I had the pleasure of receiving your letter from Baltimore my dearest Uncle some days ago, and should have written again, immediately on receiving it but waited in the hope of being able to say on what day we should have the happiness of being with my beloved Aunt and yourself.

     Our Anxiety is in a great measure releived by the receipt of your kind considerate letter my dear Uncle, to Judy; I trust what was so welcome to us, did not cost you too much exertion, or solicitous as we are to hear from you we had rather forego the gratification; than you should incur additional fatigue.

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.

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.

     Your friendship will induce you not only to pardon this protracted answer to your favor by Mr Bartram, but to regret the cause of it, when I inform you that I am Just recovering from a severe bilious attack, which succeeded a distressing dyspectical state of my stomach, which really unfitted me for business of every kind.

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.

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.

I was extremely sorry to learn from your last that you were again indisposed. This has been generally the most sickly season I have ever known, but I will hope that the frosts have had a favourable influence on your health as they have had on that of most others. You were certainly right to return, and I hope your endeavours to meet your brethren in February will succeed.

     It is long my dearest Uncle since we had the pleasure of receiving a letter from you, and while we learnt every other day thro.

     Altho much too unwell to attend to business of any intricacy or which requires a reference to papers, there can be little difficulty in making the necessary observations upon Mr Hammonds claim. In the first place I do not believe that in the contract with H. we engaged to assign Ashtons Mortgage, for if we had, I presume he would have called for it. Neither do I think that if it had been assigned, it would have entitled Mr H.