To Alexander Hamilton from Tench Coxe, 14 August 1792
From Tench Coxe
Flemington New Jersey1
Augt. 14. 1792
Dear Sir
Before I left Philada. I had notice of a cause to be tried on the 10th. instt. at this place, of the Business of wch. I had some knowlege.2 It has lasted till this day & the council think my staying may become very important to the just decision of the Case. It is with great pain that I remain because I doubt not the Arrangemt. of the Compensations3 now requires to be acted upon.4 I shall hasten to Philada. in five Minutes, after I am dismissed.
There has been a most respectable assemblage of persons from various parts of this State attending the Courts of nisi prius & oyer & terminer, and I have felt infinite satisfaction in manifestations from every description of them, that they equally love the general & state governments, and that they think the great objects of public happiness committed to the former have been faithfully and most beneficially managed. They are full of a firm and generous confidence in the future intentions of the general Government.
I have the Honor to be with the most respectful Attachment, dear Sir, Your most obedt. Servt.
Tench Coxe
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. When this letter was written, Coxe was visiting his wife and children, who were staying with his father-in-law, Charles Coxe, at Sidney, New Jersey, a few miles from Flemington, the county seat of Hunterdon County (Coxe to John Adams, September 5, 1792 [ALS, Adams Family Papers, deposited in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston]).
2. The case to which Coxe is referring was presumably an action concerning title to land brought by his father-in-law in the Hunterdon County Court of Nisi Prius (Richard S. Coxe, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of New-Jersey. From April Term 1790, To November Term 1795, both inclusive, I [Burlington, 1816], 255–56).
3. This is a reference to the compensation for officers entrusted with the collection of the duties laid on distilled spirits. See the first letter Coxe wrote to H on July 25, 1792.
4. Coxe is referring to the necessity of notifying the revenue officers of the August 5, 1792, arrangement for their compensation. See George Washington to H, August 5, 1792. After returning to Philadelphia, Coxe addressed a circular letter, dated August 17, 1792, to the supervisors of the revenue (LC, RG 58, Letters of Commissioner of Revenue, 1792–1793, National Archives).