as the Expence of those Americans is very great; And as to the Americans in general except only such as may be wanted, for the Service abovementioned, It is His Majesty's pleasure that you in Conjunction with Commodore Knowles should thank them in such manner as you shall think proper, & immediately discharge them upon the best & cheapest foot you can, and in order thereto you will Consult with the respective Governours upon the manner of doing it, and you will transmit to His Majesty an immediate Account of what you shall do therein. "As it is His Majestys Intention that the Americans should be immediately discharged, except only such few as are mentioned above, the manner of discharging them, the Satisfaction for their Time &ca must be left to Commodore Knowles & yourself; The King however is perswaded you will do it as cheap as possible. "And as these American Troops have done little or no Service hitherto, It is to be hoped they will not expect to be paid in the manner they would have been had they actually been Employed on Service And it seems highly reasonable that such of these Troops as have remained in the provinces where they were Enlisted should be contented with less Pay than such of them as may have march'd into other Provinces. "When you and Mr Knowles shall have mett and fully Considered the Service to be undertaken in the manner above directed and shall have Agreed what Number of Americans it will be necessary to keep in pay, for that purpose, It is His Majesty's Pleasure that you should procure an Account of the whole Expence incurred on Account of the American Troops from the time of their being levyed, to the time of their being discharged, and when the same shall be fully Adjusted and Liquidated you will transmit it to me with the proper Vouchers from the several Governours that it may be laid before Parliament to the End that Provision may be made for the payment, and in the mean time in order to prevent any Complaint amongst the Men that have been Enlisted (as well those that shall be discharged, as those that shall Continue in Service) for want of immediate Pay, you will recommend it to the Governours of the Provinces where these Levies have been made to procure Credit from the respective Assemblies for that purpose, which His Majesty hopes may be done without Difficulty. A Copy W Shirley [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers Vol. II., p. 260.] Boston, October 29th 1747. Sir Mr. Knowles and I have received your Excellency's Letter dated the 23d Instant; and as very great Expence to the Crown is running on whilst the Accounts of the Forces rais'd within your Excellency's Government for the Expedition against Canada are preparing and adjusting, we think it our indispensable Duty to send you the inclos'd discharge of 'em, which we desire your Excellency would have Publish'd among the Levies in such manner as you shall think proper. You will perceive by the Extract of the Duke of New Castle's Letter, which we inclos'd in our last, that it is his Majesty's pleasure the Levies should be discharg'd in the most frugal manner, so that it is doubtless his Expectation that all such of 'em as have not march'd out of the Province or Colony, where they were rais'd sho'd be paid off at the rate of the ordinary Establishment for all his Majestys Regiments of Foot, viz. the private men at the rate of 6d Sterling pr. day, out of which a stoppage must be made of 4d for their Provis ions. so that there will remain to be paid in money to them only 2d Sterling pr day; the corporals after the rate of 8d pr day, out of which a stoppage of 4d for their Provisions, so that 4d Sterling pr day will remain to be paid in money to them; the Serjants after the rate of Is Sterling pr day, out of which a stoppage must be made of 4d for their provisions, so that there will remain 8d Sterling pr day to be paid to them; and this is agreeable to the Terms of their Enlistment, in wch no more is promis'd than the usual pay of his Majesty's Troops, viz. 6d Sterling & pay for a private man, 8d for a Corporal and 12d for a Sargeant; out of which they find themselves with Provisions; and where Provisions are found for them, as in the case of Lieut. Gen1 Phillip's Regiment posted in Nova Scotia & Newfoundland a stoppage of 4d Sterling pr day is made out of their pay for it: and in this case it makes no difference with respect to the soldiers that Provisions have been generally found for 'em at the charge of the Colonies where they were rais'd and not the Crown's: For that was not given them as the Bounty of the several Colonies but was required by his Majesty from those Colonies to be done in ease of the National Expence, and as what was their reasonable part of the charges to be incurr'd by the late intended Expedition, set on foot chiefly for the immediate benefit of the several Colonies concern'd in it; and considering these Troops have not march'd out of their respective Colonies, they have no pretence to expect more than what was promis'd 'em by the Terms of their Enlistment and ought to be satisfied with that. As to all those Levies, which have march'd out of the several provinces where they were rais'd, except those sent to Nova Scotia an allowance of 2d Sterling pr Day extraordinary to them upon that consideration will be sufficient; but as to those Troops which were sent to Nova Scotia, or Imbark'd for that Province, tho' they had the misfortune thro' Shipwreck & Sickness not to arrive there, Mr. Knowles and I think they ought to have on account of their Service & hard Duty, which occasion'd 'em a greater Expence of cloaths & other things than the rest of the Troops had, 6d sterling pr. day above their Provisions from the time of their Imbarkation for Nova Scotia, till their return to their respective Colonies; before and after which times a stoppage must be made out of their Pay for their Provisions, and they receive no more in money than 2d pr day, and the several Levies are to be paid off accordingly after those Rates. As to the method of paying off the men when they are discharged it appears to Mr. Knowles and me, that there are but two ways of doing it. viz. Either by procuring money on Credit from your Assembly, which we are commanded by his Majesty to recommend to you, or else by borrowing money of the merchants upon publick Bills payable when the Parliament shall make Provision for defraying the Charges incurr'd on account of these Levies, which Bills Mr. Knowles and I think should be sold for the highest Exchange that can be got for the benefit of the men, but not at a lower rate than £700 pr Cent advance in Bills of the old Tenor, or £800 of that currency for £100 Sterling; and if both these methods should fail then we can't see what more can possibly be done than to give the men Certificates of what is due to 'em at the time of their being discharged with a promise of paying 'em as soon as possible: But we hope there will be no necessity of having recourse to this method. Mr. Knowles being very much Engag'd in the Business of his Squadron which detains him great part of his time at Nantasket, has desir'd me to take upon myself the Settling of the Terms for paying the men off, and as he is under orders from the Lords of Admiralty to repair to Jamaica to take upon him the Command of his Majesty's Ships there, and designs to Sail in about a fortnight, we shall be glad to proceed as far as possible in Execution of his Majesty's orders Committed to our joint care before he goes: And besides, if the accts are not transmitted home in time to be lay'd before Parliament this Session, it may occasion a Delay in raising the money for defraying the charges. Since Mr. Knowle's and my joint Letter to your Excellency I am Inform'd by Mr. Secretary Willard that upon the first raising of Troops in this Province for the Expedition against Canada in Queen Anne's time, Her Majesty expressly promis'd (among other things) as an Encouragement for Volunteers to Enlist, that they should retain their Arms which had been provided for 'em by the Crown: But as the Expedition did not proceed that year, and the Queen sent Orders to Disband those Levies, which was done, this Government then thought proper (notwithstanding the Queen's express promise, and those Troops had march'd out of the Province to be ready to proceed by Land to Canada) to make the Soldiers deliver up their arms as they had not actually proceeded to Canada, in order to be kept for the Service of the Expedition when it should be prosecuted: which seems to be a case where the men had far greater reason to expect to retain their arms than they have in this, especially as the Duke of New Castle in his Letter to me of the 30th of May, only says that his Majesty had lay'd aside the Design of the Expedition for the present. It was necessary to transmit to your Excellency the terms for the payment of the men and non-commission'd officers together with the enclos'd discharge of 'em; As to the officers it may be time enough to send you Mr. Knowles' & my opinion of the Terms on which they should be paid off by the Post following, he being now at Nantasket; with regard to myself I must in the mean time say, that I think they ought to have the full Sterling pay which the officers of his Majesty's other Troops in their Ranks receive. I am with very great regard, Sir, Your Excellency's most obedient Servant His Excellency Govr Wentworth. [Endorsed] W. Shirley. Govr Shirley, 28th Oct° 1747, on the Dismission of the Canada men & their Pay. [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 261.] Boston, Jan 17, 1747-[8.] Sir I ask your pardon for letting the last post slip me without acquainting your Excellency y' I appointed a Muster Master for the Troops rais'd here, Tho' he was not inserted in my list. I will let you know the Exchange at wch I pay the men by next Post; and should have sent Answers to Col. Atkinson's Queries by this, but yt the copy of 'em wch Pollard gave me are at present shipt among such an heap of papers yt I can't readily find 'em. If Col. Atkinson will be at the trouble of sending me a copy of 'em, least Pollard should have lost his, I will answer 'em by next Post - being wth great esteem y' Excellys most obedt Humble servant His Excy Govr Wentworth. W. Shirley. Sir -- [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 262.] Boston, Feb 2, 1747-8 I was favour'd with your Excellency's by Col. Atkinson, and gave him as particular Answers to his several Queries and verbal Questions as I could: and have only to add I pay the men off here after the rate of 750 pr cent advance, and shall make it up to 'em 800 pr cent advance, if I can sell all the Bills at that rate as I believe I shall, and contingent expenses will allow it. I should be extremely glad to have all your Excellency's Accts to transmit home by the ship after next, otherwise I am affraid we shall lose a session for the raising of the money by Parliam Inclos'd is the Amount of the Anchors wch I sent for your Province Vessels to Annapolis Royal, upon Mr. Mascarine's advice of its wanting 'em, And yt the service suffered by it, and would beg the favour of your Excellency to send orders for the discharge of it. I am to ask your pardon, I believe, for a demand on your part upon this Province, for an article or two wch Mr. Wentworth here called on me several times ab't but is not yet adjusted. I shall take care to have it done forthwith, and, am with great respect and Esteem, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient Humble servt His Excy Gov" Wentworth. W. Shirley [4-54] [Commissary Penhallow's Petition, 1748.] To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq' Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Province of New Hampshire, The Honorable his majestys Council & House of Representatives in General assembly Conven'd The Petition of Samuel Penhallow of Portsmouth in the Province of New Hampshire most humbly sheweth - That your Petitioner was |