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                              Decr 19 1863

My dearest Father,

                     Your communication of Sept 30th

written I imagine by Agnes & of [U?] 8th by flag of truce with one from mother of [long?] date reached me a few days ago. Your letters via the islands in reply to mine reach me with good regularity. With regard to the settlement of claims with Messrs Mills Rives & others I have examined the entire question carefully & unless further instructed by you I have determined not to advance the subject on the basis you propose. It is evident to me that each of the persons referred to regard your debt to them somewhat in the light of a trust reposed in you & they all would actually prefer even exchange in England to specie value here on account of its presumed greater security. With all my arguments both in personal interviews & by letters I have invariably found that they each regarded you as having received certain amounts for them in green backs, & that they regarded your property here as only worth what it would bring in market. Examine the question for a moment yourself; I have offered to settle with them on the same basis as with which I settled with the [Fredk?] Company viz. 1/2 in currency & 1/2 in stocks [a: ?] For a hundred dollars you received nearly at par in many cases, sat at an average of sixty. I propose to pay 1/2 a share of stock worth in Confedt Currency $65 & $50 in currency both together worth in specie [?] about $3.33, in other words they appear to regard it that I propose to give you a gain of $56.67 out of every sixty. Now whilst I was enabled to carry this out with the RR Co. I can scarcely do so with [individuals?]. My counsel appear to think that if the question was brought before a court of equity it might possibly be decided that your property here was liable for the actual value you became possessed of, both being compared to specie. Whilst I regard your property here as worth very little now (I refer to the railroad interest above, the real estate is more valuable) I think that the Seabord possesses in it;s chartered privileges a position that will enable it in time, to become valuable. I would unhesitatingly sell the whole for [L2000?], were it offered. I regard the property only for what it may become in time. I endeavor to preserve it as much as possible from destruction, & I make it produce as much income as pos- -sible that I may have the means of support- -ting myself as I wish to live. I have decided in my own mind from the lights before me what I would advise you to do, but in expressing my opinion, I am of course prepared to carry out to the strict letter any of your wishes. As I have [advanced?] with [?] the idea that I proposed as a settlement I think it would be well in your letter to me to still cling to the idea that my proposal or someone on a similar basis [may?] a fair one, but at the same time to agree to consider yourself indebted to the gentlemen here in greenbacks. To the amount you re- ceived after deducting all expenses of every kind incurred in collecting the amounts re- spectively, to which you might add if you see fit 10 per ct for your trouble, but I am inclined myself to advise that you content yourself with the profits resulting between the difference in the premium on exchange now & when you received the funds in question. Then with the amount of greenbacks resulting I would advise the placing of exchange to each credit respectively. At the present rate of exchange between the US & England compared with what it was when you received the funds in question your profit would be considerable in the [transaction?]. This proposal could be sustained, your view I think could not without sacrificing your stocks here at between 3 & 4 dollars (specie) per share. I have always regarded my settlement with Mr. Daniel as one of the best managed trans- -actions I have ever been engaged in & one in which the Company were pretty roughly handled. I write this merely for your consideration again. Whatever you may decide upon I will carry out to the best of my ability for of course in all this I regard myself simply as your agent.

     With regard to the acceptance by

you of Mr. Daniels' proposal of which I have written to you and on which I have allowed his company's debt to the property to continue by a bond guaranteeing to pay me back the stocks at [?3] & the currency in it's value of last may should you not be able to collect anything from their assets near you. I advise that you accept it of course merely by expressing yourself to me as satisfied with the arrangement, with this addition that you insist upon being allowed ten per cent and all expenses incurred in collec- -ting. I wrote to you that Mr. Daniel was unwilling to accept his company's debt to me as equivalent for what you might collect & that he was only willing to exchange for actual values compared with specie.

       In a former letter I stated that I under-

-stood that Seabd dividends were being paid to Northern Stockholders. If so I trusted that you collected yours without regard to the action of the Confedt States towards myself. Hereafter it will be much easier to [re-imburse?] the Company the Confedt currency I have received, than for them to make up to [you?] loss, from not having received dividends with other stockholders at the North.

  The future is to my view very

uncertain. I have an instinctive feeling that the South will maintain itself but in despondent moments argument leads one to fear that after a bloody contest yet to be continued two or three years it may succumb from want of men & materials of war. In that case I presume Edmund after the lapse of a few years would be enabled to assert claims to your property here. In that view I think it would be well to instruct him from time to time in the natural resources of your [?] & real estate property here & to let him study from the [?] reports of the Seabd & Fredg companies their [concerns?]

         It is reported here that Henry

is at your house. In a former letter I said that if his health allowed it, but I feared it was past recovery, I thought he had best study medicine instead of re- -turning here. Henry will not succeed now in what you advised for him, & as a physician I think he would. As I will enclose a letter to Mother about Willy's wedding I will merely add

                  Yours Affec
                       JM R.

If you were in Europe I would propose to you unite persons of means together in the form of a company & of sufficient strengths to run the blockade with the best prospects of success. Even now where sufficient capital is employed success is very sure & profits enormous. Colossal f are being made & one concern in which Mr. [Souter?] is interested commenced within eighteen months has been extraordinary in it's results.

    I wrote to ou that I thought Uncle [?]

had best send Leigh or myself power of atty to manage his affairs & that Leigh had best be allowed to use his income. Mr. Myers is willing to furnish Leigh occasionally with funds but says he's no right to do so; in consequence of which I have furnished Leigh as I had done to poor Cary & Willy

  The War Dept will not allow special

exchanges. I have done every thing in my power for [Benrett?} but it is of no use. In your letter you mention having written Mr. Myers that you had placed an amount to his credit with [Gilliat?]; the letter did not arrive & Mr. M would like to know the exact amount