of the colony was finally sent to the Earl, with a letter explaining the delay. Joseph Sheffield, as one of the Assistants, carried the letter with the purpose of being an envoy to soothe Bellomont's anger. In February 1700, Rhode Island's agent in England, Jaleel Brenton, was likely becoming overwhelmed with his responsibilities, and Sheffield was appointed as a second colonial agent. Three months later, however, the General Assembly decided that one agent in England was sufficient, so Sheffield remained in Rhode Island. Again in February 1703, with Brenton no longer in England, Sheffield was appointed as the colony's sole agent to England, and again, two months later, the Assembly saw no need for an agent there, and the appointment was delayed until the May meeting, at which time it was dropped from consideration. Another irregularity that concerned The Board of Trade in London was the extraordinary militia power of the Rhode Island colony, though this power had been conferred by the colony's charter In 1702 Governor Joseph Dudley of Massachusetts visited Newport, claiming to act under the authority of the King as "Captain-General of all forces, forts, and places of strength." He demanded a review of the colonial militia, which was denied by Governor Cranston. In September 1702, Sheffield was appointed to a committee to draw up an address to the queen related to the colony's military forces. Using his experience of transcribing the laws of the colony, Sheffield and two others were appointed to draw up the methods and proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas in June 1703, and two years later he was on a committee to transcribe and print the laws of the colony. In 1704 he was chosen as the Attorney General for the colony, and held this position for two years, until his untimely death in February 1706. His will, written on 3 February and proved 15 days later, named his wife Mary as executrix, and named his children, who were all minors at the time. Family Joseph Sheffield's wife was Mary Sheriff, the daughter of Thomas and Martha Sheriff of Portsmouth. Following the death of Mary's father, her mother married Thomas Hazard, one of the founding settlers of Newport. Of Sheffield's children, his oldest daughter, Mary, married Samuel Arnold, a physician, the son of Caleb Arnold, also a physician, and the grandson of the first Governor of the Rhode Island colony, Benedict