Sr.

I use the freedom from the former acquaintance I had with your Person, to request the favr of a correspondance by Letters, if the present difficulties have not taken up yr attention so far as to disable you to comply as being upon an Island have Not an Oppy of geting the right of any Story, & you being placed in such a Station as to be knowing to all that transpires; so various are the accots. we have here, that there is no knowing which is right, we have heard that it past a Resolve, that no provision should be brought to this Island & that all communication was to be stopt. I understand that they censor us as Tory upon the Main, & charge us with supplying Tom Gage with Provisions, it is all fals, there has never been any kind of Provision whatsoever gone from here to Boston, except three Barrels of Flour which Wm Rotch sent as a present to three Widow; which he sent the time that Capt Richd Coffin went down to bring Geyer & Burgess's Ship that was carried there by a King Ship. I must acknowledge that our leading Men, have been very backward in not vindicating the Charrecter of the Island, but let so many false storys pass about & not take notice of it As to the inhabitance here being Tory, they are not, but as well wishers to the Cause contending, as any sett of People whersoever, but the Situation of this Island is Such as will not admit of our doing anything except we pack up our all & abandon it, we are no way capiable of defending ourselves, from even an Arm Schooner with twenty Soldiers on board, did we not make it evident to Capt [Joshua] Davis when he came on here for Whale boat with his Hundred Men? did we not supply them with all the Powder, ball & Guns that we had, we did & that am knowing too, Several Men whose principles were such as would not admit of there Supplying any person with instruments of War, never objected or shew any dislike when thier Clarks or any other took out of thier Stores powder & Lead to Supply the Soldiers with, What has there been requested of us, that we have not comply'd too? you have never ask'd Men of us, when ever men are Necessary from this Island, I doubt not but we shall be able to turn out a Hundred or More of as good Marksmen as any of the Rifle Men & men who wants not for courrage. It very much surprisd me to hear that that half Starv'd [torn] the best times Baree River should resolve at their Town Meeting Not to Supply us with any of the Necessarys of Life, they never had one tenth part of provision enough to subsist on among themselves, but carried from here the Chief of their support, without us they would all Starve in a heap, since their Resolves there people has been obligd to bring over here all the Cash they could muster to purchase beef Pork flour &c. which they us'd to get by bringing over Homspun Cloath, Stocking, thread &c those that are not able to purchase a barrell of any kind have been about to the Private Houses & beg'd them to Share five or six pound Pork & beef & seven pound flour, Molls Sugar &c in the same manner & acknowledge that if the communication is not soon free again, that many of their poor people will suffer, many whose sole dependance was in bringing over fruit & roots to purchase beef with is now cut of[f] by the rash & inconsiderate resolve what I have freely scrawld upon this Sheet hope you'l not expose to the speculation of any for want of time & my paper falling Short conclude in Subscribing myself your Friend &[c.]

Doctr Nath Freeman at Sandwich