his courage, it is as nothing to his craft He is the deepest
politician, and the most subtle statesman in Europe, and, to my
thinking,--mind, it is _my_ estimate I give you,--more of Machiavelli
than any man of his day. Bear this in mind, and keep your eye on him in
future. We had not been five minutes together till each of us had read
the other. We were the two 'Augurs' of the Latin satirist, and if we did
n't laugh, we exchanged a recognition just as significant. I ought to
tell you that he is quite frantic at my giving up political life, and
he says that my retirement will make Cavour's fortune, for there is no
other man left fit to meet him. There was not a temptation, not a bribe,
he did not throw out to induce me to withhold my resignation; and when
he found that personal advantages had no weight with me, he said, 'Mind
my words, Monsieur Darner; the day will come when you will regret this
retirement. When you will see the great continent of Europe convulsed
from one end to the other, and yourself no longer in the position to
influence the course of events, and guide the popular will, you will
bitterly regret this step.' But I know myself better. What could the
Peerage, what could the Garter, what could a seat in the Cabinet do for
me? I have been too long and too much behind the scenes to be dazzled by
the blaze of the 'spectacle.' I want repose, a home, the charms of
that domestic life which are denied to the mere man of ambition. Bella,
indeed, has her misgivings, that to live without greatness--greatness
in action, and greatness to come--will be a sore trial to me; but I tell
her, as I tell you, my dear friend, that it is exactly the men who,
like myself, have moved events, and given the spring to the greatest
casualties, who are readiest to accept tranquillity and peace as the
first of blessings. Under the shade of my old elms at Tilney--I may call
them mine already, as Reeves and Tucker are drawing out the deeds--I
will write my memoirs,--one of the most interesting contributions, when
it appears, that history has received for the last century. I can afford
to be fearless, and I will be; and if certain noble lords go down to
posterity with tarnished honor and diminished fame, they can date the
discovery to the day when they disparaged a Darner.

"Now for a minor key. We led a very jolly life on board the 'Talisman;'
only needing yourself to make it perfect. My Lady L. was 'out of
herself' at your not coming;