MY LORD,--I heartyly regreted it was not in my power when so near as London to do myself the honour of waiting upon your Lordship for Reasons I beg Mr. Smith to give and at the same time assure your Lordship that without the honour of being known to you there was none who had a more hearty and sincere Regard for your Lordship’s property.... [_Not legible._] my Lord, abstracting from your many private Virtues makes you dear to every true Scotsman and from what I could easily learn gives your Lordship great weight with the English. This, my Lord, encourages me to suggest of what use you may be att this juncture to his Majesty’s affairs by uniting those people together who to my great concern I found (so far as I could judge) quite inactive, diffident of one another and distrustfull of those they employ. Your Lordship’s being so near them will I hope make the work short as well as Effectual, and in my poor Judgement were there any unanimity, any harmony and concord amongst them it would easily be in our power to shake off the yoke of Bondage and Slavery we now groan under; this, my Lord, I propose with great submission to your Lordship’s serious reflection and experience, I shall only add that as I have no other in any thing I do but to promote the real Interest of my King and Country so I have all the reason in the world to believe that healing the wounds and cementing the differences now subsisting amongst our Neighbours is the greatest ambition of our countrymen and must render their gratitude to your Lordship for so great a work unalterable. I begg your Lordship will pardon my presumption in writing without being asked and believe I am with the most sincere regard and esteem, My Lord, etc.[158]