I thank heaven that the 4th of July is over. It is always a day of great fatigue to me, and of some embarrassments from improper intrusions and some from unintended exclusions.

I am sincerlely glad that your family dispute is made up, as I am convinced it will tend to your own happiness, and particularly to th to the well-being of your children. the differings between man & wife, however they may affect their tranquility, can never produce such sufferings as are...

I send for Cornelia a little poem, the grasshopper’s ball, to begin her collection.

she has two independant water wheels, single geered, one turning a pair of 5. f. Burr stones, the other a pr of 6.f. do. she will be finished in the best manner with every modern convenience

bought a negro woman Lucretia Jame’s wife, her 2. sons John & Randall and the child of which she is pregnant, when born, for £180

children till 10. years old to serve as nurses from 10. to 16. the boys make nails, the girls spin. at 16. go into the ground or learn trades.

he was a valuable young man, and his loss has given great concern to me ... the object of the present is to see if you can procure one to supply his place. good humor & sobriety are the two indispensable qualities. skill in his business is now become more important, as I shall be little at...

tho wrong in politicks, tho formerly an advocate for Tom pains Rights of Man, and tho frequently mistaken in Men & measures, I do not think him an insincere or a corruptable Man. my Friendship for him has ever been unshaken.

besides the attention to my farms I am uncovering & repairing my house, which during my absence had gone much to decay. I make some alterations in it with a greater eye to convenience than I had when younger.

I lodge him & find provisions; but give no liquor. this is an absolute article, as I never saw work go on well if the workman had liquor. it is therefore a point which I never give up.