Sir:

Mr. William Fields informs me you have as Commissioner, for the Sale of Confiscated Estates, in the District of Salisbury, advertised the sale of sundry Tracts of land lying in Rowan, Surry and and Randolph, which were before the late war his property, and by him conveyed to his sons, tho' the Deeds were not acknowledged or proved until his return to this State.

The Deeds from him and his Wife to his sons, with the Resolutions of the General Assembly respecting his lands with an order of Randolph Court, he has laid before me, from whence I am induced to believe those lands ought not to be sold as Confiscated property, because, if the Deeds from him and his wife to his sons are judged to be fraudulent, then the order of Randolph Court in pursuance of the Resolution of the Assembly, restores the lands, which were his, not sold to him, and altho' every necessary step, may not have been regularly taken to establish the title in him, yet these Documents shew the intention of the Assembly, and in my opinion the Lands ought not to be sold. However, in this you must pursue the mode pointed out by Law as I would not be understood to mean to contravene it; on the Contrary, I wish the intention of the Assembly to be attended to; and as I said before, it clearly appears to me, they intended the Court of Randolph should determine respecting Mr. Fields' Lands, and of course their determination ought to govern. Was it my own case as Commissioner I should certainly defer the sales until I received the particular orders of the Assembly on that subject.