Delegates to Congress . Letters of delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, Volume 12, February 1 1779-May 31 1779
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Frederick Frelinghuysen to To: Dirck Middagh


Dear Sir,

(1)
Philadelphia Februy. 16th. 1779

   This day I have received your kind Favour of the 11th instant, for which I cordially thank you. I cannot yet believe myself in the Place which is proper for me. I feel shackled. I feel always ridiculously hampered; I dont feel like Frelinghuysen, as you are pleased to express yourself. I would rather, Sir, drink sand & water in the desarts of Monmouth in the Character of a Colonel of the first Somerset Regiment, than to drink Wine in Philadelphia in the Character of a Delegate for New Jersey-Because, Sir, in the first Case I should think myself in some measure qualified, but in the latter totally inadequate(2)-but I suppose you will say this is mere modesty, I shall therefore postpone the Proof of it untill I see you at the Captain's,(3) which I hope will soon be, as I cannot yet give you the good news, which has made People so very curious in this Place, &, as I am told, in the Country. I wish it was in my power to make you happy with some extraordinary Tidings; but sir, I must request you to wait with Patience, & not to raise your expectations too high, for fear of disappointment. I am glad to hear of the Browns doing well, I expect things will soon be so cheap, & that I shall make such a Fortune, & get so proud at this Place, that next Summer the Browns will have to roll me along in a Coach, a Chariot, or some such Grandee Thing; so that I hope you will spare no pains to fit them for such exalted business. Jokes aside, I trust the Time of our Deliverance is not very distant, & I hope Peace, a Happy Peace, will before long take place of distressing, desolating Wars; when you & I will again set some store by our Property, & take Pleasure in the Enjoyment of it. In the mean Time, let us do our Duty, & by our Influence & Example strive to check the growth of the present prevailing Evils. Farewell, my Friend, & let Virtue be your Guide. My Compliments to all Friends.>


Rest assured of the Friendship of your,

aFrelinghuysen.


Note: RC (Harry Kels Swan, Somerset County, NJ., 1983).


1 Dirck Middagh (1743-1805), formerly lieutenant colonel of Frelinghuysen's First Somerset Regiment of New Jersey militia, had succeeded to the command of the regiment upon Frelinghuysen's resignation from it when he was elected delegate to Congress. The relationship between the two men has been explored in Harry Kels Swan, Raritan's Revolutionay Rebel: Frederick Frelinghuysen, Fatherless Protege of Dirsk Middagh (Somerville, N. J.: General Frelinghuysen Chapter, DAR, 1967).


2 Frelinghuysen also expressed his sense of inadequacy as a delegate when he submitted his resignation in April, noting that "the trust was too important for my years and abilities." Born April 13, 1753, and graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1770, he had been a tutor at Queens College in New Brunswick for a time before turning to the study of law, and he had practiced only briefly after his admission to the New Jersey bar in 1774 before becoming drawn into the current of public affairs at the onset of the American Revolution. See ibid., pp. 14-15; and Frelinghuysen to the New Jersey Assembly, April 29, 1779.


3 Cornelius Vermeule.


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