Prefatory note, followed by the letter in facsimile: p. [9]-[14] "The New York Committee of correspondence had been succeeded in November, 1774, by a Committee of observation chosen to carry out the measures adopted by Congress at Philadelphia. So disturbed were conditions in New York after the battle of Lexington that this committee proposed the formation of an association to prevent mob-rule and to support the civil authority. Accordingly on April 29th [1775] the articles of association were read and signed at a public meeting by over one thousand freeholders, freemen, and inhabitants of the city and county of New York, and a few days later the committee of the association, as nominated by the Committee of observation, was elected by the ordinary voters in the wards."--p. [5]-[6]