This late acknowledgement of the receipt of your letter of the 6th of November 1789, and the little box which accompanied it, might require some particular apology had I only my own private concerns to attend to; but when important public duties require my constant attention every allowance must be made for the want of punctuality in those things which regard me individually.

I beg, Sir, that you will accept my best thanks for the polite manner in which you have transmitted to me the poems & epistles which the Society of Leyden for the encouragement of the liberal arts in Holland have done me the honor to send to me; and at the same time, I must ask the favor of you to forward the enclosed letter to that Society which is expressive of the sense I entertain of their polite attention to me. I am Sir, Your most Obedt Servt.