The world in general attributes to You the most perfect benevolence. They have long conceiv'd the idea that the good of mankind was the end of all your valuable writings & of all your endeavors. Every body thinks You a Yorick in ev'ry tender sensation, that your heart sympthetically vibrates with the miseries of your fellow creatures, & that your soul is humaniz'd to every finer feeling. Yet I must own, I cou'd hardly expect to find all this realiz'd, because I've ever found great characters lessen upon a nearer inspection. How large then must be my surprise, when I see all this benevolence not only really extended towards me, but find it also attended with the most captivating manner? Your Excellency has condescended for a time to call off your attention from the more important affairs of the nation & to listen to my comparatively minute concerns. You have even generously contributed to my decent & elegant appearence. How shall I repay Your Excellency for these unmerited favors? In what words shall I express the overflowings of my heart? After all this preamble, which gratitude has dictated, permit me in plain terms to assure Your Excellency, that I sincerely thank you— I am with every sentiment of veneration & esteem Your oblig'd & grateful Servt.