York Town Decr. 22d. 1777
My dear Sir,
Tho. the times are dull, yet its so long since I had any converse with you, that I cant help asking how you do. Your time I suppose passes sweetly on, surrounded with all the delicacies of Boston, and uninterrupted with the rude alarms of War, but is not your happiness sometimes broke in upon by the spirit of extortion which rages in your City?
In the midst of my protesting & swearing that they were the most infamous, vile, execrable, extortionate villains in this State, of any in the whole world; that they woud soon effect what the British arms had in vain attempted; in pops a Letter from our Clothing Agent at Boston informing that it was impossible to procure any supplies, for that the moderate Merchts., & Whigs too! asked £20 for what cost one. Guess my surprize & concern: you who know my affection for your Country, will readily believe I wd. not give credit to it, âtill the Letter was read twice. How happens this my friend? is Joyce Junr.2 no more?
To be serious, we are absolutely ruined, unless a remedy is found for this Evil. The Virginia Assembly3 is exerting itself. They have seized sufficient for their troops in the hands of Ingrossers, have passed a severe Law against them, & appointed a Comtee. of their body to hunt them out & prosecute. They have determined to fill up their Regts. by drafts from the young men & have laid a heavier tax than I fear they will be able to bear. The monied wretches from the other States have polluted your City; drive them off, & purify your people. By Letters from my two brors. from France we have no reason to expect any of the burthen will be taken off our Shoulders by the powers of Europe. We do not want it if we will exert our own strength. The campaign in this quarter has to be sure been very disgracefull, but we have a great many men now inlisted tho scatterâd & disordered. I hope we shall find means to collect them & introduce some (Economy & discipline; And if the States will draw the Reins of Governmt. a little tight, check the insatiable rage of avarice, & rouse their people from the present total inattention to public affairs; I make no doubt we shall put a glorious period to the contest the next campaign. Our enemy is not near so strong as heretofore & no prospect of ever becoming so; America in my opinion is stronger then ever. And yet all is lost unless our people are reclaimed. I have this day a Letr. from Wmsburg. dated Decr. 12, which has the following paragraph, which looks well. "A Vessell in 12 Days from Hispaniola brings advice, that a large Spanish fleet was arrived at that place with 12000 Soldiers; & their destination was supposed against Jamaica. It was expected war was then declared against G.B." The Tories in Phila. are much tired of their new Guests, Duche gone to Britain, Doctor Chauvet going to Jamaica. We intend to send Israel Pemberton into the City to head a party against Howe. what think ye of the scheme? Tis late, Mrs. Lee in bed & asleep but she left her commands with me to present her best respects to Mrs. Adams & Yourself, in which I beg to be joined.
Adieu my friend
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Receiverâs copy, New York Public Library.
1 Lee was one of the committee appointed on December 12 to consider Deputy Clothier General Samuel A. Otisâ letters of 26 and 29 November. Congress had approved the committeeâs report on 20 December, recommending that state legislatures take vigorous measures to suppress speculation in goods needed for the army. See JCC, 9:1022, 1042 - 47.
2 "Joyce Junior" was the pseudonym adopted by a Bostonian who in 1774 led a committee on tarring and feathering and reemerged in 1777 to drive several loyalists from the city. See William Duer to John Jay, 28 May 1777, note 2.
3 For acts passed by the Virginia Assembly during the October 1777 session authorizing the seizure of goods for the army, curbing forestalling and engrossing, and prohibiting the exportation of pork and beef, see William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia (Richmond: J. K. G. Cochran, 1821), 9:375 - 77, 382 - 87.