I arrived at Boston on Monday evening after a prosperous journey, and came out to this place the following afternoon in the Quincy Stage. I had the happiness to find my Mother in tolerable health, and shall be highly rejoyced, if my presence, should in any degree contribute to the continuance of that blessing. The rest of our friends are well, excepting Uncle Adams, who suffers much from a complaint in his Eyes.

Our town of Boston has undergone little alteration during my absence, but Quincy is altered for the better. I believe it feels a pride in having given birth to the first Magistrate of the United States, and flattered by the preference he has always given it as a residence for himself and family. I feel a great attachment to it myself and hope at some future day to see the sage of Berlin comfortably settled in it or its neighborhood.

I am writing by the side of a good walnut wood fire in the Library & office, and find myself so comfortably seated, that a sigh now & then escapes me when I reflect, that my lot is cast in a region so remote from it.

I have received a letter from Mr: Otis Senr: acknowledging the receipt of that which I enclosed to you at New York.1 He promises to attend to my request respecting the subscription to the loan on my behalf, which authorises me to thank you for complying with my request respecting an advance of the first payment.

During my journey I conversed freely with my fellow travellers and at the Inns where we stopped. In many instances I was unknown and therefore heard opinions & remarks upon men and things, upon the measures of Government and characters in Office; delivered with less reserve than I probably should had my connections been known. I can truly say, that in all I heard, not a single harsh or unpleasant suggestion was to be found. In my letter by Mr: Otis from Brookfield, I hinted at one subject, which seems to require some explanation to the public before they will be able to comprehend it; I mean the high rate of interest upon the loan.2 Every body assures me, that the spirit of New England and its confidence in the National Government would have filled twice the amount of the loan at 6% per cent as readily as at the rate it is to bear. I have replied to 405 this observation, that money could be employed in many ways to greater advantage than by loaning it even at an interest of 8 per cent, and that Government probably were conscious of this fact when the rate of interest was fixed. That in some of the States money bears a legal interest of 7 per cent, and the general government could not with propriety offer a lower interest than could be obtained elsewhere &ca: But as I am unacquainted with the motives which influenced the head of the Treasury in the adoption of this measure, I am unable to satisfy those who demand of me the reasons of it. Our Government, at a future day, may have occasion to try the experiment of a loan, at less interest than the present, and it is thought, that the precedent now given may, in such case, have an unfavorable tendency.

There is much talk respecting the extraordinary measures of the Virginia and Kentucky Legislatures, and the symptoms of opposition which have lately appeared in those States to the federal Government. Every body laments this unnatural defection, but no body appears to think the Government endangered by it. The ultima ratio, they say is in the hands of the government itself, which will doubtless employ it for self preservation when necessary. The Legislature of this State has done itself honor, by the manner in which they have treated the Resolutions of those States respecting the Alien and Sedition laws. The Report of the joint Committee of the Senate & House passed & was agreed to by the latter on the 12th: instt: by a majority of 116 to 29.3

I passed two days with Col. Smith and my Sister at East Chester, much to my satisfaction. The school of adversity has in my mind improved their condition in many particulars. The dogs and the horses, as you observe, are still there, but at least they have a farm to feed upon. I like Cincinatus better than Anthony.

I beg to be kindly remembered to Mr: Otis and family and to all other friends. Please to tell Dr: Rush, with my best respects, that he must be responsible to my Mother for my safety, if I return and establish myself within his jurisdiction. I know not whether she will forgive him for the share of influence he had in fixing my purpose so contrary to her inclination.

I am with the most dutiful attachment / Your Son

Your kind favor of the 26th: ulto: was delivered to me by my Mother on my arrival, the 12th: instt: at this place.1 I thank you very much for it, and your friendly congratulations upon my safe return. I had before the receipt of your letter, learnt from Mr: & Mrs: Johnson that yourself & family were well, and I doubted not but a short time would bring me a confirmation of it from your own hand.

Before I left Europe I had heard something of the difficulties and embarrassments with which you were struggling, and although I well knew that a brave & honest man contending successfully with adversity is said to present a spectacle fit to interest the Gods, yet I must own; that I often wished any other man than yourself had been the agent & the sufferer in so perilous a contest. I am no heathen in my faith, & believe nothing of the Gods, but I aver, that as a plain mortal I have been sensibly afflicted at your misfortunes & have unfeignedly wished it were in my power to repair them. If friendly sympathy or my poor counsel can bring one ray of consolation, dispel one gloomy reflection, or shorten one melancholy moment, my recompence will be great indeed.— I hear with pleasure that you are upon terms of intimacy with Mr: Johnson & his family. I retain much gratitude and many friendly sentiments towards them for acts of kindness done to me & others of my family, and I hope our union will be as firm and durable as the bonds which connect us are sacred.

If my information respecting your situation be accurate, you have had men to deal with where you are, not only destitute of feeling, delicacy or honor, but more allied to the brute creation, than to that whose form & image they bear. I do know some such people myself, but thanks to God I have not had many dealings with them. When I chance to fall in with such animals I make it a rule to observe the same measure of delicacy towards them as I experience from them. I am not always able to meet them half way; but at least I prevent many a kick & bite that I should otherwise expect to get in such company. This conduct is not natural to me, nor am I yet an adept in the use of it, but I practice it upon principle & believe it to be one 407 of the best preventatives against snarling & growling that can be administered to any surly cur. We men of law in the Southern States must of necessity be seared against upstart insolence, and if we can help it, we should never suffer ourselves to be thrown off our guard by any portion of it however enormous. This is counsel, but I feel that it is hard to practise.

I am so confident of your superiority in capacity, activity and integrity to the generality of people to be met with in the southern States, that I fully persuade myself & try to impress the same belief upon others, that you will emerge from the darkness & wickedness which surrounds you, not only superior to the frowns of fortune, but in defiance of her utmost malice. You will have great & accomplished knaves to deal with, cloathed perhaps with wealth & sometimes with power, but there is glory to be gained in defeating or even opposing such characters, since all whose opinion a wise man values must rejoice at the slightest advantages obtained in the contest.

I will make an effort to pay you a visit before I settle in business; indeed I hoped to do it before I made the journey hither; but the calls of duty extorted obedience first. I cannot but yield to the friendly sollicitation of Mr: & Mrs: Johnson & yourself, but it is not yet in my power to fix the period of my return to Philadelphia. I am however already anxious to find myself established, and imagine I may calculate on my return to the South, by the 1st: of April.

I have had an happy meeting with my family and friends, but you will believe me when I say, that no circumstances have called so loudly for my thankfulness & gratitude, as the preservation of my mother & the recovery of your venerable father, after the severe illness they have both experienced. They are now in tolerable health. All our other friends at Quincy & elsewhere are well, but I have [. . .] many to see.

Politics engage little of my attention, since things go pretty smoothly, but I will tell you a secret, which is, that if you Virginians & Kentuckians dont behave yourselves, we Yankees will quarrel with you & see which is the best stuff for wear, black, or white. I am a true Yankee for fight, but a Pennsylvanian for law. As to my becoming a soldier in actual service, nothing but an invading enemy will probably make me such, though I shall probably join some military corps where I settle.

The Legislature House of Reps: of this State yesterday agreed to the report of their Committee upon the Virga: & Kenty resolutions 116 to 29.

Let me hear often from you & present me kindly to your wife & children, also to the Johnson family, believing me ever / your friend