
          Recd. [Received] March 26


 Middletown Connt [Connecticut] March 23d 1836


 My dear friend


 Your favor of the 16th was duly received.
 It always gives me great satisfaction to hear from you, for
 your letters carry me forward into all the new discoveries
 that are making in our charming Science of Botany, 
 give me the earliest intelligence of what is doing in Europe
 and at 30 McDougal Street, what [crossed out: new?] books have been
 newly issued from the press &c and what scientific works
 have been added to your Library, and new plants to your
 Herbarium, that has become so valuable to this Country. 
 [added: to say nothing of the honour of being the founder and [crossed out: possessor? of][possessor?] of it]
 Your letters so far are the best summary of what has been
 done for several years past, and contain a fund of 
 information that never finds its way into the Am [American] Journal
 of Science and we have never as yet been represented
 by a journal devoted to Botany, which I regret. 
 I was most agreeably surprised a few days since
 by taking a letter out of the post office, at the first glance
 I knew the hand writing to be that of the Duke of Bedford
 being a letter from him dated Jany [January] 9th. The object of writing
 me was to enquire if I had ever received the book
 "Salictum Woburnense" he had despatched to me then
 nearly nine months ago? You may suppose
 I did not fail immediately to give a handsome
 reply to my noble correspondent.


 I see by the papers that Capt. Selor of the Ship St. James
 had a passage of 17 days, so that I trust my last package
 has reached Woburn abbey [added: some] [crossed out: some?] time since the accompanying
 letters would put all things to rights there, so far as I am concerned
        