Your letter of the 27th. of March is received. I went to the Patent office with it this morning. They tell me that no patent has [been] issued to any body on any application made as late as the first of July last. Mr. Jones2Open page is dead---died a few weeks ago. The officers say he was trust-worthy. If you write again, mention the names of the applicants, as I have mislaid your former letter. I am almost too busy to undertake an agency, besides which, I shall have to leave before the business can be got through with; still, if you choose, I will try to get any business for you into the hands of some one having the reputation of a faithful agent.
On the same day I received your letter, I also received one from another man in Magnolia, which contrasts very curiously with what you say about Gen: Taylor. He says he knows ten men in Magnolia, who voted for Mr. Clay, that can not be got to vote for Gen. Taylor, under any circumstances. I am sorry to hear what he says, and glad to hear what you say. Our only chance is with Taylor. I go for him, not because I think he would make a better president than Clay, but because I think he would make a better one than Polk, or Cass, or Buchanan, or any such creatures, one of whom is sure to be elected, if he is not.
As to what you say about the next representative of our district, I can only say that I can not become a competitor with others for the nomination. I have said I will not. I would deny the people nothing---but I presume there are many others who will be quite as acceptable as myself. Lest I be misunderstood, dont let any one