Faraday to Harriet Jane Moore   14 August 1861

The Green, | Hampton Court, | August 14, 1861.

My dear friend,

I have been writing to you (in imagination) during a full week, and the things I had to talk about were so many that I considered I should at last want a sheet of foolscap for the purpose; but as the thoughts rose they sank again, and oblivion covers all. And so it is in most things with me; the past is gone, not to be remembered; the future is coming, not to be imagined or guessed at; the present only is shaped to my mind. But, remember, I speak only of temporal and material things. Of higher matters, I trust that the past, present, and future, are one with me, and that the temporal things may well wait for their future development.

As with you, so with us; the harvest is a continual joy: all seems so prosperous and happy. What a contrast such a state is to that of our friends the Americans, for notwithstanding all their blustering and arrogance, selfwilledness, and nonsense, I cannot help but feel drawn towards them by their affinity to us. The whole nation seems to me as a little impetuous, ignorant, headstrong child under punishment, and getting a little sobering experience, quite necessary for its future existence as a decent well-behaved nation amongst nations¹.

Ever your faithful friend, | M. Faraday