Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1876 — A Hitherto Unpublished Letter of Washington to John Hancock. [ARTICLE]

A Hitherto Unpublished Letter of Washington to John Hancock.

The Centennial year will probably bring to light many valuable historical papers relating to the struggle for independence—papers that have heretofore been preserved in private families, and the existence or preservation of which have not been publicly known. Below is given a copy of a letter of this kind written by WasntngttmlrrJt*hH«nt!6ck/Gbve« , nor of Massacnusetts during the Revolution. The letter ia dated New York, July 11, 1776. At that period the Northern Continental Army, as it was called, under the command of Washington in person, was in possession of this cityjpreparing to resist the landing of Lord Howe’s fleet, then on its way here from Great Britain. To defend the city against invasion, Washington summoned to his assistance all the troops then available in the Eastern and Middle States. His letter to Hancock is a call for re-enforcements from Massachusetts, and is as follows:

N*w Youk. July 11, 1778. Bib: slnce writing you on the 9th ins t., I have been honored with a letter from Congress, inclosing a resolve, a copy of which you have transmitted herewith, empowering me to call to the assistance of the army here the other two regiments of the Continental troops now in the Massachusetts Government, and not ordered In my last to be detached to join the Northern Army. lam now to request, by advice of my general officers, that you will give immediate orders not only to them, but to the three destined for the’northward, to repair with all possible dispatch to Norwich, where they will embark, it being the opinion of the general officers that it will be better for the whole, as well as the three intended for the northward, as those to re-enforce the troops here, to take this route in preference to any other. It may turn out the most expeditious, and it is certain that the men will be eased from the Ttftigues of a long and disagreeable march at this hot and uncomfortable season. It will be necessary that you should write Mr. Huntington at Norwich to prepare as many vessels as will bring the whole of ’em. The Quartermaster and Commissaries you will give the proper orders, so that they may provide in each of their departments such supplies of necessaries for the route as may be wanted. 1 have just now received your favor of the 4th Inst, with the several inclosures. It is extremely unlucky that the small-pox should prevail in the army at this time, but such is the necessity that every possible succor should be given to the troops here, and those at the. northward, at this critical period, that it is the sentiment of myself and other general officers that the whole of the regiments that are not infected with the disorder should be instantly forwarded. The calamities that would flow from its being communicated to the whole army are too obvious to need mention, and you will, therefore, direct that the utmost care and attention be used to prevent those that are well from taking the infection, and for this and that thev may be kept separate and apart from those that have the disorder. Every precaution will not be more than necessary to prevent the fatal consequences that will attend their bringing and spreading it at this time, and I trust that nothing in your power to prevent it will be wanting. Such of the men whb are down with it, and those you may suspect have received the Infection, you will put under a proper officer or officers, to whom you will give orders to proceed with them to thlrjdace as early as possible after they are well and clear of the infection. The company, or such part of the train of artillery as are there, must remain, in case they should be wanted. I request that you will have an accurate and exact return made of all the military and other stores belonging to the Continent, that I may be enabled to transmit it to the Board of Warand-Ordnance, agreeable to their order. You will charge the Commissary or conductor with the care of them, and that he will remain and guard them in a safe and secure manner. He must be active and vigilant in his duty, so that nothing may be lost or injured. I am, sir, very respectfully, yourmostobedientservaht, ~ — Gbo. Washington.

This letter is written on foolscap paper, and covers four pages, with the British coat of arms and the crest of King George stamped in water-marks on the paper. It is »n a good state of preservation, but is yellow with age. The letter was inherited by Mrs. Grace Denny Williams, of Leicester, Mass., a descendant of Hancock, and a granddaughter of the revolutionary heroine who melted her clockweights and molded the lead into bullets, that her sons might go forth to battle. When Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited the United States in 1852, Mrs. Williams presented the letter to him as a testimonial of her regard for his appreciation of Washington’s character. On leaving the country, Kossuth left the letter in the possession of his friend and admirer, Horace Greeley, bv whom it was given to the writer.—A. T. ~Mer™ry. „

The apple tree takes the rawness and wildness off any scene. On the top of a mountain or in remote pastures it sheds the sentiment of home. It never loses its domestic air, or lapses into a wild state! And in planting a homestead or in choosing a building site for the new home, what a help it Is to have a few old, maternal apple trees near by; regular old grandmothers who have seen trouble, who nave been sad and glad through so many winters and summers, who have blossomed until the air is sweeter about them than elsewhere, and borne fruit till the grata beneath them has become thick and soft from human contact, and who have nourished robbing and finches in their branches till they have a tender, brooding

look. The ground, the tUrf, the atmosphere of an old orchard seem several stages nearer to man than those of the adjoining field, a* if the trees had taken back from the &6H more than they had taked from it; as if they had tempered the elements and pttiacted all the genial and beneficent itiflOeriees In the landscape around.— John Burroughs ; “ Winter Sunthitu." ’ The raising of Angora goals in California has become a'profitable industry.- One man has a flock of 8,000 goats. The wool is sent to Jamestown, If. Jfci .where it is manufactured into dress goods by the alpaca mills. -Asbestos, plumbago and copper have been found recently m McDowell County, Jf. p.