"_My dear Mr. Field_,--I shall not be in London before the 9th April, and therefore shall not be able to dine with you on the 5th, which I much regret. "If you could come down here on your way to Liverpool, I should be very glad to see you. I expect to be at home till the end of the week. "I hope your telegraph labors have been successful, and that before the summer is over you will see your noble effort successful. "I am anxious about what is doing in Washington, but I have lost faith in the President, and think Mr. Seward is allowing himself to be dragged into the mud of his Southern propensities. If Grant continues firm with the Republican party, he may prevent great mischief. The power of the President seems too great in an emergency of this nature. His language shows that his temper is not calm enough for dangerous times. In this he falls immeasurably below Mr. Lincoln. "But if I despair of the President, I shall have faith in the people. "I wish you a pleasant voyage and a complete success in your great undertaking. "Always sincerely your friend, "JOHN BRIGHT." "ROCHDALE, _March 28, '66_. "_My dear Mr. Field_,--I will try to come to Liverpool to meet you on Friday, the 6th April, nothing unforeseen preventing. "I shall be glad to spend a quiet evening with you before you sail. I shall be glad also to meet Mr. Dudley. "You seem, as usual, to be hard at work up to the last day of your stay here. Always truly your friend, "JOHN BRIGHT." He sailed from Liverpool on April 7th by the steamship _Persia_, arriving in New York on Thursday, April 19th, and he immediately took his return passage for England in the steamship _Java_, which was to sail from New York on May 30th. May 1st he wrote to Captain Anderson: "Many thanks for your kind letter the 13th ultimo, received yesterday." Every word of encouragement was always helpful to his eager temperament, and of course it was especially so at this time, after so many disappointments. Mr. Russell, in his book on _The Atlantic Telegraph_, says: