have ye further & more desired Effect of ye Adjustmt of all ye Dependancys of ye late Regim' & yt no future Cavils or Uneasiness may arise I shall think myself happy Truth yr Ex: has often formerly said will have its weight, & I hope you have latterly experienc'd so, tho' you have in a few Instances been pleased to quarrel with me for too closely adhering to it on some points in a former Lett' as well as late one to you; If I have been at this Juncture too free in declaring myself you'll I hope excuse me & if I have discovered any Warmth yr Ex. has given ye sole Cause therefor & will I hope overlook it. In fine Sir I think I have offered a Complyance wth every reasonable thing you can propose, & by giving yr Ex. all the Pay Rolls I have fully done my part already, ye giving Bonds I never intended, engaged or agreed to do, wch is an unreasonable Demand in this Case, but if ye attested Copy of ye Vouchers will answer every Purpose yr Ex. intended thereby-wch if customary or required in Great Britain to be given in You shall have to send there, w" I have compleated my Paymts and moreover on your giving me sufficient Bonds of Indemnity you shall in yt Case also have ye Originals w" ye Pay of ye Regiment is compleated and as I am by ye Act of Parliam a principal Party I cant think either of these can with any Propriety or right in yr Ex: be Demanded of me, I am not a Clerk or Agent to yr Ex. in ys Affair, but have yet ye Power of Acting as Colonel of a Regiment in every thing depending, tho' you are pleased to say I have not. Yr Ex. on Acco1 of ye Regiments being broke may as well dispute my right to my own Pay. If as I said in my former an Inspection & ye. nicest Scrutiny of any Persons you shall appoint as to ye genuiness of ye Ballance of my Accot of £1805. 11. 4 Sterls wch some days since I exhibited to yr Ex. by Mr Hin order to obtain a Reimbursemt of yt Sum wch I am actually in Advance will answer your Ends you shall have all ye imediate Satisfaction you please on y1 head, wch is as great a Concession as I can possibly offer towards making y Ex. easy in this Affair; Y1 Ex. declaring yt I have no Right to my own Vouchers is I think as extraordinary in its Nature as any thing I ever heard of, sure no Person on Earth can think yt any other than myself has ye least right to them, tho' a Sight of ym I have not deny'd nor ever will I to anyone, I have done nothing thro' ye whole Course of ys Affair, But I can justify to his Maj, who I can't suppose will ever think on these Affairs, should they come before him as yr Ex. does all yt I expect is, yt y' Ex. now makes good to me ye deserters as well as dead Mens Pay, & yt ye remaining honour of ye Regiment rest with me, as to any Extraordinary Allowance You propose for ye trouble You may justly apprehend I have had in paying of ye Regim', I can't fairly expect any, therefore I utterly renounce any thoughts thereof being satisfied with my Perquisites, which I will not share with any One. I have since writing ye foregoing receiv'd Yr Excys of this date in return to ye few Lines I wrote you Yesterday Morning desiring you would be pleased to explain y'self as to ye Pay of ye Deserters Which had I receiv'd in time might have govern'd me in my aforegoing Answer, & drawn our depending Affairs nearer to a Close but I find nothing in Y' Ex. Lett' but yr Expectation of my final Resolution, whether I will account with you or not, & a Recital of wt I wrote y' Ex. ; & you finally conclude yt you look upon that Letter of mine to be no Answer, the Purport of it carry'd no such Appearance, & I should have been surpriz'd if you had taken it to be an Answer, but I am much more so yt yr Ex. is thus unkind in keeping from me y' real Intention to wch I am as much a Stranger as ye dead of my late Regim are, how long I shall continue so is not easy to judge, but ye Mystery will doubtless be known at London where I shall as soon as possible make yo needfull enquiry wt I have done to deserve this uncommon cruel, and unkind Treatmt. I am in the meantime with all due respect Yo' Ex. Most Faithful & Obedient Humble Servt Boston July 8th 1748 PS Your Ex. would not answer me as to yo Affair of ye deserters, but Mr Hutchinson tells me yt you & Mr Knowles settled yt Affair, & yt no Pay is to be allowed for them, I was as much deceived as impos'd on in this Affair, wch its very strange should be to ys very day kept a Secrett from me; the Reason of its being so I can no other ways Account for, than that yr Ex. must know I would not have concern'd myself wtb ye Paying the Regim', in wch I have spent above Eight Months time, wch Confinemt has brought me into such a Habit of Body, that I shall never get rid of - The dead Mens pay will not be of ye Consequence of £100 Sterls that unless I condescend to realize a part of ye Contingencys wch God forbid, I shall not receive Porters Wages by this Scheme which I have a Right to dissent from, Yr Ex. well knows what pass'd between us on this Head, and that I am actually deceived herein, I can't think ye Affair was known to Mr Knowles I take him to be a Man of more Generosity & Honour than to have omitted informing me of it; I believe that Mr H is mistaken & yt its done since ye declining ye £1400 present; when that was agreed on, I am persuaded You promis'd me & Col° Dwight every Perquisite incident to a Regim1 & ys you dont deny, tho' you say you don't remember. But you must needs think Sir, that had such a determination as this of stripping us of ye Benefit of Deserters been taken previous hereto, & it had been known to Brig: Dwight & myself, the Contribution towards your Sumpture, & defraying ye Expence of your pious Deeds, & charitable Designs part of wch last was enjoyn'd you, you are pleas'd to say, by your late (most excellent) Lady in her last Minets, would not have rose as it did; I can't suppose Sir it would have amounted to more than one of those Triffles, to wch you told me I was welcome, be pleased to know that ye whole of y1 Subscription was owing to our favouring it, wch you could not have expected had your Scheme about ye Deserters been known. Mr Hutchinson was with me this Evening & assure me that you are determined not to send home ye Vouchers, & yt you are convincd there is no Occasion for it, & yt I may rely on it yt you want them only for your own Satisfaction, should I give ym to yr Ex: tis possible you might afterwards determine otherways, for if you have ym & do not send ym home accordingly; how can you dispence with ye Promise You have given ye Paymaster Gen' or ye Injunctions of his Majty on ys Head communicated as you are pleased to say by his Grace ye Duke of New Castles Letter But I think Yr Excy may possibly have ye Views of paying off ye remaining Living Dead, & Deserters yourself, by your now afresh desiring a List of the Men unpaid, which I cant with Safety or Propriety give Y' Ex, but will myself when I am enabled by Yr Ex. or otherways to do it, Pay all those that have just Claims their full due, & for y' remainder, I shall choose to be determined in Great Britain. [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 267.] Boston, Augst 24, 1748 Sir I am sorry to hear by my sons yt they left you indispos'd with a flux, and hope you are by this time recovered The occasion of my troubling you with this, is to desire the favour of you to furnish me with the accounts of the charges incurr'd on account of the late intended Expedition agst Canada in your Excellency's Government, yt I may transmit 'em to the Secretary of State's office liquidated and adjusted according to his Majtys orders signify'd to Mr. Knowles and me in the Duke of New Castle's letter, as soon as will suit your conveniency: For I am uneasy lest I should be blam'd for delay in the execution of those orders. Mr. Clinton and I parted with the Indians at Albany as fair as could possibly be expected: But I doubt the two Castles of the Mohawks will regret the opportunity being taken away by the peace, of revenging the loss of some of their principal men. I beg the favour of you to make my Compliments Acceptable to Col. Atkinson, and am wth great regard and esteem, Sir, Your Excellency's most obedient, Humble Servant His Excy Govr Wentworth. W. Shirley. [4-66] [Order to Captain Job Clement.] Portsmo September 26 1748 Sr I am Comanded by his Excelency the Governour to Inform you that tis his Orders that on the 30th Instant you Dismiss the men under your Comand from the Service and that you take no more Provision from the Store then may be absolutely necessary for carrying them to their respective Places of Abode or from whence they were Impressed By his Excelencys orders from Your ffriend Theodore Atkinson the men must be upon Duty till the last of this month & then Discharged To Capt Job Clements at roster [Rochester] [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 268.] Boston, Sept 27, 1748. Sir Having reason to be under some concern from my last letters, least inconveniences should arise from my delay of transmitting home the accts of the Expedition agst Canada, wch wait only for your Excellency's, I hope you will excuse me, if I beg the favour of you to quicken those of your Troops; and to let you know I was oblig'd to send an excuse to the Secretary of State for my delay by the last ships; and yt I must at all events send the acct home by the mast ships, whether your Excellency's are ready or not; and you will be pleas'd to consider, it will take me up some time to extract, and liquidate yours, and reduce 'em into a part with the others, before I can transmit 'em. I am with great regard, Sir, your Excellencys most obedient, Humble servant, His Excy Govr Wentworth. W. Shirley. [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 271.] Boston, Nov 7, 1748. Sir-I would beg the favour of your Excelly to deliver the inclos'd to my Son and Mr. Mark Wentworth; and take this opportunity of acquainting you yt Major Gilman presented three Muster Rolls of a Company mention'd to have been muster'd by him as Captain, under the seal of this Province with Certificates for me to sign, certifying yt the attestation of Colonel Moulton before whom they were sworn as a Justice of the Peace, was such an one as ought to have Credit given to it, and also several papers purporting to be copies of your Excellys Orders to him to raise a company, examin'd by Notary Publick Moulton, & others sworn before him, to be certify'd by me in like manner under the province Seal; wch, as I took to be irregular, I refused signing; whereupon he went and demanded the Province seal to be put to 'em of the Secretary, by a notary publick, wch was refused then by him, and Gilman has got the demand and refusal exemplified by the Notary Publick; and had his papers afterwards put under the notary publick's seal all wch I thought it would not be improper for me to apprise your Excy of, as I suppose his papers are design'd to be made use of agst you in England. I am with great regard and esteem Sir, your Excellency's most obedient, Humble servant W. Shirley. I suspect an old friend of yours to have instigated Gilman to make a demand in form of the province Seal. His Excy Govr Wentworth. [Shirley to Wentworth.] [Belknap Papers, Vol. II., p. 272.] Boston November 28th 1748 Sir The Secretary of this Province having by order of the General Assembly sent your Excellency their Proposal for a meeting of Commissioners from the several Governments in New England, for agreeing upon such matters in relation to the money allow'd by Parliament for taking Cape Breton, as may be for the Publick Benefit; and the affair being of great moment & the season requiring that it should have the quickest Dispatch that may be, I must intreat your |