Jennie's and your letter is just received. I shall not be in New York,
nor away from Washington, until after the meeting of Congress. But I
will gladly give you the hour or two you speak of if you come to
Washington. If you and Jennie could come this week we could make a
spare room without inconvenience. Mrs. Smith--of Washington, Pa., with
her two children--are with us, but they can be put in the room with
their mother.
The alarm about the removal of Holden as Collector of Internal Revenue
for the Covington district is premature. There was a _raid_ made upon
him by a person in whom I take no _stoc,_, and a statement made in
regard to him which I said--if proved true--would mean that he must go
out. But I think that rumor was entirely dispelled.
My Message is not "blocked out," nor scarcely thought of. So many other
exciting matters preoccupy my time and thoughts that I do not bother
myself about the other. I shall trust to the inspiration of the moment
for what I shall say. Will be brief, but to the point if I can.
Yours truly,