Upon the Receipt of your Excellency's Letter of the first of January, and my orders for proclaiming of His Majesty, which I received the 6th. of February, I on the next day issued Writs for a new Assembly to meet here on the 20th. of March of which I acquainted you; on that day finding that a sufficient Number of Members had not arrived, I prorogued them from Time to time until the 31st. when a Number appeared to choose a Speaker, which Delay was fortunate, as I had recd. then no other Letter from you, and then open'd the Sessions by letting them know the Contents of your Letter, and that I every day expected to have his Majesty's orders about the Number of Troops which might be proper to raise to prosecute the War with Vigour—and thus kept them together until I recd. your next Letter of the 19th. Jany. with a Letter from Govr. Fauquier which came by Express from him and arrived here the 9th. instant, the Contents of these I laid that day before the Assembly, telling them that I hourly expected further orders by a Vessel from New york I heard that the Tamer Sloop was arrived with Dispatches for you the 15 ultto., and desired that they might consider what wou'd be the most proper fund to raise the Supply, that a Bill might be passed as soon as possible after I shod. receive His Majesty's Orders by this Means I kept them together until your Letter of the 15 of March was brought to me very providentially by a Gentleman from Virginia passing to Charles Town, who got it in the post Office in Williamsburg and delivered it to me the 16 instant 31 days after date, when the Assembly had passed most of the Bills, before them, and were clamorous to be prorogued to return home, and must have prorogued them in a few days after a 3 Weeks Session—I laid that instant your Letter before the Assembly, and pressed the early Consideration of it that no Time might be lost in passing the Supply and raising the Troops, and it was very providential that you were so full in your Letter, for the Letters from Mr. Pitt that you mentioned are not yet arrived.

However I can now with pleasure inform your Excellency that I yesterday passed an Aid Bill to issue Bills of Credit of £20,000 this Currency to raise pay and cloath a Regiment of 500 effective Men besides Officers to consist of 5 Companies of 100 Men each, besides a Company of fifty Men to be continued for 7 Months for the Defence of the Frontier. This Regiment [was] put entirely under your Excellency's & my Command to march or be sen[t] any where out of the Province—This Bill was procured by artfully making the Members believe, who had Instructions from their constituents in sever[al] Counties to pass no Aid Bill—and by their tacking a Clause of making an Agent to the Bill that it wou'd not pass; I sent them a Message that [I] wou'd pass no Aid Bill without that Clause was expunged and brought up by a separate Bill and then I wou'd pass it; this they still adhered to, so th[at] the Disputes rising between the two Houses about expunging the Clause, [the] opposing Members believed that the Bill wou'd drop in Council or that I wou'd not pass it if they insisted upon the Bill Clause, and to save Appearances and shew their Zeal they might pass the Bill which they did of which by my inclosed Speech at the passing of the Bills you will see the Altercations between the Assembly and me—The Bill in all other respec[ts] except depreciating our paper Currency by issuing so many Notes is a go[od] Bill; we got it passed in 7 days. They give £5 Bounty Money to the Soldiers enlisted, and 20 p. to each Officer; and £6 ⅌ Man for providing Cloathing & Blankets, 12d . ⅌. diem pay to each private Man, and 8d. for provisions while [in] the province, and when out of the province are allowed to same Pay as His Majesty's other American forces, but when sent abroad we can't witho[ut] great Loss pay them, as our paper Currency has no Credit out of the Province, and the Discount upon it Sure above Sterling is near Cent ⅌. Cent, so that when abroad we shall be at a great Loss for a small Subsistance for them until they return into the province, unless you cou'd procure them a small Credit upon the Sum they may expect from the Parliament, as the Province has exerted it's utmost in granting this Supply.

We shall be at a Loss for Arms. I have issued circular Letters to the Mili[tia] Colonels who had received our provincial Arms upon the Sea Coast and our Western Frontier, who wanted Arms for their Defense, to call up what Arms they can to give to the recruiting Officers, but shall want more. The Assembly have allowed no Sum to put what useless Arms are in store in order and we have few Smiths in the province who understand it, and these deman[d] excessive prices when employed, for no Artificer or Mechanic here will work [for] under Captain's pay, 6/ ⅌ diem, and their Diet, is their usual Demand—I have already named the Field Officers and Captains, and will fix the Subalte[rns] and sign their Commissions in a day or two, and shall order them out to recruit Immediately by allowing them the Bounty Money, as far as the Money in the Treasurer's hands. The Cloathing must be procured from Charles Town, the Act commences the first of May to continue to the 1st. of December. I hope they will be near completed by the End of May; and as soon as your Orders are sent to me, I shall order as many as are ready to rendezvous where required, and to march wherever Commanded, and the Remainder may follow by Detachments when raised and equipped according to your plan of Operations.

I heartily and sincerely wish they may be ready to act and be serviceable in driving the French from this Continent and their American Islands, that we may secure the Trade and Friendship of all the Nations of this Northern Continent, which will effectually deprive the French of their Naval Power and contribute to a glorious and lasting peace.

I ardently wish you equal Success in your future Operations, as you have hitherto had in your former ones, for which I depend upon the divine Providence, which has so wonderfully appeared in the Support of the Cause of Liberty and protestant Religion.