To your Excellency I write these few Lines which I Hope your Excellency will Excuse Me in So Doing as I now Have Been five Months prisionier of ware I Longe Much for My Liberty which is prasious to all under Confinment. I have wrot your Excellency two Diffrent times Before this Representing My Case But as yet Never Received Aney Ansswer. But I Hope your Excellency will take these few Lines into your Moast Sarious Consideration and Return your Excellency Moast agreeable Anssuer to Let Me Return to Home to My wife and familey as it is in your Exclencys pour and None Else Hear that Can Do it I Have Been wrot to from Nantes that your Excellency Portion Lays after My Arivel Hand Granted it for Me to Be Exchainged for Capt. Thomas Bell who won His parole from Limrick in Irland to Return to france where He is to Remain untill He Return one of the Same Station in His place Capt Bell is an ohld Acqantences of Mine Before the ware I allso Have Been wrot to from Nantes that your Excellency Comissiary for prisioniers at Nantes Had wrote to Limrick to Have the Comissarie of prisioniers their to Have His Consent Allso to which He Never as yet Have Received Aney Anssuer But Saving your Excellencys Better Judgement of the Matter I Should thinck as the Contents of the parole is to that purpose I should thinck that as we are Both prisioniers of ware upon An Equal Station that By Me Granting My Recept to your Excellency or your Comissarie for prisioniers of ware at the place of My Exchaing to Be Returned in Exchaing for Capt Bell and Likwise Me to Appear Before the Comissarie of prisioniers at London to Let Him Know that I Have Been Exchainged for Capt Bell allso Should Anssuer the purpose I was taken By the Sumerset Letter Capt Willm Jones Comander on the passage from Baltimore in the State of Mereland Bound for Nantes with Tobacco which place we Arived upon the 6th of July I was Bound for New york and taken upon the 10th of June on the Coast of America and the Vessal that I Comanded was sent for Philadelphia along with 3 of my people and Eight in all of us Caried to Nantes along with the Letter of Mark where we Arived upon the Above Mentioned Day and Have Remained prisioniers Ever Since 6 of My people are in the Castle at Nantes and I and My Second Capt Have Been upon parole at this place which I Hope your Excellency will order to Be Sent over to Be Exchaing By the first Carteel that Goves over with french prisioniers from aney part of this Coast or the Chinnel as their is So Small a Quantity of Us if that your Excellency Do not Chuse that I Should Be Exchainged for Capt Bell But of that it Be your Excellency pleasure to Do I should Return By the way of Ostend if that I Can Have a pasport So to Do I Spock to Mr. Alexander at Nantes to Represent My Situation to your Excellency which I Hope He Has Don I Have a wife and four Children Left Be Hind Me at Home which Makes My Situation Verey unhappie for Me Likwise I and My Crew Do Belong to Glasgow at which place their never Have Been An American put under Confinement Since the Comencement of the ware which their Have Been Maney taken and caried into that place My ouner William Cuningham Esqr Have Hade Several taken By His Crusing Vessals and He allways paid their Board untill they found Means to Get away So that I Hope your Excellency will Consider our Cases and Minde that oald Rule that Every Man Ought to Do as He would Be Don By So I Add No More But wait your Excellencys Moast Agreeable Anssuer in Course which will for Ever oblidge your Excellencys Moast Humble Servant