. 53.] TO CHARLES DARWIN. 513 



strikes me more than the smallness of mind and 

 largeness of gullibility of the British people, as far as 

 I can judge from their press (weeklies, quarterlies, and 

 " Times "). But I do not suppose you will fight us 

 because you dislike us ; and so conversely. I suppose 

 I do not see the papers which so abuse England, 

 though I read influential and respectable papers ; but 

 from what I do see, I think we receive far more abuse 

 and misrepresentation and unfair usage than we give. 



As to the course of the war and policy of our coun- 

 try as to slavery, some day when you turn back to 

 some early letter of mine you will see that I was a 

 fairly good prophet ; that the South might have de- 

 layed the abolition of slavery by giving up early in 

 the conflict, but that every month of continued resist- 

 ance hastened and insured the downfall of slavery. 

 That is now doomed, and sure near to rapid death ; 

 quick in some places, slower in others, but sure. 



Ill-usage of negroes who make such good sol- 

 diers will soon be unheard of, except with Irish. It 

 will take some generations of American life to breed 

 out the barbarian they bring to the country. 



November 23. 



The next best thing, of late, is the expose of Lind- 

 say and George Saunders (the Confederates) by His- 

 toricus. 



I trust Historicus' previous letters, in which he 

 shows (about the same time my father-in-law's articles 

 on the subject reached England) that it is the duty of 

 a country to see that armed or war vessels are not 

 fitted out, quite irrespective of all municipal law, have 

 produced their proper effect. Something has pro- 

 duced a great effect, and a great change in the idea 



