No. 17 HERTFORD ST.,
Mayfair, May 8, 1852.
MY DEAR SIR,—So many
years have elapsed since the only intercourse I ever had the pleasure of
holding with you—by letters and amity ceased—that I can hardly flatter myself
you yet recollect its occurrence. I could not, however, let my son proceed to
the United States without giving him at least the chance of becoming personally
known to one who has so nobly illustrated the name he himself bears.
This letter,
therefore, will be presented to you by my eldest son, William Dickinson Clay, who,
with his friend Mr. Morris—a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford—is about to make
the tour of the United States.
I know not whether
you and I shall ever meet. I have the ardent wish to visit America, but whether
my public duties may permit of my gratifying that wish, while I have health and
strength to enjoy the journey, is more than doubtful.
Should that not
occur, but should it so happen that either you or any one in whom you take an
interest visits England, you will not, I hope, forget that you will afford me
pleasure by showing that you perfectly rely on the friendly feeling with which
I am, my dear sir, yours with great respect and regard.
SOURCE: Calvin
Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, p. 632
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