I went to town this morning having received a letter from Mr. Hallett upon the subject of Mr. Kendall’s letter. He has put into his Newspaper an article which he calls explanatory, and he has written to me a substantial justification of the principle which I condemned. Yet there is in his tone so much of the despairing, so much of appeal to his ruined condition in case of the decision against his paper being made by the Proprietors at their present meetings, that I concluded to in-294form him of my suspending of hostilities until after the decision was made.1

My time was much taken up by commissions, and at the House, where I copied into my Letter book several of the letters that have passed in the correspondence. But I had interruptions without number from persons desiring to occupy the house in Hancock Street so that I was glad to get down to the Office again. But I had to call upon Mr. Brooks and then upon the hardware dealers to pick out the locks and other finishings which kept me much longer than I meant, so that it was quite two before I started to return home.

Afternoon as usual engaged in superintending. The men had finished the work I had marked out and I got them to plough down the hill below the cider house where we relied upon finding our gravel. In this we were not disappointed. Evening at Mr. Beale’s.

We have had cold Easterly winds prevailing for some time and occasional mists. I remained at home, busy in superintending my work. The road to the house is a matter which needs not a little reflection and I am striving to make it as little expensive as possible. Today my man Kirk was at work upon it alone. He has proved himself of great value to me this year by his steadiness and attention, and has saved me much in positive economy.

I had not much time for reading, but I copied one or two letters for my father. After dinner I rode to Braintree to see Mr. B. V. French who had sent a letter to me requesting a call, in order to make inquiry about resolutions and the probability of my father’s replying to them at the meeting which has been originated in this paper in Quincy to strengthen my father upon the Texas question. Mr. Richards another Braintree gentleman was there. The intention manifestly was to get me to give a draft of the Resolutions. Upon reflection and consultation with my father I had made up my mind to decline on the ground of the importance of the expression of opinion on the part of the District being free and unbiased.1 I stated this very freely to the gentlemen who were satisfied with it. The conversation turned upon Texas and the questions connected with Slavery during which I found that Richards was an Abolitionist and that French was rather tired of his Van Burenism although not decided to give it up. He is flitting about Abolition-295ism. My main purpose in going, to get out of French an idea of Hallett’s position was however not successful. I left them and returned home with a ride. Evening, conversation with my father rather warm upon the currency.