Sum you requested by the Post as early as I expected & will I trust be a sufficient Appoligy for the Delay. I now Transmit you by Mr. Montanye the Post--£220 in English Guineas & if you will do me the Honor to pay me a Vissit the latter End of next Week, I will discharge your whole Account as certified by the Treasurer. This I flatter myself will be no small Inducement; & remember Delays are dangerous. My best Respects to Mrs. Yates, in which Mrs. Clinton joins me & believe me to be with great Regard & Esteem, Dr Sir, Your Most Obed. Servt. His Honble. Mr. Justice Yates. THE GOVERNOR TO MR. CHIEF JUSTICE MORRIS. Dr. Sir, If you will do me the Honor to call upon me any Time next Week I will discharge your Account as certified by the Treasurer of which I am possessed. With best Respects to Mrs. Morris in which Mrs. Clinton joins. me, I am Dear Sir Yours sincerely The Honorable Chief Justice Morris. Geo. Clinton. THE CHIEF JUSTICE DIRECTED TO REPAIR TO WESTCHESTER COUNTY WITH ALL POSSIBLE DESPATCH. Chief Justice Morris Pokeepsie, 15th May, 1783. Dear Sir, After I had put up the enclosed Yesterday Evening I received a Letter from Sir Guy Carleton in Answer to one I had last Week addressed to him on the subject of his withdrawing the British Troops from West Chester County so that the Jurisdiction of the State might then take Place, by which I am in formed that the British Troops should be withdrawn from that County on the 13th Instant, & none sent there in future but such small Parties as may be employed to escort Supplies going in to the British & that Those shall cease as soon as any of our Civil Officers shall notify to the Genl. Commanding at Kings Bridge that they are no longer necessary. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the most effectual Measures be immediately adopted for reducing to Order & good government a Country which has for so long a Time been without Law, the Scene of Violence & Outrage, & for this End as well as to guard agt. any Violent Infraction of the Provisional Treaty of Peace between us & Great Britain, I have to request that you will, agreable to your Promise, repair to that County with all possible Dispatch, & that on your Way thither you will give your Attendance at a Council I propose to be held at this Place on Monday next two o'clock P. M. American Troops will be advanced to cover & support the Civil Authorities. Your money is ready. I am &c. [No. 5059.] The Council in Meeting at Poughkeepsie Protests Against Sir Guy Carleton's Indifference. At a Meeting of a Council at Pokeepsie in Dutchess County, on Tuesday the 20th of May 1783, pursuant to the Act entitled "a Supplementary Act to the Act to provide for the Temporary Government of the Southern Parts of this State whenever the Enemy shall abandon or be dispossessed of the same, and until the Legislature can be convened " Present His Excellency the Governor: Mr. Chief Justice Morris Mr. Justice Hobart Mr. Scott, [John Morin] Mr. Platt [Zephaniah] Mr. Ward [Stephen] Mr. Harpur, [Robert] Mr. Williams [John] Mr. Wickes [Thomas] Mr. Duer, [William] His Excellency the Governor laid before the Council his Letter to his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton of the 7th Instant and his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton's Letter dated 13th Instant in Answer thereto; which being read & considered: Resolved, that this Council approve of his Excellency the Governor's Letter of the 7th Inst. to his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton. Resolved, that the Military Controul Exercised by his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton, over the City and County of New York, Staten Island, Suffolk, Kings and Queens Counties on Long Island (comprehending a Tract of Country of upwards Two thousand square Miles) appears to this Council more Extensive than is necessary for the Convenience, and Security of his Britannic Majesty's Troops, and Stores, that, with respect to those Counties it prevents at this Critical Period a Representation in the Legislature of this State, founded on the Immediate Choice of the People, that it precludes Numerous Citizens from returning to their Habitations, thereby subjecting them, and others to great Embarassment and Distress, and that it tends to keep up an Irritation of mind which may defeat the benevolent Intentions of the Peace. Resolved, therefore, that it is the Earnest Desire of this Council to obviate, as far as it may lie in their Power, these Evils; but as his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton is alone Competent to propose under what stipulations it might be Expedient for him to withdraw his Troops from any Part of the State at present within his Controul, that his Excellency the Governor be desired to request General Carleton to mark out with Precision what further Parts of the Southern District of this State he would be willing to Evacuate and what Terms, and Stipulations he would Require on such an Evacuation as a Security to the Troops, and Stores of his Britannic Majesty, till they may wish all Convenient Speed be removed from this State. Resolved, that this Council view with Regret, and Surprise the Diffidence held up in General Carleton's Letter of the 13th May to his Excellency the Governor, of the Disposition of this State to observe the Articles of Peace, and that the Connecting the Idea of Surrendering, the Jurisdiction of any Part of the Southern District of this State with a compliance with the 5th and Sixth Provisional Articles, and the Requiring Pledges of Security imply a Continuance of those Ideas of Military Coercion, which proved the source of the War betwixt Great Britain, and the United States. Resolved, As the opinion of this Council, that it is the fixed Determination of the People of this State to observe Inviolably the Articles of Peace, Entered into betwixt Great Britain and the United States: and that any Suggestion to the Contrary is highly Injurious to the Honor of this State, and may prove Suggestive of the Harmony, and Conciliation which on the Return of Peace ought to take Place. Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit a Copy of these Resolutions to his Excellency Sir Guy Carleton. [5061-5062.] Governor Clinton Forwards the Proceedings of the Council Meeting at Poughkeepsie to Sir Guy Carleton with Appropriate Comments. Poughkeepsie, 23rd May, 1783. Sir, I had the Honor to receive your Excellency's Letter of the 13th Inst. late on Thursday Evening last. I immediately requested Mr. Chief Justice Morris to repair to West Chester County in order to establish the Civil Authority in that Part of it, which you have lately relinquished and to concert with the civil Officers of the County the most effectual Measures for preventing any Act of Violence which may be construed in the least Degree against the Spirit of the Treaty and he is now on his Way thither. With respect to other Parts of your Excellency's Letter I esteemed it my Duty to submit them to the Consideration of the Council constituted by the Law a copy of which your Excellency is possessed of and I have now the Honor of enclosing you their Resolutions on the Subject. Your Excellency will perceive that the Council are equally impressed with the Idea of the Evils, which through Mr. Benson on the earliest Accounts of Peace, and since personally I had the Honor to represent to you would necessarily result from the Retention of so large a Part of the State under military Controul. It is natural to suppose that the many hundreds of People whom the War had banished from their Habitations for the Space of |