Office of "All the Year Round,"
Wednesday, March 1st, 1865.
My dearest Macready,
I have been laid up here with a frost-bitten foot (from hard walking in the snow), or you would have heard from me sooner.
My reply to Professor Agassiz is short, but conclusive. Daily seeing improper uses made of confidential letters in the addressing of them to a public audience that have no business with them, I made not long ago a great fire in my field at Gad's Hill, and burnt every letter I possessed. And now I always destroy every letter I receive not on absolute business, and my mind is so far at ease. Poor dear Felton's letters went up into the air with the rest, or his highly distinguished representative should have had them most willingly.
We never fail to drink old P.'s health on his birthday, or to make him the subject of a thousand loving remembrances. With best love to Mrs. Macready and Katie,
Ever, my dearest Macready,
Your most affectionate Friend.
Mr. W. C. Macready.
16, Somer's Place, Hyde Park,
Saturday Night, April 22nd, 1865.
My dearest Macready,
A thousand thanks for your kind letter, most heartily welcome.