General would be more so. I have been impatient at the slow progress of our movements at the northward, but believe all for the best; hope to see my brother Paymaster’s letter mentioned in yours.

My Regiment has been very sickly, and is much so yet; but think the sickness is abating. The old soldiers say my Companies came into camp at a season that always proves sickly to new troops. I do not know any one now dangerous but Mr. Tracy. His and Mr. Fanning’s sickness has thrown more business on my hands than I could have wished; but I have been so happy as to enjoy much health myself. I remain, with salutations of love and duty, your affectionate son,

JEDEDIAH HUNTINGTON.

Saturday Morning, August 26.—Not having opportunity to forward this, I add that yesterday four boats, from the castle and men of war below, came up to Fox Point, in Dorchester, sounding the channel. They were fired at by our troops on that station, and made a speedy departure.

We have been told that our enemies have for some time past been toasting the 25th of August, intending then to make a visit to us; and that General Gage has given Earl Percy the command of the lines on the Neck, who is to exhibit such proofs of his military abilities as will retrieve the honour he lost at the Lexington affray; but matters remain this morning in statu quo.

I took leave of Ensign Tracy last evening, expecting next to hear of his death, to which he seems to be well reconciled, and expresses a good hope as to another life.

By return of my Regiment the 25th, there were—fit for duty, 286; sick, present, 101; absent on command, and sick, 42; on furlough, 1; total of privates, 430; dead, 5.

General Spencer’s—fit for duty, 586; sick, present, 132; absent on command, and sick, 98; on furlough, 37; total of privates, 853; dead, 14.

General Parsons’s—fit for duty, 539; sick, present, 123; absent on command, and sick, 35; on furlough, 10; total of privates, 780; dead, 3.

VIRGINIA COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.

At a meeting of the Committee of Safety, in the Town of Richmond, the 26th day of August, 1775:

Ordered, That the Chairmen of the several Committees in this Colony do deliver the publick Arms to be by them collected, pursuant to an Ordinance of Convention, to the Captains who shall be appointed to command the Companies of Regular Troops to be raised from their respective Districts, taking their receipts for the same; and that the said Captains take proper measures for their safe conveyance to the place of rendezvous.

And it is further Ordered, That the said Chairmen do respectively correspond with the President of this Committee, informing him of their progress in the Minute service, and when they shall have completed each the number of Regulars required from their respective Districts.

August 26, 1775.

The Committee of Safety, at a meeting appointed at Hanover Town, on the 18th of next month, intend to proceed to the choice of all Officers within their appointment, particularly a Commissary of Provisions, or Contractors for each of the Regiments to be raised pursuant to an Ordinance of Convention, previous to which, all persons inclined to contract, or to be appointed Commissary, are desired to send their proposals, in writing, to Edmund Pendleton, Esq., President of the Committee, enclosed and sealed. At the same time the Committee will be ready to deliver the Commissions, and administer the Oaths to the Field-Officers of the Regulars chosen by the Convention; and all Captains and Subalterns who may be chosen by the District Committees are also to attend, to receive Warrants for the Money necessary in recruiting, and their Instructions. By order of the Committee:

JOHN PENDLETON, JUN., Clerk.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM A MEMBER OF THE CONGRESS AT PHILADELPHIA TO A GENTLEMAN IN LONDON, DATED AUGUST 26, 1775.

You will see by the publick papers some of the proceedings of our Congress; the rest will soon be published.

Three millions of dollars are now striking by their orders, for defending the rights of America. The very Quakers in this and other Provinces are in arms, and appear in the field every day in their regimentals, and make as good a figure as the best; you may be sure we are in earnest when they handle a musket.

All trade to England, and every other part of the world, will most certainly be stopped on the tenth of next month, and if the Ministry do not very soon see the justice and equity of placing the Colonies in the same situation they were in before the year 1763, in which both sides experienced satisfaction and mutual benefit, then you may expect to hear, in the course of next winter, that the Congress have opened all our ports to every foreign Power that will come with their manufactures and trade with us for our produce. Whether that will not be one means of dissolving our connections entirely with Great Britain, I shall leave to wiser heads to determine. I am far, very far, from wishing such an event, but, nevertheless, I am very apprehensive, from the present temper of our people, that a few more violent steps will lay a foundation for it.

PENNSYLVANIA COMMITTEE OF SAFETY TO NEW-YORK CONGRESS.

In Committee of Safety, Philadelphia, August 26, 1775.

SIR: Having this morning received a small additional supply of Gunpowder, we have lost no time, but immediately ordered a ton of it to be packed in eight casks, and forwarded to you forthwith, agreeable to your request of the 15th instant, and wish it safe to your hands. We are getting our Militia into order with all possible expedition; and are, with great respect for the Congress and yourself, Sir, your most obedient servant,

By order:

B. FRANKLIN, President.

Hon. P. V. B. Livingston, Esq., and the Provincial Congress of New-York.

PETITION OF JOSEPH JOHNSON, A MOHEGAN, TO THE NEW-YORK CONGRESS.

New-York, August 26, A. D. 1775.

To the Honourable the Provincial Congress of the Colony of NEW-YORK:

I, Joseph Johnson, an Indian of the Mohegan Tribe, humbly offereth the few following lines for your Honours’ consideration:

Honourable gentlemen, it is with great reluctance I present this humble petition, considering the unhappy situation of publick affairs at this time, but pure necessity obliges me, in this day of distress, in this day of confusion, to trouble your Honours a few moments. Your Honours doubtless have heard, that for this some time past poor me hath been much concerned about my poor, sinking, decaying brethren, the Indians, that are scattered up and down amongst the English inhabitants, in particular in the New-England Governments, and that for this long time I have been unwearied by seeking their welfare, and in order that they might be truly benefited, have endeavoured to get them unitedly willing to go westward, and there to settle together in peace and be under, proper regulations; and, through divine favour, I have, after many weary steps, and after I have gone through many hardships, got secured unto seven tribes of my Indian brethren, that live arnongst the English inhabitants, a large tract of good land, bordering on your frontiers.

Honourable gentlemen, many pleasing prospects opened to my view when this design first came into my mind. I had not only the hopes of having the pleasure of seeing my now poor brethren in a prosperous way, but I had the hopes of our leading our western brethren, by our example, in the ways of industry, husbandry, and civility, and, above all, in the ways of wisdom—in the ways of godliness. These, and such like hopes, honourable gentlemen, hath all along animated my soul, and made me comfortable in the most severe hardships that I have undergone, when I have been destitute, as it were, of all other comforts in the wild desert. Such were my pleasing hopes in times past; and this great good to my Indian brethren, not only in the eastern parts but in the western parts of this Country, I have been eagerly pursuing and still hope to pursue.