Milborne with whom our souldiers at Albany we hear are disgust & ours here are not well satisfied, the chiefe officer must be generally acceptable as well as otherwise well qualified & if Major wintrop be eyther not attainable or not acceptable to your Hon^ we desire you will accept some other person whom the bay sheargent may propose which if you doe we shall rest in it or that your Honr propound some other the most considerable you have, we have character Major Mc . . . may be of good improvement tho not Chiefe commander, if your Hod^ think him serviceable he is within your trusting, your dispath by sea ag* Canada are highly necessary to give our endeavours by the lakes the more easie, if the small pox gett into the army, it will be the disabling our proceedings from Albany, therefore great care should be used to prevent it, & if it should gett head, we must consider how to draw our forces ag* our enemies by sea or otherwise as God shall direct while they are clear of that distemper, we desire you will grant the master of our vessel! with his provisions & men your pass conduct and directions up Hudsons river to Albany as he may need or shall desire, we have not to add [any thing more] & that we are your affectionate friends the Gov. & Council [& by] their order signed
p: John Allyn Secretary
[The P. S. to the above is almost wholly destroyed.]