Lafayette. 197 



are beautiful ; they have reached La Grange in the best 

 order, and shall be tenderly attended to. ... It has been 

 a great disappointment not to see Mrs. Somerville and 

 the young ladies before their departure. Had we not de- 

 pended on their kind visit, we should have gone to take 

 leave of them. They have had the goodness to regret the 

 impossibility to come before their departure. Be so kind 

 as to receive the affectionate friendship and good wishes 

 of a family who are happy in the ties of mutual attachment 

 that bind us to you and them. . . . Public interest is now 

 fixed upon the Peninsula, and while dynasties are at civil 

 war, and despotic or juste milieu cabinets seem to agree 

 in the fear of a genuine development of popular institu- 

 tions, the matter for the friends of freedom is to know 

 how far the great cause of Europe shall be forwarded by 

 these royal squabbles. 



We shall remain at La Grange until the opening of the 

 session, hoping that, notwithstanding your and the ladies' 

 absence, your attention will not be quite withdrawn from 

 our interior affairs the sympathy shall be reciprocal. 

 With all my heart, I am 



Your affectionate friend, 



LAFAYETTE. 



