Major commission mentions, I am to follow such orders as I shall receive from him, &c., I imagine any thing he desires must be done; but this is the first instance I ever knew of a Governour interfering with a Brigade-Major’s duty; and I shall be glad to know your sentiments on this head, and any directions you send me will be complied with.

Our neighbours in Georgia are now full as bad as any of the other Colonies; and our powder, &c, in the fort, they threaten us to come and take, destroy the garrison, and burn the barracks and Town. And it is much dreaded, as our Troops are to be removed from us, they will put their scheme in execution. And our merchants here, and all those that have come here for safety, the instant we have no Troops, will go off to the West-Indies; and those that remain will have a bad time of it, as our supplies are all out, and none allowed to come to us. And our planters here mind nothing but raising indigo and Indian corn, which used to be sold for two shillings and three pence, but is now seven shillings per bushel.

The Companies from Pensacola are not arrived, and not the least account of them yet. Candles we shall much want, having little more than one box.

I am in some trouble, at present, on account of my brother, whom I hear is wounded; and not receiving a line from you, or any friend with you, adds much to my uneasiness. And in this place you hear nothing; it is the most miserable hole I ever was in. A man should be well paid that lives in it. Could I have foreseen what has since happened, before I left the Army, I should at this day have been with my corps at Boston, and have had a Company, as I was so old a Lieutenant, which I should have liked much better than the office I now hold in its present state. But could I get paid as Fort Adjutant, I should then be happy; for at present my income barely serves half the demands absolutely necessary for sustenance. But I am in hopes, with your assistance and that of other friends, I may get my pay augmented, as there are many instances that a Brigade-Major has five shillings, and a Town Adjutant four shillings per diem.

This comes to you by a Mr. Cameron, who is esteemed here; and being ill-used in Charlestown, &c., is now determined to be at Boston, and offer himself to the Commander-in-Chief as a volunteer, in hopes of getting in time an Ensigncy.

I hope you received my letters with the return sent you by the schooner that brought us here; and hope, when you favour me with a line, you will be pleased to inform me of those matters I wrote you about.

I have one favour to beg, viz: that you will particularly send me some instructions, that I may know how to act. At present, the orders from you and the Commander-in-Chief are so misconstrued, on account of a Sergeant being in office, that it will be necessary to have fresh instructions, with proper orders, that I may well understand the line I am to act in. One minute I receive orders from the Governour, the next from the commanding officer; that, in short, at present, I have a difficult card to play in order to please all, which I shall ever endeavour to do, if it is with propriety.

These commotions, at present subsisting in the Colonies, give me pain; and, believe me, particularly so when they are the cause of separating (those you must hold most dear) your family from you. My fervent prayers are, that these troubles may soon end, with honour to our most gracious Sovereign George the Third, and with every liberty that is consistent with reason his subjects should enjoy.

May this find you in health is my fervent prayer. Excuse all imperfections, as I am in a hurry to get this on board. Your friendship I value; and I have only time to add that I am, Sir, your very obedient and very humble servant,

C. SHIRREFF.

P. S. Since writing the above, I have received an order from Major Furlong for the following articles out of my stores; and, agreeable to Gov. Tonyn’s orders, I waited on him to know whether I was to comply with it. After pressing a little, he desired me to let the Troops have them. And when the remainder go away they must also be supplied; and as they take nothing but what is fit for service, by viewing the return I sent you, you will see what is remaining fit for service. I have, by order, now delivered eighty-two beds, eighty-two bolsters, eighty-two pair of sheets, sixty-two pair of blankets, and twenty pair before, making eighty-two, and twenty iron pots. We are now extremely bad off for supplies; nothing to be had. I shall do my best about candles; unless some come speedily from you, I must buy some.

Return of Provisions in the King’s Stores at ST. AUGUSTINE, SEPTEMBER 21, 1775:

511 barrels of Flour; 407 barrels of Pork; 8 tierces of Beef; 4 tierces of Rice; 37 firkins of Butter; 193 bushels of Peas.

Return of Provision shipped with a Detachment of the Fourteenth Regiment ordered to VIRGINIA, SEPTEMBER 21, 1775:

59 barrels of Flour; 33 barrels of Pork; 11 firkins of Butter; 77 bushels of Peas.

ALEXANDER SKINNER,

Deputy Commissary of Stores and Provisions.

I imagined Major Furlong would have taken six months’ provisions, but he has taken not near so much.

A Talk from the Honourable WILLIAM. HENRY DRAYTON, Esq., one of the beloved Men of SOUTH-CAROLINA, to the beloved Men, Headmen, and Warriours of the Cherokee Nation, at the CONGAREES, SEPTEMBER 25,1775.

Friends and Brother Warriours:

I take you by the hand, in witness of the peace and friendship which has so long subsisted between your brothers, the white people of this country, and you and your people; and I hold your hand fast, in testimony that your brothers, the white people, wish that our peace and friendship with you and your people may continue.

I sent a talk to you, in your nation, to desire that you would come to see me at the Congarees, in order that we might talk together face to face. When I sent to you, I thought to have been here before you could have arrived; but some of our people did not understand the things about which I intend to speak to you, and to explain which to them I came into the country; my stay among those people was therefore longer than I expected. This being the case, I make no doubt but that you will readily excuse my absence, which I assure you was as disagreeable to myself as it could possibly be to you.

I sent to you to come to me, that I might explain to you the causes of the unhappy quarrel between a part of the people in Great Britain, and your brothers, the white people living in America; also, that I might tell you why our people have put on their shot-pouches, and hold their rifles in their hands.

The causes of this unhappy quarrel are very plain, as you will see as I go on with my talk; but in order that you may see them, and understand them clearly, I must first talk of the time before any of our white people came to this Country, and what was then done.

Before our forefathers left England, they made an agreement with the Great King, that when they came to America, they, and their children after them, should then continue to have and enjoy the same rights and privileges that the people of England, who you know were their own brothers, did actually enjoy; and to this agreement the Great King put his hand and seal, and declared that all the Great Kings after him should be bound by the agreement he had made.

Now, in consequence of this agreement, your brothers, the white people in America, say the money they have in their pockets is their own, and the Great King has no right whatsoever to send or to order any officers to take this money, or any part of it, out of our pockets, or to make any laws to bind us, but by our own consent, given by our wise men, whom we ourselves elect and appoint to make laws for us. And we say so for this plain and good reason: because the Great King has no right to send any officers to take any money out of the pockets of our brothers, the people of England, or to bind them by any laws but by their own consent, given by their wise men, whom they themselves elect and appoint to make laws for them; for as this is the right and privilege of our brothers in England,

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