Winthrops Commisssion as Agent of the Colony.

We the Governour and Generall Assembly of their Majesties Colony of Connecticut, in New England, having speciaal ocasion to make our humble address and petition to our Sovraign Lord and Lady, King William, and Queen Mary, whom God Almighty preserve and bless, with reference to our Charter priviledges in general, and more especialy, with reference to the militia of this Colony, And having concluded upon the said address and petition, reposing special trust and confidence in the wisdom and prudence of you Major Gen'll Ffitz. John Winthrop, Esqr, have nominated, chosen, desired, commissioned and impowered, and do hereby fully and duly nomin-ate, choose, desire, commission and impower you the aforenamed Ffitz John Winthrop, Esqr. for us and in oar behalf personaly to appear before our said Sovraign Lord and Lady, the King and Queens Ma'ties, or such others as under them may so have cognizance of our said affair, and unto them to present our said humble adress and petition, and before them to transact what you have in instruction, relating to the said affair or whatever else may seem to you or your counsel-oars reasonably conduceing to the ends of the said address and petition, and if by the Providence of Almighty God, you are hindred from makeing your personal appearance, then to appoint and impower such other person or persons in your stead, as may to you seem reasonable, and by al due indeavours to obtain their Maj'ties gratious approbation of our government as established by Charter, and especialy the command of the militia here, be not altered from us to persons. of other provinces, but continued with us as hitherto it hath been, and to that end, to answer and reply to whatsoever may be objected against the same, and to act and do in al things lawful in the premises and matters whatsoever shall prove reasonably necessary, w'ch we will accordingly hold for good.

Dated in Hartford, in New England, 1st day of Sept. Anno. Dora. 1693, and in the 5th yeare of their Maj'ties Reigne, and given under the seal of their Maj'ties Colony of Connecticut, and signed,

ROBERT TREAT, Gov'r.

JOHN ALLYN, Secretary.

Instructions to Agent Winthrop.

Instructions for the Hon'ble Major Generall Fitz John Winthrop, Esqr. from the Governour and Generall Assembly of their Majesties Colony of Connecticutt, in New England.

1st, Hon'ble Sr, be pleased to take notice of the Commission you have from us, and our address and petition, to their Majesties, our Soveraigne Lord and Lady, King William and Queen Mary, in the Generall scope and purport of them whitch is to retaine our Charter priviledges, and in speciall, the use of the militia to avoyde trouble from male contents at home and the overruleings of strangers abroad by obteyning their Ma'ties con-firmation of us or what other countenance they shall please to give us in these respects.

2dly. You are to remember we have layd into our Treasurers hands a supply of money for your Hono'rs service in the affayre, which please to draw out as you see cause and have occasion, onely we advise not to transport any considerable summs, but to remit it to England by Bills of exchange as you please.

3dly. We entreat and advise that you take the soonest and safest opportunety to transporte yourself to London, and that you be in all respects accomodated according to your quallity and busi-nesse soe far as our poore abillity will admitt.

4thly. That you take with you besides our address, your commission and these instructions and such other books and papers as the Governo'r and Councill may give you, or yourself foresee may be usefull in your negotiation, particularly a copy of our Charter, one of our Law Books, printed, and maniescript to represent the constitution of the militia and other our concerns, and a narrative of the fidelity we have used in the warrs from first to last, to satisfy their Ma'ties that we have given good proofe of our industry in that poynt in speciall.

5thly. That you indeavour as speedy an ad-mission unto their Ma'ties, or Councills, audiences as may bee, first informeing yourselfe whether any new occurrences there, have happened respecting us.

6thly. We know you canot forget or be unacquainted with the various designements from and for both Yorke and Boston, which you are to have ey upon, as they may influence upon us, and use and avoyde them as is most conducive to your owne business.

7thly. You will doe well to observe what is most gratefull and pleassant at Court and cast your application into the mould of prudence to render it most acceptable, speedy and successfull.

8thly. That you indeavour to make what just interest you may with persons that may help forward your purposes.

9thly. That on your audience (if God shall grant it,) you give a more dilated demonstration of the chiefe things in the addresse either oraly or by writeing or both, as you see best, and especially that you labour to sattisfy their Ma'ties that our condition and useage is such that we cannot be in any other figure without generall discouragement, and what is next to ruein unto us, the demonstration of which may much avayle, and that there is and hath been a generall satisfaction amongst their subjects here in the forme of Government by the charter, and a serviceableness resulting from it, which will be we suppose the satisfyeing the subjects of their Ma'ties in things not unjust nor detrimentall to their Ma'ties interest, will weigh much in the issueing it, and among other demonstrations, you may make of the acquiessence of the people in theire present settlement, you may aledge that of about three thousand men in the Colony, about two thousand two hundred perticularly appeared to make this address, and most of the rest concluded to agree, though by private occasions, and not by their respective town meetings; the known generall voyce for it at the revolution when Sr Edmund Andross was at Boston, their quiet under it ever since; the pawcity of male contents and among them few have facts of value for any good qualification, so that were it not for three or four persons there is no appearance of any considerable, and that these appeare possibly in the magnifyeing glass of some neighbours representations in England far greater then they are.

l0thly. You must informe their Ma'ties of the state of the Militia here that it is far different from what it is in England, namely that all male persons from sixteen to sixty years of age are souldiers, and so necessitated to be from the scatterednesse of the country, fewnes of us all, and dangers from enemies, so that to order the Militia here to the Governo'r of an other Province, is to deliver us up as to our persons intire to such other Governo'r; none save Magistrates, Ministers, Physitians, Millers and impotent persons will be left, and this we conceive may avayle much for the continuance of the Militia as it is and hath been, and the great wages we pay souldiers, thirteen shillings a weeke in dyet and wages to a private sentinell.

11thly. You may see cause to acquaint their Ma'ties of the great distance we are at from Boston and Yorke, and the necessary inconveniencies resulting therefrom if the rule of the Militia be in other hands then some of their subjects here resideing.

12thly. The necessary dependance of the civill Government on the power of the Militia in this far distant country, so that it will hardly be executed, here, or at the best be very despicable, and consequently rendered difficult to discouragement.

13thly. The difficulty of capitulating and setling any articles or tearmes for the use of the Militia for the defence of the Colony support, or executing the civill part of the Government, with the Governour of an other jurisdiction in which we are or may be subject to be over ruled on all occasions.

14thly. You may urge as farr as is fitting any thing you may be advised of as our right in Law to the use under their Ma'ties of the Militia here, so that if justice or prudence, both or either may hold it to us we may retayne it since we look on ourselves as next to undone if we have it not.

15thly. If you be interogated why we complayned not with Sr Wm. Phips his Lieutenancy, you may reply that he never came on the place, nor acted on it farther then to give a copy of his commission and to inquire who were our officers In commission, and that we haveing a commission (so to call our charter) could not judge it our duty to wave it, at least till we had been heard in the matter before their Ma'ties, whose justice and clemency we know to be so great, especially since no order to us from their Ma'ties about it,

17thly. You are to assure their Ma'ties that the Militia here is and shall (with all the prudence and faythfullnesse God shall give us) be improved to their Ma'ties best interest, and that we have ayded and shall ayde to our abillity our neighbours at Boston and Yorke with the same. 18thly, You may give an accompt of our ayde sent to Albany when yourself was there, which was a juncture that required the secureing the five Nations of Indians, and keeping the French at least, at home, and when that Government was so dissetled that then there for secureing their Ma'ties interest, we voluntarily spent above two thousand pownds and lost severall men, besides Capt. Bulls expedition who Garrisoned there at Albany when Senecktaga* was surprized.

19thly. You are to informe that our scituation is such that the townes up the river are ours, and a great part of the New England fronteer and an ordinary way of the Maquaes+ return from Canada, and where from Canada divers incursions have been made and are continually feared, which we are continually put upon guarding and releiving, for which reason the less is to be expected to be done by us elsewhere.

20thly. Allso our continuall danger by the sea coast, where are but few men for so long a shoare.

21st. If on advice you find our address arid petition to their Ma'ties not so advantagiously drawne as may be, you may draw another, keeping the same generall purport with that, and signe and present and manage it in our behalfe according to these our instructions.

22d. You may opportunely mix and link in your discourses, the hard adventures of our predecessors and selves, our full establishment, our unchangeablenesse to the Crown, our peaceableness with our neighbours, with what other good character your Honour can truely and modestly make us on this occasion, so necessarily requireing it, and that the sence and dependence of theire Ma'ties subjects is, that they shall not now at least be frustrate of the ends of so good and chargeable and extreemly laborious a settlement as they are arrived at.

Many other things may occurre as necessary in this transaction, which we generally leave as we doe these instructions to your Honours prudence and that of the gentlemen with home you shall have occassion to consult herein.

And we pray your Honour to use all opportoneties for a good and speedy issue, and that in the interim you give us by all seasonable occasions of conveyance an accompt of your transactions, our prayers shall waite on the Throne of Grace for your conduct and a blessing in a happy resolution of these matters, and your Honours safe and happy returns. Sr, we are your Hono'rs friends and Humble Servants.

ROBERT TREAT, Governour.

JOHN ALLYN, Sec'ry.

The 16th article being slipt, is here inserted.

16th. You may represent to their Ma'ties that we have no temptation to hold the use of the Militia from any sinister ends, as proffit &c., but merely for our safety and peace, &c.