Philadelphia, 5 September, 1776.
Mr. Bass arrived this day with the joyful news that you were all well.
By this opportunity I shall send you a canister of green tea by Mr.
Hare. Before Mr. Gerry went away from hence, I asked Mrs. Yard to send a
pound of green tea to you. She readily agreed. When I came home at night
I was told Mr. G. was gone. I asked Mrs. Y. if she had sent the
canister. She said, yes, and that Mr. G. undertook to deliver it with a
great deal of pleasure. From that time I flattered myself you would have
the poor relief of a dish of good tea, under all your fatigues with the
children, and under all the disagreeable circumstances attending the
small-pox, and I never conceived a single doubt that you had received
it, until Mr. Gerry's return. I asked him, accidentally, whether he
delivered it, and he said, "Yes, to Mr. Samuel Adams's lady."[157] I was
astonished. He misunderstood Mrs. Yard entirely; for upon inquiry she
affirms she told him it was for Mrs. J. A. I was so vexed at this that I
have ordered another canister, and Mr. Hare has been kind enough to
undertake to deliver it. How the dispute will be settled I don't know.
You must send a card to Mrs. S. A., and let her know that the canister
was intended for you, and she may send it you, if she chooses, as it was
charged to me. It is amazingly dear; nothing less than forty shillings,
lawful money, a pound.
I am rejoiced that my horses are come. I shall now be able to take a
ride. But it is uncertain when I shall set off for home. I will not go
at present. Affairs are too delicate and critical. The panic may
seize[158] whom it will. It shall not seize me. I will stay here until
the public countenance is better, or much worse. It must and will be
better. I think it is not now bad. Lies by the million will be told you.
Don't believe any of them. There is no danger of the communication being
cut off between the northern and southern colonies. I can go home when I
please, in spite of all the fleet and army of Great Britain.