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shew it to him, upon which he told me he had no Objection against my Prefering the Petition, but he was well assured the Consequence of it would be that I should not get any part of the Money until the 28th of next June, as by the Agreements nothing more could be required of him than to pay the money at the End of the Year in Silver, and he was ready to give Bond to do it. This being the first Time the Treasurer had put this Construction on the Agreement, I suspected it came from Otis, and that a Majority of the Council would also put the same Construction upon it, and therefore thought it not advisable to press the Petition, tho' I did not let the Treasurer know it. The Treasurer then offered to let me have 5000 dollars and the remainder in Gold, or to give you a new Security in the same Form for the remainder payable in a year, and to give Bond that the payment should be made in silver Dollars, which I pleased. I told him I would consider his Proposals and would let him know my resolution the next day, and then went to Capt. Sam'l Cary to gain some light there if I could, and he advised me to take the Gold rather than fail of remitting the money, being satisfied, as he said, you had either subscribed towards raising the last Twelve Millions, or was determined to lay out your Money in the Publick funds on a Prospect of Peace, and that in either Case it would be better for you to have your Money remitted in Gold than not at all. And the Lieut. Governor and Judge Russell being of the same Opinion before, I concluded to take the 5000 Dollars and the rest in Gold. And Captn. Sheaff1 of Charlestown, having procured two Boxes according to your directions, and also Bags, he went with me to the Treasury, and there the Treasurer and the Gentlemen appointed by Captn. Affleck counted the Money, 1 Edward Sheaffe ( -1771).

and then put it into the Bags, which were sealed with Mr. Russell's seal, and then the Baggs were put into the Boxes, which were nailed down, hooped and surrounded with Tape, sealed, Numberd and Marked as in the Bills of Lading, and Captn. Affleck having signed five Bills of Lading the Boxes were by his Order carried from the Treasury on board the Ship. Captn. Affleck took one of the Bills, as the Treasurer and Captn. Sheaff said it was proper for him to do; but upon examining your Letter I found that we were to keep one and send you four. Whereupon I got a new set of six Bills, but could not get them signed until the 14th Currant, one of which you have herewith Inclosed and shall send you three more according to your Order. The remainder of your Money here being £ [blank] and in Judge Russell's hands on Bond in your Name, he could not on such short warning procure it in Silver so as to ship it with the rest; but he says he will remit you £400 sterling in a good Bill of Exchange if he can't get the Money so as to send it by this Ship. I trust Dr. Clark apprised you of Judge Russell's taking £1000 of your Money in [blank], the reason of his doing it and that you approved of his keeping it on Interest, I having heard No Thing to the Contrary from you concerning it. Thus, Sir, I have given you as particular an Account of our doings and the reasons thereof as I could, and am very sorry your Letters did not come to hand sooner, or you had intimated to me before that you intended to send for the money; because if you had, you might have had all the money you desired remitted in dollars, which would have been of more advantage to you and saved me much Trouble and Vexation of Spirit.

Secretary Oliver having as he tells me sent you an Account of the Proceedings of the General Court with regard

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to your dismission and the Appointment of Jasper Mauduit, Esqr., Agent for this Province, I shall give you a brief Account how and by what means this was effected. Upon Judge Sewall's Death Coll. Brattle and Coll. Otis were each of them desirous of succeeding him, and made Interest accordingly; but neither of them succeeding they, on the Lieut. Governor being appointed Chief Justice, were very angry with him and every one else that they knew or suspected had not favoured their Respective Claims. Coll. Otis's Son James raved against the Governor and his Conduct so loudly as that he sattisfied the People in Boston he was a proper person to represent them in the General Court, and they chose him accordingly, and he, together with a Number of other firebrands There presently set the Government into a Flame, caused the of the Judges of the Superior Court to be judge of the Superior Court. deprived of having a seat in either house, but failing, they were determined to remove you. And for that end privately Insinuated to the Members of the house that our Dissenting Churches were in danger, that you being a Churchman were a very unsuitable Person to represent us in a Time of such eminent Danger. That Mr. Mauduit being at the head of the Dissenters in England was a most likely Person to save us from ruin. That you had Protested the Government Bills without having or giving them any reason for so doing. That you favoured the Officers of the Customs, spent your Time in solliciting their Affairs in England, and neglected the Affairs of the Government, and would not write to the Government, tho you did to your Private friends, with many other things as false and Injurious, and on Monday, the 19th of April in the Afternoon, that Party Taking the Advantage of a very

1 Stephen Sewall (1702-1760).

thin house and the Absence of your Friends, moved that you might be dismissed, and then obtained a Vote for it without any Time being previously assigned for taking that matter under Consideration. And it was against the rules of the house to take any matter of Consequence under Consideration on a Monday, and the next morning that Vote was concurred by the Council; but the Lieut. Governor, Secretary, and so many others opposed it, so that it was carried by a bare Majority of a very thin Council, and the next day the Governor consented, and then they chose Mr. Mauduit. And whether he will accept or not I know not; but if [he] should refuse and they should hereafter Choose you, I can't again desire you to accept the Trust, but hope you will settle your Accounts with them in England and not again trust to the honor or Justice of those who have treated you so basely.] And after you have done yourself Justice, I hope we shall have the Pleasure of seeing you here in peace. I have only to add that your daughter 1 is impatient to see you here, that she is well and behaves in all respects as well as can be reasonably expected or desired, and that I am with the Greatest Esteem, your most obedt. humble Servt.

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E[DMUND] TROWBRIDGE.]

P. S. I am obliged to you for the Book you were so good as to send me. I am surprised you are alive considering the Infinite Labours you must have been at. If you stay in England untill the Work is Compleat I fear I shall never see you more. It's a great pity so good a work should not be finished by the same carefull hand, but am very loath you should kill yourself doing it.

1 Frances Shirley, who married Charles Western of Riverhall, Essex, and was the mother of Charles Callis Western, Baron Western (1767–1844).

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THOMAS CUSHING TO JASPER MAUDUIT

BOSTON, October, 12th, 1762

SIR, Suffer me (tho' a stranger) to express the Satisfaction your letter to Mr. Secretary Oliver gave me, by which I learnt, you had determin'd to act as an Agent for this Province; As the Character I had obtain'd of Mr. Mauduit by some friends here and by being a Member of the General Court, first Induced me to employ what little influence I had to promote your Election, so Duty to my Country and Regard to you, Sir, require me to contribute all in my power to render the execution of so important a trust agreable to yourself and happy for the Province you represent. If therefore I shou'd take the Freedom to offer you a few Hints I hope it won't be disagreable. Presuming upon your Candor, I would beg leave to Observe, that it woud be agreable to the Court to be advised relative to their affairs as often as possible, and the more particular and circumstantial your Informations are the more agreable. I observe you write the Secretary only and omitt writing to the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and as all Publick Letters are signed by the Secretary in the name and by the order of the General Court, I am not surprized, you shou'd conclude that he was the only proper person to direct to, and altho' properly considered this omission is of no great consequence, yet as it was Mr. Bollan's constant Practice to write to the Speaker at the same time he wrote the Secretary and to give the same Information Verbatim to the one as the other. If this practice shoud be discontinued perhaps the House may construe it as a neglect. Mr. Bollan's friends are doubtless uneasy at his Dismission (tho' the good People of the Province in generall are well

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