846 V. BENCH AND BAR down to N. Y. & be Chamber Counsel, & the trustees of Columbia College immediately tendered me again the old of- fice of professor which had been dormant from 1795. It had no salary, but I must do something for a living, & I under- took (but exceedingly against my inclination) to write & deliver law lectures. In the two characters of Chamber Coun- sellor and College lecturer, I succeeded by steady persever- ance beyond my most sanguine expectations, & upon the whole the five years I have lived here in this City since 1823 have been happy & prosperous, & I live aside of my daughter, & I take excursions every Summer with my wife & daughter all over the country. I have been twice with he (^) Canada & in every direction. I never had better health. I walk the battery uniformly before breakfast. I give a great many written opinions, & having got heartily tired of lecturing I abandoned it, & it was my son that pressed me to prepare a volume of lectures for the press. I had no idea of publishing them when I delivered them. I wrote over one volume & pub- lished it as you know. This led me to remodel & enlarge, & now the 3rd volume will be out in a few days, & I am obliged to write a 4-th to complete my law. My reading now is as you may well suppose, quite desul- tory, but still I read with as much zeal and pleasure as ever, I was never more engaged in my life than during the last Sunmier. I accepted the trust of receiver to the Franklin (insolvent) Bank, & it has occupied, & perplexed, & vexed me daily, & I had to write part of the 3rd volume, & search books a good deal for that very object, and I have revised the proof sheet. If I had a convenient opportunity (though I do not see how I can have one) I would send the 3rd volume out to you, & another to our excellent friend, Governor Carroll, to whom I beg you will be so good as to present my best respects & the expression of my great esteem. Your suggestion of an Equity treatise contains a noble outline of a great & useful work, but I cannot & will not enter on such a task I have much more to lose than to gain & I am quite tired of Equity law. I have done my part, &
- ■ So in original.
