USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV > Part 65
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nations or Depositions that were taken and sent to support it'-De- signs to amuse-' Emissaries well Instructed,' who made the People of the Country believed 'that a new Governor was most certainly to come over soon,' we must desire the Governor to rank among the Number of the many facts in which he has been misinformed, and we think ought to put him upon considering the Credit of the Persons by whom he is so much abused in his Intelligence.
" We next proceed to that part of the Governor's Message which relates to the Council. As they are by our Constitution no part of the Legislature, we did not think any proceedings of theirs entitled to our Notice. To this the Governor is pleased to Reply, 'This might have been proper enough had the Council thereby assum'd any part of the Legislative Power, but that, in the Case before us, it is in his opinion no more to the purpose than if we had told them they were no part of the College of Physicians, &ca. We answer, In this we must be permitted to differ in opinion from the Governor ; If the Council are no part of the Legislature, they have no Right to enter into any Debates with us, nor have any Proceedings of their's a Right to our Answer; If they can take upon them to arraign and censure the Conduct of the Assembly, which they had not the least Authority of Law for doing, we knew not what Power they might next assume ; and it was, therefore, necessary to let the Governor know they had no other Right to our Notice than any other like Number of our Constituents.
" As to that part of the Governor's Message which relates to the Resolves of Assembly, He must Allow us to retain our for- mer Sentiment, notwithstanding anything he is pleased to say to the contrary. But as the discussing this Matter is not necessary on any point in Controversy between us, we do not chuse to swell our An- swer by entering into the further Consideration of that Affair at present.
"The Governor is pleased to say, ' Enough has been said of our Apprehensions of the great and frequent Importation of Foreigners.' We answer : We are of the same opinion. Sufficient has been said to shew that this charge, which was attempted to be fixed on the present Assembly, took its rise in the Proprietary Family, and was promoted by some of the Governor's Friends; And permit us to add, That if the Governor has in Truth that Regard for the Ger- mans he wou'd persuade us to believe, his giving his Assent to the Bill we have prepared and laid before him, for confirming the Titles of those who holds Lands under some of them who died unnatural- ized, and for enabling others of them to partake of the benefit of a late Act of Parliament, and thereby to become naturalized (who not being of the People called Quakers, do yet conscientiously scruple an Oatlı), will be greater Demonstration of it than any which can arise from the part he has taken in the Debate concerning them.
"The Governor's Administration in the Lower Counties does not
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immediately concern us, and therefore we can find no other Reason for his introducing it into the Debate than to take an opportunity of Commending it ; But he must allow us to think on whatever Principles he was pleased to Act, they and we were not dealt by in - the same manner relating to Servants. When Application was made to the Governor here to discharge the Servants inlisted, for that the Number of Freemen were a sufficient proportion for this Province, his Answer was, 'That he had more than once told us he was directed to raise 'as many men as he could.' When Appli- cation was made to him in those Counties to the like purpose, he was pleased to find out 15 or 16 Supernumeraries.
" How well satisfied the Governor may be with the Opinions he has had from England, 'of the Legality of Inlisting Servants,' he best knows. And it is at his pleasure whether he will entertain the least opinion of the Credit of those Persons who have given us Reason to believe it will not be thought 'a punctual Obedience to His Majestie's Commands,' nor is it likely to receive his Royal Approbation. Permit us, however, to retain our former Sentiments, both of the Credit of the Persons and the Accounts they have given, it being what appears to us most consistent with natural Jus- tice, and those Rights which every Subject of the Crown of Great Britain may justly claim. Whether our Conduct may have merited the King's Approbation, does not become us to judge ; we may, however, without breach of Modesty say, it is what we have endea- vored to deserve, and if we are so happy as on any occasion to obtain, we do assure the Governor we shall never disgust our Readers by our frequent and unnecessary Publications of it.
" If there be any who 'wonder how a Governor can spend a Hundred a year,' we are not of the number, nor did we take upon us to judge of the Governor's Oeconomy. We leave this to the Gentlemen he allows to have Right so to do, and if anything in our Message was understood to Charge the Governor with being too profuse, we may assure him it was not intended.
" The Governor is pleased to proceed : ' Whilst you are attacking my Rights your Right to the manner of paying yourselves your Wages is not very clear, for that if we may pay ourselves out of the interest money, because we may apply it to what uses we shall think fit, we have a Right, if we think fit, to divide it amongst our- selves.' We answer: The Consequence is by no means fairly deduced from the Premises ; the power given us by Act of As- sembly must, and ever was understood to such Publick Uses as we shall think fit; and as the Payment of our Wages prevents a Tax upon the People, we thought and yet think ourselves well war- ranted in applying the Money to this Purpose.
" Give us leave to add, that our Complaint against the Governor was not his ' mentioning the Sentiments of the People,' but his random Charge against the late Assembly with ' a Piece of Art in
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Distributing the Publick Money by the partiality shewn in Paying the Masters of Servants inlisted, &ca .- An insinuation altogether groundless, and very far from being the Sentiments of the People ; · For they entertained favourable Thoughts of that Assembly for the Allowances made them, tho' it fell far short of an adequate Com- · pensation for the Losses they sustained by those Officers, who, coun -. tenanced and encouraged by the Governor, had carried away their Servants.
" It would, therefore, in our opinion, have reflected full as much Honour on the Governor's Conduct (were it in his Power) to have acquitted himself from his Charge, rather than without any Colour to attempt to fix Partiality on others which he cannot prove.
" And tho' we have no Reason to expect his Judgment in the Case to be equal, since without knowing how the Affair is circum- stanced, he is pleased to determine against us by declaring, 'There is good Reason to believe there has been a partial Distribution of · the Publick Money in the ' Paying for Servants.' Yet willing to give the Governor all the satisfaction in our Power that Impartial Justice was done, we shall send a Copy of the List by which the Compensation was made, of which he may make what use he pleases. The ' Publication ' we did not promise him.
" As to the Persons 'removed by the Governor from Offices,' permit us to say, their removal conferred greater Honour than was done them on the bestowing those Offices. And were they, as the Governor is pleased to say ' he is tempted to suspect the Penmen of their own Praises,' after his own great Example, with this Advan- tage that they had the Approbation of others, it might we think have escaped his Notice.
" What might have been the Effect had the Governor been pleased · to 'descend to the mean Arts of Flattery & Dissimulation,' as he tells us he did not put them in Practice, can only be conjectur'd ; And as the Success he seems to have promised himself depends on mistaken Intelligence, he may allow us to think he would have been disappointed, unless he can demonstrate his Influence would have exceeded an Office and a hundred # Annum. In this, however, we agree it was not worth his while to bestow great Pains in attempting to make a ' Tool,' unless he had more prospect of Success and had been unprovided.
" We now proceed to consider what the Governor is pleased to say in these Words : ' I am persuaded you do not expect a serious Answer to your Charge of a manifest Design against the Liberties of the People. This, however, is the Engine you have work'd with to deceive the People, and you know the advantages of it too well to part with it now. If there be such a Design, it is strange it shou'd be manifest to none but 'You and your Partizans.'
" We answer : The Party we are of is our Country. How the
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Governor can pretend either that there is not a manifest Design against the Liberties of the People, that it is not manifest, or that he can suppose there is any Colour to Charge this as an 'Engine we have work'd with to deceive the People,' appears to us very extraordinary. Is not the Right of being elected to serve in As- sembly one of the greatest Liberties the Inhabitants of this Pro- vince enjoy ? And hath not the Governor manifestly attempted to deprive great numbers of the Freemen of this Province of that Right ? Are not the Liberties of the People affected when Designs are set on Foot to deprive their Representatives of their Privileges ? These, and other Instances which might be given, are so flagrant that we are at a Loss to know why he should think we do not ex- pect a serious Answer, unless he is pleased to suppose we are to be jested out of our Privileges.
" The Governor must give us Leave to add, that we think no one but himself can find out any thing in our former Message which shewed the least Distrust 'of His Majestie's Royal Virtues,' Or that we thought he would give the least Countenance to 'Enter- prizes destructive of our Liberties,' and yet it does not follow but that such Attempts have been made, and that it is our Duty to the utmost of our power to oppose them.
" It gives us great concern that we are put under the Necessity of continuing this Debate, and it would be highly satisfactory to us to put an End to it on any Terms consistent with our Duty and the Good of our Country. As to the Bills which lie before the Gov- ernor, since he was pleased to tell us That 'he did not think he could be in any degree discharged from the obligations he is under to promote our Ease and Happiness,' That ' those Bills he supposed we judged necessary for those Ends, and as such they should not fail of having their weight with him,' we had reason to hope he would have given them all Dispatch in his power, either by propo- sing Amendments or giving his Assent to them as now formed. This would have engaged us chearfully to have made further Pro- vision; for the Governor's Support in the manner which hath been usual on the passing of Bills but his last Message deprived us of any expectations of this kind, and only leave us room to wish the Governor was free from all 'undue influences,' and more at 'Liberty to exercise his own Judgment in Conducting the Publick Affairs,' without insisting on Terms not to be complied with but by altering the manner in which this additional Support has been given.
" Before we conclude, permit us to add : It is not the Governor's endeavoring to inforce the King's Instructions ' that is an obstacle in our Way to giving him this additional Support (what Instruc- tions of the Proprietors he may allude to, he knows best). But if the Governor had shewn that Regard to the Liberties of the People of this Province they had reason to expect, and had proceeded on the Bills before him as former Governors have done, he may assure
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himself we should have made a suitable Provision for him. And since he has not thought fit to come into these Measures, what re- mains for us to do is to give the necessary Dispatch to so much of the Publick Business yet undone which is in our Power, & adjourn to the End of the Year.
"Signed by Order of the House.
"JAMES KINSEY, Speaker. " 6th Mon. 27th, 1742."
At a Council held at Philada., Octo". 15, 1742.
PRESENT :
The Honble GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieutt. Governor.
Samuel Preston, Thomas Laurence, )
Samuel Hasell, Ralph Assheton, Esqrs.
Abraham Taylor, Robert Strettell,
The Governor informed the Board that the Representatives in Assembly having Yesterday met & made Choice of a Speaker, had sent five of their Members to acquaint him therewith, and to know when he would be pleased to receive them. That he thereupon had order'd the Council to be summoned this Day, & sent a Message requiring the Assembly's Attendance at 12 o'Clock, in order to pre- sent their Speaker.
Accordingly the House, with their Speaker, came up, And Mr. Kinsey, addressing himself to the Governor, spake in this Manner :
"May it please the Governor :
" The Representatives of the ffreemen of this Province did Yes- terday meet in pursuance of the Law and Charter, and made Choice of Me for their Speaker.
" I know that on such Occasions some Men of Wit have displayed their Parts in making Disqualifying Speeches, and thereby set forth their Talents to greater Advantage, but tho' I am sensible of the Difficulties which attend the Execution of the Duty of Speaker, and of my own insufficiency, Yet as the Representatives have thought fit to make Choice of me, I shall only Say that my purpose is to perform that Service with Integrity in the best manner I can, ac- cording to my understanding, And I wish my Behaviour therein may merit the Governor's Approbation.
To which the Governor answer'd :
" I hope your Conduct will be such as may merit the Assembly's Choice and my Approbation."
Mr. Kinsey then said :
"I am, then, on behalf the Assembly, to request the Governor that
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he will be pleased to protect them in the enjoyment of their usual priviledges, which I shall enumerate as well as my Memory will serve ; first, that they may have a free Access to the Governor at proper Times when the publick Business may require it, That their persons may be free from arrests during the Sessions of Assembly, That they may enjoy freedom of Speech in their House, And that the Governor will be pleased to put a favourable Construction upon their Proceedings, and not give Ear to any Reports Concerning their Debates until the same shall be past into Resolves, And, Lastly, that the Governor will be pleased to Excuse any involuntary Mis- takes Which I may make in the Exercise of my Duty.
To which the Governor Replied :
"I have never hitherto invaded any of your Privileges. Those you have now mentioned seem essentially necessary to the being of an Assembly, and you may be assured that all such as you have a just right to shall be maintained by me inviolably."
And then the Assembly withdrew.
His Honour then Communicated to the Board a Letter which he yesterday received from General Oglethorp, with a Summary Ac- count of the Transactions in Georgia during the late Spanish Inva- sion of that Province.
MEMORANDUM.
At Newcastle, the 3d of November, 1742. Two Members of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, Viz James Morris & Oswald Peel, waited on the Governor, and address'd themselves in the manner following :
" May it please the Governor :
"By order of the Assembly now sitting at Philada, We wait upon the Governor with this Address (presenting it). As the House expects our Attendance this Afternoon, we hope the Gov- ernor will give Us an Answer to the Address, that we may make Report to the House at the Time expected .- The House were in Daily expectation of the Governor's Return, which was the reason the Address was not presented sooner .- Divers Bills have past the House ready to be laid before the Governor, and they desire to know when the Governor's Affairs will permit his Return."
The Governor told these Gentlemen that he would read over the Address, and give them some Answer in an hour or two.
Accordingly, in that Time the Governor sent for the Gentlemen and gave them the following Answer, to be delivered to the House, Vizt
" Gentlemen :
" My attendance on the business of this Government being of
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Course required at this Season of the Year, and it having been Cus- tomary for the Assembly of this Province to adjourn, for that reason I could not apprehend that my absence would have been any ways inconvenient to them, and am sorry there was any Occasion given for the Enquiry mentioned in the Address You have delivered to me,
" My Attention is at this Time engaged by several Bills which the Assembly of this Governmt have laid before me, but as I hope to finish the Business of the Session here so as to be at Philada to- Morrow, Your House may be Assured of such a Compliance with their Request as may be agreeable to Law and the Rights of the Subject.
At a Council held at Philada., Nov". 5th, 1742.
PRESENT :
The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Samuel Preston,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Laurence,
Ralph Assheton,
William Till,
Abraham Taylor,
Esqrs.
Robert Strettell,
Tench ffrancis, Esqr., Attorney General.
The Governor informed the Board that on Wednesday last, whilst he was at Newcastle, he had received an Address from the Assem- bly of this Province by two of their Members, which having rela- tion to matters of Law, He had, therefore, required the Attorney General's Attendance now in Council; and then Ordered the said Address to be read, as follows in these Words, Vizt.
"To the Honble George Thomas, Esqr., Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, &t.
"The humble Address of the Representatives of the ffreemen of the said Province in General Assembly met.
"May it please the Governor :
"By a Petition lately presented to us from a Great Number of the ffreemen of the City and County of Philadelphia, they Com- plain of a very extraordinary Riot committed within the said City at the last Election. As it is an Affair which justly alarmed the Inhabitants of this Province, and was attended with very uncom- mon Circumstances, it engaged our Enquiry & Stay much longer than is usual at this season of the Year. The Discoveries we have been able to make in the Course of this Enquiry, we apprehend it to be our Duty to lay before the Governor as they appear to Us from the Examinations taken, which are to the Effect following :
" Early in the morning on the first of October last past, being
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the Day appointed by our Charter & the Laws of the Province for the Choice of Representatives to serve in Assembly, a Number of Sailors, consists of thirty or upwards, mostly Strangers lately ar- rived at the Port of Philadelphia, prepared themselves with large Clubbs or Truncheons, and Armed with them went about thro' di- vers parts of the City in a riotous and tumultuous Manner, and par- ticularly before the Mayor's Door and in his sight, without his taking the Care he Ought to have done to disperse them. Divers ffreemen, Inhabitants of the City, observing this, and fearing some Outrage was intended at the Election, and judging it unlawful for these Men to go about in the Manner before described to the Terror of the King's good Subjects, Addressed themselves to the Mayor & Recorder the same Morning, desiring them to take proper Mea- sures for preserving the Publick Peace, but did not receive such an answer as might justly have been Expected from Gentlemen in their stations. Applications were likewise made to others of the City Magistrates, who promis'd to, attend and use their Endeavours to prevent any Disorders which might happen. About the Tenth hour in the forenoon of that Day, the ffreemen & Inhabitants of the County being met, and the Sheriff attending, proceeded in a peace- able manner to choose Inspectors, During which Time the Sailors before mentioned having joined themselves with others, also Stran- gers, making in all about seventy, arm'd with Clubbs or other Wea- pons, which they flourish'd over their Heads with loud Huzzas, & in a furious and tumultuous Manner approached the place of Elec- tion. Divers of the Magistrates present observing this, attended by some few of the Electors, went towards them and let them know they had no right to appear in that Riotous Manner, endeavouring to perswade them to desist going further or giving any Disturbance at the Election, in which they, being Strangers and not Inhabitants, could have no pretence of Right, and desired them to retreat peace- ably. This the Sailors not only refused, but struck at the Magis- trates and others with great Violence. The Constables interposing with their Staves for some time kept off the Rioters, but their At- tack was so furious as to break the Constables' Staves, who were then obliged to give ground. In this interval, divers of the Inhabi- tants were knock'd down and greviously wounded, and amongst them one of the Alderman of the City, who in all likelihood would have been barbarously murthered had it not been prevented. The Sailors at length march'd away in the same Riotous manner they came, and the Inhabitants being unwilling to be disappointed in their Election, and not Expecting further Abuse, proceeded in the Choice of their Inspectors, which was perform'd in a very peaceable Manner. And soon after the Ballot for the Choice of Representa- tives was begun, when on a sudden the same Sailors, in like furious and tumultuous Manner as aforesaid, made a second & unexpected Attack upon the ffreemen of the Province, throwing Stones at them and knocking down all they were able, without Regard to Age or Station. Many of the Inhabitants having before dispersed them-
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selves to several Parts of the City, and those who remain'd being unarmed and having nothing to defend themselves withal, were in the Surprize driven away by the Sailors some distance from the Place of Election, but at length recovering themselves and pro- voked by the repeated Abuses they had received, turned on their Assailants, who seeing this soon fled before them, and being pur- sued by directions from some of the Magistrates, upwards of fifty of them were in a little Time apprehended and carried to Prison, and the ffreemen proceeded to finish the Election of their Represen- tatives, which was done in a very peaceable manner.
" ffrom many concurring Circumstances which appear in the Ex- aminations we have taken, we are fully satisfied this insolent At- tempt must have been the Effect of some contrivance preceding the Day of Election, and as it was committed chiefly by Strangers lately come into the Province, who had not the least pretence to intermed- dle in our Elections, and without any Provocation w soever, it is reasonable to believe they must have been engaged in this wicked and Dangerous Enterprize by some who have had longer residence amongst Us,
" In the Course of our Examinations it further appears that the Recorder & divers other Magistrates were Present and saw these Outrages committed, and were at the Time repeatedly requested to exert themselves in suppressing the Rioters, and told that Numbers of the Electors were ready & willing to Assist to that End if the Magistrates thought fit, but all Applications prov'd wholly inef- ectual ; they refused the Least interposition of their Authority, and remained Unactive Spectators of the abuses committed, some of them behaving rather like Men that approved of the Conduct of the Rioters than otherwise. This, however, was not the Case of all the Magistrates; some there were who Exerted themselves laudably, and Merit the Thanks of all Well Wishers to the Province for the Services done their King & Country on that Day.
" As this Attempt hath a tendency Manifestly destructive of our Liberties and subversive of our Constitution, and the ffreemen of the Province are deeply interested in the Consequences, it requires the most diligent & careful Enquiry to discover from whence it took its rise, by whom it was carried into Execution, & who they are that aided, abetted, or countenanced the same, that the Offenders may receive Exemplary Punishment agreeable to their Demerits.
" ffor these Reasons & these Ends may it please the Governor to recommend it to the Judges of the Supream Court as an Affair of the Greatest Importance worthy of their Notice, in which, as they have an undoubted Right, they ought to interpose and take Cogni- zance of in a Court of Oyer & Terminer to be summoned for that purpose.
" Signed by Order of the House.
" JOHN KINSEY, Speaker.
" November 2d, 1742."
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Upon reading whereof, Mr. Till, the present Mayor, moved on behalf of himself and the other City Magistrates, that he might have A Copy of the Address, in order to enable them to take such Methods as they should think proper for their own Justification; Which was granted, and a Copy order'd to be made out accordingly.
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