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Henry Wheaton Esq

            Dear Sir,
                              From the enclosed documents
you will perceive the formidable attack your
successor in the Supreme Court of the U.S. is ab-
out to make on our properties in your Re-
ports of the Decisions of said Court, also another
[???] on the Digest of which I have yet
about 7 or 800 copies unsold & the Reports
out of numbers the 2nd vol. has not yet gone
to press for 2nd Edition, nor do I think it will
be wanted this year. This is almost an
[???] stop to the sales of both works, the
main cause of which I cannot impute
to any other cause than that Peters promised
[???] a hard case, having so much
property locked up in [???], and the
success of which I have as well as your-
self so long laboured & hoped for [???]
I not being the owner of the copy-rights
of these works, I presume the legal defense
of the property-right [???] is exclusi-
vely vested in you. This being the case,
I have no doubt but you will im-
mediately appoint a suitable & efficient
person or persons to defend & protect our
said properties against all illegal attempts