one--in another, it was mere child's play; for the Congress had been
restricted to the discussion of certain topics. They were permitted to
dwell on the blessings of peace, but were not allowed to say anything
about the very subjects above all others that should have been brought
before the Congress. A French army had invaded Rome and put down the
friends of political and religious freedom, yet not a word was said in
reference to it. The fact is, the Committee permitted the Congress to
be _gagged_, before it had met. They put padlocks upon their own mouths,
and handed the keys to the government. And this was sorely felt by many
of the speakers. Richard Cobden, who had thundered his anathemas against
the Corn Laws of his own country, and against wars in every clime, had
to sit quiet in his fetters. Henry Vincent, who can make a louder speech
in favour of peace, than almost any other man, and whose denunciations
of "all war," have gained him no little celebrity with peace men, had to
confine himself to the blessings of peace. Oh! how I wished for a
Massachusetts atmosphere, a New England Convention platform, with
Wendell Phillips as the speaker, before that assembled multitude from
all parts of the world.

But the Congress is over, and cannot now be made different; yet it is to
be hoped that neither the London Peace Committee, nor any other men
having the charge of getting up such another great meeting, will commit
such an error again.




LETTER V.

_M. de Tocqueville's Grand Soiree--Madame de Tocqueville--Visit of the