Found I was not absolutely needed in Washington, so I only staid 24 hours, & am on my way home, now. I called at the White House, & got admission to Col. Rodgers, because I wanted to inquire what was the right hour to go & infest the President. It was my luck to strike the place in the dead waste & middle of the day, the very busiest time. I perceived that Mr. Rodgers took me for George Francis Train & had made up his mind not to let me get at the President; so at the end of half an hour I took my letter of introduction from the table & went away. It was a great pity all round, & a loss to the nation, for I was brim full of the Eastern question. I didn’t get to see the President or the Chief Magistrate either, though I had a sort of glimpse of a lady at a window who resembled her portraits.