I received a few days past your letter of the 29th of June and am much grateful at its contents. It is extremely fortunate that Mr Jay was privy to the whole transaction and that he has lived long enough to explain it.

I cannot pretend to advise what may be proper in the actual state of things but am disposed to think that, should the chancellor refuse to decree a delivery of the papers, Mr Jays statement ought to be published. Till then no publication can be made without his consent. Should the papers be delivered they will I presume be made public, & I suppose will coincide with Mr Jays representation. His representation may still be useful to connect the parts of the correspondence.

Having had no suspicion that any claim would be put in for the Authorship of the Farewell Address when the Life of General Washington was written, I do not recollect the condition of the manuscript. It is very possible that the original in the handwriting of General Washington or of his clerk, which was transmitted to General Hamilton and returned by him, may be among the papers. That would show the extent of alterations made by others. I am very certain there is nothing in this correspondence which can allude to the subject, unless it be one short letter from General Hamilton which speaks of the transmission of some paper not described, and which may possibly be the Farewell Address. It is however extremely probable that the original may be found. It is certainly worth a search among the papers of the time.

I am unwilling to believe that General Hamilton can have preserved these papers for the purpose to which his family now wish to apply them. Mrs Hamilton and his son appear to be more to blame than I had supposed, since they must know that the address was written by General Washington and revised by his friends. I am my dear Sir yours truely