Your letter of the present month, without date, came duly to hand; & I sincerely thank you for your expressions of condolence in regard to my late misfortune— Such indeed has been my painful situation & close confinement by the inclemency of the weather that, I have not been able to pay the attention that I wished, to the claim of the estate of Genl Washington against me— I learn, however that, our Banks here have discontinued their discounts for a short season, in consequence of the heavy demands of the Northern Brokers, & some late [c]laims of the Bank of the United State

Before I left Boston I received your favor of the 24th. Novr stating that you had under consideration my proposal respecting the papers of General Washington, and that you had written to Chief Justice Marshall on the subject. I also soon after received a letter from the Chief Justice, in which he expressed a full approbation of my plan, and sad he had communicated his opinion to you. In a few days I shall be in Washington City, which I visit for the purpose of prosecuting my researches in the public offices.

Your letter of the 21st has just reached me. I am astonished at the failure of my letter in answer to that which contained the proposition of Mr Sparks. I answered the day of its reception and expressed unequivocally my opinion that his offer should be accepted. In addition to the obvious reasons for accepting it stated by yourself I suggested others of a nature somewhat delicate which I would not willingly submit to any eye but yours.

     Your letter of the 5th inst.

It has given me inexpressible pleasure to receive a letter from you; for the newspaper statement of your indisposition led me to fear that you were quite ill— I rejoice that you are so much recovered; & I trust, that a good Providence will enable you to join the Supreme Court at Washington, where your presence is so important to the public, & withal so interesting to myself.

     By the request of Mr Meriwether L. Walker, who is a neighbour of mine, I make to you the following communication on the subject of his arrangements for discharging the balance of his debt to you.— Mr Duke, you are apprised, is debtor to Mr Walker in a considerable sum, which has been the resource, on which he mainly relied, to meet his engagements with you.

I have just returned from Clarksburg while there I examined the record in the case of Cresap vs. M Lean, which I find is complete. The six months having elapsed within which it should have been sent up, & as it is uncertain whether it will soon be sent, as there is some misunderstanding between Cresap & his Council in relation to the costs of appeal— I have procured & herewith send you, a certificate in order that you may have the appeal dismissed.

     My letter to you, before my last was directed to you in Jefferson, & my last w<as> to the post-office the day yours of the 26th Sept was received. In each of my two last letters I acknowledged the recpt. of your favors & the checks—viz one for $100 handed to <me> by Mr Cazenone & two from Jefferson, one <mutilated> & the other for $75— I also stated in my last letter, which I expect you have got by this, t<hat> the money had been applied.

I am satisfied from the enqueries my friends have made for me that The Calm Observer, if ever published in a pamphlet, is no longer to be found in that form. Mr Hopkinson was kind enough to make the enquiry for me and to communicate the result. In my answer acknowledging the receipt of his letter I requested him to look into the files of the Aurora & to let me know the date of the first & of the last number. He has never noticed this letter, & I have suspect¹ that it has miscarried.

Your favor of March 13th, declining to aid me in a publication of General Washington's Works, was duly received. I had already made such progress in the undertaking, that I could not reconcile myself to the idea of abandoning it, although compelled to prosecute it under many disadvantages. Since that time I have visited all the southern and middle states, examined thoroughly the public offices in each, and procured copies of all General Washington's letters, and the replies of the Governors.

     Your letter of the 17th ult. was not received untill a few days ago on my return home, after an absence of several weeks.

I owe you an apology for my long silence & especially as I have two letters of yours unanswered. My Cirt. did not end until the latter part of June, & I have ever since been overwhelmed with pressing private or public concerns, which have obliged me to postpone all other business. In addition to my other labours I have been obliged to prepare a Discourse to be delivered this month before a Literary society (the P. B.

Understanding that you are the acting executor of your illustrious relative the late Genl Washington, I take the liberty respectfully to ask of you some information in relation to a bequest contained in his last Will. Feeling no personal interest in it, I had not seen his will or rather that part of it, which contains the bequests to individuals. Accidentally meeting with it a few months since, I was surprised to find an item to this effect; viz, "To Sally B. Haynie, a distant relation of mine I give and bequeath three hundred dollars."

     Mr Parks bill of injunction was obtaind in the court of Chancery for the District of Green Brier.

     Mr John Brown is the chancellor.

I am myself for counsel but as yet I know not of any person by character to fix upon.

I had the pleasure of receiving your letter written immediately after your return from Philadelphia and am much obliged by your kind enquiries for “The Calm Observer.” I now believe that those papers were never in the pamp[h]let form, or if ever so published, are no longer to be found. I will thank you, if General Washington ever took & preserved that precious deposit of democratic patriotism.

     The Corporation of the City of New York have caused medals to be struck to commemorate the completion of the Erie Canal which unites the great Western Lakes with the Alantic Ocean.

I was concerned to hear that you were indisposed by a rheumatic attack which had fixed its venom in your right hand. I hope it has departed from that indispensable part of your judicial machinery; & that, at all events your tongue may be clear of it. I have had a long & irksome spell of the Influenza, which has reduced me to almost a Skeleton; but I have completely recovered from the malady, tho still debilitated by its effects.

In march last I reported the case of Alexander vs. Washington for which my fee amounted to $11:23 of which I wrote you & have not since been favoured with a reply. With much respect yr obt Srt

You may perhaps recollect, that nearly two years ago I wrote you concerning a design, which a friend of mine then had, of publishing an edition of "General Washington's Works." As he did not carry his purpose into execution, I was myself led to examine the subject, and have read with great attention such of the writings of General Washington as I have been able to obtain. I have also made numerous inquiries, respecting his official letters to the Governor's of the States during the revolution, and to the principal officers of the army.

The foregoing are the principal cases decided in my last Circuit, which are susceptible of an abridged statement, that will make the case intelligible. Many more cases were before the Court but the questions of law decided were not new in principle, and so involved with the facts, that I must pass them over.

The calamitous fire in Boston on wednesday destroyed all the papers of Mr Mason’s third volume of his reports, which was to have been put to press on monday next— He had the original opinions, & except in one or two cases I have not a single copy.

I have the pleasure of receiving your favour of the 14th & thank you for your attention to my request. The mode of conveyance you propose suits me precisely as I shall want the books in Washington next February. Yours truly & affectionately

"...I want half a dozen copies of my history of the colonies, and as I wish to dispose of three or four in Washington, one to your brother Todd should he join us, I shall be much obliged by your putting them in your baggage."

I received this morning your favour of the 29th of Septr and concur with you perfectly in the course which ought to be pursued in the very unpleasant affair which Mrs Hamilton has so unwisely brought before a court of chancery. I do not think the most remote opposition ought to be made by the friends of General Washington to the publication of any correspondence respecting his farewell letter. I firmly believe Mr Jays statement to be correct.

     A few days ago a motion was made by the Counsel of Alxander in the case decided at the last term of Alxander vs.