believe we shall get the Assembly to pay for, as it would be a pity to move it & it will sell for a price far inferior to its worth. The Farm Deale says is not in a clever way, with respect to the household furniture and implements, &c, one claims one thing & another another, till he says all will be gone without some directions. General Amherst has made no use of it-The Gardiner has had a pure time Daddy Horsemanden has not yet paid for the chariot, you know his motion is slow at best & I don't think matrimony has mended it John Leary offers £50. for the horse & will throw in the keeping which he says is almost twenty pounds more, I told him I could say nothing to it but would let you know it- I am tired of writing & I am sure you must be much more of reading, if you are so indulgent as to go thro' this long scrawl at one sitting, I shall therefore beg my sincere respects to family Gates, S: Harry, Seton & all friends,

& remain with unfeign'd regard,

Dr S

Y: Most faithful &

Obt Serv

JN WATTS.

A report spreads very current of G. A. going home & G. Gage coming down, I don't know what foundation it Inclosed is De Lancey & Watts' Bill on S: James Colebrooke & Partners Value £400. Stg. 90 p ct. £760 Currency. Bills are scarce even at that high rate.

has

WATTS TO MONCKTON.

NEW YORK 24th Nov. 1763.

DEAR SIR,

The foregoing long rough scrawl I send you, least the original sho'd miscarry, as it relates to some particulars, it

may not be improper for you to be acquainted with - Not one word have we heard from you since your letters of the beginning of August soon after your arrival- G. Amherst sail'd a week ago in the Weasel, he can tell you the situation of affairs in general much better than I can or indeed any body else. We all parted very well, C. and he rather cool, but I shall always acknowledge and will gratefully return his great politeness and civility to me - My respects wait on him & Coll: Amherst, the Colonel's benevolent disposition every body commends & respects.

What measures will be pursued under the present command is not in my power to tell you, but from what I can. collect without doors the ideas of Indian affairs differ Mr A. demanded of this Colony 1400 men, of Jersey 600, of the Southward some for their own Frontiers, but now its said of all N. England, which these Colonies do not relish. Jack Franks has your papers, votes, speeches, and addresses, by which you will in some measure feel the pulse of the House, they are at present squabbling about a Corporation Law that limits the price of provisions at market, which does not at all set easy on the voracious stomachs of the country people & which to speak with strict impartiality, was both very precipitately and unfavorably made, if it was to be made at all—But their sense of the General's requisition from what I can collect from some of the leading members is this, that being most threatened, they are content to vote & have voted 200 men for the Western Frontiers, Ulster, & Orange one hundred for Albany to the Southwest & three hundred to preserve the communication between Fort Stanwyx & Oswego - If it is to be a general offensive war, they say, to do the business effectually, the whole requisition is unequal to the work, the troops will be cut piece meal to pieces, the enemy will gain confidence and strength by new alliances, and therefore all the Colonies at least ought to be call'd upon to make the work sure & expeditious, more espe

cially as this kind of savage warfare is in its nature so distressing by its protraction. Jersey lies couchant waiting to see what this Colony does & then will act in a sneaking epitome as they always do- This Colony besides subsisting the above six hundred men, continues likewise the one hundred & seventy two, that you kept in service by advice of Counsel, after the expiration of their time so that including officers, it has above eight hundred men voted & on actual service together- The Committee for Correspondence told me they intended to send you an account of their proceedings with their reasons: &c:

We have been teased with Major Sheen's exorbitant claim, not having a letter wrote by the Board of Trade to Gov! De Lancey that fell into the President's hands dated 13th June 1760, he thinks we have trespassed on his rights, the Grant to the Artillery Company does comprehend some settlements of his, which we have left them to accommodate as well as they can, engaging the Artillery to give them the like quantity adjoining their tract- if they do consent to resign his absolute settlement & his Honor has hinted that unless they do, their grant shall not pass the seals, so there is a queer jumble among them. However to pacify the Major & at the same time pay a respect to G. Amherst's great promise to him, we have advis'd his Honor to grant him a Tract of twenty five thousand acres in a square comprehending the Falls of Wood Creek where he has a Mill, the Creek running pretty near through the middle of the tract- The Assembly have yet sent us up no Bill, they have voted the three puisny Judges two hundred salary each, the old gentleman rests where he was & will be pure & gruff about it Old S. makes no figure upon the Bench, he wants his son's able talents An Express they say brings an account of the Moravian Mills at Bethlehem being burnt by the Indians, 'tis a pity, they were of a fine construction & it will distress the settlement I cannot for my life see yet a probable end of

this infernal war either by force or treaty - the one is so difficult & the other so uncertain & tame.

My heartiest respects to my friend Allen & his family, I rec his welcome letter before he set out for the North & answer'd it very circumstantially, his family are well — They have had a round of dinners, addresses, &c. on the arrival of M Penn, but the addresses of the Corporation & Clergy rather seemed calculated for the predecessor than the person in possession, how the assembly will incline is yet to appear.

I am very sincerely,

Dr S

y' faithful &

obligd humb! Serv

JN WATTS.

The 24 Bill for £400 st is enclosed.

SAME TO SAME.

NEW YORK, 10th Dec 1763.

DEAR SIR,

My last was a terribly long one by Jack Franks, not one syllable have we had the pleasure of hearing from you since your first arrival- The October Mail got here in course, but the preceding of September was shipwreck'd on the Coast of North Carolina, found very well soaked at a great distance from the vessel & is yet on its way hither. Coll. Philips Morris goes home in this packet and has your papers, votes, &c, he will tell you personally what is doing here. I am sorry the assembly out of dislike to the old man have taken off the Salary, it looks too unsteady.

£200, they added to your Gen! Gage I believe has

made a requisition of all the Colonies for men to my aborously in the spring but has got no answer. Jersey ent jected Gen. A moderate demand of six hundred and voteu only two, with such mean pay as its thought the Governor cannot consent to, as it would entirely counteract the service. Philadelphia is doing nothing, Gen! A, ask'd a thousand men but the assembly has not since sat.

I have rec of the Treasurer £136. 19. 7 for your Salary from 1 to 25th June & £181. 10. 2 from the old gentleman for half the salary from thence to 1st SeptNothing else occurs to me but to subscribe myself

Dear Sir,

Y: M: Faithful H! Serv

JN WATTS.

We are passing many Bills I [was] but sadly puzzled to make a Council & after all to have a whole Branch of the Legislature trusted in the hands of three men, the majority of five is too much- Wont Clark resign it does him no good, Martin's time is expired, poor Mr. Read again disappointed by Apthorp's getting in the way.

SAME TO SAME.

NEW YORK 27th Dec 1763.

DEAR SIR,

The 10th inst. I had the pleasure of writing to you by the Pitt Packet, which I believe I may venture to refer to, as my letter is not to pass thro' the Indian Country. We have to this time not heard a syllable from you since your first arrival. The Greenwich road is ready & a very good one it is.

The Indians you will see have made a Truce with Major