X]iv MEMOIR. 



-It was in thfe.;Sl.utumn of 1849 that Frederika i^re- 

 mer came to America. She Iiad been for several years 

 in intimate correspondence ■vpith Mr. Downing, and was 

 closdy attracted to him by a -profound sympathy with his 

 view of the dignity and influence of the Aome. He .re^ 

 ceived Miss, Bremer upon her arrival, and she went with 

 him to his house, where she staid several- weieks, and wrote 

 ther,e the introduction to the authorized American edition 

 of her works. It is weU. for us, perhaps, that as she has 

 written, a work upon "The Homes of the United States," 

 she should have takeh her first impression bf them from 

 that of Mr. Downing, During all her travels in this 

 country she constantly corresponded with, him and His 

 wife, to whom she was very tenderly, attached.^ H^r letters 

 were full of cheerful, humor and shre-w;d obseivatioii. She 

 went bravely about alone, and was treated, almost withou* 

 exception, with'consideratiph and courtesy. And after her 

 journey was over, andshe was.abott to return home,, she 

 carjie to say farewell -where she had first greeted America, 

 in Downing' s^ garden. , , , 



In this year he finally resolved to devote himself entirely 

 to architecture and; building, and, in order to benefit by the 

 largest variety of experience, in elegant rural Ufe, and to se^ 

 cure the services of an accomplished and able architect, 

 ■thoroughly trained to the business he proposed, Mr. Downing 

 went to EnglajLd in the summer of 1850, leaving arranged 

 with Messrs. D. Appletoh & . Co.' for the publication of 

 " The Architecture of . Country Houses ; including Designs 

 for Cottages, Farm-houses, and Villas." 



Already in correspondence .witli the leading Englishmen 

 in his department j Mr. Dpwning was at once ; cG,rdially 

 welcomed. He showed the admirablej and not the un- 

 friendly, qualities of his countrymen, and was directly en- 



