to this moment. This state of the season has occasioned some inconvenience from the resort of the Indians, who by the failure of their usual hunts, have almost been in a starving condition. I have the honor to be, &c.

Rt. Honble.

Lord Dorchester.

J. G. SIMCOE.

FROM ANTHONY WAYNE TO THE WESTERN INDIANS.

GREENVILLE, 14th January, 1794.

To the Chiefs and Warriors of the Delawares, Shawanoes, and Miami Nations or Tribes of Indians, & all others whom it may concern.

Brothers.

I have received your verbal Message sent by Stephen Young, George White Eyes and another Warrior who were accompanied by Mr. Robert Wilson as your Interpreter.

If Peace is your Object & the wish & desire of your hearts why did not you or some of the principal Chiefs of Your Nation or Nations come forward and speak for yourselves?

The Ears & Heart of the President of the United States (General Washington) are ever open to the voice of Peace, & he has instructed me his Chief Warrior to listen to that welcome voice from whatever quarter it may come, provided it comes from proper Authority & from the Heart.

But as you have only sent a verbal Message by your Runners and as the Delawares, Shawanoes, Miamis & Wyondots have for a long time shut the Ears & hardened their hearts so as not to permit that good voice to enter or to be heard altho' often repeated at different times by several Paths & strongly & loudly reechoed by the Commissioners of Congress & by all the Chiefs of the Six Nations assembled in Council at the Rapids of the Miamis of the Lake last summer. It will be necessary that you give convincing & unequivocal proofs of your sincere wish & desire for Peace by bringing & delivering up all & every of the American or White Prisoners now in your Possession to the Officer commanding at Fort Recovery, i.e.-on the same ground where the Action of the 4th of November, 1791 took place & that on or before the next full moon which will be on the 14th of February, i.e.—in the course of thirty days from & after this date & immediately sending off Runners to call in & restrain all & every of your Warriors from committing any Murders, Robberies or depredations upon any of the Inhabitants or Citizens of the United States or upon any Escort, Party, or Parties of Troops on their Way to or from any of our Posts or Garrisons wheresoever or whatsoever.

In the mean time the Path shall be kept open so that you may have a free Communication between your Towns & Fort Recovery (the late field of Battle) the only path by which you can come, always taking care to shew a White Flag which my Warriors are ordered to pay particular respect to & receive you as friends & to guard you safe from harm or danger both in coming to that place & from thence here & in returning to your Towns.

All foregoing conditions being punctually complied with upon your part I shall then be convinced of your peaceable dispositions & my heart & Arms will be open to receive & meet you at this place on or before the 14th of February the day above

mentioned in order to fix & determine upon a proper time & place for holding a General Treaty.

In the mean time it is to be well & perfectly understood that the progress of this Army is not to be retarded or molested in its advancing but shall be permitted to move peaceably & quietly with all its aperatus, provisions & stores & every Article & thing necessary for holding the Treaty.

Thus will the door be opened for establishing a permanent & lasting Peace founded upon former Treaties & on the solid basis of honor, equity & Justice & to the mutual interest & entire satisfaction of all parties.

And thus will the War hatchet be buried so deep that it can never again be found. From your Friend & Brother,

ANTHONY WAYNE. Major General & Commander in Chief of the Army of the United States of America.

Endorsed:-In Lt. Govr. Simcoe's No. 21 of the 28th Feby, 1794.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM AN OFFICER IN THE WESTERN ARMY TO A GENTLEMAN IN HARTFORD, DATED FORT WASHINGTON, JANUARY 16, 1794.

This goes by an express, who is charged with dispatches from the Commander in Chief, on a very interesting subject to the United States. As Congress are now sitting, they will undoubtedly have the contents before them. Those, who are for peace with the savages in this country, are in high spirits. On the 11th inst., an old Stockbridge Indian, with an Irish merchant, made their public entrée into the cantonment of Green Ville under a white flag. The yellow ambassador speaks very good English. He says that in consequence of what a Mr. Wells (a spy and Indian interpreter to our army) told an old squaw, who he had taken prisoner and sent back, "that the United States were yet willing to treat", he was sent by the Delawares, Tauwais', and some other tribes, to see the Great War Chief, and to know if this report was true. He further says that if a negociation can be set on foot, they will treat with us. That they are now tired of the war, and that they are sorry they did not listen to our commissioners last spring. They were received by the Commander in Chief, and treated with a proper manner-told of their weakness and the great power of their adversaries; the Irish merchant remained as a hostage. The Indian with a gentleman belonging to the army went out to meet some chiefs, who were at a small distance from the cantonment. In the evening of the 13th they returned with a son of Buckangelew, the chief of the Delaware nation, and another warrior of equal distinction; from these circumstances we may at least conclude that the enemy are at least serious in their overtures. This corresponds with the intelligence I have lately had from the Indians, thro' a channel that may be depended on. They are a cunning, subtle people and should be cautiously guarded against, at the same time our reputation as a free and liberal nation, might suffer, did we not, even at this period, establish them as our friends and allies.

1 Ottawas.

I suppose you have been made acquainted with the proposed expedition from Kentucky against the Spaniards; the French agents are now in this country, working up materials. I am told by a respectable gentleman from Danville that 1000 men are absolutely engaged in the State of Kentucky on that business. I hope something may be done to prevent operations of the kind, as if entered into, they must be attended with disagreeable consequences.

Sir.

(Printed in the New York Daily Gazette, 4 March, 1794.)

FROM PETER RUSSELL TO J. G. SIMCOE.

NIAGARA, 17th January, 1794.

I am very sensible of the honor your Excellency has done me in supposing that any suggestions of mine may contribute to the public utility. I am persuaded however that no observations have or can occur to me which your Superior abilities have not already anticipated; else you may be assured that my situation, gratitude and inclination would have equally prompted me to communicate them without being called upon.

The only subject I have presumed to trouble you with my opinions upon was the state of the current Money of this Province, to which my Office of Receiver General has naturally drawn my attention, and I wish I could suggest to Your Excellency a Remedy, as easily as I can account for the scarcity of Specie in circulation. For having scarcely any thing besides gold and silver to give in return for the foreign commodities our necessities demand, it is obvious that their appearance amongst us cannot be of long duration. Consequently the very trifling quantity that is annually sent hither to pay the officers' Salaries and the incidental Expences of Government is eagerly snatched up the instant it gets into circulation, either to complete the Remittances of the Lower Canada Merchants or to purchase Cattle and smuggled Goods from the people of the American States; from neither of whom does any part of it ever return, and as I have lately had the Honor of mentioning to Your Excellency in conversation, the standard for most Gold Coins being at least 14 per cent lower in the States than here (as His Excellency Governor Simcoe is shown in the annexed Table) and the surplus grains being always paid for in change, the latter have this additional Inducement to keep from us all they can lay their hands on. Such constant Drains could not fail to cause much difficulty and inconvenience to the Inhabitants of the Province, if several of the principal Traders had not thrown into Circulation a quantity of their own Notes, to supply a sort of substituted Medium for carrying on its internal Commerce.1 However as these Notes are generally made payable at one day in the year (10th October) and the Holder has consequently no means of securing himself should the Credit of the Drawer meet with any intermediate shock, they ought certainly to be suppressed if possible. For altho' the greatness of the Risk is manifest to every one, yet their Circulation (Being of necessity submitted to for mutual Convenience) will probably still continue to the Ruin perhaps of many, unless Government can fall upon some means of rendering it unnecessary. But how to effect

1 In the new settlements of America an inconvenient scarcity of specie was an usual complaint, and Upper Canada was not an exception to the rule. In such cases direct barter prevailed, and sometimes produce had to become legal tender. This scarcity of specie and dependence on direct barter, although now less common, was a daily custom in some remote parts of the Province within the memory of persons still living.

this is the Question? The only feasible means that occurs to me at present is either to cause a certain Quantity of Gold, Silver, and Copper to be coined for the peculiar Service of this Province or to permit Paper Money to be struck off and emitted under the authority and sanction of the Legislature. I am not indeed ignorant that both of these have been formerly tried in the time of the French Government, with some fatal consequences to several Individuals. The Evils, however, which then happened, appearing to have been more the result of Mismanagement, Villainy, and the almost Bankrupt State of the Royal Treasury than anything intrinsically bad in the Modes themselves, may without doubt be easily avoided.

For if no more of either Money is introduced into Circulation than the annual Expenditure of Government may amount to, and the Merchant finds no difficulty in purchasing its Bills with this money at a fixed Exchange for his April and October Remittances, there will, I trust, be little danger of either Currency sinking in value, unless the Ingenuity of Forgers and Coiners should prove superior to all our Precautions.

Now it will be obvious to Your Excellency that no coined Money can possibly remain with us, unless a nominal value is given to that in Circulation, which shall exceed its intrinsic worth, at least so much as may be necessary to render the carrying it out of the Province a losing Trade. And if no more of this sort of Money is coined, than what may be sufficient to pay the Troops of Upper Canada, the Civil List, and the incidental Expences of Government for one year (which may amount, I imagine, to about twenty thousand pounds Sterling) and the Coin accruing from the Coinage (perhaps £6,000 Sterling) be applied to the service of the Public, no injury whatsoever will be sustained from the deficiency of its real Value, and its Circulation may be supported for years without loss or Inconvenience.

It must also be equally obvious that if a paper Currency is adopted, the same Rule of apportioning the Emission to the annual Disbursements of Government should be as strictly adhered to as in the former case; lest more of it may happen to remain in Circulation than the Public Demands may require. For should that at any time happen, the Receiver General and Paymaster may possibly not be prepared to furnish the Merchants with Bills of Exchange for the whole of the Current Money they may bring them, and they in consequence be obliged to part with the surplus in their hands to others at a loss; which is a circumstance that should undoubtedly be guarded against by every means possible.

I shall not take up Your Excellency's time by entering into a more diffuse detail upon this Business, as I flatter myself you will very fully comprehend my Ideas on the Subject from these outlines, and readily judge from them whether either of the schemes are practicable and worth pursuing.

FROM THOMAS GREY TO J. G. SIMCOE.

My Dear Sir:

NEW YORK, January 18th, 1794.

I arrived here on the 8th of this month since which time I have been in daily expectation of sailing for the West Indies.

The vessel which Congress dispatched last August to the National Convention, requesting that Mr. Genet should be recalled is returned to Philadelphia. The answer she brings has not as yet transpired but is generally supposed to be favorable to the requisition of the United States. Mr. Genet immediately published a bulletin announcing the capture of the Duke of York and his Army and Toulon's being retaken. This was sent express to Mr. Hauterive, the French Consul here. Unfortunately a vessel from Ostend had arrived the day before which brought accounts directly opposite. These efforts to rouse the people I understand are not uncommon. The consequence of them is a mob's assembling in the street, marching to the coffee house with another gentleman when they were in the height of their joy.

The only change in the Government of this Country since I was here last, has been occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Jefferson whose place is supplied by Mr. Randolph, formerly Attorney General.1

The Governor in his Speech to the Legislature at Albany, expresses his concern at not being able to congratulate them on the flourishing condition of their Western Settlements, the commerce being greatly injured and the agriculture retarded by the detention of the Posts, and observes that in defiance of all treaties, individuals held lands in the United States under the taxation of the British Government. He alludes I imagine, to the saw mill which is bobbing up and down on Col. Ogden's' property. You know he said he would make a state matter of it.

I have the honor to be &c.

Endorsed: Col. Grey.

THOS. GREY.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM COLONEL MCKEE TO COLONEL ENGLAND, DATED FOOT OF THE RAPIDS 21ST JANY, 1794.

"I take the earliest opportunity that has offered since my arrival here to inform you that the Reports which were in circulation in Detroit relative to the Conduct of the Indians in this part of the Country seem to be without any foundation except that at Christmas or New Year's day some Munseys were importunate for a few Bottles of Rum which one of the Traders for some time refused but at

1 Edmund Randolph, 1753-1813, son of John Randolph, the last royal Attorney General of Virginia, who was an unwavering loyalist and fled to England in 1775 to end his days; a delegate to Congress, 1779-82; Governor of Virginia, 1786-8; Attorney General of the United States, 27 Sept., 1789-2 Jany. 1794; Secretary of State, January, 1794 until August, 1795, when his resignation was required by Washington in consequence of a captured despatch from Fauchet, the French Ambassador, which indicated that he could be bribed to favour that country.

2 George Clinton, Governor of the State of New York.

3 Samuel Ogden.