Reflections on friends and family in Vermont, homesickness. "I do sometimes in fancys dreams have found myself amid your happy circle, but when I awake it is all a dream & I find myself at home in the far west gazing on these endless prairies like the illimitable ocean dotted only here and there by lonely islands of forests." Responds to Spencer's references to Puritans in New England, "You speak of Puritans in New England as if there was some magic in the term." Lauds Puritains' "integrity of character, their patriotism, their humanity, and their zeal for religion," worries that the United States has lost touch with these qualities, and believes celebrating American liberty and protection of the oppressed is disingenuous. Hopeful for a change, especially for political responses to slavery. Wonders if Spencer is an abolitionist, noting a "soul stir[r]ing Liberty convention for Northern Illinois" that advanced Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864) as a political candidate. Comments on a recent wedding, local health, weather, and his father writing an abolition speech.