of European and American politics. I took a lively part in the conversation. The next day one of them came to me and said: “Sir, you have a fair opening before you. You will have a future in this country. I talked about you with my friends and we came to the conclusion that, if you settle in one of the new States, we will meet you in a few years in this city, and then we shall listen to you in the halls of Congress as you now listen to us.” These remarks were so spontaneous, so unsolicited, that they have given me courage.
I have made one other interesting acquaintance, a well-known American poetess—Mrs. Sarah Bolton, who lives in this house. She is very simple, very entertaining and, except for a little author s vanity, free from affectation.
Thursday evening, March 23, 1854.
I have just called upon a Senator who seems to be very much interested in me, and to whom my ideas seem to appeal. He has invited me to breakfast to-morrow morning, where I am to meet some other persons. I feel that I might be able to do something worth while in this sphere, if once I had become actively and officially a part of it. I feel it more and more strongly as I become better acquainted with those who are influencing affairs. Nature has endowed me with a goodly capacity that only awaits an opportunity to make itself useful, and I do not think I am over-estimating my value when I say that I would be second to very few here, not now, but in a few years. When I come in touch with this atmosphere of political activity, I feel the old fire of 1848 coursing in my veins as fresh and young as ever. I feel that the true vocation of my life lies where my endeavor will reach out to universal problems.
Although the reaction in Europe has thrown me out of my course, you may still see your husband coming to
