“Villa Morelli, Florence, Aug. 16,1866.
“The French Emperor is very seriously ill. Nellaton has been sent for, and has given a grave opinion of the case: suspected to be incipient stone in the bladder. He was brought up to Paris from Vichy on a bed. It would be an awkward moment for him to die, for Plonplon would convulse the whole of Europe. Both Germany and Italy are ripe for a great democratic movement. Bismarck will be swamped eventually, or, rather, pooped by the big wave of popular opinion that is now swelling in Germany, and that seems to carry him on at this moment.
“As for Italy, all the failures, land and sea, are ascribed to the Government, and the ‘Reds’ are employing the general discontent to bring the dynasty into disfavour. Fortunately for the king, Garibaldi has done as little as if he were a man of education, otherwise the situation would be critical.
“Who can explain the shameful condition of our fleet? Our passion for experiment is only to be equalled by the man who passed his life speculating what he should do when he met a white bear. I suppose that a great naval disaster would drive the nation half mad, and certainly it is what we are bidding hard for if we do come to a fight. As the only passable Ministry in England is the one that will reduce taxation, it would be better at once to give up all armaments and pay a policeman (France, for instance) to protect us. We should save some fourteen million annually, and be safe besides.”
To Mr John Blackwood.
“Villa Morelli, Aug. 19, 1866.
“You will see by the accompanying chaps, that I am puckering in my purse, and will be able to tell me what you think of the wind-up.
“There is nothing I find so hard in a story as the end. I never can put the people to bed with the propriety that I wish. Some won’t come for their night-caps; some won’t lie down; and some will run about in their shirts when I want to extinguish the candle. In fact—absurd as it may seem—one’s creatures have a will of their own, and the unhappy author of their being is as much tormented by their vagaries and caprices as if they were his flesh-and-blood children going into debt, and making bad matches and the rest of it.
“At all events, read and be critical. It is not yet too late to correct if you dislike the way I am concluding. I, of course, mean to make the lovers happy in my next chapter.”
To Mr W. Blackwood.