Charles Inglis to Myles Cooper, 18 September 1778

Your Letter of May 30th. dated at Edinburgh, is come to Hand; & is the only one I have received from you for many Months. This I think is unkind; for you know that a Letter from you always gives me peculiar Satisfaction; & although You may not have any material news of a public Nature to communicate, yet hearing from you is a pleasure to me, & revives the Memory of past Times. You were in low spirits when you wrote last; & indeed it is not to be much wondered at. Every Person who is in the least concerned for the Honour or Interest of the Nation—for the Welfare of eithers Church or State, must be deeply affected with the present wretched State of Things; & the Reflection that our Misfortunes are solely owning to palpable Mismanagement & Blunders, is a very great Aggravation. But still we must endeavour to keep up our Spirits, & trust in the Goodness of Providence. I am not with out Hope, notwithstanding the gloomy aspect of our Affairs, that Matters will yet be right—at least better than we may perhaps at present apprehend.

Several parts of your Letter require an Answer; & I shall give You all the Information I can on each Head. You wish to have £200 Sterl. remitted from hence. I went to Mr. Lispenard on the Receipt of your Letter, & proposed the Matter to him; but he alleged that as all the College papers, Bonds &c were taken out of his Hands, he could do nothing. The Truth is that Matters here are in the greatest State of Uncertainty & Confusion. An Opinion has prevailed much, ever since the Evacuation of Philadelphia, that this Place was also to be evacuated in the Course of the present Autumn. As this would have been equivalent to giving up the Controversy at once, & acquiescing in the Independency of America, we have been filled with the utmost Anxiety; & no person could be prevailed on to part with a Shilling that he could avoid paying. I have consulted several of the Governors; but they expressed their Doubts whether any Thing can be done. We could not possibly make a Board, supposing the Interruption of our Charter were no Bar to Business; & Individuals have no Right or Authority to order. The Only Method to procure Money, is by persuading Lispenard to advance to me; & as the apprehension that this Place will not be evacuated this Winter, at least, is now pretty well over, I shall try again what can be done with Lispenard— he really has a great Regard for you. I have heard nothing from either of the Arch Bishops, or Bishop of London on the Subject of relieving the Clergy, which you hint at.

As to Your Pay arising from Your Chaplaincy to the Rose, upon Inquiry, I am told that neither the Officers, nor Men of any of the King’s Ships are paid any part of their Salary or Wages, whilst the ships are abroad. They must wait till the Ships are called Home, & then all are paid off. Agents however, I am told, are employed in England who occasionally advance money for their Employers. It is probable that I may soon be appointed Chaplain to a Man of War, & if I can gain any further Information on the Subject, it shall be at your Service.

Matters here are still in a State of the utmost Uncertainty. Your heard of the new Commissioners; & the Proposals they made to our goodly Congress; which, had the latter accepted of them, would be more injurious to Britain than the Independency of the Colonies. The Commissioners have transmitted Home the Congress’s Answer, which demands an explicit Acknowledgment of their Independency, on the Part of Britain. I have Reason to think that the Commissioners have recommended vigorous Measures, & to prosecute the War. Certain it is that nothing is wanting but a little wisdom in our Plans, & Vigour in the Execution of them, to crush the Rebellion. And surely Britain should have a fair Trial, & make some vigorous Exertion, before she loses her Colonies, & thereby her Importance & Dignity. Perhaps the Loss of them might eventually, as matters now stand, be the Cause of her utter Ruin. I want words to express the Indignation I feel whenever I reflect on this Subject, which I shall now enlarge on; & shall only inform you of what you may rely on for Truth, that the Rebellion is not formidable, that it is on the Decline, & that if America is not subdued, the Reason is because G. Britain does not chuse to do it; for confident I am that she is fully able.

No Doubt You were all much alarmed upon knowing for certain that Count De Estaing came to America. Providentially, all our Ships had got into this Harbour from Philadelphia, the Day before he arrived off Delaware; & the Army had also crossed from Jersey to Long Island. Had De Estaing arrived 6 Days sooner, the Consequences had probably been fatal. Being disappointed at Delaware, he proceeded to Sandy Hook, where Lord Howe had collected all our naval Force, & arranged it so judiciously, that De Estaing durst not venture in. There he remained 10 Days, without doing any other Mischief than taking a few Fishing Boats, & retaking some Prizes that were coming here; & then proceeded to Rhode Island, to cooperate with General Sullivan, who had an Army of near 20,000 Men, in reducing our Garrison there. About 2 Days after De Estaing left the Hook, 2 or 4 caputal Ships, one of them from Byron’s Squadron, joined Lord Howe, who proceeded to Rhode Island, drew out the French Fleet; & when the two Fleets were on the Point of engaging, a most violent Storm arose, which not only parted the two Fleet’s, but dispersed the Ships belonging to each. De Estaing’s two largest ships were dismasted— others much injured, by the Storm. After the storm abated, he returned to Rhode Island, & having looked at it a few Hours, proceeded to Boston. Lord Howe’s Fleet returned to Sandy Hook, & after repairing what little Damage they sustained by the Storm, pursued De Estaing, but he got into Boston a few Hours before Lord How arrived. Byron has been very unfortunate— however his ships, after being dispersed by repeated storms, have all got into Harbours. Lord Howe is now here, & on the point of sailing for England – thus stand naval affairs.

Our Army after coming here from Philadelphia has been totally inactive—for Want of Orders to the contrary, I believe. The Garrison of Rhode Island was reinforced; & Sullivan, when abandoned by the French, thought fit to decamp, & abandon his Enterprize. Col. Butler with 1200 Loyalists & as many Indians, has been ravaging the Frontiers during the Summer. He hath done infinite Mischief to the Rebels— dispersed many of their Settlements, & spread Terror all along the Frontiers. We now wait in anxious Suspense for Intelligence from England, which will probably determine the Fate of America. Governor Johnston is going Home, after having publickly abdicated his Commission, because the Congress had resolved—“that it was incompatible with their Honour to hold any Intercourse with on Matters relating to Liberty & Virtue”– Many Families are going to England this Fall—among others, Captn. Monresor’s & Sam. Kemble’s.– Will you believe it? but it is a real Fact, that the Counsellor demuse, alias Wm. Smith, the Historian of N. York, is a rank Tory! He lately refused to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Rebel State of N. York; & for that Refusal, was banished by the Rebels, & now lives with Old Nick. Your Friends are all in good Health, & often mention you with affection. We have great numbers of Refugee Clergymen ere from almost every Province, & many of them, as you may suppose, in much Distress.¹ My Estate hath been confiscated by the Rebels– my Tenants pay their Rents into the Public Treasury, & Money due to me by Bond, nearly to the Amount of £2,000, has been also paid into it. In short, Nothing but utter Ruin to the Friends of Government can be looked for, unless England exerts herself.