slc

I mislaid your pleasant letter more than a month ago—or rather, a housemaid l mislaid it for me; once afterward I found it, & started with it to my study, resolved to answer it immediately; I carried it in my hand, to make sure—& when I got there my hand was empty. I retraced my steps, & had a good hunt, but I could not find that letter. This moment I have found it in an ornamental box which I never have had my hands on before. It lies spread out before me, now, with an unabridged dictionary & seven brickbats on it—but if you think it will stay there till I have answered it, you have more confidence in its square-dealing than I have. I never saw a letter that could be so little depended on to behave. ⟦If you will excuse me until I have nailed it to the table I shall be more easy in mind.⟧1explanatory note

Now—I make freely & frankly every apology in the world for turning that article2explanatory note loose upon an unoffending people—& particularly your reading-circle—& I really wish I could say I didn’t mean any harm by it—but I did. I wanted company in my sufferings. But that is all gone by, now, & I apologise—I make a square, honest apology to the reading-circle—& at the same time I wish to thank those ladies & gentlemen for the honor they have done me in naming the Society for me. It was not the kind of compliment which that com article of mine usually produced—just the reverse. If I had taken all the tar & feathers that were offered me, I would be a rich man, now, & able to retire.