USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 51
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6th. Resolved, that in as much as its made appear upon Com- plaint of Sundry Inhabitants of the County of Bucks, that the magis- trates and Grand Jury of that County have laid a Tax upon the People without calling the assessors to their assistance, as the Law in this Province in that Case Directs, and appropriated part of it to the use of the poor, Contrary to the Express directions of another Law of this Province ; it is the opinion of this House that the above mentioned proceedings of the Justices and grand Jury, are against the Rights of the subjects, and a subversion of the Laws.
7th. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this House that the Jus- tices concerned in Laying ye sd. Taxes, or in ordering money to be raised upon the Queen's subjects as aforesaid, ought to be removed from their Respective offices, & a speedy stop put to thier proceed- ings in the Premises.
8th. Resolved, that in as much as it's made appear upon complaint & affadavit upon one David Bollard, now, or late of the said County of Bucks, that about two years ago he being brought before Joseph Kirkbright, one of the Justices of that County, to answer the com- plaint of one James Almond, for a Debt under forty shill'g., wch the said Justice Kirkbright, then Determined and Exacted from ye said David the summ of three shillings & sixpence, for giving judgment thereon, wch the said David paid over and above the constables fees and Charge of the warrant before he was discharged ; and further, the said Complaint affirmed that the said Justice Kirkbright did, at the same time and for the like Judgment, Exact and take of one Jasper Terry, of the said County, the like sum of 3-6, which the said Terry paid over and above the Charge of the warrant & Execu- con; and moreover it is Complained by James Almond of the said county ; that he being brought before Thomas Stevenson, another of the Justices of the said County of Bucks to answer the Complaint of Edward Lovett, for a debt of Twelve shillings, & the Complaint of Jno. Heady, for a debt of Twenty Shillings, the said Justice gave Judgmt. against the said Almond, upon both the said Complaints, & Exacted Two Shillings & sixpence for each Judgment, which the Complainant paid over & above the Constables fees & Charge of the Warrants; it is the opinion of this House, that the Two Justices, Kirkbright & Stevenson, ought to be removed from their offices, and that Order be given to the attorney General, forthwith to prosecute them for Extortion.
9th. Resolved, that it being made appear to this House upon the
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Complaint of several Representatives, for the City and County of Philadia., that the magistrates of the said County have refused to allow the Complainants to Discount the County Rates towards their wages, as the Law of this province in such cases directs, and that some of the said Magistrates have given Express orders for the Col- lectors to Distrain upon the said Complainants, who are Creditors to the County much more than their Rates amount to; it is the opinion of this House that the Proceedings of the said magistrates in that case are Illegal & arbitrary, and against the Rights & Privileges of Assembly.
10th. May it please the Govr., there was this day laid before the House a Complaint of many of the Inhabitants of this City and County against one Thomas Mac Nemera, an attorney at Law, for several abuses and misbehaviours, which he is charged with, but in as much as the nature and Consequence of the Charge is so well set forth in the said Complaint, We presume to lay a true Copy thereof before the Governour, Earnestly Desiring such Relief therein, and all other the premises as to justice appertains.
Signed by Order of ye House N. C. D.
DAV'D. LLOYD, Speaker.
To the House of Representatives for the Province of Pennsylva- nia, now in Assembly Convened.
The Remonstrance of the freeholders & Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadia.
Whereas our most Gracious Queen, out of her tender regard to Persons who, for Conscience sake scruple the Taking of an oath, particularly to the people Inhabiting in this her Province, the Inha- bitants and settlers whereof are generally of the People called Qua- kers ; by her Order in Council held at St. James's the Twenty first day of the month Called January, 1702, was pleased to allow, that the affirmacon (according to the Law of England,) to Quakers might be in Lieu of and of the same Validity with the Oath Enjoyned by Law to others, who scruple not the Taking of an oath ; and whereas, at the Supream Court held at Philadia., the Eleventh day of April Last, one Thomas Mac Nemara, the said most Gracious Order De- signing to Villifye, and her Royal Power & Prerogative in Contempt to bring, and the benefit thereof to the Queen's Peacible & Loyal Subjects of this Province Intending to Deprive, and as useless to Render openly and Publicly in the said Court, did say and Declare, that it was inconsistent with the Queen to Grant such an Order, & that it was against Law, with other Expressions In Derogating of the said most gracious order ; Wherefore we, the said subscribers, Hum- bly pray the present house of Representatives to Lay the premises before our honorable Govr., Requesting him to give command, that the said Mac Nemara, for the offence aforesaid, and others his Inso- lency's Contempts and abuses openly and Scandalously Committed in the City Sessions, in the face of the Court and Countrey, as by an address or Representaion of the same by the Grand Jury presented fully is Demonstrated, may not have Liberty to practise as an attor- ney at Law in any of the Courts of this Province.
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This is a True Copy of the original, Signed by Eighty persons. May ye 7th, 1709.
Per DAVID LLOYD, Speaker.
All which were referred to be further Considered by the board, as there shall be occasion ; But Jos. Kirkbright & Thos. Stevenson of the County of Bucks, the two Justices of the said County mentioned in the eight articles of the foregoing Remonstrance, having requested the Govr. and Council, on whom they were now attending, that they might be heard at this Board, (which they never had been by the House,) to speak to those heads with which they were charged by the Assembly ; They were hereupon called to appear, and the 6th 7th & 8th articles of the said Remonstrance being read to them ; to the two first, Complaining of the Justices taxing the County Con- trary to Law ; they in behalf of themselves and the rest concerned therein, gave a full acct. of that matter, shewing as well that they were under a necessity, without further delay, to raise a Tax for building a Court house and Prison, as that their proceedings herein were according to the Laws of this Province, wch were read as far they concerned the matter in hand; and by these it evidently ap- peared, that the assessors of that County having refused to act, because not duly returned by the Sheriff according to Law, for which neglect the late Sheriff had lost his office, the magistrates and the Grand Jury had full power, and therefore in this respect, as far as appears, had acted legally and warrantably in laying the said Tax ; It is therefore the opinion of this board, that there appears no sufficient cause for the aforesaid Complaints of the Assembly, agst. the sd. Justices & Grand Jury.
The said two Justices were further required to answer to the Com- plaints brought against them, for taking illegal fees upon Judgments given by them, as expressed in the 8th article, to which Jos. Kirk- bright pleaded that it was false to say he had taken the mentioned fees, from both Bollard and Terry, for that from the latter he never reced. any thing on acct .; that from the first he had taken the men- tioned sum of 3 shills. & 6 pence, but that this was not for giving Judgment only, but also for attesting two Evidences, drawing an obligatory Bill and genl. acquittances at their Request, as he proved by a Deposition made by the Constable, who brought them before him ; that the fee they sometimes, tho' but rarely, took for giving Judgment, was but fifteen pence, which they scarce ever demanded of any but vexatious & litigious persons, as this man was well known to be; that this was by Virtue of a Rule of Court, made after the Example of the Mayors Court of Philadia. by the approbation & Concurrence of the attorney Genl., who was present at making the said rule, which Rule was their Direction in this case, and he hoped would be sufficient to Justify those who acted by it, or if it should prove otherwise, that the Error was primarily in the Rule, and not in those who had acted in pursuance of it. Thos. Stevenson in his own case pleaded the same, and further produced a Confession under the hand of Almond, the Complainant himself, in writing, acknowledg- ing he was mistaken in the paper, wch Saml. Beaks had procured
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him to sign, for that the said Justice Stevenson had as well attested two Evidences, as give Judgment in his case for the 2sh. & 6d., wch he had taken.
And the said Justices withdrawing the matter was considered, and upon the whole it was the opinion of the Board that the Complaint made to the Assembly, seem'd rather to arise from prejudice, ground- ed on other causes, than from any real Grievances, fitt to be taken notice of in such a manner; that those who take upon them the trouble of serving the country in such public stations, wthout any Reward, ought to be encouraged, and all frivolous & ill grounded Complaints be discountenanced by all concerned in Govmt., other- wise none would be prevailed with to undergo so great a fatigue, without any Recompence.
Whereupon the said Justices being again called to the Board, the Govr. Recommended to ym. the vigorous Discharge of their Duty in their stations ; He Exhorted them toexert the Powers with which they were invested according as the Laws prescribe, without regard to any trifling opposers. He assured them of his Protection, while they so behaved themselves ; promised them a new Commission, and then they were dismissed.
The Secry informed the Board that in pursuance of the Ordr. of last Council, he had wrote to assure the Indians that they should re- ceive a message from the Govr. in answer to theirs, this present week, that he had deferred moving in it that it might be first known what the Assembly would do in the business laid before ym; But now ye shortness of the time required Dispatch.
Ordered, that Caleb Pusey & the Secry. go to the House in the morning, and acquaint them with the necessity of ye message, & de- sire them to concur wth the Board, in ordering the payment of the Charge by the Treasurer.
7th, in the morning.
All the eight members of Council named at the head of the last minute, being those of the Council called Quakers, mett a Conside- rable part of the Assembly at Saml. Carpenters House, & there de- bated their opinions freely & unanimously to those of the House, that notwithstanding their profession and principles would not by any means allow them to bear arms; yet it was their duty to support the Govmt. of their Sovereign the Queen, & to Contribute out of their Estates according to the Exigencies of her Publick affairs, & there- fore that they might and ought to present the Queen with a proper sum of money.
At a Council held at Philadia., ye 8th of June, 1709. --
PRESENT :
The Honble CHA. GOOKIN, Esqr., Lieut. Govr. Edwd. Shippen, Saml. Carpenter,
Willm. Trent,
Esq'rs. Richd. Hill,
Esq'rs.
Caleb Pusey,
Isaac Norris,
James Logan,
Saml. Preston.
1 1
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The Govr. Laid before the Board an address he reced. from the Assembly, wch was read in these words.
To Charles Gookin, Esq., Lt. Govr. of the Province of Pennsyl- vania.
The address of the Representatives of the freemen of the said Province, presented to the Govr. the 8th day of ye month Called June, 1709.
May it please the Govr. :
Thy speech of the 2d Inst., containing matters of so great Im- portance, & affecting the Generality of this Province in their Reli- gious Perswasions, We thought it our Duty to Confer with some of the most Principal of them, which has occasioned our answer to be thus long retarded.
We are very sensible that our Gracious Sovereign the Queen, has been at a vast Expence upon the Designs which the Govr. is pleased to mention, & were it not that the raising money to hire men to fight or kill one another, is matter of Concience to us and against our Re- ligious Principles, we should not be wanting, according to our small abilities, to Contribute to those designs.
We don't conceive our selves more Lyable to danger, by the ill neighbourhood of the french at Canada, than our neighbours of Maryland, Virginia, and the three Lower Counties, which makes us apprehensive that some disaffected to this Province have misrepre- sented us to the Queen, whose Tenderness to us, and our principles & readiness to render Her subjects of all Perswasions easy and happy, engages us to pray for the long Continuance of her Glorious Reign & administracon over us.
May it pleas the Govr., tho' we Cannot for Conscience sake Com- ply with the furnishing a supply for such a defence as thou pro- posest, yet in point of Gratitude of the Queen for her great and many favours to us, we have Resolved to raise a Present of five Hundred pounds, which we humbly hope She will be pleased to accept as a Testimony of our unfeigned Loyalty, & thankful acknowledgements of Her Grace and Clemency towards us & the rest of Her subjects, and tho' the meanness of the present be such as is unworthy favour of her acceptance, (which indeed is caused) not thro' want of good will & Loyal affection, but by inability & Poverty occasioned by great losses, late Taxes misapplyed, Lowness of the staple Commodi- ties of the Country, great Damp upon trade and our neighbours non Complyance with the Queen's proclamation for reducing the coin,) yet we hope she will be graciously pleased to Regard the Hearty and Cordial affections of us her poor subjects instead of a present of value, and to prevent misapplication thereof, We have agreed that it shall be accounted part of the Queen's Revenue.
We therefore humbly intreat the Govr. to put a Candid Construc- tion upon our proceedings, & Represent us favourably to her Gra- cious Sovereign the Queen, to whom we Trust we shall ever approve ourselves, (tho' poor) Her most Loyal & Dutiful subjects.
We are sorry New Castle should be in such danger as thy speech intimates ; But are very apprehensive that, that if the vice adml.
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were more Diligent, in obliging the men of war allowed by the Queen for that purpose to scour the coasts of those Robbers, both they at New Castle, and those here who depend on such protection would be better satisfied, and did not a Complyance with their Request fall under the same objection as thy other proposal, we should next to that give it the preference, and have Complied to the utmost with their Expectation.
Signed by Ordr. of ye House, DAV'D. LLOYD, Speaker.
The Govr. also informed the Board, he had with the foregoing ad- dress reced. an order on the Treasurer, to pay the Secry. any sum not exceeding fifteen pounds of present Currency, for ye Charge of a Treaty with the Indians, upon an order of the Govr. and Council for the same, wch was given the Treasurer.
Ordered, that an answer be drawn up to the foregoing address ac- cording to several heads now agreed on.
Ordered, that the Secry. forthwith dispatch a messenger to the Indians of Conestogo, &c., with instructions in writing to excuse the Govrs. not coming, because the Assembly is now sitting upon an affair of great Importance, & for a Credential to take a good Belt of wampum with him ; To inform them that if they design to pay a visit to the 5 nations, they are now busie in engageing with the English in a war agst. Canada, for which vast preparations are made from England ; that if those of Conestogo, ye Shawanois, &c., can Engage, and will prepare themselves to Joyn immediately in this Expedition, their young men should all provide themselves for it without delay, & they shall receive by the Queen's order, sent for that purpose a good reward, every man a Gun, &c., and that their answer to this by some of their old men, & a good interpreter is im- mediately desired.
That whether they can engage or not we shall be glad to see some of them here, & the Govr. will shortly make them a visit, &c. And then adjourned.
At a Council held at Philadia., the 9th of June, 1709.
PRESENT :
The Honble CHA. GOOKIN, Esqr., Ltt. Govr.
Saml. Carpenter,
Richd. Hill,
Caleb Pusey,
Isaac Norris,
Esq'rs.
James Logan, Esq'rs.
Saml. Preston,
Willm. Trent,
The answer ordered yesterday to the Assembly's address was read, Debated and agreed to, in these words.
The Govrs. answer to the Assemblies address, June 9th, 1709. GENTLEMEN :
Her Majesty's Command to me, which I have laid before you to have yor. necessary assistance therein, as they concern a matter of the Vastest Imporance to ye security of all her Dominions here, So
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by them Her Majesty's great Care & Tenderness to Her subjects appears to a degree, that should incite all concerned to lay hold on the opportunity to express their Gratitude and affection, with the sincerest and most effectual Demonstrations.
The Glory of her Majesty's reign has not appeared in one thing more eminently than in the excellent Improvmt. she had always made of the vast supplies wch. Her subjects have with the greatest alacrity raised to answer the Publick necessities that have always been equal to them; These supplies, Gent., are not less than one fifth part yearly, of all the Rents of Great Britain, besides many other duties, all of which are readily paid by people of all perswa- sions, because they know they are only employed to the advantage of the Givers, & yet their losses by sea, and the Damp on their trade has been at least as great at home as can be any where pretended in her Majesty's other Dominions.
I cannot, therefore, without some surprize, take notice of your neglect in the sum you have mentioned to me as agreed on, to be presented to Her Majesty upon this valuable opportunity now given you to shew yourselves truly Dutiful subjects ; words alone, I assure you, Gent., are not much valued by the ministry at Home, & £500 from Pennsylvania will add to 'em doubt, but very little weight ; You say that were it not that raising money to hire men to fight is against your Religious Principles ; You should not be wanting, according to your abilities, to Contribute to the Designs in hand ; But altho' you find a scruple in matters of war, no conscience can be pleaded to prevent you from Dutifully offering to Her Majesty, at a time when Her Publick necessities so much crave it, a sum that may become you to give, as well as be in some measure worthy of Her Royal acceptance.
'Tis certain that in time of so Hazardous & expensive a War, most Countries Concerned in it may have reason to Complain of a growing poverty, the general Effects of War, yet notwithstanding all the reasons assigned by you, wch. equally reach most other places, (the misapplying of Taxes only Excepted, wch. I have not yet found any one Capable to explain to me, I hope this Country has not as yet the greatest reason of all others to complain; The Govmt. is small 'tis true, but I cannot perceive that many labour under want in it; However, if we have but little, Lett us freely give a suitable part of it ; Lett a reasonable assessmt. of so much in the pound be honestly laid, (it need not, I believe, exceed four pence, or six pence at most,) upon this Important occasion, and whatever the People's Estates be, the Tax will then be proportional & equal, both to Rich & Poor, and to make it the Easier, because money is scarce, it may be sent out in Provisions, wch. the Countrey may be in a better Con- dition to spare.
To be short, Gent., all her Majesty's subjects every where, Con- tribute largely to the necessities of the Publick, and it can never be reconciled to a Dutiful affection in you to Exempt yourselves, as your present offer is but little better than an Exemption ; it is so very in- considerable that I cannot easily perswade myself to be accessary to
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so great a slight of her Majesty, as to assent to any act for it. I therefore earnestly press you as you Tender your Duty to Her Ma- jesty, the Honour of the Province, Your safety & future security, the Enjoymt. of your present privileges, & your own Reputation, to take this matter again into your most serious consideration ; Believe it to be of the highest Importance, not only to you, but your whole Pro- fession, for tho' I perceive the principal of those in this place are for acting generously & as becomes them, to Her Majesty; Yet your pro- ceedings at this time, will by many be interpreted to affect them all.
Ordered, that Saml. Carpenter and Caleb Pusey Carry the said answer to the House, signed by the Govr. ; and then adjourned.
At a Council held at Philadia., the 11th of June, 1709.
PRESENT :
Ye Honble CHA. GOOKIN, Esqr., Lieut. Govr.
Edwd. Shippen,
Richard Hill,
Saml. Carpenter,
George Roche,
Saml ffinney,
Isaac Norris,
Esq'rs.
Caleb Pusey,
Esq'rs.
Saml. Preston,
James Logan,
Antny. Palmer.
William Trent,
The Govr. laid before the Board a Paper he recd. from the Assembly, which was read in these words.
June the 10th, 1709.
The Assembly's Reply to ye Govrs. ansr. sent to ye House the 9th Inst.
May it please the Govr. :
The answer to our address of the 8th Inst., Exciting us to aug- ment ye present agreed on for the Queen, has been duly considered by this House, who have nothing to object against the Excellent Im- provement she has made of the supplies raised by her subjects which thou art pleased to say, are not less than a fifth part yearly of all the rents of Great Britain. This renders the present we intended so very Diminutive in thy estimation, that thou art surprized at our ne- glect, but we hope upon better consideration thou wilt be of another opinion.
The Taxes in Great Brittain are upon the Profits or Incomes not as here upon the whole estate it self, and we are apprehensive by a Computation of former Taxes, that two pence or 2} per pound of the late Currency will be the least that can be raised on these three poor Counties to answer the present, we intended wth the incident charges, which if the latter, we take to be as great or a greater Tax than has been laid at one time on the subjects of Great Brittain, in this or the last reign. The most we have heard of hath been one fifth part or four shills. in the pound on the rents or incomes, at which Rate one hund'd. pound Ground rent per annum pays £20, but by our method of assessing the same, rent valued at 20 years purchase or £2000 must pay £20 16 8, and the like, for per-
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sonal Estates. This is more than words only, and we think how small soever the sum may seem, 'Tis evident, it will be heavier on the people here, than it has been at any one time on those mentioned which we suppose would have Excused the smallness of our present with the Queen, as coming from one of the meanest & poorest of her Colonies.
We grant, most Countries concerned in war, may in some sense Complain of Poverty as the effects of it, as well as we who have shewn above, that we urge not yt to excuse our want of generosity, and explain what we mean by misapplying of Taxes, we must ac- quaint thee, that about three years ago a Tax was laid on this Pro- vince of 22d per pound, and an Impost and Excise on some Goods Imported and Retailed, which was appropriated to certain uses, viz : £800 with half the Impost, &c. to the support of Govmt., which the late Lt. Govr. Evans reced., with other perquisites which to be applied to the support of Govmt., as the late assembly signified to him in Augst. last, whereupon we refer. The money so appro- priated has (notwithstanding the Express words of the Act,) been kept or misapplied by him, and he refused to give the last assembly any acct. thereof, which is a sufficient Caution to this House in the Premises ; But we think it material to mention this, to shew that raising money for support of Govmt., as thou proposed, has been done already to a very Considerable Value, and that the same has been paid to the said Evans, who ought to be responsible for the whole, or so much as has been applyed to defray the publick Charges and Exigencies of Govmt., and do expect thee to take care thereof, and that this was the design of the Assembly who granted the said tax, (whatever some may suggest to the contrary,) both the words of that Law and the address of the same assembly, in June 1706, signed by the then Speaker, J. Growdon, in answer to the Lt. Govrs. Proposal for a supply to raise fortifications, are a suffi- cient Proof.
We hope 'tis manifest and easily Reconcileable to our duty and affecon to the Queen, that what we would have presented her withal was not so very inconsiderable as to be little better than an exemp- tion ; a small handful of poor people as we are, cannot be expected to do much, and where want of ability is, we Doubt not our Good Will would with our Gracious Queen have been regarded. But seeing thou Cannot assent to an act for that purpose, we cannot help it, Tho' it is our opinion by whatever Council thou may have been influenced in this matter, it would have behoved thee to Consider how far thou, being our fellow subject, canst interpose between us and our sovereign, and whether 'tis consistent with thy duty to En- deavour to bar up our way & obstruct ye Queen's Clemency towards her poor but truly Cordial subjects.
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