I hope this letter will reach you on your return to Mount Vernon safe from the Enemy and what I deem more perilous, the dangers of the roads to & from Philadelphia— On our return Judge Livingston & myself suffered inconceivable anxiety from the unparelled state of the roads, and he received an injury from which I fear he has not yet fully recovered.

I was much gratified by the Receipt of your Letter of the 8th instant. I have been uneasy lest you Should suffer by the Inroads of the Enemy, or the Depredations of undisciplined Friends. Mount Vernon should be hallowed, even by Barbarians. But all things are not as they ought to be, now a Days. I hope, however, that Vengeance is glutted by the Prostration of our Capitol. The Geese once saved the Capitol of Rome; but ours are not of the Same Breed; they would, had they so been, at least have given timely warning.

I have not yet heard whether your session in Philadelphia is over & you have returned to Mount Vernon. I had supposed from your last letter that your tour would be a short one; but not having heard of its being over, I doubt whether you may not be still engaged in Philadelphia.

I have received your letter of the 2nd instant, & in reply beg leave to say that, with the approbation of the Secty of the Navy, I will most cheerfully receive Mr Busrod W. Turner as one of the midshipmen of the N. Carolina. With the highest respect & Esteem I am Dr Sir yr. ob. Svt

I am grieved to learn by your late letter of your continued indisposition— I heard in the autumn quite by accident of your sickness at Philadelphia; but I presumed it was temporary. I most earnestly hope & pray that a good Providence will restore you to health & enable you to attend at the February Term. I shall feel quite lost <illegible> without you; & must say in all sincerity & frankness that I know not in whose judgment I have implicit a reliance, as in yours.

It is a sabbath evening; but I take up my pen to address you on a holy theme. I fear, I may be too late; or rather, that had I written before, it would have been alike fruitless; but my object is good, and, in such a cause, I shall have some pride, even tho' I fail. It is rumoured, around the court at Washington, that our effort to obtain from you, the sacred ashes of your deceased relatives, is but to quicken a similar application from the Congress of the United States. This ensinuation is as dishonorable to us, as it is fal<mutilated> itself.

I am very sensible of the honor done me in the election which constitutes me a member of the military academy of the U.S. of which, your favor of the 1t Decr but lately received, gave me the first intimation.

     Should it be in my power to make any communications which I can think worthy the attention of this institution, I shall do so without reserve & with sincere pleasure. I have the honor to be Sir very respectfully yr mo. ob. Sert

I thank you for your late letter containing the Decisions of your spring & autumnal Circt.¹ I shall confine my Answer to your own Cases, intending to bring you an abstract of mine when I come to Washington this winter. Until very lately I thought it would be unnecessary, as the 4th volume of Mason is partly through the press, & I supposed it would include them. I think now it will not— But I shall bring you the printed sheets, as far as they go, which will be about 400 pages.