Your letter of the 10th. instant was brought to me by the last mail. I very sincerely regret the situation in which it represents you, and you have my best wishes for an alleviation of it: But consistency with a rule I have been obliged to adopt does not permit the interposition you request. Being on the spot where the consideration recommending you to a favorable attention can be well ascertained, I know not indeed that any thing from me could add weight to them. I can only therefore express to you the respect I have always felt for your Scientific attainments, & the patriotic use you were ever disposed to make of them, and an assurance of the pleasure which I shall receive from any improvement in your circumstances that will relieve you from the anxieties which press on you