On receiving your letter I made the necessary inquiries respecting the lands for which taxes have not been paid. The money can no longer be received in the auditors office but must be paid in the county to the sheriff. If not paid before August they will then be sold. The sooner payment is made the better as the arrears accumulate very fast they carry an interest of ten percent & I am not sure that it is not compounded.

I have looked a little into the letters of Genl Washington. All those to Congress, all the military letters prior to 1780, all the letters to foreign officers & to the Governors of states, all those written subsequent to the adoption of the constitution are in your possession. This will produce some difficulty as I presume they ought to be published, if at all, in the order in which they were written blending letters to different characters together. It will also be necessary to insert a few of those written to Genl Washington as explanatory of his. Of this however I am not quite sure. If the business proceeds it will be of importance to determine how many volumes shall be published since the letters must be selected with a view to that point. I have gone through the military correspondence in my possession & marked all the letters in my possession. It will be proper to go through them again & exclude many of those which are marked. Should all the interesting letters¹ be inserted they would amount to 10 or 12 large Octavos.

I should like to hear from you on this subject. I must by the favor of you to settle my account with Mr Jackson & discontinue his paper.² The increased postage has determined me to relinquish all daily papers. I give up the political and commercial Register with the more reluctance from my respect for the Editor. But the advantage to him is very trifling indeed. With much esteem & affection I am dear Sir Your Obedt