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New York Jany. 17th. 1799.
Dear Sir.
I Enclose you agreably to my Promise a Copy of Mr. Wolcotts / Letter to the Keeper of the Prison._ On an attentive Perusal It appears clearly to me that the Indulgence / granted by Mr. Wolcott was in Consequence of the Epidemic prevailing in the Jail. / and it may be construed to terminate with the Extinction of the Contagion. / Nevertheless, The Stipulation proposed in the Letter is, That I shall be Retained / when required after the Contagion had Ceased _ and the Engagement / transmitted to the Secretary, purports, that this Requisition shall be / made by proper Authority derived from the U. States. _ The Fact is, That no Counter Orders have been transmitted _ and the / Keeper having permitted me to go on the Liberties during the Sickness ( / although I was still detained in private Suits) conceives himself authori / not authorised to detain me when it can be done without [Commitly] / the United States _ as to Individual Claim. _ / It is not difficult for me to Conjecture what Mr. Wolcotts Motives / were for Expressing his Letter in the Manner which he has done. / In a Government constituted as ours, whose Administration is / constantly opposed and Vilified by a virulent and Wicked Faction, it / is hardly possible for an Officer to be either just, or humane to / one who has become the unhappy Object of public Censure / without Exposing himself to the Suspicion of being actuated by /
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base, and Unworthy Motives, and of thereby destroying his / Public Utility. I cannot however persuade myself that if I / am once admitted to the Liberties, that [inserted: Mr Wolcott] on a proper Representation of the afflicting malady under which I labor, and of the / Security derived from Bonds given as my private Surety, and / of the Ultimate Responsibility of the late Comm’r. of the Treasury / will judge it necessary to debar me of that Privilege._ / Under these Circumstances I submit it to your opinion whether / it is not best that I should avail myself of the Keeper’s / Release, without committing either Mr. Wolcott, the Attorney / General, or the Marshall in the Business. _ / After you have maturely reflected on this Subject, I will / desire Lady Kitty to call upon you _ and if you agree with me / you can inform her so personally. _ My days are sad beyond Description _ My Nights Miserable. / I am again [illegible, crossed out] attacked with a Complaint which soon after / the Peace [inserted: had] nearly put an End to my Existence, _ a Suppression of Urine _ attended with acute Pain like those Arisg from the Stones or Gravel. _ / Unless I can be releived by the Use of Warm Baths, and [illegible, crossed out] / of such Medical Aid as can only be applied under my own /
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Roof, I foresee that in the Course of this Year I shall probably / terminate a Wretched Existence _bOn my own Account, I could / meet my Fate not only with Resignation but with Complacency _ / But when I reflect on the probable Consequence of leaving to / a merciless World, those who are dearer to [inserted: than] my Life, the Thought [illegible, crossed out] / me drives me to Distraction _ and the Agony of my Mind Encreases / that which is incident to my Unhappy Complaint. _ [illegible, crossed out] [unrecovered Preserve me, dear Sir, unrecovered if the F-unrecovered / unrecovered business, at least for the sake of one whose unrecovered / unrecovered as Freely claims the unrecovered] I am with Sentiments of Regard / Major Genl. Hamilton. Dear Sir Your Obet. Hble. / sert. W Duer
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[ADDRESS]
7 Jan 1799 William Duer No. 1——
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