Ill grounded as these Reports I am willing to believe must be, yet as they are propagated with a view to exasperate a people already too much bent on Mischief, and appear to have had the intended Effect, I hope your Excellency will by some public Act, undeceive oe deluded Persons, and hy so necessary a Means cooperate with me in preserving the peace and Tranquility of that part of the Country until his Majs pleasure shall be signifyed in respect to the New Hampshire Grants within this Province.

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AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT YATES.

City of Albany ss: Rosert Yares of the City of Albany Attorney at Law being duly sworn deposeth and: saith that he this Deponent was summoned some time Last June or July by Henry Ten Eyck Esq" High Sheriff of the City and County of Albany as part of the posse to assist him in Executing a writt of Possession for the Lands and Tenements recovered of one Brakenridge at a place called Benningtown. That he this Deponent pursuant to such summons did go to the said, that the said Sheriff was attended to within about a quarter of a mile of the said possession by about one hundred and fifty men assembled by his command for the purpose as this Deponent under-

' NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. 733

stood of Assisting him that the said Sheriff required the said Posse to proceed with him to the said Lands and Tenements; that the greater part of the said Posse did attend him near to the said place and about Twenty or Thirty persons to the House of Brakenridge, of which latter number this Deponent was one:--that when the Sheriff came to the said House; and pushed atthe Door he found the same was Locked or closed, so that entry could not be easily effected without violence and that the said Sheriff did request of those within that the said Door should be opened whe was not complyed with, That this Deponent by the assent of the Sheriff read by the Door the writt of possessien with an audible voice so that those within as he judged could easily hear him, and at the same time acquainting them that the Sheriff was there for the purpose of giving possession to the Plaintiff who had recovered the same by due course of Law, that an answer was given by those who were in the House that they would not give up the possession, that he this Deponent. represented to them the Danger which would attend their resisting the regular course of the Laws and made use of such arguments as he conceived would induce them to an acquiesence in the Determination of the Suit whereon the recovery of the possession had been adjudged in favour of the Plaintiff, but to no purpose--That this Deponent saw a number of persons South east of the said House and another party