friends of a Convention appear to become more and more bitter
and virulent in their enmity to me, and seem determined not only
to injure my standing with the people, but to break down my
pecuniary resources. A suit has been lately instituted at
Edwardsville against me for the recovery of the sum of $200 for
_each_ negro emancipated by me and brought into this State. The
suit has been brought under a law passed on the 30th of March,
1819, but which was not printed or promulgated until the October
following. In the meantime, that is about the first week of May,
my negroes emigrated to and settled in this State. What is truly
farcical in this suit is, that a poor worthless fellow, who has
no property, and of course pays no tax, has been selected to
institute it, from the fear he has of being taxed to support the
negroes I emancipated, when they, who are all young and healthy,
are so prosperous as to possess comfortable livings, and some of
them pay as much as four dollars a year tax on their property. I
should indeed, my friend, be unfortunate were I now compelled to
pay $200 for each of my negroes, big and little, dead and living
(for the suit goes to this) after the sacrifices I have made, and
my efforts to befriend and enable them to live comfortably. For I
not only emancipated all my negroes, which amounted to one-third
of all the property my father bequeathed me, but I removed them
out here at an expense of between five and six hundred dollars,
and then gave each head of a family, and all others who had
passed the age of 24, one hundred and sixty acres of land each,
and exerted myself to prevail on them to be honest, industrious
and correct in their conduct. This they have done in a remarkable
degree, so much so, with all the prejudice against free negroes,
there never has been the least ground for charge or censure
against any one of them. And now, for the first time in my life,
to be sued for what I thought was generous and praiseworthy
conduct, creates strange feelings, which, however, cease to give
me personal mortification, when I reflect on the character and
motives of those who have instituted it.

Just about the time this suit was instituted, I had the
misfortune to lose by fire two-thirds of all the buildings and
enclosures on my f