USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV > Part 45
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" And that you may not entertain any Jealousy of a misapplica- tion of the Sums necessary for the Services mentioned, and from thence be unwilling to grant them, it will be most agreeable to me that Commissioners be appointed to assist in the Application of them, as well as to make a regular State of the accounts, to be laid before this or the next Assembly. His Majesty's assurance of His graciously accepting my Zeal and Diligence, and the Satisfaction arising from a consciousness of having served my Country in an Affair of such Importance, being to an honest mind superior to any Dishonest Gain.
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" As I cannot allow myself to doubt of your speedy complyanee with His Majesty's Expectation, it will be necessary that you next prepare a Bill for taking up what Transports shall be wanted for the number of Men raised here, as well as a Bill for Quartering them in a manner the most convenient and least burthensome to the Inhabitants, until the time of their Imbarkation.
"The Governments of Virginia, Maryland, Boston, and Rhode Island, having even before these His Majesty's Expectations were signified to them, given a Bounty to every Man that should Inlist as a Soldier in this Expedition ; several Company's have been suc- cessfully raised in those Places and are now ready for Imbarkation. Had your Zeal been as seasonably exerted, I doubt not but a num- ber of Freemen might have been found here equally willing, and might have been made useful for restraining Servants from running into other Governments to inlist there. But as we are now Circum- stanced, it will not be possible to keep them; neither is it now probable that a Number of Men should be raised in time to answer his Majesty's Expectations from a Province so populous, without · receiving them, unless a sufficient Bounty be immediately given for the Encouragement of Freemen over and above what His Majesty expects.
" GEO. THOMAS.
" Philadelphia, July 2d, 1740.
" By Command,
" Thomas Lawrie, Secretary."
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In the House of Representatives, the 3d of the 5th Mon., 1740. Ordered,
That Robert Jones & John Wright wait upon the Governor and acquaint him That in the only Case the House remembers wherein a Matter of like Nature was required of them by the Crown, the original Letter was communicated to the House, and that the House requests a Sight of the original Letters or Instructions referr'd to in the Governor's Speech,
A true Copy. B : FRANKLIN, Clerk of Assem3.
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A Verbal Message by the Secretary.
" I am Commanded by the Governor to acquaint the House That if they insist upon secing the King's Instructions as of Right, be- cause some have been formerly communicated to them, he can by no means agree to it, His Majesty having commanded him only to communicate so much as relate to the Assembly. But as the
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Governor is willing to give them all reasonable Satisfaction, and as he thinks there is not anything in His Majesty's Instructions but may be communicated with Safety to himself, he has ordered me to attend the House with them during the time of their being read, and then to bring them back to him."
"To the Honble George Thomas, Esqr., Lieut. Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware.
"The Humble Address of the Representatives of the Freemen of the said Province in General Assembly met.
" May it please the Governor :
"We remember with great Gratitude the many Favours we enjoy under the Crown and Government of our Mother Country ; and therefore it gives us great Concern that we cannot chearfully accede to the Measures recommended from thence.
" We have ever esteemed it our Duty to pay Tribute to Ceasar, and yield Obedience to the Powers God hath set over us, so far as our Conscientious Persuasions will permit ; but we cannot pre- serve good Consciences and come into the Levying of Money and appropriating it to the uses recommended to us in the Governor's Speech, because it is repugnant to the religious Principles professed by the greater Number of the present Assembly, who are of the People called Quakers.
" By Order of the House, "JOHN KINSEY, Speaker.
" Philada., the 7th of the 5th Month, 1740. p
" His Honour, the Governour, to the Gentlemen of the Assembly. " Gentlemen :
"In your address of the 7th Instant you are pleased to say, 'That you cannot preserve good Consciences and Come into the Levying of Money and appropriating it to the Uses recommended to you in my Speech.'
" I am not sensible That I have in the least deviated in that Speech from His Majesty's Eighth Instruction, but if you think otherwise, I recommend to you the 'Levying of Money and appro- priating it' agreeable to that Instruction, which ought, indeed, and I hope will, have a greater Weight with you than any thing I have said or can say. A Copy of it has been already laid before you, and you had likewise the Liberty of comparing it with the Original under His Majesty's Royal Sign Manual.
"GEORGE THOMAS.
" Philada., July 8th, 1740.
"By Command,
" Thomas Lawrie, Secretary.
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"His Honour, the Governor, to the Gentlemen of the Assembly : " Gentlemen :
"It is now a Week since I recommended to you a Complyance with His Majesty's Eighth Instruction, and yet nothing has been done. A considerable Number of Men have already inlisted in His Majesty's Service, and there appears such an Alacrity in the Peo- ple as gives me reason to hope that I shall compleat the Levys in a reasonable Time, unless you discourage them by delaying the neces- sary Supplys.
" As the new Levys are in want of every thing, even Houses to cover their Heads, I am hourly apprehensive they may commit some Disorders, therefore I do again earnestly press you to make a speedy Provision for them, answerable to the King's just Expecta- tions.
" GEORGE THOMAS. " Philada., July 9th, 1740.
"" By his Honour's Command. "Thomas Lawrie, Secry."
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In the House of Representatives.
" Ordered,
" That John Wright and James Gibbons wait upon the Gover- nor, and acquaint him that the House have made considerable Pro- gress in a Bill for raising of Money for the use of the Crown ; But it being Harvest Time, it would be injurious to the Country Members to stay the Completion of it; That there is a Rumour about the Town of the Probability of Peace between Great Britain and Spain, which if it prove true may occasion some alteration in the Bill; That the Speaker informs the House he is under a Necessity of going to Lewes-Town next Week, in an Affair which concerns the Province ; and as they do not think it can be of any great Detri- ment to the publick Affairs to adjourn until the Eighteenth Day of the next Month, Therefore the House incline to adjourn to that Time.
" The 11th of the 5th Month, 1740.
"True Copy from the Minutes. "B. Franklin, Cl."
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A Verbal Message by the Secretary.
" Mr. Speaker :
"I am commanded by the Governer to acquaint the House, That
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he is very much pleased to hear that they have made so considerable a Progress in a Bill for raising Money for the use of the Crown; but he thinks no Private Business ought to interfere with a Bill so necessary, and so much for the Honour of the Province.
"The Governor would be greatly rejoiced to hear, with any Cer- tainty, of a Peace concluded between Great Britain & Spain ; but he is surprized a bare Report of this Kind, in Contradiction to His Majesty's own Letters, should have any weight in the Consul- tations of a publick Body, or be made use of to delay what is so pressingly recommended by His Majesty.
" The Governor is acquainted with the Speaker's Obligations to go to Lewes-Town, but hoped this Bill might be finished with Ease before he set out.
" The Governor says, The new Levies are in want of all Neces- saries ; but that if the House is resolved to adjourn, as they have a Privilege to do, he hopes, that in Duty to His Majesty they will meet again in Twelve or fourteen Days, otherwise he is apprehen- sive that he shall be under a Necessity of calling them again.
"Extract of so much of His Majesty's Instructions, under His Royal Sign Manual, as concerns the Assembly of Pennsylvania.
" Instructions for Our Trusty and Well-beloved George Thomas, Esqr., Deputy Governor of Our Province of Pennsylvania, in Amer- ica, or the Deputy Governor or Commander-in-Chief of Our said Province, for the time being. Given at Our Court at St James' the second Day of April, 1740, in the Thirteenth year of Our Reign.
" Having been called upon by repeated Provocations to declare War against War, We are determined, by God's assistance, in so just a Cause, to vindicate the Honour of our Imperial Crown, to revenge the Injurys done to our Subjects, to assert their undoubted Rights of Commerce & Navigation, and by all possible means to attack, annoy, and distress a Nation that has treated our People with such Insolence and Barbarity.
" We have therefore given Orders for the equipping and setting forth of an Expedition against the Territories of the Catholick King in the West Indies, which will consist of a large Squadron of Our Ships of War, and of a considerable Body of our Land Forces, with a suitable Train of Artillery, Storeships, and Transports, The Fleet to be commanded by our trusty and well-beloved Edward Vernon, Esq'. Vice Admiral of the Blue Squadron of Our Fleet, and Com- mander-in-Chief of Our Ships employed, or to be employed, in the West Indies, and the Land Forces by our Right Trusty and well- behaved Charles Lord Cathcart, Major General of Our Forces, whom we have appointed Our General and Commander-in-Chief of the said Expedition.
"We have also determined to raise a Body of Troops in Our Colonies on the Continent of North America, to join those to be
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sent from hence at a particular Rendezvous, which will be appointed for that Purpose, and to act in Conjunction with them under the Command of Our said General, in such Dispositions as shall be made for our Service ; And altho' we have not thought fitt to fix any particular Quota for Our Province of Pennsylvania, under your Government, because We would not set Bounds to their Zeal for Our Service ; yet considering the great Number of Inhabitants in Our said Province, and that they have of late years been much encreased, We doubt not in the least but they will exert themselves upon this Occasion as far as the Circumstances of the Colony will allow, being assured they cannot render a more acceptable Service to us and to their Mother Country, or do any Thing more essential for their own Interest.
" But we trust and expect That Our Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania will provide Victuals, Transports, and all other Necessarys for the Troops to be raised in our said Province, except Cloath's, Tents, Arms, Amunition, and Pay, till their arrival at their general Rendezvous in the West Indies, from which Time the said Transports shall enter into our Pay ; and you are hereby directed, without Loss of Time, to recommend to the said Assembly, in Our Name, to make such Provision that the Expedition may not be re- tarded for Want thereof.
" We depend upon your punctual Complyance with These Our Instructions. We recommend the several Matters therein contain'd to you, Our Deputy Governor, to Our Council, to our Assembly, and to all other Our good Subjects in Pennsylvania, so far as may concern them respectively. And that we do expect that you should, by the first and every other Occasion that may Offer, send us a full and clear Account of your Proceedings herein by Letter directed to one of Our Secretaries of State.
" By His Honour's Command.
" A true Copy. Thomas Lawrie, Sec'ry. "Philada., July 2d, 1740."
Extract of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle's Letter, one of His
Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to the Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, Dated Whitehall, April 5, 1740.
" And if you should find Difficulty in Raising the Men within your Government by the Methods that may occur to you for that Purpose, it is His Majesty's Pleasure that you should, in that Case, permit Major General Spotswood, Col® Blakeney, or any Persons appointed by them, to beat up for Volunteers, and that you should, to the Utmost of your Power, assist them in it.
"By His Honour's Command.
" A true Copy. Thomas Lawrie, Sec'ry.
" Philada., July 2, 1740."
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At a Council held at Philada., July 3d, 1740.
PRESENT :
The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Samuel Preston,
Thomas Laurence,
Ralph Assheton,
Samuel Hasell, Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
The Council having been called on an Affair of the greatest Con- sequence to the Government, vizt, On a Discovery made in Eng- land at the Secretary of State's Office, and communicated to the Governor by Mr. Paris, Agent for this Province, of one Robert Jenkins, of Salem, in New Jersey, having imployed a Printer in London to Counterfeit the Bills of Credit of the Countys of New- castle, Kent, & Sussex, upon Delaware, to a considerable value, The Agent's Letter, & the Papers relating to the said Discovery, were laid before the Board, and Andrew Hamilton, Esqr., Recorder of this City, was called in & desired to assist in the Examination of the said Jenkins.
The Sherif then being commanded by the Governor to bring thg said Jenkins from Jail before him & the Council, & it appearing upon the Examination that the said Jenkins was guilty of the For- gery charged upon him, he was remanded to Jail, to be kept there till the Governor should issue a writt for removing him to Newcas- tle, to be try'd there, as the Crime was committed against the Laws of that Government; and it was ordered that the examination this day taken, and the several Papers transmitted from England, should be sent down to be produced at the time of his Tryal.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, July 21st, 1740. -
PRESENT :
The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Samuel Preston,
Thomas Laurence,'
Anthony Palmer, Samuel Hasell, Esqrs.
Ralph Assheton,
The Governor acquainted the Board that Mr. Lawrie having en- ter'd into his Majesty's Service as an Officer in the Troops raised here, he had Ordered Patrick Baird to attend the Council this Day, and recommended him as a fit Person to succeed Mr. Lawrie in the Secretary's Office. Whereof the Board unanimously approved.
Then the Governor laid before the Board the Proceedings of the Assembly at their last Meeting, containing their Address & his
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Messages, &c., which were read (and are the same which are here . before improperly inserted in the Minutes of Council as of July 2d.
Which see.) His Honour then observed that the Assembly had actually made an abrupt adjournment to the 18th of August, with- out having concluded any thing for his Majesty's Service, in obe- dience to the Instructions laid before them.
His Hon". likewise again laid before the Board the Duke of New- castle's Letter of the 5th of April, and more especially the follow- ing Paragraph thereof, viz“:
" I now send you, inclosed, His Majesty's Instructions, under ! his Royal Sign Manual, containing particular Directions for your Conduct in every thing relating to the Performance of this Service, which are so full that they leave me nothing to add but to recom- mend to you the utmost Care & Diligence in the execution of his Majesty's Orders, and particularly in procuring as great a number of Men as you possibly can to inlist, which, by the great Encourage- ment which (you will see by your Instructions) his Majesty hath thought fit to give to such Persons as shall enter into his Service on this Occasion, it is hoped may be easily done. You will see that Collo Blakeney carries with him from hence only three Thousand Arms ; you will not, however, limit the number of Men to be raised within your Governm' in proportion to that number of Arms, since my Lord Cathcart will carry with him a Quantity of spare Arms & Cloathing, in case it should be practicable to raise a greater number than the Three Thousand for which Collo Blakeney carries with him Arms and Money for their Subsistence," &c.
His Hon". also laid before the Board Collo Blakeney's Letter, im- powering him to draw for the Subsistence of Eight Companys, and concluded that the Forces raised here must be Ship't by the 1st of September, in order to be at the Rendezvous in Virginia by the middle of this Month, agreeable to a Letter he had received from the Honble. Collo. Gooch, which was likewise read at the Board. On Consideration of all which,
It is the Opinion of the Board, That the Governor, without delay, take up or Engage the necessary Transports for the Eight Compa- nys raised in this Province, and that it is necessary for his Majestie's Service That his Hon". call the Assembly together again in a Weeks' time. And writs for that purpose being prepared, the same were read & approved.
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At a Council held at Philadelphia, July 29th, 1740.
PRESENT :
The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieu Governor. Thomas Laurence, Ralph Assheton,
Samuel Hasell, Thomas Griffitts,
Esqrs.
The Minutes of the preceeding Council being read & approved,
His Hon". the Governor, laid. before the Board A Message he had prepared to be sent to the Assembly ; which was read at the Board & approved. Ordered that the Secretary carry the same, with the Extract therein mentioned, to the House of Assembly, forthwith.
The Message is in these Words :
" Gentlemen :
"Two of your Members attended me yesterday in the evening, & informed me that the House was met pursuant to the Writts is- sued by me, and were ready to receive what I had to lay before them. To this I answered that his Majestie's Instructions were communicated to your last Meeting, and that I hoped you would with all possible Diligence proceed to make a Provision of victuals, Transports, and all other Necessaries agreeable to his Majestie's just Expectations for the Troops to be raised in this Province.
" These his Majestie's Instructions, & the Instances of the Honble Collo. Gooch, who is appointed by his Majesty to Command the Troops to be raised in North America, & to conduct them to the place of Rendezvous in the West Indies, obliged me to call you to- gether again before the Time to which you adjourned your selves. Collo. Gooch presses me earnestly to provide Transports, and put the Troops on Board in such Convenient Season that he may depend upon their being at the Capes of Virginia before the middle of Sep- tember, that no disappointment may hereafter attend the Service. But how is this to be done if you do not speedily make the necessary Preperation for it? Should any Disappointment attend the Ser- vice, it must lye at your Door, since I have already performed my Part. The Troops' are not, indeed, so Numerous as might be ex- pected from a Province so populous, & on an Expedition which his Majesty and the whole British Nation have so much at heart, yet considering that no Encouragement hath been given here by the Legislature, I hope what is done will be accepted by his Majesty as an Instance of my Zeal for his Honour.
" As seven Companies are already compleated in this Government, you will be able to make an Estimate of the Expence which will attend the Services expected by his Majesty.
" The Honble Coll. Blakeney, his Majestie's Adjutant General, hath already remitted to me the Pay of as many of those Compa- nies as were compleated when I wrote to him for it, and hath given
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me assurance of his doing the like so soon as I inform him of my having raised more, pursuant to his Majestie's Instructions, and his pleasure signified by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, of which I have now ordered an Extract to be delivered to you, lest it should have escaped your Memories since it was read to you at your last meeting.
"I have disposed the Troops into the Adjacent Villages, to pre- vent Drunkeness & Disorders in the City. But the Exactions of the publick housekeepers for their Lodging & Diet, makes it im- possible for them to subsist, since their Pay of sixteen Shillings & six Pence Sterling per Month falls short of the Demand of those People. The King's Troops are billeted in England by Act of Par- liament, for four Pence sterling per Diem, whereas the Innkeepers here will not do it under twelve pence per Diem, tho' Provisions are bought for half ye price.
" His Majesty, under the Words all other necessarics, certainly expected that Quarters would be provided for them ; and if this be not done, it will be difficult to keep them within the Bounds of their Duty. As the stay of the Troops here will be but short, and the expence, therefore, not very great, I recommend this likewise, to your immediate Consideration.
" GEORGE THOMAS.
" By Command.
" Pat. Baird, Secretary. " Philad., July 29, 1740."
At a Council held with the Indians at the Quakers Meeting House, in Philadelphia, August the 1st, 1740.
PRESENT :
The Honble THOMAS PENN, Esqr., Proprietary.
The Honble GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieut. Governor.
Samuel Preston, Anthony Palmer, )
Clement Plumsted, Ralph Assheton,' Esqrs. Thomas Griffitts,
Sesounan and sundry Delaware Indians.
Chicalamy and Sundry Mingoes.
Marcus Hewlin,
Conrade Weyser, and
Thomas Freeman, an Indian,
3 Interpreters. S
Present, also, as many of the Inhabitants of Philadelphia as the House could conveniently hold.
The Governor, by ffreman, the Interpreter, let Sesounan and his Brethren know that he understood they were come down upon some
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Business they had with this Government, That yesterday had been assigned as a Day of Rest to the Indians, after their Journey, and now the Governor & Council were ready to hear what they had to say. Then Sesounan said-
" Brethren :
" We wanted to come down here nine years ago. We have now brought with us the late Governor's Letter (which is dated Dec". 4th, 1731), And this Belt of Wampum [both which he laid upon the Table]. A long Time ago this Government sent to Us to come down, And now we are come down; we are come into your House. The Allegany Indians are great followers of Hunting, and were very busy, so that they could not come down sooner. We would not have you believe that we have forgot this place, tho' we could not come sooner, yet we are glad now we are come to see the Faces of all our Brethren around us. We do not Listen to any Idle Tales or Lies which we may have heard in many Indian Towns a great Way off, or in this Town, for we know where our Brethren dwell. I tell you we came from Allegany, a Long way off. We love to hunt there, because we there meet with some of our Brethren, your Indian Traders, who furnish us with Powder and Shot and other things ; we, your Brethren, being great hunters, have now brought you some Skins to make you Gloves.
" If we had heard any thing extraordinary while we were out a hunting we would give you intelligence of it; my Children the Delawares, and my Uncles the Mingoes, came along with Us from Alleghany, and are glad to see their Brethren here. Now, in tra- velling down, we found the Road very good & clear ; formerly, if we found any Impediment in the Road we removed it, but now the Road is very good & clear.
I tell you again that our Friends, the Mingoes, came along with Us, and are come into your House, which we look upon as our own home. We are pleased when we meet you, our Brethren, to have none but good Tidings to speak of, and that there is nothing amiss between us. We and our Friends, the Mingoes, are very careful to maintain Peace and Friendship with you as you are with Us. We are very sensible of the Fruits of Peace. We feel its benign In- fluences, comfortable as the Sun Beams; when we or our Friends speak to you, You may depend on our veracity, for we speak from our very Hearts ; we and all our neighbour Indians of Jersey, Bran- dywine, Conestogoe, and all thereabouts, are all of one Mind & one Spirit towards you.
" Brethren :
"I am now to speak to you of another Matter. We desired long ago that you would put a reasonable and a fixt price upon your Goods which we want, And I now desire the same Thing. I tell you this because I hear that our Friends, the Mingoes, got a better VOL. IV .- 28.
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price for their Skins at Albany or Raritan than we do from you, and that for one Buckskin they can get from those Traders a large bag of Powder [Showing the Dimensions], which is more than you give. Our Brethren, the Mingoes, tell me that they got so great a price for their Skins that I am ashamed to tell them how small a price the Delawares get from you, who are our Brethren. Deer are now become very scarce, & we hope you will Allow Us something of a better price for the future.
" Your young Men have killed so many Deer, Beavers, Bears, and Game of all sorts, that we can hardly find any for our selves ; Therefore, we desire that your people would abstain from Hunting, that we may have the benefit of it to support our selves, for God has made us Hunters, and the white people have other Ways of living without that. I have brought down my Gun and my Ax Broken, as we have no Smith living amongst us, and I hope you will get them mended for me. Brethren, we brought no Squaws to carry Skins as formerly, all your Goods are so very Dear.
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