days since the Contractors inform'd me that the Assembly had refus'd to fulfill the Governors Engagements, and the Contract was consequently void: as it was an Affair of the greatest Importance, I immediately offer'd to advance the Money requir'd by the Terms of the Contract, but this the Contractor rejected, unless I would pay him one third more; and postpone the Delivery of the Beeves two Months, at which time they would have been of no use to me.
"Another Instance is the Agent employ'd in the Province of Maryland for furnishing their Troops with provision, who delivered it in such Condition that it is all condemn'd upon a Survey, and I have been obliged to replace it by sending to the Distance of an hundred Miles.
"This Behavior in the people does not only produce infinite Difficulty in carrying on His Majesty's Service but also greatly increases the Expense of it, the Charge thereby occasion'd in the Transportation of provision and Stores through an unsettled Country (with which even the Inhabitants of the lower parts are entirely unac-
