Esteem'd Friends

Reynell & Coates I have now before me, your kind Letter of the 5th covering a Duplicate of what you wrote me p Saml White together with an Invoice of sundry Goods, ship'd me by his Vessell, for which am obliged, & shall carefully examine the Invoice, & note the same to your Creditt ー the Sail Makers Bill on the Industry, does not appear so extravagant as I at first imagin'd, & the particulars afford me a Sattisfaction. I am much obliged to you, for the Sketch of my Account from your Books, by which I find your Advances on [William] Willcombs Cargoe exceed my Expectations, & your kind Intentions to promote my Interest in this Adventure, are too conspicuous to admitt of a Doubt, in my Mind; & I hope you have not as yet suffer'd in any Respect on my Acct rather than that should take Place, I would have you dispose of as much Molasses as will ballance your Acct & from every Appearance I should wish to have the remainder lay in Store untill further Orders, unless you discover an Appearance of Danger of its being destroy'd by our unnatural Enemies, which God forbid: ー I am very sensible that Large Quantities have been thrown into your City, but as it appears to me, our Commerce is now at an End, & the Consumption of that Article is exceeding great & of Course the Demand will soon run the Prices up to at least 2/ ー , If not, should our Affairs take a sudden turn, I should be glad to have that Molasses here, with which I could make a sure Profitt, before any fresh Importations from the Islands, could possibly take Place, as I am convinced there is not more than sufficient of that Article in this Colony, to answer the Demand of the ensuing Six Months, & but very little expected; these Reasons convince me that it would be prudent to keep it for a Price. I am glad to hear of Willcombs Arrival in Falmouth, & that he was design'd for Barcelona which should he arrive there, will afford a better Chance for obtaining a further Employ for the Vessell, or for the Sale of her, in some Parts of the Streights, than in England, & I now imagine he will not return to you again, but pursue the Plan of freighting his Vessell untill he can dispose of her. ー I am sorry to find the Underwriters with you, so averse to take on Pollicys, bound this Way, surely they have not an Idea of the Difficulties which will attend the Cruisers guarding this Coast; as they have no Harbour but Boston that they could presume to lay in; & the boisterous Season is too great for them to keep at Sea; which induces me to think the Risque is not half so great as they imagine & I really expected they would not have refus'd 12 PCt on the Dalton & Cargoe but as the Capitall is large, & the Prospect of her Voyage being able to afford a good Premium, I conclude to have the several Sums mention'd in my last, cover'd at 20 pCt if it cannot otherwise be done, but since I wrote you, I have seen an extract of a Letter from a young Gen[tlema]n who served Me 7 years in my Store, dated at Point Petre 15th Sept wherein he says, that Capt [Eleazer] Johnson was bound home, but that he could not sail from thence untill the first of Novr that the Season may be far advanc'd when he arriv'd on the Coast, which will bring him a Month Later than I at first imagin'd, tho' this [Fact] is agreable to what I wrote him under 2d Augt which Letter suppos'd must have got to hand. ー I am glad to find Willcomb laid in so largely of Provisions, as that Article must be scarce & high all over Europe. ー I observe the Reason for Willcombs taking from you so much Money, which is obvious to me. My Brother [Samuel] White is yet detain'd in Boston & no Prospect of his getting out, as all Communication is Stopp'd on both Sides, but now & then, a few run away in Boats in the Night; I find he lias sold his Cargoe & obtain'd the Money. The unexpected Advance on Bills on London, have induc'd me to inclose you a Dr'ft for £ 300 sterling, that if you sh'd have Occasion to advance the Premium on the Dalton, I would not intrude too much on your Goodness of which I have had repeated Instances, or if you should not have Occasion to make that Use of the Money, it will serve to Lessen the Sum you are already in Advance for me. This Sett was sent to Boston for Sale, when the unhappy Battle of Lexington commenced, wch caused such Confusion that no Person was willing to purchase, it has therefore remain'd a Blank ever since, not having had Occasion to make Use of it, my Friends in London are appriz'd of its Date, & you may with Safety indorse it, & the next Post will hand you the second & Third of the Sett: ー

Since Willcomb sail'd, I had a Brig arrived at Baltimore from the West Indies with a Load of Molasses, which neated me there 21d Currency, free of every Charge even the Duties, & she took in 7,000 Bushells Wheat a 5/3, & saild for Falmouth the 6th Sept consign'd to my Friends Champion Dickason & Co of London; should she arrive in Safety, I doubt not of a fortunate Adventure in her, as the Crops in Europe have fallen very short ー I am sorry to find a Prospect of a Prohibition on Provisions with you, as we plac'd much Dependence on the Severity of our Winters to have bro't in large Quantities of Flour into this Province, a Plan for which, has been in Contemplation by a few of my Acquaintance, to Join in a Compy & to take up, abt 6 fishing Schooners, prime Sailors, to proceed in Rotation, either to Philadelphia or Baltimore as the Risque to either Place may appear lest, & to continue all Winter, by which Means we were in Hopes of collecting f[ro]m 6 to 10,000 Barrells before March expir'd, the Profitts on which, would be very handsome, add to which it wd greatly serve the Inhabitants of this Part of the Colony, who will certainly want that Article very much before the Spring opens, but from the Hint you gave me, we must at present put a Stop to our Proceedings untill we can have further Advice, relative to this Matter; Should the underwriters appear backward in taking a Risque on Johnson at 20 pCt you may venture a little higher rather than not have it done, as her Voyage will afford a 50 pCt Premium, but this sub Rosa ー therefore in Hopes of soon hearing from you, that this matter is finish'd to Sattisfaction, I subscribe myself, with Wishes of Health & a peaceable Enjoyment of our Possessions Your esteem'd Friend

[P.S.] [Andrew] Giddings Just arrived here in safety from your Port; left [Edward] Wigglesworth 3 days past who does not yet appear ー