Letter from Governour Penn to Lord Dunmore

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Here follows the Governor' s letter to the Earl of Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, viz:

Philadelphia, 7th May, 1774.

MY LORD: By accounts received from the westward, since my last letter to your Lordship, I find that the disorders in that quarter are greatly increased by your Lordship' s extending the jurisdiction of Virginia to Pittsburg, and the country thereabouts; and that Dr˙ Conolly' s proceedings have been such as are very alarming, and have a tendency to put the whole country beyond the Alleghany mountains into a state of confusion. The consideration of these unhappy circumstances have induced me to send two gentlemen of my Council, Mr˙ Tilghman and Mr˙ Allen, to wait on your Lordship, in order to confer with you on this important subject, and, if possible, to conclude with you upon such measures as may restore and establish the public tranquillity until the lines and boundaries of this Province can be finally settled by his Majesty' s authority; for which good purpose I flatter myself your Lordship will not hesitate to join with us in representing to his Majesty the necessity of such a settlement. In the mean time, I am in hopes such temporary expedients may be fallen upon as may put an end to the present disturbances, secure the public peace, and quiet the minds of the people concerned in the unhappy differences which at present subsist between the Governments of Virginia and this Province.

I am, with great respect, your Lordship' s most obedient humble servant,

JOHN PENN.

To the Right Honorable the Earl of Dunmore, Governor and Commander-in-chief of his Majesty' s Provinces of Virginia, Williamsburg.