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My Dear Sir:

You complain in your letter to Kitty (which she received yesterday by Mr. Cray) that you have heard seldom from me. As this is my fourth letter in less than a week you will have no further cause of complaint on that score. I wrote you by Messrs. Davies & Madgett who went lately by Brown, by Gaillard, and lastly by Captain Cochran, who is still here waiting for a wind.

Mr. Stanley, by whom you will receive this, tells me there is no difficulty in adjusting the balance between you & him; and offered to pay it to me here or to you in Charlestown. As I conjectured that you might want the money there for a remittance, or some other purpose I referred him to you; though I think I could have laid it out to great advantage here in prize goods; but if you should choose to apply it that way, it is probable Mr. Stanley will return time enough, as we are awaiting for a new Judge, & the messenger has already once missed the Governor.

I am very happy to find by yours to Kitty that the Assembly of South Carolina are likely to adopt lenient measures and though I wish to have you here, if it is not inconsistent with your interest (and I think it is not) yet I wish in the meantime that you may be adopted in that State. It will be an asylum for the present, and probably pave the way for your return. What is still more important, the moderation of Georgia and S. Carolina will have a powerful effect upon our assembly; but what I depend on more than every thing else; an approaching peace, of which I have no doubt, will tend to hasten the cure of all our political calamities. I wish you therefore to decide at once upon your future conduct, for I am persuaded that you will have nothing to fear from this quarter.

I heard from Mr. Stanley this morning, with great pleasure, that the Assembly of Virginia had repealed their act impowering Congress to lay a duty of five pr.cent on all imports. All the States but Rhode Island had agreed to this destructive measure, & a committee of Congress had actually set off (Rutledge & Nash two of that body) to persuade Rhode Island to consent. It was a measure in itself big with destruction to the commercial interests of America, and highly objectionable, as it might continue forever, without account to the respective States.

My letter by Cochran is principally to give you some information of Mr. Davies’ character. He is highly satirical and his satyr consists chiefly in delineating every one he meets in caricature. We are told he has got numbers of the ladies & gentlemen of Wilmington in his pocket. As I suspect he has Fanny and her guitar, & B. Rowan singing with an affected air, I have a strong desire to see them, as well as the ladies over the way. Pray try if you can to lay some scheme to procure these performances, and send them to us. Kitty is as anxious as her father to see them; and I think it is probable that Madgett may effect it, as he paid uncommon attention to us all, & is I think a very good natured fellow.

Balance against him of 218 currency.

Messrs. Stanley Green & Co. pd. 1569 4 curry. to Mr. Hooper which he still owes. pd. in Sept., money then abt. 220 for one.

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