I have this instant received yours of the 24th.

After my return from Phila. I recd your letter requesting me to furnish you with the opinion delivered in the above case. Most fortunately I had preserved a rough copy of that opinion, or I am perfectly satisfied that it would not have been in my power to comply with your request. As this is the case I am rather pleased that you have been compelled to call upon me, since it has enabled me to correct a mistake in the opinion which was delivered, into which I was led by depending upon an abridgement for the want of the full reports of cases.

I have received your letter requesting to know whether I had formed an opinion on the case which was remanded to the circuit court of Pennsylvania. I regret that I had not formed one. It would give me pleasure to communicate it to you.

Last Monday was the commencement of my stated February session. It was also the day to which the Circuit Court stood ajourned. All the Lawyers concerned in the Penn. causes were engaged in the State Courts. I sent Mr Caldwell to inquire if they had anything to do in the Circuit Court; & particularly in the Case of Conn. & Penn.

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 embrace the first moment of relief from more urgent business to perform my promise to report to you the substance of the decisions made during my last circuit which may be worthy of your notice.

I have at length returned home, after an absence of between 4 & 5 months, and I employ the first moments of leisure in reporting to you & brother Story the most interesting cases which came before me for Judgt during my late circuit. I shall say nothing of the Atlantic ins. Co. of N. Y. and the U. S.² which employed us very closely for 9 days, as the case will go to the Supreme Court.

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.

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.

Your three letters of the 25th Jany, 6 & 22d february have been recd, but not duly, the first written having been detained at the Alexandria post office until three days ago, when it was forwarded to me. As to the one containing observations upon the case of Conn. vs. Penn., I must postpone an answer until I can look again over my notes, which I left at Mount Vernon, as also the opinion in extenso.