By Mother's letter I have heard about the moving & the new quarters—Mother says that she is glad they are no worse, under all the circumstances. I enclose an envelope to mother, with a little money in it. As you see, I am still in the same place, with easy times enough, & a good place as I could expect. The Attorney General is absent now in Kentucky. There is not much work. I can't tell whether I shall keep on here, or not. There is nothing at present that looks like a change—I feel quite well this spring—but a clerk's life here is not very interesting—I went down last Thursday to Mt Vernon, 16 miles down the Potomac—I think it is the pleasantest spot & farm I ever saw—went through the house & grounds &c—I was very glad I went—Yesterday we had the funeral here of a man you must have seen mentioned in the papers, old Count Gurowski. I have been very well acquainted with him since I have lived here—he was a strange old man, a great lord in his own country, Poland, owned 30,000 serfs & great estates—an exile for conspiring against the government—he knew every thing & growled & found fault with everybody—but was always very courteous to me, & spoke very highly of me in his book, his "Diary," printed last winter—his funeral was simple but very impressive—all the big radicals were there—
The fight between Congress & the President is still going on—I think the President is rather afraid of going too far against Congress, for Stevens & the rest of 'em are very determined.
My hospitals are dwindled down to a small force—but there are plenty of cases to occupy me a couple of visits a week—I always go Sunday, & sometimes in the middle of the week—Julius Mason is here in barracks yet—Jeff, I wish I could now & then be home & see you all, even if was only a couple of hours—
Give my best respects to Mr. Lane, and the Doctor—I send my love to Mat & the little girls. Write & tell me all about home affairs, & how George is getting along—dear old Mother, as she gets older & older, I think about her every day & night—
Walt.