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Since my last letter a great change has taken place in our plans, in consequence of which our passage for
America is engaged by the
Europa, which sails the 16th of June; so, if all goes well, we are due in
Boston four weeks from this date.
I long for home, for my husband and children, for my room, my yard and garden, for the beautiful trees of
Andover.
We will make a very happy home, and our children will help us.
Affectionately yours, Hatty.
This extended and pleasant tour was ended with an equally pleasant homeward voyage, for on the Europa were found Nathaniel Hawthorne and James T. Fields,
who proved most delightful traveling companions.
While Mrs. Stowe fully enjoyed her foreign experiences, she was so thoroughly American in every fibre of her being that she was always thankful to return to her own land and people.
She could not, therefore, in any degree reciprocate the views of Mr. Ruskin on this subject, as expressed in the following letter, received soon after her return to Andover:--
Dear
Mrs. Stowe,--It takes a great deal, when I am at
Geneva, to make me wish myself anywhere else, and, of all places else, in
London; nevertheless, I very heartily wish at this moment that I were looking out on the
Norwood Hills, and were expecting you and the children to breakfast to-morrow.
I had very serious thoughts, when I received your note, of running home; but I expected that very day an American friend,
Mr. S., who I thought would miss me more here than you would in
London; so I stayed.
