Calling to mind the friendly Spirit which animates your Letters to me, I am not ashamed of being deemed impertinently selfish, when I commence my Reply to your last very obliging Communication of Novr. 1809,1 by telling you, that about a year & 3/4 ago I changed my Residence, & find myself in the Habitation which my family now occupies; & which we find more salubrious than Clapham Common; We are just 1 Mile from the Turnpike Gate at Hyde Park Corner, which I think you will not have forgot yet; having about 3 acres of Pleasure Ground around my House, or rather behind it, & several old trees, Walnut & Mulberry trees, of thick foliage, I can sit & read under their Shade, which I delight in doing, with as much Admiration of the Beauties of Nature (remembering at the same time the Words of my favourite Poet Nature is but a Name for an Effect, whose Cause is God,)2 as if I were 200 miles from the great City— My Parliamentary Duties force me to be within easy Reach of London all the Winter, & even Spring, & sometimes for a part of the Summer; I have a most affectionate Wife, who is always very unwilling to be at a distance from me, & Providence having bless’d us with 6 Children, the eldest of whom is not quite 12, the youngest under 2 years of age; my family are breathing pure air, & taking Exercise quietly & without restraint, while I am in the Harness at St. Stephens, or to continue the Metaphor, in a very good Stable just opposite Westm[inste]r Hall, where I commonly ^or rather chiefly,^ take both my food & rest during the whole Session, often being unable to come even to Kens[ingto]n. Gore from Mond[a]y Morn[in]g to Saturday Nights; always however within Call, should any domestic Matters require my presence— I was not aware that my Egotism would be so tedious, yet again let me confess that I am not afraid of subjecting myself with you to any Society of Censure— When I have a regard for anyone, I like to know his Habits of life, times, places &c, & I recollect with pleasure that you kindly gave me an Account of your family Matters, & of your present Situation & pursuits. Let me beg you to be so obliging as to continue so to do, in any Letter which you may do me the favour of writing— Next—let me not forget to inform you that your friendly packet of the 8th Novr last, of which I receiv’d duplicates, first brought me ^2 Copies of^ your favour of 14th April 1806,3 for which however late accept my best Thanks— In Conformity with the kind Wish you express that I should name to you some person in London to whom your Letters may be addressed, let me name Robt. Barclay Esqr. (the great Brewer) or Saml. Hoare Esqr: the Banker, both of whom I think you knew— I wish I could recollect with Certainty how many of the Reports of the African Institution I sent you, I will however transmit to you, either to New York or Philadelphia, accordingly as on Inquiry I shall judge best, All the Reports but the first, indeed on Consideration, I will send them all, as you may promote our common Object by giving away any Copies you do not wish to retain. I am grieved to tell you, that both your Countrymen & my own, are still carrying on the abominable traffic in human flesh, in Spite of the Abolition Laws of their respective Countries— I trust that a Continuance of the vigorous methods we are using to carry our Law into Effect, will by degrees, force our Commercial Men, to employ their Substance in some more innocent Commerce. It has given me no little pleasure to find all your several Ministers, (both Mr King, Mr Monroe & Mr Pinkney) warmly disposed to cooperate, so far as they properly could in their peculiar Situation, & I am not without Hopes of a practical, though not a formal Adoption of the only effectual Expedient, for suppressing the Slave trade, that of the Arm’d Vessels of both our Countries taking the Slave Ships of the other as well as those of its own. There might be Objections, tho’ I own I can see none of sufficient Importance to outweigh the countervailing Benefits to a Regular Compact between our 2 Countries, for the above purpose; but it will answer the same End, provided we respectively abstain from claiming any of our Vessels which may have been captured when engaged in the Slave trade— I have receivd within a few Weeks, the Opinion of your attorney General4 ^in its practical tendency,^ in favour of the System I am wishing to see Established— My dear Sir, I know not how I have been able with the pen in my hand, to abstain so long from expressing the sincere & great pleasure it has given me to find affairs taking a more favourable turn between our 2 Countries— I can only account for my not breaking out on this topic, on my first sitting down to write to you, by the Consideration, that when once there is a favourable Issue in any Case, in which we have been receiving or communicating, from time to time, the tidings of the day with extreme anxiety & Earnestness, (the French ^Word^ Empressement better expresses what I mean) as for instance in the Case of the Illness of a friend, we become so cool that we perhaps forget to ^inquire about, or to^ name at all, the very topic on which during the State of Suspense, we were continually asking for, or giving Intelligence with such feverish Solicitude— Really the Idea of a war between our 2 Countries is perfectly horrible, & I am really happy to say, that I think in this Country, this most just Sentiment gains Ground— Like all Propositions which are founded in Truth & Reason, it gradually sinks into the minds of men, & tho perhaps slowly & insensibly, by degrees it leavens nearly the whole mass. It will tend to produce this friendly disposition on your side of the Water, if more of your Country men would come over & live awhile among us— We are an idle people; we are a busy people, & may not have leisure or disposition to pay all the personal Attentions which Politeness might prescribe, but I am persuaded, that any American Gentn of Character & Moderation who should visit this Country would meet with such a friendly Reception as would shew him that the Circumstance of our being the Descendants of common Progenitors is not forgotten; or rather that it is reviving & diffusing itself with increasing force— Before I conclude let me express the Satisfaction it gave me to find that you were safely laid up, if I may so express it, in a comfortable & tranquil Harbour, after hav[in]g. figuratively as well as literally, been so long or at least so often tossd on, the Stormy Sea of public Life— May I confess to you at very near 51, only in years, but with only a weakly Constitution, & after having been in Parliam[en]t very near 30 years, that I begin to look forward to the same Secession from public life, meaning however to form no positive determination for the future, but to follow the Leadings of Providence & do on the day the Duties of the Day. In my Case however besides the general Wisdom containd in the Maxim Solve Senescentem mature sanus Equum &c—5 In 3 or 4 Years my 4 Boys, the Eldest especially will be attaining that period of life when a fathers Eye & tongue may be most useful & necessary to their future well doing; and, Really, the Business of Parl[iamen]t has increased so much of late years as to render it next to impossible for any man, who could live for 6 or 7 months in every Year with a very very small proportion of food or Sleep, especially the latter, to attend at all, as He would otherwise be glad to do, to domestic or Social Claims. Then, let me add, & if you will take it, as intended in the Way of a Hint to yourself, Excuse only my freedom in giving it, & you will not greatly mistake my Meaning.

Any Man who has acted his part at all creditably on the Stage of public life, may render very great Service to Mankind, especially to his own Countrymen, with whose opinions, prejudices, Errors, He is well acquainted, by his pen—for instance, by bearing Testimony to the truth of the position, which however trite it is still useful now & then to repeat & enforce, that Honesty is the best policy &c. &c.

I happen to have just now many Claims of an Epistolary Nature which have been too long neglected, owing to my having left them as in your Case, to be attended to, when the Recess of Parliament should afford me a little more Leisure— ^Much^ Writing also, affects my breathing. I must therefore conclude— But before I lay down my pen, let me, recollecting your Kindly opening your Mind to me on one important Occasion in, I think 1795, (or 1796), beg that when you next write to me, you would favour me by telling me how you would vote &c. if you were in our House of Commons, on the Question of Parliamentary Reform— I do not ask you to take the trouble of entering into a detaild Statement of the premises which may lead you to form your Judgment on that point whatever it may be— I wish only, unless you have a little leisure, for your Conclusion— I will own to you, that one main Motive with me for having supported ^on a late occasion^ the motion for Parliamentary Reform, was, the persuasion 1st that by taking away what must be confess’d to be a Blemish, a Blot, in an assembly which is professedly form’d on the principle of Representation, we are lessening the power of bad Men to misrepresent & defame our Constitution, & to mislead the well intentiond but perhaps less acute & long Sighted into a Concurrence in their measures. 2dy If the Measure should be adopted at all, it is desirable that it should be so at a time when, as is really the Case now, notwithstanding the Confident assertion of such Men as Cobbett6 & his adherents, the Country feels coolly on the Subject & is not therefore likely to push its Representatives to go dangerous Lengths— for I think you will agree with me, that it is a Species of Reform, all things considered, concerning which in this Country & at this time, it is better ^of the two^ not to go quite far enough, than to go too far—

By the way naming Cobbett, I Cannot but rejoice in my Judgment in his punishment, tho I really feel for a poor man, who loves and is usd to fresh air green fields &c. & who is to be shut up in Newgate for 2 years— A more mischievous man lives not I believe in the 3 Kingdoms— Farewell my dear Sir & believe me with cordial Esteem & Regard Your faithful Servant,