ary, with a duplicate of that of August
last, directed to the President, has been received and read in
Congress. I am extremely surprised to find from that and yours to me,
that so few of my letters have reached you, since no vessel has sailed
from this, or, indeed, from any of the neighboring ports, without
carrying letters or duplicates of letters from me. The whole number
directed to you, including the duplicates from October to this time,
amounts to twentyfour; so that they must certainly be suppressed in
many instances. But what astonishes me more, is to find that you
cannot read my letter, No. 3, and the duplicate of No. 2; when, upon
examining my letter book, I find it is written in the very cypher,
which you acknowledge to have received, and in which your letter of
the 20th of September is written; so that if it is not intelligible,
it must have undergone some alteration since it left my hands, which I
am the more inclined to think, because you speak of a cypher said to
be enclosed, of which my letters make no mention, and only notes a
slight alteration in Mr Thompson's cypher. My first letter was in our
private cypher; this you had not received. My second, by the Marquis
de Lafayette, in cypher, delivered to me by mistake by Mr Thompson,
and lost with Mr Palfrey. My third, in the cypher sent by Major
Franks, a duplicate of which was sent by Mr Barclay; and that enclosed
a copy of my letter, No. 2. I had then discovered the mistake, so
that I can in no way account for your being unable to decypher it.

Since my last, of the 28th of April, we have been informed of the
change in the British administration. We have seen the act for
enabling the King to make peace, and the new plan has begun to open
itself here under the direction of Sir Guy Carleton. You, who know
your countrymen, will feel little anxiety on this subject. It is
proper, however, that you should be enabled to calm the apprehensions,
which those who know us less and are interested in our measures may
entertain. I have the pleasure of assuring you, that it has not
produced the slightest alteration in our sentiments; that we view a
change of men and measures with the utmost philosophic indifference.
We believe that God has hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so that he
cannot let the people go, till the first born of his land are
destroyed; till the hosts are overthrown in the midst of the sea; and
till poverty and distress, like the vermin of Egypt, shall h