p.

Elmwood, 20th Oct, 1876
Dear Sir,
My friendship with George
Hoar & my respect for his character are
of too long [date ? ] to be shaken by any difference
of opinion on a question of expressing, for
that (if I understod it rightly) was the point
on which we divided at Cincinnati. Mr Hoar's
action & influence then were at the time very
strangely misrepresented at home. I thought
then & think now that a[ little ?] of the proof
that failed to convince him in Blaine's case
would have been ample for the conviction of
Butler, but I certainly liked him none the
less for being faithful to his own opinion
& to his friend.
As to speaking in the Congress,
it is quite out of the question. I long ago
laid to heart the lesson never to attempt
what I could not do with all my might