H. BAILLIÈRE, 219 REGENT STREET. F. F. BAILLIÈRE, COLLINS STREET EAST. PARIS: GERMER BAILLIÈRE, RUE DE L'ÉCOLE DE MÉDECINE. MADRID: C. BAILLY BAILLIÈRE, PLAZA DEL PRINCIPE D'ALFONSO. INTRODUCTION. THE CIVIL WAR in the UNITED STATES will one day be numbered among the greatest events of history in the nineteenth century. The principles it has called into action, the future of a whole continent dependent on its issue, the sacrifices it has entailed on one of the first nations of the world, everything raises it above those miserable conflicts where mean ambitions and bygone interests wear themselves away. I shall always consider myself fortunate to have been able to visit the United States during this period of their history, and to have known the principal actors in this great drama, that for several years has held the world in expectation. Perhaps I did not escape the influence of the passions by which I felt myself surrounded, and I shall not seek to deny that I yielded with a certain complacency to the emotions which came upon me. I heard those great, those beautiful words-liberty, equality, emancipation—that in my country the men of my generation have as yet but murmured, resounding in their full depth. I found myself in a living world, where action was sister to thought, where the pen could change into a sword, where principles were at the head |