General Howe, on the contrary, had been strengthened, on the twelfth of July, by the arrival of his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with the long expected reinforcements for theEoyal Array j 1 and he brought, also, a Commission from the King, appointing his brother, General Howe, and himself 2 to be Commissioners for granting pardons to those of the Americans who should ask for the clemency of the Sovereign. 3 On the twelfth of August, the two fleets, under the convoy, respectively, of Commodore Hotham and the Bepulse, met off Sandy-hook, and entered

" any duration ; and that the Continental Congress will devise means of " affording the most expeditious and effectual assistance to preserve a " State, the loss of which, from its geographical situation and the politi- "cal character of too many of its inhabitants, would be almost fatal to '•the cause of American liberty." (The Convention of New York to General Washington, " Harlem, Augt. 9, 1776.")

" I am extremely concerned that the quotas of men to he furnished by "the neighboring States have proved so deficient. The busy season "and harvest, to which it has been ascribed, being now over, in a great "degree, I flatter myself, from the zeal they have heretofore manifested, " they will afford every possible assistance, They are well apprised of " the importance of tins State, in the present contest, and the necessity " of maintaining it against the attempts of the enemy." (General Washington to the Convention, " New-York, August 11, 1776.")