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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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 I forgot to tell you I had seen the good duchess, who said many
extravagant things about you.
I received a letter from Mrs. Plitt by the last steamer, directed to
you, with instructions that if you had left I might open and read and
then burn it, all which I have done.
I wrote to Miss Hetty by the Southampton steamer on Wednesday
last, and sent two of the Posts.
I shall give up the house towards the end of the month. Mr.
Appleton now occupies your room, and renders himself quite
agreeable.
I have not seen Grey[23] since you left; but she says she did put up
your slippers in the black bag. I shall make it a point to see her and
talk with her before she finally leaves the house. She has been
absent, but is backwards and forwards.
I heard nothing from Washington by the last steamer respecting
myself. I shall present my letter of recall, and take leave of the
queen soon after it arrives. As you know, I am heartily tired of my
position. But what then? I do not wish to arrive in the United States
before the meeting of Congress. I am uncertain what I shall do, but
will always keep you advised, having confidence that you will not
talk about my intended movements......
Louis Napoleon at the present moment wields more real power
than ever his great uncle did. All the potentates in Europe dread
him, and are paying court to him. He has England in leading strings
nearly as much as Sardinia. How have the mighty fallen!
Mr. Ward came to the legation to take leave of you a few moments
after you left on Friday morning. Consols have been falling, falling
continually for the last week, and this makes him melancholy.
Mrs. Shapter promised to write by the steamer. She has arranged
the account you left with her in a satisfactory manner. She has not
yet sent her letter, which I shall transmit by the bag.
Mrs. Lawrence called this morning to take leave of me. She
appears to be much rejoiced at the prospect of getting home.

October 19, 1855.

 Whilst I write, I congratulate myself with the belief that under the
blessing of Providence, you are again happily in your native land and
among kind friends. The passage of the Baltic from New York to
Liverpool was one of the smoothest and most agreeable ever made.
Hence we have every reason to believe that the Atlantic enjoyed the
same favorable weather.
I had a very pretty note from Mrs. Sturgis on the 15th instant,
presenting me with a water melon, in which she says: “I was sorry
not to say ‘good bye’ to Miss Lane in person, but we did not forget
to drink her health and a prosperous voyage, and we feel how very
much we shall miss her and her praises another season.[24]” Of
course I answered this note in a proper manner.
The good but eccentric duchess always speaks of you in terms of
warm affection and regard, and sends her kindest love.
Mr. and Mrs. Alston, of South Carolina, and Mr. Elliott, the
Commissioner of that State at the Paris Exhibition, passed last
Sunday evening with us. She is a superior woman, and withal quite
good looking and agreeable.
I received the enclosed letter from Mary to you on Monday last, by
the Baltic. Knowing from unmistakable signs that it came from Mary,
I opened it merely to ascertain that she was well. I purposely know
but little of its contents. I wrote to her yesterday, and invited her to
pay us a visit next spring, offering to pay the expenses of her
journey. I suggested that it would scarcely be worth her while to pay
us a visit for less than a year, and that in the mean time, Mr. Baker’s
expenses would be much reduced, and he would have an
opportunity of arranging his affairs.
Doctor and Mrs. Le Vert, formerly Miss Octavia Walton, are now
here. Strangely enough, I had never met her before. She is sprightly,
talkative and animated, but does not seem to understand the art of
growing old gracefully. I shall make a favorable impression on her, I
trust, by being a good listener. I have not seen her daughter, but
they are all to be with me some evening before their departure,
which will be in the Arago on the 24th instant.
I have not received my letter of recall, and entertain but little hope
that it will be sent before General Thomas shall reach Washington. I
will keep you advised. I dine to-day with General D’Oxholme.
The repulse of the Russians at Kars astonishes me. The Turks and
the French have acquired the glory of the present war. Our mother
England is rather upon the background.
Sir William and Lady Ouseley are most deeply affected by the loss
of their son. I saw her last night for the first time since the sad
event, and most sincerely sympathized with her. She became calmer
after the first burst of grief was over, and talked much about you. On
request of Sir William I write to-day to Mrs. Roosevelt, giving her the
sad information.
Lady Stafford requests me by letter to give you her warmest
regards, and to tell you she hopes Heaven will bless you both in time
and eternity.
Mrs. Shapter looks delicate. I saw her yesterday. She said she
would write, but I have not yet received her letter. Should it come, I
shall send it by the despatch bag.

October 26, 1855.

I have but little time to write before the closing of the mail, having
been much and unexpectedly engaged to-day.
Almost every person I meet speaks kindly of you. I dined with
Lady Talbot de Malahide on Tuesday last, and she desired me
specially to send you her kindest love. Doctor, Madame and Miss Le
Vert passed last Sunday evening with me. She is a most agreeable
person. I think it right to say this of her, after what I wrote you in
my last letter.
I dine to-day with Lady Chantrey, where I am to meet Dr. Twiss.
Grey left yesterday morning on a visit to her relatives in
Devonshire. I made her a present of a sovereign to pay her
expenses there, besides paying her week’s wages. I have enlisted
Lady Chantrey warmly in her favor, and I hope she may procure a
place.
I received by the last steamer a private letter from Governor
Marcy, in answer to mine requesting my letter of recall. He informs
me it had been sent and was then on its way. There is something
mysterious in the matter which I cannot explain. It has not yet
arrived, though it ought to have been here before your departure.
Before that, I had received despatches Nos. 109 and 111. Despatch
No. 110—the intermediate one—has not yet come to hand. I
presume my letter of recall was in the missing despatch. I have my
own suspicions, but these do not attach to Governor Marcy. His
letter was frank and friendly, and was evidently written in the full
conviction that I would have received my recall before his letter
could reach me. Some people are very anxious to delay my return
home.
Now the aspect of things has changed. The British government
has recently sent a considerable fleet to our coasts, and most
inflammatory and absurd articles in reference to the object of this
fleet have appeared in the Times, the Globe, and the Morning Post. I
have no doubt they will be republished all over the United States.
The aspect of affairs between the two countries has now become
squally; and Mr. Appleton will not consent to remain here as chargé
till the new minister arrives. In this he is right; and consistently with
my honor and character, I could not desert my post under such
circumstances. I may, therefore, be compelled to remain here until
the end of December, or even longer. This will depend on the time of
the appointment of my successor, which may not be until the
meeting of Congress. It is possible that Mr. Appleton may return
home by the Pacific on the 3d November. He is very anxious I should
consent to it, which, however, I have not yet done.
I trust I may hear of your arrival at home by the Pacific on to-
morrow. The foggy and rainy weather has commenced, and the
climate is now dreary. Mr. and Mrs. John Wurts, of New York, passed
the evening with me yesterday. He is an old friend and she an
agreeable lady. They will return by the Pacific.

November 9th, 1855.

I have received your favors of the 21st and 22d October. I thank
Heaven that you have arrived at home in health and safety. The
weather since your departure has been such as you know prevails at
this season, and London has been even too dull for me, and this is
saying much for it.
 I received my letter of recall, dated on the 11th September, last
Monday, the 5th instant, with an explanation from Governor Marcy of
the mistake which had occasioned its delay. Had this been sent on
the 11th September, I might with all convenience have accompanied
you home, either on the 6th or, at latest, on the 20th October.
The storm which has been raised in England in regard to the
relations between the two countries renders it impossible that I
should leave the legation at the present moment. Mr. Appleton has
at length reluctantly consented to remain until my departure, and
this relieves me from much embarrassment. I now hope to be at
home early in January, but this for the present you had better keep
to yourself. I may in the meantime probably visit Paris.
I regret that such unfounded reports respecting Mr. Mason’s health
should reach the United States.
You speak to me concerning the Presidency. You of all other
persons best know that even if there were no other cogent reasons,
the state of my health is not such as would enable me to undergo
the intense anxiety and fatigue incident to wearing that crown of
thorns. Of course I wish nothing said about the state of my health.
My friends in Pennsylvania constitute the ablest and most honest
portion of the Democratic party. They now have the power in their
own hands, and they ought, for their own benefit, not mine, to take
care that Pennsylvania shall be represented by proper persons in the
national convention. They can, if they will, exert such a powerful
influence as to select the best man for the country from among the
list of candidates, and thus take care of themselves. This would be
my advice to them, were I at home. I hope they may follow it. As far
as I can learn, President Pierce is daily growing stronger for a
renomination.
I enclose you a note which I have received from the Duchess of
Somerset.
I know not whether Mrs. Shapter will write to you to-day. I
communicated your kind messages, with which she appeared to be
much gratified, and spoke of you most affectionately.
You will be gratified to learn that Sir —— does not bear malice. Mr.
Bedinger in writing to me from Copenhagen on the 4th instant, says:
“I saw them both several times. Sir —— and his charming niece (for
so I found her), told me much of yourself and your charming niece,
who they said had recently left you for America.”
I have a very long despatch for to-day, and must bid you adieu.
May God be with you to protect and direct you. Be prudent and
circumspect and cautious in your communications to others. There
are very few people in the world who can keep a secret. They must
tell or burst.

November 16th, 1855.

I have received your favor of the 30th ultimo, per the Atlantic.
General Webb’s advice is likely to be followed, very much against
my own will. I am now in the midst of the storm, and my sense of
duty leaves me no alternative but to remain at my post until the
danger shall have passed away, or until President Pierce shall think
proper to appoint my successor. Mr. Appleton goes home by this
steamer. The President had sent him a commission as chargé ad
interim, to continue from my departure until the arrival of my
successor. I resisted his importunities to go home as long as I could,
but the last letter from his wife was of such a character that I could
no longer resist. He is a perfect secretary, as well as an excellent
friend. He has been in the house with me since your departure, and
I shall not now give the house up for the present. The little cook has
done very well.
I presume that ere this you know that Colonel Forney has come
out openly in favor of the renomination of General Pierce. You know
that I considered this almost unavoidable. General Pierce placed him
in the Union, and has maintained him there and afforded him the
means of making a fortune. Besides, he is the editor of the
President’s official journal. Under these circumstances, he could not
well have acted otherwise, and I do not blame him for it. Still he will
be severely attacked, and in self-defence will be obliged to come out
and say that he has acted thus because I had determined not to
become a candidate for nomination before the national convention;
and this defence will be nothing more than the truth. This will
possibly place Mr. Dallas and General Pierce as rival candidates
before the Democracy of Pennsylvania, which might prove
unfortunate. But still be quiet and discreet and say nothing.
If I had any views to the Presidency, which I have not, I would
advise you not to remain longer in Philadelphia than you can well
avoid. A large portion of my friends in that city are bitterly hostile to
those whom you must necessarily meet there. I presume, without
knowing, that Governor Bigler will be the candidate of the
administration for the Senate.
Lady Ouseley desires me to send you her kindest love, and I
believe she entertains for you a warm affection. I have not seen her
to deliver your message since the receipt of your letter. Lady Alice
Peel, Lady Chantry and others send their kind regards. I dine with
Mrs. Shapter to-morrow.
I shall write by the present steamer to James Henry to come out
here immediately, as I may be detained until January or February,
and I shall want some person to be in the house with me. Could I
have foreseen what has come to pass, I might have been selfish
enough to retain you here. I can scarcely see the paper for a “yellow
fog.” I wish you could call to see John G. Brenner and his wife.
Give my love to brother Edward and his family.

November 23d, 1855.

I have received your favors of the 5th and 6th instants, and
immediately posted your letters to the duchess, Lady Ouseley and
Miss Hargreaves.
The weather here has been even more disagreeable than usual for
the season, and I have had a cough and clearing of the throat
exactly similar to your own last winter. I have not used any remedies
for it, and it is now, thank Heaven, passing away. Since Mr. Appleton
left, I have got Mr. Moran to sleep in the house with me.
Lady Ouseley has been quite unwell, but she was able to ride out
in my carriage yesterday...... She says, “when you write to Miss
Lane, pray give her my best love, with many thanks for her kind
note, which I will answer as soon as I am better.”
In a letter from Mrs. Roosevelt, dated on the 13th ultimo, in
which, after mentioning that she had learned your intention to
return home, she invites you to make her house your home while in
New York, etc., etc. I have written to her to-day, thanking her for her
kind invitation, and expressing the desire that you should know each
other better.
I agree with you in opinion that Mr. —— is not the man to succeed
in public life, or in captivating such fastidious ladies as yourself; but
yet I have no doubt he is a good and amiable man, as he is certainly
well informed. Much allowance ought to be made for wounded
vanity. But I admit I am no judge in these matters, since you inform
me that Mr. —— has been the admiration of Philadelphia ladies.
Mr. Van Dyke does not properly appreciate Mr. Tyler. I like them
both very much, as well as their wives.
Van Dyke is able, grateful, energetic and influential, and should he
take care of himself, will yet win his way to a high position.
Do not forget to present my love to Lily Macalester and my kind
regards to her father and Mrs. Lathrop.
I know of no news here which would interest you much. A few
dinner parties are now given, to which I have been invited. I dine to-
day with Monckton Milnes, and on Tuesday next with Sir Henry and
Lady Holland.
Many kind inquiries are still made about you. I wish you would
inform Eskridge without delay that I attach great importance to the
immediate transfer of the Michigan Central Railroad stock about
which I wrote to him by the last steamer. I hope, however, that ere
this can reach you he will have attended to this business.
In one respect, at least, I am now deemed a man of great
importance. In the present uneasy condition of the stock exchange,
an incautious word from me would either raise or sink the price of
consols.
I see much of Mr. Ward, and he is thoroughly American in our
present difficulties. This has raised him much in my estimation.

London, November 2, 1855.

I have but truly a moment to write to you. We did not learn your
arrival by the Pacific, which I had expected with much interest.
 Lord Clarendon told me yesterday that the queen had expressed
her regret not to have seen you before your departure. He said she
had heard you were to marry Sir ——, and expressed how much she
would have been gratified had you been detained in England. We
had some talk about the disparity of your ages, which I have not
time to repeat, even if it were worth repeating. I said it was
supposed Sir —— was very rich. “Yes,” he said, “enormously.”
There is a great muss here at present about the relations between
the two countries, but I think it will all eventually blow over and may
do good. Everybody is now anxious to know something about
American affairs; and both in the press and the public we have many
powerful defenders against the measures adopted by Lord
Palmerston’s government.

November 30, 1855.

I have received your favor of the 12th instant from Lancaster. Ere
this can reach you Mr. Appleton will have seen you and told you all
about my affairs. I have but little to say to you of any consequence.
I saw the duchess two or three days ago, and she spoke in
raptures, as is her wont, about your “beautiful letter” and yourself.
She begged me to say to you she would soon answer it.
I shall deliver your message to Mrs. Sturgis as soon as she shall
appear in public after her confinement........ Among the ancient Jews
she would have been considered a prodigy and a blessing. I like her
very much.
Van Dyke’s message is like himself. He is a kind and true-hearted
fellow. I am persuaded, however, he does Tyler injustice. His being
for Wise was but another reason for being for myself. He had written
me several letters of a desponding character. He thought the State
was going all wrong,—great danger of Dallas, etc., and attributed all
to my refusal to be a candidate, and not returning home at the time
I had appointed.
By the last steamer, however, I received a letter from him of a
character altogether different......
I shall be anxious to learn what plans you have adopted for the
winter.
 The enclosed letter from Lady Chantrey was handed to me by
Charles. In a hurry I opened it. “Why,” said he, “that is to Miss Lane,
and was brought here from Lady Chantrey.” I now take the cover off,
and enclose it to you, assuring you that I have not read a single
word of it.

December 14, 1855.

I have nothing of interest to communicate by this steamer. The
past week has been dull, gloomy, and cold for the season. The walks
in the park are covered with snow, and I find them very slippery.
The winter has set in with unusual severity, whilst the price of
provisions is very high. God help the poor in this vast Babel! Their
sufferings will be dreadful.
Although I have not suffered, either from ennui or despondency,
yet I shall hail the arrival of James Henry with pleasure. I think it
may be of service to him to be with me a month or six weeks.
I am extremely sorry to learn that “Mrs. Plitt’s health is very bad.”
She is a woman among a thousand. Most sincerely and deeply do I
sympathize with her. Give her my kindest love.
I have heard nothing of the six shawls since your departure, but I
have already written to Mr. Randall, and requested him to send me
the bill, which I shall pay as soon as received......
I have received your furs from Mrs. Shapter, and shall send them
to New York by the “Arago,” which will leave Southampton on the
19th instant. They are packed in a nice little box directed to the care
of George Plitt, Esquire. I shall, through Mr. Croshey, get Captain
Lines himself to take charge of them and pay the duty. Please to so
arrange it that some friend at New York may be ready to receive
them and refund him the duty which he may have paid.
I have again inadvertently opened a letter addressed to you which
I enclose, and I assure that I did not read a single word in it, except
“My dearest Hattie.” I can, therefore, only guess who is the writer.
I started out yesterday and paid three very agreeable visits to the
Countess Bernsdorff, Lady Palmerston, and the Duchess of
Somerset. I found them all at home, and had a nice little chat with
each. The duchess told me Lord Panmure had been with her, and
had been quite extravagant in his praises of what he termed my
able, friendly, and discreet conduct in the late difficulties between
the two countries. But for me, he said, these might have produced
serious consequences. The duchess, as usual, spoke extravagantly in
your praise, and desired her love to you.
I presume that Mrs. Lane and yourself have had a fine time of it
hearing Rachel. She is quite competent to understand and
appreciate the beauties of French tragedy. However this may be, she
possesses as much knowledge in this line as thousands of others
who will be quite enraptured with Rachel’s acting. I am glad you are
on good and friendly terms with her...... From present appearances
the war will end before the spring. This will be the case should the
czar accept the terms suggested by Austria and consented to by the
allies.

December 21, 1855.

Since the date of my last letter I have received the news of the
death of poor Mary.[25] I need not inform you of my devoted
attachment to her, and she deserved it all. Poor girl! she had her
own troubles, and she bore them all with cheerful patience. She is
now at rest, I trust, in that heavenly home where there is no more
pain and sorrow. Her loss will make the remainder of my residence
here, which I trust may be brief, dreary and disconsolate.
How happy I am to know that you are with Mrs. Plitt! She has a
warm heart, and a fine intellect, and will, better than any other
person, know how to comfort and soothe you in your sorrow. I am
thankful that you are now at home.
With Mrs. Plitt’s kind letter to me came that from Mrs. Speer to
you, and one from Lieutenant Beale to myself. I shall always
gratefully remember his kindness and that of his wife. His letter was
just what it ought to have been. I wrote to Mrs. Plitt from
Southampton by the “Arago,” which left on Wednesday last.
The death of poor Mary has been your first serious sorrow,
because you were too young to feel deeply the loss of your parents.
Ere this can reach you a sufficient time will have elapsed for the first
natural overflowings of sorrow. I would not have restrained them if I
could. It is now time that they should moderate, and that you should
not mourn the dead at the expense of your duties to the living. This
sad event ought to teach you the vanity of all things human and
transitory, and cause you to fix your thoughts, desires, and
affections on that Being with whom “there is no variableness or
shadow of turning.” This will not render you gloomy, but will enable
you the better to perform all the duties of life. In all calamitous
events we ought to say emphatically: “Thy will be done.” At the last,
all the proceedings of a mysterious Providence will be justified in
another and a better world, and it is our duty here to submit with
humble resignation. Although my course of life has been marked by
temporal prosperity, thanks be to Heaven, yet I have experienced
heart-rending afflictions, and you must not expect to be exempt
from the common lot of humanity. I have not seen Mrs. Shapter, but
I sent her Mr. Beale’s letter, which she returned with a most feeling
note. She, also, wrote to you by the “Arago.”
You will know sooner in the United States than I can at what time
I shall be relieved. I shall now expect to hear by the arrival of every
steamer that my successor has been appointed. Should he arrive
here within a month or six weeks, I still have an idea of running over
to the continent; but I have yet determined upon nothing. I have a
great desire to be at home.

December 28, 1855.

I have received your favor of the 11th instant with the copy of Mr.
Baker’s letter, which I have read with deep interest. I wrote to you
last week on the subject of poor Mary’s death, which I deeply
deplore. I hope that ere this can reach you your mind will have been
tranquillized on that sad event. It would have been wrong, it would
have been unnatural, had you not experienced anguish for the loss
of so good, kind-hearted, and excellent a sister.
Still, the loss is irreparable, grief is unavailing, and you have duties
to perform towards yourself as well as your friends. To mourn for the
dead at the expense of these duties would be sinful. We shall never
forget poor Mary, her memory will always be dear to us; but it is our
duty to bow with submission to the will of that Being in whose hands
are the issues of life and death. You know what a low estimate I
have ever placed upon a woman without religious principles. I know
that in your conduct you are guided by these principles, more than is
common in the fashionable world; but yet if this melancholy
dispensation of Providence should cause you to pay more attention
than you have done to “the things which pertain to your everlasting
peace,” this would be a happy result. I have lost many much-loved
relatives and friends; but though age becomes comparatively
callous, I have felt and feel deeply the loss of Mary and Jessie. Poor
Jessie! She died breathing my name with her devotions. What can I
do—what shall I do for her children?
I send by the bag to the department a letter from the duchess, to
whom, I believe, I have not mentioned our loss.
Sir William and Lady Ouseley dined with me a few days ago. There
were no persons present except ourselves. She sincerely
sympathizes with you. Time begins to produce its healing influence
on her grief, though both she and poor Sir William have been sadly
cast down by their calamity.
James Henry arrived here on Christmas evening after a passage of
three weeks which he evidently enjoyed. He talks to Mr. Ward
knowingly about every part of a sailing vessel. His plan of travel is
quite extensive, far too much so for the sum he intends to expend. I
shall gradually cut it down to more reasonable limits.
No news yet of the appointment of my successor, notwithstanding
the efforts of Mr. Appleton. I have not received the President’s
message, but expect it on Monday with much anxiety. Should I then
hear nothing of a successor or secretary of legation, I shall give
them formal notice that I will present my letter of recall on a
particular day; and should no person arrive in the meantime, that I
will leave the legation in charge of General Campbell.

January 4, 1856.
I have received yours of the 17th ultimo, and am pained to learn
that you neither see your friends nor take exercise since your return
to Philadelphia. Your grief for poor Mary’s death, or at least the
manifestation of it, exceeds all reasonable limits, and I am truly
sorry that you have not more self-command. Although I know it is
sincere, and it ought to be deep, yet you ought to recollect that the
world are severe censors.
In regard to the bringing of dear Mary’s remains from San
Francisco to Lancaster or Franklin county, I have not a word to say.
This must be left to her nearer relatives. She sleeps as sweetly on
the distant shores of the Pacific as she could do on any other spot of
earth, and her disembodied spirit will be equally near to you
wherever you may wander. Still I know it is a sort of instinct of
nature to desire to have the tombs of our friends near us; and even
if I had any right to object, I should not exercise it. Do as you
please, and I shall be content......
James Henry is with me very busy and persevering in sight-seeing.
I am sorry I do not feel it proper to detain him with me. The carnival
comes so early this year that he must soon be off, as he intends to
take Naples en route to Rome. I get along very well with Mr. Moran,
though the labor is too great for one man to perform. In truth I
cannot answer all the letters I receive, and attend to my appropriate
duties. I shall, however, endeavor to write you a few lines every
week. Friends still inquire after you with great kindness.

January 11, 1856.

I have received your favor of the 25th ultimo, together with an
agreeable little note from Mrs. Plitt, for which give her my thanks.
James Henry left us yesterday afternoon. He had drawn all his
plans with mathematical precision, and I did not like to mar them.
He was to go direct to Naples, and be at Rome during the carnival,
so that he had but little time. He is a calculating, and I think a
determined boy....... He has certainly made a favorable impression
here on the persons with whom he has been in company, especially
on Lady Holland. The dinner went off extremely well; some of them
said almost as well as if you had been present. As you would
probably like to know the company, I will tell you:
Mr. and Madame Tricoupi, the Count and Countess de Lavradio,
Count Bernstorff, the Brazilian Minister and Madame Moreiro, the
Swedish Minister and Baroness Hochschild, the Danish Minister and
Madame D’Oxholme, Mr. and Mrs. Comyn, Sir Henry and Lady
Holland, Lady Talbot de Malahide, R. Monckton Milnes, and J.
Buchanan Henry, Esq.
Count Colloredo had the commands of the queen, and could not
attend. Countess Bernstorff was ill. Baron Bentinck had an
engagement in the country, and so had Mr. and Mrs. Musurus. So
you have the list of invitations as well as of those who attended. I
expect to leave the house next week.
I very often think of poor Mary, and shall always cherish her
memory with deep affection. I trust that ere this your grief has
moderated, and that you begin to bear your loss with the philosophy
of a Christian, and with humble resignation to the Divine will.
James desired me to send his love to you, and say that he would
write to you from Rome.

January 25, 1856.

Without a secretary of legation, I have so much business to
transact and so many persons to see, that I must give great offence
by necessarily failing to answer the letters of my friends on your side
of the Atlantic. I have not yet heard of the appointment of my
successor from Washington; but the last steamer brought out a
report, on which some of the passengers thought reliance might be
placed, that Governor Toucey either had been or would be
appointed. It would be difficult to make a better selection. In all this
matter, they have treated me discourteously and improperly. By
every steamer since the return of Mr. Appleton to the United States,
I had a right to expect news of a new appointment. I have written
more than once emphatically upon the subject, and they are now
fully apprised that I shall leave the legation next month, and entrust
its affairs to General Campbell, should neither minister nor secretary
in the mean time appear.
The Central American questions might now, I think, be easily
settled with any other premier than Lord Palmerston. Since the
publication of the correspondence here and the articles in the Times
and Daily News in our favor, there would seem to be a general public
opinion that we are right. This, I think, renders it certain that serious
difficulties between the two countries cannot grow out of these
questions. I enclose you an article from the Morning Advertiser, but
little calculated to do me good in the United States. What on earth
could have induced the editor to write such an article is a mystery.
So far as regards any effect it may produce upon the Presidency, I
feel quite indifferent. There is a profound wisdom in a remark of
Rochefoucauld, with which I met the other day: “Les choses que
nous desirons n’arrivent pas, ou, si elles arrivent, ce n’est, ni dans le
tems, ni de la manière que nous auraient fait le plus de plaisir.” I had
a letter yesterday from Judge Mason, dated on the 23d, giving me a
pressing and cordial invitation to stay with him when I visit Paris.
This, I believe, I shall accept, at least for part of my brief visit. He is
much pleased with Mr. Wise, his new secretary of legation. James B.
Henry, he says, who took the despatches to him, “remained but a
few hours in Paris, hurrying to Marseilles to take a steamer for Italy.”
I have not heard from him since he left, nor did I expect to hear so
soon.
Mrs. Shapter has been quite unwell, but is now down-stairs again.
I have not seen her since the date of my last.
We had quite an agreeable dinner party at Lord Woodehouse’s on
Wednesday last. I had a very pleasant conversation with the
Countess Persigny, who speaks English very prettily, though not yet
fluently. She is evidently proud of being the grand daughter of
Marshal Ney, and well she may be. We had quite a tête à tête. She,
or rather the count, has been very civil to me of late. The woman-
killer, for whom, as you know, I have very little respect, and with
whom I have had no intercourse for a considerable period, seems
determined that I shall be on good terms with him. I suffered as
usual the penalty of this dinner—a sleepless and uncomfortable
night. Dinner invitations are again becoming numerous, but I shall
accept none except from those to whom I feel under obligations for
past kindness. Your name still continues to be mentioned with
kindness by your friends and acquaintances. I sent the other day by
the “Frigate Bird,” to Charles Brown, the collector, a portrait of the
justly celebrated John Hampden, from our friend MacGregor,[26]
intended to be presented to Congress, and have requested Mr.
Brown to keep it for me till my return. I also sent two boxes
containing books and different articles—one of them champagne and
the other wine. These might be sent to Eskridge. Please to tell Mr.
Plitt about them, who, if he will call on Mr. Brown, will hear all about
the picture. I have neither room nor time to write more.

February 1st, 1856.

I have but little time to write to-day.
Parliament was yesterday opened by the queen. I need not
describe the ceremony to you, as you have already witnessed it.
What struck me most forcibly was the appearance in the diplomatic
box of a full-blooded black negro as the representative of his
Imperial Majesty of Hayti.
I have received a letter from James Henry, dated at Rome on the
20th ultimo...... Realities never correspond with the expectations of
youth.
I had confidently expected to receive by the Atlantic, whose mails
and despatch bag have just come to hand, an answer to my last
most urgent request for the appointment of my successor and the
immediate appointment of a secretary of legation, but in this I have
been disappointed. Not one word in relation to the subject......
I wish I had time to write you more. This steamer will carry a
most important despatch to Washington.

February 8th, 1856.

Our latest dates from New York are to Saturday, the 19th of
January. We have had no Collins or Cunard steamer during the
present week. Since the first spell of cold weather, the winter has
been open, damp and disagreeable.
I have gone a good deal into society since the meeting of
Parliament, because it is my duty to embrace every opportunity of
conversing with influential people here on the relations between the
two countries. The Morning Advertiser has been publishing a series
of articles, one stating that high words had passed between Lord
Clarendon and myself, at the foreign office, and that he had used
violent expressions to me there; another that I had, because of this,
declined to attend Lady Palmerston’s first reception; and a third,
which I have not seen, that Sir Henry Bulwer and myself had been in
conference together with a view of settling the Central American
questions. Now all this is mere moonshine, and there is not a
shadow of truth in any one of these statements.
I went to Count Persigny’s on the evening of Shrove Tuesday, and
had quite an agreeable time of it. There were a number of
distinguished persons present, though not a crowd. Many kind
inquiries were made respecting yourself. I dine to-day at Sir Henry
Holland’s, on purpose to meet Macaulay, should his health enable
him to be present. On Tuesday at Mr. Butt’s, and on Wednesday at
Lord Granville’s, where there will be a party in the evening.
I met the “woman-killer” —— in the ante-chamber of the foreign
office on Wednesday last. He now seems determined to be such
good friends with me, that in good manners I must treat him kindly.
Knowing my tender point, he launched out in your praises, and said
such extravagant things of you as I could scarcely stand,
notwithstanding my weakness on this subject. Fortunately for me,
before he had concluded, he was summoned to Lord Clarendon,
greatly to my relief.
I think they will hesitate about sending me away, even if Mr.
Crampton should receive his passports. Mr. Cobden told me the
other evening at the Reform Club that Mr. Willcox, the member of
Parliament from Southampton, had said to Lord Palmerston: “Well,
you are about to send Buchanan away;” and his reply was, “If
Buchanan should remain until I send him away, he will be here to all
eternity.” This, however, is à la mode de Palmerston, and means but
little one way or the other. I only repeat it as one of his jokes, and
my hesitation on the subject is not in the slightest degree founded
on this remark.
I should infer that my Presidential stock is declining in the market.
I do not now receive so many love letters on the subject as formerly,
always excepting the ever faithful Van Dyke and a few others.
Heaven bless them! I see the best face has been put on Bigler’s
election, but still it is an ugly symptom. Declining prospects give me
no pain. These would rather afford me pleasure, were it not for my
friends. Pierce’s star appears now to be in the ascendant, though I
think it is not very probable he will be nominated. Heaven only
knows who will be the man.

February 15, 1856.

Nothing of importance has occurred since I wrote you last. I have
been out a good deal, deeming it my duty at the present crisis to
mingle with influential society as much as possible. Everywhere you
are kindly remembered. Lord and Lady Stanhope have been very
particular in their inquiries about you, and say much which it would
be gratifying to you to hear. I promised to Mr. and Mrs. Butt, that I
would transmit you their kind compliments. The Duchess of
Somerset begged me to say to you, that at the date of her letter to
you, she had not heard of your affliction.
I trust that Mr. Dallas may soon make his appearance in London,
as I am exceedingly anxious to be relieved from my present
position...... What will you say to my reconciliation with Governor
Bigler? He addressed me such a letter as you have scarcely ever
read. It was impossible for me to avoid giving it a kind answer. I
accepted his overtures, and informed him that it would not be my
fault if we should not always hereafter remain friends. He had often
made advances to me indirectly before, which I always declined.
This seems to be the era of good feeling in Pennsylvania. Davy
Lynch’s letters, for some months past, have been quite graphic and
amusing. He says that “the Eleventh hour Buchanan Legion” at
Harrisburgh have unanimously elected him a member, for which he
kindly thanked them, and at the same time advised them to work
hard and diligently to make up for lost time. They responded that
their exertions should be directed with a view to throw my old fogy
friends into the shade.
Notwithstanding all this, the signs of the times are not very
auspicious to my experienced eye, and I shall be neither
disappointed nor sorry should the Cincinnati convention select some
other person. It will, however, be always a source to me of heartfelt
gratification, that the Democracy of my native State have not
deserted me in my old age, but have been true to the last.
 I am truly sorry to hear of Mr. Randall’s affliction. He is an able
and true hearted man, to whom I am much attached. Please to
remember me to him and Mrs. Randall in the kindest terms.
Your uncle John has died at a good old age, with a character for
integrity which he well deserved. He had a kind and excellent heart.
As he advanced in life, his peculiarities increased, and apparently
obscured his merits, in his intercourse with his relations and friends.
But still he possessed them. For many years after he came to
Lancaster we were intimate friends, and we always continued
friends.
I trust that Mr. Dallas may arrive by the next Collins steamer. It is
my intention to act handsomely towards him. I thank Heaven that a
successor has at last been appointed. Whether I shall return home
soon after his arrival or go to the continent I cannot at present
determine. On the 18th December last I paid Mr. Randall for the six
shawls, and have his bill and receipt.
At Lord Granville’s dinner on Wednesday, the Marquis of
Lansdowne and Mr. Ellice said very pretty things about you. Colonel
Seibels, our minister at Brussels, is now here with me, and I am
delighted to see him. He will remain until after the queen’s levee on
the 20th. I shall leave the house on Tuesday next, on which day the
inventory is to be taken, and shall most probably go to the
Clarendon.

February 22, 1856.

Another week has passed, and I am happy to inform you that you
are still freshly remembered by your friends and acquaintances on
this side of the Atlantic. I delivered up possession of the house to
the agent of Mrs. Lewis on Tuesday morning last, with the exception
of the offices, and went to Fenton’s, because I could not obtain
comfortable apartments at the Clarendon. I retain the offices for the
present at the rate of £10 per month, awaiting the arrival of Mr.
Dallas. I earnestly hope he may be here in the Pacific, which is
expected at Liverpool on Wednesday or Thursday next. The two
house agents, on the part of Mrs. Lewis and myself respectively,
have been employed on the inventory ever since Tuesday morning,
and have not yet finished.
I expect to be all ready, upon the arrival of Mr. Dallas, either to go
home or go to the continent, according to the then existing
circumstances. At present I am quite undetermined which course I
shall pursue.
You will see by the Morning Post that I presented Col. Seibels at
the levee on Wednesday. He paid me a visit for a week, and his
society afforded me great pleasure. He is both an honorable and
agreeable man, as well as a tried and sincere friend. I dine with Lord
and Lady Palmerston to-morrow, and with the Lord and Lady
Mayoress on Wednesday, and on Thursday attend the wedding of
Miss Sturgis and Mr. Coleman at 11 o’clock at the Church of “St.
John, Robin Hood,” close to the Robin Hood Gate of Richmond Park.
Mr. Sturgis’s country residence is close to this church.
I receive letters from home, some of which say, with reference to
the Presidency, “Come home immediately,” and others, “Stay away a
while longer.” I shall not regulate my conduct with any view to this
office. If it be the will of Providence to bestow upon me the
Presidency, I shall accept it as a duty, a burden and a trial, and not
otherwise. I shall take no steps to obtain it.
Mrs. Shapter’s health is delicate, and John has been quite unwell.
I shall not fail to leave her some token of my great regard before I
leave London. She richly deserves it.

February 29th, 1856.

...... I dined with the queen on Wednesday last, and had a
pleasant time of it. I took the Duchess of Argyle in to dinner, and sat
between her and the princess royal. With the latter I had much
pleasant conversation. She spoke a great deal of you and made
many inquiries about you, saying how very much pleased she had
been with you. The queen also spoke of you kindly and inquired in a
cordial manner about you. Indeed, it would seem you were a
favorite of both. There has been a marked and favorable change of
feeling here within the last month towards the United States. I am
now made something of a lion wherever I go, and I go much into
society as a matter of duty. The sentiment and proceeding at the
Mansion House on Wednesday last were quite remarkable. Perhaps it
is just as well I received the command to dine with the queen on
that day.
I am yet in ignorance as to the time when Mr. Dallas may be
expected to arrive. The moment I learn he has arrived in Liverpool, I
shall apply for my audience of leave and joyfully surrender the
legation to him with the least possible delay.

March 7th, 1856.

I received your two letters of February 15th and 19th on Monday
last, on my return from Mr. Lampson’s, where I went on Saturday
evening. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lampson talked much and kindly of you,
and desired to be remembered to you...... I shall expect Mr. Dallas
about the middle of next week, and intend soon after his arrival to
cross over to Paris. I hope to be at home some time in April, but
when, I cannot now inform you.
I am glad to learn that you purpose to go to New York. It was very
kind in you to jog my memory about what I should bring you from
Paris. I know not what may be the result. Nous verrons.
Becky Smith is a damsel in distress, intelligent and agreeable, and
a country-woman in a strange land. Her conduct in London has been
unexceptionable and she is making her way in the world. She has
my sympathy, and I have given her “a lift” whenever I could with
propriety.
I delivered your letter to the Duchess of Somerset on Monday last,
and she was delighted with it. She handed it to me to read. It was
well and feelingly written. I was sorry to perceive that you
complained of your health, but you will, I trust, come out with the
birds in the spring, restored and renovated. I am pleased with what
you say concerning Senator Welsh. In writing to me, I think you had
better direct to me at Paris, to the care of Mr. Mason, giving him his
appropriate style, and you need not pay the postage; better not,
indeed. But you will scarcely have time to write a single letter there
before I shall have probably left. I shall continue to write to you, but
you need not continue to write to me more than once after the
receipt of this, unless I should advise you differently by the next
steamer.
Mr. Bates is quite unwell, and I fear he is breaking up very fast. At
the wedding of Miss Sturgis the other day, as I approached to take
my seat beside Madame Van de Weyer, she said: “Unwilling as you
may be, you are now compelled to sit beside me.” Of course I
replied that this was no compulsion, but a great privilege. Mrs. Bates
complained much that Mrs. Lawrence has not written to her.

March 14, 1856.

I tell you the simple truth when I say I have no time to-day to
write to you at length. Mr. Dallas arrived at Liverpool yesterday
afternoon, and is to leave there to-morrow at nine for London; so
the consul telegraphed to me. I have heard nothing from him since
his appointment. I expect an audience of leave from the queen early
next week, and shall then, God willing, pass over to the continent.
I have this morning received your two letters of the 25th and
29th, and congratulate you on your arrival in New York. I hope you
may have an agreeable time of it. Your letter of the 25th is excellent.
I like its tone and manner very much and am sorry I have not time
to write you at length in reply. I am also pleased with that of the
29th. I send by the bag the daguerreotype of our excellent friend,
Mrs. Shapter. I have had mine taken for her. I think hers is very
good. I saw her yesterday in greatly improved health and in fine
spirits.

March 18, 1856.

The queen at my audience of leave on Saturday, desired to be
kindly remembered to you.
The Marquis of Lansdowne at parting from me said: “If Miss Lane
should have the kindness to remember me, do me the honor to lay
me at her feet.”
Old Robert Owen came in and has kept me so long that I must cut
this letter short. I go to Paris, God willing, on Thursday next, in
company with Messrs. Campbell and Croshey our consuls. I send a
letter from James which I have received open.
 Brussels, March 27, 1856.
I write this in the legation of Colonel Siebels. He and I intend to
go to-morrow to the Hague on a visit to Mr. Belmont, from which I
propose to return to Paris on Tuesday or Wednesday next. It is my
purpose, God willing, to leave for Havre for home in the Arago on
Wednesday, the 9th of April. I do not believe that a more
comfortable vessel, or a better or safer captain exists. All who have
crossed the Atlantic with him speak in the same terms both of his
ship and himself.
I shall return to Mr. Mason’s at Paris, because I could not do
otherwise without giving offence. What a charming family it is.
Judge Mason, though somewhat disabled, has a much more healthy
appearance, and in the face resembles much more his former self,
than he did when attending the Ostend conference. The redness and
sometimes blueness of his face have disappeared, and he now looks
as he did in former years.
I shall defer all accounts of my doings on the continent until after
we meet. I may or I may not write to you once more before
embarking.
You might let Eskridge and Miss Hetty know at what time I shall
probably be at home, though I do not wish it to be noised abroad.
You cannot calculate our passage to be less than two weeks. Should
I reach my native shore on my birth-day, the 23d April, I shall thank
God and be content. The Arago takes the southern route to keep
clear of the ice.
 CHAPTER VIII.
1856.

RETURN TO AMERICA—NOMINATION AND ELECTION TO THE

PRESIDENCY—SIGNIFICANCE OF MR. BUCHANAN’S ELECTION
IN RESPECT TO THE SECTIONAL QUESTIONS—PRIVATE
CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Buchanan arrived at New York in the latter part of April, 1856,
and there met with a public reception from the authorities and
people of the city, which evinced the interest that now began to be
everywhere manifested in him as the probable future President. With
what feelings he himself regarded the prospect of his nomination by
his party, and his election, has appeared from his unreserved
communications with his friends. That he did not make efforts to
secure the nomination will presently appear upon other testimony
than his own. He reached Wheatland in the last week of April, and
there he remained a very quiet observer of what was taking place in
the political world. Before he left England, he had been informed
that a Democratic convention of his own State had unanimously
declared him to be the first choice of the Pennsylvania Democrats for
the Presidency. To this he had made no formal or public response;
but on the 8th of June he was waited upon by a committee from this
convention, and he then addressed them as follows:

Gentlemen:—
I thank you, with all my heart, for the kind terms in which, under
a resolution of the late Democratic State Convention, you have
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