Besides attending House, Lincoln answers letters of previous day. He will do what he can for Bennett. Referring to James Shields' nomination and probable election to Senate, he asks Berdan: "How do you suppose this, as a fruit of the glorious Mexican war, tastes to Breese, McClernand et al?. Do you suppose they are in a mood of blessing the war about now?" Abraham Lincoln to John Bennett, 15 January 1849, CW, 2:23; Abraham Lincoln to James Berdan, 15 January 1849, CW, 2:23.