"
_9th_. "I know of no good reason," says a correspondent, "why a man
should not, at all times, stand ready to sustain the truth." This is a
maxim worthy Dr. Johnson; but the experience of life shows that such
high moral independence is rare. Most men will speak out, and even
vindicate the truth, _sometimes_. But the worldling will stand mute, or
_evade_ its declaration, whenever his interests are to be unfavorably
affected by it.
I reached Washington on public business during the heats of June, and,
coming from northern latitudes, felt their oppressiveness severely.
_27th_. Mr. Bancroft, the historian, pursues exactly the course he
should, to ferret out all facts, new and old. He does not hold himself
too dignified to pick up information, or investigate facts, whenever and
wherever he can find them. In what he has to say about the Indians, a
subject that lies as a superstratum under his work, he is anxious to
hear all that can be said. "Let me hear from you," he adds in a letter
of this date, "before you go back.
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