P.S. I am extremely gratified to hear such
favourable accounts of Francis Kerr

. To your friend-
ship and humanity, he owes his being saved from
misery and destruction, and I trust his gratitude will
be commensurate to the extensive obligations he
owes you; although, at the same time, I well know
you consider yourself as amply repaid, in the satis-
faction of witnessing his reform, as the result of
your kind interference in his behalf.

Bloomingdale, 9th month, 27th, 1805. ESTEEMED FRIEND,

Since I had the pleasure of receiving thy much
esteemed favour of 8th of August in the last year, I
have been several times absent on distant journeys,
and have not enjoyed my health equal to former
years, but this is not sufficient to excuse my very
great neglect, and particularly in not acknowledging
the receipt of thy very acceptable parcel of books by
the Alexander, for which be pleased accept my sin-
cere thanks. I repeatedly intended writing by dif-
ferent ships that sailed from New York

, but unac-
countably put it off from one opportunity to another,
and now not being able to justify my neglect, I have
only to crave thy indulgence in excusing it.

The pamphlet on guineas, &c., by Henry Boner

,
Esq., afforded me much entertainment and useful
information. The subject of paper credit is highly
interesting, and particularly so to us on this side the
Atlantic, where paper currency is largely emited by
a great number of banks, spread over almost every
state in the union. The solidity of these establish-
ments are rendered exceedingly hazardous, by dis-
counting mostly what is termed accommodation
notes, which are renewed and continued at the end
of sixty days, and go on year after year. The bank
notes issued of course must be very considerable,
without any thing solid to represent them, except
the credit of the names of the drawer and endorser.