Watertown Feby. 7 1776 Sir,

Your favr. 19 last month Came Safe to hand.1 I2 am Very Certain our Mittle here is insufficant, for the purpose of making Cannon, even of the Smallest size. I am also Certain we shall want many more than we are at Present possest of in the Spring. I am Clear in it that it woud. be best for you at the southward, to be Contemplaiting Some Method by which we may be supplyd. I cannot send you a List of any unappropriated Cannon as they are all Disposed, off, and we have Need of many more than we have Amongts us, and I make no Doubt we must be Obligd. to Apply to you for a supply even thô we shoud. risque them by water. I refer you to The Hon. Colo. Palmer for what information is Necessary respecting 156Powder Mills, Salt Petre &c. I also Condole with you the loss of the brave & amiable Genl. Montgumry, and our repulse at Canadia. I hope you are taken every Method for the intire reduction of that important City. Please to desire Mr. John Adams to Send them Books I mentiond. to him, by the first oppo. My best regards to all your Brother Deligates, and Am respectfully your Most Humble servt.,

Moses Gill

RC ; addressed: “The Hon. Robert Treat Paine at Philadelphia”; endorsed.

1.

Not located.

2.

Moses Gill (1733/4–1800) represented Princeton in the Provincial Congress (1774–1775) and was elected to the Council in 1775, serving until 1783. At the time of his death, he was acting governor (Francis Everett Blake, History of the Town of Princeton [Princeton, 1915], 1:270–277).

Bristol Feby. 11th 1776 My Dear Sir,

I have been here for this fortnight pass erecting works for the Salt Petre business, & have now a large quantity of Meterials collected & intend to begin boiling by the middle of this Week.

The affair of Salt-Petre has had a rapid spread in this part of the Continent, since the discovery made by the Salt Petre Committee at Newburyport, and I have been so envelop’d in the matter that I cou’d never perswade myself to write you ’till now, since the receipt of your Letter of Jany. 8th. Your former Letter of Decr. 31st has never come to hand.

Your inquiries relative to my Sulphur Tour & the Salt Petre business, I intended more perticularly to have answer’d, had not Mr. Greenleaf, as he informs me, done it before. I shall therefore only mention a few circumstances, reserving the perticulars ’till I see you.

The Town of Brookfield, the place where we went to try Experiments, is fill’d with those Rocks & Stones commonly call’d the Vitriolic Pyrites & which undoubtedly contain large quantities of Sulphur, Alum & Copperas; we try’d the several Methods we cou’d with our apparatus, but we fail’d in every one except in Sublimation of the Pyrites, by which, we obtain’d a small quantity only; but I am very possitive that with proper Vessells, large quantities of Sulphur might be obtain’d; and as to Alum & Copperas that 157Town of Brookfield only will supply the demands of the Continent for half a Century. The making of Salt-Petre, as I observ’d before, from the Simplicity of the Process has spread thro’ the Provence with the greatest rapidity, & their is now scarce a Town in it but what has 3, 4 or more Salt-Petre makers, who meet with great success from Earths taken from under Old houses &c. I have made 12 lb. of Salt-Petre out of 15 lb. bushells of Earths that was taken from under our Meeting house, and I suppose the whole of the Earth that has been taken from thence has made not less than 60 lb. The Young Tisdales, Simeon & Joseph,1 have made an 100 lb. and sundry other persons in Taunton are now imploy’d in the business; in fine, the process being so generally known, every person with half a grain of common sense can now make Salt-Petre equal to the ablest Chymist.

Taunton Feby. 24th 1776

I wrote the above at Bristol with an intention to send it by the Post, but whilst I was Writing Mr. Fales, who came from Taunton, inform’d me that you was daily expected home. I therefore laid aside my pen, expecting when I came home to have had the agreeable satisfaction of seeing you here; the disappointment of which was in some measure compensated by receiving your Letters of Decr. 31st and Jany. 29th, which (more especially the scolding Introduction of the last) induc’d me to write by the first oppertunity. I have enquir’d of my Father relative to Casting of Canon, agreeable to your desire; he informs me that the fewell Sanderson made use of, was Wood, that he endeavour’d to cast as large as Nine Pounders, & the reason of his failing, arose from the cause Govr. Hopkins2 assign’d, i.e. it came to Nature in such a manner as to distroy its fluidity.

Our General Court have order’d the several Courts of Sessions & Inferior Courts thro’out the Provence to proceed on business at their usual Terms, & their has been a Number of Writs fill’d to our next March Court; but their is so much uneasiness among the people, spurr’d on by designing Men, (the Man that goes by the Name of West India Rum is very busy) that I am fearfull they will not effect it.

You’ll observe by the public papers that Good Old Elder French3 of Berkley is appointed to Command the Regiment of Militia from this County, who are call’d in to assist the Army ’till next April; this appointment, I am inform’d, was obtain’d by our Friend Godfrey’s Influence. Great God thy ways are past finding out!

157 If such Men are by God appointed The Devil may be the Lord’s anointed.

Our Court have lately made a Militia Act (which is undoubtedly a Master peice in their proceedings & does ’em great honour) by which three Major Generals are appointed thro’ the Provence and a Brigadier General in every county that contains more than one Regiment; Coll. Warren is one of the Major Generals, and Godfrey is a Brigadier for this County. This puts a final stop at once to all Military business here.

It has been observ’d by some Gentn. respecting our present General Court, that they have divided among themselves almost every Post either in the Civil or Military way that has any Profit or Honour annex’d to it. I don’t mean to observe this out of any self views or any dislike to their proceedings in general; as my Representitives I mean to reverence them, and as such I have a right to speak my opinion of them freely; but when a Body of Men plac’d at the Head of Government, descend to the mean business of Auctioneering the Public post among themselves, they must & will be dispis’d.

The making of Fire Arms is follow’d by great Numbers both in the Provence & Rhodisland: They are made in this Town, (very badly tho’) Raynham & Easton; but at Orrs in Bridgwater they have made above 500 Stands. In short, Dr. Sir, if we can keep peace among ourselves, if we can ward off the malicious shafts of Wicked & designing Men who are endeavouring our disunion, we certainly can have nothing to fear; for having every Internal Resorce for a Great & Glorious Empire, & trusting in that God, who has caerfully conducted us along the Precipice of danger, We shall finally be plac’d above Dependances on the Tyrant or the Knave & bid defiance to the World.

Brother Baylies, J. Pacis, is well & making Salt Petre. Our Friends in general are Well, & disire to be remember’d to you, perticularly J. Russell Auctioneer.4

The Bombardment of Boston takes place within 12 days from this, proberbly on the 5th of March, and I am as certain of the Town’s being carry’d, as I am of my own existance. Poor Devils. 5500 British Troops in a strong Fortefied Town, taken prisoners of War by a percel of undisceplin’d Yankees commanded by a Virginia Farmer. O! terrible.

I shall endeavour, very soon, to write you some perticulars to confute the several erroneous opinions concerning the quantity of Alkaline Ley made use of in manufactureing Salt Petre.

159

In the mean time, I remain your steady Friend & oblig’d Humbe. Servant,

David Cobb

RC ; addressed: “The Honble. Robt. Treat Paine Esqr. At Philadelphia”; endorsed.

1.

The brothers Simeon (1747–1823) and Joseph (1751–1831) Tisdale were prominent merchants in Taunton for many years. Both served in the Revolution, Simeon as a lieutenant and Joseph as a sergeant and member of the local Committee of Correspondence (Rosa D. Tisdale, Meet the Tisdales [Baltimore, 1981], 29).

2.

Gov. Stephen Hopkins.

3.

Jacob French (1712–1800) of Berkley, Mass., was a deacon of the First Church there from 1748. On Jan. 23, 1776, he was appointed colonel of a regiment to be raised in Bristol and Cumberland counties (Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the Revolutionary War, 6:72).

4.

Joseph Russell (1734–1795) had been appointed one of Boston’s four auctioneers licensed to sell goods at “public vendue” in 1773. After the war he worked in partnership with Samuel Clap. He served as town treasurer from 1790 until his death (Thwing Index).