Washington Dec. 25th 1820
My dear friend,
I was much disappointed in not receiving any letters
from home yesterday, which is the day in which your letters arrive.
I am willing to impute it to the failure of the past, and not to any 
other course - believing if you were unable to write, that Samuel or 
Mary would inform me of the situation of the family. You know 
that I am always in the habit of viewing every uncertainty in the
[the] most favorable point of view.
My health remains good, and so is that of most
of the members of Congress; yet there are some sick, which is the case every
winter. When it is considered that most of the members are rather on the 
down hill of life, and many of them rather infirm, it is not surprising 
that some of them should, end their course at Washington, but it is more 
so that the number should be so small. We have buried two of our mem-
bers already, they had both been out of health for a long time, and came 
here in that condition. This bring Christmas, congress do 
not attend to business to day. Christmas is a great day here, where the in-
habitants are mostly Roman Catholics - The stores are all shut, the churches 
are filled with devotees, either true or feigned, and the streets with negroes 
all in full [ ]. The weather has been very fickle, continually
changing, from cold to moderate, & vice versa, - raining one day and freezing 
hard the next, and so on - very little snow this month, & none at present.
I infinitely prefer a Vermont winter, where the weather is steady, to such
broken, muddy and unhealthy weather as prevails for three or four months
at this place My love to Samuel & Mary, and accept the assurance 
of the constant affection of your humble [Servant]
Samuel C Crafts
Mrs Eunice Crafts