enabled still to remain firm, and never to desert the glorious cause of our country.

I remain, with great truth, your friend and humble servant,

THOMAS CUSHING.

To the Committee of Correspondence for Philadelphia.

THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH TO LIEUTENANT GOVERNOUR COLDEN.

Whitehall, January 7, 1775.

SIR: Since my letter to you of the 10th of December, I have received two from you, the one dated the 2d of November, enclosing the Proceedings of the General Congress, the other of the 7th of December, enclosing a Plan of Union between Great Britain and the Colonies, proposed by Mr. Galloway in that Congress.

The affairs of America are now come to a crisis, and as the consideration will be taken up by both Houses of Parliament, immediately after the holidays, it cannot but be the wish of every candid and unprejudiced person, that the proceedings of the General Congress had been of such a colour and complexion as to have invited accommodation, without provoking the vengeance of the mother country.

The idea of union upon some general constitutional plan, is certainly very just, and I have no doubt of its being yet attainable through some channel of mutual consideration and discussion.

Enclosed I send you the copy of a Memorial of Colonel Ord, whose long and faithful services in America render him an object of publick attention; and I am commanded by the King to signify to you his Majesty's pleasure, that he be allowed the five thousand acres for which he obtained a mandamus, upon the tract to which he refers in his Memorial.

With this letter you will receive a package enclosing to General Carleton the King's commission and instructions, and other documents for the Government; and as it is of great consequence that he should receive these instruments as early as possible, I am commanded by the King to signify to you his Majesty's pleasure, that you do engage some trusty person to carry the despatch to Quebec, by the way of the Lakes; and that you do draw a bill upon Mr. Pownall, for whatever reasonable expense shall be incurred in that service. I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant,

DARTMOUTH.

Lieutenant Governour Colden.

MEMORIAL OF COLONEL THOMAS ORD.

To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations; the Memorial of Colonel THOMAS ORD, of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, humbly sheweth:

That your, Memorialist, in consideration of long and faithful services in the West Indies, North America, and elsewhere, obtained, in the year 1765, a mandamus for five thousand acres of Land, in the Province of New-York, but has not_ been _able, on account of the unreasonable claims and pretensions to Lands in that Province, to obtain a location there.

That your Memorialist is now informed that there is a certain tract of Land vacant and vested in the Crown, bounded as follows, viz: West upon the East bounds of the Patent of Kinderhook; North upon the South bounds of the Manor of Rensselaer Wyck; East upon the line between the Province of Massachusetts Bay and New-York, and South upon the North bounds of the late confirmation of Colonel John Van Rensselaer. The Land is also described in a Plan, as bounded by an Act of the General Assembly of the Province of New-York, and the lines of the several Patents thereunto adjoining.

And your Memorialist therefore humbly requests the favour of your Lordships' interposition with the King, that his Majesty may be graciously pleased to grant an order for locating the said mandamus upon that tract.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM LONDON TO A GENTLEMAN IN NEW-YORK, DATED JANUARY 7, 1775.

This is the important crisis which will determine the fate of America. The Petition to the King has been presented, and is thought a moderate one; but the new claims stated in the Bill of Rights, and the points foreign to the one immediately in question, insisted on, will much injure the cause. The bold Resolves of your Congress have pushed matters to an extremity, and render a complete decision of the dispute inevitable. Whether America shall be independent of or subordinate to Parliament, is now the question. I wish the prospect was clearer of an amicable settlement. The leaders of Government were heartily disposed to fall in with any proposals of accommodation which might have secured your liberties and preserved the sovereignty in the British Legislature, which is essential to the welfare of the Empire; but hot men among you have extended your claims so far as to make it impossible for Parliament to comply, without relinquishing every shadow of its authority. The Merchants have met on the subject. They are to petition Parliament for redress; but are neither to find fault with the late measures, nor to propose any mode for your relief, but to submit it entirely to Parliament. This intelligence is from two respectable Merchants, who are of the Committee.

What particular measures will be adopted by Parliament on its ensuing meeting, no one can precisely determine; but this may be depended on, that there will be no relaxation with respect to Boston.

The strongest hope which we have left, is, that the Assembly of New-York will firmly and dutifully state their grievances, unembarrassed with points foreign to the subject, and free from an undistinguishing approbation of the measures of others. Such a petition will assuredly be honourably received, and in all probability open the way for a lasting accommodation of the present differences. How little do they seem sensible of the uncertainty and miseries of a civil war, who would plunge headlong into violence rather than sacrifice a punctilio!

WOODBRIDGE (NEW-JERSEY) COMMITTEE

At a General Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Township of Woodbridge, in the County of Middlesex, in New-Jersey, on Saturday, the 7th day of January, and 1775:

Captain REUBEN POTTER being chosen Moderator,

The Association entered into and recommended by the late General Congress at Philadelphia, being read and approved of, it was,

1st. Resolved unanimously, That the said Association be adopted by this Town, and carried into execution.

2d. Resolved unanimously, That a Committee of Observation, consisting of twenty-one members, be appointed by those "qualified to vote for Representatives in the Legislature." Accordingly, the following persons were chosen without a dissenting voice, viz: Ebenezer Foster, Henry Freeman, Nathaniel Heard, and Reuben Potter, Esquires, Messrs. William Smith, Jeremiah Manning, Matthias. Baker, Charles Jackson, Samuel Force, John Pain, James. Manning, John Heard, Daniel Moores, John Ross, Ellis Barron, William Cutter, Reuben Evans, James Randolph, Timothy Bloomfield, John Noe, and John Conway, to see the said Association be punctually observed and carried into execution; that any nine or more of them be authorized to act for the purpose specified in the eleventh Article of said Association.

3d. Resolved unanimously, That it is the desire of the people now met, that the said Committee do execute the trust reposed in them with firmness and fidelity, and in every respect follow the directions of the Association, as much as if it was a law of this Province; and they be upon oath for the conscientious discharge of their duty.

The Committee of this Town appointed to meet the Committees of the other Townships in County Committee and Provincial Congress, in July last, desiring to be dismissed, it was,

4th. Resolved, unanimously, That they be thanked for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed in them, and dismissed agreeable to their request.

5th. Resolved unanimously, That a Committee of this Town be chosen to meet the Committees of the other Townships in this County, to choose a Committee of Correspondence, agreeable to the directions of the said Association; accordingly, Ebenezer Foster, Esquire, Messrs.