218 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.

Letter Bk. IV

Williamsburg College & is represented to be a very worthy
man I have applied for His Ldp's Leave to give him a Parish
in this Province where if he behaves well he might hereafter
expect better preferment than there is in Virginia where the
Livings are pretty equal. In answer to the postscript added
to your Letter in pursuance of a Message sent you by His
Ldp I can only say that I have from time to time pressed the
Agent & Rent Roll Keepers to make out & transmit perfect
Rent Rolls & Accounts of His Ldps Revenue agreeable to
the Instructions given them & they have as often assured me
that they were diligent in making put such Rent Rolls, but that
in order to make the References required there was a neces-
sity for examining all the Land Office & Provincial Records
Page by Page which is a tedious Task & must be repeated for
every County Rentall & they now tell me that besides the six
Rent Rolls already finished there are others in such forward-
ness that you may expect to receive three or four more by
some of the Ships that will sail hence in the Fall & they
promise me that they will not slacken their Diligence till the
Rolls are all compleated. With regard to His Ldps Supposition
that Persons might be got to farm the Quit Rents without any
Salary or Commission or at most for a Commission of Six p^r
Cent I have told His Ldp that if he pleases they shall be set
up to the Best Bidder but at the same time I believe no Body
will offer to farm them on lower Terms than are at present
allowed, for the obliging the Sheriffs to farm them at Ten p^r
C^t is really considered as a Burthen on that Office in almost
every County & I do assure you that I could not find a Man
last year in Frederick County who would accept the Sheriffs
Office on that Condition, so that I was under a necessity of
appointing a Person who lived in Prince Georges County &
who was the only Man I heard of that would be tempted by
the hope of Gain from the Sheriffs Office to farm the Quit
Rents of Frederick County, & I wish he may not have reason
before the End of the three years to repent of his Under-
taking for his three Predecessors in the joint Offices of Sheriff
& Farmer are said to have been Losers by them: it being
impossible for them to collect many Rents for which they are
obliged to account to the Agent, or at least not possible for
them to collect some of them without more Expence & Trouble
than such Rents amount to. His Ldp seems to think that the
Farmers might gain something considerable by receiving the
Rents at their own Valuation but that is really impossible for
as there was an Order given & published in the late Lord's
Time that where the Tenants had not Sterling Money they
might discharge their quit Rents in Dollars at four shillings &
sixpence each & in Gold at £3 17 6 p^r oz All the Farmers