Yore letters give me great pleasure, for they bring the welcome account of the welfare of my Friends, and at the same Time shew me how much you have improved in your stile and penmanship— Mr Brown by whom you wrote never came to Philad: or we should have been happy in noticeing him as your Friend—I sent by Mr Grand beside the squirrel skins in a paper, eighty odd in a cigar Box, which were so well packed that I am in hopes they have escaped the worm, you may depend upon my sending you as many as I can procure from Time to time, which for the future I will get the Furies to pack, I sent by the same gentleman a peice of American spun silk to my Father but have never heard wether it was receiv’d suppose the Letters that were put on board Smith will give an account of Your having both, he is daily expected—The nuts apples and Cotton shall be sent by a twenty Gun Ship that will sail shortly, the nuts are now drying ready to pack, and the Cotton you should have had long ago, but you desired the finest that could be procured might be sent, without saying unspun, and I have been endeavouring to get it spun as fine as possible, but could get no one to do it— Your Father is well and at New York, I have had several letters from him but not lately, a Mrs Lewis an acquaintance of mine has seen a few weeks ago was often in his company and says he has fine spirits, he asked her what I called my youngest Child, she told him Louis, after the King of France he smiled but did not reply—your reasons for not writing are very good. I have and always shall send him word when I hear that my Father and you are well as I am sure it makes him happy, and I have frequent opportunities of sending a message, but I do not now write—Peace I hope will soon restore to us the pleasure of Corresponding with, and seeing our Friends, along with many other pleasures and comforts that this Cruel war has deprived us off—Your Friends are all well and often inquire after you, I have not at present time to enumerate them—the Miss Shippen you admired so much, and whose dried nosegay you kept so long, is Wife to the more than wretched Arnold, our late admired General, whose astonishing History you will find in the last papers, we have realy been on the brink of ruin, and you will see have had the most miraculous escape that ever people had—

I must beg you to excuse me to my dear and Honoured Father for this once I will write to him in a day or two, Mr Bache has just wrote to him tho he was let Blood a few minutes ago for a violent cold. The Children are well, Louis I have this day began to wean, Betsy has put herself to School with some of the Neighbouring Children, she is rather too young and I fancy will soon get tired of it, when I shall keep her at home till she can bear confinement beter. Willy goes to the university, they join in Duty to their Grand Papa, and in Love to their Cousin with your affection[ate]