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The kind the affectionate inquirys of my dear Plimouth Friend can
admit of no delay for an answer. The concern she expresses for the health of one my Soul
holds most dear heightens the engaging Tie of sisterly affection that has for many
Years subsisted between us, nor will it be in the power of the darkest Scenes in the
present unhappy Tumult to erase or shade the tender Idea, formd in youth and
strengthned by encreasing years. The Noise of War can never drown the soft
alluring Voice of Friendship.

Your first Question you see I have readily answerd &
intend to exculpate myself of blame in the interruption of an intercourse that always
gave me the sincerest pleasure. I would answer your Second with Gratitude
to kind Providence, Who has restord the health of my Partner to a good measure
of enjoyment. From appearances when you were at Cambridge & afterward
I had but little reason to expect He would ever bear a part again among the
living or tread the peacefull path of domestic life. Altho those young
Gentlemen who commenc'd this year were deprivd of going [illegible] a second
time & thro part of their Philosophical Lectures, yet he has a prospect of officiating
in that pleasing department when they return, if our barbarous foes do not
again invade us & oblige us to take refuge in some lonely cave.

The alarm in Boston the last week gave us some Idea

of the terrible apprehensions people entertain of falling into the Cruel hands of our
enemies, almost every Face gatherd paleness & every heart was chill'd.

May an alwise Providence avert the distresses we fear & guard
us thro the most trying dispensations.

It is whisperd me, what amusement can it Posibly
give your Friend to display the gloomy apprehensions of a Female anxious
heart, who is apt to spy defects & is ingenious to Create many ff Fears of ills that may
never come to pass. I am oblidgd to the kind Monitor within & will
not disturb the Serene the peacefull breast of my Marcia, by any foreboding
imaginations. Altho I think from a Concurrence of Circumstances
the Clouds gather thick over us, yet I heartily wish they may be a
prelude to a brighter Scene.

Mr Winthrop has receivd a Letter from
that great Friend to America now resident at Paris. of the 1st of
May in which He Says

The People of this Country are almost unanimously
in our Favor, &c

The Conduct of those Princes of Germany who have Sold
the Blood of their People has subjected them to the Contempt & Odium of all
Europe. The Prince of Anspach, whose Recruits mutinied & refusd to
march was obligd to disarm & fetter them & drive them to the Sea Side

by the help of his Guards, himself attending in Person. In his return
he was publickly hooted by Mobs thro every Town he passd in Holland
with all sorts of reproachfull Epithets. The King of Prussia's Humour
of obliging those Princes to pay him the same sum pr head for the men
they drive thro his Dominions as usd to be paid for their Cattle,
because they were Sold as such, is generally spoke of with Approbation
as Containing a just Reproof of those Tyrants. He mentions enclosing
one of the many Satyrs that have appeard on this occasion, which
unluckily is not come to hand.

Mr Winthrop presents his Sincere Regards
to you with many thanks for your kind Concern for his health & for
your kind invitation to Plimouth, but while the times are so precarious it will
not be convenient to leave home. We hope General Warren enjoys good
health & that you will give us the Pleasure of a Visit this Session.

You have the greatest inducement. The accompanying the General. & your
Capital is judgd Safe from an invasion by reason of the harbour.
Therefore you may leave it without anxiety. If General Warren Should
be Calld into the Field, we shall earnestly wish him Divine Protection.
But let us enjoy one happy interview, & pray let it be at Cambridge,
before Such an Event takes place. I Conclude with the warmest Affection.

Cambridge
August the 7th 1777

[Endorsement]