I was much disappointed at not finding, on my return to Alexa., a letter from you in answer to the one which I wrote you from Phila. Without knowing what are the boundaries of Yorkshire, as ascertained by the survey & the agreements with Hooe & Mitchel (if they have been concluded, as I trust they have) I cannot forward to you our deed to Hooe, which waits for nothing but a diagram of the land according to the boundaries by which it is to be granted.

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.

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."

Your favor of the 14 Sept. reached Alexa. after I had left home. A copy of it has lately been forwarded to me, at this place, by a friend who I authorised to open my letters during my absence, and I beg leave now to thank you for the communication which it conveys.

At the time I recd your letter of the 7th July, I was engaged in completing some business which would not admit of delay, & as I wished to examine with attention, & a reference to books, the decisions you had given, I determined to postpone my answer until this could be done. In the mean time, our domestic misfortunes occurred, which compelled me to take my family to the mountains, where I remained until it was necessary to commence my circuit duty.

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.

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.

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

You may perhaps have heard that previous to the Embarkation on his mission for London of my father, he was required by the widow & sons of Genl Hamilton—and upon his declining was juridically summoned by a bill in Equity filed in the name of Mrs Hamilton—to deliver up certain Confidential papers belonging to the Estate of Genl Hamilton—which papers Mr Pendleton, the Executor of Genl Hamilton, had placed in my father's hands for safe keeping— To this bill of Course an answer must be made of which probably an outline will soon be transmitted by my father from London to H

     I have just received a Letter from Mr Gerrard Alexander, in which he informs me, that an Execution has been issued agst him in your name, for a ballance of the debt due, from my Brothers estate, to that of Genl Washington.

     Since the date of my last letter to you, my family has been visited by an infliction of divine Providence, which, 'tho to us seemingly severe, was, no doubt, designed for beneficent purposes. In the course of about 12 hours, my cherished & beloved niece has been bereaved of an affectionate husband & two children.

     I Would Have Been Very Happy to Call Upon You in my Visit to Monticello and Montpellier, But We take our journey in the steam Boat to frederiksburg, and Will Return, I Believe, to the Seat of government By the Road Under the mountains, So as to Be arrived at Washington City on the 24th. it is Said the frigate Will Be Ready to Sail By the 1st September: it is therefore at the end of the month that We Will make our Mount Vernon and Woodlawn Visits; too short they Will Be to our Great Regret.

     Having recently understood that Mr Wheaton will be a candidate for the appointment of Clerk to the Supreme Court, I respectfully propose myself to your friendly consideration as an applicant for the situation of Reporter to the Court, should a vacancy occur in that office. Should you feel yourself at liberty to oblige me so far, I shall esteem it a great favor if you will (in the event of a vacancy), present me to the favorable consideration of the other Judges for that situation.

     I received your favor of the 14th inst. some days since & should have replied to it earlier <b>ut for the indisposition of Mrs Scott, who has been confined to her room near three weeks laboring under the ills of miscarriage.

     I commenced the cleaning out the ditch in my large meadow today, but desisted upon riding to the meadow finding that all the hands would be required to take care of the hay. This I hope to accomplish this week, & on monday next I shall sit in with all hands & continue at it till the work is thoroughly done. I return you many thanks for your kind offer to do the ditch which is connected with your meadow, but hope it will be in my power to manage it with my own hands.

I intended this morning to give you an early call & take my breakfast at Woodlawn, partly with a view to talk with you on the subject of the Dismal Swamp Share, but the heat was so oppressive, that I put on my roundabout intending to stop at my meadow, & then recollecting that you had company I declined fulfilling my first intention on that account.

     I commenced the cleaning out the ditch in my large meadow today, but desisted upon riding to the meadow finding that all the hands would be required to take care of the hay. This I hope to accomplish this week, & on monday next. I shall set in with all hands & continue as it till the work is thoroughly done. I return you many thanks for your kind offer to do the ditch which is connected with your meadow, but hope it will be in my power to manage it with my own hands.

     Mr Chs Ratcliffe was appointed last Autumn by Mr Turner & myself our attorney to Collect the rents due upon the Yorkshire farm, Wigwam and another smaller tract. Whether he has done so or not it is impossible for either of us to say, as he most pertinaciously declines answering any letter which either of us has written him on the Subject.

The harvest having prevented me from sending to Alexandria for some days past, is the apology I have to offer for not having returned you an earlier answer to your letter of the 2d inst.

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.

     In a late official communication by Govr Troup to the Legislature of Georgia, I find myself charged with having maintained before the Supreme Court of the United States, at the last term, the proposition “that slavery, being inconsistent with the laws of God and nature, cannot exist.” Will you do me the justice to say in reply whether either your notes of argument, or your recollection impute that proposition to me; or any sentiment or opinion that slavery, as it now exists in the several¹ states, could be or ought

I have just received a letter from Colonel Troup of New York which surprised me a good deal. It seems that a correspondence took place between General Washington and General Hamilton respecting the Farewell address which shows perhaps, for the letter to me does not state the fact positively, that it was written by General Hamilton. This correspondence was placed by Mr Pendleton one of the exrs of General Hamilton, confidentially in the hands of Mr King.

Below is the copy of the letter which I wrote you in feby & which, when I saw you in Phila. I promised to send you. I am Dear Sir very sincerely & respectfully yrs