To erase from your Mind any Suspicions that I am indifferent as to your Concerns I am induced to break through an established Rule of never writing to a Gentlemam that does not correspond with Mr Powel. I thought your knowledge of what is proper & your Attachment to him would have rendered it unnecessary for me to give you any Intimations on such a Subject. I cannot ascribe your Silence to any other Cause than a misplaced Diffidence. Had you, attentively, read the Note you received by Govr. Morris this Explanation would have been altogether unnecessary. I have received three Letters from you since you left Phila. Your Detail respecting my Sister Byrds Family was truly interesting & flattering to me; & I have the Pleasure to assure you that; with whatever favorable Eyes you may have seen them, they have discharged the Obligation in kind & with Interest too.

     I am sorry to find that you relapsed into ill Health after your return to Virginia. I hope your Jaunt to Pittsburg was of Service not to your Health only; the Opportunity it gave you of conciliating the Affections &, what I shoulder depend much more on, the Esteem of your Uncle, may prove a permanent Advantage to you through Life. The Modesty & Integrity that I know you to be possessed of are so congeniel with his own Nature that he need but be made sensible of them to estimate them properly.

     In the first Letter I received from you, you mentioned your Intention of settling at Alexandria, It is thought here that if the Plan for clearing the Falls of Potowmack should be carried into Execution Alexandria will be the most mercantile Town in your State & of Consequence the best Field for professional People. I suppose you have good Reasons for altering your Plan; otherwise its Vicinity to the General was certainly an Object that merited your Attention, I do not mean in a pecuniry Way for I think that is a Motive too base & sordid ever to possess your Breast; but to cultivate the Friendship & Affections of a sensible virtuous Man is a Pursuit worthy of a truly great Mind.

     I am not a little flattered that your Sentiments so intirely coincide with mine on the Subject of the Book I sent you. I think the Author has shewn great Candor; his Arguments are strong & conclusive; his Philanthropy is eminently displayed in adducing such Proofs in Favor of revealed Religion as must afford Consolation & Hope to every afflicted Mortal. By how different a Spirit were Hume & all the deistical Writers actuated? their Aim seems to be to destroy a received System without substituting any thing half so consolotary in its Place, like a professional Friend that would knock down ones House without providing even a temporary Shelter & argue in Defence of his Proceeding that it had not a solid Foundation or at least that he conceived it had not. But from such Friends & such sophistical Systems the Lord deliver us. The late Lord Lyttleton has written a beautifull Letter to his friend Gilbert West on the Conversion & Apostleship of St Paul, which I recommend to your perusal.

     I congratulate you on the Arrival of your Books; tho I fear too close an Application to them may prove unfavorable to your Health. You must determine to use gentle Exercise & a Milk Diet or at least a Diet easy of Digestion. Dancing till two or three oClock in the Morning confined Air, the Vapor from a number of Candles, & still greater number of Breaths, are not beneficial to any one but I think pecularly unfavorable to your Constitution. You see the Habit of admonishing you still prevails; but as you know the Spirit that dictates it, I will make no Apology.

     Your Observations on the Politics of our State are unfortunately but too just.¹ Our legislative is such an heterogenous Body that none of its Acts are to be depended on. We have so far relapsed into the Infancy of Government that we have not adopted the trite tho' no less true Maxim that to govern too much is not to govern at all.

     Mr Powel agreeable to your Request explained to me the Latin Motto that "so passeth away the Glory of this World," but I need not to have recurred to the Ancients for this Truth. I too well know that not only the Glory but the Happiness of this World passeth away like the morning Dew & the evening Cloud & leaves not a trace behind.

     I should have written to you & to Mrs Fitzhugh by General Weedon but I had such a severe Attack of a Cramp in my Breast that I could not keep off the Bed. This cruel Complaint has afflicted me for these three Years &, at that Time, was so obstinate as not to yield even to Laudanum which has generally proved, with me, a specific. Indeed this Globe would not be habitable to Thousands was it not for that heavenly Medicine. I have sometimes thought that the Ancients alluded to it when they talked of the Waters of Lethe.

     The Philadelphians ought to be much obliged to you for the Regard & Solicitude you express for them; & as we generally see through the Medium of our own Mind I should be surprised at your entertaining an Idea that you are not thought of here with Pleasure did I not know your Diffidence but Modesty or if you please what our good Friends & great Allies term the mauvaise Honte frequently envelops Objects in a Mist that confounds the Judgement. Your Absense is regretted in our most brilliant Circles. In answer to your Enquiries respecting Mrs Livingston she is still here & likely to remain with her Father. Mr Livingston has been in Phila & had an Interview with her for a few Minutes but unfortunately they came to no Accommodation. I have presented your Compts to her.

     Miss Molly Shippen was married on Thursday last to Doctor M'Ilvaine of Bristol; a Gentleman that neither you or I know; but he bears a good Character. Sally has her Admirers; but she has too much Vivacity to determine to relinquish the Freedom and Independence of a single Life, you know she is a Flirt. Present Mr Powel's & my Compliments affectionately to your Family, & believe me unfeignedly Your sincere Friend