MRS. POOLE. WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 1803. My Dear Daughter:-I send you a thousand thanks for your good letter of January 9. I wish you had made it longer. You seem to have left off writing by the time you. had got your pen well moistened with ink. Letter writing is certainly an agreeable and valuable accomplishment, which can only be learned by practice. You have nothing to do but to habituate yourself to it. The more you write, the more you will find to write about, and the more pleasant will be the task. I should feel it a pleasure, were I not generally obliged to write faster than I can think. The letters I am obliged to write while I am here, are so numerous I am compelled to write them as fast as I can drive my pen. This I find frequently very disagreeable. The most natural, and the most pleasing way of writing letters seems to be to write very much as we should converse with our friend when we are together. I am under great obligations for the pleasing letters Mr. Poole has been so obliging as to favor me with since I have been here. I wished for more. The Doctor is so busy with his Ipecac, and Tartar emetic, I hardly get a line from him, though he can write with the utmost facility. Temple has not written so frequently this winter as the last; he has had his time more occupied. But I am much pleased with the improvement he has made, and the ambition he discovers to excel in this valuable accomplishment. I can write you nothing particular from this city. The part of the city where I live is quite remote from any company, besides the lodgers in the house. I found myself frequently so unwell, and in hazard of taking cold, I have hardly was prominent in establishing the Theological Seminary at Andover; was sole editor of the Panoplist from 1806 to 1811; and, in 1820, was commissioned by the United States government to visit the Indian tribes in the North-west. He was an active member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and of other scientific bodies. Dr. Morse married Miss Breese in 1789. Samuel Finley Breese Morse, one of the inventors of the telegraph, was their eldest son.-See Drake's Dict. Am. spent an evening abroad this winter. At Mr. King's, last winter, we had frequently very agreeable company in the family; here we have none. I very much miss the amusement Miss Anna King used to afford us with her Forte-Piano, : nd excellent voice. Some little time ago I dined at Mr. Balch's, at Georgetown. Our company was large, mostly members of Congress. Miss Anna was there. She is the most intimate friend and companion of Miss Harriet Balch. They attend together the boarding-school, dancing-school, and Assembly. Mr. and Mrs. King were invited, but unable to attend. My health did not permit me, as the weather was, to stay to tea. I lately dined at the President's. We had not a large company. A circumstance took place which, though I had no concern in it, rendered the entertainment rather unpleasant. The company invited, as usual, were all Federalists. In the number were four Connecticut members, who, feeling resentment because the President had neglected to invite Mr. Griswold, Mr. Bayard, and Mr. Rutledge, during the session, refused to go. They answered his billets by assigning, in pretty plain terms, the reason. It was proposed to me to refuse in the same way, but I declined to do it. No one felt more resentment at the pointed neglect shown those gentlemen than I did, but I thought it a very improper way of expressing our resentment. Invitations to dine are mere compliments, which every gentleman has an undoubted right to exercise as he pleases. If I am invited to dine, and any of the company are disagreeable to me, I may, with propriety, refuse to go. But, if a gentleman who invites me does not choose to invite my friend, I have no right to complain. But so it was. When the President found they had refused, he invited some gentlemen from Georgetown. This circumstance being known, had an evident effect upon the sociability of the company. For a time it was so apparent at table, I felt very disagreeably myself. But, to get rid of the awkwardness we all seemed to feel, a subject occurred to me which I well knew the President always delighted to talk about. I began inquiries about his travels in France, the quality of different kinds of fruit, what their usual deserts were at table, their great varieties of dishes, etc. We went on with the conversation very pleasantly, with scarcely a word from any other person, till we had finished our ice cream. When the wine began to pass round the table a little more freely, all their tongues began to be in motion. We spent the evening tolerably agreeably. So, my dear Eliza, I have told you every thing I can think of, and have nearly finished my paper. I feel extremely anxious to set out on my journey home, but not without apprehensions how I shall find myself affected by the stage. Think of taking as much water carriage as I can. It is expected at this season the traveling will be bad. I never have thought so much about a journey before in my life. If I leave the city on the day I expect to do, 4th of March, it is not probable I shall be able to write again to my friends at Danvers. But, if my health should not permit me to set out, or I should be so unwell as not to be able to proceed, I will write immediately. If you receive no letters, you may conclude I am on my way. I shall inclose to Mr. Poole a "Port Folio." I hope you find these papers afford you entertainment. I have found time barely to cast my eye over them. Some I have not read at all. But I would advise you to read them. The Editor is a man of correct morals. It is said this paper has done much good, and is highly esteemed by the most respectable circles of ladies in Philadelphia. But I will relieve your patience with the assurance that I am, most affectionately, Your tender parent, M. CUTLER. Oct. 13. Thursday. Breakfasted at Bushtown, and arrived at Baltimore about twelve. Took lodgings at Brydon's, with Mr. Pickering. Mr. Taggart, and Mr. Maclay. All the taverns and boarding-houses were so full as to render it extremely difficult to get lodgings anywhere. Mr. Brydon took us into his own private family. Oct. 14, Friday. Set out in the stage, at six, for Washing ton. at three in the afternoon. Oct. 15, Saturday. Concluded to lodge with Mr. Speak, on Pennsylvania Avenue, in company with Messrs. Taggart, Hough, and Claggett. Mr. Taggart and I took a room together. . [Dr. Cutler writes to Mrs. Cutler of his situation thus; My Dear: The gentlemen who compose our family are very agreeable. My good brother, Mr. Taggart,* who lives with me in the same chamber, is possessed of a strong mind and sound politics. He is a very agreeable companion, and has an excellent temper, although he has some little oddities and awkwardness about him, owing to his never having been abroad. He i about the size of brother Chickering, quite as gross, and his mind and manners often remind me of good father Cleaveland. Mrs. Speak has been much out of health for a considerable time, and appears to be threatened with a decline. It seems to be owing to the loss of a little son, who died about two months after we left them last spring.] Oct. 18, Tuesday. Committees appointed, petitions heard, I took Furgerson's Roman Republic out of the Library. Oct. 19, Wednesday. Motion for amendment of the Constitution. French treaty ratified in the Senate. etc. Oct. 20, Thursday. Attended the Committee composed of *Samuel Taggart, born at Londonderry, N. H., March 24, 1754; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1774. He was a Presbyterian minister of Scoth-Irish descent, tracing back his lineage to the Siege of Derry. Parson Taggart preached at Coleraine, Mass., from 1777 to 1818. He was a member of Congress from 1803 to 1817. Honest alike in his political and religious convictions, he was an influential and in many respects a remarkable, man. He died April 25, 1825.-Drake's Biographical Dictionary; Mag. West. Hist., vol. 3, p. 625. one member from each State, on motion for an amendment of the Constitution respecting votes for President and VicePresident. Meeting of Federalists of our delegation to consult on the expediency of bringing forward a motion to exclude negroes from a share in elections. Oct. 21, Friday. On Committee from each state, on consultations. Little business in the House. Oct. 22, Saturday. Mr. Pickering and I at the Office of the Secretary of State, on patent for shelling machine. Concluded to take out patent. Louisiana Treaty before the House. Oct. 23, Lord's Day. Attended worship at the Hall. Dr. Gant preached. Oct. 24, Monday. On the amendment of the Constitution and French Treaty. Oct. 29, Saturday. Attended Committee of one member from each State, on amendment of the Constitution. To DR. TORREY. WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 1803. My Dear Sir:Your particular account of military movements, and your entertainment at General Derby's, has afforded me much pleasure, for it is such detailed accounts of what is passing with you, which instantly transports my mind from this place to the scene of action. I feel myself with my friends, taking a part in what is passing, and sharing in the enjoyment. It has often been a matter of regret to me, that my friends, in their letters, have been so sparing in relating occurrences and circumstances which are every day happening, and which, though they seem trivial to them, afford much satisfaction to one removed at so great distance. Here I feel myself interested in the little concerns of families, neighborhoods, and the town, which, if I were at home, would never occupy a second thought. You will see by the papers that the principal business relating to the French Treaty, and the amendment of the Constitution, is nearly finished. This business has been pressed and driven with the utmost rapidity. Our sittings have been unusually lengthy, and some of them very interesting. It is to be much regretted that these debates have |