USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution > Part 19
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We extract from the minutes of the Assembly, parts of messages between the council and the Assembly, in order to show the manner in which these bodies treated each other, and to give somewhat of the form and colour of
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the times. Thus the cuoncil, in their address to the Assembly of the 19th of February, 1750, say-
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"The Assembly, in their message, and in their address to his excellency, accuse us of having taken liberties upon us; as to which we think we have taken nonc, but what were our just right to take. But the liberties the As- sembly have taken with his Majesty, with his excellency, our governor, with the magistrates of this and other counties, and with us, by those papers, and during this and former late sessions, (as will appear by their minutes) and by spreading base, false, scandalous, and injurious libels against us; we be- lieve all sober and reasonable men will think unjustifiable-God only knows the hearts and thoughts of men. They have, it seems to us, even not left that his province uninvaded ; for they take upon them to suggest our thoughts to be not out of any great regard to his Majesty's instruction, that we hare been led to make our amendment; but to exempt our large tracts of land from taxes; when they well knew, that a majority of this House, are not owners of large tracts of land ; and those who have such, do declare, they never had the least thought of having their lands exempted from taxes, con- sistent with reason and his Majesty's instructions."
The House, in their democratic pride, did not deign to reply directly to this reproach. But they ordered an cutry to be made upon their minutes, declaring, " That it would be taking up too much time, at the public ex- pense, for the House to make any particular answer thereto; nor, indeed, is it necessary, when considered, that the message itself, will discover the coun- cil's aim, in having the improved part, only, of tracts of land taken an account of, in future taxation; which, if admitted, would exempt the unim- proved part of such tracts, from paying any part of the public tax : So that, should a gentleman be possessed of a tract of ten thousand acres of land, in one tract, worth ten thousand pounds, and only fifty acres of it improved; and a poor freeholder should be possessed of a tract of one hundred acres, only, worth but one hundred pounds, and fifty acres of it improved ; the poor frecholder must pay as much as the gentleman; and this we may venture to say, (without invading the province of God, which the council are pleased to charge us with,) would be the obvious consequence of the bill, in question. if passed in the manner the council insist ; and why, a poor man, worth only one hundred pounds, should pay as much tax as a gentleman, worth ten thousand pounds, will be difficult for the council to show a reason; but at present, we may set it down as a difficult and surprising expedient, indeed, to favour the poor.
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" The council, instead of making it appear, that they have a right to amend the bill, as they have repeatedly resolved they had, have unhappily fell into the railing language of the meanest class of mankind; in such a manner, that had it not been sent to this House, by one of their members, no man could imagine that it was composed by a deliberate determination of a set of men, who pretend to sit as a branch of our Legislature. For, to- wards the close of the above said message, they charge us with having taken liberties with his Majesty, with his excellency, our governor, with the magistrates of this, and other counties, and with our having spread false, scandalous, and injurious libels against them; the said council; which, they say, they believe, all sober and reasonable men, will think unjustifiable. What liberties we have taken with his Majesty, otherwise, than to assert our loyalty to him, in our address to the governor, we know not: What liberties we have taken with the governor, unless it be, to tell him, the true reason of the government's being so long unsupported, and to represent the public grievances to him, for redress, we know not : What liberties we have taken with the gentlemen of the council, other than to tell them the truth, in modest,
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plain English, we know not: What liberties we have taken with the magis- trates of this and other counties, unless it be to inquire into their conduct, unon complaints, and after a fair and impartial hearing, to represent their arbitrary and illegal proceedings, for redress, we know not ;- and wherein we have been guilty of spreading false, scandalous, and injurious libels against the council, we know not. Therefore, it will be incumbent on them, to point out, and duly prove, some undue liberties we have taken, and libels spread, before any sober and reasonable men, will be prevailed on to con- demn our proceedings, as unjustifiable; which we think they will not do, upon the slender authority of the council's insulting message to this House; which, in our opinion, is so far from being likely to prevail on any sober and reasonable men, to believe the false, scurrilous, and groundless charges, therein alleged against us; that it will rather discover the council to be men at least under the government of passion, if not void of reason and truth; and, until they recover the right use of their reason again, it will be fruitless for this House to spend time in arguing with them."
As it was now obviously impossible that the public business could pro- ceed, whilst these important branches of the government ceased to treat each other with ordinary respect, the governor prudently dissolved the Assembly. The new House, which met on the 20th of May, 1751, consisted of a majo- rity of new members, and was earnestly disposed to despatch the affairs of the province, as they evinced, by the passage of the quota bill, in a form, which dissipated the objections, that had hitherto prevailed against it; classi- fying lands, according to their quality, and making all which could in any way be deemed profitable, liable to taxation, at a rate depending on their class. "This difficulty was scarce removed, before another, partaking of the same character, arose. In the adaptation of a new act, for the support of the government, to the principles furnished by the quota act, the council assumed the right to amend the bill; though such right had always been peremptorily denied them, by the House, in relation to all money bills, and in the present case, their amendments were unanimously rejected. As this was a point which the Assembly were resolute to maintain, they sought to get over the delay by making the governor a party to the bill, in their favour; and for that purpose, after it had been returned by council, sent it up directly, to him, that he might place it again before that body, accompa- nied with his influence for its passage. This course would have brought the form of administering the government back to that which it possessed, before the alteration made by Governor Morris, when the governor sat and debated with the council. But Mr. Belcher, declining to receive their bill, the House, unable to progress with it, was prorogued, and the public treasury still continued empty. Nor was it until February, 1752, after a delay of near four years, that a bill for the support of the government, received the approbation of every branch of the Legislature.
VIII. The treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, which, in Europe, was but a hollow truce, was scarce regarded by the French, in America. Eager to extend their territories, and to connect their northern possessions with Louisiana, they projected a line of forts and military positions, from the one to the other, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. They explored, and occupied the land upon the Ohio; buried, in many places, through the country, metal plates, with inscriptions declaratory of their claims; * caressed and threaten- ed the Indians by turns; scattered liberal presents, and prepared to compel by force, what should be refused to their kindness.
* In 1750.
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IX. In their Indian relations, the enterprise and industry of the French, were strongly contrasted with the coldness and apathy of the English. After the peace of 1748, the latter discontinued their attentions, even to those Indians they had induced to take up arms. They suffered the cap- tives to remain long unransomed; their families to pine in want, and utterly disregarded the children of the slain; whilst the former, attentive to the vanity and interests of their allics, dressed them in finery, and loaded them with presents. Their influence over these untutored tribes, might have been greater, had they not sought to convert them to the Catholic faith; for the Indians fancied, that the religious ceremonies, were arts, to reduce them to slavery .* The French had, by this policy, succeeded in estranging the Indians on the Ohio, and in dividing the councils of the Six Nations; draw- ing off the Onondagoes, Cayugas, and Senecas. Their progress with these tribes, was rendered still more dangerous, by the death of several chiefs, who had been in the English interest, and by the advances of the British in the western country, without the consent of the aborigines.
X. In prosecution of their views of territorial acquisition, and seduction of the Indians, the French attacked the Twightees, and slew many, in chas- tisement of their adherence to the British and protection of English traders. The Ohio Company having surveyed large tracts of land upon the Ohio river, with the design of settlement, the governor of Canada remonstrated with the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, upon this invasion of the French territories; and threatened to resort to force, unless the English traders abandoned their intercourse with the Indians. These threats being disre- garded, he captured some traders, and sent them to France, whence they returned, without redress. He also opened a communication from Presqu'isle, by French Creek, and the Alleghany river, to the Ohio; and though the Six Nations forbade him to occupy the Ohio lands, he contemned the present weakness of those tribes.
XI. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, learning that the French designed to proceed southward, from Fort Venango, on French Creek, resolved to despatch an agent, for the double purpose of gaining intelligence, and remon- strating against their designs. For this duty, he selected Mr. George Wash- ington, then a young man, under twenty years of age. He left the frontier, with several attendants, on the 1 1th of November, 1753, and after a journey of two months, over mountain and torrent, through morass and forest, braving the inclemency of the winter, and the howling wilderness, and many dangers from Indian hostility, he returned, with the answer of Legardeau de St. Pierre, the French commandant upon the Ohio, dated at the fort, upon Le Bœuff river. The Frenchman referred the discussion of the rights of the two countries to the Marquis du Quesne, Governor-in-chief of Canada; by whose orders, he had assumed, and meant to sustain, his present position. From De la Joncaire, a captain in the French service, and Indian interpreter, Washington received full information of the French designs. They founded their claim to the Ohio river, and its appurtenances, on the discovery of La Salle, sixty years before; and their present measures for its defence, had grown out of the attempts of the Ohio Company to occupy its banks.
XII. The British ministry, instructed in the views and operations of the French nation, on the American continent, remonstrated with the Court of Versailles. But, whilst that court publicly instructed the Governor of Canada to refrain from hostilities, to demolish the fortress at Niagara, to deliver up the captured traders, and to punish their captors, it privately informed him, that strict obedience was not expected. Deceived and insulted, the English
* MSS. Journals of Conrad Weiser. Penes mc.
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monarch resolved to oppose force to force; and the American governors were directed to repel the encroachments of any foreign prince or state.
The English force in America, numerically considered, was much greater than that of the French; but divided among many and independent sections, its combined efforts were feeble and sluggish, whilst the French, directed by one will, had the advantages of union and promptitude, and drew the hap- piest hopes from the boldest enterprises. To resist them, effectually, some confederacy of the colonies was necessary, and common prudence required, that the affections of the Indians, towards the English, should be assured. A conference between the Six Nations, and the representatives of the colonies, was ordered by the ministry under the direction of Governor De Lancy, of New York. Governor Belcher communicated this order to the Assembly of New Jersey, on the 25th of April, 1754. But the House refused on this, as . upon every other occasion, theretofore, to take part in the Indian treaties; assigning as a reason, that their province had no participation in the Indian trade ; professing, however, their readiness to contribute their assistance to the other colonies, towards preventing the encroachments of the French, on his Majesty's dominions, but declaring their present inability to do aught, on account of the poverty of their treasury. The reluctance which the Assen- bly displayed upon this subject, together with their rude reply to a remon- strance from the governor, provoked him to dissolve them.
The Six Nations, although large presents were made them, were cold to the instances of the confederate council, which met on the 14th of June. Few attended, and it was evident that the affection of all towards the English had diminished. They refused to enter into a coalition against the French, but consented to assist in driving them from the positions they had assumed in the West, and to renew former treaties.
XIII. In this convention of the colonies, several plans for political union were submitted, and that devised by Mr. Franklin, of which the following is an outline, was adopted on the 4th of July. A general colonial government was to be formed, to be administered by a president-general, appointed and paid by the crown; and a grand council of forty-eight members to be chosen for three years, by the colonial Assemblies, to meet at Philadelphia, for the first time, at the call of the President. After the first three years, the number of members from cach colony was to be in the ratio of the revenue, paid by it to the public treasury ; the grand council was to meet, statedly, an- nually, and might be specially convened, in case of emergency, by the presi- dent. It was empowered, to choose its speaker, and could not be dissolved, prorogued, nor kept together longer than six weeks at one time, without its consent, or the special command of the crown; with the president-general, to hold or direct all Indian treaties, in which the general interest of the colonies was concerned, and to make peace and declare war with Indian nations :- to purchase for the crown, from the Indians, lands not within particular colo- nies :- to make new settlements on such purchases, by granting lands in the King's name, reserving quit-rent to the crown, for the use of the general trea- sury :- to make laws regulating and governing such new settlements until they should be formed into particular governments, to raise soldiers, build forts and equip vessels of war; and for these purposes, to make laws and levy taxes :- To appoint a general treasurer, and a particular treasurer in each government; disbursements to be made only on an appropriation by law. or by joint order of the president and council; the general accounts to be settled yearly, and reported to the several Assemblies :- Twenty-five members to form a quorum of the council, there being present, one or more, from a ma- jority of the colonies :- The assent of the president-general was requisite to
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all acts of the council, and it was his duty to execute them :- The laws enacted were to be as like as possible to those of England, and to be trans- mitted to the King in council for approval, as soon as might be after their enactment, and if not disapproved within three years, to remain in force. On the death of the president-general, the speaker was to succeed him, and to hold his office until the King's pleasure should be known. Military and naval officers, acting under this constitution, were to be appointed by the president, and approved by the council, and the civil officers to be nominated by the council, and approved by the president ; and in case of vacancy, civil or mili- tary, the governor of the province in which it happened, was to appoint, until the pleasure of the president and council should be ascertained.
This plan was submitted to the board of trade in England, and to the As- semblies of the several provinces. Franklin* says, its fate was singular. The Assemblies rejected it, as containing too much prerogative; whilst in England, it was condemned as too democratic. Had it been adopted, the projector might have been famed as the forger of a nation's chains, instead of the destroyer of a tyrant's sceptre. f As a substitute, the British ministry proposed, that the governors of the colonies, with one or more members of the respective councils, should resolve on the measures of defence, and draw on the British treasury for the money required, to be refunded by a general tax, imposed by Parliament, on the colonies. But this proposition was deemed inadmissible by the provinces. The "plan of union," as adopted by the Congress, was laid before the Assembly of New Jersey in October. The House voted that if it should be carried into effect, " it might be preju- dicial to the prerogative of the crown, and to the liberties of the people." They instructed their agent, at court, to petition the King and Parliament against its ratification.
In the mean time, Virginia had raised three hundred men, under the com- mand of Colonel Fry and Lieutenant Colonel Washington. The latter marched with two companies, in advance, to the Great Meadows, in the Alleghany Mountains ; where he learned, that the French had dispersed a party, employed, by the Ohio company, to erect a fort on the Monongahela river; were, themselves, raising fortifications at the confluence of that river with the Alleghany, and that a detachment was then approaching liis camp. It was impossible to doubt of the hostile intentions of this party, and Washington resolved to anticipate them. Guided by his Indians, under cover of a dark and rainy night, he surprised the French encampment, and cap- tured the whole party, save one who fled, and Jumonville, the commanding officer, who was killed. Soon after, the whole regiment, the command of. which had devolved on Mr. Washington, by the death of Mr. Fry, was united at the Great Meadows; and reinforced by two independent companies of regulars, the one from South Carolina, and the other from New York .- It formed an effective force of five hundred men. Having erected a stockade for protecting their provisions and horses, the troops marched to dislodge the enemy from Fort Du Quesne. But their progress was arrested by informa- tion of the advance of twelve hundred French and Indians. As the Ameri- cans had been six days without bread, had but a small supply of meat remaining, and dreaded the enemy would cut them off from their stores, they resolved to retreat to their stockade, to which they gave the name of Fort Necessity. Colonel Washington began a ditch around this post, but ere he could complete it, he was attacked by the French force under Mon-
* Memoirs.
1 Cupli cripuit fulmen scrptrumque tyrannis.
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sieur de Villiers. The troops made an obstinate defence, fighting partly within the stockade, and partly in the ditch, half filled with mud and water, from ten o'clock in the morning until dark, when De Villiers demanded a parley, and offered terms of capitulation. During the night, articles were signed, allowing the garrison the honours of war, to retain their arms and baggage, and to return home unmolested. The last clause was not strictly kept, the Indians harassing and plundering the Americans during their re- treat. The courage and conduct of Washington, on this occasion, were greatly applauded; and the Assembly of Virginia voted their thanks to him and his officers. The French retired to their post on the Ohio .*
The attack, on the part of Jumonville, without summons or expostulation, was deeply reprobated by the French. Whilst peace prevailed between the two nations, hostility, they said, should not have been presumed. They have called the death of that officer, an assassination, even in the capitulation of Fort Necessity ; the attack on which, they state to have been made, in con- sequence of the outrage upon their advance party. These allegations are refuted, by a review of the conduct of the French, since the development of their designs upon the Ohio. The capture of the persons and property of the settlers, at Logtown, and of the Indian traders, wherever found in the western country, afforded conclusive evidence of their intention to try the disputed title by force; and they could not, justly, complain of the reply to their argument.t
With great industry, the French completed Fort Du Quesne, at the confluence of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers, where the thriving city of Pittsburg now stands; garrisoned it with one thousand regulars, amply supplied with cannon, provisions, and other munitions ; and prepared to occupy the country of the Twightees, with numerous settlers. The Six Nation Indians, now more numerous on the western waters, than in their ancient seats, indifferent to the English cause, and divided among them- selves, barely maintained their neutrality. Some of them had removed to Canada, preferring the protection of the active and enterprising French com- manders. The small body of British troops, collected on the frontiers, was weakened by desertion, and corrupted by insubordination; whilst the Indians who still adhered to their interest, retired to Aughwick, in Pennsylvania, where they proclaimed their admiration of the courage of the enemy, and their contempt of the sloth of their friends ; and were scarcely kept in quiet, by the liberality of the Assembly of Pennsylvania to their families, and its forbearance towards the license of their chiefs.
XIV. At length, however, Great Britain prepared to oppose, energeti- cally, the growing power of her restless rival in the Western World. Two regiments of foot from Ireland, under the command of Colonels Dunbar and Halkett, were ordered to Virginia, to be there enforced; and Governor Shir- ley and Sir William Pepperell were directed to raise two regiments, of a thousand men each, to be officered from New England, and commanded by themselves. The provinces, generally, were required, to collect men for enlistment, to be placed at the disposal of a commander-in-chief of rank and capacity, who would be appointed to command all the King's forces in Ame- rica ; to supply the troops on their arrival with provisions, and to furnish all necessaries for the soldiers landed or raised within the province; to provide
* Marshall's Washington. Bradford's Journal. Review of Military Operations in North America. London, 1757.
t Colonel Washington, who was ignorant of the French language, was unable to read the articles of capitulation, and was, therefore, obliged to rely on an interpreter, who rendered the word "assassinat" into the word "death" merely .- Wash. Lett.
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the officers with means for travelling, for impressing carriages and quarter. ing troops. And as these were "local matters, arising entirely within their colonies, his Majesty informed his subjects, that he expected the charges thorcof to be borne by them in their respective provinces, whilst articles of more general concern would be charged upon a common fund to be raised from all the colonies of North America; towards which, the governors were severally requested to urge the Assemblies to contribute liberally, until a union of the northern colonies, for general defence, could be effected.
XV. The Assembly of New Jersey, before whom Governor Belcher laid these requisitions in February, and who were incited to prompt and liberal mea- sures by the solicitations of their constituents, praying the House to pass such bills as might be necessary (in proportion with the other colonies) to assist his Majesty in driving the French from their fortifications on the Ohio, and in defence of the frontiers, appropriated five hundred pounds for the subsistence of the royal troops, during their march through the colony, and transporta- tion of their baggage; and also at the instance of Governor Shirley, passed an act to prevent the exportation of provisions, naval or warlike stores to any of the French dominions. The House excused themselves from appropriating a larger sum, under pretence, that by a bill passed at a previous session, and sent to England for the approbation of the King, they had granted for his Majesty's service, ten thousand pounds. This bill provided for issuing in bills of credit, the sum of seventy thousand pounds; and the House had just reason to believe, that it would receive the royal sanction, since they had the assent of the board of trade and plantations, to issue sixty thousand pounds, and the surplus was given to the national use. But the objections to provincial paper currency in England, could not yet be overcome.
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