I have the Honour to Reply on your Ecellence much esteemed favor of the 30 Past, which I duely received, and am infinetly much Obliged to your Ecellence for your good wishes in Regard to our Plan of Connections with Nord America, and for the Kind and Sincere manner you do me the honnour to write to me about it;1 I observe that we may not expect any Publick Aid from Congress or the States of Maryland, but I Can’t otherways but flatter myself, that they’ll Receive us with Pleasure, and not Refuse us any Amicabel Advise which we may want in a Strange Country, not beeing acquainted with its manners & Customs, nor with the Grounds & Spots where we may Incline to bring our Plan in to Execution; in Particular if Government of the United States finds us to be Regular, Labourous and Industrious People, who only wish to bring their Country through the Establishment of some usefull Manufactory to more Perfection, & not like Refugees of our Country, but as People Respected & which don’t come in N. A. with Empty Hands, but with good fortune, & without beeing in Necessity to Aply for some Advance of money, but only for a Friendly Reception and good Advise

It is Certain that our Plan is Vast and in Course joined with great Expenses, but at the same time fundamentally & Solid, & if we only meet by our Arrival in N. A. with some Assistance, & that not to great Difficulties are to be lay’d against us, there is no doubt or we’ll find all Success, in Particular there beeing plenty of wood; As to the Labour to be very Dear we engaged here so many hands as there is Required for our Manufactory, by which means we have nothing to fear against this; I observe that Several Attempts have been made to Introduce the Manufactory of Glass in to America, but that they never made any great Fortune, Perhaps they had not sufficient Understanding of it, or was not Instructed of all the Frugality which must be Observed by such an establishment, but our Friend Mr Amelong possesses all these Advantages, & all his People are of a Good understanding, which makes us hope to see our Wishes Accomplished.

Beeing allready greatly indebted to your Ecellence for the great many favors & Kindness of which your Ecellence have been so 67 Obliging to give me Proofs, I bog most humbly to make still the Addition to it, to Favor me for my Friend Mr Amelong with some Letters of Reommandation & Introduction as such will be of very great Assistance and Advantage for him, not to receive only good Advice, but likewise Protection in some difficult Cases, which he might Unexpected meet with; Your Ecellence will be Pleased to Excuse this my Liberty, and do me the Honnour to Command me at any Occasion, when you find me abel to be of Service to you; Recommanding me to your Ecellence Protection and Favors, I have the Honour to Remain with the devotest Respects & Sincere Regard / Your Ecellency / most Obedt & most humble Servant

May it please Your Excellence to give a kind reception to the historical Almanack for the Year 1784. which I, this Year for the first time published upon a plan intirely new, & of which I have the honour to present to Your Excellency the annexed copy.1

Being intended to point out & to set in their proper light the most remarkable incidents, who, in the space of every last year, have happened in the political history of states as well as in the litterary way, relating to interesting discoveries in useful arts—being calculated upon a plan of such general utility, my almanac for the present year is solely dedicated to the Revolution of North-America &, by consequence, particularly entitled to being taken notice of by Your Excellence.

The historical part of it is done by one Mr. Sprengel, Professor of history in one of our best Universities (at Halle) who hath a very good reputation both, as historian & as writer.2 The cuts are executed by our most eminent artists. If they do not wholly answer the object they represent, Your Excellence will excuse it partly on account of their small size, which gave no room to great compositions, 68 partly on account of the want of exact knowledge of local circumstances. To get some information about them is one of the secondary objects of the present letter.

The annexed sketch of the contents of the historical Almanack for 1785 will show to Your Excellence, which of the latest events in North-America I pointed out as the most remarkable & the most able of being represented. In submitting to Your Excellency’s deeper knowledge of American affairs & better judgement of them, I humbly sollicit Your Excellency’s kind decision, “whether You approve of my choosing out of the latest history of the united states, the following transactions, namely:” General Washington’s being sum̃oned by the Congress to become the Legislator of America. & the foundation of (or rather the Surveying of a track of land, chosen for building there upon) a Town for the meeting of the Congress or whether there happened in North America, lately some events more interesting & equally fit of being represented in cuts.3

In either of these two cases I hereby implore Your Excellency’s gracious assistance, partly in communicating to me such papers as will convey a complete & authentic notion of the fact, partly in giving directions for the artists in order that, their designs may not be quite of their own fancy but approach nature as much as possible. I intirely disapprove, for instance, the Session of the Congress as represented in one of the cuts of this Years Almanack. In the first place there were at that period not 13 as represented here, but 53 delegates present, and tho all of them could not be brought in so small a room as this cut, yet the form of their seats, should, I fancy, have been altered. I imagine they have a circular form, the Presidents place some what elevated & so on.4

Please Your Excellence to correct these & similar mistakes & to prevent future one’s either by minute descriptions or by Some slight sketch; in the latter case some few strokes of pencil lead will be quite sufficient.

As in the composition of this historical Almanack, North-America will always have a very considerable & very interesting share any notion Your Excellence will please to com̃unicate to me, they may consist in general views upon North-American affairs, new regulations for trade, manufacturys, fishery, the troops, legislature, &c. or in relations of remarkable facts—will be most thankfully received & most faithfully made use of, to the glory of the united states & to the instruction & admiration of our part of the globe.

To proceed in the Gallery of famous Americans I essentially want 69 Your Excellency’s Portrait. The highest favour therefore, You could bestow upon me, would be the communicating to me Your Excellency’s picture drawn from life. If there exists any good painting from which it might be copied, this shall be done here by one of the ablest hands & the painting returned soon & in the best condition. If there does not exist any painting, I beg leave to have Your Excellency’s head drawn there, for the aforesaid purpose, by a reputable artist.

Lastly I submitt the annexed Portrait of the late President Hancok, to Your Excellency’s inspection & wish to be informed, whether it really resembles the famous man it represents (what I doubt of) if consequently I can have it copied or if there is means to get a better one, this being taken from Mr. Hilliard d’Auberteuil’s a french historian’s Memoires sur les Anglo-Americains. 5 President Laurens hath graciously promised me the head of Mr. Payne; but, having not yet seen any thing of it, I hereby ask whether it is likewise in Your Excellency’s possession & if You would spare it some weecks for the purpose of being copied.

May the wellfare of North-America be as everlasting as will be the fame of those eminent politicians, who took so considerable a part in supporting & settling its rights, & amongst whom Your Excellency occupy so distinguished a place— May this Almanac, considered as an hom̃age offered to liberty, from the bottom of despotism, be judged not unworthy Your Excellency’s protection & promotion— May the boldness of my adressing Your Excellence in a language, which, by the shortness of my former Stay in England, I learned but very imperfectly, be graciously overlooked by Your Excellence— I am, with the utmost respect, Your Excellency’s / most humble & devoted Servant