I this day read a letter from you to Angela Lewis, dated in April last, in which you complain of the silence of your relations, and express a fear of having been forgotten by them.  I freely acknowledge that I have been hitherto obnoxious to your charge of neglect, so far as my silence may be considered as an evidence of it; but your apprehension of being unremembered by you<r> immediate family, or by myself, is, I can assure you entirely unfounded. You are often the subject of our conversation, as much oftner of our thoughts.

     Your success in life, & your happiness, both here & hereafter, are to me matters of the highest solicitude; and as, under Providence, their accomplishment must depend upon your own exertions your rectitude of conduct, and close application to the various duties of the profession you have engaged in, I flatter myself that neither you nor your friends will be disappointed. I am much pleased with the letter I have Just perused, as it furnishes an evidence of your improvement in penmanship, orthography, & style— My long sickness during a part of the last winter at Washington, & my subsequent official duties, furnish the only apology for my silence, and even these are insufficient for my entire self acquittal of your charge. As to your father, I feel confident that he has frequently written to you, and your sisters have done so sometime in the last spring, & perhaps oftner. They have been here since our return from the North, as well as your cousin Jane & family of Jefferson, for a part of the time. We have also had the pleasure <o>f the company of my friends Mr & Mrs Adams of Philadelphia, who, I expect, will continue with <u>s until we go to Jefferson about the latter end of this month. I say nothing of your parents, as the letter from your father, which is to accompany this, will no doubt afford you all the information you could wish respecting the Mt Zephyr family.

     I am happy to find from your letter that you are pleased with your situation, & I might indeed express no small surprise were it otherwise. you have the best opportunity of becoming acquainted with the manners, the customs, & the antiquities of the most interesting portions of this globe; you hold an honorable office in the service of your Country; you are supported like a gentleman, and may hope for promotion to the highgrade in your profession, should your own merit and acquirements entitle you to it. Bushrod Tur<mutilated> is so attached to his profession, & so anxious to become worthy of advancement in it, that soon after he had visited his friends, he applied to the Secretary, & received permission to go out for for another <illegible> years to the Pacific. 

     I must now conclude, but with a promise of more punctuality in future— your Aunt begs her kindest remembrances to you.  Believe me to be my dear sir very sincerely yr affect. Uncle