Sir, 

Your impertinent Letter of the 24^th. ulto., was delivered to me yesterday by Mr. Smith. As I am not accustomed to receive such from any Man, nor would have taken the same language from you personally, without letting you feel some marks of my resentiment; I would advise you to be cautious in writing me a second of the same tenour; for though I understand you were drunk when you did it, yet give me leave to tell you, that drunkness is no excuse for rudeness; and that, but for your stupidity and sottishness you might have known, by attending to the public Gazettes, (particularly Rinds of the 14^th. of January last) that you had your full quantity of ten thousand acres of Land allowed you; that is, 9073 acres in the great Tract of 51,302 acres, and the remainder in the small tract of 927 acres; whilst I wanted near 500 acres of my quantity, Doctr. Craik of his, and almost every other claimant little or much of theirs. But suppose you had really fallen short 73 acres of your 10,000, do you think your superlative merit entitles you to greater indulgences than others? or that I was to make it good to you, if it did? when it was at the option of the Governor and Council to have allowed you but 500 acres in the whole, if they had been inclin’d so to do. If either of these should happen to be your opinion, I am very well convinced you will stand singular in it; and all my concern is, that I ever engag’d in behalf of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are. But you may still stand in need of my assistance, as I can inform you that your affairs, in respect to these Lands, do not stand upon so solid a basis as you may imagine, and this you may take by way of hint; as your coming in for any, much less a full share may still be a disputed point, by a Gentleman who is not in this Country at this time, and who is exceedingly dissatisfied therewith. I wrote to you [him?] a few days ago concerning the other distribution, proposing an easy method of dividing our Lands; but since I find in what temper you are, I am sorry I took the trouble of mentioning the Land, or your name in a Letter, as I do not think you merit the least assistance from*

G:^o Washington