ABSTRACT
. . . Well, here I am at Tocqueville, in my old family ruin. A league away is the harbour 2 from which William set out to conquer England. I am surrounded by Normans whose names figure in the lists of the conquerors. All that, I must admit, ‘ flatters the proud weakness of my heart’, and sometimes stirs a childish enthusiasm of which afterwards I am ashamed. However all that brings me round to a subject I had quite forgotten about, and puts me in mind to write to you my musings about English history, which I must do much more shortly than I could wish as I have so little time here. I will write haphazard what I think for you to put in order if you can or will. But on my soul and conscience I warn you that I don’t yet know what I am going to say.
