in a moment; but first I must throw it out of my
heart you see, and here it is.

Dearest Mr. Chorley, you have not been just to me in the matter of my
'Poems before Congress.' Why have you not been just to me? You are an
honest man and my friend. Those two things might go together. Your
opinions, critical or political, are free from stress of friendship. I
never expected from you favor or mercy _because_ you were my friend (it
would have been unworthy of us both) but I did expect justice from you,
_although_ you were my friend. That is reasonable.

And I consider that as a conscientious critic you were bound to read
through the whole of the 'rhyme' called 'A Curse for a Nation' before
ticketing it for the public, and I complain that after neglecting to do
so and making a mistake in consequence, you refused the poor amends of
printing my letter in full. A loose paragraph like this found to-day in
your 'Athenaeum' about Mrs. Browning 'wishing to state' that the 'Curse'
was levelled at America _quoad_ negro-slavery, and the satisfaction of
her English readers in this correction of what was 'generally thought';
as if Mrs. Browning 'stated' it arbitrarily (perhaps from fright) and as
if the poem stated nothing distinctly, and as if the intention of it
_could_ be 'generally thought' what the 'Athenaeum' critic took it to be,
except by following his lead or adopting his process of a general
skipping of half the said poem--this loose paragraph does not cover a
great fault, it seems to me. Well, I have spoken.

As to the extent of the 'general thought,' we cannot, of course judge
here, where it is so difficult to get access to periodicals. We have
seen, however, two virulent articles from enemies in 'Blackwood' and the
'Saturday Review,' the latter sparing none of its native mud through
three columns; _not_ to speak of a renewal of the charge in several
political articles with a most flattering persistency. Both these
writers (being enemies) keep clear of the 'general thought' suggested by
a friend, and accepted indeed by friendly and generous reviewers in the
'Atlas' and 'Daily News.' Therefore I feel perfectly unaggrieved by all
the enemies' hard words. They speak from their own point of view, and
have a right to speak.

In fact, in printing the poems, I did not expect to help my reputation
in England, but simply to deliver my soul, to get the relief to my
conscience and heart, which comes from a pent-up word spoken or a t