[Extract]
I have not written to you for several Months past, except a short Letter June 4th to direct Insurance on 30 hhds Tobo on board the Justitia, Capt Kidd ー He went off with only 17 . . . leaving out 14 . . . wh I had given him Orders for, & wh I have now consigned to you by the Job, Capt Gibson .. . I have at this Time I verily believe more than 5000 Bushels of Wheat for Sale, & unfortunately for me the Complexion of our Affairs will render it totally useless, nor do I exaggerate, when I assert that the Wheat made this Year, would, if it could be sold, bring this Colony alone half a Million Sterling, a Sum however large, yet may be depended on. I have forseen for several Months past so small a Prospect of an Accomodation between the two Countries that I determined to apply principally to the Cultivation of Tobo for the present Crop, persuaded, that, that alone will wait for a Market, & not be liable to Destruction ー How very promising, as indeed do most of the Fruits of the Earth here, wh under the Annihilation of our Trade doubly co[torn]ding; however as the present Measures seem pretty generally approved, an Acquiescence with, & a Submission to them seem absolutely requisite ー I heartily wish they may procure Harmony, but Appearances are, I think, directly the contrary. I have for some Months been so bewilder'd in my political Conjectures, that I know not what to suppose ー . . . There prevailed such a general Confusion just before the Arrival of Outram, with respects to the Exports being immediately stopped, that I thought it prudent to get my Tobo on board any Vessel I could meet with. Our publick Affairs are so far from being carried on with Certainty in these Times of Anarchy, that the wisest Heads amongst us know not in what Train Things are to remain for even a Month at a Time, & therefore Prudence must be our only Guide. . . .
The absolute Certainty there appears of our Trade being discontinued for one year more, at least, will inable the Importers to demand any Price they may think proper for any they may have on Hand by the ensuing Autumn ー From yr known Attention to the Article I flatter myself the Sales will be astonishingly high, wh may in some small Degree compensate for a temporary stagnation of it.
[July, 1775]
