I have Just recd a letter from Messrs A. C. Cazenove & Co. informing me of the arrival of our long looked for wine, ordered as long ago as March 1828— Murdoch & Co. write me that this parcel of "finest, old, high coloured, London particular" is selected from the choicest in their possession, and I have reason to believe that our most sanguine anticipations of its quality will be fully gratified.

There were so few cases of importance decided at my spring circuit, that I thought it would be best to wait for the fall Sessions, and to give you the whole in one letter. This task it is now my intention to perform. Some of the points decided are involved in much difficulty, upon which I shall be much pleased to see your observations.

The Chief Justice informs me that you are to draw the opinion in the Case of Bell & Wilkins &c. I stated to him that a night's reflection had induced me to change my opinion as to the Kentucky decisions, being now of opinion that they go further than I at first supposed they did.

It is about a week since I returned home, the session of the Phila. Court having been abridged by a severe rheumatic attack, which confined me to the house for many days prior to my departure. I have seldom, on any circuit, tried so few cases as on the last, and few of them were either new or difficult.  Such as are at all interesting, I will now proceed to state.

Your favor of the 25th inst., recd today, induces me to do immediately what I had mentally arranged to do after my return from Trenton—answer your interesting letter of the 4th July. But first allow me to excuse myself from the censure to which I am apparently obnoxious for having postponed the performance of this duty to this late day. I took that letter out of the office in Alexa.

In the midst of my preparations for my Journey to the mountains, on my way to Phila., I set down to inform you that I, this morning, sent up the demijohn of wine, properly Cased, to A. C. Cazenove & Co. Alexandria, to be forwarded by them to Mr Cazenove of Boston for you, from whom you will hear after its arrival.

Since the date of my last letter to you I have been led to a more critical examination of the question which arises in the case of the Post master general vs Reeder viz if the plea offers no legal bar to the action what Judgment is to be rendered? than I had before taken, and the difficulties which attend it, instead of being cleared away, have thickened upon me, so that I feel more at a loss than I ever was in my life upon any other question to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

As Mr Sparks will probably leave this in a few days for Boston, I have determined, altho but half settled at home after an absence of 4 or 5 months, to prepare my letter to you that it may be ready for him to take on. The tea cause employed so great a part of the court at Phila. that few others could be tried before the Session came to a close.

With this I send you a letter for Judge Washington, and another for Judge Marshall. I have referred them both to you for any further explanations they may desire. You are already so thoroughly possessed of my views and plans, that I have nothing more to say as to the main points. I am sure, if Judge Washington can be brought to see the thing in all its bearings, he will not withhold his approbation; and the business certainly could not be in better hands than your own.

At length I have got sufficiently released from more urgent business to enable me to perform my promise to forward you a report of the cases which came before me on my late Circuit. I think I sent you from Phila. printed statements of¹ Pennock & Sellers vs. Dialogue & Courcier vs. Ritter— These will therefore be omitted from this letter.

I returned home the day before yesterday after an absence of about four months. It was my intention not to address you until I could get time to forward you my report of the decisions made on my late Circuit, many of which are highly interesting.

Your letter would have been sooner answered if I had not known that you had Courts to attend which would detain you for some time from home.

I owe you an apology for not having returned an earlier answer to your letter of the 20th June. The truth is, that at the time I recd it, and another from brother Thompson, I was engaged in a piece of business which required dispatch, & which induced me to postpone my answers to a period when it would be more in my power to reflect upon the decisions which you & he had made & to examine cases. But before that period had arrived our domestic misfortunes commenced.

I now sit down to report to you the few decisions made during my last circuit. The Court at Phila. continued only two or three weeks in consequence of the sickness of Mr Binny who was concerned in almost all the arguable causes. The only Cases decided which may be considered as containing important principles are the two following.

I returned home two or three days ago, after an absence of more than 3 months, when I had the pleasure to recieve from the post office your very friendly and interesting letter of the 2d Septr— For your kind & affectionate wishes for my health I am sincerely grateful to you, as I am for some other expressions which I owe chiefly to your indulgence & partiality. my health is now, thank God, as good as it has been for some years past.

I returned home from my Circuit on the last day of Novr, since which, I have, as far as the various calls to which a farmer is exposed, have afforded me time for Study, been employed in preparing an opinion in the equity case of Conn. vs. Penn. the argument of which consumed nearly a fortnight of our last Term. I hope to make a final decree in this case in April, and never again to be plagued with it, unless an appeal should be taken.

Your letter of the 11th July found me upon a bed of sickness, from which I was not very soon relieved. I had scarcely become convalescent, before others of my family were taken down— finally, I determined to abandon the Country, which was becoming universally sickly, and to take refuge with Mrs W. in this place, which has, thus far, been unusually healthy. I trouble you with this account of my past troubles, as it furnishes the only legitimate apology for my long Silence since the rect of your favor.

Altho I have been at home upwards of six weeks, yet this is the first day when it has been in my power to write to you. My whole time, when it was not engaged by company, has been devoted to a chancery suit in which I am, involved as Executor of Genl W., the entire management of which devolves necessarily upon me.

Before I proceed to business, I must account for my long but involuntary silence. During the second day of the April term of this Court, I was, whilst on the Bench, attacked by a violent pleuresy which terminated the Session, as it had nearly done the life of your friend. I anticipated that event myself, as did most of my friends.

After introducing to you my amiable young friend Maurice Herbert, who goes up with a view to take all the Wine you may leave, I have to request that you will write me as much at large as your time will admit, how the Court is going on? what Cases decided? what likely to be decided? And when you think with Certainty of adjourning? Above all, take care of your own health— neither the Judiciary, nor your Country can spare you. farewell—Affectly yrs

After an absence from home for more than three months and a half, I have returned with health in no respect impaired by my official labors. I have not as yet had time to look into my domestic & agrecultural concerns, and have determined to write to you before they interfere to prevent me. many of the cases which came before the two courts are new and highly interesting, a report of which I shall endeavour to make as intelligible as can be done in the compass of a letter.

Yesterday was the first day that I was at liberty to read your letter of the 19th July with the attention it deserved, and to look into a few Cases. I regret that is not in my power to devote more time¹ in examining the authorities before returning you an answer; but this is prevented by the necessity I am under of leaving home in a day or two for the Springs, whence I shall proceed on my circuit.

I wrote you a long letter soon after my return home in June, which I hope got safe to hand. The object of this is to ask your acceptance of a barrel of hams cured in my meat house which Messrs Wm Fowle & Co. have undertaken to forward to you. If they do not get injured, I think you will find them as fine you ever tasted. I trust that they are now on their voyage, if not already arrived.

I returned from my Circuit yesterday after an absence of 3 months wanting as many days. I was ten weeks in Court without intermission, and have upon no former occasion had so many important cases to decide. Notwithstanding the length & severity of this tour of duty, my health, thank God, has continued to improve, and I now feel as well as I have been for some years past.

I should have been much gratified if Mrs Story would have done us the favor to retain the flowers & fruit which she was so obliging as to bring for us from Mt V. And Mrs W. & myself beg that she will now do us the favor to accept a part of them, which we return by your messenger.