Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and letters of Charles Sumner: volume 3

Chapter 41: search for health.—journey to Europe.—continued disability.—1857-1858.

It is now a month since I wrote you from the British Channel. In this interval I have had many experiences, mostly pleasant. My tine is intensely occupied. Besides making acquaintances here, and seeing the world more than any other American at this time, I am visiting the museums and other objects of interest most systematically. But I am sometimes troubled to find how little I can bear now, compared with that insensibility to fatigue which I had once, even a year ago. My whole system is still morbidly sensitive, and after a walk which would have been pastime once, I drag my legs along with difficulty. Add to this a terrific cold,—they call it la grippe here,—which I have had for three weeks, and which has compelled me to keep the house [526] several days, and you will see some of my drawbacks. Paris is very gay and beautiful, and abounding in interesting people. Of those I have seen, Tocqueville and Guizot have impressed me most. They are very superior men; I am disposed to believe them the first men in France. . . . the intelligence and education constituting the brains of France are all against the emperor, who has the ateliers and his own immediate adherents. All admit that this baby, who was born with such parade, and who is now escorted by cavalry when he takes an airing, can never succeed to power; but I have not yet seen a human being who undertakes to say what will take place in the event of the death of the emperor. my own impression is that the emperor's superiority is found in his fixed will. His purpose is clear, and he is almost the only Man in this condition. . . . I tremble for Kansas, which seems to me a doomed Territory. How disgusting seems the conduct of those miserable men who thus trifle with the welfare of this region! My blood boils at this outrage, and I long to denounce it again from my place.

To C. F. Adams, June 2, from Paris:—

I have often thought of what the good Dr. Bigelow said when he postponed my complete recovery till next December; and I have had gloomy hours thinking that perhaps it would not come then. But my feelings latterly, and particularly for the last few days, give me hope.

After a busy month in Paris he made a tour of three weeks in the provinces, which included Tours and the old chateaux of the Touraine; mettray, where he saw again Demetz, the founder of the penitentiary colony; Angers, Nantes, Bordeaux, and the Pyrenees. His sojourn in Paris after his return was very brief, and he was in London June 16. He was recruited by his journey to the west and south of France; and while daily reminded of his disability by the sensitiveness in his spine, his inability to walk far, and weariness after exertion, he wrote, July 3, that he felt better than at any time since he was disabled.

Some of his English friends had died,—among them Mr.Montagu and Mrs. Basil Montagu, John Kenyon, the first and second Lord Wharncliffe, and Sir Charles Vaughan; and Earl Fitzwilliam was on his death bed. But the greater number still survived.² They remembered him well as he came in his youth, and had followed his career. When they knew him first he was a youth of promise,—intelligent, aspiring, attractive in every way, but without any prestige of name or deeds; he came now with a fame equal to that of any whom he met, and with a record of devotion and suffering. Time had wrought changes also with [527] them as with him. He wrote to Longfellow, June 26: ‘The lapse of nineteen years is very plain in the shrunk forms and feeble steps of some whom I had left round and erect. Some seem changed in mood and character,—particularly Milnes.’ He was welcomed by the Parkeses, Grotes, Seniors, and by Milnes, Reeve, Milman, and Whewell, of all of whom he had seen much during his first visit. He was warmly received by Lansdowne, Brougham, Cranworth (now lord chancellor), Wensleydale (Baron Parke), and Lushington,—all friends of his youth. The Earl of Carlisle promptly welcomed him to the vice-regal lodge at Dublin. the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland pressed him to become their guest at Stafford House; but he preferred the freedom of hired lodgings. During his sojourn in England the duchess and her daughter, the Duchess of Argyll, were most sympathetic; and the latter was from this time until his death his correspondent, showing a constant interest in his personal as well as his public life.³ Lord and Lady Hatherton took an affectionate interest in his health and all that concerned him, and they became his faithful friends. Lords Granville, Aberdeen, and Clarendon were very cordial; the Romillys and Buxtons were most friendly. He was the guest of the Benchers at the Inner Temple, where he met again Samuel Warren, who many years later recalled him as ‘an affable and courteous guest.’ He made from London brief visits to the Sutherlands at Cliveden, to Dr. Lushington at Ockham Park, to T. Baring at Norman Court, to the Earl of Stanhope at Chevening, to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Addington, and to the Laboucheres at Stoke Park. He met Macaulay several times, as at Lord Belper's, the Duke of Argyll's, Lord Lansdowne's, and Earl Stanhope's. He was invited by Thackeray to dine, and by Charles Kingsley to visit Eversley; but these invitations he was obliged to decline. At Cliveden he met Gladstone, apparently for the first time. He had one or two long interviews with Palmerston, and lunched with Lord John Russell at Richmond. Among his new acquaintances was Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. He met the French princes at Henry Reeve's, and also at Twickenham, where the Due d'aumale [528] was living. One afternoon he joined in a fete champetre at Holland House. After seven weeks in London, passed in a round of social engagements,—which were enjoyable, though overtaxing his strength,—he left the metropolis, going first to Midhurst, where he was two nights with Mr. Cobden, who urged a week's visit, and then by way of Weymouth and Jersey to Normandy, where he had engaged to visit Tocqueville at his chateau. Returning to Paris, he next made an excursion to Switzerland, the Italian lakes, Holland, and Belgium. He wrote to C. F. Adams, September 14, from the Hague:—

I know nothing of politics at home; but I have implicit faith in the future. 1 know we shall succeed. Your sons May expect to take part in the triumph, even if we have passed away. Courage! Be of good cheer; the cause cannot fail! I have been impressed by the general prosperity of the countries I have visited; they seem to smile with fertility and the fruits of industry. But amidst all the tokens of prosperity, there seems to be no home for the laborers. I wonder they do not all desert, and come to us.

Sumner was in England again September 19. He remained less than a week in London, visiting for a night Mr. Russell Sturgis at Walton, and Lord Cranworth at Holwood. He dined twice with Mr. Parkes at the Reform Club, but his friends were mostly absent from London. He then went north to attend the exhibition at Manchester, and to fulfil engagements for visits at Mr. Ashworth's at Bolton, Miss Martineau's at Ambleside, and Mr. Ingham's at South Shields. From Edinburgh he penetrated into the highlands of Scotland as far as Fort Augustus, in order to visit an old acquaintance, Edward Ellice, Sr., at Glenquoich. From this northern point he wrote to E. L. Pierce:—

I am here farther north than Iona and Staffa, beyond Morven, and near the Isle of Skye, where Flora Macdonald sheltered Charles Edward. There is no family living within forty or fifty miles of the friend whose guest I now am, and whose estate stretches for miles and miles. In front of the window at which I write are the hills of the immense possessions of Lochiel. I am away from American papers, and without letters. By chance some days ago I had a newspaper which contained Wilson's speech at Worcester,—his best effort. Indeed, I always think his last is his best. Never have I known any person whose improvement was so palpable. I long to see our noble State a unit at the head of our great battle for civilization. This note, beginning in a glen, I finish at an inn in Elgin, October 15.

Afterwards he visited the Duke of Sutherland at Dunrobin Castle, Lord Aberdeen at Haddo House, Sir William Stirling at Keir, the Argylls at Inverary, and James Stirling near Dumbarton. [529] On his return from Scotland he visited Lord Brougham at his seat near Penrith, William E. Forster at Burley, Wharfedale, the Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard (whom he met for the first time after an interval of fifteen years,) and Lord Hatherton at Teddesley Park in Staffordshire. He passed a day at Llandudno in Wales as the guest of John Bright,—the first meeting of two kindred spirits. His last visits were to Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden, and to the Marquis of Westminster at Eaton Hall; and his last night was at Liverpool with Mr. Richard Rathbone, with whom he had a common sentiment on questions of peace, prison discipline, and slavery. He wrote to Mr. Cobden, November 7:—

To-day I sail, against the advice of physicians and friends, who insist upon a longer “fallow” for my brain. But I cannot be contented to stay. Our American political duties are more exacting. Since I parted from you at Chichester I have seen the Channel Isles, Normandy, Paris, Baden-Baden, Switzerland—, the Alps at St. Gothard and St. Bernard, and Chamouni, the Rhine, Holland, then the Manchester Exhibition, the highlands of Scotland, a little of England, including Gladstone and John Bright. The latter I never saw before. I was glad to find him with so many signs of health, though from my own case I can feel how important repose must be to him for some time longer. I leave England profoundly impressed by its civilization, and at the same time painfully regretting three things,—primogeniture, the flunkeyism of servants, and the tolls,—all three showing themselves everywhere.

To Macready:—

I am unhappy that I have not seen you; and not until the last few days did I renounce the idea of reaching Sherborne. But I have not been able to go in that direction. I have sympathized in your sorrows, which I know must be grievous, requiring all of your fortitude and Christian hope, with the solace of remaining children to be borne. Good-bye. God bless you!

During his absence Sumner kept a journal, the only time he ever kept one, except during a part of his former journey to Europe. It was very brief,—made up of mere jottings of each day's experiences; and the larger part of it is here given:—

March 21. A most interesting day. The steamer entered the dock [at Havre] between six and seven o'clock in the morning, and we landed about eight o'clock. Walked about and enjoyed the foreign aspect; went through the farce of custom-house and of passports, and started at eleven o'clock on the railroad for Rouen. The carriages and the—whole management of the road were in contrast with ours, and the country through which we passed was charming. Reached Rouen at two o'clock; stopped at Hotel d'angleterre, and at once sallied forth alone to visit the sights, which kept me on [530] my legs till five o'clock. Dined at table d'hote, and afterwards heard part of “La Dame Blanche.” Weary enough now, and astonished that I am able to endure the fatigue. the sea air, or sea sickness, or absolute separation from politics at home, or all combined have given me much of my old strength.

March, Sunday. Stayed in Rouen another day, partly for rest, and partly to enjoy still more the old town; heard mass and vespers in the venerable cathedral; for several hours drove in an open carriage in the environs, and passed a couple of hours at the opera in the evening.

March 23. Left Rouen this morning at half-past 9 o'clock. The day was fine for March. Much struck by the whole management of the railroad, particularly when the train stopped for refreshments. Civilization seemed to abound. On arriving at Paris,. . . drove to the Hotel Westminster; then sallied forth, and was astonished at the magnificence which I saw, beyond all my expectations. First of all, tried to find my old French teacher, M. Debidas,⁴ 52 Rue St. Dominique. On applying there, the concierge, who had been there twelve years, told me that he had never heard of him; he is perhaps dead. Next called at two different hotels to inquire for Crawford, but could hear nothing of him. Enjoyed part of the Rivoli, the Palais Royal, and the Boulevards, and then two hours at the French opera,— William tell; home, weary, very weary.

March 24. Called on T. G. Appleton, who took me to drive through the new Rivoli and the Boulevards. The improvements are prodigious. Dined with him at his rooms, and then went with him to the Opesra Comique, where I enjoyed very much a new piece,— “Psyche.”

March 25. Moved to the Hotel de la Paix, at the corner of Rue de la Paix and the Boulevards, where I have a beautiful apartment from which I can see all the movement of Paris. At last found where Crawford lodged, but could not see him. His wife told me of his condition, which is sad. I went away sorrowful; walked in the garden of the Tuileries; dined at Trois Freres, Palais Royal, and then played the flaneur, looking into shop windows as I walked along.

March 26. Wrote letters home; visited the Invalides, and saw the new tomb of Napoleon; then visited Mr. William B. Greene and his most intelligent wife, living off beyond the Luxembourg; saw something of that quarter; then dined with Elliot C. Cowdin, a merchant here, once connected with the mercantile Library Association [of Boston],—the first time I have met company at dinner for ten months; then to the Italian opera, where I heard the last part of “II Barbiere di Siviglia. ”

March 27. Enjoyed a drive with Mr.Waterston and Mrs. R. C. Waterston, who took me to various places, among others Notre Dame and St. Étienne du Mont, and afterwards for hours in the Bois de Boulogne, which was new to me, and as beautiful as new. Dined with Appleton, and then with him and Miss Hensler⁵ (our Boston singer), to the Opera Lyrique, where I heard “Oberon.”

March 28. Plunged into the abyss of the Louvre galleries; dined with Mr. Edward Brooks, and then tired myself at the Concert Musard. [531]

March 29. Beautiful day; called again at Crawford's; his wife told me that he had expressed a desire to see me. The diseased eye was covered with a shade; but the other eye and his face looked well. The fatal disease seems, however, daily to assert its power, and has already touched the brain. I held his hand, and expressed my fervent good wishes, and then after a few minutes left. I was told that it would not do to stay long. Before he came into the room, his faithful Italian servant, when I told him I was a friend of Crawford for eighteen years, fell on his knees before me, and poured out his affection and his grief for his master. The whole visit moved me much. This beautiful genius seems to be drawing to its close.⁶ In the evening dined with Mr. Munroe, the banker;⁷ afterwards the Theatre Francais, to hear L'ami à la Campagne, a pleasant piece.

March 30. Drove with Mr.Emerson and Mrs. George B. Emerson⁸ to the museum of porcelain at Sevres, which was interesting. Dined with them, and then with Mr. Emerson went to the French opera, where “La Favorita” was played. Of course the show was fine; but I have heard the chief parts sung with more effect in Boston by an Italian company.

March 31. Rain and unpleasant weather. Dined with Mr.Greene and Mrs. Greene at their lodgings, beyond the Luxembourg. Received to-day an interesting call from the Comte de Circourt.⁹

April 1. Visited the Gobelins; dined at the Cafe Anglais; passed an hour at the reception of Mrs. F. Brooks in the evening; afterwards went to the reception of the Comte de Colonna Walewski, Minister for Foreign Affairs. The hotel was splendid, and the company elegant. His resemblance to his father is marked,¹⁰ his manners cordial and distinguished. I made haste to speak of M. Boileau, the French secretary at Washington, and to commend him warmly. The minister coolly said that he had married a woman without fortune, and therefore could not await the slow course of his diplomatic career;¹¹ he was to pass into the consular, and could not repass. This was because of his marriage!

April 2. Some time this morning at the reception of the Comtesse de Circourt; dined at Very's, Palais Royal; afterwards, at the Vaudeville, heard a piece which has a great run,—the “Faux Bons Hommes.” The acting was spirited and natural.

April 4. Still suffering from my cold, and stayed at home all day till evening. M. de Tocqueville called. His conversation was quite interesting. He did not disguise his opposition to the government. Alluding to Walewski, De Morny,¹² and the emperor,¹³ he said that it was “gouvernement de batards.” [532] There was no disposition, he said, to prevent the writing of books or even of reviews, because these could not reach the workshops; but the daily press was under a close censorship. His own recent work was just passing to the third edition. He did not like Lamartine; in his opinion he had done much harm by precipitating the republic, which was the cause of the existing state of things. In his opinion Theirs is not a great writer; in style Louis Blanc is brilliant. He spoke most kindly and respectfully of George. In the evening, though still unwell, went to a dinner of the Societe daEconomie Politique.¹⁴ First called on Michel Chevalier, who was to take me, and whose appearance is not prepossessing to me. About thirty-five persons were at the table. I was placed at the right of the president. On the other side was a gentleman who mentioned at once that he was a friend of George, and before we parted gave me his card,—Comte de Kergorlay,¹⁵ a member of the legislative body. After the dinner, which was very simple, the Society proceeded to consider several topics of political economy, and then, particularly at the suggestion of M. Passy, an ,old Minister of Finance, began to interrogate me. Professor Mohl¹⁶ of Germany, who has just produced a remarkable work on public law, was another guest. In the course of the dinner I was led to think, from something which fell from the president and his neighbor, a judge of the Court of Cassation, that they were not in favor of the existing state of things. I then made bold to inquire how many of the Society were on this side. To my astonishment, after carefully surveying the company, they replied that Michel Chevalier alone, and perhaps my next neighbor the Comte de Kergorlay, un petit peu, were for the existing state of things. This confirmed a remark which I have repeatedly heard, that the intelligence of the country is against the emperor.

April 5. Stayed at home till evening, still troubled with my cold. Dined with Appleton pleasantly; then drove to Michel Chevalier, who received quite en grand seigneur. His principal room was hung with choice pictures bought from the pillage of the Tuileries in 1848. I liked him much better than at first, and his wife seemed quite pleasant. From there I went to the Waterstons, who had invited a few friends at their hotel, among whom was Madame Laugel¹⁷ and her French husband. I have not seen her since she stood with her mother at the antislavery fairs in Boston.

April 6. Michel Chevalier called to-day, and invited me to dine this evening. Dinner pleasant; nobody present but himself and wife, a prefect, and a judge. From there went to the Comtesse de Circourt's, where was a pleasant company. [533]

April 7. Still suffering from My cold; kept in the house nearly all day. Dined at the Club Des Chemins de Fer, on invitation of Comte Treilhard;¹⁸ about eleven at table.

April 8. Went to Poissy, about fifteen miles from Paris, to see the cattle show.¹⁹ I have seen larger in Kentucky. The ceremonies on the distribution of the prizes were interesting. Too tired for the theatre or society; went to bed before ten o'clock.

April 9. M. Vattemare²⁰ called and took me with Mr. E. Brooks to the Palais de l'industrie. Afterwards I went with him to the Museum of the French Colonies; then to the Bibliotheque du Louvre, which is the private library of the sovereign. Among the specialties here is a unique collection on Petrarch, made by an Italian, Professor Masson, whose life and soul were absorbed by this idea. Here also are the ornamented books which have belonged to the recent sovereigns. In the evening went to Mr. Brooks's, where I met M. and Madame Mohl,²¹ and also the professor.

April 10. Called on M. Vattemare, who showed me his American collection. Took him to drive through the old quarter of Paris as far as the Barriere du Trone, and then paid a pilgrimage to the quiet tomb of Lafayette, in a little cemetery where there is no common dust; all there were of the ancient nobility on earth. Went to St. Roch, also to the Madeleine. The theatres, which to-day are closed, give place to the church. Good Friday; in the evening called on Mr.Leroy and Mrs. Leroy of New York.

April 11. Received a pleasant visit from Mr. Senior of England, who told me something of friends there; in the evening dined with the Comte de Treilhard at the Ancien Cercle; afterwards went to Madame Mohl's, where I had been invited to dine, to meet among others the great Italian actress, Madame Ristori;²² she was still there when I arrived. In her organization and magnetic force she reminded me of Fanny Kemble and Jenny Lind; I should place her in the same category of physical natures. Her manner was amiable and intelligent. In a short conversation which I had with her, she mentioned the voyage as an insurmountable objection to visiting America. She spoke warmly of “Maria Stuardo;” and when I objected that it was a translation, and said that when I listened to Italian I wish to have one of the classics of the langue, she differed entirely, and still contended for her favorite, even against Alfieri.

April 12. Visited Mr. Senior and talked of English friends, and of our American affairs; then to the Hotel de Cluny and Palais des Thermes, which I found very interesting. Such a storehouse of curiosities in America would be most attractive. Visited the Pantheon and other churches; revived my recollections of the Law School and the Sorbonne; dined with Appleton; afterwards for a, little while to the Opera Comique, which I left before it was over to get home to bed. [534]

April 13 Breakfasted by invitation with Mr. Senior. Among the guests were M. de Tocqueville and Lord Granville.²³ the conversation was chiefly in French. A topic which interested me was about public speakers. M. de Tocqueville said that Odilon Barrot was the only one he had known who absolutely spoke without preparation; not even Berryer did this. No one attempted to improvise. Royer-Collard,²⁴ whose name was great, always placed his written discourse on the tribune before him, being unwilling even to seem to do what he did not, for he carefully prepared what he said. Thiers sometimes improvised a speech of five minutes, but his effects were all studied; so also with Guizot. Lamartine sometimes exercised the privilege of correcting the reports of his speeches, even so far as to introduce ‘bravos’ and ‘applaudissements’ which did not take place. Lord Granville said that Lord Palmerston told him that Brougham was the best speaker he had heard in Parliament. I inquired of De Tocqueville about prison discipline. For some years he had left this subject, being entirely absorbed in other directions, and he thought the separate system had lost ground with the government. When arrested on the morning of the coup daetat, he was sent to Vincennes in one of the voitures cellulaires which he had helped to introduce, and thus had a practical opportunity of trying. He was profoundly convinced that the cellular system, even if abandoned for long terms, ought to be established for short terms, and in houses of detention. He spoke of George with warm interest as a personal friend. After breakfast drove to M. Vattemare, who accompanied in to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where he introduced me to M. Sibbermann, who is much interested in the question of weights and measures for all the nations; next to the Mint, which I did not see, but I had a long interview with its head; and next to the Institute, where the Academy of Sciences was then in session. I heard several papers read; saw the ceremony of balloting for corresponding members; saw many of the men of science, among them M. Dumas,²⁵ and particularly M. Le Verrier,²⁶ who had a fresh and young look; dined with Appleton, and went with him to hear Ristori in “Maria Stuardo.” The Italian language was delicious to hear, much more than the French. It seemed to me that the beauty of her acting had not been exaggerated. When the play was over, I was inclined to think that I had never before seen so good an actor, with so much power and so little exaggeration.

April 14. Was with Appleton for some time selecting a dessert service for the Longfellows; then went to M. Vattemare, who took me to a creche, where the little children of laborers are kept during the day; then to the Corps Legislatif, which is the old Palais Bourbon, where I visited particularly the excellent library, and then the Chamber, and traversed the corridors of [535] the bureaus. Went to De Tocqueville's on invitation; found him as usual amiable and interesting, and full of feeling against slavery. He was unwilling that France should be judged by the writings of George Sand, whose morality he condemned. I met there a granddaughter of Lafayette, Mademoiselle de Corcelle,²⁷ and her father, who was French Minister at Rome at the time of the difficulties.

April 15. Breakfasted at eleven o'clock with Mr. Senior, where were M. Guizot, M. Remusat, M. de Tocqueville, De Corcelle, Lord Granville, De Circourt, etc. I had never met Guizot before. His appearance is prepossessing, and his conversation eloquent. The question was asked which of the foreign accents of persons speaking French was least agreeable to Frenchmen. Guizot said at once the German; and the others joined in this, except Remusat, who said the Spanish. Guizot mentioned that Louis Philippe judged a man's ability by the languages he spoke; that the king spoke all the different dialects of the Italian. He expressed to me very kindly his sympathy in my position and his opposition to slavery. I left this company early, in order to keep an appointment with the Comte de Moutalembert,²⁸ at his house in the Rue du Bac. He spoke English with perfect ease and very little accent. He deplored the present state of things in France, and was astonished that his country could humble herself so much. But he did not profess to read the future. He thought that Louis Napoleon would degrade royalty throughout Europe, and hasten its extinction. He was astonished at the extent to which he was favored by the English, even by the Liberals. Formerly, while Louis Napoleon was a member of the Assembly, the Count had been on familiar terms with him, and had recognized the power of his position; but he did not anticipate that he would get so far. Then he constantly avowed faith in his star. The Count thought him a man of courage. Of course the Count was against slavery. In the evening dined with M. and Madame Laugel; Senior was there, and our talk was in English. Afterwards company came, among whom was M. Élie de Beaumont.²⁹ He spoke of Dr. Charles T. Jackson³⁰ of Boston as having made “la belle decouverte de petherisation.” To this I said nothing.³¹ Dr. Evans was here, the Philadelphia dentist, who sees everybody. He speaks of the emperor in the warmest terms of admiration, and describes him as laborious and happy,—beginning the day with a cold bath, and meeting his wife with a kiss.

April 16. This morning called on M. Guizot, who had previously, through M. Vattemare, expressed a desire to receive me. I found him in a small and simple room, of which the walls were covered with books, except where there were three portraits and one medallion. The latter was of Casimir Perier; and one of the portraits was of Lord Aberdeen, both personal friends; the other two portraits were of Washington and Hamilton. He remarked that no people at its cradle had been surrounded by men of so high a character as those in our Revolution and at the formation of the Constitution. He [536] lamented the mediocrity which he found now in France. Among the very young there was talent; but among those between twenty-five and forty there was an absolute want of all remarkable talent. This was the case, he understood, also at the bar. Alluding to the studies of Mr. Bancroft and Mr. Sparks in the department of foreign affairs, he thought the latter had puise; the most.

Returned the call of Sir Robert Dallas. Went to M. Vattemare, who accompanied me to the Imprimerie Imperiale, where spent some time, and also to several other places in that legion of Paris; dined with Mr. Henry James,³² who is here wit his family; then went to Lamartine, who was in bed with a severe rheumatism; his English wife, tall and thin, but refined in person, came to receive me. She expressed much disappointment that her husband's book had not found subscribers in America. The committee organized to procure subscribers had not subscribed themselves.

April 17. Visited the sculptures of the Louvre to-day, and enjoyed those of the Renaissance as historical, and two or three antiques as beautiful, particularly the Diana de la Biche, which has always seemed to me one of the most agreeable remains of ancient art, and also the Venus Victrix. From the Louvre drove to make visits. Dined with Appleton; went with him and Miss Hensler to the Varietes, where we enjoyed several small pieces which made us laugh.

April 18. Visited the Archives Imperiales, and passed several hours. Here I gained a new idea not only of the system which is now applied to the preservation of archives in France, but also which must have superintended them for centuries. Here is a wonderful accumulation of authentic materials, beautifully preserved and arranged, illustrating the history of the country. From this visit, which I enjoyed very much, I rambled through the narrow old streets of Paris as long as my legs would bear me. Unhappily, I am still sensitive to fatigue. In the evening went first to Lady Elgin's; she is aged, but still interesting. Next to the reception of Countess Circourt; then to that of the Duchess de Rauzan,³³ where I met M. Berryer,³⁴ who did not hesitate to express the shame he felt in the existing state of things. He said that they were no longer free in France; that his career was finished; that press and Parliament were both gone. He looked like his pictures, with his black coat buttoned close across his breast almost up to his neck.

April 19. Went to the reception of Michel Chevalier; from there with Mr. Senior to the reception of M. Drouyn de Lhuys,³⁵ formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs. Among my morning visits was one to M. Guerolt,³⁶ a Republican friend of George, who spoke freely about the state of things here. One thing is certain,—nobody believes in the present dynasty.

April 20. Called on M. Drouyn de Lhuys; sat with him in his cabinet [537] nearly two hours. Conversation was in English, which he speaks quite well. He inquired of me particularly with regard to the feeling in the United States towards the emperor and the present state of things, and wished me to answer frankly, as if he were not a Frenchman. This I did at some length. He then gave me an account of his relations with the emperor; of the circumstances under which he took office, and finally quitted it. He does not consider the emperor as remarkable in talents, but in will, and what the French call caractere; also in differing entirely from the French,—being calm and cool, while they are excitable and hot. He is not paresseux; but he is not industrious, and allows his time to be occupied by small things,—as uniforms and plans of buildings and ceremonies. M. Drouyn de Lhuys kept aloof from the coup daetat, with which he had no sympathy. He thought the American government would be wise not to involve itself in the complications growing out of the Chinese war, for that any advantages conquered by England and France would be for the general benefit, and we should be able to profit by them. I found him most intelligent and amiable. He kindly expressed a desire that I should visit him in the country. In the evening dined with Comte de Circourt; De Tocqueville was there. I handed in Madame de Circourt, and on my right I found M. LePlay,³⁷ a friend of George, who takes a great interest in the moral condition of his country, on which we talked much. After dinner was a reception.

April 21. Kept in the house nearly all day on account of my troubles, particularly the cold, which has vexed me ever since my arrival. Received several calls; in the evening Michel Chevalier took me to the reception of M. Magne,³⁸ the Minister of Finance, and then to M. Fould,³⁹ Minister of State. The rooms were fine; the company official, but not numerous.

April 22. Kept in the house again nearly all day. Having accepted the invitation of Comte de Kergorlay some days ago, went out to dinner reluctantly; met a large company, many of them in the present government. From the dinner got home as soon as I could, without going elsewhere.

April 23. Again kept in the house until it was time to keep an engagement made a week ago to dine with Comate de Montalembert. I found his wife agreeable, a great admirer of the character of Washington, of whom she had a portrait in a bed-room at her country house; also a great hater of slavery. She would rather dig with her fingers than live on money wrung from slaves. Montalembert again expressed his mortification that England, amidst all her professions of liberal principles, should lend herself to Louis Napoleon. After dinner several persons cane in; I stole away. Did not go to Jules Simon's,⁴⁰ where I had been invited, but got home as soon as possible, and went to bed.

April 24. Began the day by abandoning a breakfast at Mr. Senior's, where I was to meet Main, the head of the late Venetian Republic, and Lord Ashburton.

April 28. In the house all the time till to-day, when I wrapt up and went to the exhibition of Paul de la Roche's pictures, which pleased me. [538]

May 1. Sent letters to the [American] merchants, declining a public dinner.⁴¹

May 2. At last got out to-day. During all this time I have read and seen company. I have hired a Frenchman who does not know English to come every forenoon to read and speak French with me. Went to the Institute and heard the discourse of M. Mignet on Lakaual.⁴² It was a masterpiece, but had sallies against our country. On my return I addressed him a letter at some length, making a reclamation. In the evening went to the reception of Madame de Circourt.

May 3. Appleton called and took me to the Bois de Boulogne; dined with him. Then to Lady Elgin's; then to Michel Chevalier's.

May 4. This morning received a visit from M. Mignet,⁴³ in which he expressed himself in the handsomest terms with regard to my letter. Visited with Vattemare the library of the Institute, then the Cour des Comptes, where M. Battie, the premier president, received me very kindly, and gave orders that I should see all the archives, which are kept in a separate building, and also the rooms. The machinery of administration in France seems to be perfect. In the evening went to M. de Lamartine. He was in a small room, with some half-dozen ladies and as many gentlemen, and while I was there several came and went. He received me kindly, and afterwards complimented me on my French, which he said was better than that of any American he had seen for ten years. Surely, his experience had been peculiar. He says he can understand English when spoken slowly. He understands the English better than the Americans; the latter speak vite, vite, si vite. Nobody, he said, could anticipate the future of France. With a people so changeable, nothing was certain but change. I observed that there were two or three beautiful dogs which he petted le invited me to visit him in the country. Afterwards went to Madame de Circourt. Lamartine gave an interesting account of Soule⁴⁴ at a dinner with Girardin, where were some eighteen persons, at which he undertook to vindicate slavery in a manner very ennuyeuse, while the company held down their heads.

May 5. Breakfasted at Madame Mohl's. Among the guests were Mrs. Stowe and Mr. Senior. Went to the Corps Legislatif, where, through the kindness of Comte de Kergorlay, I was accommodated with a seat in one of the tribunes. A member who came to me remarked that “nous n'avons pas d'orages.” Everything was very quiet. the debate was on a law regulating, courts-martial. Dined with Appleton; in the evening heard Ristori in “Camilla,” a piece of moderate merit, but very well acted. I did not like it so well as “Maria Stuardo.” [539]

May 6. Breakfasted with Mr. Senior; pleasant company again.⁴⁵ Drove with Appleton to the review in the Champs de Mars, where were sixty thousand soldiers,—more than I have ever seen before, and more than I shall ever see again; dined at a restaurant, and then went to Theatre Porte St. Martin to see the new play entitled “William Shakspeare;” but after two acts was so tired I was obliged to get home.

May 7. Went to Musee d'artillerie; made several calls. Passed my evening quietly; too tired for society or theatre.

May 8. Went to Palais de Justice to hear M. Mairie, a member of the Provisional Government of the Republic; but the case was postponed again on account of the death of his wife. Made calls; drove with Appleton to the Bois. In the evening went to Madame Mohl's, where our Boston Miss Hensler sang, and I met a M. de Turgenev of Russia,⁴⁶ who told me that serfdom would be abolished there within ten years; that the emperor insisted upon it; that nobody vindicated it; that the only question was how to arrange the proprietary interests involved; and that a commission is now occupied with the question. I told him that this was the greatest news I had heard since leaving home.⁴⁷

May 9. Visited the Imperial Library, confining myself to-day to the collection of engravings, manuscripts, and charts. In the latter department I was kindly received by M. Jobart, one of the old Egyptian expedition; also saw a gentleman who claimed to have first invented the system of printing catalogues by stereotyped plates of individual titles, which Mr. Jewett⁴⁸ has put forth in America; drove to the Bois to hear the music of the bands in the Pre Catalan. Dined with Appleton; in the evening, Theatre Francais, where I enjoyed very much “Fiammina.”

May 10. Went to Versailles, merely to see the waters play, without entering the Museum. All the jets seemed feeble by the side of that on Boston Common. In the evening went to French opera, where was the ballet of the “Corsaire,” given by order; in the imperial box were the emperor and empress, and their guest the Grand Duke Constantine.

May 11. Made calls;⁴⁹ dined with Appleton; weary; gave up society and theatre; passed evening at home alone, reading French grammar.

May 12. Went to St. Denis and saw the resting-place of the kings of France; returned the call of Major Poussin; went to the salon of Madame Meynier, who has just written an excellent article showing the inconsistency of slavery and Christianity. There I met M. Passy; also M. Coquerel,⁵⁰ the eloquent preacher, and Mrs. Stowe. [540]

May 13. Visited the Institution des Jeunes Aveugles. Went to St. Germain, the old retreat of the Stuarts, enjoyed the view from the terrace, and dined with Sir Charles Grey.⁵¹ At his table met Mrs. Bland, an agreeable lady, daughter of the late Mr. Wharton, of Philadelphia, married to an Englishman, and now residing here; reached home just before midnight.

May 14. Passed some time at the Louvre; visited the studio of Mr. Kellogg, an American artist; admired very much a portrait on his easel: also enjoyed a collection he has made, among which is a picture which seems to be a Raphael, and another a Leonardo da Vinci; dined with the Laugels, where was De Tocqueville; afterwards went to the reception of Jules Simon, where I met republicans, among whom were Carnot⁵² and Henri Martin⁵³ the historian. Their feeling against Louis Napoleon was bitter.

May 15. Visited the Bibliotheque Imperiale, also the Hotel des Monnaies, and the Institution des Sourds-Muets. At the latter I was much struck by the deaf and dumb, who had learned to articulate simply by watching the lips of a person who spoke; dined with Appleton, where I met Captain Lynch,⁵⁴ who told me many pleasant things of Ferruk Khan, the Persian ambassador.

May 16. Visited the Bibliotheque d'arsenal, then the chatteau at Vincennes, then Pere la Chaise; dined at the Cafe Anglais as the guest of a few Americans here.

May 17. Through the kindness of Comte de Kergorlay, attended a concert of about twelve hundred voices of young musicians under the auspices of the city of Paris;⁵⁵ dined wit Michel Chevalier; at dinner was a Russian prince, also the famous Émile Pereire,⁵⁶ the head of the Credit Mobilier; afterwards went to Comte de Montalembert; he was unwell, but I saw his wife and daughter.

May 18. Visited the Observatory, but could not obtain admission; spent some time examining the collection of the École des Mines; next went to the region of medicine, examined the Musee Dupuytren and plunged into the dissecting rooms, strong with the stench of human flesh; in the evening was too tired for society or theatre; took to my room and books.

May 19. Started early for Versailles, abandoning my morning exercise with my teacher; went through the Trianons, and then through the great museums; returned to town at the beginning of the evening, too tired for anything but my room. I could hardly read my grammar.

May 20. Made calls; then went to Ville d'avray, about nine miles from Paris, to find my old friend Tchihatcheff. He had gone to the steeplechase, not far off; I followed; saw the running and leading of horses, but not my friend; went back to his house, where I saw his new wife;⁵⁷ dined [541] with him; got home at ten o'clock, too tired for society, and compelled to give up several opportunities.

May 21. Drove with Appleton in Bois de Boulogne; caught in a terrible storm of rain; went home, too much exhausted to go out.

May 22. Visited the Horticultural Exhibition in the Palais de l'industrie; drove to Montmartre, saw the cemetery; dined with Appleton, to meet Signor Ruffini,⁵⁸ the Italian who has written so successfully in English; afterwards passed an hour or two at Lamartine's.

May 23. Took my last French lesson to-day, previous to leaving Paris; drove with Appleton to St. Cloud, where we dined in the open air, while the band played near us; in the evening packed my trunk.

May 24. Left Paris for a tour in the provinces, hoping that a change may improve my health, and wishing to see France elsewhere than at Paris; arrived at Orleans by railroad about noon; day beautiful, country charming; took a carriage and drove to the chateau at the source of the Loire, where Bolingbroke lived in his exile; visited the old streets of Orleans, the Museum, and the Rue Pothier, where was the house in which this great jurist lived; also saw his monument at the cathedral. At the end of the afternoon went on by rail to Blois, where in the evening I rambled about old streets as munch as my strength would permit; heard the close of a sermon in a well-packed church opposite the chateau, and also attended a concert.

May 25. Early in the morning was waked by the light streaming into my window; as I dressed, looked out upon the Loire. At seven o'clock started in an open carriage to visit Chambord, about eleven miles distant, where after visiting the castle I breakfasted; returned to Blois; visited the interesting castle there, and other objects, and then took the railroad for Amboise, where I visited the castle; then in an open carriage drove to Chenonceaux, perhaps the most beautiful castle of France; returned to Amboise for dinner; then by railroad to Tours. An interesting day.

May 26. Rambled about Tours, visited its museum, its library, its cathedral, and its old streets; also visited Mettray, the seat of the interesting colony of young culprits now under the direction of M. Demetz,⁵⁹ formerly of the royal court of Paris. I was much touched by his saying that he had renounced his position, thinking that there was something more for him to do than to continue rendering judgments of court,— “faisant des arrets;” that he had the happiness to be a Christian, and that it was of much more importance to him what the good God should think of him than what men did. I was amused by the energy with which M. Demetz commended the sabots which his pupils wore. He said that in winter he wore them himself about the yard; that they protected the feet better against moisture than any india-rubber.

May 27. Left Tours by railroad early in the morning for Angers; enjoyed the sight of valley and of castles. At Angers passed several hours; visited its museum, its library, its remarkable chateau, and plunged into its narrow ancient streets; in the afternoon went on to Nantes, where I arrived so weary that I soon went to bed. On the way my attention had been arrested by the ruins of the old castle of Gilles de Retz, the original Blue Beard, and [542] also by the heights of St. Florent, so memorable in the history of the Vendean war.

May 28. Rose early, and with a carriage visited the chief points of interest in Nantes; took the express for Tours, then took a private carriage for Loches, a distance of thirty miles through a country beautifully cultivated. Here I am in a hotel, very ancient and primitive in all respects.

May 29. This morning rose early to look about and enjoy this old picturesque place; visited the chateau, and inspected the dungeons once occupied by prisoners of state; saw the writing and marks of Ludovico Sforza made during his gloomy imprisonment; was filled with detestation of the government that kept such cells; as a ruin this chateau is one of the finest in Europe; here also is the tomb of Agnes Sorel. my landlord here was a simple man, who had seen few strangers; he told me that there was not a single Man cook in Lochoes with its five thousand inhabitants. Drove through a fertile country to La Haye, and visited the chamber in which Descartes was born. my visit here seemed to excite attention; lost the train I had intended to take at Les Ormes; waited there in a park till evening, when I went on to Poitiers.

May 30. This is an old place. Early in the morning visited its cathedral, its ancient churches, and its library; at eleven o'clock took the train for Bordeaux, passing Angouleme; also Contras, the scene of Henry IV.'s battles, and St. Emilion. In the evening went for a little while to the magnificent theatre.

May 31. Walked and drove, in order to see everything; found, after two efforts, the tomb and effigies of Montaigne; in the evening tired, tired, tired; obliged to take to my bed.

June 1. Left Bordeaux by rail for Bayonne. Dreary country, flat, with peasants on stilts. On reaching Bayonne, went out to Biarritz, the famous watering-place, where the emperor has built a chateau.

June 2. Left Bayonne early by rail for Dax, where at breakfast met a Frenchman who insisted upon knowing my age and business; he set me down at thirty-five, perhaps thirty-eight. The Eaux-Chaudes there are striking. Thence by diligence to Pan, where I arrived at evening; the view here is far more beautiful than I had expected,—I think the most beautiful thing of the kind which I have seen in France.

June 3. This whole day passed at Pau, where I saw the castle, and enjoyed the Pyrenees capped with snow.

June 4. Started at eight o'clock in the morning on the outside of the diligence for Eaux-Bonnes in the Pyrenees; as an accidental companion was a priest, with whom I talked a great deal, and who was very civil. The road was constantly ascending by the side of a beautiful little stream. Arrived before four o'clock; tasted the waters, took a bath, and made a contract with a guide to conduct me to-morrow across the mountains to Cauterets.

June 5. Mounted on horseback at six o'clock in the morning; guide also on horseback, and another horse with my trunk led by a person on foot; traversed the mountain to Argeles, where I arrived about five o'clock; on the top was snow. Gave up going to Cauterets, to rest at the pleasant inn of Argeles; weary, very weary; on the way passed shepherds on the mountain. [543]

June 6. Left Argeles (after a night sleepless from fatigue) in a private carriage for Bagneres de Bigorre; then took another carriage for St. Gaudens, where I arrived about nine o'clock in the evening.

June 7. In the diligence, hot and dusty, over the plains of Languedoc to Toulouse, which interested me much.

June 8. Early in the morning took the train eastward; passed the day at Carcassonne, in order to explore its well-preserved and venerable ruins, reviving the Middle Ages; in the evening went on, passing ancient Narbonne and Beziers to Cette, where I arrived at midnight.

June 9. Early again reached Montpellier at seven o'clock; rambled through its streets, visited its museum, and took the train for Lyons, passing Nimes, Avignon, and many other interesting places, but felt obliged to hurry. I had already seen Nimes and Avignon.⁶⁰

June 10. Early this morning by train to Dijon, where I stopped to visit this old town, particularly to see its churches, and the tombs of the dukes of Burgundy; in the evening went on to Fontainebleau; was detained some hours on the road by an accident to the engine.

June 11. Early this morning drove in the fanous forest of Fontainebleau; then went through the palace; then to Paris, reaching my old quarters, Rue de la Paix, at five o'clock; in the evening went to Ambigu Comique to see “Le Naufrage de la Meduse.”

June 16. Left Paris in train for Boulogne; while train stopped at Amiens for refreshments ran to see the famous cathedral; crossing from Boulogne to Folkestone was quite sea-sick; met aboard Miss Hosmer the sculptor, Gibson, Macdonald, and other artists from Rome; reached London between nine and ten o'clock in the evening.

June 17. Looked about for permanent lodgings; took rooms at No. 1 Regent Street [Maurigy's]; saw my old friend J. Parkes, and dined with him in Saville Row.

June 18. Left a few cards on old friends; saw the queen in her carriage coming from the levee; went to the opera, “Don Giovanni;” afterwards to Monckton Milnes, who seemed much altered since I knew him.

June 19. Down into the city; dined at Dolby's; in the evening went to Albert Smith's “Mont Blanc. ”

June 20. Passed some time with Lord Brougham,—very kind, but old; drove with the Mackintoshes in Hyde Park; dined at Russell Sturgis's.

June 21. Church in the Abbey; found myself seated at the foot of the tomb of Fowell Buxton; dined with Mackintosh. Afterwards to Metropolitan Club, where I met Layard, Milnes, etc.

June 22. Breakfast with Senior, where I met Lord Glenelg, Hatherton, Ebrington,⁶¹ also Milnes and M. de Lesseps and M. Merimee.⁶² Visited Sheepshank's pictures; called on Lady Wharncliffe; went to House of Commons, also Lords, where I spoke with many friends, old and new; heard the Lord Chancellor, my old friend Lord Cranworth, open the subject of the consolidation of the statutes; dined with the Lord Chancellor, where was the granddaughter of Lord Byron. [544]

June 23. Breakfast with Lord Ebrington; calls; Parliament; dinner with Mr. T. Baring.

June 24. Breakfast with Sir H. Holland; visit at Lansdowne House; visited the Duchess of Sutherland at Stafford House; declined her invitation to stay at Stafford House; dinner at Lord Hatherton's, where I met old Lord Haddington.

June 25. Duchess of Sutherland took me to the Crystal Palace,—a wonder. Before going, met at Stafford House Lord Shaftesbury; dinner at Mr. Bates's, where were many distinguished people.⁶³

June 26. Visited the Athenaeum Club, where I have been made a pro tem. member; visited the House of Commons; breakfasted in the morning with the Duke of Argyll, where I met Lord Aberdeen; dined with Lord Granville, where I met Lord Clarendon and enjoyed him much, for he seemed a good man; then to a great party at Lansdowne House.

June 27. Went down the Thames to the Tower; saw its curiosities; stopped at the Herald College and St. Paul's; lunched at the Mitre in the seat of Dr. Johnson; dined at Mr. Senior's, where were Lord and Lady Monteagle, Mr.Reeve and Mrs. Reeve, M. Merimiee, M. de Lesseps.

June 28. Went for morning service to the old Temple Church; called on Mr. Grote; sat some time with Mr. Parkes; dined at Sir Henry Holland's.

June 29. Breakfast with Roebuck; Parliament, where in Commons I heard Disraeli,—in Lords, Ellenborongh, Derby, etc., in brief speeches; dined at the club, and went for a short time to see the scenic representation of “Richard II.” at the Princess's theatre.

June 30. Breakfast at Lansdowne House, where I sat next to Lord John Russell and conversed much with him. Monckton Milnes took Me to the committees of the House of Commons, where I sat for some time; visited Westminster Abbey again; dined with Lord Hatherton, where were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Van de Weyer, Duke and Duchess of Argyll, etc.

July 1. Breakfast at Lord Hatherton's, where were Tocqueville, Senior, Lord Aberdeen. Dinner this evening as the guest of the Benchers of the Inner Temple in their old hall, Mr. Roebuck, as treasurer, in the chair. My health was proposed, to which I replied.⁶⁴ Afterwards went to Mr. Procter's (Barry Cornwall's); afterwards to Cosmopolitan Club, where I met Thackeray and others.

July 2. Lunch at Argyll Lodge; the Argylls took me to Professor Owen in Richmond Park; dinner with Mr. Ellice, where I met Mr. Dallas⁶⁵ and family.

July 3. Lunch at Stafford House, where was Dr. Whewell, Master of Trinity; visited House of Commons and House of Lords; dined with Mr. Stirling,⁶⁶ where were Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Ellice., Lady Molesworth, and [545] Mrs. Norton, as beautiful as ever; afterwards to a party at Lord Kinnaird's,⁶⁷ where Mr. Webb⁶⁸ read.

July 4. Gave up an engagement to dine with the Law Amendment Society at Greenwich, with Lord Brougham in the chair, that I might avoid public speaking; went to Cliveden, the villa of the Duchess of Sutherland, to pass Sunday; there were the Bishop of Oxford (Wilberforce), Gladstone, Labouchere⁶⁹ and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Charles Howard; pleasant talk.

July 5. Sunday. Heard the bishop preach twice; pleasant talk again, and most hospitable welcome.

July 6. Lady Mary Labouchere took Gladstone and myself to her place,⁷⁰ the famous Stoke, with the churchyard where Gray was buried, and part of the old manor-house where Sir Edward Coke died; walked with Gladstone two miles to the railroad; enjoyed his conversation much; in the evening dined with Lord Brougham, and met a most distinguished company,— the Lord Chancellor, Lord Campbell, Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, Dr. Lushington, Lord Clanricarde, Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Broughton, Lord Glenelg, Duke of Wellington, Bishop of Oxford, Sir John Stephen, Mr. Parkes, etc.

July 7. Breakfast at Henry Reeve's, where I met the Due de Nemours, Due d'aumale, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Stanley, Lord Hatherton, Lady Theresa Lewis, Tocqueville; visited British Museum, and Mr. Owen; met the committee on the Ballot at their rooms in the city; heard Roebuck open his motion in the Commons for the abolition of the lord lieutenancy of Ireland; dined with Mr. Parkes, where I met Mr. Sparks⁷¹ and Miss Cushman.⁷²

July 8. Dinner at Earl Fortescue's, where was a large and distinguished company; afterwards to the Russian Ambassador's, where I met Lord and Lady Palmerston and Lord Stanhope.

July 9. House of Commons; dinner with Sir Edward Buxton.

July 10. Breakfast at Lord Hatherton's; attended debate in the House of Lords on the Jews' bill; heard Lords Granville, Derby, Lyndhurst, Brougham, Dufferin, Argyll, the Bishops of London and Oxford, and the Archbishop of Canterbury; went late to a party at Stafford House.

July 11. Invited by the Reform Club as honorary member; already invited also by Traveller's; made calls; dined at Lord Belper's, where I met for the first time Macaulay, so altered I did not know him.

July 12. Sunday. Went to Dr. Lushington's, at Ockham Park in Surrey, the old seat of Lord Chancellor King; among the guests there was Lady Trevelyan, a most agreeable sister of Macaulay.

July 13. Left Ockham in the afternoon; was driven by Charles Buxton to Esher, where I took the train for London; attended debate in the Lords; dined with Lord Wensleydale, where were the Lord Chancellor, Lord Lyndhurst, the Argylls, etc.; afterwards a reception there. [546]

July 14. House of Commons; dinner with Monckton Milues, where I met Mr. Murray, the publisher; after dinner again to House of Commons, which was engaged in preventing a member from being heard.

July 15. Breakfast at Duke of Argyll's, where were Macaulay, the Milmans, Senior, Reeve, Trench, Maurice, etc.; made calls; went to General Fox's,⁷³ at his beautiful villa, whose wife, Lady Mary, took me to Holland House, where there was a beautiful fete champetre; dined at Lord Granville's.

July 16. Visited the Turner Gallery; also the National Gallery; went to the Dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Milman); House of Lords; dined with Sir Roderick Murchison; then to the House of Commons, where I heard Gladstone, Palmerston, and Disraeli on the Persian War.

July 17. In the forenoon went to the House of Lords, where there was a sitting on the Shrewsbury Peerage Case; then to a dejeuner at Grosvenor House, where the company assembled in the magnificent gallery; then to the House of Lords, where Brougham and Clarendon spoke on the slave trade; dined in the refectory of the House of Commons with Mr. Ingham; then went to a reception at Lord Wensleydale's, and another at Mr. Senior's.

July 18. Dinner at Mr. Labouchere's; then reception at Lady Palmerston's.

July 19. Went down to Mr. T. Baring's at Norman Court, near Salisbury, where I met the Speaker. the pictures here are fine, and the company agreeable and our host most hospitable.

July 20. Chatted for hours to-day with Lord Monteagle, one of the guests; took a drive.

July 21. Went over to Salisbury, where there is a great agricultural show; saw the exhibition of implements; visited the Cathedral and Chapter House, and then hurried lack to London to be present at a debate in the House of Commons on Lord John Russell's Jews' bill; heard Lord John and Gladstone.

July 22. Breakfasted with Senior; rode home through the Park on one of Lord Hatherton's horses; visited Mr. Ker at Lincoln's Inn; drove to Camden Hill and lunched with the Duke and Duchess of Argyll; then drove with her and Lady Mary Labouchere to a dejeuner by the French prince, Due d'aumale, at his house at Twickenham, where I saw most of the great people; then to dinner at the Lord Chancellor's, where I met Lord Lyudhurst, Lord Lovelace; then to a reception at Lady Granville's.

July 23. Dinner at the Earl Fortescue's, where were Lord John Russell, Lord Wensleydale, and General Sir William F. Williams of Woolwich.

July 24. Breakfast at Lord Hatherton's, where were Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Glenelg, Mr. Curzon, the author of the book on monasteries in the Levant, and Admiral Martin, the commander at the dockyard at Portsmouth. Went with Lord Hatherton to Richmond Hill to call on Lord John Russell at Pembroke Lodge. He was out. Also called on the Duc d'aumale at Twickenham; in the evening attended debate on the divorce bill in House of Commons; heard Palmerston, but missed Gladstone. [547]

July 25. Went over the library of the British Museum with Mr. Jones, who is at the head of the department of printed books. The new reading-room is most beautiful. Early in the evening went to Argyll Lodge. Duke and Duchess took me with them to Lord Lansdowne's, at his villa at Richmond, where I was to dine. Before dinner walked in the grounds; the company were the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Lord and Lady John Russell, Lady Morley, Lord and Lady Hatherton, Sir Edmund and Lady Head, Senior, Macaulay, Panizzi; afterwards in town went to a reception at Lord Palmerston's.

July 26. Sunday. Went out to Richmond to lunch with Lord John Russell, where in his pleasant grounds at Pembroke Lodge I met many distinguished people. Afterwards dined with Mr. Edward Romilly, where was his brother, the Master of the Rolls.

July 27. Left London on a visit to the Earl of Stanhope⁷⁴ at Chevening; at railway station found the Bishop of Oxford going to the same place, and joined him in taking a carriage for the nine miles; arrived at dinner; there was Mr. Macaulay also.

July 28. Lord Lansdowne arrived at Chevening to-day; also Lord and Lady Harry Vane. Lady Stanhope took us in her carriage (Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Macaulay, and myself) through the grounds of Lord Amherst, also of Lord Camden; visited the church where are the tombs of the Stanhopes.

July 29. Left Chevening this forenoon. Mr. Macaulay took me in his carriage fourteen miles as far as Bromley, where I took a dog-cart and drove to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Addington; in the afternoon walked with the Archbishop in the Park.

July 30. At noon returned to London. Sat for my photograph at request of Mr. Richard of the Peace Society; dined with him at Milton Club. Went at beginning of evening to Joseph Cooper's [at Tottenham], where were many friends of peace and antislavery, chiefly Quakers; afterwards went to House of Commons.

July 31. Made calls; at half-past 1 o'clock long interview with Lord Palmerston; in the evening House of Commons, when I heard Mr. Gladstone in an elaborate speech against the divorce bill; dined in the lobby of the House with Lord Ebrington.

August 1. Went to Stoke Park to visit the Laboucheres. There were Mr.Cooper and Mrs. William Cooper and Lord and Lady Bagot.

August 2. Sunday. Went to church in Gray's church; wandered about his churchyard; visited the monument of Lord Coke; in the afternoon drove to the chapel at Windsor, where was a choral service; called on the dean, Dr. Wellesley, who took us into the private grounds of the castle; drove by Eton back to Stoke, which we reached about eight o'clock.

August 3. Returned to town; by appointment visited Lambeth, where I was shown over the palace by Rev. Mr. Thomas, the son-in-law of the Archbishop; attended House of Commons, where I heard Lord John Russell on the Jews again; dined with Mr. Adolphus,⁷⁵ and met there Mr. Macaulay, also [548] Mr. Ellis; after dinner also Mr. Paull,⁷⁶ now member for St. Ives, who remembered meeting me at Berlin.

August 4. Lunched at Argyll Lodge; called on Lady Morgan;⁷⁷ went to House of Commons; dined at Senior's en famille.

August 5. Mr. Parkes breakfasted with me; at ten o'clock left London; took the train to Godalming, where I got upon the outside of the stage-coach for twenty-four miles on my way to Mr. Cobden's at Midhurst, passing the great estates of Petworth, now in the hands of Colonel Wyndham. Mr. Cobden was waiting for me at half-past 6 o'clock, and drove me to his pleasant home.

August 6. Rode on horseback with Mr. Cobden to the Downs; several of the neighbor squires to dinner.

August 7. Mr. Cobden drove me in an open wagon to Chichester (twelve miles), where I was to take the train for Weymouth; visited the cathedral there, where are works of Flaxman and the tomb of Chillingworth; lunched at the house of a cousin of Mr. C.

August 10. Left Jersey at half-past 10 o'clock; arrived at Granville about two o'clock; the tide did not allow us to enter the harbor, and we landed on the rocks, going ashore in a small boat; the police came aboard, and with them the secretary of the mayor, who handed me a most hospitable letter from M. de Tocqueville. After an hour in the streets of Granville, a small sea-port and watering-place, took the diligence for Coutances (eighteen miles), where I did not arrive till dark.

August 11. Rose before five o'clock to visit the noble cathedral here. At six o'clock was in a coupe for Valognes; found in the coupe an intelligent and talkative priest; breakfasted at Carentan,—poorly enough! At Valognes hired a char-à--bancs, with one horse and a man, to drive me to Tocqueville, where I arrived about five o'clock; kindly received; chateau three or four centuries old; was warned particularly by M. de T. not to wear a white cravat at dinner,—that the habits of country life in France were less formal than in England. Nobody here but M. and Madame de T. and an elderly French lady.

August 12. Dejeuner at half-past 10 o'clock; then a walk with M. de Tocqueville in the grounds; then conversation and reading at home; afterwards a drive to the neighboring town of St. Pierre, and a call at the Chateau de St. Pierre, now belonging to M. Blangy, with its beautiful park, where the Abbe St. Pierre was born; then home to dinner at seven o'clock; in the evening the ladies play at billiards.

August 13. Another pleasant day. Mr. Hammond, the British consul at Cherbourg, came over with his two daughters to pass the day. M. de T. took us to visit Barfleur, and also the heights of Epernel, from which the whole country about could be seen; view admirable; caught in rain.

August 14. At eight o'clock left the chateau with M. de T. in his carriage for Cherbourg; went in one of the admiral's boats to visit the breakwater and the wonderful works for the dock; dined with the British consul to meet company; after dinner, parted from M. de T., who invited me most kindly to visit him again.⁷⁸ [549]

August 15. At six o'clock this morning took the diligence for Caen (some eighty miles), passing through Bayeux; visited the old churches and streets of Caen.

August 16. Took train for Paris, and arrived at my old lodgings at six o'clock; in the evening saw my friends, Hamilton Fish and family, just arrived from New York.

August 17. Visited M. Vattemare, also the Genevieve Library, which is open to the public; dined with the Fishes at the table d'hote of Meurice's Hotel.

The summary of Sumner's diary for the month is as follows: Leaving Paris August 19, he stopped a few hours at Meaux, where he visited ‘the cathedral, the palace, and the garden of Bossuet;’ passed one night at Rheims, another at Strasburg, and a day at Baden-Baden, where Mr. C. A. Bristed of New York, then renting a villa near the town, drove him in the neighborhood, and up to the Alte Schloss. Next he went to Basle, Berne, Thun, Interlachen, the Lake of Brienz, the Brunig Pass, Alpnach, and to Lucerne, where he met his old friend Theodore S. Fay, whom he had been disappointed in not finding at Berne, and the two recalled earlier days in long conversations. Then, ‘after a day of the grandest scenery’ between Lucerne and Hospenthal, he crossed St. Gothard, took the steamer on Lake Maggiore, ‘passing the Isola Bella and Lesa, the home of Manzoni,’ and went on by railway from Arona to Turin, then the capital of Piedmont, a city he had not before visited. Here he looked wistfully towards the south, but turning back, by mule or carriage, traversed the Val d'aosta, and crossed the Great St. Bernard, passing a night at the Hospice, and then by way of Martigny, Tete Noire, and Chamouni, reached Geneva, September 5. Here he was interested in the associations of Voltaire, Calvin, Rousseau, Madame de Stael, and Byron. At Lausanne he sought the garden of the Hotel Gibbon, ‘to look upon the view that Gibbon looked upon;’ the cathedral, and also the library, where he traced out the manuscripts of La Harpe prepared for his pupil the Emperor Alexander. Then, by way of Lake Neuchatel, he went on to Basle and Heidelberg, where he called on his old friends Grosch and Mittermaier, from whom he received ‘a cordial, kind, and most friendly welcome.’ To the latter he wrote as he left the town a letter warm with affectionate remembrance, closing thus: ‘I can never think of you except with gratitude for your long life filled with laborious studies and inspired by the noblest sentiments.’ From Mayence [550] he descended the Rhine to Cologne, with Dr. C. E. Stowe and family as fellow-passengers. Then followed a brief excursion to Holland and Belgium, including glimpses of Amsterdam, the Hague, Delft (‘two churches with the tombs of William of Orange, Grotius, and Van Tromp, also the house where William was killed’), Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent.

September 19. Reached London [from Ostend] about noon; in the evening went to Mr. Russell Sturgis's at Walton.

September 20. Returned to London, and went to Lord Cranworth's in Kent; his place is Holwood, once the residence of William Pitt; walked in the grounds.

September 21. Called on Mr. Hallam, who was with his son-in-law, Colonel Cator, in the neighborhood of Lord Cranworth's; found him looking well in the face, but unable to use his legs; sat with him half an hour;⁷⁹ took the train for London; dined at Reform Club with Mr. Parkes.

September 22. Dined at Reform Club with Mr. Parkes, where I met Mr. Osborne, M. P., also Peter Cunningham and Charles Mackay.

September 24. Went to Dulwich Gallery; left cards; dined with Mr. Cooke, a partner of John Murray and old friend of the late James Brown [the publisher, of Boston].

September 25. Left London in the train at 9.15 for Manchester; stopped at Palatine Hotel; went at once to the Exhibition.

September 26. The whole day till night at the Exhibition; in the evening heard Mr. Russell,⁸⁰ of the London Times, lecture at Free Trade Hall on the Crimea.

September 27. Admitted to a private view of the Exhibition all day; in the evening went with Mr. Henry Ashworth to his house at Bolton, where I dined and passed the night.

September 28. Again in Manchester, and all day at the Exhibition. In the evening dined with Mr. Thomas Bazeley, President of Chamber of Commerce, and passed the night at his house.

September 29. Again all day at the Exhibition. In the evening went to Ellenbeck, the seat of Mr. Cardwell, where I dined and passed the night.

September 30. Stopped an hour at Preston; also an hour at Kendal; saw these towns; went on to Ambleside to Miss Martineau's, where I passed the night.

October 1. Left Ambleside early; stopped at Brougham Hall for a couple of hours; resisted pressing invitation to stay to dinner and all night; went on to Carlisle.

October 2. Drove out to Scaleby Hall (seven miles） to call on Longfellow's correspondent, Miss Farrar; she was gone; her brothers received me kindly, took me to Scaleby Castle; took the train in the afternoon for Newcastle and South Shields, and reached the house of my old friend, Robert Ingham, M. P., in the evening. [551]

October 3. Rambled about, hoping to recognize old spots which I had known nineteen years ago; company at dinner.

October 4. Sunday. Visited the church at the neighboring village of Jarrow to see the chair in which the venerable Bede sat; company at dinner.

October 5. Left Westoe at eleven o'clock; train to Newcastle; then by Berwick to Edinburgh, where I arrived before dark; stopped at MacGregor's (Royal Hotel); saw my friend from Boston, Prof. Henry D. Rogers.⁸¹

October 6. Went to Jedburgh to. visit Lord Campbell at his place, Hartrigge House; resisted all pressure to stay; walked in the grounds, and returned to Edinburgh at night.

October 7. Fast day on account of India; heard Rev. Dr. Hanna⁸² preach at Dr. Guthrie's church; called on A. Russel,⁸³ editor of “Scotsman.” Dr. Brown drove me to see Lord Dunfermline, the old Speaker, now quite infirm, but taking a great interest in the slave question; then called with Rogers on George Combe,⁸⁴ also on Robert Chambers.⁸⁵ Mr. Combe was anxious that I should not return to public duties until after longer rest.

October 8. Visited Holyrood Palace; in the afternoon started for Glasgow, where I arrived at dark on my way to the western Highlands.

October 9. At seven o'clock went on board the steamer “Iona” down the Clyde, by Rothesay, through the Kyles of Bute to the Crinan Canal; then by canal boat; then again by steamer in sight of Mull, Jura, stopping at Oban, to Fort William, where I arrived some time after dark; stopped at the Lochiel Arms at Banavie, opposite Fort William.

October 10. At eight o'clock by steamer on my way to Mr. Ellice's⁸⁶ at Glenquoich; stopped near the mouth of Glengarry; then by gig and dog-cart to this distant retreat in the midst of lakes and mountains; arrived before dark. Here were my host and his son, Lord Digby and family, and Lady Harriet Sinclair⁸⁷ (a Die Vernon), daughter of the Earl of Rosslyn.

October 12. Started early this morning in dog-cart; took the steamer near Fort Augustus, then to Inverness, where I arrived before dark; took a walk in the streets; called on Robert Carruthers, the editor, who was not at home; dined; then threw myself on my bed, and rested till half-past 11 o'clock, when I took the mail-coach for Dunrobin Castle; travelled all night inside.

October 13. Reached Golspie, a mile from Dunrobin,⁸⁸ at eight o'clock in the morning, where I found a carriage from the castle. On arrival went to bed, and did not appear till lunch at two o'clock; the duchess welcomed me most kindly; after lunch walked in the grounds; at her request planted a tree, a Mount Atlas cedar; dinner at eight o'clock; then games with the children,—the “post,” a kind of blind man's buff. Here were Lord and Lady [552] Blantyre, Lord and Lady Grosvenor, Lord and Lady Bagot, Lord and Lady Stafford.

October 14. Breakfast at ten o'clock; rambled in the grounds with the duchess; went aboard the screw yacht to see the duke and some of the family off for Inverness; then a drive and ramble to the glen; lunch; then drive up the Mountain,—all with the duchess, four horses and outrider; dinner at eight o'clock; several new-comers,—among others, Mrs. Hay Mackenzie, the mother of Lady Stafford.

October 15. Prayers in the morning by the duchess; breakfast; the duchess took me this morning four miles to the steamer; took leave; crossed over to Birkhead; then got a dog-cart to Elgin (nine miles), passing over the heath with Forres in sight, the scene of Macbeth and Banquo; at Elgin saw the remains of the cathedral; stopped at the inn.

October 16. At eleven o'clock stage-coach to Keith; then railway to old Meldrum; then posting to Haddo House, the seat of the Earl of Aberdeen. The queen had left the day before, and the family were alone. Dinner at eight o'clock.

October 17. Walk in the grounds with Lord Aberdeen, Mrs. Farquarson, and two daughters and son, of Invercauld; next to Balmoral; long conversations with Lord Haddo and Mr. Arthur Gordon.

October 18. Sunday. At twelve o'clock went to the kirk two miles, and heard a Presbyterian sermon and prayers; long walk and conversation with Lord Aberdeen in the grounds.

October 19. Left Haddo House at half-past 7 o'clock for Aberdeen; drove round this place; then by train to William Stirling's at Keir, five miles from Stirling; beautiful grounds, and house full of curiosities; among the guests was Mrs. Norton.

October 20. The forenoon spent in examining the curiosities collected in the house and library; then drove with Mrs. Norton to the castle of Stirling; dinner; pleasant evening.

October 21. Left Keir at eight o'clock with post horses for Callander; then for the Trossachs; crossed Loch Katrine (twelve miles) in an open boat during two severe rain squalls; then a drosky to Inversnaid on Loch Lomond; then boat five miles to Tarbet; then post horses through Glencroe to Inverary Castle, where I arrived after seven o'clock; most kindly received by Duke and Duchess of Argyll; there were with them Lady Emma Campbell,⁸⁹ Miss Campbell of Islay, and Dr. Cummings.⁹⁰

October 22. Two drives through the forest and plantations of Inverary with the duke and duchess; dinner at eight o'clock.

October 23. Planted two trees,—an oak and pine;⁹¹ after lunch crossed with family to the other side of the loch, where were the children of the duke and duchess. [553]

October 24. Left Inverary Castle; duke and duchess crossed the loch with me and said “good-by” most cordially and kindly; took the stage-coach, and sat on the box by a most communicative coachman to the head of Loch Goil; then by steamer into Loch Long; then the Clyde to Dumbarton, where I stopped to visit James Stirling at Cordale House; his carriage and servants were waiting for me; he has just written a clever book entitled “Letters from the Slave States.” Pleasant evening.

October 25. Mr. Stirling lent me his carriage and horses to take me to Glasgow, sixteen miles; on the way called and lunched at Erskine House with Lord and Lady Blantyre; met there Charles Howard. On reaching Glasgow drove to the Observatory to see Dr. Nichol;⁹² then back to the Queen's Hotel for the night.

October 26. Took the early fast train at Glasgow, and reached Penrith at one o'clock, to visit Lord Brougham. His carriage was waiting for me at the station and took me to the Hall; lunched; walked in the grounds with him; then drove with Lady B. through Lowther Park; dinner; several guests; in the evening conversation; among the curiosities here was a cast from the face of Pitt after his death.⁹³

October 27. Left Brougham Hall at eight o'clock by train to visit W. E. Forster at Wharfeside, Buriey, near Leeds; reached him in the afternoon. His wife is the eldest daughter of Dr. Arnold. In the evening at dinner was Mr. Edward Baines⁹⁴ of the Leeds “Mercury.”

October 28. At breakfast several guests. Left Wharfeside at eleven o'clock, accompanied by Mr. Forster, to Leeds, where Mr. Baines met me and showed me about the town; then train to York, where I visited the Minster; then train to Malton, whence by fly went seven miles to Castle Howard. My friend Lord Carlisle had gone to meet me in his carriage at another station. On his return we met for the first time after an interval of fifteen years. At dinner there were Lady Caroline Lascelles⁹⁵ and her daughters, Miss Mary and Emma⁹⁶ and Beatrice.⁹⁷ After dinner saw Lady Carlisle, the mother of my friend, on a sofa in her room, where she is confined by a slight paralysis.⁹⁸

October 29. Prayers in the morning by Lord Carlisle; then a walk in the grounds; then breakfast; then the pictures in the castle; writing letters; lunch; ramble with Lord C. in the grounds; tea at five o'clock; then dinner at seven o'clock; after dinner, in Lady Carlisle's rooms. To-day Lady Elizabeth Grey⁹⁹ and her husband, Rev. Francis Grey, arrived.

October 30. Prayers in morning by Lord Carlisle; breakfast; ramble with C. in the grounds; visit to the family mausoleum; met the hounds, who were crossing the grounds; lunch; drive with C. to visit a reformatory [554] in the neighborhood; tea; dinner; in the evening in Lady Carlisle's room. Mr. Grey sang four songs of Longfellow,— “Excelsior,” “The Bridge,” “The rainy day,” and “The Arrow and the song;” afterwards C. came to my room and we talked together.

October 31. Left Castle Howard at eight o'clock in the morning; C. rose to see me off; Mr. Grey left en route with me as far as Manchester; in the train, not far from York, met Sir Roderick Murchison; crossed the country by Crewe to Stafford, where I took a fly and drove six miles to Lord Hatherton's, Teddesley Park, near Penkridge, where I arrived just at dinner-time; in the house were several guests,—Lady Wharncliffe and Miss Wortley, Lord Wrottesley, Mr.Reeve and Mrs. Henry Reeve, Hon. Spencer Lyttleton, Mrs. Gaskell and daughters. Lady Hatherton most charming and hospitable.¹⁰⁰

November 1. Sunday. This forenoon drove to the beautiful parish church of Penkridge, where in the chancel were beautiful monuments; curious sermon; after lunch went with Lord Hatherton to see his farm, which is in remarkable order; saw his Hereford cattle, also his draining; after dinner, at the close of the evening, the domestics (some twenty-five or thirty) and family assembled in the dining-room, where Lady H. read prayers and a short sermon.

November 2. Day misty and rainy; forenoon in the house; after lunch went with Lady H. and a company of ladies to visit the jail at Stafford, which is in excellent condition, and under the direction of a governor who was formerly a major in the army, and all also had the English recommendations of old family; he evidently had a talent for the lace. In Stafford visited the large parish church, also another church, now being restored; saw Isaac Walton's house; in the evening the governor of the jail came to dinner, also Captain Mackinnon, cousin of my old friend of the navy.

November 3. Resisted all temptation to stay at Teddesley, and all further pressure to give up my idea of sailing at the end of the week for America. At noon left for the Stafford station on my way to John Bright at Llandudno, near Conway, in Wales, where I arrived in the rain just before dark. Stopped at hotel, where rooms were engaged for me by B. and as his guest; long talks with him on health and politics till eleven o'clock.

November 4. This forenoon with Bright, whom I have enjoyed much; left him at one o'clock for Hawarden Castle, the seat of Sir Stephen Glynne, brother-in-law of Mr. Gladstone, on a visit to Mr. G., whose home is at the castle; arrived in the afternoon; Gladstone took me in the thick mist round the grounds, particularly to the fine old ruin. At dinner were Sir Stephen Glynne, Mr.Gladstone and Mrs. Gladstone, Lord Lyttleton, who has recently lost his wife, a sister of this family; also Rev. Mr. Glynne, a brother, who has the valuable living in the neighborhood. Mr. Gladstone is much engaged in three volumes on Homer. I found in him the eloquent conversation which I have admired.

November 5. This morning, in the rain, drove through the park with Mr. Gladstone; then at eleven o'clock left the castle; at noon reached Chester, where I drove about the town, visited the old cathedral, walked on the [555] old town walls, and then drove to Eaton Hall, the magnificent seat of the Marquis of Westminster, in pursuance of a kind invitation which I had received from the Marchioness. Arrived there before lunch; the Marchioness showed me through the house and took me to my room most hospitably; notwithstanding rain, visited the gardens and stables; at dinner were Sir Edward Cust, master of ceremonies at the palace, Mr. Antrobus of the English legation at Washington in 1816-1819, Mr. Parker¹⁰¹ the archaeologist, and several others, besides the two daughters of my hosts, who seemed very sensible and well educated.

November 6. Lord Westminster read prayers in the chapel at a quarter before ten o'clock this morning; breakfast at ten; resisted all hospitable welcome to stay. Lady W. kindly hoped that when I next came to England I should come direct to her house. At eleven o'clock left, seeing the famous horse Touchstone as I drove out of the park. At two o'clock reached the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, where Mr. Richard Rathbone¹⁰² had been waiting for me several hours; looked about Liverpool, and then went with him to his house in the neighborhood, where was only his family; after dinner we were joined by William H. Channing.¹⁰³

November 7. Saturday, my appointed day of sailing. Mr. R. at eleven o'clock drove me to the Adelphi Hotel; at twelve o'clock to the pier, where I embarked on a small steamer with the passengers and their luggage for the steamer “Niagara,” a Cunard packet bound for Boston; at about three o'clock all was ready, and the voyage commenced.

November 17. Tuesday. At midnight reached Halifax. The voyage has not been very rough; the first days were even pleasant; but I have suffered as ever from sea-sickness, and have not yet taken a single meal at the table. Much of my time has been passed in my state-room. . . . Went ashore at Halifax, and took a stroll through Mud and darkness; soon returned to the ship.

November 18. At five o'clock this morning the steamer started for Boston.

November 19. The day pleasant; harbor of Boston beautiful; about four o'clock steamer reached the wharf.

Sumner left England against the protests of his friends, who felt certain that he required a longer period of recuperation. George Combe submitted his case to Sir James Clark, the Queen's physician, and both advised against his immediate return to public duties; but he would not heed their counsels, anxious to be again at his post. He had taken such keen enjoyment in society and travel that at times he felt himself almost well again; but he was often reminded, by excessive weariness and sensitiveness in the spine, that he was still an invalid. His absence for eight months from exciting scenes [556] had diverted his mind, and time was perhaps doing unobserved its work of restoration; but no substantial and certain gain was as yet apparent.

A number of friends met Sumner as he left the ship at East Boston, on the afternoon of November 19,—among them his colleague, Wilson, and Mr. Banks, who had just been chosen governor of Massachusetts. Driving with them to his mother's house in Hancock Street, he found a company of two or three hundred persons gathered in the street to give him welcome, to whom he said: ‘This welcome is entirely unexpected; it takes me by surprise; it fills me with gratitude. I am glad to be once more in my own country, on the firm earth and at home.’ Wilson also answered to the call of the people with congratulations on his colleague's return. Cheers came as Sumner entered his home; and to those who followed him he said, ‘My health is nearer to what it should be than it has been for a long time.’ Amasa Walker, who was among those now welcoming him, suggested that he should be left alone with his family, and all withdrew.

The next evening he attended in Tremont Temple a lecture by Mr. Banks before the mechanic Apprentices' Association, where the audience greeted with continuous cheers his appearance on the platform,¹⁰⁴ and insisted, in spite of his evident reluctance, upon his coming forward. He yielded to the call, and spoke for a moment, saying with reference to the membership of the Association that, ‘notwithstanding poverty, hardships, obstacles, and odds of all kinds, merit will always command success.’ Many lingered after the meeting was over, observing him intently and giving him congratulations. When he attended, a few weeks later, the inauguration of the governor in the State House, the sergeant-at-arms found it impossible to repress the applause which, in violation of the rules, greeted his entrance into the hall.

The Thirty-fifth Congress, meeting Dec. 7, 1857, was occupied with a debate on slavery in Kansas, from the beginning of the session to the end of the next April. The Administration still held the Senate, and had recovered the House. The pro-slavery party in the Territory had, by means of a legislature and constitutional convention originating in violence and fraud, caused the so-called Lecompton constitution to be submitted [557] to the people by a method which excluded any voting against it as a whole, and allowed only the alternative of voting ‘for the constitution with slavery’ or ‘for the constitution without slavery.’ The instrument was so drawn as to imply a certain sanction of slavery in whichever way adopted, and the Free State men withheld their votes. It was therefore adopted ‘with slavery,’ and submitted to Congress by the President in a message, Feb. 2, 1858, in which he declared that by the decision of the Supreme Court ‘slavery exists in Kansas by virtue of the Constitution of the United States,’ and that ‘Kansas is therefore at this moment as much a slave State as Georgia or South Carolina.’ Douglas promptly, at the beginning of the session, took ground against the admission of Kansas under that constitution thus forced on the people, maintaining that according to ‘the principle of popular sovereignty’ the inhabitants should have perfect liberty ‘to vote slavery up or down,’ and vaunting his indifference as to which they did. He said with emphasis, ‘Why force this constitution down the throats of the people of Kansas, in opposition to their wishes and our pledges?’ He drew to his side a number of Democratic senators and representatives, mostly Western, nearly half of whom, however, proved untrustworthy in their votes on the English bill; and his breach with the Administration had an important relation to the national election of 1860. He was thus brought for a time into accidental association with the Republicans, some of whom were disposed to put the best construction on his change of front,¹⁰⁵ while others could not at once overcome a deep-seated distrust growing out of his twenty years subserviency to the slave power, or the suspicion that his new attitude was due to the fact that his term as senator was near its end.¹⁰⁶ His speeches in the celebrated debate with Mr. Lincoln, a few months later, justified this distrust and suspicion. Sumner wrote to E. L. Pierce from Washington, April 11, 1858:

I know Douglas thoroughly; and I think there cannot be too much caution in trusting him. His whole conduct in the two great controversies which [558] he conducted while I took part in debate was essentially base. But men are improved by the cause they espouse; and all attest the reserve, moderation, and propriety with which he has recently spoken. But why does he cease to be bully now? Reasons for this may be given which are little creditable. Does he bully only when he knows his opponents do not use the pistol and knife? He is essentially a partisan; therefore in quitting Democracy he must ultimately come into our camp. But he must come there at least before he can rank with Republicans. He has not yet arrived.

It was a constant grief to Sumner that he could not take part in the debate in the Senate; but his physicians forbade the strain and excitement. He was in his seat December 7, when he was welcomed by his Republican colleagues, while the Administration senators, with a few exceptions, kept aloof from him.¹⁰⁷ As always, the diplomatic corps were very cordial, particularly Lord Napier, notwithstanding his sympathies with the pro-slavery party.

Sumner found at once that he must remain a passive spectator for some time to come. He was relieved, at his own request, from service on committees. He attended the sessions during the morning hour, but otherwise kept away from the Senate, awaiting a notice of any important vote. His nervous system was so sensitive that he was disturbed by debates; and he left his seat when they began, going out even on the third day when Douglas opened his controversy with the Administration on the Lecompton question, a speech to which he desired much to listen.¹⁰⁸ He abstained from general society, though occasionally dining with friends. While in Washington he passed his time mostly at his lodgings, quietly reading, or in the library of Congress, or in the Smithsonian Institution,—places where he looked over engravings and rare books; and he tested his strength in walking. He chafed sorely under the limitations imposed by his disability. To Theodore Parker he wrote, December 19: ‘I am unhappy; and yesterday, after sitting in the Senate, I felt like a man of ninety. When will this end? Otherwise I am very well.’ To Dr. Howe he wrote: “At times I feel almost well, and then after a little writing or a little sitting in the Senate I feel the weight spreading over my brain; but at least for the present I shall do nothing. I make visits, inspect the improvements of the Capitol, read newspapers, and sit quietly in my room, often much alone; but [559] this is my fate. Hard! very hard! I long to speak!” And again, March 17, 1858: “I would give one year of life for one week now in which to expose this enormous villany,” --the Lecompton constitution. Leaving Washington December 20, 1857, he was absent the greater part of the time for five months, coming to the capital several times at the summons of his colleague to vote on questions concerning Kansas, and leaving as soon as a vote was reached. When absent from Washington he was in Philadelphia with Mr. Furness, at the Brevoort House in New York, at his home in Boston, or at Longfellow's in Cambridge.

At this time he “turned to engravings for employment and pastime.” His interest in them hitherto had been general, but it now became almost a passion. He availed himself of such as were accessible in Washington; private collections in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Cambridge were opened to him; he passed days in the Astor Library ;¹⁰⁹ but the richest treasures of the kind he found in the library of Harvard College, where under the guidance of Dr. Louis Thies he went through the remarkable Gray collection. He was so intense in this pursuit that he wearied out any one who joined him in it. Longfellow wrote in his diary, Jan. 21, 1858:--

We again passed the morning with the engravings, and again brought Sumner and Thies home to dinner, which they left midway to go back to the portfolios. Sumner is insatiable. He will be the death of Thies, who is ill. For my part, I cannot take in so much at once; it fatigues my brain and body.

Again, January 26:--

Sumner comes to dinner. He was last night at our neighbor C.'s, looking over his engravings; and this morning at Thies's house, engaged on his private collection. Verily, he goes thoroughly through the work.

Sumner began at this time to collect engravings for himself,--those now preserved in the Boston Art Museum. To Dr. Howe he wrote, March 17: “I wish you would be good enough to send to Louis Thies, of Cambridge, a check for one ZZZZ¹¹⁰ [560] hundred dollars on my account. He is my most amiable and faithful teacher in engravings, who has undertaken to order from Europe a few choice old productions for me.” He gratified this taste a few months later in Paris, both in looking over collections and also in purchases. He appreciated the general effect of an engraving, but he had not the eye of a connoisseur who can discover its place in the order of impressions. He had always, as a paper written by him later in life shows,¹¹¹ a lively interest in the history of the art and in the biographies of eminent engravers.

Hitherto during the session Sumner was hoping that he was near the end of his disability, and at times assured inquirers that he was almost well; but a difficulty in walking and in rising from his seat reminded him that he was still an invalid. In April, while at Washington, he suffered a relapse. With no immediate cause that was apparent except a slight over-exertion, he was attacked with severe pains in the back and pressure on the brain, attended with lameness and exhaustion. He could not rise from his chair or walk without pain; and this condition lasted for a month. It was apparent that he must resign the hope of activity in the Senate for the present; and he yielded to the advice of his physicians, Dr. Wister and Dr. Perry, reinforced by Mr. Seward and other senators who had observed his continued liability to prostration, that he must abstain from the excitement of public life for a year to come. He was much in doubt where to go, what baths, if any, to take, and to what course of treatment to resort. In a letter to Longfellow, May 10, from Mr. Furness's, he stated his perplexity and his “most depressing sense of invalidism,” and closed by saying, “Meanwhile time and opportunity, irrevocable, pass on. I grow old, inactive, and the future is dreary.” Regretfully he decided on another journey to Europe, having in mind a visit to Switzerland, Hungary, Russia, the Pyrenees,--some country not already familiar to him and remote from social attentions, but without any distinct purpose of seeking medical treatment. His first thought of attempting on foot or horseback all the exercise he could possibly bear was found to be hazardous, and given up.¹¹² [561]

As he sailed from New York for Havre, in the ‘Vanderbilt,’ May 22, just two years from the day when he was assaulted in the Senate, he addressed a letter to the people of Massachusetts, explaining his absence from his post in search of health, and saying he should have resigned it if he had foreseen at the beginning the duration of his disability.¹¹³ The best wishes of his countrymen for his recovery went with him, and the public journals abounded in tender expressions of interest in him.¹¹⁴

Just before leaving home he wrote letters to Cobden and Tocqueville on European and American affairs. To the latter he wrote, May 7, from Washington:—

I was happy, dear Monsieur de Tocqueville, to hear from you; but I should have been happier still had you written me a few words about affairs in your own country. Everything there seems to portend great changes soon. The present unnatural system of compression cannot endure always.

Our politics here continue convulsed by the eternal slavery question; and this will not end until justice prevails. Mr. Buchanan has disappointed large numbers of his supporters by the extent to which he has gone in behalf of slavery. Many expected from him greater moderation; for myself I am not disappointed. He is essentially a politician rather than a statesman, and is governed by vulgar ideas. All his sympathies are given to the most ultra school of pro-slavery. The usurpations and atrocities in order to plant slavery in Kansas have all received his sanction. Indeed, I doubt if history can record any acts of meaner tyranny. He thinks that the Kansas question is now settled; but it is only postponed. Meanwhile Mr. Mason¹¹⁵ writes from Paris that the opposition to slavery from France and England is dying away. This is curious, while Russia is just beginning her great act of emancipation. At present all our ministers in Europe are creatures of slavery, and think only how they can serve its purposes. Of course, they belong to an inferior class of public men.

I am grateful that your interest in my country does not abate, and that you so often say a kind word for us. Be assured that many of those things by which we are degraded are caused by slavery, even in States where slavery does not exist. This has demoralized our government, and introduced everywhere the vulgar principle of force, which, as you well know, underlies slavery. Let a party prevail founded on hostility to slavery, and although abuses and excesses may not all cease, yet I cannot doubt that the very principle on which it is founded will diffuse a new civilization over the whole country. And now, my dear friend, if you hear the American republic abused, pray charge its evil deeds to slavery, and say that there are good people here who are determined that this source of all our woes shall cease,—at all events, that it shall no longer give its tone to our government and to our national character. [562]

Why will not Spain follow the example of other European powers, and now of Russia,—and declare emancipation in her colonies? This would do more to settle the slavery question than any blow ever before struck. It would at once take Cuba from the field of Mr. Buchanan's lawless desires, and destroy the aliment of filibusters; besides it would be an act of noble justice, as well as of wise statesmanship.

I notice the publication of M. Guizot's memoirs, and look forward to their perusal with great interest. Remember me kindly to M. de Circourt and M. Ampere, and do not forget to commend me to Madame de Tocqueville.

To John Jay, June 1, from the ‘Vanderbilt,’ in the English Channel:—

I have had less sea-sickness than on any previous voyage,—thanks in part to my experience, in part perhaps to the size and power of the steamer. Of my health in other respects I say nothing. I will not deceive myself or others, and yet it does seem to me as if I must in a few months longer exterminate this deep-seated trouble. The table and other arrangements have a California character; but I am glad that I came in this boat, for it takes me to my journey's end swiftly, and that state-room (with an upper berth knocked out) has proved airy, commodious, and free from motion. Five hundred souls have crossed with us,—a strange Babel of languages and people of all sorts. To-day we begin to know each other, and to-night we part. I wish I were at home. It is with real reluctance that I proceed on this pilgrimage, and nothing but the conviction that it is the surest way to regain my health would keep me in it. I long for work, and especially to make myself felt again in our cause. The ghost of two years already dead haunts me.