There is no doubt of its being approved by all the colonies; but there has been manœuvreing in order to produce the necessary disposition among the New-Yorkers; of which you will form the best idea from the following letter, written the beginning of May, from New-York, in answer to one of the preceding month from Philadelphia—“Soon after I received your letter, I sent for colonel Sears, Mr. John Smith and some others, whom I knew to be staunch, to spend an evening with me, that I might converse with them upon the subject (supposed to be that of taking up government.) It would not do to show your letter, or even hint that I had received it; but an opportunity for introducing the subject soon offered. A captain of my guard came and reported, that the committee of safety had sent some persons to the main-guard, who had no complaint lodged against them. I immediately sent to the committee, and they sent a sub-committee to wait upon me. I asked them what charge they had to lay against the prisoners. They informed me one was a collector who had not accounted for the money he had collected, and had abused their congress. The others were in for different crimes. I told them that I could by no means consent to have free citizens subjected to trials by court-martial. They must try them by proper courts, if such there were; and if not, the offenders must run at large, till necessity obliged them to constitute the proper courts. This opened the door for me, and I took advantage of it. The sub-committee thanked me for my care over the liberties of their fellow citizens, and owned the necessity of taking up government. Sears, Smith, &c. were strongly of that opinion, and all went home perfectly satisfied, and without suspecting the conversation was any thing more than accidental. The next day Greene and I were ordered to the jail to see some prisoners of war. There I found some persons in for robbery, and one for murder. As I found I had good success in the beginning I determined to keep on, and frequently took occasion to mention the great difficulty which must attend their present state:—that it would be tyrannical to execute those persons without a trial:—to try and execute them, by process in the name of a king, with whom we were at war, would be absurd; and if neither of these methods were taken, they must whether guilty or not suffer perpetual imprisonment. The argument took effect; and even tories themselves acknowledged it was best to take up government, till reconciliation should take place.—This doctrine pleased me well; for _I knew if government was once assumed upon whatever motives, they would find that the Rubicon was passed, and that they could never return to their ancient form_. I then, by the advice of my privy council, drew up a piece purporting a petition to the committee of safety, to request leave from the continental congress to take up government.—This piece I enclose you, and though badly wrote, it steers so directly between