Letter signed : London, to [John Cleland], 1755 October 18.

Responding to a letter from Cleland; writing that he is sorry to find that "the allowance your Mother has made you does not seem to have had the desired Effect" and that "I was in hopes it might have been a means w[i]th your own endeavours to have made your affairs more easie"; writing that he is also sorry to see, in Cleland's letter, "that asperity of Expression with regard to your Mother"; saying that he "[c]annot help thinking the allowance she has made you is a very kind one & Considering her situation more than co[ul]d be expected"; adding "[i]f she has declined any Correspondence she must no doubt have reasons for it"; chiding Cleland for objecting to the fact that his mother did not pay his creditors directly but left that for him to do; referring to Cleland's accusation that his mother's antipathy has affected his professional career: "I can't see how your situation w[i]th respect to your Mother co[ul]d affect it [.] Family differences are so Common that they have little or no influence upon publick affairs And an employm[en]t of the importance you intimate must have depended so much upon your own Merit that your being well or ill with her co[ul]d have been of little Consequence"; discussing the possibility of a reconciliation: "as to a reconciliation I always understood it to depend upon yourself [.] But the stile of your Lres & the readiness you discover to find fault with her does not in my opinion seem to be the way to it. I wish you wo[ul]d give your mind ano[the]r turn & endeavour to work out your own happiness upon the foundation she has laid for it [...] I sho[ul]d be glad to see it For as I am very sorry for your situation so it wo[ul]d give me great pleasure at any time to hear of its mending by your own Abilitys w[hi]ch you are far from wanting without dependance upon any body."