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Tusculum, near Princeton, March 20, 1780.

DEAR SIR,

HAVE received a letter from you, dated June 11,

1778, a few days after I had written to you a long letter of the date September 21, that year. The defign of it was to defire me to enquire after, and endeavor to procure the enlargement of one Alexander Muirhead, fuppofed to be carried into Boston. I immediately wrote to Boston myself, and caufed one of the delegates of that state also to write; but we could hear nothing of him, so that probably he was not carried into that place.

Your favor of March 19, 1779, acknowledging the receipt of mine of the 21ft of September preceding, I received in the month of August last year. I am to blame in not answering it fooner; but I had no inclination to fend an open letter through the English ports, and any proper opportunity of fending it another way feldom occurs. This goes by a gentleman who means to get to Europe upon bufinefs, and has promised to take particular

care of it; fo that I mean to embrace the opportunity of writing to you and fome others of my friends. I am obliged to you for your particular private home news about Glasgow, and would be glad of the continuance of fuch intelligence, and the more fo if you would take in Paifley alfo.

I have been, fince I wrote you last, in general in good health, and indeed am at prefent in better health than I have been fince I had the laft fit. Excepting these fits, and the weakness that followed upon them, my health has been good ever fince I came to America; and that weakness has been chiefly a fwimming in my head, and fear and uncertainty when I went to make a long dif course in public. It was the opinion of Dr. Rufh, that these fits were fomething of the apoplectic kind. It is remarkable that for these twelve months paft I have had almost constantly a fucceffion of pimples or rather small biles or blotches about the temples within the hair and fometimes on the forehead; fince which time I have been fenfibly better, and freer from the other complaint.

I have now left congrefs, not being able to support the expence of attending it, with the frequent journeys to Princeton, and being determined to give particular attention to the revival of the college. Profeffor Houston, however, our profeffor of mathematics, is a delegate this year; but he tells me he will certainly leave it next November. I mention this circumftance to confirm what I believe I wrote you formerly, that the members of congrefs in general, not only receive no profit from that of fice, but I believe five out of fix of them, if not more, are great lofers in their private affairs. This cannot be otherwife; for asnone of the delegates are allowed tohave any lucrative office whatever, either in their own state or for the United States, though their expences fhould be fully borne, their time is taken up, and their own private eftates are neglected. At the end of the year 1778, I gave notice to our legislature that they muft either not chufe me at all, or leave me at full liberty to attend only when I could conveniently. They chose me however, and I made a good deal of ufe of that liberty in the year 1779; and this

year

all the delegates were changed but one, who had only been in one year, and who has not a house to go home to, his eftate, being in the neighborhood of New-York.

My family are all well fo far as I know. The trustees of the college have laft September chofe my fon-in-law, Mr. Smith, profeffor of moral philofophy. He came to Princeton with his family in December. To him I gave up my houfe at college, and devolved upon him the whole business of boarding young gentlemen, and retired to my houfe in the country, at the distance of one mile, and in full fight of Princeton. This I have had in view for fome years, and intend to spend the remainder of my life if poffible in otio cum dignitate. You know I was always fond of being a scientific farmer. That difpofition has not loft but gathered strength, fince my being in America. In this refpect I got a dreadful stroke indeed from the English when they were here, they having feized and mostly destroyed my whole ftock, and committed fuch ravages that we are not yet fully recovered from it. My (now) eldest fon failed in October laft for France, with Mr. Girard and Mr. Jay, late prefident of congrefs. He is to purchase a few medicines and inftruments in Europe, and return to profecute his business as a phyfician. My other fon was ftudying law; but for the mean while, is private fecretary to the prefent prefident of Congrefs, and my youngest daughter is at home.

As to public affairs, it feems to be yet uncertain whether we fhall have peace foon. Greatly do I and many others in America defire it; and yet, were our condition ten times worse than it is, nothing fhort of the clear independence of this country would be accepted. I obferve, by your letter of the 19th of March last year, that you had a high opinion of your fucceffes at St. Lucia, in Georgia, and against the French trade. I believe before the end of the campaign, there was little reason to boast of your fuccefs upon the whole. I mentioned to you in my last how obftinately the court of England continued in erroneous opinions refpecting America; and now I think that obftinacy has become incurable. It is plain that they still

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harp upon the fame ftring, that a few leading men in congrefs ftir up the people, and perfuade them to continue the conteft. Allow me to affure you that this is one of the most abfurd and groundlefs opinions that ever was formed. The congrefs is changing every day. There is no inftance in the whole conteft, in which the public opinion did not go before their refolutions. To go back to the very beginning-the declaration of independence was forced upon the majority of the then congrefs, by the people in general; and, in confequence of fubfequent elections, every fix months that I have been in congrefs has weakened the party that was fufpected of coldness upon that fubject; and now perhaps I may fay it is annihilated.

I have read lately your parliamentary enquiry into the causes of your want of fuccefs in America. The examination of Galloway in particular is a curiofity. I know that he, and fuch as he, are blinded and ftupified to an almost incredible degree, by their prejudices; and yet it is hard to fuppofe that he thought as he faid in all points. For example, when he endeavors to make it believed that the difficulty of fupplying general Washington's army arofe from the diffaffection of the country to his caufe. I admit that he was in the winter 1777, in a part of the country where there are more people either cool or difaffected to the caufe of America, than in any other on the continent; and yet his want of fupplies did not arife from that in the leaft degree. It arofe from the ftate of our money. If he and his commiffaries had had as much hard money as general Howe, he would have had all the provifions in the country laid down at his tent door.

I am not only fully fenfible, by a general knowledge of the country in this and other states, that the public mind is entirely on the side of liberty, and for the independence of America-but I could mention a great many facts and circumstances as evidences of it, ftronger than could well be imagined, and indeed which have turned out stronger than even my expectations. One circumftance is alone decifive upon this fubject, which is well known to yourfelves, that the moment your army leaves any part of the