[Extract]
p Le Despenser

You will expect me to Say a word on our public affairs in which perhaps all Europe may eventually be concerned

On the 11th Inst there will be a meeting on this ground of Members elected in each district of the Province 120 in the whole ー these are to Nominate Delegates to Represent So Carolina at a Second general Congress intended to be holden at Philadelphia the 10th May next ー You have Seen the proceedings of the late Congress & probably have the Resolutions of both parties in view, while my knowledge is confined only to the efforts on this Side, I am persuaded from all the intelligence which I have received, that we are disposed to quietness & all the obedience that ought to be expected from us provided we are reinstated in the possession of those rights & privileges which we had enjoyed antecedent the Year 1763. ー if this is denied us by the Mother Country, there will follow infinite trouble & distress throughout the Colonies of North America & I think it impossible but that Great Britain must participate largely in the general Calamity ー Every Man here as far as I have discovered is agreed that opposition against the late Acts of Parliament which are the Subject of our dispute, ought to be made, these differ only in Sentiments on the mode ー Some are Red-hot & foolishly talk of Arms & there is another extreme who Say that implicit obedience is the Surest Road to a redress of Grievances ー the great majority of men here lie between, & are Men of Wealth & consideration ー upon the whole Such are appearances that I too clearly perceive my little Estate to be in a most precarious Situation ー one may be Rich here in Bonds bearing Interest never to be paid ー plantations & negroes producing nothing or no Markets for the produce ー & yet want the means of procuring decent food & rainment . . . I dare not justify every Act on the part of America in the course of her Struggles for 11 Years past but I may with Safety aver that aggression does not lie at her Door & that Wisdom & Sound policy are not Crimes chargeable upon the Administration of American Government within that term ー tis high time for the interposition of a mediaating power & Such I trust will be found within our own Realm