York in Pen. 19 May 1778
My dear brother,
Your several favors by the Vessel from Spain with duplicates of the treaties with France are arrived and shall have my most particular attention. In Virginia we have determined to retain in our practical jurisprudence the Common law of England excepting such parts as relate to royalty and prerogative. Also some of the Statutes that are of a nature the most general. These, with our own Acts of Assembly constitute our Code of Laws. You see therefore that Ludwell may be fully employed with you in reading the Common law and the Statutes, leaving the Municipal law of Virginia until he comes home. But I wish him much to have the groundwork of the law of Nature & Nations with the Civil law and Eloquence. I have not got the Virga. Acts of Assembly here, & it would be difficult to send them if I had. I am astonished at the {impudence}1 and {jugglery} of {Deane} and his {associates}. You may depend upon their being {carefully attended} to, and as I have found during the progress of this {contest} that the {offenders} have been uniformly {discredited} and {punished}, so I have no doubt will it happen now. Persevere in {honest patriotism} and all will be well. {Patience} you know is one of the Cardinal virtues, and in this case {we} must soon give you {relief} since the late {recall} has broken the {faction}.2 The Members of Congress are so perpetually changing that it is of little use to give you their Names.3 From Massachusetts now come Messrs. Hancock Sam Adams, Payne, Elbridge Guerry, Mr. Dana & Mr. James Lovell. Connecticut Messrs. Roger Sherman & Huntington, Dyer, Woolcot & Williams. N. York Duane, Governeer Morris, Duer your Acquaintance, Livingston, Francis Lewis. Rhode Island Messrs. Merchant & Ellery. Pennsylva. R. Morris, Read, two Smiths & Roberdeau. Jersey Dr. Witherspoon &c. Maryland Chace, Colo. Plater, Carrol, Henry, Stone. Virga. R. H. Lee, F. L. Lee, Harvey, Bannister, John Adams. So. Carolina Messrs. Laurens, Wm. H. Drayton, Hayward & 2 new ones. Tis not worthwhile to mention others, you know them not & they are new Men.
The Express is going so God bless you & farewell,
Richard Henry Lee
Lee PapersUniversity of Virginia Archves
Printed in James Curtis Ballagh, The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, Volume 1, 1762 - 1778, pp. 408 - 9.
1 Words in braces, here and below, are in cipher in the RC. For the cipher used by the Lees, see Richard Henry Lee to Arthur Lee, 12 May 1778, note 2.
2 For a contrasting view from the Deane camp, see Benjamin Harrison’s assessment of Lee’s involvement in a "cabal" against Silas Deane in his 8 June 1778, letter to Robert Morris. Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence, 2:607 - 8.
3 At least fifteen of the delegates Lee listed below were not currently attending Congress, although they were members of their state delegations. William Williams, on the other hand, was not in the Connecticut delegation at this time; and Thomas Adams, not John, was attending for Virginia.