It is with real pleasure that I acknowledge your agreable favor of the 10th Decr—such a friend and Correspondent is worth possessing; I may almost say, that you are the only one I have in the world; others I have had, but absence has weened me from their affections and Remembrance, and by this time, I suppose it is scarcely within the Memory of any in Philadelphia that such a creature as B— W— ever was there. Your solicitude my friend makes one exception and it is with delight, that I acknowledge it. But I am somewhat surprized that you should be oblidged to condemn my silence, when I am convinced that I have written as many Letters, as I have recieved. I wrote you two² Le<tters> which it appears have never reached you; one was in <mutilated> to yours accompanying the Plate, & the other in answer to y<ours> on the subject of the Chariot. I expect they met with some delay on their passage, and hope that long e'er this, you have recieved them. Be assured that our correspondence shall never grow cool through my neglect; but you must not forget that I live in a very retired part of the Country, by which means your Letters after their arrival in Virginia creep very slowly to me.

     I am marryed, and in one of my Letters, I informed you of it, in the language of a new made Husband—all that I can add at this time is, that I feel an encreasing admiration for the state; and am more than ever convinced that Nature has rendered this connection of the Sexes so necessary to our existence, that it becomes a point of Duty, as well as a matter of solid happiness. I am scarcely yet entitled to the appellation of, Husband as the ardor of a Lover has not left me: but I have hopes of keeping the two for ever united, nor can I concieve any reason why they should be seperated, where love was the principal motive for the union. Having said this, I suppose it will be unnecessary to add, that I have not yet been surfieited. I take it, that this must be a very humiliating situation for a man to be in, and therefore my maxim is, Moderation and Uniformity. I wish I could once more have the pl<easur>e to see you; my dear Nancy wishes to see her Husbands frien<d> <mutilated>wise. You have flatterred me with the prospect of such an Event in two or three of your Letters; do not disappoint me.

     There is nothing pleases me more than the News of Philada both of a public & private nature; it brings to my mind the remembrance of much pleasure. I assure you I have a kind of natural affection for the place and its inhabitants, it was there I recd the rudiments of a profession, from which I have expectations. You cant therefore delight me more than by relating political Events, sometimes interspersed with private anecdotes. I know that some unexpected Scence is every day opening to the view, which to an absent person is very interesting. To you I trust for information, and <as> I expect that you have no time to throw away, yet I flat<ter> myself you will not consider in that light, a few Hou<rs> devoted to a friend.

     I once promised to search for a Virginia wife for you, with all the perfections which I t<hought> you merited, I find I promised too much. I wish <you> would come and exercise your own Taste. I have m<any> in view, but as none of them will entirely fill up the <mutilated> you drew, I can't pretend to recommend. However if y<ou> will put it in my power, I will make you acquainted with them all, and perhaps the little whimsical God may fix you in spite of yourself. I wish by any means that would tend to your advantage, you could be induced to reside in this State. I think it opens one of the most flatterring Prospects for a Commercial Genius of any place in America. It is yet young and unacquainted in Mercantile matters. with Industry & Connexions, there is nothing that a Mercht may not look for. Alexandria or Norfolk, both of them big with future advantages, will rival any Cities in N. America, in grandeur & opulence, & they possess this³ motive for preference, that they are advancing towards perfection, whilst most others of any consequence, have nearly arrived at it. I can write no far<ther> without adding to this another sheet— I will therefore write you again by the first opportunity & conclude myself your friend