being called upon by the Congress to prepare for their own internal security.

Given under my hand, the day and year above.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

JAMES SULLIVAN TO THE COUNCIL OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Falmouth, November 7, 1775.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOURS: I not long ago took leave to write to your Honours on the very alarming state of this part of the Colony; and now again, presuming on your great candour, trouble you further, which I hope, as the publick good is my only inducement, however assuming it may be, will be pardoned.

In my former letter I mentioned, that an army raised to delend us, at the publick expense, would defeat its very end. Since that time, being invited by the people of the County of Cumberland to assist in fortifying on Falmouth Neck, I find the ground here to be so advantageous, that, should the regular Army get possession of it with one thousand men, there would be no way to force their lines, and all the Province of Maine must fall a sacrifice, and be obliged to take arms against their brethren, as the inhabitants of Boston now are, or flee from their habitations to the Old Colony, for subsistence and protection—an alternative cruel to our brethren, but infinitely more so to us. If the English troops should get footing here, beef, wood, &c., would be supplied to their Army, wherever on the Continent it may be encamped; and from here would be a full supply of lumber to the West-Indies. These things, I apprehend, are well worthy the attention of the guardians of this Colony in a special manner, as well as of those of the Continent.

The militia of the County of Cumberland and the eastern part of the County of York have been for several days, and now are, cheerfully, intrenching and fortifying, to prevent so great a calamity; but as a fleet can, at any hour of the night, come into the harbour here, which is undoubtedly, at all seasons of the year, the best in America, and suddenly land a party on the hill which forms one bank of the harbour, and is much better formed for defence than Bunker-Hill, there must be a constant garrison, in order to hold the possession of it. And I apprehend that one thousand men, with a good organization of the militia, will be sufficient to keep possession of the Town, and hold the key of all this territory.

This, I think, would be more eligible than the keeping an army of several thousand men here next summer, to watch the motions of an army encamped within lines by no means to be forced. There are a number of fine cannon here, but no powder worth consideration; and I must beg leave to suggest, for the publick good, that the powder in several Towns behind the Continental Army might be ordered here immediately. There is no probability of its being needed there this winter; and as several vessels are now gone on this errand, from this place, and advice being this day had, from the West-Indies, that powder is plenty there, it may be repaid before spring.

The distress of this unhappy Town serves to unite the people in the most vigorous measures they are capable of; and many of those who addressed Governour Hutchinson are now the most zealous in their Country’s cause.

I would beg leave to suggest to your Honours the expediency of having the sea-coast men in this County, and those in Wells, Arundel, Biddeford, and Pepperellborough, in the County of York, ordered here. These will make one good Regiment; and as they must go on much fatigue, their wages may be raised to the establishment of the Army at Cambridge, and field-officers may be appointed over them. These can serve until the last of December, with such Regiment as may be ordered here from Cambridge, or raised by this Colony; and by the expiration of that time it may be determined whether five hundred men, during the residue of the winter, will be sufficient. There must also be some person appointed as Commissary and Quartermaster.

In the above suggestions for garrisoning this place, I have no selfish views; for if the Ministerial Army should come here to ravage and destroy, it would be but little out of my way to find an asylum on the westward of Meirimack River; but I tremble at the consequence of not holding this advantageous piece of ground. I would just mention, that the General Officer who commands this garrison, I imagine, ought to command the militia of the Province of Maine also.

I am, with the greatest veneration, your Honours’ most obliged and very humble servant,

JAMES SULLIVAN.

To the Honourable Council of Massachusetts-Bay.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOURS: The distressing circumstances and dangerous situation of the County of Cumberland, and the eastern part of the County of York, will, I hope, sufficiently apologize for my laying it before your Honours.

The metropolis of this eastern part of the Colony is now in ashes, and the same fate seems pending over the whole territory. An armed vessel now lies near where Falmouth lately stood, demanding free egress and regress on the land, and the giving up all weapons of war, with apparent design of possessing themselves of that advantageous post, where they can securely lie, and by degrees subject and destroy the country round, and no leader appears, to whom the people pay the least regard.

An army to defend us, at the publick expense, would, I fear, defeat its very end; and no method can be suggested to save us, but the organization of the militia, who, notwithstanding their recent and free choice of officers, are not under the least control. Nor do I conceive it possible to have a militia that may be depended on, while they have the election of their officers; for such is the state of human nature, that people will not be obedient to power derived immediately from themselves; and as all power is, or ought to be, derived from the people, it would always be well to have a certain depositum, where it shall be lodged by the people, and from whence it may be taken by their officers. Where it should be lodged in this Colony is obvious; but however this may be, it is a melancholy and incontestable fact, that there can be no attack, to good purposes, made on disciplined troops, by our militia, in their present disordered situation. To this the battle of Lexington is a witness.

I therefore humbly move to your Honours, that as you regard our lives, and wish not our utter destruction, you would immediately commission our militia on the old, if there is no new establishment; and would also beg leave to suggest the necessity and importance of appointing a General Officer in each quarter of the Province; for, unless this is done, there can be no head, and the forces will be a multitude, and not an army.

I am, with the most profound veneration, your Honours’most humble and obedient servant,

JAMES SULLIVAN.

To the Honourable Council of Massachusetts-Bay.

ADDRESS OF THE PRINCIPAL INHABITANTS OF THE BURGH OF FORTROSE.

Address of the Magistrates, Town Council, and all the principal Inhabitants of the Burgh of Fortrose, presented to His Majesty by Colonel Hector Munro, their Representative in Parliament.

To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty.

The humble Address of the Magistrates, Town Council, and all the principal Inhabitants of the Burgh of FORTROSE, lawfully assembled.

Most Gracious Sovereign:

Animated with the most sincere and loyal affection to your Majesty’s person and family, with the warmest zeal for the dignity of your crown and the constitutional legislative authority of the King and Parliament of Great Britain, and filled with a just sense of the many blessings we enjoy, in common with millions of our fellow-subjects, under your mild and auspicious Government, we, your Majesty’s loyal and dutiful subjects, the Magistrates, Town Council, and Inhabitants of the Burgh of Fortrose, assembled, beg leave to approach the throne, and express our indignation at, and abhorrence of, the measures adopted by our unhappy and deluded fellow-subjects in America, in direct opposition to law and justice, and to every rational idea of colonization, especially in Colonies so long, so unweariedly, and so tenderly cherished by the Parent State, which with so

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