reap a plentiful harvest in the most precious of all rewards, the
approbation of Heaven!

I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively gratitude
for thy service, and it will always be among the purest
consolations of my mind to be assured of thy welfare and
happiness.

ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES

_Esteemed Friend_:--My delay in the acknowledgment of the receipt
of thy truly interesting letter of Jan'y 21, last, will not, I
trust, be attributed to any want of respect and kindness, but to
the real causes, which were, first, an unusual press of business
relative to several public institutions, which at the season of
the receipt of that communication demanded my attention; and
secondly, to the expectation subsequently entertained here, that
thy presence might be expected at Washington as successor in the
Senate of the United States to N. Edwards, appointed on a foreign
mission. The likelihood that the latter event might bring us to a
_personal_ acquaintance in this city, when the session of
Congress should terminate, was contemplated with pleasure, since
a direct interchange of opinion would be preferred to epistolary
correspondence. Time, however, has served to show that this
prospect, with many others upon which we dwell with satisfaction,
failed of realization, and I therefore avail myself of the only
means which are left to renew the assurance of my remembrance, of
my undissembled regard, and of my sincere sympathy. The part
which thee has been called to act privately as well as publicly,
and officially, in regard to the rights of mankind, and for the
upholding of the principles of justice, and mercy toward a
degraded and oppressed portion of our fellow beings, ought to be
regarded as a manifestation of Providential power, concerning
which we must always believe the same Divine interposition will
be extended in every exigency. I am altogether satisfied that it
is reserved for thee to witness the triumph of truth and
beneficence in the struggle to which thee has been exposed; and,
what is of infinitely greater value, as it respects thyself, to
reap a plenteous harvest in the most precious of all rewards, the
approbation of Heaven!

I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively gratitude
for