soon; and as I stand upon ceremony, you know, I would advise you to return mine as soon after you get back to this Dutch city as possible. Mrs. D. is with me; is about as usual, and sends some of her love, and I send all of mine. I shall be glad to see you back again, for Albany is a lonesome place to me. My friends of the olden time have passed away, and with my white hairs and brief sojourn here, I do not propose to court new acquaintances, nor to give up some old ones, though others court them. What do you think?

May God bless and shield and preserve you, my dear child, to bless all who love you as does

Your affectionate friend,

D. S. DICKINSON.

MR. DICKINSON TO MRS. MATHER.

ALBANY, February 18, 1862.

MY DEAR MRS. MATHER-I know, alas too truly, my af flicted friend, how impotent is all human consolation under a bereavement so painful as that with which it has pleased a beneficent Providence to visit you, and that no words of sympathy or condolence can stanch the wounds of a bleeding heart; but it is grateful to our natures to be remembered in moments of sorrow, and I have believed that a word from one who has mourned would not be deemed intrusive.

The tendrils which bind us to earth one by one are severed, until those we love beckon us away to that land where the bright waters are still, and storms never beat, and sorrows come no more. In view of this we can exclaim with the stricken king of Judah, when a beloved object is taken from us, "He will not return to me, but I shall go to him."

Death in his kindly harshness has taken to his cold embrace the child of your early affection, but its image will ever be with you in your waking hours and when dreams beguile the senses, as the same bright and beautiful babe, unstained by sin and sorrow, and unblighted by the disappointments of the world.

"For is it not as if a rose had climbed

My garden wall, and bloomed the other side?"

Mrs. Dickinson writes with me in sympathy for yourself

and Mr. Mather.

Sincerely your friend,

D. S. DICKINSON.

MRS. MORRIS TO MR. DICKINSON.

DERRY, February 27, 1862.

MR. DICKINSON-My dear Sir-I was very much gratified at receiving a pamphlet from you some days ago. It assured me that the episode of our casual meeting in the railroad car was not forgotten by you. It has been a very pleasant reminiscence to me, and I am much pleased that it has not passed from your recollection.

What an agonizing suspense we were in, during those December days that followed the insulting demand of England! I could hardly endure the policy of Mr. Seward in giving up those rebels, but now that the European powers whom we respect applaud the course, I am convinced that it was the right thing to do. At the same time we will reserve for ourselves the earnest hope that we shall one day demand satisfaction from England for her insulting words and action. As soon as the affair was over, I wished very much to know what your opinion was of the settlement of the case.

The attitude that the Canadians assumed in the trouble amused me extremely. They were highly melodramatic in their indignation at the supposed insult to their flag. It reminded me of the people of Ephesus shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians;" and Mr. Seward's calm despatch was not unlike in purport to the quieting words of the Town Clock on a memorable occasion. The Canadians out-snob their parent snob-land whenever they have a chance of showing themselves off. How grand our victories have been lately! I trust in mercy they may settle the question of foreign intervention at least. With a fever of anxiety and zeal for the great Union cause burning in my veins, I stay quietly in my country home, looking after my household, and working night and day for the soldiers' hospitals. "Telle est la vie" of woman-this active inactivity. It is a monotonous life in times like these,

and I, for one, crave action with stirring men and minds. I am always attracted by an article in the papers that has your name attached to it in any way; and I read with interest your letter to the Union committee in New York. Your Hartford speech must have been most brilliant and effective in delivery; it is so stirring to read. I wish I could hear you speak. It would please me ever so much (and Mr. Morris for me), to hear from you sometimes in any shape or form that suggests itself to your mind. When you come to New England again, I shall hope to see you, so you must bear in remembrance,

Your newly acquired friend,

LUCY T. MORRIS.

MR. DICKINSON TO DANIEL S. DICKINSON, Jr.

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S

ALBANY, March 3, 1862.

MY DEAR STEVIE-We were very much pleased with your nice good letters. In a little while you will be so good a clerk that I shall be independent, and want none but my own boys. Be careful of your health, dear Stevie, and do not hurt your eyes by study or exposure, and you will soon be well and strong. The snow-balling on the 22d must have been good fun. I used to like it once, but my snow-balling days were over some time since. The snow cannot last much longer, and I think a thaw is already commencing. I care not how soon it is out of the way, for when it is gone, and the ground is settled, and the birds and flowers come, it will give me new life. Your mother joins me in love to you and all the family. Your affectionate father,

D. S. DICKINSON.

MR. DICKINSON TO MRS. MORRIS.

ALBANY, March 10, 1862.

MY DEAR MRS. MORRIS-You can never know how pleased I was with your most excellent letter of the 27th inst., and I thank you from the best impulses of my heart for thus extend

ing to me your generous confidence. I have read it to my wife and a numerous circle of intelligent ladies at our hotel, and I have taken the liberty of showing it to my associates in the government, as a sunbeam which fell upon my path in travel, and as the off-hand sketch of a true-hearted woman.

In a life of vicissitude-full of lights which shed genial warmth, and of clouds so dark that they might be felt, the most pleasant acquaintances I have ever had I just met casually, as I did you, in journeying. They have some of them cheered me along the entire pathway of a perturbed existence--have been the companions of maturer years, and gladdened many solitary hours. I feel I have added one more friend to those who feel an interest in me, and will cheer me onward "till life's poor transient night is spent." My guardian genius is kind to me, and means to strew my pathway with flowers, if she cannot avert the inevitable ills of life.

I admire especially what you say of Great Britain. As a nation I regard her as a lawless bully, robbing and plundering the weak, menacing those involved in embarrassment, and falling back upon her piety when brought to face the strong. The bulwark of a world's religion-she prays for those she fears, and preys upon those who cannot defend themselves. I do not believe we were under any obligation to surrender Mason and Slidell, and yet I approved of the letter of Secretary Seward, for I was in Washington when it was issued. Mason and Slidell can only serve as illustrations of the last lines of the "Beggar's Petition," and we can afford to wait. We are pledged to the destruction of this rebellion, and will follow that out with singleness of purpose, and finish it. Great Britain wanted an apology to raise the blockade, and then to take sides with rebellion, and force us to acknowledge its independence. She has been defeated in that infamous scheme, and will not probably interfere with us hereafter. But she will have to pay for her insolence with interest compounded. She has touched a chord in the American heart which will vibrate for ten gener ations. She has lighted up a flame whose pure and constant glow will guide us to honor and glory, and bear her, with all her pride and insolence, to her national burial-field.

I hope I may live to see the day when this rebellion shall be put where it belongs.

Our general news is flattering in the extreme. We have just had some unwelcome naval intelligence, but I do not regard it as very serious.

Will you remember that I am a man of business, always hurried, always pressed, and writing as it were upon the runand in so remembering, pardon this long, rambling, and, perhaps, too familiar letter.

Be kind enough to present my regards to your husband, with the suggestion, that while there is a stern and salutary command against coveting the wife, there seems to be none against envying the husband.

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

BISHOP WHIPPLE TO MR. DICKINSON.

FAIR VAULT, RICE CO., MINN., April 10, 1862.

HONORABLE AND DEAR SIR-You remember you gave me a warm-hearted letter to President Buchanan at the time I made an appeal on behalf of my poor Indian wards. It miserably failed. Secretary Thompson had too much treason in his heart for justice. I have now appealed to President Lincoln; he has kindly sent me a response. I am a stranger to him. Will you do me the favor to address him a letter direct, stating your opinion of my efforts for these red men, and your confidence in myself?

Inclosed I send you photographs of four of my Indian boys, who have been with me a year and a half.

Yours faithfully,

II. B. WHIPPLE,

Bishop of Minnesota.

MR. DICKINSON TO MRS. MORRIS.

THE ORCHARD, May 31, 1862.

MY DEAR MRS. MORRIS-Since receiving yours of the 13th, events have crowded each other on and off the stage, but the impending blows at Richmond and Corinth remain suspended.