Lord Howe to Caroline Howe, 2 January 1775
Lord Howe to Caroline Howe
ALS:6 Library of Congress
Porters Lodge7 Jany. 2d, 1775
I have received your packet; and it is with much concern that I collect, from sentiments of such authority as those of our worthy friend, that the desired accommodation, threatens to be attended with much greater difficulty than I had flattered myself in the progress of our intercourse, there would be reason to apprehend.
I shall forward the propositions as intended; Not desirous of trespassing farther on our friends indulgence;8 But retaining sentiments of regard, which his candid and obliging attention to my troublesome inquiries, will render ever permanent in the memory of your affectionate &c.
Howe
I ought to make excuses likewise to you.
Addressed: Honble Mrs. Howe / Grafton Street
6. Removed from BF’s journal of negotiations below, March 22.
7. The family’s country seat in Herts., near St. Albans: Ira D. Gruber, The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution (New York, 1972), p. 60.
8. Howe had received via Mrs. Howe BF’s proposal for reconciliation (above, under Dec. 28), and to maintain secrecy was replying by the same indirect route; her covering letter follows this one. When the Admiral first met BF and asked for such a proposal, he suggested that they discuss it before it was forwarded to the ministry: below, p. 567. Unless he forgot, he is implying that the actual proposal leaves nothing to discuss.