LETTERS TO MISS QUINCY. *287 



The lady who did me the honor to lean on my arm that 

 evening will remember that the popping of the corks of 

 champagne-bottles was no unlike counterpart of the pop- 

 ping of the guns in the battle on the hill ; but with this 

 important difference, that the reports were harmless. That 

 evening has ever remained with me a bright subject of 

 recollection, and it never recurs without recalling, in agree- 

 able associations, the lady who made the occasion so pleas- 

 ant to me. 



You perceive that I am in sympathy with you in recall- 

 ing past events, and persons who have passed away, and 

 their features, their sayings, and doings. Those able and 

 excellent men of the Connecticut delegation, to whom you 

 refer, are distinctly in my recollection ; but I will not trust 

 myself further in this line, lest I should weary you.. Your 

 notice of Colonel Tallmadge, and his protection of your- 

 self, is very interesting, and deserves to be preserved 

 among the incidents of his life. T regret never to have seen 

 the biographical memoir by his son, and I must endeavor 

 to obtain it from him. He was a gallant soldier, an elo- 

 quent speaker, and an accomplished gentleman. I hope 

 that your nephew will escape without injury in the conflicts 

 that must be expected in this very wicked and causeless 

 war. Several of our personal, and some of our family, 

 friends have been engaged in the service, and those that 

 were in the late disastrous battle have returned without 

 personal injury 



TO MISS QUINCY. 



NEW HAVEN, March 21, 1862. 



I AGREE with you entirely in the wisdom of 



President Lincoln's emancipation message, grand and 

 wise views, present and prospective ; and his communica- 

 tion, abounding with good sense, is proved to be his own, 

 without revision by any one, as, in the midst of excellent 

 sense, there is an absence of scholarly finish ; it is strong, 

 but rough-hewn and knotty. 



