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CORRESPONDENCE.

REV. RICHARD PETERS* TO WILLIAM ALEXANDER.

DEAR SIR,

*

CRANBURY, March 22d, 1754.

I am on my road to Amboy, and should have sent you by express the letter to Colonel Johnsont had not Mr. Hicks been so kind as to take care of it. It is wrote by the Governor to that gentleman, on the plan recommended by you. The Governort desires you will send a special messenger with it, or hire a boat on purpose, as you shall think will be most expeditious.

The Governor has not received an answer; to supply which defect, be pleased to desire an acknowledgment of the receipt of the letter, or an answer, if he pleases, as that you are advised will be the most agreeable-or say it out of your own head.

I shall see your father to-morrow and talk the matter over with him, and see to do the best I can.

Dr. Douglass has convinced me that the Connecticut charter is in 1662, and that the books shewn you have copied from one another, the first having made the mistake, which is a common thing among writers.

I am, &c.

*The Rev. Richard Peters, Secretary of the Province of Pennsylvania, was one of the delegates from Pennsylvania to the Congress held at Albany, in 1754, and a Commissioner to treat with the Indians at Fort Stanwix, in 1755. Although a clergyman, he not only held these secular offices, but was so remarkable for his hilarity and conversation, that he received from the Indians the soubriquet of" the Paroquet."

+ Afterwards Major General Sir Wm. Johnson, Bart., the able and efficient Superintendent of Indian Affairs; and celebrated for his influence over the Indians and his victory over the French at Lake George. He was created a Baronet, and rose to be a Major-General in the British Army. He died in 1774, and was succeeded by his son, Sir John, who acquired a different kind of notoriety in the American Revolution.

James Hamilton, Lieut.-Gov. of Pennsylvania.

◊ Author of "A Summary, Historical and Political, of the British Settlements in North America"-published in 1760.

DEAR SIE,

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

AMBOY, March 23d, 1754.

The Governor laid his commands on me to make his compliments to you and Mr. Livingston,* and express his concern for being so much indisposed as not to have been able to pay you the civilities he would have been inclined otherwise to have done, in part of a return for numerous obligations he is under to Mr. Alexandert and his family.

The subject of the letter Mr. Hicks gives you along with this, you will of yourself judge to be of a private nature; nor may it be proper to mention at whose instance the express is sent to Colonel Johnson. Perhaps, if a boat be going, and any one in it by whom you can safely trust the expeditious delivery of the letter, it may, on account of privacy, be as well; but I do not mention this to save expense, because I imagine it cannot be too soon delivered, as I hear the New England gentry are expected to go to Albany as soon as Armstrong was re turned.

Excuse haste, not being willing to detain Mr. Hicks.

I am, &c.

DEAR SIR,

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

AMBOY, March 28th, 1754.

I forgot to desire you would be pleased to engage for the four Pennsylvania Commissioners, some commodious house or lodgings at Albany; and, as I suppose, each set of Commissioners will chuse to keep their own table, I should be glad we could do the same. The Governor has not yet appointed them; but has told me that he would appoint Mr. John Penn and myself of the Council, and Mr. Morris § and Mr. Franklin of the Assembly. I know not how to be more

* Peter Van Brugh Livingston, a brother of Robert and William, and brother-in-law of William Alexander.

+ James Alexander, the father of William.

Son of one of the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania.

Robert Hunter Morris, afterwards Lieut. Governor of Pennsylvania, from Ost. 1754 to 1756.

Afterwards the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Franklin.

particular, as the city of Albany is quite unknown to me, or the conveniences to be had there.

A line from you with respect to my former letters, which you would find on your return, would be very agreeable to the Governor and myself together with any further news on that most subject.

I write at a side table among my brethren of the Council of Proprietors, with a refuse pen and common paper, which please to excuse. I am, &c.

DEAR SIR,

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

PHILADELPHIA, April 17th, 1754.

I have shewed your favour to my colleagues-who join with me in making our hearty acknowledgments for bestirring yourself with so much zeal for our accommodation at Albany.

We all find ourselves obliged to Mr. Stevenson; but more particu. larly it is incumbent on me to return him thanks for the invitation intended me by his son. Is it right that the Commissioners should disturb the repose of a private family? Are there not four of us? Will not these be too many? To think of giving so much trouble puts me under a good deal of concern. But then, shall we [do] better if we decline so friendly an offer, and Mr. Stevenson take it amiss. What right have we to put him to pain? In short, we are in a dilemma, and you must answer for us. We cheerfully embrace the invitation, and desire he may be acquainted with this in that genteel manner which distinguishes your way of speaking for your friends.

Are we not to have a boat to ourselves, agreeable to what you was so kind as to write in a former letter? And have you engaged one for the Pennsylvania service? Pray do, by all means, and you will much oblige us.

I received your father's and your letters by Mr. Pownal,† who is truly a sensible and well accomplished gentleman, and may, I think,

* The persons here referred to both bore the christian name of James—which is also borne by the grandson of the latter-late Mayor of Albany.

+ Governor of Massachusetts in 1757, and afterwards a member of the British House of Commons, where he took a distinguished part in favor of the colonies.

prove very serviceable to the colonies, by setting our affairs in a true light, and obtaining a knowledge of the characters of the people in the several colonies. I have not been much with him. Plays, electricity, and assembly have hitherto given him full employ.

I have given Mr. Franklin one of the printed papers Mr. Alexander was so kind as to enclose to me. I have wrote to Mr. John Reading to get a meeting of the owners of lands within West Jersey, comprised in the old Newark bill, that we may employ some able counsel, and put in a proper answer. If Mr. Alexander has any thing to recom. mend to me to say at this meeting, I would follow his intimations and advice.

Let me know the charges of the express, and I will send the money, As you did not mention the £500 sterling in your letter by Mr. Pownal. I take it there was none to be bought on fit terms, so gave £170 here.

Colonel Johnson compares the lambs of New England to the wisdom of the serpent, and the lambs of Pennsylvania to the innocence of the dove, and declares for the last very handsomely.

Who is to be upon the top of the wheel upon the demise of Mr. Pelham? The things that are seen are temporary; the things that are eternal are not seen at all. Was one to be at the levee of a dead Minister, what company, think you, we should find there? What schemes should we hear broached? The successor here, however, would say "What foolish and absurd questions are these-did he not die Prime Minister? What have we to do to concern ourselves with what he is doing in the shades?" And so the scramble for power will go on to the remotest ages.

Our Assembly have not done any thing as yet; but I hope in the approaching session, they will repair all past faults.

I should be wanting to the grateful sentiments of my mind if I did not express the highest satisfaction in your obliging correspondence.

Dear Sir,

I am, &c.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

PHILADELPHIA, May 23d, 1754.

Pray be not angry if I desire you will buy for us a pipe of the oldest and best Madeira wine to be got, and speak to your cooper to

bottle it off. Likewise, please to bespeak a barrel of good cyder, and two barrels of small beer. We shall send a chest of lemons round. How shall we do for sheep, &c., &c.? But pray, as you have got yourself in a scrape, let me know what the other boats lay in, that we may not be behind the best of them; adding to it what we can get with you, and what we must bring with us.*

We propose to set out the 30th instant. Your Governor, we hear, will set out the 8th of June; but, if otherwise, let us know.

I hope the sloop you have engaged is a very commodious one, and a good-natured steersman. Pray, does he find bedding and tea-furniture ?

I should have answered that part of your father's letter wherein he mentions Mr. Cluuse; but as we shall see him ourselves, I will supply him with money at Albany. I am, &c.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER TO JOHN EWING, JUN'R.

NEW YORK, May 2d, 1755.

SIR, I shall, by Captain Shirley, who sets out from hence to-morrow with his father, send you copies of orders and instructions of Governor Shirleyt to yourself, Lewis Morris, and me jointly, for furnishing the necessaries for the expedition which is to be carried on under Governor Shirley's immediate command, and for supplying his, and Sir William Pepperell's regiments with provisions. Among the other parts thereof which you will have the trouble of executing, will be that of providing vessels to transport Governor Shirley's regiment hither on their way to

* It would seem from this that as much provision and preparation were in those days thought necessary for a voyage to Albany as is now required for one to the West Indies. But, we must remember, that it frequently required as much time for the one as for the other. The pipe of wine, &c., however, must have been intended to regale the delegates after they landed, as well as upon both passages.

+ Governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1749; and again from 1753 to 1756, during which period he was also Commander-in-Chief of the forces in America.

Afterwards a delegate from New York to the Continenta. Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

A native of Maine, who rose to be a Lieut. General in the British army. He distinguished himself by the capture of Louisburg, and died in 1759.

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