According to my calculation, Captain West will leave New York for Liverpool in the Atlantic on Saturday, the 29th April; and it is my particular desire that you should come with him, under his special care, in preference to any other person. I shall send this letter open to Captain West, and if he should transmit it to you with a line stating that he will take charge of the freight, you may then consider the matter settled. I shall meet you, God willing, in Liverpool.
I have no doubt that the lady whom you mention in yours of the 2d instant would be an agreeable companion, and should she come in the Atlantic at the same time with yourself, it is all very well; but even in that event, I desire that you should be under the special care of Captain West. He is a near relative of our old friend, Redmond Conyngham, and I have the most perfect confidence in him both as a gentleman and a sailor. He stays at the Astor House when in New York, and you had better stop there with your brother when about to embark.
Had he been coming out two weeks earlier in April, I should have been better pleased; but on no account would I have consented to your voyage until near the middle of that month. Yours affectionately, etc.
London, February 21st, 1854.
I have received your letter of the 2d instant, and am truly rejoiced to learn that you have recovered your usual good health. I hope you will take good care of yourself in Washington and not expose yourself to a relapse.
I intended to write you a long letter to-day, but an unexpected pressure of business will prevent me from doing this before the despatch bag closes. I now write merely to inform you that I have made every arrangement for your passage with Captain West in the Atlantic, either on Saturday, the 15th, or Saturday, the 29th April. He does not at present know which, but he will inform you on his arrival in New York. He will leave Liverpool to-morrow. And let me assure you that this is the very best arrangement which could be made for you. You will be quite independent, and under the special charge of the captain. You will discover that you will thus enjoy many advantages. If you have friends or acquaintances coming out at the same time, this is all very well; but let not this prevent you from putting yourself under the special charge of Captain West; and you can say that this is my arrangement. I wish you to inform me whether you will leave New York on the 15th or 29th April, so that I may make arrangements accordingly. In either event I shall, God willing, meet you at Liverpool. I shall write to Eskridge by the next steamer, and direct him to provide for your passage. You will of course have no dresses made in the United States. I am not a very close observer, or an accurate judge, but I think the ladies here of the very highest rank do not dress as expensively, with the exception of jewels, as those in the United States.
I dined on Wednesday last with the queen, at Buckingham Palace. Both she and Prince Albert were remarkably civil, and I had quite a conversation with each of them separately. But the question of costume still remains: and from this I anticipate nothing but trouble in several directions. I was invited “in frock-dress” to the dinner, and of course I had no difficulty. To-morrow will be the first levée of the queen, and my appearance there in a suit of plain clothes will, I have no doubt, produce quite a sensation, and become a subject of gossip for the whole court.
I wish very much that I could obtain an autograph of General Washington for the Countess of Clarendon. She has been very civil to me, and like our friend Laura is a collector of autographs. She is very anxious to obtain such an autograph, and I have promised to do my best to procure it for her. Perhaps Mr. Pleasanton could help me to one.
The first wish of my heart is to see you comfortably and respectably settled in life; but ardently as I desire this, you ought never to marry any person for whom you think you would not have a proper degree of affection. You inform me of your conquest, and I trust it may be of such a character as will produce good fruit. But I have time to say no more, except to request that you will give my love to Laura and Clemmie, and my kindest regards to Mr. Pleasanton, and also to Mr. and Mrs. Slidell and Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, of New Jersey. Ever yours affectionately, etc.
London, February 24, 1854.