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Lee not in the most favourable point of light. It was not transcribed by the Council, nor any member thereof, nor were they privy to its being done. They think it criminal that any should have presumed to do it. They will do all in their power to prevent the spread of any copies and impressions on the minds of the people to the disadvantage of your Honour. The letter produced no one unfavourable idea of you in the minds of the Council. They are sensible that the fairest and the most unblemished character is not a sufficient shield against the attempts of malignant foes, stimulated by malice and a different interest to vilify and traduce. But, so far from that, when we consider the present state of Great Britain, and the servile sentiments of too many of the people there, that you were educated in the highest reverence for the rights of mankind, and the partial regard which you have discovered for the people in America, whose hearts are filled with gratitude, we are at a loss to know which is the highest evidence of your virtues—the greatness and number of your friends, or the malice and envy of your foes. In the name and by order of the Council: JAMES OTIS, President. To General Lee. WILLIAM BARTLETT TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. Beverly, November 13, 1775. SIR: I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your favours of the 11th and 13th instant, and notice the contents. With regard to such vessels brought in as the North-Briton, I shall with pleasure comply with your Excellency’s orders, as I have had a great deal of trouble, and got the ill will of my neighbours for having any thing to do with her, although I punctually obeyed your orders. With regard to the claim Captain Manly makes upon the vessel brought in here by our people, from Ireland, from the best information I can get from them, I think is just. As their stories, with regard to her, are different, I advised Captain Manly, together with his officers, to make oath to the truth of the matter; which I now enclose to your Excellency. As I was not an eye-witness to the affair, cannot with propriety judge so well; would refer your Excellency to Colonel Glover and some others who were eye-witnesses to it, and when your Excellency is rightly informed, think you will be the best judge of the matter. I must beg the favour of troubling your Excellency the last time with regard to the North-Briton, whether to deliver her, with her effects, to the Committee of Safety, before they pay me what charges I have been at, or not. As to Captain Manly using any violent measures to take possession of the schooner from Ireland, he has not, and shall advise him, by your Excellency’s order, not to; and beg leave to subscribe myself your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant, WILLIAM BARTLETT. His Excellency General Washington. ADDRESS OF THE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, ETC., OF ORKNEY. Address of the Justices of the Peace, Commissioners of Supply, and Freeholders of the County of Orkney, presented to His Majesty by Thomas Dundas, Esq., Representative in Parliament for the County of Stirling. To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. Most Gracious Sovereign: We, your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Justices of the Peace, Commissioners of Supply, and Freeholders of the County of Orkney, think it our indispensable duty, at this time, to approach your throne, and to testify our regard and reverence for your Majesty’s person and Government, and for the established Constitution of the British Empire. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we view with abhorrence the unnatural rebellion which has broke forth among your subjects in America, and the anarchy and confusion into which these once happy people have been so rashly hurried by the artful designs of factious and desperate men. We earnestly hope that the Parliament, the Great Council of this Nation, will give your Majesty such advice and assistance as will enable you not only effectually to crush this civil war, but also to restore and establish, in every part of the British Dominions, that obedience and regard to the supreme power of King and Parliament, which every good subject must clearly perceive can alone continue and ensure to them the innumerable blessings they enjoy from our happy Constitution and your Majesty’s most lenient Government. With unfeigned zeal we assure your Majesty that we will, at all times, concur with others of your faithful subjects, in every step which your Majesty’s paternal care and the wisdom of Parliament shall deem necessary to be taken, for repressing the unlawful violence and confusion now existing in America, which is so contrary to the spirit of true liberty, and destructive and dangerous to the peace and happiness of this Empire. Signed in our name and at our appointment, by our Pręses: PATRICK GRME, Pręses. Orkney, November 14, 1775. ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR, ETC., OF THE TOWN OF RYE. Address of the Mayor, Jurats, Freemen, and principal Inhabitants of the Town of Rye, presented to His Majesty by Middleton Onslow, Esq., one of their Representatives in Parliament. To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. The humble Address of the Mayor, Jurats, Freemen, and principal Inhabitants of your Majesty’s ancient Town of RYE, in the County of SUSSEX. We, your Majesty’s loyal and dutiful subjects, the Mayor, Jurats, Freemen, and principal Inhabitants of the ancient Town of Rye, in the County of Sussex, do humbly entreat that your Majesty will permit us, with the most profound respect, to approach your royal person with our most grateful acknowledgments that your Majesty has fully answered the warmest and utmost hopes and expectations of your loyal subjects. It is with the highest gratitude we are thankful for the great and constant regard your Majesty shows for the lives and fortunes of your good and loyal people, and the more than paternal tenderness for those whom the laws of their Country, though the best and mildest in the world, cannot keep within the bounds of duty to your Majesty or their fellow-subjects. It is our sincere wish, great Sire, that a speedy and honourable end may be put to the rebellion of your Majesty’s subjects in America; and we beg your Majesty to accept of our assurances that we will most cordially and cheerfully contribute our proportion, with your Majesty’s other good subjects, to enable your Majesty to bring that event to pass, by such measures as shall be thought most proper to be pursued by your Majesty’s wisdom and the advice of your Parliament; and that we will be ready, at all times, and on every occasion, to manifest to the world our unshaken loyalty to your Majesty. Rye, November 14, 1775. ADDRESS OF THE CORPORATION OF MAIDENHEAD. Address of the Mayor, High Steward, Steward, Bridgemasters, and Burgesses of the Corporation of Maidenhead, in the County of Berks, presented to His Majesty by Penyston Powney, Esq. To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. The humble Address of the Mayor, High Steward, Steward, Bridgemasters, and Burgesses of the Corporation of MAIDENHEAD, in the County of BERKS. Most Gracious Sovereign: We, your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, beg leave to approach your Majesty with those sentiments of regard which are due to the best of Sovereigns, and with that freedom which we are entitled to as Englishmen. We see, with infinite concern, that our fellow-subjects in America have suffered themselves to be so misled by evil and designing men as to erect the standard of rebellion; and it is matter of surprise to us, who daily feel the happy effects of a mild and gentle reign, that there should in any part of your Dominions be found men so blind to their own welfare, and so ripe for civil war, as to break down
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