It seems that you intend this winter to anchor in Rome. It increases my
regret that I cannot be there. It is out of the question. My wife's
health and mine are so much improved that the journey is not necessary,
and business of all kinds keeps us at home. If you push on to Naples, you
will, perhaps, enjoy the absence of the rascally king whom you and I
found there five years ago. I applaud the virtuous indignation of the
English against this little despot, and their sympathy with the unhappy
wretches whom he detains arbitrarily to die slowly in his prisons, which,
though not placed in the African deserts or the marshes of Cayenne, are
bad enough. The interest which your great nation takes in the cause of
humanity and liberty, even when that cause suffers in another country,
delights me. What I regret is that your generous indignation is directed
against so petty a tyrant.
I must say that America is a _puer robustus_. Yet I cannot desire, as
many persons do, its dismemberment. Such an event would inflict a great
wound on the whole human race; for it would introduce war into a great
continent from whence it has been banished for more than a century.
The breaking up of the American Union will be a solemn moment in the
history of the world. I never met an American who did not feel this, and
I believe that it will not be rashly or easily undertaken. There will,
before actual rupture, be always a last interval, in which one or both
parties will draw back. Has not this occurred twice?
Adieu, dear Senior. Do not be long without letting us hear from you, and
remember us affectionately to Mrs. Senior and to your daughter.
Ashton House, near Phoenix Park, Dublin, September 26, 1856.
My dear Tocqueville,--Your letter found me at Haddo House, Aberdeenshire,
where we have been spending a fortnight with Lord Aberdeen.
It has been very interesting. Lord Aberdeen is one of our wisest
statesmen.
* * * * *
I found Lord Aberdeen deprecating the war, notwithstanding its success,
utterly incredulous as to the aggressive intentions attributed to
Nicholas, and in fact throwing the blame of the war on Lord Stratford
and, to a certain degree, on Louis Napoleon.
I found him also much disturbed by our Naples demonstration, believing it
to be an unwarranted interference with an independent Government.
* * * * *
Ever yours,