[Extract]

Dear Sr.  One Letter more before all Comunication is cut off ー

I wrote you sometime ago, tho upon my Soul I have forgot by whom. But thats no Matter provided you have got it Times grow worse & worse here ー & happy are they who are at the time out of the Vortex of these disturbances ー I wish from my Soul I was with you ー

Troops are collecting very fast at Williamsburg, where the Committee of Safety now reside ー Five hundred Men are at Hampton & the Minute Men in Motion all over the Colony ー Lord Dunmore has lately got a Reinforcement from St. Augustin, & we expect a Visit from above very soon So much for Politicks which to me are very far from agreeable.ー . . .

I suppose you have heard of his Lordship having seized the Press, who is now setting upon board the large Ship he took into the Service from Elbeck, we shall soon have the Royall Chronicle, what say you? Shall I subscribe for a Paper on your Account, as perhaps you would choose to see both Sides of the Argument ー

All the Cannon & small arms in & about this Town have been seized by his Lordship, he even had the Impudence to send a small Party as far as Kemp Landing in the face of two hundred Men for the same Purpose ー No Blood was spilt & the Party returned next day, after having executed their Orders ー