Gentlemen

Its a long time since we have had the Pleasure of paying our respects to you, and you will not be at a loss to assign reasons for this Silence, Therefore we need not take up your or our own time, in Offering them ー We have now before us your Sundry Letters Dated the 2nd 5th & 18th May 3d & 6th June 4 July & 2nd August, and make due note of all Articles of acct Mention'd therein. & Thank you for the Course of advice which however latterly have been render'd useless, by the unhappy State of publick affairs ー Capt Nichs Maingy not having appear'd on this coast, he no doubt was timely inform'd, our ports would be shut, and we are glad he did not come ー We should have been very apt to close with your proposal respecting a Ship for Capt Nichs Lamsurier, had things remain'd in their Former channel, but Ships are now a bad concern, & we unluckily have to ma[n]y of them, You wonder we dont consume your Wines, in Answer we can tell you, our people have been long used to Mada Lisbon Teneriffe & Fayall Wines, all which are white, they are not used to or fond of red wines, even the best red port does not Obtain good sale in this part of America, & it is not very easy to break th[r]o' old Customs & attachments. We find all the Cargoes were arrived at the date of your last Letter (Except the Kitty Capt Lott, which we wish much to hear of & are now) Expecting her back, but sorry we are to find, that something or other turn[ed] up, as they arrive[d] to prevent any profits being made on the Adventures, you complain of this Business of working for Nothing & we beleive with reason, for our parts we are quite tired of it, & had not the State of Publick affairs done it for us we had Determined to Lessen our Concern in this branch which to us [h]as proved a Losing Game for three Years past  we have in that time purchased it freely, and done our Business on the best Terms it could be Done, so that we have Nothing to blame ourselves for altho we have had infinite Trouble & Anxiety about our Fortunes and if either Branches had not answered we better had done Nothing  however there is no help, we must be more cautious in future, that is if any Opportunities occur wherein we can carry on our Business with Safety ー We are Disgusted with the Delivery of Henderson's Cargo at Cartagena & beleive that both you and we have been imposed on in that Transaction  when you send us the Settlement of that Voyage we shall try what can be done with Henderson & his Owners altho such things should ever be Settled at the Discharging port ー We expect you would before this time begin to feel the want of Supplies, from this Country & Consequently, that you would have sold off all the Cargoes & Completed the Remittance, we shall therefore be expecting Final Accts from you & happy shall we be when publick affairs are so far Settled, as that we can with Safety renew our joint Concerns, but if we do renew them, we hope it will be on terms to pay us much Better, than they have hitherto Done ー

You will Learn with Surprize that our American Army has shut up the Ministerialists in Boston & Still keep them there, & that in the Mean time we have wrested from them the Possession of Canada, the Only Success proposed by these or any other Su[cce]sses is Only to procure Reconcilation on Constitutional terms & this we Sincerely hope will be Obtain'd & soon, our Influence is always exerted in favor of such Measures, as tend to this point & happy shall we be, in being any ways instrumental in Obtaining it, but you may Depend on Hearing from us when anything Certain can be said on that Subject ー We have not heard from Messrs Gregory & Woolsy Since the taking of Canada, but if their affairs require any assistance or Protection from the Authority of this Country we shall Serve them on application  two of us being Members of Congress our Influence may be of some use to 'em if wanted  We are Sir [&c.]

P.S. We had lik'd to have Omitted mentioning to you that on Settling the last a/C you rendered us, we find your Creditors [sic you Credit us] only for ⅓d nt Pr[o]cd of the Brigt Connollys Cargo of wheat whereas our concern was ⅔ds for altho it was first Intend'd that Cap Dickson should be ⅓d Interested in the Cargo by the Ship Matilda yet after the Loss of that Ship his Friends fell short & we took the ⅔ds to our acct & paid Entire Cost thereof  Consequently you have to remit, to Messrs Wm Baynes & Co on our Acct L. Cath[ala]n 3800.8 with Interest we Think, This Matter was Explain'd in former Letters, but have not time to Examine being hurried P.S. We just hear that Captain Steel is in the River

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[Endorsed]  (A Copy)  Thomas Rich ³