General Charles to Lord Barrington

v2:1058

Philadelphia, June 22, 1775.

To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount BARRINGTON His Majesty' s Secretary at War:

MY LORD: Although I can by no means subscribe to the opinion of divers people in the world, that an officer on half pay is to be considered in the service, yet I think it a point of delicacy to pay a deference to this opinion, erroneous and absurd as it is. I therefore apprize your Lordship in the most publick and solemn: manner, that I do renounce my half pay from the date hereof. At the same time, I beg leave to assure your Lordship; that whenever it shall please His Majesty to call me forth to any honourable service against the natural hereditary enemies of our Country, or in defence of his just rights and dignity, no man will obey the righteous summons with more zeal and alacrity than myself; but the present measures seem to me so absolutely subversive of the rights and liberties of every individual subject, so destructive to the whole Empire at large, and ultimately so ruinous to His Majesty' s own person, dignity, and family, that I think myself obliged, in conscience, as a citizen, Englishman, and soldier of a free State, to exert my utmost to defeat them. I most devoutly pray to Almighty God to direct His Majesty into measures more consonant to his interest and honour, and more conducive to the happiness and glory of his People.

I am, my Lord, your most obedient humble servant,

CHARLES LEE.