I received your letter expressing your wish to know the principle decided in the case of the Bank of the U.S. v Dandridge’s securities. The case will be carried before the Supreme court & I am very glad of it, as the law on the subject ought to be settled.

    Mr Hardin writes me, that a letter from Mr Rowan to the Governor, together with his argument in Green in Biddle, has been published, the tendency of the former being to excite the strongest prejudices agt the Court— Amongst other things, it is stated, that these great constitutional questions were decided by a minority of the Court— 3 out of 7.—  As the invalidity of the Kentucky Law was in fact decided by six Judges, will it not be well for you to insert, in a note to this Case, the opinion which was delivered in 1821 when I was¹ absent from the Court?

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.

    I have written to Mr Moore requesting him to appoint a day for taking up the accounts referred to him in the Case of Washington vs. Washington's Exectrs¹ and to give you notice thereof. I then propose for the purpose of saving yourselves unnecessary trouble & to prevent delay that you draw the form of a letter to your clients and put it into the hands of Mr Snowden to strike off about 40 Copies on letter paper to be charged to me.

The court which has just terminated has furnished some business for your Honors at Washington. I have had some new & intricate questions on one of which, that goes up to the Supreme court, I decided on reflection differently from my first impression.¹ That judgement will probably be reversed.

    I lately recd a letter from the Chief Justice in relation to what he had proposed in a former letter as to the 1st volume of the life of Genl W.—namely; "that he would take the risk of that volume on himself," He thinks now that such an arrangement might produce embarrassments in the accounts which had best be avoided. He therefore proposes, instead of that plan, that the 1st volume should be printed at the risk of the editor, but that all compensation for the Copyright should be relinquished upon it.

I did not receive your letter of the 22d. till yesterday.

I recollect but very indistinctly to have seen among the papers of Genl. Washington a letter from some foreigner respecting lands or to have seen Genl. Washingtons answer to the letter I forget which. I am now much occupied in court, &, when the term is over, will examine for the letter.

By yr letter of the 6th inst. I understand that your father survived his son Burdet, as I know he did Charles, & also his daughter Ann all of whom died without issue.

     AS we hope that the time is not far distant when we shall be enabled to close our executorial duties, we feel anxious to do so under such a sanction as to prevent all future disputes when we are gone. Our accounts to the last of the year 1819 have been settled, under orders of Fairfax Court and approved. The only difficulty we apprehend, and wish to avoid, is, the settlement of the individual accounts of the legatees; and this difficulty consists, as we apprehend, principally in the mode of calculating the interest.

I again trouble you with one of our Circulars under the idea that Mrs Tod qualified as Extrx of her first husband, & if so, you & she will, I concieve be the proper parties to the amicable suit proposed to be brought. In this case, it is important I should have from you in answer to the above without loss of time, as I wish the accounts to be closed & a decree obtained this year.

    AS we hope that the time is not far distant when we shall be enabled to close our executorial duties, we feel anxious to do so under such a sanction as to prevent all future disputes when we are gone. Our accounts to the last of the year 1819 have been settled, under orders of Fairfax Court and approved. The only difficulty we apprehend, and wish to avoid, is, the settlement of the individual accounts of the legatees; and this difficulty consists, as we apprehend, principally in the mode of calculating the interest.

I was handed a letter by Mr Augt Fitzhugh a few weeks since addressed by yourself to him, & afterwards answered by me on the Admn.

Yesterday on my return from the upper country I found your letter of the 8th. of April & immediately deposited with the clerk of the district court the copy of the title of your reports.

    In the case mentioned in your letter, our practice is, to enter Judgmt for the penalty of the Bail bond. This Judgmt is under the contract of the Court, & unless the parties agree on the debt due in the original action, the Court will stay execution until it be ascertaind - The most convenient mode of ascertaining it is, by a speedy trial in the original suit- The Judgmt on the bail bond stands as a security for the debt when ascertained, & for the costs in both Suits— I refer to the case of Carrew—Willing—1 Palt.

    Will you have the goodness to inform me what is the practice of the Sup. Court in the folowing cas[e]?

I have just arrived here, where I met with Mr Rudd & Perry they succeeded in geting the spotted horse & bridle but did not get the saddle they have got such intelagence of Charles & Nathan as induces them to believe that they are not far from this place conceald, & that it will require some little management to come at them; they have distinctly understood from some Quakersthat they have been recently passing about in this neighbourhood, & were unwilling to give any information about them untill informed that they (t

You favour of the 25th Ultimo was duly received and I am sorry to inform that the notices which had been issued by the commissioner and enclosed in a Letter to the sheriff of Loudon County to be served on Mr Lee again has not been returned and I have reason to beleive that the sheriff to whom the Letter was directed was not then in office to which circumstance perhaps it is attributable tho there is a shamful negligence in the public officers & it is extremely difficult to get either notices or process served and returned where the officer lives out of the District: on

     I beg you to accept my thanks for your kind letter of the 7th,¹ which holds out so strong a temptation to embrace the offer it contains that it requires all my fortitude to resist it, & to persevere in a course of conduct which I have seldom if ever departed from—that is, always to return to the same house, at which I have been well treated.

I received your letter of the     Ulto. enclosing a check on this Bank for Eight Hundred and forty dollars payable in carolina notes and drawn by Fielding Lewis Prest. D.S. Land Co. with a request to have it converted into such funds as are current in our Banks and placed to your credit.

Your circular of the 3d January past, requesting my consent to an amicable suit for the settlement of your accounts as Executors of the Estate of General Washington, is before me.

     I have in my possession a deed given by yourself to the heirs of Samuel W. Middleton late of Charles County Md deceased agreably to an Order of Chancery given some time since: which has never been executed by your attorney (-F.

     An accident had occasion'd my absence from hence, at the time your letter of the 30th Ulto arrived here; and the intensity of the recent cold weather, kept me from home during its continuance, so that until yesterday, I did not receive it— Immediately it came to hand I called on the Cashier of the Virginia Bank, to see what arrangement I could make with him for the payment of the draft you now have, and any others you might hereafter obtain, from the President of the Dismal Swamp Canal Co., on that Bank, which should be payable in C

     Understanding that you are to be in Alexandria a day or two, I send you a letter from Mr. Peter respecting the $1500 to be paid to him on account of Mrs. E P. Custis also two other in answer to our circular letter, you will please let Mr. Peter hear from you as early as possible. Very truly yours

     I had the honor, not long since, to receive your favor of the 11th Octr last, which it has not been in my power sooner to answer.

I was informed this day by Judge Todd that he should forward by Genl Hardin a draft of a contract prepared some time ago by me. I have lately seen it, and believe that it corresponds with the letters which passed between us.