USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV > Part 39
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"Wee acknowledge ourselves under many Obligations to the Crown and present Governments; And therefore from Principle, gratitude, and interest, Conceive ourselves bound on all Occasions to demean ourselves as become Loyal Subjects, Lovers of our Reli- gion and Liberties. It is the regard Wee have for these induces
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us to think in a Manner not exactly Conformable to the Governor in the Matters recommended to us, Wee therefore entreat his Charity in our different Sentiments, and his Patience whilst Wee render an account wherein and why it is so. Be pleased then to know, That soon after the Royal Charter Granted of this Province to our late worthy Proprietor, among other Laws which were agreed on between him and those who were Purchasers of him and proposed to become Adventurers with him, That for the full Enjoyment of Liberty of Conscience was one, which Law with some small Alterations hath been since divers times confirmed, and not only remains in force to this Day, But so much was the Hapiness of the Inhabitants thought to depend on the Enjoyment of Liberty of Conscience, That our Proprietor in his Charter of Privileges granted to the Freemen of this Province, did thereby Solemnly declare, promise, and grant for himself, his Heirs and Assigns, That the Article therein contained relating to Liberty of Conscience and every part and Clause therein ' According to the true intent and meaning thereof, should be kept and remain without any Alterations inviolably for ever.' It was no `doubt the Enjoyment of this Privilege amongst others, and the transmitting them to Posterity, which induced those Adventurers to leave their Native Countrie (where many of them lived well) to Cultivate and Improve this, then Wildeness Country ; And it is not unknown most of them were of the People called Quakers, and principaled against bearing of Arms in any Case whatsoever.
"The Circumstances of the Province, It's true, are now much altered, for altho' great Numbers remain of these, thus Conscien- tiously persuaded, many others are since come amongst us under no such restraints, some of whom have been disciplined in the Art of Warr, and may, for ought we know, think it their Duty to fight in defence of their Country, their Wives, their Famillys, and Estates; such have an Equall right to Liberty of Conscience with others. But as very many of the Inhabitants of this Province are of the People called Quakers, who tho' they do not (as the World is now Circumstanced) condemn the use of Arms in others, Yet are prin- cipled against it themselves, and to make any Law to compell them against their Consciences to bear Arms would not only be to violate a fundamental in our Constitution, & be a direct breach of Our Charter of Privileges, but would also in Effect be to Commence Persecution against all that part of the Inhabitants of the Province; and should a Law be made which might Compel others to bear Arms and Exempt that part of the Inhabitants, as the greater Number in this Assembly are of like Principles, would be an Inconsistency with themselves, and partial with respect to others.
"The Royal Charter before-mentioned reciting that 'because in so remote a Country, & scituate near many barbarous Nations, the Incursions as well of Savages themselves as of others Enemies, Pirates, and Robbers may probably feared;' therefore full power
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was thereby given 'to the Proprietor aforesaid, his Heirs and Assigns, by themselves or their Captains, or other their Officers, to levy, muster, and train all Sorts of Men of what Condition soever or wheresoever born in the said Province of Pennsylvania for the time being, and to make Warr and to pursue the Enemies & Rob- bers aforesaid as well by Sea as by Land, even without the Limits of the said Province, and by God's Assistance to Vanquish and take them, and being taken to put them to Death by the Law of Warr, or to save them at their Pleasure; And to do all and every other thing which unto the Charge and Office of a Captain General of an Army belongeth, or hath accustomed to belong, as fully and freely as any Captain General of an Army hath ever had the same;' And this Power thus Granted has in part been exercised by some Governours within this Province, and continues unrestrainedly by any Laws that Wee Know of Save those which relate to Liberty of Conscience. The Words of this Charter are very extensive, And will, Wee hope, suffice to all the purposes the Governour and those in like manner Principled can reasonably desire, without any Inter- position of ours, Altho' Wee are fully perswaded that Whatever Preperations may be made here they will prove ineffectual without the aid of our Mother Country. From thence it is, morally speak- ing, Wee must hereafter, as heretofore, principally depend for Pre- servation from the Insults of our Enemies, Not doubting but that Wee shall share in that Protection Our Gracious Sovereign denys not even to the meanest of His Subjects; And having at the same time a due dependence on that Power which not only Calms the raging Waves of the Sea, but setts Limits beyond which they can- not pass; And remembering the Words of the sacred Text, That 'Except the Lord keep the City the Watchman waketh but in vain.'
" By Order of the House,
"J. KINSEY, Speaker.
"11th Mo., 5, 1739."
And then laid before the Board a Message he had drawn in Answer to the said Address, which being read, was approved of and sent to the Assembly.
"Gentlemen :
" Your dutiful Expressions of His Majesty, your Gratitude for the many Blessings you enjoy under His Government, and the just sense you entertain of my Concern for the safety of the Province, notwithstanding our Difference of Opinion in other Matters, render your Address very acceptable to me. I should have thought my- self happy not to have been laid under a Necessity, by the Posture of Affairs in Europe, of pressing a Matter so disagreeable to the religious Sentiments of many of the Inhabitants of this Province ; but as I think myself indispensably oblig'd by the Duty I owe to His Majesty in Discharge of the Trust reposed in me by your Hon-
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ourable Proprietors, and from a disinterested Regard for the Lives and Fortunes of the People under my Government, to warn you of the impending Danger, I hope you likewise will have Patience with me, and continue to entertain the same charitable Sentiments of my Intentions.
" In my Speech to you at your first Meeting, I considered you as the Representatives of the whole body of the People, as a part of the Legislature, and as Protestants, and as such I desired you to turn your Thoughts upon the defenceless State of the Province, and to put yourselves into such a Condition as becomes Loyal Subjects to His Majesty and Lovers of your Religion and Liberties. As it did not become me to distinguish the particular religious Perswa- sions of every Member of your House, I could speak of your Reli- gion no otherwise than in Contradistinction to the bloody Religion of France and Spain; but now from what you yourselves have de- clared, I must lament the unhappy Circumstances of a Country, populous indeed, extensive in its Trade, bless'd with many natural advantages, and capable of defending itself, but from a religious Principle of its Representatives against bearing Arms, subject to become the Prey of the first Invader, and more particularly of its powerfull Neighbours, who are known to be well armed, regular in Discipline, inured in Fatigue, and from thence capable of making long Marches, in Alliance with many Nations of Indians, and of a boundless ambition.
" Far be it from me to attempt the least Invasion on your Charter, or your Laws for Liberty of Conscience, or to engage any Assembly in Measures that may introduce Persecution for conscience sake. I have always been a profess'd advocate for Liberty, both Civil and religious, as the only rational Foundation of Society ; and I trust that no Station of Life will ever alter my Sentiments. Religion, where its Principles are not destructive to civil Society, is to be judged of by Him only who is the Searcher of all Hearts; and I think it as unreasonable to persecute Men for their religious Opin- ions as for their Faces ; But as the World is now Circumstanced, no purity of Heart, no set of religious Principles, will protect us from an Enemy; were we even to Content ourselves with Cottages and the spontaneous productions of Nature, they would rob us of the very Soil ; but were Treasure is they will be eagear and watch- ful to break in and spoil us of it. You yourselves have seen the Necessity of acting in civil affairs as jurymen and Judges, to Con- vict and Condemn such little Rogues to Death as break into your Houses, and of acting in other Offices where Force must necessarily be used for the preservation of the publick Peace; and are the fruits of your Labour, and the Labour of your Forefathers, reserved only to be given up all at once to His Majesty's Enemies and the Enemies of your Religion and Liberties ? The Freeholders of the Province have chosen you for their Representatives ; and many of VOL. IV .- 24.
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the principal Inhabitants have publickly petitioned you that some Measures may be taken for the Defence of the Country. Where then will be the inconsistency of Partiality of Complying with what I have recommended and they have desired ? Whatever Expence it shall be attended with, they will with reason expect you shall bear your proportion of it, as was done here in the sum granted to Queen Anne for reducing Canada, and as has always been done by Men of the same religious Persuasions in Britain for carrying on a War against the Publick Enemy ; but none of them, I believe, are so un- reasonable as to expect that such as are principled against bearing arms shall be compelled to act or be punished for not acting against their Consciences. This I am instructed by your Proprietors, in a manner most affectionate to you, to guard you from; and this is perfectly agreeable to my own Inclinations.
" A mind employed as mine has been about the Defence of the Province, has long since made it self acquainted with the Powers granted in the Royal Charter for that end; and I think it may be reasonably concluded, from the very Paragraph now transcribed in your Address, that the first Proprietor, tho' one of the People called Quakers, must have entertained an Opinion (however different from yours) of the Lawfulness and Necessity of bearing Arms in Defence of his Government against the Invasion of Enemies; otherwise he would not have excepted of the Powers of a Captain General in that Charter. How far those powers can operate upon a free People without the Interposition of a particular Law, any person of a small share of Knowledge in the Constitution of his Country may easily determine. Is any Man obliged without Law to equip himself with Arms and necessary accoutrements, to learn the use of them, to obey his Officers, or even to face his Enemy in time of Danger ? An Officer without legal Authority, and Men under no legal Obli- gations, may indeed exhibit a pretty piece of Pageantry for a little time, but can be of no real Service in the Defence of a Country, or be long kept together; for as Humour brought them together, Caprice will soon disband them; And this I am informed was the End of the Shew in the time of a former Governor, and tho' attempted to be revived by another, could never be accomplished ; besides, what could two or three Hundred Men, if so many could be perswaded to distinguish themselves from the rest of their Country- Men, do in defence of a Country of such Extent, and liable to be attack'd by Sea and Land.
" From his Majesty's Royal Virtues, and His impartial Regard for all His Subjects, I agree with you that we have reason to hope for a share of His Protection with His other Subjects in America, but should we declare we are unwilling to be at any Expence or to ex- pose our Persons to any Danger, and at the same time implore the Assistance of our Mother Country, I fear we shall rather expose ourselves to Derision and Contempt than obtain its Compassion or Protection.
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" Every Man that acknowledges the Superintendence of one Supreme Being in the Affairs of the World, must be sensible that without His Blessing all we do will come to nothing; and yet we build, we plant, we sow, and we send Ships to Sea, concluding that that these are necessary means for accomplishing the Ends desired. But that we should do all these, and at the same time expect that God should fight our Battles, without preparing ourselves the neces- sary means for our Defence, I confess can be no more reconciled to my understanding than that Because the Lord stills the raging Waves of the Sea, the Seamen may therefore leave the Sails of the Ship standing, and go to sleep in a Storm ; Or that Watchmen are therefore unnecessary, because Except the Lord keep the City the Watchman waketh but in vain.
" But perhaps I may be thought to have gone out of my Province, therefore shall return once more to beseech you out of the sincerest Affection for your Interests, to act as will undoubtedly be expected of you by His Majesty, for the Security of this Part of His Do- minions, as becomes Protestants and Lovers of your Liberties, your Country, and your Families.
"GEORGE THOMAS.
" Philad., January 10, 1739. " By his Honour's Command. "Thomas Lawrie, Secr."
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At a Council held at Philadelphia, January 21st, 1739. PRESENT :
The Honble GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieut. Governor. Clement Plumsted, Samuel Hasell,
Thomas Laurence,
Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
Ralph Assheton,
The Minutes of the 10th instant were read and approved of.
The Governor laid before the Board a Message he received on Saturday last from the Assembly, which was read, and is as follows :
" A Message to the Governor from the House of Representatives in answer to his of the tenth instant :
" May it please the Governor :
" It is in some degree satisfactory to us, notwithstanding our Dif- ferences in Opinion in divers Things, that any thing remained which rendred our Address acceptable to the Governour; And we should in this respect have thought ourselves happy not to have been laid under the Necessity of entering into a Dispute, the con- sequences of which, we think, are full as much to be feared as the impending Dangers against which we are warned.
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"To consider us as the Representatives of the whole Body of the People, as a part of the Legislature, and as Protestants, was undoubtedly Right; And we agree it might not have become the Governour to have distinguished the particular Religious perswa- sion of every Member, And yet we litle thought him a Stranger to that professed by the Majority of this House, or that any declara- tion of ours should have given Ground to lament the unhappy Cir- cumstances of a Country, our Duty, our Intrest and Inclination, prompt us so much to regard, Much less that a Country so popu- lous, blessed with so many natural Advantages, and so capable of defending it self, should, from a religious Principle of its Repre- sentatives, be subjected a Prey to the first Invader-A position not clear to our Understanding. and we hope mistaken. If it is popu- lous and capable of defending it self, that capacity is unrestrained, and it must be want of inclination to exert it, and not the princi- ples of its Representatives, which must subject it (as we conceive) a Prey to any invader.
" That we have many natural Advantages is true; we are situate upon a River of difficult Navigation, far distant from the Sea, and not easily to be attacked from thence. New Jersey lies between us and the Ocean; New York and New England between us and the principle Settlements of the French; Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia between us and the Spaniards; and besides all these Advantages, a considerable Number of Inhabitants, equal, perhaps, to those of any other Colony, who, we suppose, have been disciplined and inured to the Art of War.
" The French of Canada, for ought we know, share in the ambi- tion generally imputed to their Country Men, but we can by no means think them so formidable, nor any Enterprise from thence so feasable, as seems to be represented to us. Their principle settle- ments are many hundred miles distant, the intercourse between us difficult, both by Land and Water; a preparation to that purpose would require considerable Time and great Expence, and the Event in respect to them extreamly hazardous. For should any Attempt be made on this Province, we are, in a manner, Surrounded by others; the number of the French in proportion to the English in- habitants small; most part of the British Governments on the Con- tinent must, in all probability, have Notice of it, and if those 'in this Province who are principled for defending their possessions by Force, were too week to resist (tho' the Governor allows they are not), what can the French propose to themselves ? They must know that were it possible to succeed in an Enterprise against us, they must yet, morrally speaking, be liable to be cut off either in staying here or in their Return to their own Country. Besides, from any ac- counts we have yet heard, no War is declared between the Crown of Great Britain and that Nation, and we would willingly hope never may. Why, then, should we only be so solicitous about the event of a thing which may never happen ?
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"It must needs be pleasing to every true Lover of his Country to hear the Governor declare himself so freely in Favour of our Charter, our Laws for Liberty of Conscience, and of his having been an advocate for Liberty, both civil and religious. And yet we cannot exactly agree with the Governor's Sentiments when he tells us that no Purity of Heart, no set of Religious Principles will pro- tect us from our Enemy ; for as there is an Almighty Power which superintends the Government of the World, Principles of Religion agreeable to his Will and Purity of Heart, even as the World is at present circumstanced, may hope for his Protection, who can turn the Hearts of Men as he pleases, and who, for the sake of ten righteous Persons, would have spared even the Cities of Sodom and Gomarrah.
" We take no Delight in differing in Opinion from the Governor, And yet we cannot see the exact Parity of Reasoning between the Convicting and Condemning of those little Rogues (as the Gover- nor is pleased to call them) who break into our Houses, and de- stroying the Soldiers of a foreign Prince in case of an Attack. The latter, indeed, may do us the greater Injury, and both, tis true, are made liable to suffer Death-the former by the Laws of our Coun- try, and the latter by the Law of Nations. And yet it is Easy to discover the Difference between killing a Soldier, fighting ( perhaps) in Obedience to the Commands of his Sovereign, and who may, possibly, think himself in the Discharge of his Duty, and executing a Burglar who broke into our Houses, plundered us of our Goods, and perhaps would have murdered too, if he could not otherwise have accomplished his Ends, who must know at the Time of the Commission of the Fact, It was a violation of Laws humane and divine, and that he thereby justly rendered himself obnoxious to the Punishment which ensued. But we hope the Fruits of our La- bour, and those of our Forefathers, are reserved for neither of these. That the Freeholders of this Province have chosen us their Repre- sentatives is very true, and as true that divers of them have Peti- tioned us to the purpose the Governour is pleased to mention, for whom we have a due Regard. But if the Number of petitioners were to determine, We are informed, and believe a much greater Number would apply in a Manner different to those; Some of whom not of our Religious Persuasion, we presume, think as we do, That if the Measures proposed were fallen into, it would be a certain Ex- pence, the Benefit small and uncertain. To build Forts, as we apprehend, would be of no use, and create a Charge too heavy for the Province to bear. A Militia, though established by a Law like the voluntary Militia so handsomely described by the Governor, might exhibit a pretty piece of Pageantry for a Time, but be of no real Service to the Country. They differ, indeed, in this : a Militia established by Law may continue their show the longest, but were we to judge by what passes in some Neighboring Colonies, the power some Governors have been able by this Means to bestow on
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their Officers, have listed them in their Services to purposes different to what their Offices design'd them, and we believe of no advantage to the Governments in which they were Constituted. The Payment of Taxes for carrying on a War by our Friends in England is not paralell to the Case under Consideration ; nor do we think the Governor fully informed in Respect to what he is pleased to men- tion in the affair of Canada. Queen Ann, under her Sign Manual, did require of the then Lieut Governor to be aiding and assisting in that Expedition; but on his communicating it to the Assembly, they declared ' the Majority of the Inhabitants were of the People called Quakers, religiously persuaded against War, and therefore could not be active therein, yet believed it was their Duty to pay Tribute, and yield due Obedience to the power God had set over them in all things, so far as their Religious Persuasions would per- mit, and therefore took that Opportunity to express their Duty, Loyalty, and faithful Obedience, by giving a Sum of Money to the Queen's use;' altho' she never received it, it being applied by a succeeding Governor to his own particular use, and can be no great Encouragement for future Assemblies to follow the Example.
" However well acquainted the Governor may have made himself with the Powers granted by the Royal Charter, We presume he has not been conversant in our first Proprietor's writings, otherwise it would not have been possible for him to have drawn any such Con- sequence from that or any other Paragraph of the Charter relating to the Opinion of that great Man. He not only profess'd himself a Quaker and wrote in their Favour, but particularly against Wars and Fighting, In which he has said so much and so well for himself and as we need say little for him, We have no Inclination or Desire to extend the words of the Charter further than might be agreeable to that part of the Inhabitants which differ in their religious Persuasions from us, and which they shall think for their Benefit. Although it has been maintained that the Crown, and consequently others duly authorized from thence, in Case of an Invasion, may command Men to equip themselves at their own Expence and to face an enemy too in time of Danger; but however this be, there is no Doubt they are at Liberty to do what they may think necessary of the kind, voluntarily ; And that we hope will suffice when they are convinced there is any real Danger. Indeed, if so small a number of the In- habitants as Two or Three Hundred among so many Thousands not principled against War, be all who are likely to distinguish them- selves in a Military manner, and they need Persuasions to it too, it must be of no great Service to the Country. But this, if truc, seems to us to prove more than was intended by it, viz. : That far the greater number of these Inhabitants are against a Militia, otherwise why do they need to be compelled who think it necessary for their common Safety ?
" The principles of the People called Quakers, we think, are so
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well known to the Crown and Government in our Mother Country, that no Declaration of ours in that respect will inform them more than they already know; And yet the Indulgences we have received in Cases wherein our Consciences were affected, as it excites our Gratitude and renders the Obligations we are under to Loyalty & Fidelity the stronger, so it gives us room to hope that in like Cases we shall not be exposed to their Derision & Contempt, but to the continuance of their Compassions and Protection.
"By a Law almost as old as the Creation, Building, Planting, Sow- ing, and other parts of Agriculture became necessary for the Suste- nance of Life; And so to those who would traffick in Parts beyond the Seas, Ships and Seamen were requisite; the Nature of whose un- dertaking obliged them to Industry in discharge of their Duty as well as for their own Safety, and not attended with any Injury to others ; But because we may lawfully build, plant, sow, or send Ships to sea, or that because it is necessary for Seamen to take Care of a Ship in a storm, that therefore it is consistent with Christianity to defend ourselves at the Expence of the Lives of our Fellow- Creatures, tho' our Enemies, is not equally evident to us ; And yet if others think the Arguments forcible, such have their Liberty.
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