[183]To Lord Morpeth.
my dear Morpeth,—I cannot let a packet sail without telling you of the emotion with which I have read your eloquent and touching address at the close of the polling in the West Riding.1 You have made your political defeat a high moral triumph. I most sincerely think that by putting on record the noble sentiments of your address,—so full of dignity, of love of country, of the warmth of friendship, and of Christian gentleness,—you have done more good to humanity than if you had carried for your party all Yorkshire. Words like those you then uttered do not die; and wherever read they will go to the heart, as they came warm from the heart, with their lesson of love and duty. My friend Judge Story told me that in reading your speech he ‘shed tears for its very manliness.’ In your adversity you found the ‘precious jewel’ as in the toad's head. I trust, however, you will not desert Parliament unless to visit America. The House of Commons will seem blank to me if you are not there. If all is true that the papers report of the success of the Tories, perhaps you will feel disposed to put in execution the plan we once talked over, of a tour in the United States. You know that I should be delighted to see you. I see that my friend Ingham has lost his seat. A more worthy, amiable, and conscientious person I never knew. He was of truth ‘all compact.’ In my estimate of men, his absence from Parliament will be a loss to his country. Milnes holds his place, and I am glad, for I always liked him. You will find Stephens's book on the ruins of Central America amusing and in some respects instructive. His sketches are offhand and bond fide,but without elegance or correctness of style or scholarship. They make you laugh by their natvete;and constant jets of humor. I wish Miss Sedgwick had never written her letters2 on Europe. She has set a bad precedent by publishing about society. The German proverb is, ‘Once a guest always a guest;’ and it is difficult to see how a person can tell the public of hospitalities received without infringing on these sacred rites. My friend, Mr. Edward Everett, has been nominated as Minister to London by the President; but his nomination has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, and a strong objection is made to him by the Southern members on account of his alleged Anti-slavery opinions. He is now in Florence, where he has enjoyed many distinguished courtesies from the Grand Duke. Before he left America I took the liberty of charging him with a line for you. Remember me most kindly to all your house, and believe me ever, Most sincerely yours, P. S. Let me call your attention to the report on Laura Bridgman, a girl deaf, dumb, and blind.
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[183]
1 Speeches, Lectures, and Poems of the Earl of Carlisle, p. 263.
2 Catherine M. Sedgwick's ‘Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home.’
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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