Vienna, 20 Favoriten
Strasse, Wieden,
November 25, 1862.
Dearest Little Mary:
We jog on here much as usual. We are fortunate in our pleasant house and
garden, so that the external physical influences are not so gloomy as they were
last winter; but in other respects we are rather dismal, being so far away from
the center of all interest, our own beloved country. It is very probable that I
shall not live to see the end of this great tragedy, which seems to have hardly
passed its first act. But you may do so, and when you do, you will see a great
commonwealth, the freest and the noblest that ever existed in history, purged
of the foul disorder which has nearly eaten away its vitals. This war is a
purifying process, but it seems that a whole generation of youths has to be
sacrificed before we can even see the end.
When the news of the attempt of the French emperor to
interfere in our affairs in favor of the slaveholders reaches America, I hope
it may open the eyes of our people to the danger ever impending over them from
abroad. You will see that this is distinctly intimated in the despatch of
Drouyn de l'Huys. The party of peace is supposed to have triumphed, and of
course peace to the Europeans means the dismemberment of the Republic and the
establishment of the slaveholders' Confederacy. I consider the 25,000 majority
in glorious Massachusetts after the proclamation as a greater monument of
triumph in the onward march of civilization on our continent than anything that
has yet happened. I have somewhat recovered from the spleen and despondency
into which I was thrown by the first accounts of the elections in New York,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio. After all, when one makes an arithmetical calculation
we see that the popular vote in the great States is very nearly balanced, and
when we reflect that it was really a vote upon the Emancipation Proclamation,
the progress is enormous. Two years hence there will be a popular majority for
emancipation as large as there was for non-extension in 1860. This is true
progress. Moreover, our majority in Massachusetts is almost equal to the
Democratic majority in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania combined.
The President's proclamation was just in time. Had it been
delayed it is possible that England would have accepted the invitation of
France, and that invitation was in reality to recognize the slaveholders'
Confederacy, and to make with it an alliance offensive and defensive. I am not
exaggerating. The object is distinctly to unite all Europe against us, to
impose peace, and to forcibly dismember our country. Nothing has saved us from
this disaster thus far except the antislavery feeling in England, which
throughout the country, although not so much in high places, is the predominant
popular instinct in England which no statesman dares confront. Thank God,
Sumner is reelected, or is sure of it, I suppose, and Sam Hooper, too. The “people”
of Massachusetts have succeeded in electing five senators out of forty, thirty
representatives out of a few hundred, and half a congressman.1 If McClellan
had been an abolitionist together with his military talents, which are
certainly very respectable, he would have been a great man. This is a great
political and social revolution, and not an ordinary war. Goodby, my darling.
Your letters give us great pleasure. Mr. Sumner is a high-minded, pure-minded
patriot, and his rejection by Massachusetts would be a misfortune and a
disgrace. Mr. Hooper, too, is eminently qualified for his post, and I beg you
to give him my most sincere congratulations at his reelection, which I at one
time felt was rather doubtful.
Ever thine in storm
and shine and brine,
Papagei.
_______________
1 These senators and representatives were elected
to the Legislature of the State by opponents of the national administration.
SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The
Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition,
Volume 2, p. 294-6
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