fleet here. The first application received from Mr. Wolstenholme was by myself directed to the commanding officer of the station where I was. On perusing it, I sent a message by the gentleman that brought it, to inform Mr. Wolstenholme, that as I understood General Dent was at the station at the Narrows, I should consult him about it, and send him an answer; which answer was, that it was not thought proper for him to depart, as you will see by a paragraph in one of Mr. Wolstenholme's letters; on receiving of which, he sent me his passport from the Committee of the County, a copy of which you have enclosed. Upon demanding of him that he would say nothing to the prejudice of the Province, he answered, that he defied his worst enemy to say that he had ever done or said anything inimical, or that had a tendency that way, but that he would not be bound to anything; but that the same principle that had ever been the rule of his actions would govern his future conduct. Well knowing, from the knowledge I had of Mr. Wolstenholme, that he was a man of honour, and his word not to be doubted, and as he had for several years been very anxious to go to England, and an opportunity now offered, which, in all probability, would not again occur for some time, and his passport from the Committee being unanimous, which, without very particular reasons, in my opinion, ought to be adhered to, particularly by the military, were the reasons for me to agree, with General Dent, that Mr. Wolstenholme should depart. By one of the letters written by Mr. Wolstenholme to Governour Eden, with my certificate to it, which was sent with a flag on board one of the men-of-war, it was understood by all the gentlemen here, and must have been by the fleet, that Mr. Wolstenholme was to depart, if they thought proper to send for him. Whether it is consistent with the honour of the Province to detain Mr. Wolstenholme after what has passed, I leave you to determine. But I must confess to you that I think the honour of the Province, together with General Dent's and mine, are concerned in it. I am really astonished at the slight received from Major Price, not to have been consulted or asked how the affair was really conducted, before he counteracted General Dent's and my conduct. I doubt not Major Price will inform you of our affairs here, which prevents my troubling you thereon.

Reports have been spread to Mr. Wolstenholme's prejudice, relative to a conversation passed between him and a gondola under his bank, without any foundation, as I am informed by several of his family, who heard the conversation, and were called on by him for that purpose.

I remain, with regard, your obedient servant,

RICHARD BARNES.

To the Council of Safety of Maryland.

P. S. The substance of the letter from Mr. Wolstenholme to Governour Eden was, to beg that he would use his endeavours to procure him a passage in a ship that was going to England, and that, if he could be received with conveniency, a flag might be sent from on board the fleet for him. Under which I wrote the following certificate:

"By order of General John Dent, I do hereby certify, that if the above shall be approved of, and a flag should be sent on shore, every due respect shall be paid to it.

"RICHARD BARNES."

Papers referred to by Colonel BARNES.

St. Mary's, July 17, 1776.

SIR: Doctor Keyman is so kind as to wait on you, in order to acquaint you of the danger my house and family were in this morning from a covered vessel, or galley, in his Majesty's service, the commanding officer not knowing who was the proprietor.

The manner in which it Was prevented, and the conversation that passed between the commanding officer and myself on the occasion, which I have great reason to believe caused his immediate return, without any intention of doing further damage, and what happened afterwards to Mr. Morris's house, as well as the action which occasioned it, I flatter myself you will hear from persons whose veracity may, in general, be less questioned than my own at so critical a juncture. As I mentioned the term of four days, and it was found convenient to be received by the flag, I thought it necessary to acquaint you therewith, in order that you might appoint a proper officer on the occasion, and that every due respect may be paid to it, as the Militia, who have returned to my house since the affair, are, I apprehend, very little acquainted with ceremonies of this nature.

I am, very respectfully,

(Signed by Mr. Wolstenholme.)

To the Commanding Officer of the Maryland Provincial Troops, at St. George's,Maryland, St. Mary's County.

St. Mary's, July 19, 1776.

SIR: By Colonel Read, I am just now favoured with yours of this date, acquainting me that you have communicated my request to General Dent, "relative to sending and receiving a flag of truce from the fleet, and that he is against sending a flag on board, and permitting any one to go on board from this part, and that you therefore hope I will decline all thoughts of going at present."

If you will please to refer to my letter sent on the occasion, I presume you will find that the purport of it hath been entirely mistaken, as I only acquainted the commanding officer at St. George's, (which I find you were at that time,) that I thought it necessary to inform him a flag would be sent for me, and desiring that a proper officer might be appointed on the occasion, and that every due respect might be paid to it, as the Militia, who had returned to my house since the affair which I had mentioned in my letter, were very little acquainted with ceremonies of that nature. How, from the above request, it could be imagined that I asked the General's permission to depart the Province, or to go on board any ship in the fleet for that purpose, I am at a loss to determine; as he must, no doubt, be well acquainted with the genteel treatment I met with from the Committee of Observation of this. County, and the unanimous consent they gave me to embark at any time I should judge most convenient to my health and private concerns. If, by the permission granted me, the Committee have exceeded the power delegated to them by the Convention, which it is my opinion they have not,) to that body only, I apprehend, they are answerable; but their determination is no way subject to any controlling orders of the General; so that, unless the military power is authorized to supersede that of the civil, the General cannot possibly have any light to give the least obstruction to my intended embarkation. I therefore beg you will desire him to consider well the consequences of such a step, as well with regard to the rights which every freeman in this Province is entitled to, as the danger of that resentment which may possibly be expressed against innocent persons here, from a detention of an officer in his Majesty's service, without the least charge of any crime whatever against him. I am far from disputing the General's authority to receive, or not to receive, the flag; but I do deny that the military power hath any right to control that of the civil. If it has, the people of this Province are as complete slaves as any in Turkey.

As a friend, therefore, to the rights and privileges of a freeman of Maryland, I do expect and demand that no hinderance or molestation whatever be given to my departure for Great Britain, in any vessel I please, provided that it is the General's pleasure the flag of truce should not be received. Doctor Keyman, who is so kind as to promise the delivery of this letter, will, at the same time, furnish you with the passport granted me by the Committee, in order to be shown to General Dent, which, after his perusal of it, I must beg you will be pleased to return to him. Should its authority be still disputed, I shall be under the indisputable necessity of appealing to that power which, as in the case of his Excellency Governour Eden and Mr. Purviance, I flatter myself will support the rights of freemen against every undue invasion whatever.

I am, very respectfully, sir, your very humble servant,

DANIEL, WOLSTENHOLME.

To Colonel Richard Barnes, at St, George's.

Coort-House in Leonardtown, July 1, 1776.

In Committee:

Present: Colonel Abraham Barnes, (in the chair,) Major James Eden, Major Samuel Abell, Captain John Smith, Captain Edward Abel, Captain Everard Bond, Captain Vernon Hebb, Colonel John H. Read, Major Ignatius Fenwick, Mr. Wilfred Neale, Mr. William Taylor, Mr. Henry Tubman, Mr. Nicholas L. Sewell.

On reading a Letter from Daniel Wolstenholme, Esq., Collector of his Majesty's Customs on North Potomack, setting forth that, by advice of his Physicians, he intended to