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The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925
The Calvert papers, Vol INo. 10. SECRETARY JOHN LEWGER TO LORD BALTIMORE.
[Indorsement.]
5 January 1638--9 Mr Lewger to me from St Maries.
My good Lord
I rec. yor Lopps of the 30th July: and the 2d of August, and another since by mr Poulton of the 30th July. To answere to the first. I have acquainted mr Poulton wth what yor Lopp writes touching some instruc??ns & directions to be sent out of England for the future comportmt of their part to yor Lopps right & the govermt there, but he made strange at most of them, as if he had received no instruc??ns touching any of the pticulars, & desired a note of what was written concerning them that they might conforme themselves to it in all points so far as in conscience they might, neither would he beleeve that mr more or any other should give that resolution, that a Catholique magistrate may in discretion proceed here, as well affected magistrates in the like cases doe in England. I should have beene glad to have had resolution touching those cases I sent over, thoughe without any ones hand to it, because it would much have directed me in divers occurrences & difficulties wch we meete with here. ffor the pnt, we have no differences at all, & I hope we shall have no more, where either part can avoid them; and for the errors past (wch yor Lopps
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speakes of) on the Governors part and mine, if we knew what or which they were, we should be ready to amend them, & should be glad of the proffer on their part of forgiving & forgetting of them: but we are yet confident we have committed none that we can condemne for errors either in point of irreverence or disrespect to their persons, or in violation of their liberties, as the pnt condition of the state there is. And for my owne part. I professe before Almighty God, that I am not conscious of any thing yet done out of disrespect to their persons, functions, or rightfull liberties; & that hereafter they shall find me as ready to serve and honour them as yor Lop can wish. I sent inclosed in yor Lopps packett a l?? to Mr Price, but I heare no answere at all of it, nor any thing whereby to guesse that he hath received it. Let me be so much beholding to yor Lopp as to lett him know how much I desire from him an answere of my letter; and that the onely cause of my not writing to him this yeare is want of matter to write of, he is one whom I shall ever acknowledge myselfe infinitely obliged to, and I beseech God reward him for all his charity to me & mine. ffor the wreck, the boate is laid vp at mattapanient; not worth the repairing; the beaver & peake is deliverd to the Governr as pquisites of his office of Admirall. I acquainted the Governr wth what yor Lop. wrote touching the 6l 10s demanded by mr Greene; but he saith wisemans adventure was never parted from the stock, but the proceeds of it was sent vp to yor Lop wth the rest, & that he had special order from yor Lop at the Cowes not to deliver to wiseman his part, So that it seems yor Lopp is accomptable to wisemans assignes for it, & therefore I desire to have some order from yor Lop in it, because the next winter if it be not satisfied, mr Greene will putt his complaint into the Court & without doubt will recover it; & I would rather have it satisfied without compul-
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sion. ffor the acquittances, the Governr saith he did take acquittances from wintour and Gerard and others that had their shares delivered them, and he sent them by the Dove, where they miscarried.
ffor mrs Eure's stock I have received the whole accompt from the Governr whereby there is charged vpon yor Lopp 2360l of tobacco; and vpon himselfe 2636l wch I have received of him vpon accompt; wch is in the whole, 5000 weight of tobacco, within 4l the Accompt it selfe as I remember I have already sent to yor Lop by my last dispatche. now for the disposall of this 5000 wt I am yet vncertaine what to doe wth it. Kine is a very slow profitt & when yor Lopps stock of cattell is come vpon the place, wilbe somewhat hazardous, in regard the place wilbe over stockt; except they be committed to some body in a plantation far from the towne, who will have care of providing them wth winter fodder; & I doe not yet know any couple (for the dairy will require a woman) to whom to committ such a charge. ffor the present I doe resolve the speediest way of employing it to the greatest profitt, wilbe by a stock of swine, wch may be kept some 6. mile hence at the head of St Georges river where all the cheife marshes bee in wch the swine delight; & here I intend to settle a plantation of mine owne this spring, who shall plant corne for the swine, and shall build sties and necessary penns for them, & shall lead them out to their places of feeding; & mrs Eures stock shall buy the swine, & I will keepe them for one halfe of the increase at the vsuall rate of these countries is, And if this proiect succeed, it will yeeld a very considerable revenew to her after the first yeare. To this purpose, I doe now send one of my men wth the Governr to virginea to lay out for 30. or 40. breeding sowes if they may be had; & assoone as I hear from him againe, I will in hand
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wth my plantation, & the building of sties to bring them into. If this designe meete with any difficulties I will send up mrs Eure her tobaccos into England, to returne commodities hether againe for them, if she please to employ it hether againe, for except this of the swine, I doe not know of any way to turne it to better profitt, then to drive a trade of commodities with it, wch maketh yearely returne, to good profitt, without much hazard.
The tobacco wch is due to this stock from yor Lopp I shall now pay out of mr Hawlies debt without lessning yor stock of cattell wch I have yet beene carefull to preserve. ffor the kine sent to the Governr by Sr John Harvy, I have not taken any accompt of them, because no charge, ffor those sent from Palmers Iland, they are yet whole but one steere, wch the Governr desired to have for his provisions to Kent; & the accompt of that & of whatsoever els I have received of yor Lopps, I intend to send by the Captaine. ffor the accompts betweene yor Lop and the Governr he will (he saith) satisfie yor Lop by this dispatch; as likewise he will send an acknowledgmt for the 100l for him last, wch he saith yor Lop never writt to him of afore now. ffor the Lawes I have litle yet to say to them, (more then what I have said in my diarie) till the Assembly be over; wch is appointed to begin on 12th ffebr. next. mr Smith hath sent me over a venture of 100l but the greatest part of it in liquors, wch I had rather had beene in any thing els, and if Sr John Simonds adventure be in liquors, I desire it not, because it will vndoe the colony. But in other commodities (such as I have sent to mr Smith for) I wilbe willing and shalbe able (I hope) to returne to the Adventuror twenty vpon the hundred profitt; but more I will not vndertake for. The trade of beaver is wholly now in the Governrs and the Captaines hands, without any rivall; and
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they are ioined partners in the driving of it. The deere yor Lop writes for, I am able to doe nothing in it as yet; & to promise more then I know how to pforme, wilbe litle satisfaction to yor Lop I will lay out this next spring for as many fawnes as I can, & if I gett any, I will bestow the breeding of them agt shipping goes away the next yeare. The Governors pinnace is now gone to Kent to be putt vpon the stocks, and by that time she is trimmed the Governr intends to be back againe, and to bring away in her the cattell; as first as he can. And when they come hether I intend to putt them on the other side where Capt. ffleete planted for this side wilbe over-stockt with them; & starve them all in the winter. ffor the Cedar desired, I know none here worth sending, as I told yor Lop. by my last. ffor the birds, I haue no cage to putt them in when they be taken, nor none about me dextrous in the taking of them, nor feeding of them, & I have my selfe so litle leisure to look after such things, that I can promise litle concerning them. and for the arrowes the Governr will take care, who hath all the commerce wth them, & for my part I scarce see an Indian or an arrow in halfe a yeare neither when I doe see them have I language enoughe to aske an arrow of them. ffor the clerk wch I wrote for, I am now provided wth one whom I intend to bring vp vnder me, & instruct him in the art of surveying. ffor the merchants pipe-staves, wind-mill &c I have given yor Lop some accompt in my diarie. the wind-mill & housing & garden will fall to the Governr by a composition wch I made with him afore his going to Kent, that he should defray all the charges of the expedition, & for his hazard & charge should have all the perquisites of the warre, except the cattell onely; and the pipe-staves, wch he was to have at 40s a thousand: and I thinke what he hath, he well deserved; considering the great hazards and
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vncertainties vpon wch he ventured at that time; & the great charge wch he was att. The pipe-staves the Governr intends to deale wth mr Stagge now at his coming to virginea, to take them off & to Give me bills of exchange for 40s p thousand what he getts for them above, wilbe to his owne profitt.
ffor answere to the second l??.
Your Lopps stock of cattell willbe so sufficient here by that time they are all brought from Kent that I thinke it wilbe a needlesse charge to lay out money for more in virginea. I think these wilbe as many as can bee well looked to and provided for in the winter as yett, ffor swine we need not much care thoughe virginea be shutt vp to vs hereafter, for or owne colony or Kent will provide yor Lopp of enow to begin a stock withall at any time; & when I have resolved whom to employ on Captaine ffleets side for the looking to your dairy, I shall then take some course for the stocking of that ferme with such swine too, as shalbe fitting to begin with all. And for poultry I can at this present out of my owne stock furnish yor Lopp wth 50 or 60. breeding henns at any time. ffor negros I heare of none come in this yeare. I have desired the Governr to be very earnest wth mr Kempe to spare yor Lopp out of his flock halfe a hundred ewes this yeare; & if it may be obteined from him, I will pay him out of mr Hawlies money, and next to sheepe, I thinke mony wilbe best bestowed on a stock of goates. I spake wth Mr Coply about mr dorrells goods, & he saith that mr more hath written nothing to them concerning the allowing of mr fforsters debt. and it is fitt if he desire to recover it that he send a l?? of Attorney to sue it for him, or procure a l?? from mr more that they should pay it. there is no will of mr Dorrells yet proved, nor admra?? taken out; nor Inventary made of the goods; some of them are yet remaining in my hands wch I
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wilbe accomptable for, when any one shewes a lawfull interest to demand them by, wch yet I know of none. ffor the order wch your Lop saith is taken that they of the bill shall have some temporall person, &c it were indeed a very good course for the avoiding of present difficulties; but mr Poulton (whom I acquainted wth it) doth not know of any such order taken as yet. The Vngula Alcis wch yor Lop writes for, cannot be had till the summer and then the Governr saith when he goeth to the Sesquisanongs he will endeavour to procure some. ffor the tenths I gave yor Lopp of a generall Accompt of that matter in my last; by wch yor Lop will find that I have gathred no tenths of any of the rest, & they will thinke themselves very hardly dealt withall to have it exacted of them onely; and besides I am very confident that their gaines of the trade the last yeare will not allow any paymt out of it; neither vpon the whole trade wch they have entred in my booke will the tenth amount to any considerable matter; so that wth your Lopps leave I intend to forbeare the exacting of it, till further order from yor Lop especially so long as they comply (as they doe begin) wth yor Lops service here. ffor the housing wch yor Lop directs to be sett vpp, I intend to sett it in hand with all speed, on Captaine ffleets side; wch yor Lop shall doe well to deale wth the Captaine at his coming into England to exchange it wth yor Lop for mr Hawlies house &c if your Lop can compound wth mr Hawlies heire for the escheate, if you can hinder the Captaine from obteining that house by any other meanes then yor Lops grant, he will exchange Capt: ffleets marmor, and all the mannors in the country rather then let St Peters goe (so they call mr Hawlies hour) to wch he is so much affected for the Saints sake that once inhabited it. I have remembered the Governr to give yor Lop some information in his next touching the country beyond the falls of
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Patowmeck; and he hath promised to doe it, and hath putt it vpon his memorandmus.
ffor the bounds betweene vs & virginea the Governr hath already laboured it in virginea, & he hath promised to give yr Lop an accompt of it by the next likewise.
ffor answere to the third; the Governr hath vndertaken to give yr Lop satisfaction by sending vp the whole accompt: by wch (as I gather) nothing wilbe coming for mr medcalfe to dispose of to mr Copley.
Litle els I can think of at this time, my humble service to my Lady, mrs Eure, mr Peaselie, and mrs Peaselie; my prayers to Almighty God for his blessing on our yong Prince and mrs Anne; & he multiplie so much happines on your Lopps head as is wished by
Yor Lops most obliged servant
John Lewger
St maries this 5th January
1638.
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