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Silas Deane to Patrick Henry, January 2, 1775
Silas Deane autograph letter signed to Patrick Henry, January 2, 1775; Wethersfield, Connecticut.
From the James S. Schoff Revolutionary War Collection.
Wethersfield (in Connecticut) / January 2d: 1775 / Dear Sir / I have for some time waited, as well, for a Subject worth sending you from this / distance, as for a certain Opportunity of conveying a Letter to your / hands. Though near the great Scene of Action, or rather oppression, / yet nothing, can be as yet collected, by which to determine, with the / least degree of certainty, what the Fate of Boston, will finally be. / The return of the Scarborough, gave us hopes, of learning something, of / the disposition, of the Ministry, but nothing transpires. The men of / Warr in the Harbor which had taken down their Topmasts, yards &c / to be in a snugg Winter Rigg, instantly on her arrival, went to / running them up again, and getting into readiness for Sailing. / The Town of Boston continues firmly to pursue the measures they, at / first set out upon, and Town Meetings, instead of being suppress’d by / the late sovereign edict, are held more frequent than ever – donations / are constantly making, to their poor, by the Neighboring Colonies, / but I fear inadequate to their real Sufferings which are immensely / severe and great – I really question, whither History, can produce an / instance, parrallel, to The present Stand, which Boston is making / for their Liberties, for firmness, in resolving, patience in enduring, / and forbearance under insults, added to Oppression. – / The Militia of that, & indeed of all the New England provinces will be / on a very respectable footing, before next Spring. The method taken / in that province, is nearly this, all the old Officers, have resigned / their Commissions, to the Governor, in Consequence of which, the people / within the Limits of each respective Regiment, meet, & make Choice / of others, in their Room, where the Officer resigned, is a person / agreeable to the people, & of a military Turn, he is chose by them / afresh . . after this, they make a draught of one Third of The / whole, who are to hold themselves in readiness, with Arms, Ammunition / a good Horse, and Ten Days provisions, and to march at a Minutes / Warning – Their Militia as well as ours consists of Farmers, and / Farmers Sons, & are perhaps to a Man owners of Horses, so that / this is no expensive article, & is very essential, as well for the / easy transportation, of their provision &c, as for expedition, / for by this means, the whole Body, which will consist, of between Twenty and Thirty Thousand of these in that province, may be assembled, in Two / Days Time, at Boston – The Governor has rec,d: a Letter from Lord Dartmouth / directing him to make seizure, of any Arms, or Ammunition, that / may be imported, into this Colony, and I conclude it is Circular if / so
Patrick Henry jur: Esqr.
so yours will doubtless by this Time have recd: one of the same Tenor. / We have receiv’d an Acct: of a Severe Battle fought on the Banks of ye Ohio / between your people and the Indians, and that it is decisive, the Indians / having made their peace by ceding all the Lands East of sd: River, if so, it is / a vast addition, of Territory, to people which you will doubtless be / willing to receive Inhabitants from your Neighbors, or from / abroad reflecting, on the Conversation, pass’d between Us, at Philadelphia / I am inclined to think, that a Number of Inhabitants from this / Colony would adventure, on a Settlement, on the Ohio if properly / informed and encouraged, and for this purpose, wish to know the / particular Situation of the Lands you told me you had purchased / there, and the Terms, on which, you would agree with them to Settle – / The Character of Our people is imminent for adventures of this / kind, and it is computed that not less than One Thousand Families / or Four Thousand persons annually emigrate to the Neighboring / provinces – They long since, took up, all the Lands formerly possessed / by the Neutral French in Nova Scotia, since the ^last Warr they have / taken up the Lands, in New York, & New Hampshire as farr North / as those provinces extend, and have made a very large Settlement, / on the Delaware, and Susquehannah Rivers under the Connecticut / Claim of a Western extent to the South Sea, on which Subject / I gave you a Book, wrote by Mr. Trumbull – were these Western / Lands out of dispute, & the Title clear in the Colony to every ones / Satisfaction and certainly they would afford ample Room for Our / Surpluss of Inhabitants, and we should in a few years, break thro: / the Boundaries of the Quebeck empire, but the uncertainty of the / Title discourages Men, whose first principle, is, to possess, a / disencumbered Freehold be it ever so small, in preference to the / largest, under Quit rents, & Landlords – The Terms on which Our / People would prefer settling are chiefly these, To transport themselves, on / to the Land, at their Own expence, – To have a certain part, or share of / the Land, free, & clear to them, on Condition of their doing certain Services, / upon it, such as Clearing, planting, building &c, the performing which, / will render the other part ^of which of so much higher value, as richly to repay, / the original proprietor for the Share of Land which he assigned / them, this Share in New Hampshire, &c, has generally been the / one half – Thus supposing you own a Tract of Ten Miles Square / which continuing uninhabited, & in a State of Nature can be of / no value, and the settling it at your Own expence must be / a
vast Affair, Now by giving one half of it, to a Number of young / industrious Farmers on the Condition of their sitting down, with their / Families upon it, will immediately give a value to the other half / increasing, in proportion, to the Settlement by the side of it, as these / first Settlers would soon be desirous of purchasing, or if you chose / to Settle it, with Tenants, such a Neighborhood, would be of the last / Consequence, for supplies and assistance – on such a plan The Lands / given, should be divided into Lotts, of about Two or three Hundred / Acres to each Family, and not more, for a Connecticut Farmer / with Two Hundred & Fifty, or three Hundred Acres of good Land, is a / rich man, that is as rich as he wishes to be, for this Colony is now / so full of Inhabitants, that there is not more, than Twelve Acres to a / person – it will be necessary, should any such Scheme, take place, to / know, how great the Land Carriage, will be, from your nearest Seaport, / and what the Roads, and probable expence, of getting on to the Lands, / for if practicable, without too heavy Disbursements, and the Soil agreeable / I would engage a Number, to go on, the Next Season, and make a / Beginning, we sometimes have Vessels from this to Alexandria, and should / be glad to know how Distant the Water Carriage of this River may be / from the Lands you mentioned, I could procure a Number, Sufficient, for / one Town, who would incline to settle a little, (or rather, as much as / possible), on the New England plan – which would be to have a / reserve of Land for a Minister, & for a School, and if Consistant / with your Constitution, to have such orders, & regulations with / respect to the domestic concerns, of their Settlement, as they / should find most Convenient – Our Trade, bad even in the best of / Times, must be totally ruined, in the present, and coming, and We have no / employ so natural, for Our increasing youth, as the forming / of New Settlements, We are already extended North to 45° – / of Latitude in the provinces of New Hampshire & New York, & / the Country, though under the disadvantages of a Winter, about / as Severe, as the Europeans feel in 55°, yet it is in a manner / all patented out and Settled – if We extend Westward ^in Our Own Latitude, Our / Title will be disputed, and the Winters are severe, even in this / parrallel, though the soil is inviting, and though strongly invited / to go on to the River Mississippi in the Province of West Florida / yet, the distance discourages most of Our young men, though several / Hundreds are already gone there with their Families – public, as / well as private Interest, urge To extend Settlements of Free, and / well principled protestants Westward, in order to defeat the / designed
Operation of that most execrable Quebec Act, of which I know you have / a proper sense – returning to Politics, you will see, that / the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut / have reappointed their Delegates for May with the Addition / of some others to their Number – I send you with this / for your entertainment The following papers – the Charter of / Connecticut, the same which all the New England Charters originally / were, & Rhode Island Now is – it is in a Word an Epitome of the / Patent granted by James the first to the Plymouth Company in / 1620 by which he granted to Them all the Lands from 40°: to / 48: of Latitude from one Sea to the other, from which / Plymouth Company We derive Our Title first by purchase, / & then Confirmed by this Charter, – The original Plymouth Patent / I have by Me, but it is too lengthy to Transcribe – I send you / also some extracts from a Manuscript History or Diary wrote by / the first Governor Winthrop, stiled by Historians the Father / of New England – a Letter from King Charles the Second to the / Governor & Co. of Connecticut, desiring that an Act should be passed / against piracy, – The Number of Our Inhabitants, taken by Order / of Our Assembly, & also those of Rhode Island, these may be relied on, / as exact – The Confederation, or agreement of the people first settling / this Colony in 1638, under which they subsisted, untill ^the granting of the Charter / in 1661, without a single Reference to, or Notice taken, of King, Lords, / Commons, or any other power on Earth, save that of the United / Colonies, the Articles of whose Confederation, bearing date 1643. I also / send you therewith, which was never dissolved untill the year / 1685, as nearly as I recollect, their Records, at present, being out / of my hands – I need not, mention to you, what would have been / the Consequences, had this Confederation have Continued, untill Now, and / the other Colonies, early acceeded to it – it is not I trust, too late to form / such an one, that will suit Our present Circumstances, & which / being varied, as future Contingencies arise, may last forever – something / of this kind, appears to Me most absolutely necessay, let us turn which / way we will, if a reconciliation, with G. Brittain takes place, it will / be obtained on the best Terms, by the Colonies being united, and be the more like / to be preserved, on just, and equall terms – if reconciliation is to be / had, with out a Confederation We are ruined, to all intents, and purposes, / United We stand, divided We fall, is our Motto & must be – One / general Congress has brought the Colonies to be acquainted with each / other
other, and I am in hopes another may effect a lasting Confederation which / will need nothing, perhaps but Time, to mature it, into a compleat, & / perfect American Constitution, the only proper one, for Us, whither Connected / with Great Brittain, or Not – A Sketch of This, I likewise send you / with the other papers mentioned before – I mentioned to you a Town / on the New England plan, if you are not Tired, I will describe the / method of Settling & governing one of them from which Sample you will / be acquainted with the Whole – All Lands in New England, (except in / New Hampshire,) are absolutely in the gift ^or disposal of the General Assembly – A / number suppose sixty apply for a Township or Tract of Land Six, or / eight miles Square, the Assembly grants on the following Conditions / Seventy Families shall be settled within such a Time – Four or Five / years perhaps, – they being settled, shall support a Minister, or / Clergyman, of some of the protestant professions, Dissenters to be / preferr’d – also a SchoolMaster – when they become more numerous, / and are desirous of it, they may send Deputies to the general Assembly / but when they do this, and not before, they are liable to be Taxed by the / Assembly for the Support of Government – A Certain Tract or share of / Land generally about Five or six Hundred Acres is reserved for the Use / of a Clergyman & as much more for a School Master – All their domes / :tic police, is under their own regulation, they must at least once each / year, & make choice of a number of the more steady of their number / for Select Men as they are called, There are officers not under Oath, but / act in a Judicial manner in conducting all the public affairs of the / Town, in which they are Accountable, to No one, but To the Inhabitants / in full meeting – their power is allmost unlimited, over the Poor / the idle, the dissolute, over Highways, Bridges, public Nusances &c – / in all which Cases they hear, & determine absolutely, and without Fee / or reward, their power expires with the year, when New ones, or / they are rechosen, They are in short a sort of Censors on the mann / :ers of the people – They summon the people together as they judge / proper, and when convened, the Inhabitants, have a right of / taxing themselves, for such purposes as the Times present – in / particular for all the expences of the Town, Civil, as well as Ecclesiasiastical / for the supporting their School, their Clergy, their Poor, &c, &c, – / They choose other officers under these such as Constables, Grand Jurors, / Surveyors of Roads, Collectors of the Taxes they levy, a Clerk, a Treasurer / &c
all of whom are accountable to, and removeable by, the People in / Town Meeting assembled – Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, & Judges of the / Court are independant of the voice of the particular Towns, – Thus each / Town, is in some degree, a distinct republic with power even of passing / what they call byLaws not repugnant to those of the Colony pass’d in / General Assembly where they are all United, by a Representation chosen / by each Annually, (or Twice each year as is the Case with Us in / Connecticut – All ecclesiastical matters, such as the choice of a Minister, / his mode of Settlement, his Support, his removal in case of dissatisfaction, / is in the power of the Inhabitants, and yet disputes between the Clergy / and people, and ^their parting, seldom happen, indeed I conceive a Capital / Reason why they are not now frequent, is the intire Liberty, at which / they mutually are to leave each other on being dissatisfied – / Such a kind of Domestic Government I conclude could not be expected / with you, but should be glad to know whither the Inhabitants will / be obliged to pay, to the Support of an Episcopal Clergy, whither they / are, of that perswasion or not? and also whither the quitrent will be / immediately and rigorously exacted, and how large the Sum – I say / immediately, for the Day is not distant when these Quit rents will / be little more than a Sound, for the Crown, never having, any Constitution / :al Right, to exactions of this kind, and introducing them at first, at a trifling / sum, & not being rigorous in the exactions they have been continued, & tolerated / to this Time, but will be shook off with other impositions of the kind, when / America comes to the enjoyment of that perfect Liberty to which She is / intituled – I have wrote you a most Tedious Letter, & will not / go on, to add, one transgression, to another, by still lengthening it, / with Apologies, so will only add that I hope it will cost you Nothing / more than the reading, which you will do at your Leisure – if you are / near Col: Bland, I pray of you, the favor, to obtain of him, and send me, The / date of the first Virginia patent, & its Boundaries. – The protest of The House / of Burgesses, signed by them, & their Governor, & ratified, by Charles ye. 1st: against / [the] dismembering of the Dominion of Virginia, this was I think in 1642 / – The Second patent, or Charter of Virginia, was If I remember right, / in James the 1st:s Reign, I wish to see the date, & boundaries – Col: Bland / was kind enough, to offer me, such extracts, from his Valuable Collection, / as I should send to him for, and I will Trouble him for No more at / present, unless he has any Acct: of any Grant of North Virginia, so called / at that Day, afterwards New England, antecedent to the year 1620, if he / has I wish to See the Date, & boundaries, if he has not, the Plymouth, or / New England patent of 1620, & is desirous of it, I will forward him a / Copy, as also of any other paper to be procured in these parts. There / is
No such thing as procuring, a good History, of Virginia, in This / Colony, I shall be greatly obliged to you to send me the most Authen / :tic extant, and in return will favor you with the History of / New England in general, but of Connecticut in particular, which / will be soon sent To The press, and from the ingenuity of the Author, / and the Attention he has for several years paid to it, will I trust / be the best, ever yet published. – I shall forward this packet / To Mr: Mifflin, to whom I have wrote, To send it, by some private, / but Trusty hand, to Virginia; To his Care, please to direct your / Answer, unless a more direct conveyance offer; – I ought perhaps / to mention, That we returned during the sitting of Our General / Assembly, who most Unanimously approved of the doings of ye. Congress / and recommended the Association, to the strict observance of the / Inhabitants, who universally, and without hesitation have determined / to Abide thereby – please to present my Compliments, To The / Gentlemen with whom I had the happiness of being acquainted in / Congress, if you see them, I am with great Truth, & regard / Dear Sir your most obedt: / & very Humle: Servt / Silas Deane / Patrick Henry jur Esqr.
To / Patrick Henry Junr. Esqr. Attorney at Law / at / Scotch Town in Hanover County – / Virginia
