Uncle Quincy's,[187] half after 11 o'clock,
13 February, 1778.
Dearest of Friends,--I had not been twenty minutes in this house before
I had the happiness to see Captain Tucker and a midshipman coming for
me. We shall be soon on board, and may God prosper our voyage in every
stage of it as much as at the beginning, and send to you, my dear
children, and all my friends, the choicest of blessings! So wishes and
prays, with an ardor that neither absence nor any other event can abate,
yours.