[Extract]

my dear Col. I received your Letter with great pleasure, tho contrary to your expectation it paid postage to the hated Post office. as the constitutional post now goes regularly, we may with a safe conscience say how d'ye to each other. It gives me concern to hear that you are withdrawing from public business; upon my word, this is not a time for men of abilities with good intentions to be only spectators, if we cant do all the good we cou'd wish, let us at least endeavour to prevent all the mischief in our power. Your good friend Ld Dunmore is endeavouring to raise all the powers on earth to demolish poor Virginia. We have advice, that at his earnest sollicitation a fleet may be expected this fall to ravage our defenceless plantations & burn our little Towns, And we have lately discover'd a plot of his & [John] Connolly's, which is to be executed in the following manner. Conolly despairing of getting up the Country through Virga or the Carolina's, is to go to St Augustine from thence to the Creeks & Cherokees, and through all the tribes to Detroit, by general [Thomas] Gage's commission he is to have the Garrison & Cannon of that place, & the assistance of the french at that settlement with all these he is to form an army in the spring, & march to Pittsburgh, from thence to Alexandria, proclaiming freedom to all servants that will enlist; there he is to be joined by Dunmore with the fleet & troops from England & march through the Country . . . We have given the earliest intelligence of these schemes to our Com. of safety, & hope with their endeavours assisted by the Carolinas & Georgia, that Conolly may be intercepted this fall or winter. Our military operations this campaign have been very languid from the want of powder, but we still hope our success in Canada will be such, as to cut a figure for the first essay, such measures have been taken, as give us good reason to expect a plentifull supply of that necessary article before the next spring, and then we shall be in readiness to receive the very warm attack, which from all our advices, the Ministry are preparing for us, but least then we shou'd fail in being supply'd from abroad, every man shou'd exert himself in making saltpetre. Your several plantations wou'd furnish a good deal & you know the process is easy. with plenty of powder the Victory is surely ours. ー