Dear Sir Perth Amboy 3 Aug^t 1799. Before this reaches you - Doubtless you [undecipherable: will] [strikethrough: undecipherable] I have resigned my Comm-ission as a Captain in the Navy of the United States, and the cause of my having done So. I hope and Trust Sir, that Neither you or any of my worthy Country-men, will consider, under the real Circumstances of the Case, that I have by this Act done wrong for in my Opinion, No degraded Officer ought to Serve, and No one who possesses the Sentiments of a man, and is unjustly degraded ever will. that I have been degraded is but too True - and that after a Sacrifice of upwards of Nine Years actual Service, with out its being possible, for Mankind to Charge me with any default, except that of quitting domestic ease, giving up advantages, that would have added many thousands to my private fortune - Engaging in, as Sea of Trouble, to introduce [undecipherable] and Subordination - and of exhibiting as arduous a Zeal, as ever the human [undecipherable] possessed to Serve with Satisfaction to every Branch of the Government, as well as for the honor of my Country, My own Honor and More particularly, [strikethrough: undecipherable] that of the Naval Service of the United States. M^r Secretary Stoddert, by his letters to me on the Subject of Rank Never expressed a doubt of My right of Seniority to Talbot, and I was placed on his Register in the Naval Office before him - add to which, he Told me when I Saw him last in Philadelphia, that the Heads of Departments, as well as the Att^y General, was of Opinion with him, That there was No Ground for My Rank to be disputed, or words to that Effect - and that his reasoning and Opinions, Taken on the Subject, he had transmitted to the President; And General Hambleton at his own table last Wednesday, who was One of the Presidents Ministry, When the Six Captains were Appointed in 1794, told me that he fully expected that Talbot, When he went to Boston was was Satisfied with my being his Senior Officer, as he knew [strikethrough: undecipherable] the Secretary had Taken pains to make him So - that he wished him to Continue in the Service [undecipherable] on Considering the Spurious [undecipherable: regard?] of his Rank over me, and Lieutenant of Experience in Seamanship and [undecipherable] Service generally, he Said Talbot ought to have Submitted with a good grace - upon the whole the General Agreed with me that Congress, certainly, intended by the Act, Repealing an Act for building Six frigates, and Continuing the [undecipherable] of Three - That only those Three Captains who were Continued in Service, were to [undecipherable] Remain Navy Officers, [undecipherable] that the Appointments of the Other Three died a Natural death, by the Repeal of the Act, which Warranted their being brought into Service, and [undecipherable] further [undecipherable] their Pay and Subordination [undecipherable] on the Repeal of the [undecipherable] [undecipherable] No further Appropriations, Made for [undecipherable] after, or Notice Taken of them by Congress who only provided for the [undecipherable] of Three Captains in Service, the Other Three by the first Law, then done away, being Considered [strikethrough: undecipherable] as dismissed. The General Hambleton Observed, that the President oughts to have discharged them in form, but that the want of a Formality of that Sort, could never give them a Claim of Rank over Officers in Service, after a Second formal Appointment, When the Affairs of the Nation Called for an Augmentation of the Navy, under New Laws. Had President Washington Not have, Considered Talbot with the other two (Dale & [undecipherable]) as deranged Officers, he would Surely have Commissioned them, about the time of his going out of Office - When he Commissioned Barry & [undecipherable] and myself and for the very Same reasons, Which you well Know, that there Should be No [undecipherable] about Ranks of Officers, that were Appointed during his Administration, after he was out of Office - [undecipherable] again there was no Law, when Talbot was first Appointed, Making a permanent Naval Establishment, but on the Contrary that passed in 1794, was Merely for the building, Equipping, Officering, Manning & Employing Six frigates for a particular purpose, Which Law Set forth - that in case of a peace between the Regency of Algiers [undecipherable] the United States - that No further proceedings Should be had under that act - A peace did take [undecipherable] and the building was Accordingly Stopped, except as to three Ships, which were Continued under a new Act - Consequently [strikethrough: undecipherable] as a Captain as well as that in Dale and [undecipherable] had before mentioned died a Natural death, and with respect to either of them, taking Ranks, under a new Appointment, over Officers Continued in Service - You have Abundant of Precedents in the [undecipherable] where [undecipherable] Appointments have been deranged, and the Officers after Taken into Service, to Show, that the Presidents [undecipherable] (See his Letter to [undecipherable]) and [undecipherable] me [undecipherable] Not agreeable to the Established Precedents of our Country, but Merely to advance Talbot and Continue him in Service over me, tho' he was a deranged Officer who Never was Commissioned in the Navy. Until M^r Stoddert Sent me out to Boston for his [undecipherable] dated 1798 four Years Subsequent to Mine, [undecipherable] is dated 1794. Very much More might be Said on the Subject, but it is unnecessary to dwell on it - One is Sufficient to Convince the President and the Officers of Government, that I feel and See the Injustice and Ingratitude done to me, but [undecipherable] at the Same time, [strikethrough: undecipherable] that I feel more Sensibly, than you would Suppose all these wrongs - That [undecipherable] love for my Country, early kindled in my breast, Shall not be deadened - No Sir while a Sparke of Human fire remains in it - it Shall burn for America. To Conclude - I must pray that You and all my friends, who you may hear mention the Subject of my Resignation, To be persuaded, that no earthly consideration want of Health and the degraded State in which I feel myself excepted, Could ever have induced me, To have quit a post I had taken in a time like the Present - a post I expected to have given it, during my life, or at least Untill the Controversy with France was ended - Nor would I have you to Suppose, that I am dissatisfied with the conduct of M^r Stoddert - the Sec^y of the Navy - on the Contrary, I believe him to be a Candid and Valuable Officer, and that he has acted in the business in question, as Open and Honorable [undecipherable: a?] part, and that My Opinion of him is - that he is incapable of doing Otherwise, on any Occasion. [undecipherable: May] Success attend [undecipherable: our] Navy in every expedition, and May the united efforts of those Combined against France, Make her Soon Yield To Reason and to Justice, is the wish of Dear Sir, Your very [undecipherable: Ob^t?] humble Ser Thomas Truxtun Hon^ble James Mc Henry Sec^y of War. [P.S. excuse my Scrawl; I am obliged to write in haste, the post just going out.]