[MR. BUCHANAN TO MR. LEIPER.]
Wheatland, December 21, 1861.
My Dear Sir:—
I have just received your kind letter of the 19th instant, and, in answer, I think I may say that my health is restored. The swelling in my legs and feet has disappeared, and I now walk to Lancaster with great enjoyment.
You advise me to keep quiet, which I shall do for the present. I shall bide my time, under a perfect conviction that my administration cannot only be satisfactorily defended, but triumphantly vindicated.
I wish with all my heart that I could be with you at the meeting of your children and grandchildren on Christmas; but this is out of the question. The happy faces and innocent gambols of children have always had a charm for me. May you live many days in health and prosperity to enjoy such meetings around the family altar. As I cannot be present at the hospitable board, I hope you will drink my health in a glass of the old Custom House Madeira.
I am, like you, a passenger in the omnibus; and, although nothing could tempt me again to become a driver, yet I cannot avoid feeling deep anxiety for my country. I trust the danger of a war with England has passed away; but, if such a disastrous event should occur, it will be a war created by the newspapers. With my kindest regards to Mrs. Leiper and all your patriarchal family, I remain,
Very respectfully, your friend,
James Buchanan.
P.S.—Your sweetheart, Miss Lane, has been absent several weeks in New York, and I do not expect her home until after the New Year. I sincerely wish she felt more of a disposition than she does to bind herself in the silken cords which you describe.