I replied that I never had.

She asked me if I had ever thought of going, and I told her no; that it was something entirely beyond me.

This conversation soon passed out of my mind, but a few days afterward I was informed that some friends in Boston, including Mr.
Francis J.Garrison, had raised a sum of money sufficient to pay all the expenses of Mrs.Washington and myself during a three or four months' trip to Europe.

It was added with emphasis that we MUST go.

A year previous to this Mr.Garrison had attempted to get me to promise to go to Europe for a summer's rest, with the understanding that he would be responsible for raising the money among his friends for the expenses of the trip.