to the Society. He did me the honor to invite me, together with Reverend Father Maguire, to dine with the ambassa dors of France, Spain and Russia. These kinds of dinners make a great contrast with the Indian feasts in which I have so often taken part; where they offer you with their hands a chunk of roast dog or bear or a stew of meat hashed with their teeth. I will admit that I am more at my ease among the latter.
When I was in Washington the city and its environs were filled with military movements and occupied by an army of 200,000 soldiers. Battles and skirmishes are very frequent at present, and the losses of men are very large on both sides. It is " everything or nothing " in this war. The consequences must be terrible, but it is impossible to foresee them. The secession movement is evidently on the decline. I beg your Paternity to excuse me for mentioning these little matters about Washington. The Reverend Father Provincial suggested that they might interest you.