Hull 22nd Octr 1808
Dr Sir
	It gives me great pleasure to inform you that all the time Mr Hall has been with me he has conducted himself with the greatest propriety.— He has been uncommonly diligent & attentive to the business he undertook to learn, I am fully convinced that his abilities are good, & that he has learned more in the art of drawing Ships, than most men would have done in the same space of time, as the drawings he has with him will testify.— I can assure you it will be a great misfortune, to him, to you as his Patron & to the cause he is about to embark in, if he is obliged to leave off his studies so soon.— Only consider him as a Person who when he came to me had never seen a Ship, the real theoretical knowledge he has obtained is truly wonderful— all in the space of 4 months.—
	At the receipt of your Letter to him I was about to set him to work at a stern frame (a very nice piece of workmanship as any about a Ship) for the ship he has drawn on a small scale which would have conveyed him such practical knowledge as neither lines nor words can possibly do— but the time of his stay being so short am under the necessity to decline it.
	My Dr Sir do try if you cannot make it agreeable to continue him with me till another Ship sails, I am fully assured you will think the expence of his maintenance &c amply repaid by his improvement in both the theoretical and practical part of the business, that would get more credit by recommending him, than you could have expected— I shall leave the matter to your own consideration. I hope the advice I have given you will not be thought impertinent in me.
I am with the greatest respect
Dr Sir
Your Obd Hble Servt
W. Barnes