USA > Rhode Island > The correspondence of the colonial governors of Rhode Island, 1723-1775, Vol. II > Part 12
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I have therefore thought proper by and with the Advice of such Members as I have had Opportunity to confer with upon this important Occasion to Summon a General Assembly.
These are therefore in his Majesty's Name to require you and you are required on Sight hereof forthwith to Notify all the Mem- bers of the General Assembly within your County living of the Premises and to Summon them to appear at Newport on Monday next then and there to deliberate and perform what further is necessary to be done by this Colony for the Service of his Ma- jesty and the Interest of his People. Hereof you are not to fail but Return Make According to Law how you Conduct yourself in the Execution of this Precept.1
GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at the Council Chamber in Newport the first Day of September 1755. and in the Twenty ninth Year of his Majesty's Reign
STEP HOPKINS Gov!
RICHARD PARTRIDGE TO MESSRS. NICHOLS, CRANSTON, AND BOURS.
LONDON Sep. 6% 1755.
My Frd. Jona Nichols Tho. Cranston Peter Bours.
Since my last to you, of which inclosed is a Copy I have been again at the Attorney Generals, and got a Copy of the Marquis's Complaint to the Lords of the Regency, which I design to Send you here in- closed,2 it was delivered in French, but I have got it Translated into English, and have had a Sight of the
1 The Assembly voted to send two hundred men to reinforce General Johnson. Col. Rec. of R. I., V. 449.
2 See the following document.
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Order of Referrence to the Attorney Gen!, wherein the Lords of the Regency directs, that as no Pro- ceedings were come over from Rhode Island of the Tryal and Condemnation of his Ship, He shod con- sider by what appears on the face of his Papers, what method must be taken for him to Appeal or to this Effect, to the best of my Remembrance.
And yesterday Sir Thomas Robinson, Sent to de- sire to Speak wth Cap! Car (as I Suppose) to enquire of him particularly, what he knows of this Case, and on the 8th instant, I intend to go thither with him having had a pretty deal of discourse with the Cap! before hand.
And then by Capt Rodman next Week, I shall be able to give you a further accot of the affair.
And in a few days I believe I Shall have Notice to attend the Attorney General, when I shall take my Solicitor with me in Order to defend the Pro- ceedings of the Colony : but I don't apprehend any Royal Order will be made out 'till those concerned in the Colony be Served with due Notice to make their defence and Justify their Conduct.
I am Yo! Assured Friend. RP PARTRIDGE
I find Cap: Car can contradict flatly Some of his assertions, contained in his Memorial.
1
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MEMORIAL OF THE MARQUIS DE LAMBERTYE. 1
Memorial presented to His Excellency S: Thomas Robinson Min- ister Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Southern Department. By the Marquiss de Lambertye Chamberl" to his Majesty the King of Poland Duke of Lorain and Bar.
LONDON It Sept. 1755.
Sir,
When I had taken leave of His Brittanick Majesty and his Ministers, and the Return of his Excellency the Duke de Mirapoia determined the Commission, with which the King my Master had Honoured me at this Court, I did not at all conceal the Project, I had formed with the Consent of his Most Christian Majesty of going to America as well to repair my Fortune as for Instruction by Travelling, that I might be in Condition again to Offer my Services to my Country, after profiting my Self of my leisure time in which I was out of all Employment, I did nothing as one may Say but pass thro' France Settle my affairs and Embarque for the Windward Islands, where I Stayed a Year. During my Stay there I employed my Self in Trade and went from thence in a Vessel of my own bound for Louisiana.
I was forced to Stop for Refreshments on the South Side of S: Domingo and there lost my Ship and her Cargo and the greatest part of my Slaves who perished in a Hurricane on the 17th Sept. 1754.
This Event determined me to wait on the Mar- quiss de Vaudreuil, who commanded for his Majesty the Leeward Islands.
The favourable Treatment I had from this Gentle-
1 Enclosed with letter of September 6, 1755.
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Correspondence of the
man and my own necessary Repairs detained me with him till 14 May of this present Year, there I applyed mySelf as before to Trading by Sea but Meeting with Misfortunes and very considerable losses chiefly owing to the bad Management of some Persons to whom I entrusted the care of my affairs, and willing besides to indulge my Taste for Travelling I put my Self on board a Vessell which I fitted out to go upon the Spanish Main in America, by a Series of Mis- fortunes and troubles, I was obliged as your Excel- lency will know to take Shelter in the first Port I cod make, and went into the Harbour of Rhode Island quite ignorant what Port it might be, Scarcely knowing that Such a Colony Existed. There I was Treated much more harshly then I shod have been on the Coast of Barbary. Not Satisfyed with Seizing my Vessell Cargo and Effects of every kind they im- prisoned my People and kept me in Confinement. There I was insulted and under constant apprehen- sion of being torn to pieces together with my Crew by a furious Sett of People moved by the present disorders, which interrupt the Trade on their Coast, without the ffreedom of which, these Inhabitants wod Suffer greatly.
The pretence for Seizing my Vessell was, illicit Trade, which they Supposed I came to carry on there, and without Proof or any appearance of Such Intention or even the least formality, except a hasty proceeding in a Corner at Ten Miles distance, they Condemned my Effects. Afterwards my Person was Suspected, and finding Some of my Papers relating to Publick Affairs in which I had formerly been
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Employed, made them imagine I was come to New England with a Design to gain Intelligence, and afterwards to Form Some Enterprise against their Tranquillity, which being not at all confirmed by their reading my Papers, nor the Depositions of my Crew, which neither had nor cod have the Smallest Analogy with their Chimerical Suspicion, they re- turned my Papers after having Pillaged or Tore the greatest part of them. At length being more than ever enraged and unwilling to Seem to have done wrong, or to acknowledge it, they declared they woª not Suffer my departure to any part of the World. I Demanded of them to send me to London in case they Suspected me, that Your Excellency might your self Judge of this affair, and be Satisfyed as to my Person and my Intentions, which I at last obtained after much trouble and Pains.
The Chief Men being thus incensed and the Pop- ulace quite furious, I Sir, every Moment exposed to the violent Outrages of a nest of Pirates, who acknowledge neither Laws nor Authority, In this Scituation did I pass a Month at Rhode Island.
I Shall have the Honour of Presenting to your Excellency my Defence with proper Vouchers of my Conduct, and the most notorious Instances of the irregularity of this Colony.
Whatever differences may have happened, between the two Nations, So long as War has not been declared on neither Side, their Ports I presume are open, to the Necessitous, and every Person agreeable to Treaties is intitled to the Protection of Foreign Powers.
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But Suppose the Warr was kindled more fircely than ever, which God forbid; I have always Ob- served, that a Person of known Quality has been Treated with Distinction while he did not Trans- gress the Laws or particular Orders of the Country, and that he might live Undisturbed under the pro- tection of those Laws, without being exposed to any injurious Treatment, unworthy of a Nation So respectable and generous as the English.
It is in consequence of the Experience I have had of that, I think my Self Authorized to expect the most Speedy and ample Justice.
I have not the Smallest Diffidence of your Ex- cellencys Equity - And most humbly beg you to Examine, with Some Attention the clear Evidences of the Justice of my Cause and also the incontest- able Proofs of the Injustice of that of the Colony of Rhode Island, which I shall have the Honour of Presenting to your Excellency as Soon as I have been able to Collect together the Materials I have brought with me for my own Justification.
RICHARD PARTRIDGE TO THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND.
LONDON Sep. 10th 1755
My Fr's Jon. Nicholls Tho : Cranston and Peter Bours
Agreeable to what I wrote you last of the 6th in- stant,1 I have been with Capt. Carr at S: Tho. Robin- sons, as He wanted to Speak with the Captain to get
1 See the preceding letter.
1
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Colonial Governors of Rhode Island
what further information he could, relating to the Marquiss de Lambertye; The Marquis having been Solliciting for his Trunks of Cloaths &c. which were detained for his own and his four Servants Passages, and after Some discourse wherein the Capt. gave as clear an Acco! as cod be expected of Him, the Mar- quis came in also to us; And upon the whole S. Tho: proposed that his Things Should be delivered Him, and that upon the Appeal agt the Condemna- tion of his Ship, when it came to be heard here, if it Shod be confirmed, the said Passages which is charged together at 45! 3ª od Sterl Should be paid out of the value of the Seizure, but if the Judgment should be reversed, then S: Thomas himself would take care, that the said Sum Should be deducted, and allowed out of the value of what was to be re- stored to the Marquiss; and that in the meantime, the Agent for the Colony Shod pay the said Money for the Passage to the Owners of the Ship to clear them, and requested that I woª do it, which accord- ingly as I Saw he earnestly desired it, I complyed with, which was to his, and the Marquis's Satisfac- tion ; and I have advanced and paid the Money to the Capt. and an Order has been made, for the deliv- ery of them agreeable thereto. For S: Thomas inti- mated, that as the Case was Circumstanced, it was no ways proper for the Government here to interfere and pay the Money, in as much as there was no Evi- dence appeared of his being Sent over, as having been a Spy, or as a Prisoner, but that the Proceed- ings of the Tryal of this Ship, and Cargo had been at Law or a Civil Court in the Colony, and Con-
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demned on the Navigation Act of the 7 and 8th of King Will™ and as to the other Ship, I don't find yet the Marquis pretends to any Appeal or to lay any Claim.
In our discourse, I found that the Marquis owns himself a Subject of King Stanislaus, the Duke of Lorain and Bar, which Dukedom in case of a War between England and France, He says, will be Neu- tral, but that is doubtful, and he owns also, that His Prince has allowed him to be employed in the Ser- vice of France Sometimes, and I also perceived, that S: Thomas Robinson was acquainted with him for- merly, and knew Some of his Relations.
As for the reflections relating to the uncivil Treat- ment he met with in Rhode Island, that was taken off by Capt. Carr, who Signifyed that it was quite otherwise, for that he had been well treated there, and like a Gentleman which then he could not deny before the Secretary of State, I have retad the Attor- ney Gen! for us in case there shod be an Appeal Granted, which will be attended with Expence, So that if it must be defended, I must have proper In- structions and Remittance. And it is to be Consid- ered, if it be not Defended, the danger will be of an Order being granted Exparte, and large Damages given, for as I remember S: Thomas told us, that the Marquis had computed the value of his Ship and Cargo at ab! £3000 Sterl.
And S: Thomas Robinson desired me to write to your Government that the Marquis's Men may be all Set at Liberty, and Sent to Eustacia, that is Sup- pose if any Opportunity offered for that place, or
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otherwise they might be at liberty to go where they thought fit. and now as I have actually paid Capt. Carr £45 3ª for the Passages aforesd (which I cod not well refuse to comply with, for the Honour and Re- putation of the Colony, and which otherwise might have given offence); I have drawn a Bill on you together with the Collector for £50 Sterl. payable at 30 days Sight to Jos: Jacob in Bills of Exchange for Great Britain, which I make no doubt will meet with due Honour.
And at the Same time, when we were with S! Tho. Robinson, and having So good an Opportunity (for we were together an hour and a half) I delivered him a Duplicate of the Governors Letter, with the Profil of the Fortification relating to Cannon and Stores,1 and also put [into] his Hand a fresh Petition, now to the Lords of the Regency, and earnestly requested his favour therein, my late Pet" before being to the Lds Committee of Council, on the footing of my former application, and I remain in Some hopes of Success, but cannot really depend on it. No War is yet proclaimed by the English or French that we here of, but it's Still almost daily expected, our Men of War have lately begun to take all the French Merchant Ships they meet with by way of reprizals, about 18 or 20 of which have been brought into our Sea Ports, for the rest I refer to the Magazine, and Prints herewth Sent, of which I desire your Accept- ance, from
Your assured Friend
RP PARTRIDGE
1 This letter was ordered written by the Assembly, in February, 1755. Col. Rec. of R. I., V. 411.
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Correspondence of the
4th Oct. No War is yet Proclaimed, about which we are Still in the Dark. The King arrived here at London the 16 inst.
Nothing is done in de Lambertye's affair yet, by the Attorney General, nor likely to be, till he comes to Town, about 3 Weeks hence; but the Marquis has Exhibited another Paper in French in behalf of De Valois, of which I have obtained a Copy from the Attorney Gen's Office, and have got it Translated, which I send you here inclosed,1 and keep also a Copy of both my Self.
Our Men of War continue their taking French Prizes, and its thought now that upwards of 150 Sail, have been brought into our Harbours ; 2 On the other Hand the French have only taken one of our Ships (as we hear of for certain) which is a 20 Gun Man of Warr, with the New Gov. of So: Carolina on Board,3 but have Since released both, and they are actually come back to England.
R P
To STEPHEN, HOPKINS Esq! Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island &c. Providence.
1 Not in the Archives.
2 The English government instructed Admiral Hawke to take all French ships-of- war and merchantmen ; letters of marque were issued, and by the end of the year three hundred French traders and seven or eight thousand sailors were brought into English ports. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century (ed. Appleton), II. 356.
8 William Henry Lyttelton, a descendant of Sergeant Lyttelton, author of the cel- ebrated treatise on English tenures. McGrady, South Carolina, II. 321.
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Colonial Governors of Rhode Island
RICHARD PARTRIDGE TO GOVERNOR HOPKINS.
LONDON Octo. 4. 1755
Gov'. Hopkins,
I having lately writ to the Commee of War on Some of the Affairs of the Colony I thought it also my duty to send thee a Copy of the Same wch comes herewth whereto I refer thee, and a News Paper desiring thy acceptance of it. Notwithstanding my Endeavours hitherto in my applicas to the Lds Com- mittee of Council and also to S: Tho: Robinson the Secry of State for Stores,1 and tho' I earnestly pressd him as far as I dared I am now doubtful of Success, the Parliam' is to meet for Business 13 next Month, I hope my Bill of £150. Sterl is paid. I am wth respects Thy assured Friend RD PARTRIDGE
To STEPHEN HOPKINS Esq" Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island &c Providence
RICHARD PARTRIDGE TO DEPUTY-GOVERNOR NICHOLLS. LONDON Nov: 19! 1755. Jon" Nicholls Esq"
My last to thee was of 4th Ult. since which I have recd none of thy Favours, As to the Matter relating to the Marq: De Lambertie, it lays still as it did be- fore the Attorney Gen! who has yet made no Report thereupon and when he will do it is very uncertain.
As for Publick News the Parliam! Assembled the
1 See the preceding letter.
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Correspondence of the
13th Inst. for the dispatch of Business when the King came to the House of Peers and made a Speech to them which, I ordered to be sent with a Collection of News for the Month past to Gov' Hopkins per a new Established Packet Boat via New York, and now I send thee the Lords Address with the Monthly Magazine of Octo! and News Papers via Boston to be forwarded to thee by my Correspondent A: Oliver by a private hand. It is expected that the State of the Northern Colonies, will come on before the Par- liament pretty early perticularly the Mollasses Act which expires this Sessions, about which I shall be on the Watch. Some alterations in the Ministry is begun to be made viz: S: T : Robinson has re- signed his office as Secry of State, and Henry Fox Esq: the late Secry at War appointed to that office in his Room, and La Barrington is now Sec"? at War, and other Changes are talk'd of. We are Still at an uncertainty respecting War or Peace, yet our men of War continue taking the French Merch! Ships and bring them in daily, and Yesterday we had certain advice of a French Man of War of 74. Guns being taken on the Coast of France.
The Accot of the late defeat of Gen! Braddock was to the Ministry and People here very Shocking, but the News now lately come of Gen! Johnsons Success in vanquishing the French in his March to Crown Point1 has revived them and I hear a considerable Sum of money will be sent to New England (I sup- pose) for carrying on the War begun in the Colonies against their Enemies. I hope your Colony will consider me in paying my late draught to my Friend
1 See note to letter of September 1, 1755.
L
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Colonial Governors of Rhode Island
Gideon Wanton from whom I have had no advice yet of its being paid. We hear that L: Col. Ellison of Shirleys Army is reported to be Colº of S: Peter Halkets Regiment and Dan! Webb Esq: Colº of Dun- bars Regiment, and the said Dunbar to be L: Gov. of Gibralter a Place of 40 s. a day, and Gen! Johnson is by the King created Knight and Barronet. I am Thy &c
R. PARTRIDGE
25th D. We had yesterday advice via France of a dreadfull Earth Quake and Fire at Lisbon on Ist Nov: wherein were destroyed as its judg'd 100,000 People and the greatest part of the City ; the King and Queen narrowly escaped.
RICHARD PARTRIDGE TO GOVERNOR HOPKINS.
LONDON Dec! the 16th 1755
Gov'. Hopkins
The foregoing 1 I writ to the Deputy Gov: Nicholls of 19th Ult. of which I here send thee a Copy as it gen- erally related to the Affairs of the Colony to which I refer.
And now I have the Pleasure to acquaint thee That the Lords of Trade sent to me and the New York New Jersey and New Engld Agents to attend them on the 3ª Inst. to come prepared to lay before them the best and fullest acco! we were able of the Number of Men and Sums of Money raised within the said Colonies for carrying on the Expedition under the Command of the Gen's Shirley and John- son, and accordingly all of us attended (except the
1 See preceding letter.
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Agent for the Massachusetts who was not well) and we being before them Lord Hallifax acquainted us, " That the King was well Satisfied with the said Col- " onies who had exerted themselves in raising their " Forces which they had done, and was disposed to " grant them pretty soon a Sum of Money towards " their Expence but did not mention how much the "Sum would be, yet as that Matter would be referrd " to their Boards Consideration they were willing be- " forehand to be informed of the above perticulars "; In order as I apprehend to adjust the proportion of the said Money to each Colony, whereupon we gave the best account we could, which they took down in writing particularly for Rhode Island 400 Men 1 and that as to the sum I signified I had no accot of it yet, as the New Hampshire Agent had informed the Board of the Expence they were at for 500. Men the Charge of Rhode Island Men might be computed in Proportion but how the Money will be convey'd over to N : E : we are not yet apprized of : probably it may be sent to the Kings Comissaries at New York; Some People report as if the Sum to be granted will be £100,000. Sterl. in the whole but it is un- certain as yet to us, but it is to be understood it will be divided in Proportion among the said several Col- onies from wch the Forces of Shirleys and Johnsons Armies are composed, and I am told (be the Sum what it will) it is not designed to preclude us from a further Sum hereafter I am
Thy assured Friend
RP PARTRIDGE
1 Rhode Island had put into the field 750 men. See Col. Rec. of R. I., V. 419, 440, 449.
1
₺
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23ª Ditto. I gratefully acknowledge yo! Assemblys honouring my Bill of {150 Sterl on the Gov! payable to Gid! Wanton Esq' for wch he has remitted me a good Bill here of the same value and I shall Credit the Colonys acco! for the same.
Since I was at the Board of Trade aforementioned I have recd advice from my Frd Pet! Bours of 6th Octo! last intimating that yo' Colony had raised 300 Men more besides the 400 Men at first, and that they were then on their march for Crown Point, wch advice came very opportunely for me to give notice of addition to the Lords of Trade as they had not precluded any Subsequent accot, and therefore have accordingly sent them word of it in writing in order that we may get our full proportion for Rhode Island of the Money to be granted as aforesaid
R. P.
To STEPHEN HOPKINS Esq! Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
REPORT OF A SCOUT, BY CAPTAIN RODGERS.1
FORT WILLIAM HENRY 17th Decem: 1755
Went out by Orders with 3 Men to make discov- ery of the french and sd Strength of their forts at
1 Robert Rogers of New Hampshire, the famous partisan chief and scout. He raised several companies of rangers, and with them performed valuable service throughout the Seven Years' War. Rogers' Rock, on Lake George, commemorates the well-known tradition of the remarkable escape of the bush-fighter from the French and Indians by sliding down the precipice on his snow-shoes. This report is men- tioned in letter of Sir Charles Hardy, February 29, 1756, and it is selected from the volume entitled Letters and Papers relating to the Old French War.
VOL. II.
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Ticonderoga or the Carrying Place the first day we went in a batow down the Lake gorge 16 miles and See a fire on an Island in the Middle of the Lake at the first narrows I durst not go by it and Came back about a mile and when it was dark Landed in a Cove on the Wist side of the Lake by the South End of the Great Mountain and when we had Secured our batow I went about half a mile from it and Campt in a Thickit next morning Steard for Ticon- deroga and Travailed about Twenty miles and Campt in a Pleasant Place between Two large mountains and nothing Remarkable happend That day Next morning went on our Course and came in Plain Sight of Ticonderoga fort where were their men busy at work and had Several Saprits men Sawing on some of them, they was Shaving Long Shingles or Clab- bords To Cover their houses or Barocks in the fort we See four Cannon That was mounted on the South- east Bastion Pointing towards the Lake there was Two Cannon at the Gate on wheels There was Two or Three Cannon on the Norwest Bastion Pointing Towards the Woods I tryed To number Their men but it was Endless, and to form a Judgment how many men there is at the Carrying Place I am at [a] Loss but Judg by their working at the fort and about it, There is five hundred men at Least and after we had a full view at Them we Left The hill or Emens [Eminence ?] and went nearer to the fort and way- Layd a Road That Led from the fort to The Lake and after we had been There About half an hour More came along a party of 10 men but They being too many for us we Lay Still and Lett Them Pass
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Colonial Governors of Rhode Island
in a few minutes after There came a Company of Indians over from the East side Loaded with skins and Venison which soon after they had got into the fort begun to Sing and Dance, and about Dark There went five men after a Load of wood to the North of the fort upon Which we Left our Ambush and went Round to make a Shot upon them, but be- fore we had got far Enough They had got Their wood Loaded and Returning to the Garrison we Tarried there till after their Drooms beat and heard Them Shut Their Gates Then we went into one of the hutts for Shelter from the Cold Intending to Try next morning for a Scalp but it Snowed very hard about day Which caused me to make a Sudden Re- treat and went homewards That day 25 miles and Campt next morning we Steard homewards and when we came within 2 miles of our batow we Started a flock of Dear and killd 2 of Them and Drest Them with the utmost Expidition and Brought Them to our batow which we found safe and a bottle of Rum which we hid when we went up all Safe which Re- vived our Drooping Spirits : and we Embarkt and about 3 a Clock we arrived at Fort Willm Henry This is the Chief That I can Say Concerning Tycon- deroga and a true Journal by your Honours Most Humb! Servt
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