USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IX > Part 15
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" Seventhly. We daily lament that numbers of our nearest & dearest relatives are still in Captivity among the Savage Heathen, to be trained up in all their Ignorance & Barbarity, or to be tor- tured to death with all the contrivances of Indian Cruelty, for at- tempting to make their escape from Bondage ; We see they pay no regard to the many solemn Promises which they have made to re- store our Friends who are in Bondage amongst them. We, therefore, earnestly pray that no trade may hereafter be permitted to be car- ried on with them, until our Brethren and Relatives are brought home to us.
" Eighthly. We complain that a certain Society of People in this Province, in the late Indian War, & at several Treaties held by the King's representatives, openly loaded the Indians with Pre- sents, and that J. P., a leader of the said Society, in Defiance of all Government, not only abetted our Indian Enemies, but kept up a private intelligence with them, and publickly received from them a Belt of Wampum, as if he had been our Governor, or authorized by the King to treat with his Enemies. By this means the Indians have been taught to despise us as a weak and disunited people, and
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from this fatal Source have arose many of our Calamities under which we groan. We humbly pray, therefore, that this Grievance may be redressed, and that no private subject be hereafter permitted to treat with, or carry on a Correspondence with our Enemies.
"Ninthly. We cannot but observe with sorrow, that Fort Au- gusta, which has been very expensive to this Province, has afforded us but little assistance during this, or the last War. The men that were stationed at that place neither helped our distressed Inhabi- tants to save their Crops, nor did they attack our Enemies in their Towns, or patrole on our Frontiers. We humbly request that pro- per measures may be taken to make that Garrison more serviceable to us in our Distress, if it can be done.
"N. B. We are far from intending any Reflection against the Commanding Officer stationed at Augusta, as we presume his Con- duct was always directed by those from whom he received his Or- ders.
" Signed on Behalf of ourselves, and by appointment of a great number of the Frontier Inhabitants.
" MATTHEW SMITH, "JAMES GIBSON,
"February 13th, 1764."
Friday, the 17th February.
Two Members of Assembly waited on the Governor, and ac- quainted him that the House had appointed a Committee to confer with him concerning the Remonstrance of Matthew Smith and James Gibson, and desired to know when he would be pleased to meet the Committee for that purpose; to which His Honour made answer, that he would meet them to-morrow Morning at 10 o'Clock.
The two Members at the same time requesting the Governor. would be pleased to lay before the House the Declaration of the Rioters, presented to him previous to their Remonstrance, His Honour accordingly delivered to them the said Declaration, which follows in these words, viz:
" The Declaration of the injured Frontier Inhabitants, together with a brief sketch of Grievances the good Inhabitants of the Province labour under.
" Inasmuch as the killing those Indians at Conestogoe Manor and Lancaster has been, and may be, the subject of much Conver- sation, and by invidious Representations of it, which some, we doubt not, will industriously spread, many unacquainted with the true state of Affairs may be led to pass a Severe Censure on the
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Authors of those Facts, and any others of the like nature, which may hereafter happen, than we are persuaded they would if matters were duly understood and deliberated. We think it, therefore, proper thus openly to declare ourselves, and render some brief hints of the reasons of our Conduct, which we must, and frankly do, con- fess, nothing but necessity itself could induce us to, or justify us in, as it bears an appearance of flying in the face of Authority, and is attended with much labour, fatigue, and expence.
"Ourselves, then, to a Man, we profess to be loyal Subjects to the best of Kings, our rightful Sovereign George the third, firmly attached to his Royal Person, Interest, and Government, & of con- sequence, equally opposite to the Enemies of His Throne & Dignity, whether openly avowed, or more dangerously concealed under a mask of falsly pretended Friendship, and chearfully willing to offer our Substance & Lives in his Cause.
" These Indians, known to be firmly connected in Friendship with our openly avowed embittered Enemies, and some of whom have, by several Oaths, been proved to be murderers, and who, by their better acquaintance with the Situation and State of our Frontier, were more capable of doing us mischief, we saw, with in- dignation, cherished and caressed as dearest Friends ; But this, alas ! is but a part, a small part, of that excessive regard manifested to Indians, beyond His Majesty's loyal Subjects, whereof we com- plain, and which, together with various other Grievances, have not only enflamed with resentment the Breasts of a number, and urged them to the disagreeable Evidence of it they have been constrained to give, but have heavily displeased by far the greatest part of the good Inhabitants of this Province.
"Should we here reflect to former Treaties, the exorbitant presents and great Servility therein paid to Indians, have long been oppressive Grievances we have groaned under; and when at the last Indian Treaty held at Lancaster, not only was the Blood of our many murdered Brethren tamely covered, but our poor unhappy captivated Friends abandoned to slavery among the Savages, by concluding a Friendship with the Indians, and allowing them a plenteous trade of all kinds of Commodities, without those being restored, or any properly spirited Requisition made of them ; How general Dissatisfaction those Measures gave, the Murmurs of all good People (loud as they dare to utter them) to this day declare, and had here infatuated Steps of Conduct, and a manifest Partiality in favour of Indians, made a final pause, happy had it been ; We perhaps had grieved in silence for our abandoned, enslaved Breth- ren among the Heathen ; but matters of a later Date are still more flagrant Reasons of Complaint. When last Summer His Majesty's Forces, under the Command of Colonel Bouquet, marched through this Province, and a demand was made by His Excellency General. Amherst, of Assistance to escort Provisions, &ca., to relieve that important Post, Fort Pitt, yet not one man was granted, although
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never any thing appeared more reasonable or necessary, as the in- terest of the Province lay so much at stake, and the standing of the Frontier Settlements, in any manner, evidently depended, under God, on the almost despaired of success of His Majesty's little Army, whose Valour the whole Frontiers with gratitude ac- knowledge, and as the happy means of having saved from ruin great part of the Province; But when a number of Indians, falsely pretended Friends, and having among them some proved on Oath to have been guilty of Murder since this War begun, when they, together with others, known to be His Majesty's Enemies, and who had been in the Battle against Col. Bouquet, reduced to Distress by the Destruction of their Corn at the Great Island, and up the East branch of Susquehanna, pretend themselves Friends, and desire a Subsistance, they are openly caressed, & the Publick, that could not be indulged the liberty of contributing to His Majesty's assistance, obliged, as Tributaries to Savages, to support these Villians, these Enemies to our King & our Country ; nor only so, but the hands that were closely shut, nor would grant His Majesty's General a single Farthing against a Savage Foe, have been liberally opened, and the Publick money basely prostituted to hire, at an exorbitant Rate, a mercenary Guard to protect His Ma- jesty's worst of Enemies, those falsly pretended Indian friends, while, at the same time, Hundreds of poor distressed Families of His Majesty's Subjects, obliged to abandon their Possessions & fly for their lives at least, are left, except a small Relief at first, in the most distressing Circumstances, to starve neglected, save what the friendly hand of private Donations has contributed to their sup- port, wherein they who are most profuse towards Savages, have carefully avoided having any part. When last Summer the Troops raised for Defence of the Province were limited to certain Bounds, nor suffered to attempt annoying our Enemies in their Habitations, and a number of brave Volunteers, equipped at their own Expence in September, up the Susquehanna, met and defeated their Enemy, with the loss of some of their number, and having others dangerously wounded, not the least thanks or acknowledg- ment was made them from the Legislature for the confessed Ser- vice they had done, nor only the least notice or Care taken of their wounded ; Whereas, when a Seneca, who, by the Informany of many, as well as by his own Confession, had been, through the last War, our inveterate Enemy, had got a cut in his Head, last Sum- mer, in a quarrel he had with his own Cousin, & it was reported in Philadelphia that his Wound was dangerous, a Doctor was imme- diately employed and sent to Fort Augusta to take care of him, and cure him if possible. To these may be added, that though it was impossible to obtain, through the Summer, or even yet, any Pre- mium for Indian Scalps, or encouragement to excite Volunteers to go forth against them ; Yet, when a few of them known to be the fast friends of our Enemies, and some of them murderers them-
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selves, when these have been struck by a distressed, bereft, injured Frontier, a liberal reward is offered for apprehending the Per- petrators of that horrible Crime of Killing his Majesty's Cloaked Enemies, and their Conduct painted in the most atrocious Colours, while the . horrid Ravages, cruel murders, and most shocking Barbarities, committed by Indians on His Ma- jesty's Subjects, are covered over, and excused, under the charita- ble Term of this being their method of making War. But to re- count the many repeated Grievances, whereof we might justly com- plain, and instances of a most violent attachment to Indians, were tedious beyond the patience of a Job to endure, norc an better be expected, nor need we be surprized at Indians insolence & Villainy,' when it is considered, and which can be proved from the Publick Records of a certain County, that sometime before Conrad Weiser died, some Indians belonging to the Great Island or Wighalousing, assured him that Israel Pemberton (an ancient leader of that Fac- tion, which for so long a time have found means to enslave the Province to Indians), together with others of the Friends, had given them a Rod to scourge the White People that were settled on the purchased Lands, for that Onas had cheated them out of a great deal of Land, or had not given near sufficient Price for what he had bought; and that the Traders ought also to be scourged, for that they defrauded the Indians, by selling Goods to them at too dear a rate ; and that this Relation is matter of Fact, can easily be proved in the County of Berks. Such is our unhappy Situation, under the Villainy, Infatuation and Influence of a certain Faction, that have got the Political Reins in their hands, and tamely tyran- nize over the other good Subjects of the Province. And can it be thought strange, that a Scene of such treatment as this, & the now adding, in this critical Juncture, to all our former Distresses, that disagreeable Burthen of supporting, in the very heart of the Province, at so great an Expence, between one and two hundred Indians, to the great Disquietude of the Majority of the good In- habitants of this Province, should awaken the resentment of a people grossly abused, unrighteously burthened, and made Dupes and Slaves to Indians ? And must not all well disposed people enter- tain a charitable Sentiment of those who, at their own great Ex- pence and Trouble, have attempted or shall attempt, rescuing a labouring Land from a Weight so oppressive, unreasonable and unjust? It is this we design, it is this we are resolved to prosecute, though it is with great Reluctance we are obliged to adopt a Measure not so agreeable as could be desired, and to which Ex- tremity alone compels.
"GOD SAVE THE KING."
VOL. IX .- 10.
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At a Council held at Philadelphia on Saturday the 18th Febr"., 1764.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &ca.
James Hamilton,
Lynford Lardner,
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Benjamin Chew, Esq".
William Logan,
Richard Penn,
The Governor having appointed this morning for a Conference with a Committee of Assembly, by the desire of the House, to con- sider of some matters relative to the Remonstrance addressed to the Governor & Assembly by Matthew Smith & James Gibson, in be- half of themselves and the five Frontier Counties of this Province, praying a Redress of Grievances, The Committee of Eight Mem- bers accordingly met the Governor in Council.
After reading the said Remonstrance, the Committee acquainted the Governor, that as it was addressed to both branches of the Le- gislature, the House were desirous that he would act in concert with them in sending for Matthew Smith and James Gibson, in interro- gating them in public, & convincing them that the several matters set forth respecting the Conduct of the Executive & Legislative Powers of Government, are unjust and without foundation.
The Committee, after giving the Governor the several Reasons for this proposal of the House, retired. The Council then took the same into Consideration, but being of Opinion that they ought not to be precipitate in forming their judgment on this matter, advised the Governor to defer giving an Answer to the Assembly till Mon- day. Accordingly, the Governor directed the Secretary to acquaint the House, that as the matters proposed by the Committee of As- sembly this morns were of some importance, he inclined to take them under further Consideration till Monday, when he hoped to give them an Answer.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Monday the 20th Feb- ruary, 1764.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &ca.
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Lynford Lardner,
William Logan,
Benjamin Chew,
Richard Peters,
Thomas Cadwalader,
Esq".
Richard Penn,
The Governor laid before the Board a Bill sent to him by the As- sembly, for His Honour's Concurrence, entitled " A Supplement to
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the Act entituled ' An Act for taking Lands in Execution for the payment of Debts, and for confirming Partitions in several instances heretofore made,'" which was read & referred to a further Consid- eration.
The Proposal made by the Committee of Assembly on Saturday last, concerning the Remonstrance of the Frontier Inhabitants, was again considered by the Board, and the following answer thereto being drawn up, was read and approved. The Secretary was di- rected to deliver the same to the Committee of Assembly :
" The Governor's Answer to a proposal made him by a Commit- tee of Assembly, in a Conference with them on Saturday last; which was, that he would act in Concert with the House, in send- ing for Matthew Smith and James Gibson, who lately presented to the Governor and Assembly a Remonstrance or Petition in behalf of themselves & the five Frontier Counties of this Province, pray- ing a Redress of certain supposed Grievances, and in interrogating them in publick, and shewing that the several Matters and Things therein contained, respecting the conduct both of the executive and legislative Powers of Government, are unjust and without Founda- tion.
" The Governor would, with great pleasure, take every legal and constitutional Measure which had a Tendency to promote the Pub- lick Peace & Harmony, and quiet the Minds of such of His Ma- jesty's Subjects in this Province, as are discontented, and remove any Errors or Mistakes they lie under, but he cannot accede to the method proposed by the Assembly, on this occasion, for the following Reasons :
" First. Because it would, in his opinion, be not only unbecom- ing the Honour and Dignity of the Government, which he shall always think it his Duty to support, but tacitly giving up the indu- bitable Rights of both branches of the Legislature, to enter into any Argument or Justification with the Petitioners, on the subject matter of their Complaints. Whether any Article in the Remon- strance or Petition is, or is not a real Grievance, or requires redress, is proper for the Consideration of the Representative Body of the people only, in the first Instance; after which the Governor is to exercise his Judgment on any Bill which may be prepared for that purpose ; whatever may be ultimately determined on by both branches of the Legislature, will be final and binding upon the People ; and the Governor conceives that he cannot concur with the Measure proposed, without inverting the order of Government and departing from the Rights the legislative Body is vested with by the Constitution.
" Secondly. The legislative and executive Powers of Government are independent of one another, and are lodged in different hands ; and though the Petitioners have in this case very injudiciously blended together matters which Regard both, yet that can be no reason why the Governor and Assembly should follow their Exam- ple.
.S. to
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"The Governor doubts not but the House will take into Considera- tion such parts of the Remonstrance as are proper for their Cogni- zance, and do therein what in their Wisdom and Justice they think Right, as he will with Regard to such other parts as Relate to the executive Branch of Government.
" JOHN PENN.
" February 20th, 1764."
At a Council held at Phila , on Monday, the 27th Feb"y., 1764. PRESENT :
The Honourable JONH PENN, Esq'., Lieutenant Governor, &ca. James Hamilton,
Benjamin Chew,
William Logan, S Esquires.
The Bill entituled "An Act for the payment of £10,947 Ster- ling, in certain Proportions, to the several Colonies in America," And a Supplement to the Act entituled " An Act for taking Lands in Execution for the payment of Debts, and for confirming parti- tions in several Instances heretofore made," being again considered, were approved and ordered to be returned to the House to-morrow, without any Amendment.
The Governor laid before the Board the two following Bills, which were presented to him from the House on Saturday last, for his Con- currence, entituled " An Act for granting to his Majesty the Sum of £50,000, and for Striking the same in Bills of Credit, in the manner herein after directed, & for providing a Fund for Sinking the said Bills of Credit by a Tax on all Estates, Real and personal, and Taxables within this Province ;" And a Supplement to the Act entituled " An Act for erecting a Light House at the Mouth of the Bay of Delaware, at or near Cape Henlopen, and for placing & fix- ing Buoys in the said Bay and River Delaware, & for appointing Commissioners to receive and recover certain Sums of Money here- tofore Raised by way of Lottery, and to appropriate the same to the purposes aforesaid," which were in part considered, and referred to a future Reading and Consideration.
Tuesday, 28th February.
The Secretary, by the Governor's Orders, carried to the House the two Bills entituled "an Act for the payment of £10,947 Ster- ling, &cª.," and the "Supplement to the Act entituled 'an Act for taking Lands in Execution for the payment of Debts, &ca.,'"' and ac- quainted them with His Honour's Assent thereto; at the same time, by a verbal Message, he informed them that, as the Supply Bill was a
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very long one, the Governor had it still under Consideration, and would let the House know his Determination upon it as soon as con- veniently he could.
At a Council held at Philadelphia on Wednesday, 7th March, 1764.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &cª.
James Hamilton, Benjamin Shoemaker, Benjamin Chew, Esq"s
The Bill entituled " An act for granting to His Majesty the Sum of £50,000, and for Striking the same in Bills of Credit, &ca.,"' was read, and again considered. There appearing Several material Ob- jections to the said Bill, the Governor observed that he could not think it consistent with His Duty to the Crown & Obliga- tions to the Proprietaries, to pass it, especially as it contained Clauses directly repugnant in two points, Relating to the Taxa- tion of the Proprietary Lands to the Decree of his late Majesty in Council, on an Act for granting to His Majesty £100,000, in the Year 1759, agreeable to the Report of a Committee of the Lords of the Council, that the said Act ought to be repealed, unless the Six alterations and amendments mentioned in the said Report were made to it. The Governor, therefore, laid before the Board a Draught of a Message which he proposed to send to the House with the Bill; the same being read & approved, was ordered to be transcribed and carried with the Supply Bill to the House to-Morrow morning.
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
"' Gentlemen :
" It gives me real Concern to be under the necessity of refus- ing my Assent to the Supply Bill entituled " An Act for granting to His Majesty the sum of Fifty thousand Pounds, and for striking the same in Bills of Credit, &ca.," sent up for my Consideration. . I am no stranger to the long disputes and Differences which un- happily Subsisted for many Years after the breaking out of the last War, between the two Branches of the Legislature in this Province, upon Bills of the like Nature with this now before me, nor to the Mischief and ill Consequences which ensued to the Public from them. As the Principal points in Controversy could not be adjusted here, they were at last happily brought to an Issue before His Majesty in Council, upon an Act for granting to His said Majesty the Sum of one hundred thousand Pounds, passed in the Year 1759, which being Referred to a Committee
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of the Lords of the Council, they after a full hearing Reported that the said Act was fundamentally wrong and unjust, and ought to be repealed, unless Six Alterations and Amendments by them particu- larly mentioned were made to it; And the only Reason why the King was then graciously pleased by his Decree to permit that Act to stand unrepealed, was that the Agents for the Assembly entered into a Stipulation which they signed in the Council Books, undertaking and engaging that the House would frame a Bill to al- ter and Amend the said Act, according to the Report of the Lords of the Committee. A Letter from the Right Honourable the Earl of Egremont, one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, of the twenty-seventh of November, 1762, (which you will find entered on your Journals), wrote by the express Orders of our present Sove- reign, to my predecessor Mr. Hamilton, highly approving of his Conduct in withholding his assent to a latter Supply Bill, for con- taining several Clauses repugnant to the said Report, which as the Letter expresses, he could not pass consistently with his Duty to His Majesty and his Obligations to the Proprietaries, clearly de- monstrates His present Majesty's Sense of the Wisdom and Justice of the above mentioned Decree. Under these Circumstances, I should be inexcusable in doing any Act which militates against the Solemn and deliberate Sentence of that Judicatory, which by our Constitution is vested with the power of determining in the last appeal, which by our Constitution is vested with the power of de- termining in the last appeal, especially as it is adopted & enforced by His present Majesty in the Secretary of State's Letter. My principal objections to the Bill now before me are, that it is expressly contrary to the Decree of the Council Board; first, in the taxation of the Proprietary located uncultivated Lands in the Country, and their Lots in Cities & Boroughs ; & Secondly in the subjecting any part of the Money given to the King's use by this Bill to all such Drafts and Certificates as have been or hereafter shall be made by Order of the Assembly only, for the incidental charges of the cur- rent Year, without my previous consent thereto, or being even made acquainted therewith ; lastly, the Bill in a former part enacts that no less than five Provincial Commissioners of appeals shall make a Board, and in a latter part it expressly says that three shall be sufficient to determine any appeal. Whereupon, I now return it to you, and most earnestly desire that you will again take it into your consideration, and free it from these objections, so that I may be able to give my Assent to it consistent with my Duty and the Trust reposed in me.
" March 7th, 1764."
" JOHN PENN.
A Bill entituled "An Act for forming and regulating the Militia of the Province of Pennsylvania," sent up by the House for the
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