BY THE KING.

A Proclamation, for encouraging Seamen to enter themselves on board His Majesty's Ships of War.

GEORGE R.

Whereas, it is our Royal intention to give all due encouragement to all such Seamen who shall voluntarily enter themselves in our service, we have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to publish this, our Royal Proclamation; and we do hereby promise and declare, that all such able Seamen, not above the age of fifty, nor under the age of eighteen years, fit for our service, who shall, on or before the twenty-ninth day of February next, voluntarily enter themselves to serve in our Royal Navy, dither with the captains or lieutenants of our ships, or the chief officers on board such tenders as shall be employed for raising men for the service of our Navy, shall receive, as our Royal bounty, the sum of forty shillings, each man; and all such ordinary seamen, fit for our service, who shall on or before the twenty-ninth day of February next, voluntarily enter themselves, as aforesaid, shall receive the sum of twenty shillings, each man, as our Royal bounty: such respective sums to be paid them by the respective clerks of the Cheque, residing at the ports or places where the ships into which they shall be entered shall be, immediately after the third muster of such seamen.

And we do declare, that the qualifications of the Seamen sp entering themselves, as aforesaid, shall be certified by the captain, master, and boatswain of the ship or vessel where they shall enter.

And, for prevention of any abuses, by any persons leaving the vessels to which they shall belong, and entering themselves on board any other ships or vessels, in order to obtain the said, bounty money, we do hereby declare and command, that such Seamen, belonging to any of our ships or vessels, as shall absent themselves from any of the said ships or vessels, to which they shall belong, and shall enter themselves on board any other of our said ships or vessels, in order to obtain the said bounty, shall not only lose the wages due to them in the ships or vessels they shall leave, But also be severely punished, according to their demerits.

Given at our Court, at St. James's, the third day of January, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, in the sixteenth year of our reign.

GOD save the King.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM BRISTOL JANUARY 3, 1776.

The rifleman, who was brought a prisoner here from Quebeck, being taken in crossing the river St. Lawrence, is confined in Bridewell. He is a Virginian, about six feet high, stout, and well proportioned. His behaviour is mianly, but very modest. He was drafted from his corps, at Cambridge, to go on Arnold's expedition. His dress is a loose dress of coarse woollen, adapted to that cold climate, for which his regimentals were exchanged, or rather, taken from him, at Quebeck.

He says the pay of his corps was forty shillings currency per month, regularly paid (about twenty-five shillings sterling) in dollars, out of which they found their clothes. He was a fortnight in the camp, where, he says, every thing was in good order, provisions plenty, and exact discipline. He can strike a mark, with the greatest certainty, at two hundred yards distance. He has the heavy, Provincial pronunciation, but otherwise speaks good English. The account lie gives, is, that the troops, in general, are such kind of men as himself, tall, and well proportioned. He was very clear and explicit in his answers, which he delivered with great modesty, but entirely free from any fear for the consequences of his being brought to England.

He was discharged on Saturday, as there were no grounds for his commitment.

JAMES HOGG, AGENT FOR TRANSYLVANIA, [TO COLONEL RICHARD HENDERSON.]

DEAR SIR: On the 2d of December, I returned hither from Philadelphia; and I have now set down to give you an account of my embassy, which you will be pleased to communicate to the other gentlemen, our copartners, when you have an opportunity. I waited for Messrs. Hooper and Hewes a day and a half at Richmond, but they were detained rainy weather for several days, so that they did not overtake me till I was near Philadelphia, where I was kept two days by heavy rain, though they had it dry where they were. It was the 22d of October, when we arrived at Philadelphia. In a few days they introduced me to several of the Congress gentlemen, among the first of whom were, accidentally, the famous Samuel and John Adams; and as I found their opinion friendly to our new Colony, I showed them our map, explained to them the advantage of our situation, &c., &c. They entered seriously into the matter, and seemed to think favourably of the whole; but the difficulty that occurred to us soon appeared to them. "We have petitioned and addressed the King," said they, "and have entreated him to point out some mode of accommodation. There seems to be an impropriety in embarrassing our reconciliation with any thing new; and the taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in defiance of the King's proclamations, will be looked on as a confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily reproached." I then showed them our memorial, to convince them that we did not pretend to throw off our allegiance to the King, but intended to acknowledge his sovereignty whenever he should think us worthy of his regard. They were pleased with our memorial, and thought it very proper; but another difficulty occurred. By looking at the map, they observed that we were within the Virginia Charter. I then told them of the fixing their boundaries, what had passed at Richmond in March last, and that I had reason to believe the Virginians would not oppose us; however, they advised me to sound the Virginians, as they would not choose to do any thing in it without their consent.

All the Delegates were, at that time, so much engaged in the Congress from morning to night, that it was some days before I got introduced to the Virginians; and before then. I was informed that some of them had said, whatever was their own opinion of the matter, they would not consent that Transylvania should be admitted as a Colony and represented in Congress, until it originated in their Convention, and should be approved by their constituents. Some days after this, I was told that Messrs. Jefferson, Wythe, and Richard Henry Lee, were desirous of meeting with me, which was accordingly brought about; but, unfortunately, Mr. Lee was, by some business, prevented from being with us, though I had some conversation with him afterwards. I told them that the Transylvania Company, suspecting that they might be misrepresented, had sent me to make known to the gentlemen of the Congress, our friendly intentions towards the cause of liberty, &c, &c, but said nothing of our memorial, or my pretensions to a seat in Congress. They said nothing in return to me, but seriously examined our map, and asked many questions. They observed that our purchase was within their Charter, and gently hinted, that, by virtue of it, they might claim the whole. This led me to take notice, that a few years age, as I had been informed, their Assembly had petitioned the Crown for leave to purchase from the Cherokees, and to fix their boundaries with them, which was accordingly done, by a line running from six miles east of the long island in Holston, to the mouth of the Great-Kenhawa, for which they had actually paid twenty-five hundred pounds to the Cherokees; by which purchase, both the Crown and their Assembly had acknowledged the property of those lands to be in the Cherokees. Besides, said I, our settlement of Transylvania will be a great check on the Indians, and, consequently, be of service to the Virginians.

They seemed to waive the argument concerning the right of property; but Mr. Jefferson acknowledged, that, in his opinion, our Colony could be no loss to the Virginians, if properly united to them; and said, that if his advice was followed, all the use they should make of their Charter would be, to prevent any arbitrary or oppressive Government to be established within the boundaries of it; and that it was his wish to see a free Government established at the back of theirs, properly united with them; and that it should extend westward to the Mississippi, and on each side of the Ohio, to their Charter line. But he would not consent that we should be acknowledged by the Congress, until it had the approbation of their constituents in Convention, which he thought might be obtained; and that, for that purpose, we should send one of our Company to their next Convention. Against this proposal, several objections occurred to me, but I made none.