I inclose a few sheets of paper,[133] and will send more as fast as
opportunities present.
Chesterfield's letters[134] are a chequered set. You would not choose to
have them in your library. They are like Congreve's plays, stained with
libertine morals and base principles.
You will see by the papers the news, the speculations, and the political
plans of the day. The ports are opened wide enough at last, and
privateers are allowed to prey upon British trade. This is not
independency, you know. What is? Why, government in every colony, a
confederation among them all, and treaties with foreign nations to
acknowledge us a sovereign state, and all that. When these things will
be done, or any of them, time must discover. Perhaps the time is near,
perhaps a great way off.