that the certificate and other vouchers to entitle him to the money, were left by him at your office; as the men to whom the money remains due, are clamourus, I wish to have the matter finished, but cannot do it till I have the vouchers; will you be so good as to send them up to me, as soon as you can, and if you have the vouchers of Capt. Norton, of Wisenfelts' Regiment, and will send them up with the Governor's Receipt on them for the money he paid Norton, I will repay the Governor the sum he paid, or give him Credit for it; the 3000 Dollars I formerly paid Capt. Colbreath I mean on a settlement with him to deduct, and then I shall not charge the Governor for it.

You never sent me the little Extract of a Law from Mr. Harpur, nor the Buttons. I am, yours &c.

To Col. Benson.

G. Bancker.

Extract from Robt. Benson's Letter of the 18th May 1781 to Mr. Treasurer Bancker vizt.:

"By his Excellency's Orders & agreable to your Request, I transmit you enclosed Returns certified by the command'g officers of the 3d, 4th & 5th New York Cont'l Battalions, of the Recruits enlisted in those Regts. resectively by Capt. Norton & Lieuts. Colbreath & Connoly, to serve during the war which will serve as vouchers for the payment of the Bounty. I also enclose you Capt. Norton's Receipt for 455 Dollars paid to him, by the Gov'r, towards the Bounty of the Recruits enlisted by him together with his Receipt to you for 2000 Dollars & Lieut. Colbreath's Receipts for 3000 Dollars. These last two Sums you will remember were advanced by the Gov'rs Orders & upon your producing him the Receipts now transmitted, he gave you

a Receipt for fifty Pounds & Emiss'n equal to the last above two Sums on acc't of his salary, so that he must be repaid or creditted as well for these two Sums as for the 455 Dollars. The Goy'r observes by your Letter that Colbreath demands Bounty for nine men, whereas only seven are entitled to it, two having deserted & as such are marked on the Return. The Gov'r is not certain whether he did not make Colbreath some other advances &, therefore, wishes you to procure from him an acc't stated; as he took back that delivered in last winter. Colbreath's acc't of expences in recruiting is also enclosed. Norton's is not yet come to hand. As the enclosed Papers are the originals & the only vouchers his Excellency is possessed of respect'g this Business, he requests that you will make such entries & manage the matter so as that in case of accident he may not be put to any difficulty."

[No. 3683.]

General Scott Informed by the Governor that New York is Practically Unrepresented in Congress.

Pokeepsie, 3d May 1781.

Sir, I have the Honor of inclosing you a Copy of a Letter I received yesterday from the President of Congress, by which you will be informed that at a Time when important & interesting Business requires a full Representation from all the States, this state is unrepresented, one Member only attending. I have made similar Transmitions to all the absent Members, and earnestly pressed their Immediate attendance; but I conceive it my Duty to mention that as Mr. Floyd has but lately returned from Congress; Mr. L'Homedieu is much Hurt by an accident

as to render him unable to Travel, & there is Reason to believe the Chancellor declines serving, I have not the least Hope of a Complyance. Unless, therefore, you give your attendance it is to be feared we shall remain unrepresented until the next Meeting of the Legislature. I have the Honor to be with great Respect, Sir, your most Obed't Serv't

The hon'ble John Morin Scott, Esqr.

[G. C.]

[No. 3684.]

Mr. David Gardiner and Nathaniel Fanning Denounced and their Goods Condemned and Seized in Consequence.

Middletown, May 3, 1781.

S'r, The Bearer, Mr. David Gardiner, will wait on your Excellency in order to obtain Permission to remove from Long Island with his Family & Effects into our state; some of his Effects are the remaining Goods not taken from him by Governor Trumbull's Commission; he has been a trader ever since the year 1772, and has always bore the Carecter of a Friend to the Cause, & has done a number of friendly acts during the war. The Goods taken from him were tryed & condemned yesterday on the Principal of his being a Subject of Great Brittain, altho his attachment to the County was fully proved; one instance in particu lar was that he gave information last year to the Lieut. Governor of this state, of a l'lan formed by the British last year to take him of, who lives near the sea shore; they produced an ex parte affidavit, that he had sold nine months ago, some ar ticles to a person not named, who the deponent said belonged to Connecticut. This was sufficient with the jury to make him a British Subject & to forfeit his Estate; he has appealed to

Congress & I hope that court will do him justice & the others who have had their Goods condemed in simular circumstances.

At the same Time were condemned the Goods of Nathanel Fanning, son to Colo. Phinehas Fanning, which were Cloathing peculiarly adopted for the use of the army and purchased with an intent that the Troops of New York state should have the Benefit of them without pay till after the war; this was fully proved & not contradicted by their Council and that his Carecter had always been friendly, but an ex parte affadavit, that he has parted with goods some time before to some People, names not mentioned, belonging to Connecticut, was sufficient to destroy his Carecter make him a British subject & condemn his Goods; he also has appealed; he tels me he must remove, he cannot pay for the Goods, and is apprehensive of a discov ery for the use they were intended; he has some Goods secreted & thinks he could have more provided he could get permission to bring them of; their Design in getting a Permit from your Excellency is that they may more easily obtain one to come into & pass thro this state, from Governor Trumbull; whether they can succeed here or not I am not able to determine, if they cannot, they will not be worse of than they are.

Our Friends on the Island are in great Distress at present. They think the present conduct of this state is only a beginning of what they may expect; have you seen the late ordinance of Congress of the twenty seventh of March last? to me it is dark and intricate.

This much I will venture to predict, that except Congress will make some explanation the inhabitants of Suffolk County, will be universally plundered & distroyed in their Interest. Many, very many in this state take the ordinance to give such Liberty

& stand ready to execute what they say is intended. They doubt whether it can be done now or they must wait till after the first Day of November next; it was argued in Court that the present Commissions were consonent to the views of Congress by their late ordinance. I think our state ought to take some care of those unhappy People, which I trust the assembly will do at their next meeting. I write to you so often & so lengthy that I fear you will be tired of receiving my Letters. I am, s'r, with great Esteem & respect your Excellency's most obed't Serv't

His Excellency Governor Clinton.

Ezra L'Hommedieu.

[No. 3685.]

Colonel Robert Cockran Submits a Plan to Surprise Buck Island. Fort Schuyler, 4th May 1781.

Sir, I am of the opinion, that an expedition against Buck Island, if successful, might be attended with good consequences, to our frontiers. I beg leave to lay before your Excellence, my plan, as follows; if two or three hundred of our best regular troops, well officered, was to be sent to this post, with a number of boats, sufficient to carry them, and to proceed down the Wood Creek, with one scaleing Ladder in each boat, and to enter the Onyda Lake in the night, the men to have their provision cooked, and not to make any fires, whilst advanceing; if this plan, was well conducted, I make no doubt, but they might arrive undiscovered, and as the garrison, is not strong, there would be the greatest probability, of carrying it by sur prise; in this case the oars must be muffled, with green hides or old clothes; but no preparations, of this kind, ought to be