I trust that Mr. Dallas may arrive by the next Collins steamer. It is my intention to act handsomely towards him. I thank Heaven that a successor has at last been appointed. Whether I shall return home soon after his arrival or go to the continent I cannot at present determine. On the 18th December last I paid Mr. Randall for the six shawls, and have his bill and receipt. At Lord Granville’s dinner on Wednesday, the Marquis of Lansdowne and Mr. Ellice said very pretty things about you. Colonel Seibels, our minister at Brussels, is now here with me, and I am delighted to see him. He will remain until after the queen’s levee on the 20th. I shall leave the house on Tuesday next, on which day the inventory is to be taken, and shall most probably go to the Clarendon. February 22, 1856. Another week has passed, and I am happy to inform you that you are still freshly remembered by your friends and acquaintances on this side of the Atlantic. I delivered up possession of the house to the agent of Mrs. Lewis on Tuesday morning last, with the exception of the offices, and went to Fenton’s, because I could not obtain comfortable apartments at the Clarendon. I retain the offices for the present at the rate of £10 per month, awaiting the arrival of Mr. Dallas. I earnestly hope he may be here in the Pacific, which is expected at Liverpool on Wednesday or Thursday next. The two house agents, on the part of Mrs. Lewis and myself respectively, have been employed on the inventory ever since Tuesday morning, and have not yet finished. I expect to be all ready, upon the arrival of Mr. Dallas, either to go home or go to the continent, according to the then existing circumstances. At present I am quite undetermined which course I shall pursue. You will see by the _Morning Post_ that I presented Col. Seibels at the levee on Wednesday. He paid me a visit for a week, and his society afforded me great pleasure. He is both an honorable and agreeable man, as well as a tried and sincere friend. I dine with Lord and Lady Palmerston to-morrow, and with the Lord and Lady Mayoress on Wednesday, and on Thursday attend the wedding of Miss Sturgis and Mr. Coleman at 11 o’clock at the Church of “St. John, Robin Hood,” close to the Robin Hood Gate of Richmond Park. Mr. Sturgis’s country residence is close to this church. I receive letters from home, some of which say, with reference to the Presidency, “Come home immediately,” and others, “Stay away a while longer.” I shall not regulate my conduct with any view to this office. If it be the will of Providence to bestow upon me the Presidency, I shall accept it as a duty, a burden and a trial, and not otherwise. I shall take no steps to obtain it.