own Journals in respect to the appointment of an Agent, particularly in the years 1709 and 1712, they will be the less tenacious of the present mode, which as you Justly observe can only have obtained by the neglect of the other branches of the Legislature. His Majesty trusts that Your measures to prevent the ill effects of the steps which you say some turbulent spirits have already begun to take to create disturbance, will be attended with the desired success. Your letter N° 41. relates to a matter which the King considers as of great importance, & His Majesty very much approves your concurring with, and assisting Gov' Wentworth in every measure that can be legally pursued, for preventing waste and destruction of the King's Woods on those Lands which lye on the West side of Connecticut River. There is but too much reason to apprehend that the improper encouragement given to the settlement of those lands has been one principal cause of the evil you complain of, and therefore it is impossible that the Board of Trade, before whom your representations in respect to those Lands now lye, will think fit to advise His Maj" to consent to any further settlements in that part of the Country until some measures are pursued for reserving to the Crown such tracts, as shall be found upon examination to produce Trees fit for Masting the Royal Navy.— 1 am &c HILLSBOROUGH (N° 9) My Lord, Sir William Johnson to the Earl of Hillsborough. [Plantations General, CCLV., No. 9.] Johnson Hall, June 26th 1769. Since my last of the 25th February I have had the honor to receive your Lordship's letter of the 4th of January in consequence of which I shall endeavour to execute His Majesty's commands respecting the surrender of the additional Cession in the best manner possible so as to shew the Indians that the same is solely declined from ye regard His Majesty has for them, and His tenderness for their posterity, I make no doubt of its being readily accepted by them, and am only concerned least the Virginians especially the Frontier Inhabitants should take possession of, & begin settlements on those Lands, If this is done after the Indians are informed that His Majesty declines them, it will create verry strange suspicions amongst them, & doubtless produce ill consequences, I ought to observe this to Your Lordship because I have been well assured by Gentlemen from the Country that the Frontier People who have a great desire for these valuable lands would at all events make settlements there, and as it is most certain, that there are several recent instances of the weakness of civil authority & the little regard paid to it by these people together with the inclination of many persons of consequence to promote such settlements, & in that I saw a Deed in the hands of the Virginia Commissioners for great part of these lands which they assured me had formerly met with encouragement from His late Majesty & the then Ministry of which numbers were determined to avail themselves forthwith, it did not a little contribute to induce me to accept of the Cession of that Country to prevent the general ill consequence which must attend the Establishment of such settlements without the Indians consent, as judging it best to take that opertunity for enabling His Majesty to accept or reject it as he might think necessary. At this distance as it is often impracticable to wait for particular Instructions in many occurring cases, so it is impossible to foresee every event, & of course Instructions cannot be expected in every Circumstance; His Majesty's Indulgence has therefore often left it in the power of His servants to do many things for the good of the service 'till His Royal pleasure is more fully signified in the premises. I observed in a former letter that the minutes of private Conferences with the Cheifs where the principal matters are first resolved on, were by much too voluminous to be ever transmitted, it would there appear that the Indians insisted in such warm terms on the justice of their claims to ye Cherokee River that I was necessitated either to disoblidge them in a high degree, or to observe to them that the Southern Indians made some pretensions to the lands in question, besides this, & the designs of the Frontier People, with the Virginia claim before mentioned, I did humbly conceive it to be the desire of Government to get as extensive a Cession as was practicable, And altho' in the letters I had the honour to receive, mention was made of the Kanhawa River to prevent a dispute with the Cherokees &c yet as I had always understood and had myself actually heard the Cherokees above twenty years ago acknowledge that the River of their name was the extent of their pretensions, as 1 found it was so understood by the Colony of Virginia, & as the Northeren Indians would not be satisfied 'till this their claim was mentioned, I acted to the best of my judgement under all these circumstances in accepting of the Cession to be submitted to His Majesty for admitting the Cherokees do claim to the Northward, a circumstance which is quite new & which I have reason to beleive they would not avow before the Northeren Indians, yet as the latter are more powerfull, more zealous, more warlike and capable of doing us infinitely more mischeif than the former, I then thought the complying with the claims of the Northeren Confederacy a measure of the least dangerous tendency, and I flatter myself that His Majesty will for all these reasons honor me with His indulgence in beleiving that I acted as in my judgement appeared best for the service. I have already observed that I shall forthwith execute the orders transmitted in your Lordships letter in the best manner I can, as I shall everry other part of my Duty particularly endeavouring to discover the designs of all secret enemies who by their machinations threaten us with danger, among other instances of which I find from the examination of a man who is lately returned from the Mississippi and well acquainted with several of their proceedings, that Indians arrived last January at the place where he wintered, who brought belts from the French Settlements which were imediately forwarded thro the Nations to the Lakes, the purport of which tho kept verry private was to promote a Union for the execution of some plan & that those Messingers made particular enquiry concerning the strength and number of men at the out posts. There has been likewise an Alarm at Detroit which put a stop to the Traders going to the Westward for some time & occasioned the Inhabitants to fortify themselves, this seems to have arisen from the claims the Indians have to the possessions of sundry French Inhabitants at that place, but tho their apprehensions are at present somewhat abated, there is good reason to think they are far from being over, from the concurring Accts from all Quarters amongst wh I have just received Information from Detroit communicated by Huron Andrew an Indian of good sense much respected for his attachment & services to us, that Mons Vercher formerly a French Officer who was trading last winter at Sandusky on Lake Erie without leave had distributed two belts with two kegs of rum amongst the Hurons, desireing them to retain their courage for that they would soon see their old French Father when they would have occasion for it.-These things are so common, that the best disposed Indians become poisoned with their principles, and all this arises from the want of proper regulations for Trade & the pernicious practice of permitting the worst sort of men to go where they please into the Indian Country. The State of things here induces me to think that my going into the Indian Country may be of some service, I shall therefore set out imediately, and at my return which I expect will be in a few weeks, shall communicate any material Intelligence which I may have received. I am, with the utmost respect, my Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient & most devoted, humble servant Your Lordship's last letter acquainting me that my proceedings were still before the Lords of Trade is just come to my hands. The Right Honourable the Earl of Hillsborough Additional Instruction to the Governors in America against Lotteries. Additional Instruction to Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Campbell Esquire, commonly called Lord William Campbell,1 Our Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over our Province of Nova Scotia in America. Given at Our Court at S' James's the [30] day of [June 1769] in the [ninth] year of Our Reign. • Whereas a practice hath of late years prevailed in several of Our Colonies and Plantations in America, of passing Laws for raising money by instituting Publick Lotteries; and whereas it hath been represented to Us, that such practice doth tend to disengage those, who become 1 Lord WILLIAM CAMPBELL, youngest son of John 4th Duke of Argyle, entered the navy, in which service he became a captain on the 20th of August, 1762, (Millan's Almanac, 1763, 122,) when he was put in command of the Nightingale, 20 guns. Seatson's N. and M. Memoirs, III., 436. In May, 1763, he married Sarah, daughter of Ralph Izard, of Charleston, S. C., (Debrett), and 1764 was elected to represent Argyleshire in the House of Commons. London Court Register, 1765. On the death of Mr. Wilmot he was appointed governor of Nova Scotia, and was sworn into office on 27th November, 1766. He administered the affairs of that province until 1773, when he was promoted to the government of South Carolina. Haliburton's Nova Scotia, I., 246, 251. He arrived in the latter country in June, 1775, during the sitting of the first Provincial Congress, which presented him a congratulatory address, but he refused to acknowledge that body. For three months after his arrival he was unmolested, though indefatigable in secretly fomenting opposition to the popular measures; but in September, distrustful of his personal safety, he retired on board the Tamar sloop of war, where he remained, though invited to return to Charleston. In the attack on the latter city in June 1776, under Sir Henry Clinton, Lord Campbell served as a volunteer on board one of the British ships, on which occasion he received a wound that ultimately proved mortal. Ramsay's History of South Carolina, I. He returned, 'tis presumed, with the fleet and died 5th September, 1778. Debrett.-ED. adventurers therein from that spirit of industry and attention to their proper Callings and Occupations, on which the Publick Welfare so greatly depends; And Whereas it further appears, that this practice of authorizing Lotteries by Acts of Legislature hath been also extended to the enabling private persons to set up such Lotteries, by means whereof great frauds and abuses have been committed; It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure, that you do not give your Assent to any Act or Acts for raising Money by the Institution of any publick or private Lotteries whatsoever, until you shall have first transmitted unto Us by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State a Draught or Draughts of such Act or Acts, and shall have received Our directions thereupon.1 Instruction respecting the French Seigniories on Lake Champlain. [New-York Entries, Q., 458.] 5 July 1769. Additional Instruction to our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir Henry Moore Baronet, our Captain General and Governor in Chief of our Province of New York and the territories depending thereon in America. Given & Whereas sundry persons, proprietors under titles derived from the Crown of France when that Crown was in possession of Canada, of lands on that part of Lake Champlain now lying within our Province of New York have humbly represented unto us that several parts of the said lands so claimed have already been granted to other persons by Letters Patent under the Seal of our said Province of New York, and have therefore humbly prayed that a proceeding so prejudicial to their rights and pretensions may receive our royal disapprobation; and whereas it appears both just and equitable that the claims of persons under such titles as aforesaid should not be affected without the fullest examination thereof. It is therefore our Will and Pleasure and you are hereby directed and required in no case to make any grants of lands so claimed, as aforesaid, upon Lake Champlain to the Northward of Crown Point, within our Province of New York, until the petitions and proposals for grants of any part or parts of such lands shall have been transmitted to one of our Principal Secretaries of State, in order to be laid before us, and until our approbation thereof shall have been signified to you our said Governor, or to the Commander in Chief of our said Province for the time being. Governor Moore to the Earl of Hillsborough. [New-York Tapers (8. P. O.) CLXI. ] New York. 11. July 1769. My Lord, The copies of my last Dispatches to your Lord are now transmitted by the Ship Ellin bouod for Bristol; I have little else to add on the present state of this Province, but my 'The date of this document is added from New York Council Minutes, XXYL, 167.— Ed. apprehensions that the late resolves of the Virginian Assembly, will add fresh fuel to those Heats, which have already spread too far over the continent, and influenced the rest of the Colonies to follow their example; these Resolutions have been already adopted by the Delaware Counties, and the last accounts from Boston shew, that their House of Assembly was well disposed to join in the same measures. In this critical situation, I cannot help renewing the application I made to your Lordp in my letter N° 44. in favour of the Bill for the emission of paper currency there mentioned, as I imagine it must be attended with such circumstances, as will not only benefit His Majesty's service and be of infinite advantage to the Province, by enabling it to grant the proper supplies, which will be wanted, but will in relieving it from the present difficulties under which it labours make such impression on the minds of the people, as to call forth the warmest expressions of duty, and at the same time prevent their following these recent examples of opposition, which can only tend to widen the Breach between Great Brittain and her Colonies. I hope your Lordp will excuse this repetition on a subject where so much has already been said, and which nothing but my zeal for His Majy'" service could induce me to make, prompted by ardent wishes that the Province under my direction might Act in such a manner, as to give intire satisfaction, but when all our funds are exhausted, and the scarcity of money so great, that a Farm of sixty acres of Land with a dwelling house and several improvements on it, shall be sold under an execution for ten pounds, and another in the same situation, sold for two hundred pounds, which but a few years before cost two thousand seven hundred pounds, there can be but little prospect of a Tax to be raised on Lands in a province so circumstanced. I have the honor to be with the greatest respect Sir, My Lord, Your Lord's most obedient and humble Servant. H. Moore. Earl of Hillsborough to Governor Moore. [New-York Papers (8. P. O.) CLXI.] Whitehall. 15 July 1769 I have received and laid before the King your Dispatches N° 42, 43 and 44. The public transactions during the sitting of the Assembly and the various regulations which were the objects of discussion and deliberation are of very great importance and will require the fullest consideration. The motions made by Mr Livingston & others for public thanks to be given to the Merchants in consequence of their Association against the importation of goods from Great Brittain, and for concurring in the violent resolves of the former Assembly, and the resolutions & declarations made in consequence [of those] motions, are transactions which, tho' you have not thought fit to point them out in your correspondence, could not escape the King's notice, and His Maj feels the deepest concern, that His subjects in New York, should, from groundless jealousy and |