Scope and Contents

Received her letter and the enclosed letter from Mytton; called on Mrs. Williams, whose house Fontaine and William are staying, to make sure the rooms were satisfactory; went to Cropper, Hodgson & Co[mpany]'s office and found the boys there; took Fontaine to Isaac Low & Co[mpany] and introduced him to Mr. John Wood; both boys came to his office that afternoon; sent Matthew a letter and included Mr. Rathborn's letters of introduction to 2 businesses in China [for Tobin?]; arranged to call on Sam[uel] Rathborn at 2 that afternoon; spoke with Mr. Rathborn, Sr. about the attitude of England to America; told Mr. Rathborn that the Government had behaved well; at first was unhappy England had recognized the rights of the C[onfederate] S[tates] of A[merica] as a belligerent power, but thinks it is all right now because now the United States can not be held liable for the southern state's actions; thinks that most English people don't feel the same way the government does; Mr. Rathborn said that, except the people of L[iverpool] and Manchester,everyone agrees with the Government; disagreed with him, citing the London Times, and saying that only the upper classes agree with the government; ; Mr. Rathborn said "the Times is not England"; read Jeff[erson] Davis's inaugural address in the London Times and was impressed by the style of the speech, but not the subject matter; thinks an attack on New Orleans is likely; has heard that the C[onfederate] S[tates of ] A[merica]'s legislature is considering burning all their tobacco and cotton; doesn't think it will happen; thinks that Union victories in Tenn[essee] will make the planters plant more cotton because they will expect to be beaten; only  has 152 bales of Surats left; Mr. Hodgson will probably retire in 6 weeks; Joshua Dixon will probably succeed his father as the next director of the Bank of L[iverpool]; Fontaine is uncommunicative; thinks Horatio Hughes should talk to Fontaine about his employment prospects; Fontaine will not listen to his [RM] advice because he is a Unionist; William thinks that he and Fontaine would get in an arguement if they tried to talk about it; thinks Tobin's idea of working in China is  bad one; ; the only good thing about it was that it's his own [TM] idea; thinks that the Chinese climate is bad and that Tobin might as well work in New Orleans; (15 March) teller her that she should send letters to him to Cropper Hodgson and Co[mpany] and not to Welfield Place so that he will get them sooner; sold the rest of the surats; is tired of always look for whether or no they shoulds sell. 8 pp ALS