My dear freind & brother, whom with yours I alwaise remember in my best affection, and whose wellfare I shall never cease to comend to God by my best & most earnest praires.  You doe throwly understand by our generall letters ye estate of things hear, which indeed is very pitifull; espetialy by wante of shiping, and not seeing means lickly, much less certaine, of having it provided; though withall ther be great want of money & means to doe needfull things.  Mr. [Edward] Pickering, you know before this, will not defray a peny hear; though Robert Cushman presumed of I know not how many 100li. from him, & I know not whom.  Yet it seems strange yt we should be put to him to receive both his & his partners [William Greene’s] adventer, and yet Mr. Weston write unto him, yt in regard of it, he hath drawne upon him a 100li. more.  But they is in this some misterie, as indeed it seems ther is in ye whole course.  Besids, wheras diverse are to pay in some parts of their moneys yet behinde, they refuse to doe it, till they see shiping provided, or a course taken for it.  Neither doe I thinke is ther a man hear would pay anything, if he had againe his money in his purse.  You know right well we depended on Mr. Weston alone, and upon such means as he would procure for this commone bussines; and when we had in hand an other course with ye Dutchmen, broke it of at his motion, and upon ye conditions by him shortly after propounded.  He did this in his love I know, but things appeare not answerable from him hitherto.  That he should have first have put in his moneys, is thought by many to have been but fitt, but yt I can well excuse, he being a marchante and haveing use of it to his benefite; whereas others, if it had been in their hands, would have consumed it.  But yt he should not but have had either shipping ready before this time, or at least certaine means, and course, and ye same knowne to us for it, or have taken other order otherwise, cannot in my conscience be excused.  I have heard yt wen he hath been moved in the bussines, he hath put it of from him selfe, and referred it to ye others; and would come to Georg Morton [in London] & enquire news of him aboute things, as if he had scarce been some accessarie unto it.  Wlether he hath failed of some helps from others which he expected, and so be not well able to goe through with things, or whether he hath feared least you should be ready too soone & so encrease ye charge of shiping above yt is meete, or whether he hath thought by withhoulding to put us upon straits, thinking yt therby Mr. Brewer and Mr. Pickering would be drawne by importunitie to doe more, or what other misterie is in it, we know not; but sure we are yt things are not answerable to such an occasion.  Mr. Weston maks himselfe mery with our endeavors aboute buying a ship, [the Speedwell], but we have done nothing in this but with good reason, as I am perswaded, nor yet that I know in any thing els, save in those tow:  ye one, that we imployed