national affairs is a grievance of no light weight. 
 
 The Congress at Paris being assured, either for the 5th 
 or (to accommodate Grortschakoff) the 20th of January, 
 and the Plenipotentiaries ascertained, the moment is seized 
 for a Manifesto which discloses, if not dictates, the Napo- 
 leonic programme. This paper, entitled " The Fope and 
 the Congress," passes from the Emperor to the public 
 through the same funnel. Monsieur de la Guerroniere, 
 whence issued the celebrated pamphlet ^^ Napoleo7i 111, et 
 ritalie," which closely followed the sharp words to Hiibner 
 on the 1st January, '59, and in advance vindicated Pales- 
 tro, Magenta, and Solferino. It is a most remarkable 
 document: — leading through a series of lucid and forcible 
 arguments to a conclusion with which all the world might 
 be satisfied except perhaps the Pontiff and his Cardinals. 
 It is here and there sprinkled with refreshing drops of 
 sound democratic doctrine. The right of the Romagnese 
 to choose their own government is not to be controverted, 
 and that they have done so is a fait accompli. France 
 can never coerce them back as subjects of the Pope. Let 
 his Holiness remain an independent sovereign : his terri- 
 tory, Rome: — his police or protection, the troops of the 
 Confederation: — his revenues, the guarantied contribu- 
 tions of the Catholic Powers, and of the 200,000,000 of 
 his spiritual subjects : — hie head and heart relieved from
 
 TO MR. P. 175 
 
 the distractions of administration ; his pursuits those of 
 contemplation, beneiicence, prayer, concord, and peace ! 
 
 All the high officers of government have gone to spend 
 their Christmas holidays in their country homes. They 
 vrill hardly rally here again before Tvi^elfth-Night : — and 
 then they will not have three weeks to prepare for Par- 
 liament. 
 
 The rumor was false that ascribed to the Pope a desire 
 to have Autonelli preside over the Congress. A formal 
 contradiction comes from Rome. 
 
 It is impossible to get at the truth as to the war in Mo- 
 rocco, or the tendency to outbreak in Hungary. Spain, 
 however, has certainly met a more determined and numer- 
 ous foe than she expected. K a few drenching storms, 
 pregnant with cholera, dysentery, and ague, help the 
 Moors, O'Donnell may be driven to his ships. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 306.-TO ME. P. 
 
 London, December 25, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The best thanks of Mr. Sanders and 
 myself are due to you for the eflbrt made to place the 
 Petition before his Imperial Majesty. I received it back 
 safely, and have transmitted it to Mr. Sanders, with the 
 original note from the Department of Count Gortschakofl": 
 — so that he can, if he wish, pursue his object by invoking 
 the kindness of Mr. Stoeckl at Washington. More than 
 twenty years ago, he was a gallant officer in the service of 
 his country, Poland: — but the extinction of all hope there 
 threw him upon the resources of his education and energy 
 in the United States, and, as a fellow-citizen of ours, he 
 has worked his way to general esteem and a competency. 
 
 The brochure just issued in Paris, nominally by M. de 
 la Guerroniere, discloses with eloquence and force the 
 Napoleonic policy designed for adoption by the Congress. 
 France will not permit the banished Dukes to be restored 
 by arms: the position of the Romagnese is incontestably 
 Si fait accompli, and she cannot, consistently with her prin- 
 ciples, compel them to resume an allegiance which they
 
 176 TO MR. P. 
 
 have unanimously and effectually thrown off: the tem- 
 poral sovereignt}' of the Pontiff is essential to his spiritual 
 independence, but it need not be territorially extensive, 
 on the contrary it may best be restricted within the boun- 
 daries of Rome: — let his revenues be ample contributions 
 from the Catholic Powers and Peoples ; his sacred office 
 freed from the distractions of administration ; his subjects 
 without liability to taxation; and his mind bent exclu- 
 sively upon divine contemplation, magnificent ceremo- 
 nials, prayers, and blessings! Such is substantially the 
 programme for the proceedings at the Congress to assemble 
 in Paris about the 20th January, 1860. It is a boldly de- 
 lineated chart, whose lines are strongly marked, and to be 
 misunderstood by nobody, least of all by the Holy Father 
 or Francis Joseph. Will it be carried out? I would say, 
 perhaps it will, if the Czar adhere to France, England, 
 Prussia, and Sardinia. 
 
 Advices from home are to the 13th instant, when Con- 
 gress was still without organization, no Speaker, no Mes- 
 sage:, nor is it very probable that any progress will be 
 made until after the holidays. Naturally, so near the ten- 
 tative foray at Harper's Ferry, and with a state of parties 
 in the House which allows a fair hope to our friends, the 
 excitement runs very high. I am waiting in momentary 
 expectation of hearing of the arrival of the steamer Europa 
 at Liverpool: — she will bring the news down to the 16th 
 instant, and if that be important, an effort shall be made 
 to send it to you. 
 
 Our relations with this government are once more 
 serene. The effect of General Scott's visit is reassuring 
 and tranquillizing. San Juan will be enlivened and pro- 
 tected by the presence of two small military companies, 
 one from each country: — and then, the negotiation, as to 
 the title to the island, renewed, will, I dare venture to say, 
 be protracted pretty much as was the one about the Oregon 
 boundary. 
 
 Pray present the best wishes of the season to Mrs. P. 
 from all my family, and with my cordial salutations, be- 
 lieve me 
 
 Very faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 177 
 
 No. 307 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, December 28, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Sir H. H. calling to make sure that a 
 prescription was eftective, has just told me that Lord Ma- 
 caulay died yesterday morning. His disease was in the 
 heart, and probably attended by an effusion on the chest. 
 Only 59 : — made Peer about three years ago, but has never 
 spoken in the House of Lords. During ray time here, he 
 has been residing two miles out of London, on Campden 
 Hill. His high position in the world of literature will 
 doubtless cause a deluge of obituary notices. 
 
 General Scott's adjustment at San Juan is esteemed 
 satisfactory ; although this good people, as is their wont, 
 think they are entitled to more than enough, and growl 
 askance at Picket's little anti-Indian company. The re- 
 newed assertion of their unquestionable title to the island, 
 in the daily journals, may I think be regarded as an indi- 
 cation that something claiming to be an answer to your 
 argument is on its way. 
 
 The Napoleonic pamphlet "ig Pape et le Congres," which 
 I mentioned in my last, is creating as much chuckle in 
 England as tumult on the Continent. These mild and 
 tolerant Episcopalians look upon it as a fatal stab inflicted 
 upon the Scarlet Lady, by the favorite matricide. The 
 Pontiti"and the Cardinals are startled into activity: — An- 
 tonelli draws back the foot he had stretched towards 
 France : — his intended colleague, already in Paris, Sac- 
 coni, demands official disclaimer by Walewski : even the 
 Gallican Bishops seem shocked, and, with one or two ex- 
 ceptions, are "denying their master:" — and, behold! 
 Count Kisseleff, the Czar's ambassador, though of the 
 Greek Church, says the brochure won't do, that it is too 
 democratic, and that the glorious example of Russia attests 
 the wisdom of keeping united temporal and spiritual sov- 
 ereignties ! In the midst of this fracas, the unanimous 
 "All Hail!" of Central Italy and Sardinia comes roaring 
 over the Alps. It is almost a fair race between the two 
 Congresses, the one at Paris and the other at Washington, 
 which shall organize first and which first disperse. I 
 rather incline to wager on the latter: — but we shall be 
 
 VOL. II. — 12 ,
 
 178 TO MR. EVERETT. 
 
 better able to form an opinion how the heat will end, the 
 day after to-morrow, the pregnant ISTew- Year's Day, when 
 the Papal Nuncio, heading the Diplomatic Body, may 
 possibly evoke or provoke from the Oracle some illumi- 
 nating remark like that darted upon Baron Hlibner. 
 
 Do 3'^ou notice that the old impracticable Boyars of 
 Moscow have so worried and irritated the Emperor Alex- 
 ander, on the question of serf-emancipation, that he de- 
 clines spending his Christmas among them as has been 
 the practice of the Court ? A small fact, signifying much 
 on that point. 
 
 The weather has become quite mild. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 308.-TO ME. EVEEETT. 
 
 London, January 5, 1860. 
 
 My dear Mr. Everett, — You must allow me to sight 
 two birds (and beautiful birds they are !) with a single bar- 
 rel. Mrs. S. B. some month or two ago had permitted 
 me to retain the newspaper copy of your Webster Eulogy. 
 I had indeed a diplomatic jpurpose to which to apply a part 
 of it. Since then the pamphlet with your signature has 
 been cordially welcomed. I can't tell you without seem- 
 ing extravagant how much pleasure it has given me. 
 During m}^ lirst service in the Senate, my seat adjoined 
 Mr. Webster's, and this accidental circumstance led to a 
 constant interchange of remark on politics £tfid persons. 
 You can readily conceive how well I remember certain 
 leading incidents of that his most brilliant and useful time. 
 
 Am I wrong in the impression that you and Mr. Webster 
 were never in the Senate during the same session ? It is 
 to that I ascribe your not dropping a word, while enumera- 
 ting his traits, upon his power as an actor. lie was too 
 grave a statesman to shew this except behind the curtain; 
 but I have seen him, when the galleries were cleared and 
 the doors closed, gesticulate against the " unmitigated 
 tyrant," or repeat a whole scene from Cumberland, with 
 an effectiveness equal to anything done by Demosthenes 
 or Garrick.
 
 TO 31 R. CASS. 179 
 
 In speaking of him as a diplomatist, the Eulogy supplies 
 a most interesting: narrative of what he did while neo-otia- 
 ting the Treaty of '42, as to the JSortheastern boundary, 
 with " the red-lined map of '83." The view taken of this 
 matter by the quondam British Consul of Boston, Grattan, 
 may not have met your eye. I have it, cut from a recent 
 Times, and send it enclosed. 
 
 All lovers of their country doing duty abroad must 
 gratefully thank you for that grand invocation to Union 
 delivered at Faneuil Hall. Nothing sounder, nothing 
 truer, nothing liner. Such an appeal ought to be irre- 
 sivStible. And yet the infatuated and presumptuous men, 
 authors really of all the mischief, know how to be deaf to 
 everything but their own voices. Let them take heed: — 
 for they who halloo on a robber and assassin may find 
 Judge Lynch attracted by the sound. The poisoned 
 chalice is often drained by those who mixed it. 
 
 Lord Macaulay takes his place in Poets' Corner on Mon- 
 day next, the 9th of January. 
 
 Our friend Sir H. H. gives me most pleasant accounts 
 of the happiness of your son at Cambridge, and of the 
 high esteem niwhich he is held. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 Uo. 309.-T0 MR, CASS. 
 
 London, January 6, 1860. 
 
 My dear 'Sir, — We shall soon plunge in medias res, 
 on this side of the water. The Premier's grand minis- 
 terial dinner is announced for the 21st instant: it precedes 
 the opening of Parliament three daj's. The session prom- 
 ises to be interesting from the start, and may become 
 eventful. Parties, however, are unusually tranquil. Cer- 
 tainly there are topics enough on which disagreement 
 must arise: — the war with China, the Morocco policy, the 
 future of Italy, and the Pope, Reform, Church Rates, In- 
 dian Finance, Riiie-corps, Ribbon-men: — but as yet the 
 surface betra^'s no symptom of interior violence. The 
 government can scarcely be said to have its majority in 
 the House; and it is believed to be liable, from hour to
 
 180 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 hour, to explosive dissension : and yet, no one anticipates 
 the advent of a new ministry from any checkmate in the 
 Commons. 
 
 The earthy residunm of Macaulay will he deposited in 
 the Poets' Corner of Westminster Ahbey on Monday next: 
 — and, as within three years he was ^^ created" something 
 better than other folks, the huge folding front door of the 
 great Cathedral will be thrown open for his ashes, and he 
 will not be required, as Stephenson was, to crawl his way 
 through the little back door, occasionally rubbing and 
 sticking against cold walls, to his immortality. But where- 
 fore in the "Poets' Corner"? Assuredly he wrote verses, 
 and good ones too : — but they were thrown into dark 
 eclipse by his Essays and History. In this last department, 
 wherein he chiselled hard at the column of his fame, his 
 integrity has often been assailed: — and it may be that his 
 dust is mingled with that of " Rare Ben Jonson," Shak- 
 speare, Pope, to intimate that he excelled in fiction even 
 when handling fact. 
 
 Count Walewski has ceased to be Napoleon's minister 
 of Foreign Aifairs. The acceptance of his resignation 
 is in yesterday's Moniteur. He is succeeded, ad interim^ 
 by M. Baroche, permanently by Thouvenel, the ambas- 
 sador at Constantinople. This change is, at once and 
 everywhere, recognized as strongly if not conclusively 
 significant of the Imperial determination to adhere to the 
 scheme of the recent pamphlet "ie Pa.pe ctle Congres." 
 In one aspect, it is anti-anglican : — for Thouvenel has 
 signalized his mission at the Porte by routing Sir Henry 
 Bulwer on the Suez Canal: — but in a more important 
 bearing, that of the central independence of Ital}' and the 
 limitation of the Supreme Pontift"s temporal sovereignty, 
 it is all English. One consequence may, I think (though 
 others don't), be safely predicated of this decided coup 
 d'etat: — there will be no Congress, or only such Con- 
 gress as, in the absence of Czar, Kaiser, and Pope, will 
 augment, instead of eradicate, the complications and 
 uncertainties of the "situation." There is ample room 
 on the astrologer's dial for a fresh coalition and another 
 war. 
 
 I long, everybody longs, for the Message : — and yet 
 after the lapse of a whole month from the beginning of
 
 TO MR. CASS. 181 
 
 the congressional session, here comes a newspaper saying 
 that by this time it may just have reached the Capitol ! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 310.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 London, January 13, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am much exercised by the misgovern- 
 ment which appears to prevail on board of our merchant 
 vessels. Acts of mutiny or murder are causing constant 
 applications for rendition warrants. Four of these are at 
 this moment pending. Can nothing legislative be devised 
 to remedy a disease which must bring the service into dis- 
 repute, and ultimately injure our navigation and com- 
 merce ? Would not Mr. Clay, Chairman of the Senate's 
 Committee on Commerce, consider the subject? As akin 
 to this topic, let me add that I shall to-morrow confer on 
 the possibility of a Consular Convention ; — a possibility 
 regarded as very remote. 
 
 The Message came to us in full, two days ago. It is 
 received with a deference and favor altogether unusual. 
 The Times has dwelt upon it every morning in terms of 
 compliment as to matter, tone, and style. The cheek- 
 bursting Boreas of the Advertiser, full of abolition wind, 
 is the only journal that has ventured a rabid roar in the 
 other direction. Such official documents, however treated 
 amid party heats at home, furnish to all lovers of Ameri- 
 can institutions abroad, as you very well know, inexhausti- 
 ble sources of pride and gratification. 
 
 The Pope and the Emperor have crossed rapiers, and 
 simultaneously lunged at each other. iTapoleon's weapon 
 is the more polished : — the Holy Father losing some of 
 his discretion in extemporaneously addressing General 
 Guyon under excitement caused by the really Imperial, 
 though ostensibly anonymous pamphlet "ie Pape et le 
 Congress While Bonaparte soothingly and reverently 
 couples with his " Happy iSTew /ear" the suggestion how 
 wise it would be in the Pontiff to let the rebellious 
 Romagnese go their way, his spiritual and infallible 
 Chief anathematizes the brochure as ^'■ua opuscule qu'on peut
 
 182 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 appeler un monument insigne d'hypocrisie et un tissu ignoble de 
 eont7\ulictions"! The width and depth of a breach thus 
 created cannot be sounded : — and we look soon to see 
 Rome evacuated bj the French troops: — indeed both 
 Guyon and Grammont are reported to have already 
 left. 
 
 A writer of considerable talent, and a shrewd observer, 
 has recently pressed upon public notice a sort of warning 
 which it can do no harm to communicate to you. He 
 shews, in the first place, a large increase made, and still 
 making in the French Navy. Then he points to the 
 quarrel about the Cod fisheries, purposely kept open. 
 And he asks, what the armament is meant for? — ridicules 
 the idea of an invasion of England, and announces the 
 j^apoleonic idea of a reconquest of Canada ! A restora- 
 tion of this great colony, half of whose population remain 
 essentially French, would, he argues, give to Louis 
 Napoleon a brilliant immortality, not otherwise within his 
 reach. 
 
 Do you notice the dexterous manner in which the 
 nobles of Russia have caused the Czar to halt in his 
 plan of. serf-emancipation ? They address him through 
 an imposing committee :• profess to admire the generosity 
 of his aims; and express a readiness to aid the move- 
 ment, if it be accompanied by its indispensable and kin- 
 dred props, freeholds, municipal representation, and 
 liberty of the press ! His Majesty has paused and still 
 pauses. 
 
 A shadowy prospect only is thought to remain for a 
 Congress at Paris. The common tendency is to back 
 from it. Russia doubts, and Gortschakoff declines: — 
 Austria thinks the programme proposed by France alto- 
 gether irreconcilable with the agreements of Villafranca 
 and Zurich, and too unpalatable to be swallowed. Pio 
 Nono and Antonelli are completely staggered. Prussia is 
 quite indifterent. England, after all, would seem to have 
 brought about a condition of things which leaves to the 
 alliance the command of the "situation," and unites her 
 with Napoleon in securing the independence of Italy. 
 The general opinion regards the alliance as closer and 
 stronger than ever. Such I know are the ideas incul- 
 cated in the very highest circles of politics. It is not 
 said ^^ ive have joined Napoleon:'' that would involve
 
 TO SIR G. LEWIS. 183 
 
 ail admission- at which national pride recoils: but ^''Napo- 
 leon has come over to our polict/" is a phrase heard in all 
 quarters, amid flushes of exultation and rubbing of hands. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 311.-T0 SIK G. LEWIS. 
 
 London, January 18, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir George Lewis, — I cannot too cordially 
 thank you for the excellent pamphlet on Jurisdiction and 
 Extradition which accompanied your note of the 16tli in- 
 stant. Having read it carefully, I do not find a single 
 proposition in it to which I can decline adhering. It has 
 given me a strong assurance that one who so perfectly 
 understands his subject will devise modes of removing its 
 practical embarrassments. 
 
 It is a high interest of all nations that great crimes 
 should be punished. But they can be punished only by 
 the jurisdiction within which they occur. The Times and 
 the Post seem not to approve my interposition with the 
 case at Cowes. One regards me as "protesting," the other 
 as impeding the progress of justice. Not at all. The 
 murders cannot be reached by English law. No English 
 court would entertain a case of crime committed on the 
 high seas on board of an American vessel. Not to inter- 
 vene and not to oft'er the only competent jurisdiction, 
 necessarily lead to the ultimate discharge and impunity 
 of the malefactors. Their escape, owing to the imperfec- 
 tions of our extradition system, ma3' be probable : — but 
 without that proceeding it is certain. You and I may, 
 I siucerely hope, contrive some mode of preventing the 
 escape of culprits and witnesses, and remitting them 
 promptly and effectively to the only jurisdiction, here or 
 in the United States, where they can be dealt with. If 
 we don't, each country becomes, more or less, a sanctuary 
 for the other's worst criminals. 
 
 Many apologies and fresh thanks. 
 
 Always faithfully and most respectfully yrs.
 
 134 TO ME. CASS. 
 
 No. 312.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, January 20, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is great rejoicingthat the French 
 Emperor, m an official letter of instructions to Mr. Sec- 
 retary Fould, of the 5th instant, has given his unqual- 
 ified adhesion to the doctrine of Free Trade, and has 
 directed the future to be fashioned accordingly. This 
 grand coup d'etat received its final impulsive blow from 
 Mr. Cobden. That gentleman sought Paris ostensibly for 
 a change of air about two months ago; — but those who 
 watched his movements made public reports of frequent 
 interviews with his Majesty: their conversation even was 
 occasionally detailed : and now the Moniteur of last Sun- 
 day contains the economical dissertation and fiat which 
 for ten days they elaborated upon the anvil between them ! 
 The French trading ports are naturally rejoiced : Bor- 
 deaux and Havre illuminated as soon as they appreciated 
 the reach of the new policy: but, as with us, and as natu- 
 rally, the manufacturing towns demand to be, and are 
 promised to be, fully heard, before the system is practically 
 put into operation i)i 1861. The paper is remarkable for 
 the quarter whence it comes, and is the third in the series 
 of Manifestoes by which its author has marked and con- 
 tinues to mark, in advance, every leap he takes: but to 
 this public, and to us, '■'■ qui ont passes par Id," it suggests 
 nothing very forcible or new. Half an eye perceives how 
 much this movement must strengthen the alliance. 
 
 We have dates to the 7th instant, and yet no Speaker ! 
 This is very bad in reference to the national business 
 and interests: — but in its bearing upon political party, 
 nothing better could be desired. 
 
 The Queen comes to London from Windsor on Monday 
 next, the 23d, to open Parliament in person, at 2 o'clock 
 on the following day. The Premier's summoning missive 
 to the Liberal members has been out for a week. It 
 promises immediate and important measures for legisla- 
 tion. Lord Derby, at a large dinner in Liverpool last 
 night, seems to anticipate a quiet session. 
 
 Mr. Oliphant has made two volumes of considerable iiv 
 terest and attraction out of Lord Elgin's mission, particu-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 185 
 
 larl}^ the visit to Japan. Though he credits the Earl, his 
 patron, with qualities of sagacity, vigor, and tireless ac- 
 tivity, I think one can detect, from a casual word dropped 
 here and there, that the private Secretary's opinion leans 
 towards the American style of pacifically opening China 
 to commerce and intercourse. It is a part of the art of 
 bookmaking, however, not to cloud the prospect of profit 
 by oftending any large class of readers. 
 
 After all, Macaulay did not get to his grave through 
 the vast folding door of the Abbey : — the sublimation of 
 his blood was too recent and imperfect: — 
 
 What cmi ennoble knaves or fools or cowards ? 
 "What? — a single dro}) from any of the Howards ! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 313.-TO MR. CASS. 
 
 LoNUON, January 27, 18*"iO. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Her Majesty's Speech on opening Par- 
 liament is of more length and interest than common. I 
 send you herewith an ofiicial copy. In leaving the House 
 of Lords, I met the Duke of Newcastle, Colonial Secre- 
 tary, who said, "Well! you see we reciprocated the 
 friendly remarks of the President !" I have no doubt that 
 was the design: — but it wOuld be highly un-English if, in 
 carrying it out, they did not employ some word, or take a 
 tone, making the civil intention questionable. 
 
 Earl Grey, though he argued with spirit and force, 
 failed to get the support of Lord Derby to an amendment 
 to the Address, and was obliged to withdraw it. He 
 wished to condemn any regulations of tariif by commer- 
 cial treaty : — this was a little too much in advance, for the 
 one made with France through the active agency of Mr. 
 Cobden had not been communicated to Parliament, and 
 was not actually perfected by signature at the moment 
 his lordship was assailing it. 
 
 There are many more than Mr. Cobden who claim 
 the merit of having converted the French Emperor to 
 Free Trade. Michel Chevallier had certainly much to 
 do with it. So had Baroche. But I was enlightened
 
 186 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 by a long visit from Count Persigny, who coolly and 
 volubly assumed the whole exploit. He declares that 
 he has been at it these five years: that he developed, 
 in successive elaborate papers sent to his Majesty, all 
 the ramifications of the new policy: and that he re- 
 turned from Paris only ten days ago, after a final and 
 successful exertion of his personal influence. How will 
 history decide among these rivals ? Perhaps she may 
 reach the conclusion that Prohibition and Protection 
 yielded, after all, more to the Napoleonic fondness for 
 change, for sudden and surprising coups d'etat, than to the 
 force of facts or logic. 
 
 I had the opportunity last evening of a free after-dinner 
 chat with Lord John Russell respecting Mexico. He is 
 much at a loss what to do: has little confidence in the 
 public roen of that country, except Juarez : is solicitous 
 to avoid even the appearance of attacking the Monroe 
 doctrine by intermeddling with their distracted condi- 
 tion : — the military strength of both contending parties is 
 exhausted: and how enough energy was to be infused 
 into either for executive government, without foreign aid, 
 it was impossible to see. 
 
 The Great Eastern maintains her title of " The Un- 
 lucky:" — she has just lost Captain Harrison, drowned in 
 going to the wharf, and her shareholders and directors 
 are in a tempest of quarrel. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 314.-T0 ME. OASS. 
 
 London, February 3, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am strongly impelled, by a modest 
 sense of demerit, not to send you the enclosed newspaper 
 slip, reporting the interpellation of Lord John Russell by 
 Mr. Monckton Milnes. It is, however, more important 
 that you should see exactly where the proposed Consular 
 Convention is, than that I should indulge mauvaise honte. 
 May it not be necessary to clothe me with a Full Power 
 for the special occasion ? The negotiator does not mani-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 187 
 
 fest a very scrupulous regard for the technical obstacles 
 interposed heretofore by the Crown Lawyers ; and indeed 
 has no reluctance to being esteemed equal, if not a little 
 superior, in their own specialiie, to any of them. 
 
 It is not difficult to perceive that a good deal of the 
 eagerness which prevails to back Bonaparte against the 
 Pope springs rather from Protestant bigotry than love of 
 Italian liberty. The Vatican is an old and preferred tar- 
 get for all the Locksleys of the press: — he who plants a 
 shaft in that bull's-eye, has instantly the reward of a gene- 
 ral shout. The new Encyclical letter exhibits more firm- 
 ness than was predicated of Pio l^ono. It has obliged the 
 French Emperor summarily to suppress the leading organ 
 of ultramontanism, L' linkers^ and to throw himself upon 
 the historical loyalty of the Galilean Church. He does so 
 under the sanction of a special clause in the existing Con- 
 stitution, and with graceful forbearance in regard to the 
 Holy See. But Church and State are now squarely con- 
 fronted, and the past, decies repetita, tells us what to look 
 for as inevitable. 
 
 Your charge in Paris wnll no doubt send you an early 
 copy of the Anglo-franco Commercial treaty. Portions of 
 it have got into the journals here: -but some details are 
 still elaborating and incomplete. The manufacturing and 
 mining opposition is active, impetuous, and outspoken : — 
 it will put the reforming Emperor to a sharp trial. 
 
 The question of Savoy ! aj'e, here it is at last. More 
 than a year ago, I hazarded the "guess" that this Duchy 
 was a stimulant to the anti- Austrian appetite. Well! it 
 is sliding into France, under the operation of a quiet con- 
 tract entered into at that very time with Victor Emman- 
 uel. The secret has been well kept: — perhaps it would 
 have been better to keep it so still, until this country had 
 got more completely into the complicated meshes of the 
 entangling alliance: — for John Bull is already out against 
 his immovable nightmare, anybody's annexation but his 
 own ! 
 
 " The Papal Question in a New Light" by an American Dip- 
 lomatist, is printing in Paris, and is from the pen of our re- 
 cent Minister Resident at Lisbon, Mr. John L. O'Sullivan. 
 The "new light" seems to consist in discovering the iden- 
 tity or strong analogy between the District of Columbia 
 under our Constitution and liome under the plan of the
 
 188 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 Guerroniere pamphlet. Only two-thirds of it, translated 
 from French, have reached here. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer opens his budget on 
 Monday next, the 6th inst. Royalty quits Windsor 
 Castle for Buckingham Palace on the 12th: — and that 
 infinitesimally simple measure, the Parliamentary Reform 
 bill, comes up, for the first time since the world began, on 
 the 2l8t instant. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 315.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, February 10, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir. — " What mighty contests rise from 
 trivial things!" Every sort of mischief seems likely to 
 flow from the ill-timed hoarseness of the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer. On Monday last, his throat refused its 
 mellifluous tones to the eulogy of the budget: — he dared 
 not venture, with a croaking voice, on a permanent in- 
 come tax of nine-pence, a one-sided tariff-treaty with 
 France, and an appropriation of thirteen millions sterling 
 for the navy alone! It is announced as possible that he 
 may undertake the task this evening. In the mean while 
 discontent has so accumulated as to be dangerous, if not 
 altogether impracticable. The delay has given oppor- 
 tunity to coalition; thence, a substantial condemnation of 
 Cobden's arrangement ; thence, a change in the govern- 
 ment ; thence, coldness or quarrel with France ; and 
 thence, finally, a general war! Extravagant as this may 
 seem, I do assure you that the dismal foreboding is seen, 
 felt, and expressed by every knot of politicians at the 
 now numerous *$oirees : — and all the series of disasters 
 unanimously attributed to the sore larynx of Mr. Glad- 
 stone. 
 
 There is some cause for suspecting, in the present 
 House of Commons, a diminution in the zeal for Reform. 
 On the night before last, the bill for abolishing Church 
 Rates, sunk, from a majority six months ago of 74, down 
 to one of 29 : and last night, the ballot, after a hostile speech 
 from Lord Palmerston, was rejected by a majority of 31.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 189 
 
 These votes, united with the sensitive solicitude of Irish 
 members about the Pope, tend to fresh party combi- 
 nations fatal to the present ministry. Lord Derby and 
 his friends are tranquilly watching the course of inci- 
 dents, quite sure that the pear is rapidly ripening and 
 must fixll into their hands before two months elapse. 
 
 You will have noticed that the Peers were unanimous 
 and tirm against the annexation of Savoy to France. The 
 address to the Queen moved by Lord Normanb}^ was not 
 pressed, on the ground that it gave a formality to the 
 ^jrotest unnecessarily offensive to the Emperor. Victor 
 Emmanuel and Count Cavour hold on tightly (as yet) to 
 " the Cradle of the Royal House." The Parisian press 
 is bent on forcing their grasp. The ministry here, after 
 advising against the acquisition, are really indifferent, not 
 seeing any danger in it, to the balance of power. Louis 
 Napoleon seems in no hurry to proclaim his purpose, but 
 all the world knows what it is, and are quite satisfied that 
 sooner or later it must prevail. 
 
 I send, to occupy a cranny in your departmental library, 
 a small volume on the present state of British shipping. 
 It is written by a friend of mine, a member of the House, 
 a large ship-owner, and a clear-headed man. His leading 
 object, he tells me, is to arrest the movement towards the 
 restoration of the Navigation Acts. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 316 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, February 17, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I hurried through my letter this da}' 
 last week in order to reach the House»of Commons in 
 time for Mr. Gladstone's grand performance on his two- 
 stringed harmonium — the Budget and the Treaty. He 
 spoke for four hours uninterruptedly, and with perfect 
 mastery of his complicated subject; the very personifica- 
 tion of self-convinced, eager, and unrelenting Free Trade ! 
 No mercy shewn to a solitary article taxed upon the prin- 
 ciple of protection : — everything of the sort swept scorn- 
 fully to the rubbish heap. In pushing his financial plane
 
 190 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 along the board, lie has, here and there, say iron, coal, 
 hops, and ribbons, cut more fiercely and deeply than is 
 consistent with a prudent policy, and has roused a hor- 
 nets' nest to sting his tariff in every quarter. But he has 
 left his victims no means of escape. The commercial 
 compact with N^apoleon and the entire scheme of taxation 
 are Siamese twins, the former dragging the latter over 
 every obstacle. At a Conservative caucus, a resolution 
 fatal to the ministry on this topic was rumored to have 
 been adopted, and Mr. Disraeli was said to be sharpening 
 his weapon for a home thrust on Monday next the IJOth^ 
 instant. I have, however, reason to disbelieve that this 
 was the strategy finally agreed upon. Lord Derby does 
 not wish to oust his rival at the present moment, and 
 throw everything into sixes and sevens with France sud- 
 denly. The demonstration will cautiously avoid putting 
 the enemy to flight. The debate in the Lords last even- 
 ing was left in the hands of secondary men. Earls Airlie 
 and Grey, and was signalized by the absence of Lords 
 Derby and Malmesbury, although founded on a formal 
 notice. The pear is not ripe. 
 
 You will notice the reply given last evening in the Com- 
 mons to Mr. Liddell upon the subject of our Coasting 
 Trade, by Lord John Russell. Perhaps, as you are referred 
 to, I had better send you the enclosed slip. 
 
 His lordship, in answering Sir Robert Peel, conveyed 
 to my mind the conviction that what I heretofore pre- 
 dicted about the annexation of Savoy to France cannot 
 be prevented. Victor Emmanuel has been distinctly ap- 
 prised by the Emperor that if his power and dominion 
 were swollen by the accession of Central Italy, the Empire 
 would not be safe with the Var as a boundary. Such a 
 notice from the ally who is working out the aggrandize- 
 ment of Piedmont involves a compact not to be disputed 
 hereafter. ♦ 
 
 Lord Elgin goes back to China without delay, to relieve 
 his brother Mr. Bruce, with whose course of action and 
 despatch-writing public opinion is dissatisfied. Mr. Bruce 
 indulged unfairly in catering to what he thought was the 
 diseased appetite of the Foreign Office, by repeating false 
 and frivolous stories of Mr. Ward's contemptuous treat- 
 ment at Pekin. Lord Elgin is sanguine in the belief that 
 he may preserve peace, and j)i'ofesses that to be his sole
 
 TO MR. CASS. 191 
 
 object. Remembering as we must that he extorted the 
 Treaty of Tien-Tsin from Chinese fear, he would hardly 
 seem the fittest agent for a friendly mission. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 317.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, February 24, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — There is no variation in the political 
 tune. It is nothing but treaty and budget, and budget 
 and treaty, at all times, and everywhere. I can perceive 
 only a slight giving way on the part of the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer: — he sops the deep and dangerous baying 
 of "the Trade," i.e. the licensed victuallers, by abandon- 
 ing his proposed licensing for the sale of beer, confining 
 it to wine. With this small exception, he pushes his entire 
 scheme with perseverance and overshadowing ability. 
 His firmness is bolstered by the collateral consciousness 
 that the opposition hold in extreme dread another disso- 
 lution of Parliament, The technical assault of Mr. Dis- 
 raeli on Monday last, was baffled with promptness. The 
 debate may be extended far into the coming week. 
 
 There prevails something like a superstitious aversion 
 on both sides to the proposed fight between Heenan and 
 Sayers, for the Championship. The House of Commons 
 will probably goad the government into preventive energy. 
 The training of the Benicia Boy, in the Isle of Skye, is 
 represented as admirable. 
 
 The Queen's Levee yesterday was amazingly tedious 
 and uncomfortably cold : — relieved for a moment by the 
 Royal sword descending upon the shoulders of the last 
 explorer for Sir John Franklin. The knighthood of Cap- 
 tain McClintock, itself a mere name, closes with some- 
 thing like poetic justice this long protracted drama of 
 sentiment. 
 
 There is a peculiar numbness (an allowable word?) at 
 this moment about the Italian complications. No one 
 can say how they stand. An occasional theorist antici- 
 pates the disclosure of a compromise between the Pope
 
 192 TO MR. CASS, 
 
 and the Emperor. Another will say that Napoleon lingers 
 only until the Treaty, Budget, and Alliance are beyond a 
 perad venture. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 318 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, March 6, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — On this side of the water, the mercury in 
 the political barometer starts upward and sinks fast, very 
 suddenly. The avowal of the Emperor in his address open- 
 ing the legislative chamber on the 1st instant, certainly 
 that he wanted and impliedly that he would have Savoy, 
 has shocked the morality so unanimously and eloquently 
 discoursed for a fortnight in the Palace of St. Stephens. 
 That avowal takes iirmness and form in the diplomatic 
 notes addressed by Monsieur Thouvenel to the French 
 ministers here and at Turin. Lords Palmerston and Rus- 
 sell are deeply committed against the annexation : and 
 in the Commons last night they seemed perplexed in the 
 extreme on discovering that the recently negotiated com- 
 mercial treaty was in danger of defeat by the opposition 
 as a primary protest against enlarging the limits of France. 
 Still, I do not think Lord Derby and his wary associates 
 prepared to take the helm, at the risk of encountering at 
 once a Galilean tempest. The hour for that has not yet 
 struck: — but they do much to consolidate the foundations 
 of their party and to give it a European position, by seiz- 
 ing as theirs the popular dread of Napoleon's designs. 
 Already there are symptoms of sensitive vigilance, if not 
 of coalescing jealousy, in the intercourse and movements 
 of Russia, Prussia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. 
 This repeated "tilling and backing" on the Italian points 
 of policy bewilders interpretation and inculcates the ex- 
 pediency of a general "look-out." 
 
 I cannot say that when I read your last note on San 
 Juan (to Lord John) there was the slightest indication of 
 8ur[)rise or vexation on the part of her Majesty's minister. 
 What you did was probably expected : or, at all events, Lord 
 Lyons had written enough to take off the edge of aston-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 193 
 
 ishment. But, if Horace had not written Nil admirari, I 
 should he inclined to ask, is it not wonderful how persist- 
 ently and variously a bad cause is sometimes pressed? I 
 went on Wednesday last to the reception of the Royal 
 Geographical Society at the residence of their present 
 President, Eaal de Grey and Ripon, late Lord Goderieh, 
 and what do you think "stared me in the face with rapid 
 strides"? — On the wall of the o;rand stairway, conspicuous 
 to the eye of every comer, brilliant in coloring, was a 
 gigantic map of the disputed Island, with its adjacent 
 waters, and a deeply red line, a quarter of an inch wide'., run- 
 ning, as if unalterably convinced, down Rosario Strait! Now, 
 his lordship is not merely the prseses among the manufac- 
 turers of charts, he is also an under Secretary of State for 
 War ! This sort of mural dogmatism can only deceive ; — 
 for, as you say, Rosario Strait is given up: the nailing, or 
 plaistering, a coucededly false pretension is unworthy a 
 sage or statesman. 
 
 The French papers announce that your Plenipotentiary 
 (Mr. Faulkner) presented his credentials to the Emperor, 
 the day before yesterday (Sunday). 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 319.-T0 MR. OASS. 
 
 London, March 9, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have too recently written to have any 
 thing to say. 
 
 At the French Embassy on Tuesday evening last Count 
 Persigny took the trouble to detail to me all the peculiar 
 causes which justify his sovereign in annexing Savoy, or 
 rather the ^'-slopes of the Alps,'' and the extent to which 
 he has been exasperated, not alone by the violent abuse 
 in both Houses of Parliament, but also by the extraordi- 
 nary diplomatic notes which Lord John Russell, ever 
 since July last, has been scattering all over Europe, in 
 deprecation of that resolutely adopted measure. The am- 
 bassador looks upon the state of things as threatening a 
 war in the course of this spring. 
 
 The question of the treaty will be decided in the Com- 
 
 VOL. II. — 13
 
 194 TO MR. MARKOE, 
 
 mons to-night, on Mr. Byng's motion for an address to 
 the Qneen, conveying approbation. I do not doubt the 
 success of the motion. Apart from the almost unanimous 
 aversion to permitting France to have any of the Alpine 
 passes, the ministry is overwhelmingly strong. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 320.-T0 MK. MAEKOE. 
 
 London, March 12, 1860. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Your billet of the 21st February 
 struck a spur into my intent, and caused me to drive 
 in haste to one of the queerest and dirtiest little alleys 
 I have yet seen in London. You marked (as everything 
 delusive is now-a-days marked) with a '■^red line,'' on a 
 certain page of catalogue, a group of Facetias as worthy of 
 prompt pursuit. I rushed to 45 Booksellers' Eow, Strand; 
 and, would you believe it ? the precious rarity had very 
 recently been sold and no other copy was extant ! I had 
 to find consolation in shrugging my shoulders, and in 
 gazing with wonder at the countless accumulations of old, 
 weather-beaten, black, yellow, stained, greasy, big and 
 diminutive volumes, encumbering both sides of the narrow 
 and long streetlet into which I had picked my way on foot. 
 Before vanishing from Mr. A.'sgloomy literary " Curiosity 
 shop," I seized the accompanying list for the present 
 March from off his ledge, and then gaspingly sought a 
 gulp of fresh air. 
 
 What with China, French Treaty, San Juan, Savoy, Im- 
 perial Pamphlets, Counteractive Royal Coalitions, with the 
 lively sessions of Parliament, the thoughts of diplomats are 
 whipped, like spinning tops, into a stand-still of ceaseless ac- 
 tivity. This mission is very different from that at St. Peters- 
 burg. There, I could yawn and doze, without end : — here, 
 not an hour arrives without its budget, keeping me for- 
 ever either in the deeply reflective or the excitedly quivive 
 mood. Which post is the better ? I am not yet old and 
 cold enough to hesitate in preferring this. I am not dis- 
 posed to be dead before I die. After all, there is a charm 
 in living fast, in being on the rack of vigilance, eagerness,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 195 
 
 hope, and hurrah, which goes at once not so much to the 
 heart, as to the immortal spirit within. Of course I am 
 referring to the enjoyments and bustle of the intellect, not 
 to those of sense. London has an immense field for these, 
 just below the Court and above the Counter: and, in that, 
 range vast herds, titled and untitled, the philosophers, the 
 litterateurs, the lawyers, the clergy, the editors, the politi- 
 cians, the experimentalists on matter, mind, and morals, 
 the painters, the sculptors, the musicians, the agricultur- 
 ists, the florists, the photographers, etc., etc., etc. Any 
 man who will anchor himself in this tide of incessant and 
 roaring movement, and give himself to each wave of the 
 flood as it passes, must, if he don't run mad, expei-ience 
 the highest degree of human enjoyment. All this is the 
 better for not being exclusively English. Every country 
 and every language contribute to the result. And all of 
 it is essentially and absolutely apart from the pantomimic 
 finery of royalty, or the grossness of mere money-chang- 
 ing. 'No doubt, the individuals have each and all their 
 repulsive qualities : — but as a stirring whole, the thing is 
 marvellous ! 
 
 All well. Love to all. 
 
 Ever yrs. 
 
 No. 321.-T0 MR. CASS. 
 
 London, March 16, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The " Manchester School" have enabled 
 Lord Palmerston to give two signal victories to the Treaty 
 of Commerce with i'rance, the majority in the Commons 
 being 282 to 56, and in the Lords 68 to 38. The financial 
 scheme of Mr. Gladstone, adapted to the treaty, proceeds 
 almost pari passu, and we already read in the shop-win- 
 dows French articles for sale " duty off"." 
 
 If history does repeat itself, there are always some 
 modifications, some slight shades of difference. That 
 Bonaparte should bag Savoy, even with contemptuous 
 disregard of the European Chart of 1815, is natural 
 enough; — that he should do it, however, simultaneously 
 with the closest embrace he has yet accorded to England, 
 has a spice of novelty quite piquante. Such harmony
 
 1^ TO MR. CASS. 
 
 in defiance of the "balance of power" and the annals of 
 centuries, is wonderful. 
 
 Poor Switzerland points to the gash in her side for 
 ruin's wasteful entrance and shrieks in vain for help! 
 Victor Emmanuel, having attained the full proportions of 
 manhood, parts with his "cradle" without a sigh. And 
 the Savoyards, true to their wandering instincts, are 
 rather eager than otherwise for the change of position. 
 
 The prevailing excess of the entente cordiale is worth 
 watching. It may suggest the expediency of a less 
 friendly tone with us. Our cotton surpasses General 
 Scott as a great paciiicator: — but the new Convention, 
 opening vast markets for coal and iron, inspires exulta- 
 tion. In the Tim.es of yesterday you will find the follow- 
 ing lusty words : " San Juan American, and Vancouver's 
 Island and Columbia British, are incompatible with 
 peace." Heretofore there has been a chime of pens and 
 presses, representing the material relations of the two 
 countries as rendering war between them impossible. Let 
 us see whether a variation is to be struck. 
 
 I have just had a visit from Mr . He has so ab- 
 sorbed me by descriptions of everything and everybody 
 at home, as to oblige me to cut short this note. His con- 
 versational powers, always great, seem greater than ever. 
 He goes to his consulate at Havre to-morrow, by way of 
 Paris. 
 
 The season's circulation in what is termed high life 
 will experience a damp (iheck from the death, two days 
 ago, of the Countess of Granville, wife of the President 
 •of the Privy Council. She was a general favorite. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 322 -TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, March 27, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — At the House of Commons last night, 
 I listened to an outburst from Lord John Russell singu- 
 larly at war with the Treaty of Commerce and pregnant 
 with danger to the Alliance. It was, at the instant, pro- 
 voked by a charge of "truckling" from Mr. Horsman ;
 
 TO MR. CASS. 197 
 
 and it announced, on the part of the ministry, as the con- 
 sequences of recent negotiations with France respecting 
 Savoy, the loss of all confidence in the assurances of the 
 Emperor, and the duty of avoiding isolation in Europe by 
 at once forming connections with other continental Powers 
 interested in preserving the general balance. I have 
 seen this movement preparing for a week past. Lord John 
 has probably replied to the despatch of Mr. Thouvenel 
 whose contents he refused to state, with the animation 
 called for by a haughty tone. The Times has surprised 
 its readers during four or five days with pungent articles 
 on "fourberies de Scapin," "tricks of Figaro," and "in- 
 solence" of the new French Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
 Considering the relations subsisting between the leading 
 writers of this journal, and the chiefs of the cabinet, these 
 pieces could only be regarded as preliminary to a foregone 
 conclusion soon to be disclosed. The opposition loudly 
 cheered: one of whom, while complimenting the perseve- 
 rance of the mutinous Liberals, expressed a hope that, see- 
 ing the manly and patriotic course at last taken, govern- 
 ment would now be unanimously sustained in upholding 
 what were strongly asserted to be the interests, honor, 
 safety, and sentiments of the British People. All this 
 may, according to the genius of our epoch, blow over: — 
 a few honeyed drops of soothing recantation from the lips 
 of pre-eminent power may appease the rising storm : but 
 I am inclined to think that the irrevocable bolt has been 
 shot, and that while Lord John remains in his present post, 
 Napoleon will consider this country as inimical and at work 
 everywhere to thwart his views and restrict his influence. 
 It really would seem, according to the old couplet, that 
 
 The pleasure is as great 
 
 Of being cheated as to cheat, 
 
 for our acute countrymen almost hurry to be duped b}' 
 the rogues on this side the Atlantic. They apparently 
 like being, as lambs in hot weather, affectionately fleeced. 
 Your letter on the newly contrived and extensive fraud 
 reached me after I had received a number of eagerly enquir- 
 ing notes, and after I had thoroughly ascertained the fea- 
 tures, though not the authors of the conspiracy.* This is 
 
 * The contrivance was of the following fashion, and singularly success- 
 ful. The conspirators in London ascertained the residences of individuals
 
 19S TO MR. CASS. 
 
 about the tenth swindle which has invoked my detective fac- 
 ulties. Of course, artful and audacious rascals prearrange 
 to mystify and baffle pursuit : — and I do not believe in the 
 existence of police skill adequate to ferret out and bring 
 to punishment the plotters of so wide ranged, and as it 
 were international a scheme of pocket-pickiag as this. 
 The knaves reckon much and naturally upon the indispo- 
 sition to throw good money after bad: then, uncertainties 
 of success give to distances an insurmountable aspect. 
 But, nous verrons. 
 
 Admiral Van Dockum has ceased to represent Denmark 
 at this Court; and Mr. Eille, the younger, whom we have 
 known at Washington for many years, took the post of 
 Plenipotentiary some five days ago. 
 
 I have just got the private note of which a copy is sub- 
 joined from Lord Clarence Paget, first Secretary of the 
 Admiralty; and I must beg you to request Mr. Toucey 
 to have the document therein referred to, if there be such 
 a one, forwarded to me as promptly as possible. I have 
 not been able to find anything of the sort among the books 
 and papers sent to me. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 323.-T0 ME. CASS. 
 
 London, March 30, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Pardon me for expressing a hope that 
 you have not forgotten to obtain for me from Mr. Toucey 
 the Report on our Naval Dock Yards requested by Lord 
 Clarence Paget. Our countrymen are so constantly, 
 
 in most of the American States from local Directories. They sent by 
 post numberless letters carefully addressed to all parts of the Union, 
 especially to the interior. Each letter stated that the writer had acci- 
 dentally discovered a Will or an Estate in which it appeared thathiscor- 
 respondent was largely interested : — that a claim if promptly asserted 
 could be maintained upon accessible evidence : and that if it were wished 
 that he should investigate records or collect proofs, he was ready to do so 
 on receiving a trifling amount of money, say five or ten dollars, with which 
 to meet preliminary fees or expenses. The bump of credulity and the 
 smallness of the sum required made the suggestion irresistible to thousands, 
 who could not too quickly transmit their cash to the appointed place.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 199 
 
 through me, getting information of all kinds from the 
 depths of the public offices here, that I feel it to be a 
 duty to reciprocate whenever I can. 
 
 At the Queen's Levee on Wednesday the 28th instant, 
 the Premier took occasion to converse about the Slave 
 Tmde. He expressed himself much gratified on noticing 
 the promising plans you were preparing to pursue: — say- 
 ing that the great difficulty arose from the facility yielded 
 to the traffic by Cuba, and intimating that, as toe objected 
 to meddle with any vessel not carrying our Flag, and they 
 had promised not to meddle with any tbat did carrj- it, per- 
 haps the most effective plan, off that island, would be for 
 the cruisers of the two nations, as he termed it, " to hunt in 
 couples," the British cruiser overhauling and examining 
 all vessels bearing colors not ours, and leaving the rest 
 to us. I mention this because Lord Palmerston appeared 
 to hold the idea as a favorite one, to be matured and form- 
 ally proposed : and because it involves a striking recogni- 
 tion anew of the position you have enforced. 
 
 A Liberal Conservative Lnsh M. P. interpellates. Lord 
 John Russell this evening on the condition of the San 
 Juan question. It will not be in my power to attend: — 
 but I presume that his lordship will decline for the present 
 any disclosure, unless indeed he regard your last as closing 
 the negotiation, which is very unlikely. His troubles seem 
 to crovi^d thick upon him just now. Nothing livelier than 
 the agitation in the little diplomatic hive produced by his 
 anti-Napoleonic explosion on Monday last. Persigny pale 
 with passion, and the really stingless cluster of German 
 Envoys buzzing unceasingly with a singular mixture of 
 enjoyment and alarm ! 
 
 I must not omit to state what it was pleasing to hear, 
 when on Wednesday I dined at Buckingham Palace. 
 During the conversation, which on such occasions, after 
 the table is left, always takes place between the Queen 
 and her guests, her Majesty enquired with the utmost 
 kindness about tVie President and Miss Lane: — she was 
 happy to hear of their continued health. I assured her 
 that both would be delighted to know that they were thus 
 remembered. 
 
 The Prince of Wales proceeds to Canada in July. His 
 younger brother Alfred the midshipman, wishes to accom- 
 pany him, but probably will not be allowed to do so.
 
 coo TO LADY H. 
 
 The Duke of I^ewcastle, Secretary for the Colonies, and 
 Lord St. Germans, Lord Steward, will go. The future 
 King and his party will, I have reason to believe, visit 
 Washington. Should there be an invitation? 
 
 The day assigned for Lord Elgin and Baron Gros to 
 embark at Marseilles for China, is the 12th of April. He 
 did not however appear surprised when I suggested the 
 possibility that existing complications with France might 
 stop him altogether. 
 
 1 had the pleasure to introduce yesterday, atliis request, 
 your minister in Madrid to Lord John Russell. Mr. Pres- 
 ton's picture of his Spanish residence is not very flatter- 
 ing. He will cross tlie Atlantic in company with this 
 note: — and, as he moves energetically and rapidly, may 
 reach Washington as soon. 
 
 There is a rumor just from New York, that Cuba is at 
 3'our disposal, though the price is not fixed. Bonaparte 
 may have encouraged the substitution of a colony in 
 Morocco for the precarious one in the Antilles. The 
 rumor will require much confirmation before it gains 
 belief. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 324.-T0 LADY H. 
 
 London, April 5, 1860. 
 
 My DEAR Lady H., — Allow me to express very cordial 
 thanks for your note of last week, respecting the auto- 
 graphs placed in Leicester Square for sale at auction. 
 
 I could not find time until yesterday to visit these inter- 
 esting relics. The signatures of Washington and Lord 
 North are particularly attractive from historical associa- 
 tion and relation. The bold broad hand of the former 
 seems to contrast rebeUiously with the delicate and tiny 
 calligraphy of the latter. 
 
 Again, many thanks, very faithfully and most respect- 
 fully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 201 
 
 No. 325.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, April 6, 1800. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Parliament, at the instance of Lord Pal- 
 merston, acljoarnecl over on the night of the 3d to the 14th 
 instant, that is, for the Easter Holidays. The niemhers 
 of both Houses are now distributed all over the kingdom 
 and in the continental capitals. They left London at the 
 moment when the relations of the Foreign Office were 
 disturbed by despatches from Mons. Thouvenel to Mr. 
 Persigny, and by an unexpectedly bold declaration from 
 Lord John Russell that other allies than France must be 
 sought for. Let us see in what mood they will reassemble. 
 Those who stop in Paris, to assist at the grand /(?te of her 
 Imperial Majesty, or to chat wnth Mr. Cobden, will prob- 
 ably have their " fretful porcupine" quills smoothed gently 
 to their usual level. The Nephew^ is less irritably explo- 
 sive than the Uncle, with equal tenacity of aim. 
 
 Spain is perhaps a reasonably good "quarter racer." 
 She has shewn herself capable of a vigorous eifort, of mili- 
 tary skill, and of courage: — but she has tired soon. The 
 Treaty.of Peace with the Moors is not what O'Donnell was 
 expected to dictate; and it will probably throw a shadow 
 over his returning ovation. You of course notice that, 
 almost simultaneously with the capture of the two steam- 
 ers off Vera Cruz," the Governor of the Balearic Isles, 
 Ortega, attempted a rebellious dash at the Crown of 
 Queen Isabella and the inauguration of Don Carlos ! This 
 political pimple does .not appear to have been thrown to 
 the surface by any interior humors, and has exhaled of 
 itself: — Ortega being chased by his own troops, no one 
 can say whither. 
 
 A Papal Excommunication.cannot be regarded as mere 
 brutum falmen as long as millions of devoted Roman Catho- 
 lics are to be found in almost every country. Napoleon 
 is alive to this: — and he hurries to exclude the lightning 
 from his empire, by invoking an old, nearly obsolete law 
 which prohibits the publication of foreign ecclesiastical 
 acts without special license. To be sure, he is not " nom- 
 inated in the bond :" — neither is Victor Emmanuel, nor in 
 fact any one else: — but it is difficult to discriminate be-
 
 202 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 tween their respective offences: — the alleged crime of 
 despoiling the patrimony of St. Peter is flagrant, — don't 
 the world know "?«/io have taken part" ? who ^^perpetrated," 
 '■'■ warranted " ^^ supported" ^'■helped" ^^ counselled" "-followed" 
 '■^connived at" it? Well, they are all comprehensively and 
 indiscriminately anathematized and scourged out of the 
 Church'. Take an illustration of the immense influence 
 
 of the Vatican : — the Duchess of , the granddaughter 
 
 of Charles Carroll, ending her life in the quiet rural con- 
 tentment of Protestant England, is said to have just sent 
 the Holy Father a cadeau of a thousand guineas ! Rest 
 assured that we shall hear a great deal more than we have 
 yet heard of the potency of this thunder. 
 
 An appeal to the Detective or ordinary Police respecting 
 the frauds upon our citizens involves so large an expend- 
 iture, and so much official distraction and embarrassment, 
 that I hesitate in believing that you intended both should 
 be incurred. The falsehood and swindling character of 
 the pretence have been completely ascertained, and I have 
 written some dozen letters home upon the sulDJect. Per- 
 haps a short warning in the Constitution and Intelligencer , 
 which proved effectual in a similar case about two years 
 ago, might save many a man his four dollars. But can 
 the government be reasonably expected to go farther? 
 The mischief lies in the facility with which, in spite of all 
 experience, our good countrymen allow themselves to act 
 at once upon the faith of a boldly made promise. If 
 they would only take the precaution, l)efore parting with 
 their money, to write to the legation, through your de- 
 partment, or directly, they would be shielded from the 
 contrivances of rogues. If in your name I complain to 
 Lord John Russell of the conspiracy, or in any other man- 
 ner set the ball of criminal enquiry and punishment going, 
 I commit the government to a responsibility for charges 
 whose amount has no limit, and I also, I fear, subject my- 
 self and the secretaries and the archives, to the annoy- 
 ance of judicial process. I can, and do, set a subpoena at 
 defiance, as incompatible with my extra-territorial posi- 
 tion: — but if I volunteer to begin the hunt, what then? 
 Pray think for a moment on these practical suggestions. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. CASS. 203 
 
 No 326 -TO MR. CASS. 
 
 London, April 18, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Notwithstanding the imdeviating and 
 stern course adopted, the ^^revendication" of Savoy has its 
 difficulties. I had the honor yesterday of a visit from 
 Mr. de la Rive, the Swiss representative, and was much 
 gratified by the candor and fulness of his conversation. 
 He considers his country in great danger, and fears that, 
 after what has been done, the Emperor will find himself 
 unable to give her, in the direction of Geneva, the securi- 
 ties which, by the unanimous resolution of all parties, 
 she is determined to exact. Mr. Persigny, to be sure, has 
 encouraged him to hope that ISTapoleon will transfer an 
 adequate circuit of territory to the Republic, the inviola- 
 bility of which may be guarantied by a Congress. But 
 he has the " mistrust" spoken of by Lord John Russell, and 
 inclines to believe that Helvetian safety will ultimately 
 have to be sought in an armed coalition with Germany, 
 Prussia, Austria, and Russia. He is here to demonstrate 
 the rights and perils of Swiss neutrality : — ^erAops England 
 may be persuaded to throw something in the balance 
 weightier than mere remonstrance. An article of much 
 force in the Edinburgh Heview of the present month rather 
 favors that "perhaps." 
 
 Our papers, I perceive, anticipate some pleasurable stir 
 from the visit of the Prince of Wales. It is thought here 
 that he will hasten back, and may probably only see 
 Boston on his way to rejoin his ship. He is an ingenuous, 
 good-looking lad ; in expression taking after his mother, 
 and in quiet polished tone of manner after his father. 
 An article in a New York journal intimating the pro- 
 priety and policy of his being invited, has been reprinted 
 here ; a symptom of the sensitive attachment universally 
 felt for the Queen and her children. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 204 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 No. 327 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, April 20, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Had Doctor Franklin been in the House 
 of Peers last ni^bt he would have found repeating the 
 same favorite abuse of America to which he listened 
 nearly a hundred years ago in the gallery of the Com- 
 mons. Pray read the speech of Earl Grey ; and observe 
 with wbat oily unction he hands our present generation, 
 from its highest to its humblest branch, to the mercies 
 of the common hangman. Your people are venal, cor- 
 rupt, and brutal: your State and Federal judiciary are de- 
 moralized and sunk: your legislatures, local and con- 
 gressional, are mere spoilsmen, except when they are 
 also ruffians : and your President himself and his cabinet 
 are all floating in this ordure of crime ! The excommu- 
 nication is thorough. And on what bald pretence is this 
 wholesale anathema of a nation founded? — simply on the 
 fact that Lord John Russell's proposed measure of reform 
 lowers the franchise from XIO to 6 ! It is difficult to 
 trace the connection, but that matters not: — the oppor- 
 tunity was seized, if not made, to crucify transatlantic 
 democracy. His lordship overshot his mark, — so the 
 Earl of Granville told him — and he runs the risk of being 
 permanently coupled in our aftectionate remembrances 
 with Attorney-General Wedderburne. 
 
 A vague uneasiness prevails as to the state of affairs on 
 the Continent. Nor can this government with any cer- 
 tainty say whether their relations with the Emperor of 
 France are amicable or repulsive. Events are hurrying 
 on, especially in Italy, which must ripen to something 
 definitive before a month is out. On-dits or canards 
 are countless. Among these, a gentleman just from 
 
 Paris (Mr. of the Edinburgh Review) reports that La- 
 
 moriciere has Bonaparte's sanction for enlisting in the 
 Papal service, that the French troops are not to be with- 
 drawn from Rome, and that it is doubtful whether the 
 mutual confidence between the Emperor and Victor Em- 
 manuel can be prolonged. 
 
 I forgot, in my brief critique of Lord Grey's thunder, 
 that he attributed to this mighty monarchy an amiable
 
 TO MR. CASS. 205 
 
 tendency to treat ns as "spoilt children." The Treat}^ of 
 '83 was a concession to "spoilt children;" — we were, like 
 "spoilt children," permitted to flog our parent in 1813- 
 '14 : — the dismissal of Crampton was overlooked as the 
 act of " spoilt children :" and our arrogant diplomacy was 
 only tolerated because we are "spoilt children." Such 
 phrases as these are alike unworthy of the scene, the sub- 
 ject, and the speaker : — rankling as venom in the hearts of 
 individuals, yet puerile as regards the country. 
 
 Our disagreeable weather has continued until one does 
 nothing but abuse the everlasting N^or'-Easter! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 328.-TO MK. OASS. 
 
 London, April 27, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I found great pleasure in reading, four 
 times over, your despatch, to which the private letter 
 of the 5th instant refers. There was nothing which hy- 
 percriticism could wish to alter. Pray take it for granted 
 that I am not liable to be tired with reading any despatch 
 of yours, however "lengthy:" on the contrary, it is both 
 useful and agreeable, as in the effort to convey the con,- 
 tents justly to another, I become more thoroughly mas- 
 ■ter of them myself, and moreover take a certain amuse- 
 ment in witnessing their legitimate effects upon the 
 listener. 
 
 Until the last four months I doubted the existence of 
 eloquence in England. Mr. Gladstone and Sir Bulwer 
 Lytton have dispelled the doubt, by performances equal 
 in force, beauty, and versatility to anything of Brinsley 
 Sheridan's. The Quarterly Review., no friendly critic, pro- 
 nounces the former's four hours' speech on the Budget, 
 " the finest combination of reasoning and declamation that 
 has ever been heard within the walls of the House of 
 Commons:" — and again, "we find ourselves in the en- 
 chanted region of pure Gladstonism, that terrible combi- 
 nation of relentless logic and dauntless imagination." 
 Bulwer, in assailing the Reform bill last night, rose to the 
 same level. I cannot venture to predict the fate of that
 
 206 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 measure: — it is so moderate, that enthusiasm cannot be 
 roused on its behalf: — if the vote were taken by ballot, it 
 would be defeated, bat the ayes and noes on a division 
 are a formidable ordeal for those who love their seats. 
 
 Bad and unwholesome weather prolonged beyond all 
 season. Everybody is victimized by rheumatism or uvula 
 in some shape. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 329.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 4, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — On what is termed "the San Juan" diffi- 
 culty, Lord John Russell was last night "interpellated" 
 by Mr. Fitzgerald. If my knowledge of facts be correct, 
 there is much indistinctness and confusion in his reply. 
 I send it. 
 
 The Reform bill staggers along. The second reading 
 is carried, but farther progress was suspended, amid loud 
 jeering from the opposition, until the 4th of June next. 
 The enemies of the measure have taken great pains, in 
 both Houses of Parliament, to ventilate their hatred of 
 American institutions, laws, and manners. Indeed, that 
 course of atrabilious remark is rather cheered and encour- 
 aged by a large majority of both parties. We must manage 
 to survive and smile : — especially as we are apt to give as 
 hard as we receive. 
 
 On the Continent there would seem to be 'a momentary 
 lull. Everybody, however, regards it as the stillness which 
 precedes the storm. Each new day is expected to develope 
 the coming couj) A fresh map of Europe lies upon the 
 table of every Parisian editor. 
 
 I am earnestly exhorted by a gentleman whom I do not 
 know and never heard of, to inculcate upon my country- 
 men the duty and policy of intervening to stop the atrocious 
 massacres committing in Sicily by Bomba Junior. He 
 hopes nothing for the cause of humanity from England or 
 France, but looks to us. 
 
 Our friend Mr. W. Beech Lawrence, of Rhode Island, 
 has just issued a brochure in Paris, a light well-written
 
 TO MR. CASS. 207 
 
 essay, to vindicate the Southern form of labor, and to 
 show its necessity if the new commercial policy of the 
 Emperor is to be carried out. The " Amis cles Noirs" are 
 quite as numerous in France as here, and equally inacces- 
 sible to reason. Those of the Debats refused to pub- 
 lish any piece extenuating negro slavery: — and, under a 
 sense of duty, he has flung out his pamphlet. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 330 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 11, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The descent of Garibaldi upon Sicily, 
 with a force not exceeding 2000, re-enacts the enterprise 
 of distant centuries. He has managed with equal skill 
 and boldness : allowing nothing to be suspected until he 
 had pushed to sea, with all his companions, and securing 
 a longer start ahead by cutting, on the instant of depart- 
 ure, all the loquacious electric wires in reach. The Island 
 is rampant with insurrection, which his presence will or- 
 ganize and lead to success. Already the restricting epithet 
 "iN'orth" is deemed misplaced in the title of the new 
 Italian kingdom. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's budget was uncomfortably near a fatal 
 blow on the evening of Tuesday last. In a House of 428 
 he carried the repeal of the paper duty by a majority of 
 nine o\\\y. Another such victory, and the opposition will 
 be encouraged to a formidable assault. 
 
 Observe the affectionately polished terms in which Earl 
 Grey and Lord John Russell cut each other up in a series 
 of private though published notes. How worthy of imita- 
 tion by our pugnacious members! • "Dear Lord John^" 
 "Dear Lord Grey:" — can anything be more charming 
 than this mode of pinning baseness and falsehood upon 
 each other? 
 
 Although you w^ould not tell me, I have known for 
 some time, through Mr. Isturitz, that you decline taking 
 any part in a Congress to deliberate on the means of effec- 
 tually extinguishing the Slave Trade. I had been called
 
 208 TO MR. a J. INGERSOLL. 
 
 upon by a diplomat some time ago on this subject. He 
 said his government would follow in the footsteps of the 
 United States: and after much conversation, he added — 
 "Let me put a question: suppose my government to ac- 
 cept Lord John Russell's invitation, how would you re- 
 gard her conduct?" I answered instantly, "As un-Ameri- 
 can and unfriendly." " Am I at liberty to write home to 
 that effect?" "Certainly, as an expression of my individ- 
 ual sentiment and belief: the United States can never 
 consent to be swamped in a European Congress: — in poli- 
 tics, we must be w^ary not to dovetail the two continents." 
 From all I hear, this fresh eflbrt to get a tribune whence 
 to lecture the nations on religion and humanity will fail. 
 Lord John will take nothing by his motion. 
 
 Alw^ays faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 331.-TO MR, 0. J. INGERSOLL. 
 
 London, May 21, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 12th ultimo led me, in 
 frequent conversations with eminent gentlemen, to seek 
 a distinct answer to the question on British constitutional 
 law which it proposed. Is there, in the making of leagues 
 or treaties, a clearl}^ defined line between the prerogative 
 of the Crown and the power of Parliament? Without 
 undertaking a dull and minute course of discrimination, 
 let me give you my impressions. 
 
 What is called "the tendency of the age" shews itself 
 strikingly on this subject. The great Commentator of 
 last century may have been accurate: — he would require 
 liberalization now. He told us that whatever international 
 contracts the sovereign engaged in "no other power in 
 the kingdom can legally dehiy, resist, or annul." That 
 dictum, in its broad import, has ceased to be true. The 
 impeachment of a bad minister is no longer the only re- 
 cognized escape or remedy of an injurious treaty. 
 
 The Commercial Convention recently entered into with 
 France, contains an express declaration that it shall not be 
 valid unless "Her Britannic Majesty shall be authorized 
 by the assent of her Parliament to execute the engage-
 
 TO MR. C. J. INGERSOLL. 209 
 
 meiits contracted by her in its several articles." Such a 
 clause is, I am assured, always introduced in modern trea- 
 ties of this kind: and upon the present occasion its exi- 
 gency was met by the adoption of a joint address to the 
 Queen approving comprehensively the diplomatic pro- 
 gramme. 
 
 I believe it safe to say, now-a-days, that a treaty which 
 calls for a law in order to be executed, may be constitu- 
 tionally nullified by the refusal of either House, the Com- 
 mons or the Lords, to enact that law. If it be necessary 
 to assent., it is competent to dissent. Treaties requiring 
 appropriations of money: treaties establishing tariffs, or 
 mutual terms of interchanging products : and treaties re- 
 linquishing territorial dominions, perhaps-: sink into the 
 power of Parliament. In the olden time, Blackstone 
 would have been shocked if the Executive, bent upon 
 fulfilling an international engagement, had thought it 
 worth while to say more than " Pass the bill : — stet jjro ra- 
 iione voluntas V 
 
 It may be doubted whether the check upon executive 
 discretion be not, in this sphere of public agency, better 
 ascertained here than with us. Chancellor Kent, I think, 
 expressed astonishment and regret that a resolution, 
 founded on the incidents of Jay's Treaty, was passed by 
 the House of Representatives in 1796, declaring what is 
 now understood to be settled English law and practice, 
 that is, if a treaty depend for the execution of any of its 
 stipulations upon a legislative act, the House could and 
 should determine on the expediency of carrying it into 
 eflect or letting it abort. "Whether the principle of that 
 resolution was abandoned, or only pretermitted on the 
 emergency of 1816, may be questioned. It disappoints 
 expectation, but in reality is not illogical, that the treaty- 
 making power when in the hands of a hereditary monarch 
 should be more trammelled and restricted than when in 
 the hands of an elective chief magistrate and Senate. I 
 trust, however, that, should the controversy revive, our 
 representatives may feel themselves, maugre Chancellor 
 Kent, free to be at least as democratic as the British Com- 
 mons. It is noticeable that the precedent of a parlia- 
 mentary stand against a treaty was made during the 
 ministry of Pitt, almost contemporaneously with Jay's : 
 and that while on this side of the Atlantic the popular re- 
 
 TOL. II. — 14
 
 210 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 sistance triumphed, by leading to the withdrawal and 
 abandonment of the measure, on our side, notwithstanding 
 an agitation alike universal and violent, we were com- 
 pelled to swallow, pure and undiluted, the strong concoc- 
 tion of the venerable Chief Justice. 
 
 Very sincerely and faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 332 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, May 22, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Much tribulation was caused by a mo- 
 tion in the House of Lords to throw out, or reject, Mr. 
 Gladstone's favorite measure for the repeal of the tax on 
 paper. It was made by Lord Monteagle, backed hotly 
 by Lord Derby, and after a violent debate of nine hours' 
 duration, it was carried at 2 o'clock a. m. (this morning) 
 by the overwhelming majority of 89 in a vote of 297. 
 The friends of the bill stood upon the privilege of the 
 Commons, to preserve untouched their control of the 
 finances, and specially insisted that to reject a relief of 
 taxation which had passed the House was equivalent to a 
 fresh imposition. The blow is a harsh one on the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer : and, though it keeps him in deep 
 water as far as national income is concerned, it deranges 
 the system of his budget, and throws discredit upon his 
 prudence. The garland of victory is proverbially fragile, 
 and I shall not be surprised if Mr. Gladstone, nettled in 
 the midst of elation, were suddenly to drop the seals of 
 office. 
 
 Garibaldi's defeat of the N"eapolitan forces arrived late 
 last night pretty directly from ^TsTaples. I was told it in 
 the House of Peers by Lord Wensleydale. The battle 
 was fought in the vicinit}^ of Palermo: and probably by 
 this time young Bomba is on the road to Vienna. 
 
 Nobody questions the wonderful powers of Lord Broug- 
 ham. His readiness at plagiarism upon himself is carried 
 too far, and gives a stale look to some of his latter pro- 
 ductions. At his inauguration as Chancellor of the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh, on Friday the 18th instant, he must 
 have consumed a full half-hour in repeating his celebrated
 
 TO MR. CASS. 211 
 
 and superb parallel between the virtues of Washington 
 and the vices of Napoleon I. 
 
 All the world will stream to Epsom to-morrow. The 
 Prime Minister has formally given warning in the House 
 of Commons that he regards the Derby Day as too sacred 
 for legislative business : — he will move an adjournment 
 over. By-the-by, his lordship is not a little addicted to 
 fancies of the kind. The other day, he was obliged to 
 expend heaps of solemn condemnation upon the approach- 
 ing prize fight of Sayers and Heenan : — but he concluded 
 by saying, with a bright twinkle in his eye, "Well! if it 
 must come off' — I hope Tom will beat." 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 333.-TO ME. OASS. 
 
 LoNDON^, June 1, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — In the adjustment of the British Con- 
 stitution, which you know is asserted to be the more per- 
 fect because imperfect, accommodating itself to the exi- 
 gencies of progress, I think the popular principle about to 
 make a fresh advance upon the oligarchical. The right 
 of the Lords to intermeddle in any manner with money 
 bills sent up by the Commons, as well repealing as im- 
 posing taxation, is for the first time broadly and vigor- 
 ously denied. The precedents upon which Lords Mont- 
 eagle, Lyndhurst, and Derby acted in throwing out the 
 measure abolishing the paper duty, are discovered to lack 
 in a slight degree exact applicability : and the Commons 
 seize the occasion to push their privilege farther than 
 it has hitherto gone, by absolutely excluding the Peers 
 from the entire domain of the finances. New forms of 
 bills may be devised for that purpose. Resolutions of a 
 decided character will be introduced in the lower House. 
 And though the actual offfeuce of retaining the paper duty 
 may glide into oblivion, it will become so only after its 
 recurrence is rendered impossible. Such promises to be 
 the issue of the present constitutional conflict between 
 the legislative branches of Parliament. 
 
 My diplomatic colleagues very generally agree in con-
 
 212 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 sidering the state of affairs on the Continent as unpromis- 
 ing and precarious. The "sick man" is once more an 
 
 object of solicitude: and the unhappy Christians in Tur- 
 key are breaking the heart-strings of tender Prince Gort- 
 schakoft". Then, Prussia is carefully restoring the war- 
 footing to her army, while Parisian pens are dropping 
 persuasive pamphlets on the banks of the Rhine. Then, 
 Spain, for some covert reason, instead of doffing, is actu- 
 ally riveting on, the helmets she donned in Morocco: — 
 giving permanency to an army of 200,000, quartered in the 
 Balearic Islands and on her northeastern coast. Then 
 again, the intrigues and tentatives of the exiled Bukes of 
 Tuscany and Modena get encouragement somewhere: — 
 the despairing contortions of Helvetia in the tightening 
 folds of the Gallic constrictor are extremely painful: 
 Hungary is threatening Kaiser Francis with the treatment 
 given to King John at Runnymede: the perturbations in 
 Belgium are equally conspicuous in Leopold I. and Leo- 
 pold's minister Van de Weyer: and finally, see the vol- 
 canic blaze of Garibaldi, whose head-quarters were estab- 
 lished, with Sardinian flag in hand, by the brave chieftain 
 himself in the centre of Palermo ! 
 
 • At last we hear from China. The Brother of the Sun 
 and Moon has contumeliously flouted the terms arrogantly 
 exacted by Mr. Bruce. ISTothing seems left to the Allies 
 but an advance on Pekin, and a race after the Emperor 
 wheresoever he may fly. Whether a retreat like that of 
 Thucydides and his ten thousand from Persia, may not 
 be compelled by mere force of overpowering numbers, we 
 must wait to see. Some straggling engineers and drill 
 sergeants of Russia may possibly be backing the Celes- 
 tials. The enclosed contains what Lord John Russell 
 lately characterized as the "moderate" demands of this 
 government! 
 
 Le Box, as the Parisians call the P. R., is renewing its 
 hold upon the public taste. There are no heroes like 
 those of the fist. Heenan and Sayers recall Hector and 
 Achilles; and one of the panegyrists ranks them on the 
 rolls of fame with Napoleon I. and Wellington! Each 
 has stood, and still stands, in a pelting shower of gold: — 
 each buckles on a belt sparkling with gems and ponder- 
 ous with silver: — both are trumpeted from one end of the 
 kingdom to the other: and even at the Derby, the high-
 
 TO MR. CASS. 213 
 
 mettled racers were forgotten in the universal eagerness 
 to run after the Benicia Boy! The victory over law, 
 civilization, order, and morality, is complete. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 334.-T0 MK. OASS. 
 
 London, June 15, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Things are tranquillizing. Lord John 
 Russell's Reform bill seemed to command too small a 
 majority and has been withdrawn. The vacuum thus 
 produced will enable Parliament to advance rapidly to a 
 close. Agitation on the question of the exclusive financial 
 privilege of the House, although kept alive, will mainly 
 be reserved for the recess. 
 
 Indications make it quite clear that the second daughter 
 of Queen Victoria, the Princess Alice, is about being 
 merged into Dutch Royalty. John Bull has often coun^ted 
 the beads of his rosary, good-naturedly giving to each of 
 them a blessing and a purse, and then growling at the 
 budget. 
 
 A great conjunction takes place to-morrow or the next 
 day at Baden-Baden. N^apoleon III. has an interview 
 with the Prince Regent of Prussia, and several sover- 
 eigns, Saxon, Bavarian, Hesse-Darmstadt, etc., propose 
 to "assist" thereat. Europe has had recent experience 
 of the consequences likely to flow from such consultative 
 reunions. The Emperor, as his own Premier, is apt to 
 state his " idea," to tix it impressively on those who listen, 
 and to leave its complete execution as a thing, willy-nilly, 
 to be done. No doubt, his fiat on the present occasion 
 will point to the Rhine as the natural boundary of 
 France : and one cannot perceive in any quarter the 
 faintest readiness to resist. He will get it, nunc vellunc : 
 possibly by diplomacy, for there is a deep dread of pro- 
 voking him among the royalties, but, if not so, by an 
 overpowering rush from Chalons. 
 
 The annals of Europe, though crowded with the names 
 of great soldiers and seamen, do not furnish a parallel for 
 Garibaldi : — so they call him the Washington of Italy. "W e
 
 214 TO MR. CASS, 
 
 Americans may think the designation a little too flatter- 
 ing : — but in truth he has noble qualities, among which 
 are most conspicuous the very firmness, sobriety, modera- 
 tion, and devotion to duty, which characterized our 
 national favorite. He has plucked Sicily from the Nea- 
 politan crown by a series of rapid as well as prudent 
 movements, and we may soon look for such insurrection- 
 ary collisions among the Lazzaroni as will induce him to 
 cross the Strait of Messina and end the dynasty. All 
 Europe is crying shame at Bomba junior for his barbari- 
 ties — cannonading and shelling, firing and destroying his 
 own city of Palermo and its population ; and the dogma 
 of divine right does not save him from universal con- 
 demnation. 
 
 Another trial trip by the Great Eastern preliminary to 
 starting for New York on the 20th instant. They have 
 been tinkering at her extensively for the last six months, 
 and perhaps she is now a safe steamship: — but she don't 
 promise to perform the voyage in less than ten or twelve 
 days, she is still liable to many interruptions and acci- 
 dents, and, on the whole, the report of the late excursion 
 of twenty-four hours leaves me inclined to prefer a con- 
 veyance by the Adriatic, the Arago, or the Persia. 
 
 Our countrymen are crowding into London bj'' hun- 
 dreds. They are astonished at finding the cold wet 
 weather which we have had all the spring. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 335.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, June 19, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The cluster of kings and kinglets which 
 met for two days at Baden, smiled unimaginable things 
 at each other, and then dispersed as if enchanted with 
 the wonders they had achieved, has opened a fresh and 
 interesting field for speculation and prophecy. Simul- 
 taneous with the departure of Louis Napoleon from Paris 
 was the appearance of a new pamphlet, '■'■Frcmce and Prus- 
 sia,'' by About. This performs the office assigned to the 
 brochure ^'■Napoleon III. et ritalie," in February, 1859,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 215 
 
 which heralded the conquest of Lombardy, and the annex- 
 ation of Savoy and Nice. The first moves in the game are 
 alike: — Guerroniere and About the summoning trumpets. 
 "Reform the vices of your constitution: give up Divine 
 Right: make your legislature what ours is, the offspring 
 of universal suffrage: don't gasp at uttering democracy: 
 expel your treacherous bureaucracy : and then, as soon as 
 you concede to France her 'natural frontier,' she will ex- 
 pand you, as she has expanded Piedmont, into a United 
 Germany." Such is the programme blandly unfolded to 
 the Regent of Prussia, under Imperial inspiration! At 
 Baden, Napoleon shook hands, drank tea, paid first visits, 
 was the model of cordial good-fSllowship, and when he 
 left at night for the Tuileries, only dropped, as interpret- 
 ing the drama, this little pamphlet of About. I send 
 you as much of it as was in the Herald of yesterday 
 morning. 
 
 The alarm here is somewhat on the increase. A com- 
 mission has recently made report on the Public Defences, 
 and its recommendations call for an expenditure of eleven 
 or twelve millions of pounds sterling. French naval force 
 is steadily augmenting. Lord Overstone appears in print, 
 anxious about invasion. Colonel Jebb looks it coolly in 
 the face, adverts to the three successive stages at one of 
 which it may possibly be repelled, and finally, supposing 
 London to be captured, looks to the probabilitj^ of buying 
 oft* the enemy ! 
 
 The cold and wet continue without change. The Great 
 Eastern anticipated her time, and left Southampton for 
 New York on Sunday last the 17th instant. May she 
 arrive safely ! 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 336 -TO ME. OASS. 
 
 London, June 29, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Strong and sincere gratification seems 
 to have been given by the President's note to the Queen 
 inviting the Prince of Wales to Washington. It is talked 
 of in all circles; and the young gentleman himself is
 
 216 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 exuberant with delight. The Duke of ITewcastle antici- 
 pates great enjoyment on the tour, and dwells much on its 
 prospect. He expressed to me a solicitude to avoid, after 
 quitting Canada, any proceeding, such as stopping for a 
 short time at Cincinnati, which would be regarded as the 
 slightest breach of the principle of etiquette that the first 
 visit should be to the White House. Without being too 
 strict in exaction, I have encouraged the expediency of 
 travelling direct to the capital, and afterwards branching 
 in any direction they please. This, I think it probable, 
 will be the course. They calculate on reaching you about 
 the close of September, and on re-embarking for home at 
 !N'ew York about the middle of October: — allowing very 
 little time to the United States. As we shall be involved 
 in the universal and absorbing distractions of a Presiden- 
 tial election, perhaps it is well that it should be so. The 
 programme for the voyage was officially published two 
 days ago, making the start from Devonport on the 10th 
 of July. 
 
 The legislative scene, like the fashionable season, is 
 drawing to a close. Unless something unlocked for 
 should break out. Parliament can hardly protract its ses- 
 sion for another month. 
 
 England is laboring to convince herself that she is a 
 military nation. Within the last week she has held two 
 Reviews, one in Hyde Park of the Volunteer Rifles, and 
 another at Aldershot of Regulars, counting an aggregate 
 of about 45,000 men. Soon, she proposes to inaugurate 
 a system of local games, making the skill in point-blank 
 shooting the object of popular attainment: — like archery 
 in olden times, only substituting the rifle for the cross- 
 bow. She went into ecstacies, as you may have noticed, 
 at the tramp of her 20,000 volunteers, and almost trum- 
 peted defiance to the 400,000 of France. Paris was highly 
 amused. But, after all, there is something in this first 
 taste of the voluntary principle which is really seductive, 
 and may lead to important results. It is a bold and preg- 
 nant idea, that of putting rifles into English hands indis- 
 criminately : — it may possibly end very diti'erently from 
 what is expected. 
 
 Our small screw steamer, of 6 guns, the Iroquois, Com- 
 mander Palmer, is, under the requisition of Mr. Chandler, 
 looking doggedly at the subordinates of young Bomba,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 217 
 
 and we may possibly witness something after the fashion 
 of the Ingraham and Koszta incident. The King is getting 
 so rapidly pushed off his throne, that he bows conces- 
 sions in despair all round. A mere attitude will be quite 
 enough for him. 
 
 Very sad rumors are afloat about the effects already 
 produced, and the worse ones feared, from the continued 
 cold and rain. The crops are in danger here, and indeed 
 all through Europe. Prices of food are rising fearfully. 
 The horrid weather is attributed by some to the great 
 number and huge size of icebergs in the Atlantic. 
 
 Lord Elgin and Baron Gros seem to have lost every- 
 thing but their lives by the wreck in the harbor of Galle. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 337.-TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, July 13, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Mr. Longstreet, one of the delegates 
 appointed by the President to the International Statistical 
 Congress, has reached here in due time, but regrets to 
 find that Mr. Lawrence, his colleague, left England in the 
 Adriatic on the 20th ultimo. It is not impossible that this 
 latter gentleman may be on his way hither. I have had 
 sent to me by Mr. Faulkner from Paris, endorsed as from 
 the Treasury Department, what I take to be his commis- 
 sion and therefore temporarily retain for him. Mr. Long- 
 street will, however, find other American associates in the 
 Congress. Dr. Jarvis has been sent by the Massachusetts 
 Association. This government, through Mr. Milner Gib- 
 son, invited my attendance at the initiation of the move- 
 ment, but I declined for obvious reasons. 
 
 The Prince of Wales embarked in the " Hero " three 
 days ago for Canada. His departure was signalized by 
 naval demonstration and ceremony executed by the Chan- 
 nel fleet. He will go farther South than Washington 
 only to visit Richmond. 
 
 The "sick man," as you have doubtless seen, is getting 
 worse and worse. The Christians are being massacred by 
 thousands in Syria, the Turkish forces too weak or un-
 
 218 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 willing to protect them. On both sides of the Channel, it 
 is beginning to be seen that the Czar Nicholas had reason 
 for his plans, and that Europe may soon be obliged to ex- 
 ecute them. The two Emperors, ISTapoleon and Alexan- 
 der, have a steady and longing eye upon the " l^ew Map" 
 I sent you two years ago, and are only impeded in their 
 project of a coalesced triumvirate of military nations by 
 the obstinate integrity of the Prussian Regent. How 
 long that obstacle will last against the double pressure, 
 right and left, depends much on the energies of Downing 
 Street. 
 
 I listened attentively a few nights ago to a singular but 
 striking speech by the Premier in the Commons. It was 
 on the pending question of privilege, and elaborately ex- 
 cused, if it avoided defending, the rejection by the Lords 
 of the bill remitting the paper duties. To me it savored 
 strongl}' of a disposition to drop, or drive out, certain dis- 
 tasteful members of his cabinet — Lord John Russell, Mr. 
 Gladstone, and Mr. Milner Gribson — for these gentlemen 
 have resolutely and openly flung the gauntlet at the Peers, 
 and are stirring up popular agitation in a manner rather 
 disquieting. Yesterday there was convened at Liverpool 
 what we should consider even in New York a roaring 
 tumultuous meeting on this subject: — and here, three 
 days ago, at the discussion of the topic by a numerous 
 assemblage, a proposal to convene in Hyde Park was in- 
 discreetly opposed by a threat of the newly raised 
 Rifles ! 
 
 The celebration on the 4th was enlivened by a capital 
 speech from Layard (Mneveh Layard) and a very flat one 
 by Dr. Mackay. Our own addresses and toasts were 
 dishwater. 
 
 A fierce assault upon Sir Samuel Cunard and his line 
 of steam ships is now in progress. The gravamen, an un- 
 English concession to anti-negro tastes, by rules of gov- 
 ernijient on board, which accommodated a sable Mrs. 
 Putnam and her numerous family separately from other 
 passengers. They demanded, and now the exclusively 
 civilized press of England demands for them, that they 
 shall eat, drink, sleep, and promenade, undiscriminated 
 by color. What will Sir Samuel do? He has tried to 
 avoid the onslaught, by justly regarding the matter as 
 one to be determined by his own interest in controlling
 
 TO MR. CASS. 219 
 
 his own business: — but they threaten him with the with- 
 drawal of all government aid and countenance, and the 
 bolt of popular excommunication. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 338 -TO ME. CASS. 
 
 London, August 3, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The interest of Europe is just now con- 
 centrated on three novelties : — the filibustero Garibaldi, 
 the Imperial letter-writer, and the religious massacres in 
 Syria. Everything else is for the hour overshadowed. 
 
 The general is supposed to be slightly mutinous : — dis- 
 regarding the advice of Victor Emmanuel, and fatally 
 bent on seeing ITaples. A telegram is daily looked for, 
 announcing his landing on this side of the Strait: and it 
 is said that there lies in the beautiful bay a fine steam- 
 ship ready to receive the King and his household, as soon 
 as the " Hero" touches the Continent. No reliance on 
 the Royal forces : no trust in Lazzaroni : no safety but in 
 quick fiight: "the thief doth fear each bush an officer." 
 
 !N"apoleon'8 epistle to his '^ cher Per sign}/" is regarded 
 as addressed to the British nation. Agreeably to the 
 direction in it, the ambassador laid it before Lord John 
 Russell, who told the House of Commons, and a bad 
 translation appeared in the newspapers on the following 
 morning. I send you a copy in the original French. No 
 more remarkable State paper can well be imagined. He 
 runs over the keys of Imperial policy with the rapid 
 familiarity of a master hand, and seems to smile through 
 his writing at the facility with which he gets over the 
 hard passages of the last year's history. "What does it 
 mean ? No one can say precisely. Perhaps more con- 
 sideration must be given to it. But if, as some think, 
 it was an inspiration of Mr. Cobden's (who continues in 
 Paris) to help Mr. Bright's opposition to the immense 
 expenditure on fortifications, it has failed, for that meas- 
 ure was carried in the House of Commons last night by 
 a majority of 227. 
 
 The hair-trigger tendency to religious war is by no
 
 220 TO MR. CASS. 
 
 means restricted to Syria. There, it has exploded into 
 massacre fierce and undiscriminating : — but alarm pre- 
 vails throughout the Turkish Empire, and the two great 
 sects are everywhere watching each other with dangerous 
 bitterness. Constantinople itself is in something like a 
 state of siege. The Sultan has formally invited "the 
 Great Powers," who signed the Treaty of Peace in 1856, 
 to help his weakness. Bonaparte (exemplary Christian !) 
 springs forward with alacrity, and was hastening his sol- 
 diers to Beyrout and Damascus, when Lord John Russell 
 interposed the necessity of a previous programme of 
 conditions and understandings. If the Zouaves are once 
 bivouacked in the Lebanon, when will they leave it ? 
 
 The Queen proceeds from London to Edinburgh during 
 the night of the 6th and 7th instant, reviews .the Scotch 
 Riflemen on the afternoon of the 7th, and speeds to Bal- 
 moral, Her Majesty will probably visit her new grand- 
 daughter in Berlin early in September. Parliament gives 
 no promise of immediate prorogation, yet London is being 
 rapidly deserted. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. 
 
 No. 339 -TO MR. OASS. 
 
 London, September 14, 1860. 
 
 My dear Sir, — All eyes are fixed upon the movement 
 of General Fanti, at the head of fifty thousand of Victor 
 Emmanuel's forces, into the States of the Church. Guyon 
 is ordered back to his post at Rome, taking with him ten 
 thousand French, as a sort of body-guard for the Holy 
 Father. Very little reliance is felt in Lamoriciere, whose 
 scum of foreign mercenaries only exasperate Italian feel- 
 * ing. The critical moment has arrived; and the Pied- 
 montese cabinet seem suddenly to have taken against the 
 Pope a new attitude of menace and violence. In his 
 extremity, the hand of Bonaparte will be stretched out 
 for his relief. 
 
 Garibaldi entered Naples on the 7th instant, and 
 straightway, as if touched by a magic blight, the throne of 
 Francis II. crumbled into dust. It is said that the King,
 
 TO MR. CASS. 221 
 
 while penning his farewell to his subjects, actually issued 
 an order for the bombardment and sack of the city ! 
 What army he may be able to retain will pass to the ranks 
 of Lamoriciere. His own destination is yet doubtful : — 
 perhaps Spain, may-be the interior of Germany, possibly 
 Vienna. 
 
 On the 3d of next month, and at Warsaw, there will be 
 an ominous conjunction of sovereignties, Russian, Aus- 
 trian, Prussian, etc., and why? only to declare a negative, 
 that they do not propose to coalesce against France. 
 "Methinks they do protest too much." 
 
 The Queen returns from Balmoral to Osborne on Tues- 
 day next, and forthwith prepares for a visit to the Conti- 
 nent. Lord John Russell will accompany her. 
 
 Nothing of much moment as yet from China : — the latest 
 accounts intimate the probability of a battle about the 
 middle of July, which, if it have taken place, should reach 
 us now. In New Zealand the success of the natives 
 against the British authorities has created an anxious 
 feeling. 
 
 Quite a stir has been made about the character in which 
 Mr. Wm. S. Lindsay, M. P., is visiting the United States. 
 Lord John has certainly given it a slight infusion of the 
 diplomatic decoction. So much so that I presume that 
 gentleman will hasten his arrival at Washington, and may 
 seek interviews with the President and yourself on various 
 topics which one would think exclusively manageable by 
 Lord Lyons. Mr. Lindsay called on me before quitting : 
 and I inferred from his conversation that he hoped to do 
 something d la Cobden in Paris. 
 
 London is lifeless : — all the world abroad : rain unabating : 
 and cold annoying. It seems conceded that the harvests 
 have been impaired to the extent of at least one-third. 
 The great astronomer Herschel tells us in a "published 
 letter that he did not predict this season, but that many 
 observations led him io foresee it. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs. •
 
 222 TO MR. MARKOE. 
 
 No. 340.-T0 ME. MAEKOE. 
 
 London, November 23, 1860. 
 
 My dear M., — It is much to be feared that all the pa- 
 triotism and valor of Garibaldi have been wasted. He is 
 essentially a republican ; and so his rash levied troops who 
 nevertheless conquered Sicily and Naples have been dis- 
 banded and dispersed, and himself bowed into the rocky 
 islet of Caprera ! 
 
 Of all interesting monuments of antiquity and power, 
 commend me to Windsor Castle. Mrs. D. and I have 
 just returned from a three days' visit there. We were 
 lodged in the Tower of King Edward III.: and I mounted 
 to the top of the " Round Tower," about three hundred 
 feet above a base constructed by the soldiers of Julius 
 Csesar ! ! Then see the interminable and inexhaustible 
 Corridor: — the Rubens Chamber: the Tapestry: the 
 Royal Plate: the Hall of St. George: the Armor}^: the 
 State apartments. It is far the most imposing and suita- 
 ble Palace to be found in England or perhaps in Europe. 
 Innumerable objects of art, paintings, sculptures, and 
 highly ornamented cabinet works and vases are spread 
 through the Corridor having reference to the incidents of 
 the present reign. The first time the Queen, only seven- 
 teen years of age, presided at the Privy Council, forms an 
 interesting picture. Lord Melbourne, her guardian and 
 Prime Minister, in the attitude of addressing her from the 
 farther side of the table, and looking as if struck by the 
 dignity and ease of her carriage. Then the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, in the presence of her Majesty and Prince Albert, 
 assuming the office of godfather to one of her infants and 
 presenting a richly jewelled casket, forms another. The 
 glowing and gorgeous representation of the Coronation 
 makes a third. Portraits and busts of Popes and Cardi- 
 nals are excellent and numerous. 
 
 You may get this on the day of an opening row in Con- 
 gress, and I hasten to close it, to avoid keeping you away. 
 I have an infinite deal of nothing to say, but not a minute 
 to say it in. 
 
 Always affectionately yrs.
 
 TO MR. MARKOE. 223 
 
 No. 341.-T0 ME. D. 
 
 London, November 16, 1860. 
 
 My dear F., — Your recent visitor the Prince of Wales, 
 though he left Portland on the 20th October, only got to 
 Plymouth yesterday. He had a disagreeable voyage and 
 caused considerable anxiety and alarm. Several vessels 
 had hurried out to scour the seas for him. 
 
 Empresses, you perceive, are becoming flighty. My old 
 Dowager of Russia has taken final leave. The young 
 Austrian, little cared for by her husband, has borrowed a 
 steamer from Queen Victoria to carry her to the health- 
 restoring climate of Madeira. And the lovely parvenu 
 Eugenie, crossing the Channel in a common packet, and 
 content with ordinary cabs, has actually reached Claridge's 
 Hotel in Brook Street, incog. ^ and on her way to a ball at 
 the Duchess of Hamilton's in Scotland ! Is it possible 
 there can be a transient miti" with Louis l!^apoleon ? These 
 Imperial freaks set the world full of conjecture and gossip. 
 • Garibaldi has gone to his rock between Sardinia and 
 Corsica, Caprera: they say, to milk his cows, but one may 
 suspect to cry over spilt cream. Though he still harps 
 on a movement in the spring with a million of men, he 
 probably feels that his great republican idea finds an in- 
 surmountable obstacle in the crown of Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Always affectionately yrs. 
 
 No. 342.-T0 ME. MAEKOE. 
 
 London, March 1, 1861. 
 
 My dear Markoe, — Our latest news from the West 
 plays like a thread of lightning on the horizon and 
 rekindles hope. It is to the effect that the Convention 
 assembled under the counsels of Virginia has under con- 
 sideration a scheme of adjustment, including the best 
 parts of those of Crittenden, Guthrie, and the Border 
 States. Amen! Anything to save a great constitutional 
 country from the self-immolating stroke of panic.
 
 2e4 TO MR. MARKOE. 
 
 Storms have been unceasing during the last month, and 
 the wrecks reported are numberless. 
 
 The Bishop of Poictiers, in an address to hi« clergy, has 
 made a deadly lunge at the Emperor. Like the rest of 
 the world, he regards the signature of "Laguerroniere" to 
 the recent pamphlet of '■'■Itome, France, and Italy'" as sim- 
 ply that of Louis Napoleon. He has the boldness to run 
 openly a parallel which, in a Roman Catholic sense, stamps 
 indelibly the Tuileries pamphleteer, in his treatment of 
 the Pope, as the modern ^'-Pontius Pilate, ivashing-his hands 
 as he surrenders the Saviour to exendion .'" The image is for- 
 cible, is colored into strong relief, and is destined to pro- 
 duce a powerful impression on Galilean consciences. 
 
 We have been treated at the Royal Geographical So- 
 ciety with a charming lecture on the scenery and course 
 of the White Mle, the Mountains of the Moon, and the 
 Gorillas in Africa, by our young American traveller Du 
 Chaillu. He brought me an introductory, and has made 
 a capital hit. The audience at Burlington House was 
 immense, partly ladies. He was complimented at the 
 close by fervent speeches from Professor Owen, Mr. Glad- 
 stone, and Captain Galton: — naturally, his gratification is 
 unbounded. He began falteringly, seemingly intimidated 
 by being in the presence of so great a crowd of strangers, 
 and "as he knew' only his minister Mr. Dallas, he was 
 sure to receive his protection "! 
 
 The lease of the house I have occupied uninterruptedly 
 for five years comes to an annual close on the 24th in- 
 stant. By that tijne I may look to have a successor. I 
 propose, therefore, quietly to forego farther housekeeping 
 in London on that day, and to hold myself in readiness 
 for homeward flight at any moment. Whoever may be 
 sent to this post will be cordially welcomed by me, and 
 facilitated in his first movements as far as may be in my 
 power. I would advise him, as a measure for his own 
 comfort, to rent the establishment I quit, provided it be 
 repaired and refurnished, and to enlist the eight servants 
 who have been with me from the beginning. 
 
 Always faithfully yrs.
 
 TO MR. SEWARD. 225 
 
 No. 343.-TO ME. SEWAKD. 
 
 LoNDOX, March 26, 1861. 
 
 My dear Mr. Seward, — You must allow me to make 
 my sincere ackuowledgments for the personally kind 
 messages received from you through Mr. Mason. 
 
 I shall take pleasure in giving to your representative, 
 my successor, whoever he maj^ be, a cordial welcome, and 
 to place at his service any little aids or facilities with 
 which my stay here may have made me familiar. I do 
 not yet know who is likely to be your choice: and possi- 
 bly he may not be within that range of acquaintances to 
 whom I should feel at liberty to write. But I shall be 
 happy to know that he has been apprised of my readiness 
 to receive him. My own trial in '56 prepares me to be- 
 lieve that he cannot get himself and family ready to emi- 
 grate to London, without great inconvenience, short of two 
 months hence, say by the 1st of June.* I hope for him 
 about that time, and shall be happy to make arrange- 
 ments with Lord John Russell for his comfortable land- 
 ing at Liverpool or elsewhere. 
 
 Reiterating my thanks, I am truly your obliged 
 
 and obedient servant. 
 
 * Mr. C. F. Adams reached London on the 11th May, 1861. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 VOL. II. — 15
 
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 U. S. CHRISTIAN C03IMISSI0N. 
 
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 BAKER'S ABYSSINIA.. 
 
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 ELEMENTS OF AET CEITICISM. 
 
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 THE HISTOET OF AET. 
 
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 TEEEA MAEIiE ; or, Threads of Maryland Colonial History. 
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 COMING WONDEES, expected between 1867 and 1875. 
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 MORTE DARTHUR. 
 
 Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and his Noble 
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 ^■»^ 
 
 INNER I10M:E: 
 
 POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, AND SOCIAL. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. C. M. BUTLER, D.D., 
 
 Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Divinity School, Phil- 
 adelphia; author of "The Book of Common Prayer inter- 
 preted by its History;" "Lectures on the Apocalypse;" "St. 
 Paul in Rome," etc. etc. etc. 1 vol. 12mo. $1.75. 
 
 From the Philadeljihia Inquirer. 
 . . . No modern volume within our knowledge has so thor- 
 oughly entered into an exposition of the government and the social 
 condition of Rome. 
 
 From the Cincinnati Gazette. 
 The book is the result of personal observation as well as the care- 
 ful study of documents only made public since the surrender of the 
 Vcnitian capital to Victor Emmanuel. Hence we find disclosures of 
 long permitted wrong, oppression, and cruelty, that startle us even 
 in this day when rebellion has given so bloody a record of crime. It 
 is the duty of every man to read a volume so opportune, and which so 
 clearly indicates that the Old World is about to pass through an or- 
 deal more severe, if possible, than that in which our own land and 
 people have been tried, and, we trust, purified. We commend the 
 volume to the student, the politician, and the practical man. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. S. I. Prime. 
 . . . No book on Rome or Popery has met my eye so well fitted 
 to show the world what Romanism is at Rome, as this book of yours. 
 
 From Judije Advocate General Holt. 
 My dear sir: I write to thank you sincerely for the volume "Inner 
 Rome." ... I have read it carefully and with much interest and 
 instruction, and think you have done your friends and the country a 
 good service in thus presenting to them the results of your diligent 
 study of the principles and policy and habits of those who have now 
 the guardianship of this " lone mother of dead empires." Be assured 
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 of that friendship with which you have so constantly honored me, 
 and which I gladly and gratefully reciprocate. 
 
 From the Rev. Horatius Bonar, D.D. 
 
 My dear Dr. Butler; . . . I am busy with your work, and find 
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 can only sketch exteriors. You have seen a great deal both of Rome 
 Inner and Rome Outer, and it is pleasant to be introduced by you 
 into one chamber, and another, and another.
 
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