Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 2 (of 2)Curtis, George Ticknor
History
Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 2 (of 2)
Curtis, George Ticknor
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
In regard to your coming to London with Colonel Lawrence and his
lady, should he be married in February next, I have this to say:
Your passage at that season of the year would, unless by a happy
accident, be stormy and disagreeable, though not dangerous. I have
scarcely yet recovered from the effects of the voyage, and should
you be as bad a sailor as myself, and have a rough passage, it
might give your constitution a shock. The month of April would be
a much more agreeable period to cross the Atlantic; and you would
still arrive here in time for the most fashionable and longer part
of the fashionable season.
It is my duty to inform you that a general conviction prevails
here, on the part of Lord Palmerston, the secretary of the
interior, and the distinguished physicians, as well as among the
intelligent people, that the cholera will be very bad in London
and other parts of England during the latter part of the next
summer and throughout the autumn. They are now making extensive
preparations, and adopting extensive sanitary measures to render
the mortality as small as possible. The London journals contain
articles on the subject almost every day. Their reason for this
conviction is,—that we have just had about as many cases of
cholera during the past autumn, as there were during the autumn in
a former year, preceding the season when it raged so extensively
and violently. Now this question will be for your own
consideration. I think it my duty to state the facts, and it will
be for you to decide whether you will postpone your visit until
the end of the next autumn for this reason, or at least until we
shall see whether the gloomy anticipations here are likely to be
realized.
I still anticipate difficulty about my costume; but should this
occur, it will probably continue throughout my mission. It is,
therefore, no valid reason why you should postpone your visit. In
that event you must be prepared to share my fate. So far as
regards the consequences to myself, I do not care a button for
them; but it would mortify me very much to see you treated
differently from other ladies in your situation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account