eVienna Thursday morning
October 20th 1859
I walked cit widely yesterday morning through the
city, surveying its gardens, palaces, monuments and insti-
tutions and the aspects of nature in its environs.
The most interesting historical associations of the
place are those which refer you to the siege
of the City by the Turks, and their final expul-
sion from this part of Europe. The battle fields
lie near the city. The Palaces are at least ^in^ their
exterior, are only substantial rectangular edifi-
ces and might seem as fwell for hospitals
or barracks or schools as for the homes of
the Aristocracy. Still they are substantial and
respectable. What one must admire most

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who has recently come from the Southern or Eastern
parts of Europe is the domestic character of the
people. They live here within doors. Their cooking
roasting eating, their poor lame blind sick
are not exposed to the public view. I have al-
ready said, I think that I have not met a
beggar in Vienna. I may now add that I have
not met a street vendor of any thing. In this
however Vienna perhaps conforms to a law of
proprieties. One finds even in New York many
unsightly things which seldom present themselves
in Philadelphia or Boston.
At two o clock Mr Jones our
minister presented Mr Winthrop and myself
to Count Rechtberg Minister of Foreign
Affairs, or Secretary of State. He is all Ger-
man in face stature and manner, evidently
laborious, and ^as well as^ intelligent. He speaks English
tolerably well. He received us very kindly
and respectfully, and invited ^through the American Minister^ meus to stay
for a presentation at Court which he would
endeavor to secure at a very early day. He conversed
quite freely about the condition of public affairs
which I thought was very oppressive on his
spirits. At least he spoke ^more^ seriously and gravely
than ^other practiced^ Statesmen are accustomed to speak to strangers.

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I met at the Lord Loftus the British
Minister, as also the Ministers from Spain
and Holland, and had very pleasant conver-
sations with them.
After dinner a friend sent in to
me a file of the New York Tribune for the
whole month of August. The only American
papers I had seen (of dates so late was
the Herald. I had a fire built in my
room and I read ^straight^ on the whole evening
through, consuming all the contents of the papers
except the European news and the novels.
It was pleasant to see my political principles
fairly presented, after being having heard
nothing political from home but Misstatements
of them so long, and it gratified me to find
that I have at least for some months been
almost successful in withholding from the
mischievous any new occasions for attack.
Of course there is no truth in the statement
from Washington about Lord Napiers recal. Odo
Russell is a nephew of Lord John Russell
who is the opponent and is now the successor
of Lord Malmesbury. Mr Buchanan would send no
such message by him, nor would he convey to it a-
long ministers.