94 LEAVES THEY HAVE TOUCHED. 



Bench. The Chief Justice writes plaintively of his " solitude " at 

 Niagara : alludes to some mental perplexity which he does not care 

 to commit to paper : refers to projects for the speedy establishment 

 of a Superior Court of Judicature to be stationary at the seat of 

 Government. Among the items relating to current events at the 

 end, he speaks of the pacific tone of certain communications of 

 " Mr. Washington " to Congress. The Chief Justice writes from 

 Navy Hall, the Governor's residence at Niagara, the humble accom- 

 modations of which are to be gathered from the regret expressed that 

 it had not been convenient to offer Mr. Powell's son a bed there, 

 except only during the absence of Major Littlehales. I now give 

 the text of the letter : 



" Navy Hall : May 2, 1794. Dear Sir : By the report of the Attor- 

 ney General on his return from Deti'oit, [this would be Mr. White] 

 as well as the expectation formed by your son on his arrival here, I 

 was flattered with the hojjes of seeing you in this quarter during the 

 cotirse of last winter, and had cause to regret the disappointment 

 both from the loss of your company, which would have greatly 

 cheered my solitude, and because I was thereby deprived of an 

 opportunity of conversing with you upon some topic connected with 

 our system of judicature, and pei'haps of receiving some insight upon 

 a question that involves a matter of candour with which I confess 

 I am at present somewhat puzzled, and which, if stated upon paper, 

 might lead to a tedious and unavailing discussion. As it seems to 

 suit the general convenience that the Assembly should meet in June, 

 it would not be easy to arrange matters for holding the Western 

 Circuit in spring so as to secure my return in time. I must therefore 

 defer it till autumn. Many circumstances have made it absolutely 

 necessary that some course should be taken to relieve those gentlemen 

 in part who have gratuitously stood forward to administer justice at 

 a time when the country was destitute of professional men, and to 

 carry into efiect the institution of that Superior Court which ia 

 provided for by the civil estimate of the Province, and the want of 

 which has been openly and repeatedly complained of by the people. 

 For the reasons you formerly detailed, I know that the removal of 

 your family will be attended with much inconvenience, and, without 

 the means, can only wish I had the power of redressing it. In this 

 case the most friendly part I can act is to apprize you, that unless 

 some unforeseen event should occur, a Bill will be brought forward : 



