or any in, by, or under them, or any of them, now have, or ever had, one penny worth of any such Estate, sold as afores". But I am the less concern'd whatever Mr Winthrop has or shall declare before their Lordships, &c., concluding by this time hath been found in so many falsehoods there, as well as here, that as his tongue will be counted no Slander, so no man or people will be thought the worse of for his reproaching of them. And indeed many of his articles against this Gov'ment will appear (by the Evidences we have sent) to be untrue, altho' sign'd under his hand, and given in to his Most Excellent Majesty in Councill. And as we are inform'd that a lier shall not stand in the presence of the King, so I am persuaded the King's prime ministers will take no delight in any such person, nor in hearing their Reflections, and reproachfull assertions, and accusations cast upon others, but will rather reflect on such an angry countenance which tends to drive away back biters. I can't think his Majesty, who with his honourable predecessors, have excellently shewn their tender regards to the priviledges of all under their dominions, will suddenly be perswaded so much as to entertain any thought of taking away our Charter with the priviledges therein given us, without giving of us suitable notice to answer for ourselves. We presume we have not willingly or knowingly forfeited either his Majesty's Royall favour, or our Charter, and hope as from his predecessors, so from his Majesty, we shall be tenderly regarded, and as a tender branch of his Kingdom acknowledged; and so far as it is planted, the inhabitants here in this Colony are fil'd with as much loyalty to his Majesty, and zeal for their Majesty's honour and grandeur, even to the last of their 1 posterity, (which I pray God may never be found till sun and moon be no more,) as any people in his Majesty's dominions. I hope speedily after the Sessions of our Gen" Assembly to let you hear further, and am, Sir, with Due Regards, your humble servt. HARTFORD, Aprill 26th, A: D: 1731. J. TALCOTT. P. S. If you at any time advance any money for the advantage of this Gov'ment, you may depend upon their justice and hon to refund you with suitable advance. Desire you'd be free with us in letting us know every thing of that nature. TO FRANCIS WILKS, Esq., London. RICHARD CHRISTOPHERS TO GOVERNOR TALCOTT. NEW LONDON, June 23th, [Sic], 1731. S': This comes in answer to your Honour's letter of the 14th Instant, which I have before me. We are now at work constantly upon the fort wall, with about five or six hands, and hope to have the wall up this sumer. We did not understand that it was expected that we should have presented our accot to the last Assembly,* but if we had, it could not well have been done, having not expended the money we last recd, not all of it. However, if your Hon' desires us, we shall as soon as we have paid out all the money already rec, render our accot of our doings to your Hon', or to the next Assembly. We find it very difficult to get stones, which makes us go on slowly. The letter from the Duke of Newcastle your Hon sent me by Mr Green, I have publisht at the *Colonial Records, VII. 298. Beat of the Drum, and now send it back to your Hon'. And now as to the Naval Office. As soon [as] I reed my Comission from your Hon',* I waited upon Mr Shackmaple, in order to give Bond, according to Act of Parliament, and he told me that he expected the Surveyour Gen" would come in a very short time to N. Lond, and that he was the person appointed to take those Bonds: but it so happened that he never came, and is since dead, and Mr. Shackmaple being also decd, I have not had the opportunity to give any oth Bond than that I gave your Hon', but am always ready to do it, and shall, if I live to see a new Surveyour Gen", or a Collector, that is qualified to take the Bond. The method we have in the Naval Office of keeping our accots of Entries and Clearings is thus: we have two books; the one, Entries Inwards, and the oth', Entries Outward; and when a Master comes to enter, we write thus; Entered inwards from Barbados, the Sloop Lucretia, Jonah Gross, Mast', burthen forty tons, navigated with six men, &c., having on board, &c.; then mention the Cargo, and the Mast signs the book; and so the same in clearing, which the Master also signs. And for the bonds that are taken for enumerated goods, I have a book of them; the bond is one thousand pound sterling, which is printed, and all in Latin, the Condition is in English, that they shall carry the said goods to Great Britain, or some of his Majtles Plantations, and there land and put it ashore, and return a Certificate in eighteen months, under the * See page 164. The "enumerated commodities" were "Sugar, Tobacco, Ginger, Cotton Wooll, Indigo, Speckle Wood, or Jamaica Wood, Fustick, or other Dyeing Wood, the growth of the West India Islands"; and they were forbidden to be carried into any other country or place, until they had first been unladen and put ashore in some port or haven in England or Wales. Act for the Encouragement of Trade, 15 Car. II. Cap. 7. hand of the principal Officer of the Customs, to the Gov, or person appointed by him, which is the Naval Officer, and then the bond is cancelled by tearing off the names and seals. I think the books are very fairly kept, and I take care to make every one enter and clear in the Naval Office, except some small craft that escape me, and some of them bring in Rum, and to avoid paying the duty they don't come to the Naval Office, but Mr Shackmaple endeavours to oblige them to come and enter, as they ought to do. As to Mr Smith's Sloop, your Honour mentions, she took aboard only lumber, and cleared for Cape Britton, as most of the vessels bound to Ireland do, thô of late they clear for Great Britain. There is none of those vessels ever take aboard any of the enumerated commodities, for they cannot be carried to Ireland, or at least, if they do take them aboard, they do it very privately, and never enter them. If your Hon will please to write me word, and desire it, I will give you an accot of all the vessels that have cleared, in the Naval Office, for Europe, since I kept it. I think there has none cleared out for England, only Ireland and Lisbon, so that I have no bonds for any vessels that have sailed for Europe. I shall be always ready to aid and assist the Collector in any thing that is within my power, and shall take care my self that the Acts of Trade are observed and kept as far as I am able. I shall not trouble your Hon with anything more at present, but conclude with mine and my wive's most Humble Service to your Hon', MadTM Talcott, and Daughters, and am Yor Hon''s most obliged Humble Serv1, RICH CHRISTOPHERS. GOVERNOR TALCOTT TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. Sir: May it please Your Grace: These come to acquaint you that I received the honour of his Majestys Commands, under your Excellency's hand of 25th Sept', relating to the repeated complaints that the trade of his subjects in the West Indies, and elsewhere in America, suffered much damage and molestation from Piratical vessels, especially from vessels fitted out from the Spanish Islands in the West Indies, notwithstanding the peace subsisting between the two Nations, &c.: together with his Majesty's being determined to use all possible means that may most effectually put a stop to such violence for the future, and to protect his subjects in their lawful trade, &c. The which I have, pursuant to your order, publish before the General Assembly of this his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut, and at the port at Newlondon, the only port allow'd and used for entering and clearing of all shipping in this Gov'ment. Shall take due care in the execution of all and every part of his Majesty's Command, therein to me given, and at all times with delight and cheerfulness. In obedience to your Commands, so now I make the first return to Your Grace, an account of my proceedings thereupon, so far as I may, and am, Most Excellent Sir, bl Your Grace's Most hum most obedt Servant, JUNE 29th, 1731. JOSEPH TALCOTT. To the Most Excellent HOLLES, DUKE OF NEWCASTLE, and one of his Majesties Principal Secretaries of State. |