New York February 20^th 1796. Dear Sir Your Letter of the 17^th of October last arrived at this place during my absence in Virginia, which I now take the earliest opportunity to answer. The [undecipherable] which [undecipherable] the Board of Treasury to call on you for the money are, that you were the Officer to whom it was directed and who have acknowledged the receipt of it. that you have [undecipherable] it with [undecipherable] hands as the Board accordingly find unable to refund it and who have in a great degree disposed of it for their own use. The Board thinks that you are holden in Law in consequence of your own acknowledgement of actually receiving the Money, and that in equity you ought to be responsible for [undecipherable] it and [undecipherable] — [undecipherable] to give you [undecipherable] trouble on this occasion, but the money was [undecipherable] to be lost, for after a most diligent Search through the United States for Alexander & Resfield the Letters was [undecipherable] last [undecipherable] the monies in Charleston and it appeared that he had no character [undecipherable] for honesty or [undecipherable] in which [undecipherable] by the Board to the money and excused myself from refunding it by your [undecipherable] acknowledging the receipt of it, and [undecipherable] directed forthwith to demand it of you. I have the pleasure however to inform you, that it appears from a letter received from the [undecipherable] at Charleston that M^r Resfield has returned to him 27[undecipherable]44 Dollars of this money for which you are to be credited. Resfield has deposited a large sum also with a Merchant in Charleston for a small quantity of Goods which I hope the Board will also obtain [undecipherable] of. I am of [undecipherable] notwithstanding that you are actually holden to the Balance, but it would be [undecipherable] that you [undecipherable] to return the Monies to the United States or give good security for it which I suppose would cause the Treasury to discharge you from any further responsibility. The Treasury Board sent immediately to find out both Alexander & Resfield immediately on the information communicated to them that the money was in their hands, but until last summer when Resfield [undecipherable] in Charleston neither of them could be [undecipherable] heard of. I am much pleased that you have [undecipherable] the money and [undecipherable] that your letter produced the [undecipherable] I have before mentioned as having received. I think he ought to [undecipherable] [undecipherable] — [undecipherable] immediately [undecipherable] [undecipherable] has a sufficient reason for instituting a Suit against them immediately for the [undecipherable] balance. To Joseph Clay Esquire. In^o Pierce —