My Lords,

I have the honour of your Lordships of the 17th February and am extremely sensible of your favour in recommending to His Majesty my Son to be of the Council in this Province, having along with it received the Mandamus from his Majesty for swearing him into the Council, and it gives me great pleasure that my endeavours to serve His Majesty are agreable to you, and the Zeal of this Province to do their utmost for the common cause of the Colonies. Having received His Majestie's commands communicated to me by Mr. Secretary Fox to lay before Lord Loudoun a full state of the Affairs of this Province and our wants to secure the safety of this Colony, as I can't give a more satisfactory account to your Lordships, than a copy of my letter to his Lordship, I herewith inclose it to you, as it answers as fully as I can all your former Orders to me upon these heads, and do herewith also inclose to you a plan for a Fort at Cape Lookout, of which I have also sent a plan to Lord Loudoun, and a draught of the Harbour, as I had it surveyed when I was upon the spot, being just returned from thence, as to the estimate I can't give one that is satisfactory, but if the plan is approved of according to the scale I have drawn, from the price of bricks, and cheapness of piles which may be had for little more than the labour of cutting and carriage, any engineer in England may form an estimate, if workmen come from England, and negroes be employed here.

I have nothing more to add but that we are all in Peace in this Province, I am with all due respects, My Lords, &c.,