II. GENERAL BRADDOCK TO Gov. MOR- SIR, I receiv'd your two Letters by Express last Night and am greatly oblig'd to you and Mr Peters for the Steps you have taken towards laying in a Magazine of Provision for me, as also for the Supply you are Collecting of Forage. I shall Signify to Mr Swain by the of your Messenger my Approbation of the Deposites being made at McDowel's Mill instead of Shippensburg. I dispatch'd an Express to you yesterday with Bills upon England for £4000. Sterling sent me by Governor Glen; and upon Notice from you I will send the Draughts from the Deputy Paymaster upon M Franklin for such further Sums as you may have occasion for. GOVERNOR MORRIS. ences subsist between You & them, good Manners is due You as the Supreme Magistrate. At same Time I am sorry Your Instructions prevented Your accepting of their Note for 50,000-With that Money & what we have rais'd here, wou'd have made a good Figure in prosecuting the Plan I wrote you the 29th of July; but as Your Assembly appear obstinate in not doing what is their Duty at this Period, I must leave off any Thoughts of it at this Time. After the Defeat of our Forces, if Col Dunbar had entrench'd himself, built a Fort & sent in to the Governors for Re inforcements, he wou'd have prevented the French &c going to Niagara from the Ohio & at the same Time facilitating the operations of the next Campaign—Instead of this his great Inclination of going to (Page 2) I have order'd a party of Your City, he left our Frontiers expos'd an Hundred Men as a Guard to the people working upon the new Road which will set out this Day. I am much oblig'd to yourself and your little Government for the present of Oxen they have made me and am, Sir, Your Most Humble & Most Obedient Servant, Camp 5 Miles from Fort Cumberland June 11. 1755. III. FROM GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE. [Communicated by J. Esten Cooke.] VIRGA WILLIAMSBURG Sept 20th 1755 SIR I receiv'd Your Favo. of the 20th ult I am really very sorry & surpriz'd at the unmannerly Message sent You by the Assembly; surely if Differ to the Insults of the Enemy by Carrying with him the whole Regulars, the Six Pounders & Cochorns; If he had made reinforc'd him with 1000 Men, who now another Attempt I doubt not of having must be employ'd all the Winter in protecting our Frontiers & to be in readiness for next Year. I have not omitted writing to the Ministry the unaccountable Conduct of Your Assembly; the Dangers we are in from the German Roman Catholicks, & I have no doubt the next Sessions they will seriously consider of it make some Alterat in Your Constitution. I much want to hear of Gen' Shirley, I am under great Concern for him, as no doubt they have Collected all the Forces they cou'd to Niagara, as I hear most of their Men are gone from their Fort on Ohio to that Place; pray write me the News from thence, & of Gen' Johnson's success against Crown Point. I wish You Health more ease & Satisfaction in Your Government than I conceive You now enjoy, & am with great Truth Sir Your Most Obed' hble Servant ROBT DINWIDDIE P. S Pray give my Complim's to Capt Orme if with You. I have not heard from him since my Express I give you the trouble of the enclos'd to I know not where to direct to him. IV. FROM GOVERNOR COLden, of New YORK. [Communicated by J. Carson Brevoort.] SPRINGHILL Dec' 15th 1765 DEAR SIR I received your kind letter of the 9th & 15th of last month at a time I was so much ingaged in publick business that "it was not in my power to answer it & since I retired I was under a necessity of writing to the Ministry on the late transactions before I gave up the Gov ernment You must believe I am very glad to be out of the way of the malice of wicked men I found Sir Henry was resolved to make himself easy. How far he will succeed, time must shew. He came away without any Instructions. The Kings order in his Privy Council of the 26th of July has renewed all the rage of the Party against me as appeals from a verdict & Judgement are confirmed Tho the Stamp Act was made use off to excite the mob yet the directing it against me arose from the resentment of the men who think their power is abridged by establishing Appeals. You can judge as well as I can what effects these siditious Transactions are like to produce in Great Brittain. The Dependency or Independency of the Colonies seems now to be brought to the Crisis, & it remains with the Parliament to give it the Proper Issue, whether the Parliament of Great Brittain shall submit to the Colonies or the Colonies to the Parliament. The Assembly have before them Mr Harrison's protest as Notary Publick in the Case of Cuningham I cannot tell you what is don in it but I hear young Smith is inraged at some part of it. I cannot conceive what they intend to do by this examination Can they intend to repeal. the Kings order in his privy Council & to authorise Disobedience to it. Perhaps you may learn things from England which I know not I hope you will communicate what you think may be of use to me General Burton I hear designs for Eng. land by way of New York perhaps you may have seen him as he passes & you may know his opinion of the present state of Affairs Capt Johnson's patent is passed I suppose Mr Banyar has it. The packet I hear is arived but I have nothing since from New York I hope after this to be free from all business It will be a Deed of Charity to give me the pleasure of a frequent correspondence on such subjects as may be Following your Excellency's order I had my commission read at the head of my company; I have assured our settlers that I do not look upon them as soldiers but as my friends, that I only took the commission that there might be a head to our plantation; that I believe my self to be the person most interested and most attached to the plantation; they seemed to be grateful to your Excellency for it. I told them that a Palisade around my house was necessary for a garrison, these matters are postponed on account of the harvest; I can assure your Excellency that I will manage the whole with advantage of the Place, and that it will inevitably result to the profit of your Excellency, my self and our people in general. Colonel Romer left Saturday for York he believes that your Excellency has every desire to finish the Castle. he is sorry to have left Boston before the work was finished. In case of danger, to New Oxford, the people of Providence are the proper people succor; I have spoken to your Excellency of Capt Arnel and of Lieuten ant Wilkinson as the two persons the best behaved and the most generous that I have found in the Country. they are worthy of the esteem and friendship of all good people. When I took leave of Madame your Excellency's lady, she told me to make inquiries about the horses for your Excellency, I have made the enquiries but I do not quite understand what kind your Excellency wishes. I believe Msier Arnel of Cananicot the best person to select them properly and the best disposed for the service of your Excellency. I will entrust it to him; I congratulate myself however on the happiness of subscribing myself with profound respect As it is possible that your Wound may render you unable to proceed in Person to Ticonderoga, in such case I should recommend it to you, to order Major General Lyman, who I apprehend hath escaped unhurt, or Col. Ruggles, in case General Lyman should be unable to go in Person, to march the Forces under your command to that Pass, & take possession of it, and secure it against the Enemy, leaving with you such a Number of Troops as you shall judge sufficient for strengthening the Works at the Carrying Place, and erect ing such at Lake George, as you shall think absolutely necessary. If nothing farther could be done this Campaigne than gaining Teconderoge, vet that would be carrying a great point for the protection of the Country behind, this Year, & facilitate the Reduction of Fort St Frederick the next Spring You will give me leave to press this matter again upon you, as what most nearly concerns his Majestie's Service, & the Interests of the Colonies; and must greatly redound to your own Honor and that of the army under your Command; and should be glad you would Consult your Field officers upon it. I hope your Health will permit you to go upon this service in person, & earnestly wish your attempt may be Crown'd with all the Success you can desire, which I can't but think it will if you proceed, and am Sir Your most Humble Servant THE EARL OF NORTHAMPTON TO KING JAMES merly called the "Isle of Devils." It is couched in those obsequious and very flattering terms likely to be relished by the pedantic king. There is a reference to the Dutch activity at the North, where, aided by the men of Biscay, who had pursued the whale fisheries on the Atlantic in preColumbian times. The expedition which is reported at Bermudas appears to be that of Richard Moore, who reached Bermuda July 11, 1613. This island was discovered by the Spaniards not later than 1511. Though the English found it full of all sorts of sweet sounds, like the Island of Prospero, the Spaniards had given it a bad name. In his reference to the Prophet Jeremiah, the Earl mangles the Vulgate; what he quotes is found in the eighth chapter at the seventh verse, in our version, reading as follows: "The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."] STATE PAPERS, DOMESTIC, JAMES I. Vol. 70, No. 23. Hen. Earl of Northampton to the King. Most excellent most gratiouse most redoubted and deer soueraine. [The following letter is referred to in Neill's "History of the Virginia Com- [:612, Aug. 2?] pany of London" (p. 54), as a letter of Shakespeare's patron, the Earl of Southampton. Sainsbury, in the Colonial Documents, 1516-1660 (p. 14), makes mention of it, and gives a paragraph from it in modern orthography, which is copied by Neill. We now print the letter entire, believing that it has never been given before. Though not written by Southampton, it is nevertheless of particular interest in connection with the Bermudas, for This flushe of threefolde aduertisementes meetinge me heer at Grenwhich in my garden yesterday within the compasse of one hower did put me in minde of the roses the violettes and Jilly flowers which I vse to send to y' M" from hence also in the hardest time of the year and made me the more willing ratione ominis to binde them vp and present them in a posie to the faire handes of my swete souerain whose fragrant vertues performes [sic] all places that haue the happinesse and the iudgement withall to reioise in him and thanke god for him as they ought and are bownde to doo. The first concerninge the Archeduke came to me by M' Cranfelde (y' M's most industriouse and vncorruptedly deuoted seruant) from a factor one the other side, and shall need no other coment then the texte onlie I will note that Ruben et Madian diuiduntur inter se and that if the Archeduke speede no better with his beneuolence to the Jesuites he will soone be weary of that charity. The nexte is that the Moscouian companie haue not only aduentured but strangely prosperid in their viage within 8 or 9 degrees of the pole for the whalle. fishinge for theie sawe 700 at the leaste and by the helpe of the Biscaians whom theie hirid for their speciall in killinge those great monsters theie brought home 17 in the two shippes and might haue freightid more if their fleete haid bene sutable They make accompte henceforward to mayntein it as a certain trade which they doutid of befor none but the Hollanders that will neuer sit out whear one graine is to be gotten and in this aduentur leaste, bycause they vaunte them selues to haue bene the first offerers. Another companie are in like sorte aduertisid of the safe arriuall of their shippes in the Bermudos vpon which Iland the Spaniardes affrightid and dismaied with the frequencie of Hurricanes which they ever meete about that place durst not aduentur but calle it Dæmoniorum insulam But from this Iland of Deuilles our men haue sent some Amber and some seede perles for an assaie wch the Deuilles of the Bermudos loue not better to retaine then the Angeles of Castile doo to recouer. The place aboundes in swine in fowle and wishe [fish] which moues our men to growe more confident in the safe possessione of a place which they haue possessid so peaceably. Theas prosperouse euentes both in those and in all other place whear yo' Mis happie subiectes put in their foote makes me wonder at the cause whie your Mtie should not thriue as well aboue them by their thankefulnesse, as they vnder you by y prouidence But Jeremie fortolde what manie in our daies as it seemes are not verie apte to beleue that Miluus in cœlo cognouit tempus suum turtur hirundo et siconia custodierunt tempus aduentus siu populus autem tuus [meus] non cognouit indicium adventus tui. & and therfor I make no doute but as your people growes more iudiciouse and gratefull so y Mtis estate will likewise growe more prosperous and plentifull Thus prainge god to continewe and to multiplie his blessinges daily vpon your M and youres that vnder the beste Kinge that we euer had we maie enioie the most happy time and that all theie that oppose ore repine maie speede as the Archduke hath don hitherto which will many Balames that come forth with a minde to curse fall as faste to blessinge when they come to the place whear the curse should light I humbly and affec tionatly kisse your Mis faire hande and 1 The correct text runs as follows: Milas in cælo cognovit tempus suum: turtur, et hirundo, et ciconia custodierunt tempus adventus sui: populus autem meus non cognovit judicium Domini, |