almost excite suspicion at the outset. One
is apt to believe that craft cannot help lying
hid behind so frank an exterior. But such is
not at all the case. Mr. Seward is a capital
fellow, very open, and a bit of a joker. Everybody
knows, too, that although Mr. Lincoln is
at the head of the government, the real man of
importance, the veritable chief of the republican
party, is Mr. Seward. Rich, independent, gifted
to a high degree with the impassioned, aggressive,
boastful, facetious eloquence which pleases
Anglo-Saxon meetings, he early acquired great
popularity. When the republican party had to
choose a candidate for the presidency, Mr.
Seward's supporters were sufficiently numerous
to cause alarm. By a clever decision he avoided
the risk of a check. He offered his support to
Mr. Lincoln. The move succeeded, and he took
for himself the next post after the presidency—
the secretaryship of foreign affairs. He speaks
no language besides English, and knows little
about Europe; although he has the habit of
saying with an emphasis which is somewhat
comic, that he spent several years at the
principal European Courts to acquire the art of
governing men.

A few minutes after Mr. Seward's entrance,
Mr. Lincoln made his appearance. His stature
is so much above the average that he might be
styled a giant, were not the word— the expression
of strength and power in the biblical and
mythological senses—now confined to the vocabulary of
tumblers and showmen. His countenance bears
no marked character, but approaches to the
Celtic type of Auvergne, with a long head and
a sharp nose. His hair is very black, as is also
his beard, coming to a point after the American
fashion. If his physiognomy expresses
benevolence and frankness, his attitude and manners
are those of a modest, nay, a timid person.
Perhaps his embarrassed address—which communicates
itself to those with whom he converses—
is nothing more than the difficulty experienced
by men of his height in concealing it a little and
maintaining their equilibrium.

In the evening, the prince dined with the
president. General McClellan, whom he met there,
was about forty years of age, short in stature,
with black hair and moustaches, an open,
intelligent, and very agreeable countenance, and
remarkably simple and modest manners. Each of
the great European armies offers a well-
characterised type of officer, beneath which type
individual peculiarities of style, manner, language,
and even constitution, in some sort disappear.
An English officer does not resemble an Austrian
officer; a French officer differs from a Russian
officer. McClellan reminds you of the type of
the French Artillery officers.

The reason is, that he was educated at West
Point school, which is a mixture of the French
Military and Polytechnic schools. The student
of West Point speaks foreign languages, principally
French. In respect to literature, science,
and military art, he has been nursed in the
worship of the great European models.
Consequently, he is a stranger to that narrow patriotism,
that national exclusiveness, which concentrates
all the ideas, studies, and admiration of
the Americans upon America. The study of
pure science and mathematics has inspired him
with a taste for theoretical speculations which
is shared by few of his countrymen. He is
polite, discreet, reserved. He has acquired the
art of appearing modest, and of obtaining respect
by unpretending manners. He is able to
conform to the habits and customs of the strangers
with whom he comes in contact, and he practises
every rule of the most scrupulous urbanity with
a certain dash of republican pride which is wanting
neither in charm nor in dignity. This class
of men, so different from the Yankees, does not
seem to have hitherto obtained, in the direction of
public affairs, a share proportionate to the merit,
the knowledge, and the conscientious integrity
which distinguish the majority of its members.

Subsequently, at Detroit, the prince visited
General Cass in his peaceful and opulent retreat
on the northern frontier of America, and found
him in deep disappointment. He despaired of
his country, and foresaw nothing but misfortune,
ruin, and humiliation. In his idea, the work of
Washington, in which Washington himself never
had perfect faith, was on the point of falling to
pieces. He spoke as if his cherished hopes were
blighted, without remedy.

The prince found the interior of the general's
house very simple, like those of most private
individuals in the Northern States. A fortune
there is not enjoyed in the sense which we attach
to it in Europe. No luxurious table, furniture,
or equipages; no taste for collections, books, or
pictures. The upper classes have no idea of
dividing their existence between town and
country; and, therefore, no idea of a country-
seat or of the hospitable habits which are the
delight of the English aristocracy.

It is not very easy to guess what employment
rich Americans could make of their money. It
may be suspected that, the more they have, the
more they rush into business speculations, which
for them take the place of other amusements.
As to the very small number of men who, having
made large fortunes, retire from business—they
were probably the persons whom, before the
civil war, we used to see appearing from time to
time in Europe, where they seemed to come
solely to discover the means of spending their
wealth. They were very inexperienced in that
kind of existence. Their tastes were more showy
than delicate, their enjoyments more conventional
than real; and they frequently appeared
strangers to the fundamental principle of finance
which distinguishes capital from revenue. We
beheld them, brilliant comets, dazzling the Old
World for a while, and then suddenly disappearing
into complete obscurity.

Now ready, bound in cloth, price 5s. 6d.,
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