Correspondence of Governor Sharpe. 219

still receive foreign Gold & Silver at such Rate, & were any
of them to refuse it & endeavour to take Advantage of the
peoples Want of Sterling Cash I am confident the Lower
House of Assembly would immediately make an Uproar about
it & either address me on the Occasion or issue a Warrant
for bringing such Farmers before them. By that way then the
Farmers can make no profit & as in order to make their
Annual Collections they must open an Account with & Dun
every Land Holder in their Counties by some of whom they
will be often put off beyond the time they are themselves
obliged to settle with the Agent & some of whom will never
pay them unless they can find Stock on the Land to distrain, I
am apt to think very little can be got by farming the Quit
Rents at Ten p^r C^t which Commⁿ does not I believe in some
of the Counties amount to Thirty pounds which is less than a
Common Clerk in this Country would ask for his Years Ser-
vice. In answer to His Ldp's question why the Receiver
General's Office is not established whereby he may gain a
View of his private Affairs I must beg leave to remind you of
what I have often repeated to you viz that Col^o Lloyds Resid-
ing at so great a Distance from Annapolis & having a Multi-
plicity of Business of his own to mind makes it impossible for
him to give that Attention to the Agents Business (itself
enough to employ any Man) as His Ldp might reasonably
require & you may remember that he made besides some
Objections to the Plan that His Ldp by an Instruction was
pleased to prescribe for his Agents Conduct. If instead of
directing Col^o Lloyd to build a Room in Annapolis as a
Repositary for Rentalls Counterpart of Leases, Annual
Accounts &c he had directed me to have such a one built, it
should have been finished long ago, & indeed as he has so
long neglected it, I have a Mind to set about it myself, but if
it was now built I do not think it would be made any use of
unless the entire Plan that was prescribed to Col^o Lloyd for
transacting the Agents Business & passing his Accounts here
annually was to be pursued & I believe you have long ago
seen enough to know that Col^o Lloyd is not one that will or
can (while he lives at such a Distance from Annapolis) execute
that plan to His Ldps Satisfaction, nevertheless he would I
suppose be much chagrin'd was he to be deprived altogether
of his Office tho most people seem surprized that having so
many Affairs & such a large Estate of his own to manage he
will on any Consideration undertake to manage anothers & it
is a doubt whether he does not by doing so really suffer con-
siderable Loss. M^r Goldsborough has for some time been at
his old Habitation on the Eastern Shore whither he retired on
Account of the Small Pox's being in Annapolis, but I expect

Letter Bk. IV