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dark days was deeply appreciated and loved by those people.  They are up against it, they have their backs up against the wall, every one who goes to them with sympathy is acceptable.  The jealousy which one hears spoken of, is only I believe among the small not among the big & as such must be considered.  The question of red tape too, so much criticised is right. Countries at war cannot have anyone and everyone rushing over to mess up things.

[[underlined]] Dec. 18th. [[/underlined]]
I feel today as if great discretion was the best thing to observe - this does not prevent the necessity for my continuing what I was attempting to do: that is to size up the conditions, but to most people I will say practically nothing.  It is better to say too little than too much.  To turn off the questions of the merely curious when ask  "Mr Slidell he has been every where", or ^[[even]] such crude remarks "of course I was in the trenches with the