<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-99.77B ACCT LTTR
<SEQUENCE>2
<FILENAME>auditor.txt
<DESCRIPTION>AUDITOR
<TEXT>
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT To the Trustees and Shareholders of John Hancock
Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II: In planning and performing our audit of the
financial statements of John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II (the
"Fund") for the year ended October 31, 2002 (on which we have issued our report
dated December 6, 2002), we considered its internal control, including control
activities for safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements
and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR and not to provide assurance
on the Fund's internal control. The management of the Fund is responsible for
establishing and maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the
expected benefits and related costs of controls. Generally, controls that are
relevant to an audit pertain to the entity's objective of preparing financial
statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Those
controls include the safeguarding of assets against unauthorized acquisition,
use or disposition. Because of inherent limitations in any internal control,
misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. Also,
projections of any evaluation of internal control to future periods are subject
to the risk that the internal control may become inadequate because of changes
in conditions or that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may
deteriorate. Our consideration of the Fund's internal control would not
necessarily disclose all matters in internal control that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of one or more of the internal control components does not reduce to a
relatively low level the risk that misstatements caused by error or fraud in
amounts that would be material in relation to the financial statements being
audited may occur and not be detected within a timely period by employees in the
normal course of performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no
matters involving the Fund's internal control and its operation, including
controls for safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses
as defined above as of October 31, 2002. This report is intended solely for the
information and use of management, the Trustees and Shareholders of John Hancock
Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and
is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these
specified parties. Deloitte & Touche LLP Boston, Massachusetts December 6, 2002

</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
