S[amuel] L. Mitchill ALS to [Catharine Mitchill], December 5, 1806

something serious in it.

There is a prospect of an accomoda-
-tion with G. Britain. The great lineaments
of a Commercial Treaty are traced; and the
principal point under discussion when the last
dispatches from Messrs. Monroe & Pinkney our
Ministers came away, related to the difficult
Subject of Sailors and other Persons on board
of Vessels sailing under the Fredish flag. In con-
sequence of the good faith in which these imp-
-ortant matters are transacting, the President
has recommended a suspension (not a repeal) of
the Non-importation-law of the last Session,
and a Bill has been brought into the House of
Representatives for that Purpose.

I beg your excuse, sweetheart, for writing
you so much, and interrupting thereby your course
of quilting & other needlework. But I must break
in upon you once in a while. This however I
know you will pardon from your devoted and
most affectionate of all friends SLMitchill