who have retired or may from the service of the United States and tender their services to Virginia.

The Governor submitted for advice a communication from R. H. Lorton, deputy collector at Richmond, inquiring whether and agent of the Post-Office Department shall be paid out of the funds in the hands of the said collector: Advised unanimously that the Governor abstain from making any disposition of the funds collected or to be collected by collectors of the United States until the convention of Virginia shall take some order in relation to that subject.

The Governor communicated a dispathc from General P. St. George Cocke, at Alexandria, to General Lee, in which General Cocke says that he can destroy the light-boats and remove the buoys through the pilots without military force, and asks instructions. Submitted by General Lee for the views of the Governor and council: Advised unanimously that the decision upon this matter be left to the discretion of the commanding general.

JOHN J. ALLEN.

FRANCIS H. SMITH.

M. F. MAURY.

[2.]

PRUNTYTOWN, VA., April 24, 1861.

His Excellency JOHN LETCHER:

DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned citizens of Taylor County, deem it our duty to inform you particularly of our situation and that of this region and to ask your advice and asistance. We inclose you two slips from the Wheeling Intelligencer, which will help to indicate our condition. The Grafton Virginian, the Clarksburg Guard, and the Wellsburg Herarld adopt similar views. All these papers are evidently stipendiaries of the Federal Government. There has for some weeks been maturing in this the Tenth Congressional District a conspiracy for resistance to the ordinance of secession by force of arms and for a division of the State. Many of our citizens evidently encouraged and united in the plan before the passage of the ordinance of secession, and now, however, that they are on the brink of action, their resolution fails, yet outside of this county that resolution seems unabated. We are glad, however, to have it in our power to say with sincerity and truth that a large majority of the people of the northwest are opposed to division of the State, and that at leas half of those people will ratify by their votes the action of the convection. In Taylor County we have at least 500 reliable men.

With this preface we now come to the point which is now nearer to our immediate necessities. We are here actually in danger of subjection and humiliation to the force of our enemies form the States of Ohio and Pensylvania, and also from our own neighbors, and we have no arms; not a single musked of the State is in our ocunty. We have one volunteer organization at Fetterman, in this county, the Letcher Guard, but it is wholly unarmed. We are in the act of forming a volunteer company or battalion of volunteers of all ages as a home guard; and now we implore you to take measures to send us at least 200 as good arms as possible as soon as may be, and also ammunition, &c., with a flag of the State. These arms, &c., should be sent via Winchester an. They may be directed to the commandant of the One hundred and nineteenth Regiment (who is truly loyal to the State), care of J. K. Smith, Fetterman, Va., and from Harper's Ferry they should have a guard. By all manner of means these arms should