Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. V, Part 34

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 808

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" In the present Case, the President & Council can have no such Pretence as was made at the time we have mention'd. The Mess- age which occasion'd the Resolves of your Board was delivered be- fore we adjourn'd, and if you had thought any Remarks necessary to have been made, it was in your Power to have desir'd our Stay until it cou'd be done; but you were so far from desiring this, that after the House had waited more than an hour, you at length let them know, after what was contained in their Message, you did not think it would be of any Service to say any thing further to them.

"How, after this and divers days' adjournment, the Board hap- pened to resume the Consideration of our Message & form such Resolves, introduced by publishing to the World that the House adjourned before the Board had an opportunity of reading, con- sidering, & replying to the written Message, will require some Skill to account for.

"It appears to us rather as an after-thought, & calculated to Purposes of no Benefit to the Publick, as well as expressed in Terms far from being decent to the Representative Body of a Pro- vince. Having premised thus much in general, permit us next to take notice of such Particular Parts of the Resolves as we shall think necessary, in order to acquit ourselves from the Aspersions we think unjustly thrown upon us. And what we shall say to this purpose we desire may be understood as intended to such of the Council whose names are annexed to these Resolves; for we are

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willing to think that had there, been a full Council they wou'd not have pass'd in the manner they are Publish'd.

" By the first Resolve the President & Council are pleased to say, that it was never understood in this Province that the Salaries voted to Governors for their Support were intended to be laid out in protecting and defending the People and Trade of the Pro- vince, &c.

" You may be pleas'd to observe that in this Part of the Resolve You have changed the word (Government) which alters the State of the question between us very much; for tho' Money given to support Government and Money given to support a Governor differ but as the whole does from a part, it must be allowed the former is a much more extensive Donation than the Latter. And yet where Money is given for the support of the Governor, it must, as we conceive, be understood as given the better to enable him to dis- charge the Trust reposed in him; and if any Emergency shou'd require his laying out a part of this Money for the Publick Good, any Government might justly think themselves unkindly used if it were denied them, especially where there was no doubt of being re- paid with advantage.

" You are pleased to add, You receive no such Salaries. And to this we as readily answer, neither do nor did we expect you would advance any Money. We might, however, have justly expected you did know that the present Assembly had no Right to bind those who were to succeed them, and, therefore, their belief of what future Assemblies would do was all that could be reasonably expected from the present.

" Part of your Resolve is, that there is no probability that others will be induced to advance Money on so uncertain, obscure, and evasive a Declaration as is contained in the last Message of Assem- bly, their being repaid again depending on the good will & pleasure of the House, to be obtain'd by humble Petitioning and by submis- sive personal Applications to the Members, &c. The Language you have here been pleased to make choice of is such as neither for Delicacy nor Decency will we hope be drawn into Example on any future Debate ; but waving this as what can reflect no dishonour upon us, be pleased to recollect that by your Message of the 9th of June last, after having acquainted us the Sloop Otter would soon be fit for Service, that You had dispatch'd an Express to Virginia to procure the assistance of the Hector Man-of-War to join the Otter, you let us know you thought it absolutely necessary that a Ship of War shou'd be fitted out by this Province to join with the Otter for the protection of our Trade. To this by our Message two Days after we answer'd in substance, that the hiring and fitting out a Ship of War we thought unnecessary, that from your own Esti- mate the Charge would be near £1,000 $ Month, besides the Risque & Repairs of the Vessel, a Burthen we thought too heavy for the

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Province to bear ; That if the Commander of the Hector Man-of- War had, as we were inform'd, been Instructed to assist the Otter, there was no reason to doubt he would comply with his Instructions, and that this was all we thought necessary on the occasion. Is not this a direct answer to your Message, without any obscurity, uncer- tainty, or evasion ? Had we not at least an equal Right to judge of what was fit to be done as your Board ? And has not the Event shewn the Judgment we form'd was right and sav'd the Province divers thousand Pounds ? But what renders the proceedings of the Board yet more remarkable is, that notwithstanding the great ob- scurity in the Message you complain of, and that it is such as neither you nor any other wou'd advance Money on, yet by virtue of this Message (for without you had no pretence) in a few Days after you thought fit to draw an Order on the active Trustee of the Loan Office for a Sum of Money payable to your Secretary, which he accord- ingly receiv'd. How to reconcile these parts of your Conduct we are at a loss.

" When those whose Duty it is to protect Men in the enjoyment of their Religious & Civil liberties become their accusers & censure at random, it is hard to be born. The People call'd Quakers think this their Case when they find themselves publickly charg'd in your Resolves with Principles they do not hold, viz., that it is their known opinion that all warlike Preparations are so far from being advan- tageous to the Publick that they have a direct contrary tendency. It is not our Business, nor are we on this occasion inclinable to enter into religious disputes, but had you been pleased to recollect what has been frequently said on this Subject by former Assemblies in their late Messages to the Governor, you must have been convinc'd of your Mistake, and it is the less excusable as you were at the time Members of Council. To asperse Men in any manner is doing them an Injury, and to make your Resolves the Instruments of spreading such an aspersion against a considerable Body of People is a very great aggravation of the Injury.

" The third & fourth Resolves you were pleased to form on this occasion, viz. : 'That the Assembly had done nothing for His Ma- jesty's Service or for the Security of the People & Trade of the Province ; That three or at most four thousand Pounds wou'd have been sufficient for equipping & maintaining a Ship of War, &c.,' require but a short answer. We think good service was done both His Majesty & the Province by withholding the three or four thou- sand Pounds which you would have laid out in a manner that would have been of no Benefit to either.

"The fifth Resolve you are pleased to introduce in these words, viz .: ' That the reason given in the Assembly's Message why no Provision at all shou'd be made for our Defence, viz. : Because, were the whole Province to exert their utmost Abilities it would not be sufficient, &c., is evasive & trifling, &c.'

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" Overlooking the delicacy of the Language, permit us to say, the words here recited were neither intended nor apply'd to prove that nothing ought to be done for the defence of the Province, but to shew we had reason to expect and were entitled to greater Assist- ance, or that otherwise all that cou'd be done wou'd be insufficient. This is the obvious sense of the Paragraph as it stands in our Mess- age, & if there be any thing trifling or evasive it is owing to the wrong Light in which you attempt to place it.

" In just the same manner you mistake the Sense of the House in your sixth Resolve, introduced in these words, 'the fact ad- duced in the Assembly's Message to prove the inexpediency or rather the mischievious Consequence of guarding any Coast, and that an unguarded Coast is the safest, &c.'

" Surely you must have read our Message with great haste and little attention, or you cou'd not possibly thus misunderstand the Sense of it. Is there one Syllable throughout the whole which makes the guarding any Coast to be mischievous, or that makes the unguarded Coast to be the safest ? If there be anything of this Import you shou'd have pointed it out to us; if there be not, as surely there is not, what can we say when we find you by your Re- solves published to the World things as our Sentiments which we never thought of ?

"To your seventh Resolve, all that we think necessary for us to say is, that it must be evident the greater Ability any Province shews towards its own defence the less it needs & the less it has to expect, from our Mother Country. If you will be pleased to apply this to the Otter, and the great Preparations you were for having the Province to make for its defence, it will fully answer the purport of this Resolve.

" The eighth Resolve makes your Conclusion of much the same Import as your Introduction, touching which you have already heard our Sentiments. You are pleased to say that when an As- sembly is called by the Governor or by the President & Council to consult on Matters of the highest Importance for His Majesty's Service and the safety of the People, their determining hastily to adjourn without giving time for an Explanation, &c., as hath been often practiced by the Assemblies of this Province, is indecent & improper, &c.

"To this we answer that, notwithstanding the Charges you are pleased to make against the Assemblies of this Province, we know of no such Practices as you mention. It is true we have by Law a Right to meet & sit upon our own adjournments; and therefore when all is done that we think is necessary for the King's Service or the Good of the Country, we have a Right to adjourn, without being harrassed and kept together, either at the pleasure of the Governor or the President & Council ; and we wou'd hope you are VOL. V .- 22.

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better Friends to the Constitution than to wish it deprived of this Privilege, tho' we must own the Resolve now under Consideration seems to strike at it. You may be pleased to recollect that we have never exercised this Power of adjourning ourselves, without first acquainting the Board with our Intentions of so doing; and par- ticularly we did it on our last adjournment, of which you complain, altho' by your Message delivered to us, which we have already mentioned, you let us know that after what was contain'd in it you did not think it wou'd be of any Service to say any thing fur- ther to us. The Terms therefore of indecent & improper are, we think, much more applicable to your Resolves than our adjourn- ment.

" Upon the whole we are of opinion that for the Presid' and Council to form such Resolves and publish them after the adjourn- ment of the Assembly, thereby arraigning & censuring their pro- ceedings, is assuming a power the Laws of this Government never entrusted them with, is unparliamentary-such as strikes at the Freedom of Assemblies and the Rights of the Freemen of this Province, hath a tendency to create animosities in the minds of the People, & to cause great confusion amongst us; and therefore we hope will not be drawn into Example.

" Signed by Order of the House. "JOHN KINSEY, Speaker. " 7th Mo. 1st, 1748."

The Members who delivered the above were told a Message of some Consequence wou'd be sent to the house in the Morning.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, 2d Sept™-, 1748.

PRESENT :

· The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., President.

Abraham Taylor, Benjamin Shoemaker, - Robert Strettell, Joseph Turner, Esqrs.

Thomas Hopkinson, William Logan,

The Minutes of the preceding Council were read & approv'd.

The Message prepar'd in answer to the Assembly's of yesterday was read & sign'd & sent by the Secretary, who was order'd to tell the House that the Council had something under Consideration, which they hoped wou'd be ready to lay before them to-morrow.

A Message from the President & Council to the Assembly. " Gentlemen :

" We expected that on the Receipt of our Message you would have provided for the Expence accruing on the Treaty held with the

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Indians at Lancaster, and were not a little disappointed when we found by your Message of yesterday that you had not then taken it into Consideration. As any considerable delay will, in our opinion, reflect dishonour on this Government, we find ourselves under a Necessity of entreating you to order the Payment of the necessary Charges accruing on that Treaty before you adjourn, since if it be postponed the People may be long kept out of their Money, this being usually the last Sitting of your House on Business. Be- sides it would be a particular Satisfaction to the Board that the neces- sary Expences which have accrued during our Administration in the Public Service shou'd be honourably discharged.

"ANTHONY PALMER, Presid'. " Sept". 2d, 1748."

A Message by two Members of Assembly that the House had nearly done what Business lay before them so as that they might adjourn the Afternoon, but being inform'd by the Secretary that the President & Council had something under their Consideration to be laid before them to-morrow morning, they intended to adjourn to that time, but desire they may have it early in the Morning.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, 3d Sept™-, 1748. PRESENT :

The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., Presidt- Samuel Hasell, Abraham Taylor,

Robert Strettell, Benjamin Shoemaker,

Joseph Turner, Thomas Hopkinson,

Esqrs. William Logan,

The Minutes of the preceding Council were read & approv'd.

The Gentlemen appointed to draw up an answer to the Assembly's Message relating to the late Resolves of Council presented their Draught, which was Settled & sent to the House by the Secretary, in these words :

A Message from the President & Council to the Assembly. " Gentlemen :

" Shou'd we give you a particular Answer to your last Message, it wou'd probably draw on a Controversy which we on many accounts desire to avoid.

" By comparing your Message with the Resolves of this Board, it may be seen how little Candour and ingenuity is to be expected in the Course of such a dispute; your observing That we have Cen- sur'd a part of your former Message for its obscurity as being evasive, &c., & quoting another part of it which we did not object to on that. account, & your dropping material words in The middle of a Sen-

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tence, where they did not serve your purpose, &c., are a few of the many Instances we might produce, were we to enter the Argument; but as such a Controversy may be attended with a considerable Ex- pence, and as things are now circumstanc'd, can bring no advantage to the Publick, we shall decline it.

"We are not accountable to each other for our Conduct; His Majesty & the Freemen of this Province are the proper Judges of it ; to them we can safely appeal. As we had no Party views, no Personal Interest or Power to support, we shall the more readily be believed when we declare that we have acted on the sole Motive of the Publick Good. It is well known that during our Administra- tion our time has been chiefly employ'd in the Service of the Coun- try, by using all means in our Power for its safety & protection in times of the greatest Danger; how far you have assisted us & those who to their Immortal Honour joined in this necessary work, all the world knows.

" Your Message, upon which our Resolves were made, we thought justly liable to be Censured by every one who had Sense enough to see how they were deserted by their Representatives, whose Assistance they had a Right to expect, and as it appear'd to us calculated to mislead the People at a time when their All was at Stake, we judged it our indispensible duty to His Majesty & our Country to expose it in the manner we did, & that justly, notwithstanding what is said in your last Message ; & tho' we have thereby drawn on us your Resentment, we are not concern'd on that account. While the Administration of the Government continues in our Hands, we shall persevere in preferring the Good of the Commonwealth to every other Consideration.

" The single point between us, as we conceive, is, whether your Conduct or our's has contributed most to the Publick Service, and on that point we will leave it without entring into a fruitless Debate on the Subject.

" ANTHONY PALMER, Preside.

"' Sept". 3d, 1748."

P. M.

PRESENT :

The Honoble. the President and the same Members as in the forenoon.

Two Members of Assembly delivered the two following Messages & acquainted the Board that the House inclin'd to adjourn to the 30th Instant :

" May it please the President & Council-

" As you were acquainted by our last Message save one that the

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particulars of the Treaty and the Charges which had arisen by that means would in due time come under our Notice, and such Provi- sion made in it as the House on Consideration shou'd judge reason- able ; And as you justly observe this is usually the last Sitting of the House on Business, it necessarily followed we could not have intended to postpone the Consideration of the Charges beyond the present Session, and, therefore, we are at a loss why you are pleased to express any 'Disappointment' that it was not ' then taken into Consideration.' However, to give you full Satisfaction in this Affair, we now let you know that we have since examined the Ac- counts concerning the Indian Treaties, the Goods purchased for the Present, and the Charges which have arisen thereupon, and have made Provision for Payment of the whole which remains due on those Accounts.

"Signed by Order of the House. "JOHN KINSEY, Speaker. " Sept". 3d, 1748."

" May it please the President & Council :

" We agree with you it was prudently judged on many Accounts, and especially one to decline a particular answer to our last Mess- age ; and we are of your Sentiments, that by comparing your Re- solves with our Message it may. be seen how little Candour & Ingenuity is to be expected in the Course of such a Dispute. Your last Message will further illustrate this, which contains fresh Charges, but express'd in terms so obscure as if, since you are determin'd not to be particular in your answer, it should not be in our Power to be so in our Reply. Since, therefore, it is your Pleasure, we must leave the former part of your Message in the obscurity we find it until you shall condescend to explain your- selves.

" You are pleased to say, ' We are not accountable to each other for our Conduct,' give us leave to wish you had thought of this before you had bestowed so heavy Censure on ours : It might have saved both you and us some trouble.

"You are pleased to add, 'You had no Party views, no Personal Interest, or Power to support.' It may be so, since You are pleased to say it; but when this is urged as a motive to your being 'the more readily believed,' in opposition to the Representative Body of the Province, it seems to require a little Demonstration.

"If it was as you are pleased to say, really 'well known that during your Administration your time has been chiefly employed in the Service of the Country, &c.,' there was the less Necessity you shou'd become the Publishers of it. But you are pleased to add how we have assisted you; & those who to their Immortal Honour

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joined with you in the necessary Work you mention, all the World knows.

" If those who joined with You deserve Immortal Honour, how much more do you deserve ? Enjoy unmolested all the Honour, all the applause you think fit to bestow on yourselves, but why must you depreciate the Characters of others ?

" You are further pleased to say 'that our Message, on which your Resolves were made, you thought justly liable to Censure ; that it appeared to be Calculated to mislead the People; that you judged it your indispensible Duty to His Majesty & your Country to expose it, &c.'

" Since you are pleased to allow we are not accountable to You for our Conduct, whence then do you derive Your Right of Cen- suring ? or of what you exprest yet more indecently of exposing? In the heighth of the late Controversies such Expressions were not used that we remember, and we are at a loss to find from whence you cou'd Copy such Language to the Representative Body of a Province. Besides, when the event has shewn the Judgment formed by the Assembly was right, & has saved the Province some Thou- sand Pounds, we think you might have spared these Censures be- stowed thus unprovoked. What Motives cou'd we possibly have for judging amiss ? Have we not also Estates & Families in the Province ? Have not many of us drawn our first Breath here ? Have not divers of our Fathers and some of our Grand Fathers been of the first Settlers? What Inducements can we possibly have to biass us against the Interest of our Country ?

" To conclude, as You shew a disposition to submit both your own Conduct and ours to the opinion of the Publick without entring into further Debate, so do we. If we have committed any mistakes the time draws near in which our Constituents, if they think it necessary, may amend their Choice.

" And the time also draws near in which your mistakes may be amended by a succeeding Governor. Permit Us to congratulate our Country on both.

" Signed by Order of the House. " JOHN KINSEY, Speaker. "Sept". 3d, 1748."

The following Letter receiv'd by the Mary Galley, Capt". Lawson, from Thomas Penn, Esqr., was read.

" Gentlemen :

" Above is a Duplicate of my last Letter by the Otter Sloop, since which time Publick Affairs have taken a different turn, & I now congratulate You on an approaching Peace, Preliminarys having been Signed long since by England, France, & Holland, to which the Empress & King of Sardinia have acceded, & we expect

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. 343

Spain will very soon. All places taken are to be deliver'd up on each side, & a small Settlement in Italy given to Don Philip.

"This Change, no doubt, will be highly acceptable to Pennsyl- vania in particular, & we having received an Account of it before the Attorney and Sollicitor General cou'd consider the Cases, we took them back, as thinking it now not necessary to send them.

Mr. Hamilton proposes to embark in August, in order to meet the Assembly in October.

"I am, Gentlemen, your very affectionate Friend,

" THOS PENN.

"To the Honoble. the President & Council of the Province of Pennsylvania.

" LONDON, June, 13th, 1748."

At a Council held at Philadelphia, 30th September, 1748. PRESENT :

The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., President.

Samuel Hasell, Abraham Taylor,

Robert Strettell,

Benjamin Shoemaker, 7

Esqrs.

Joseph Turner,

Thomas Hopkinson,

William Logan,

The Minutes of the preceding Council were read & approv'd.

The following Petition was read, & Mr. Till, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, reporting that the facts set forth in the Petition were true, & y' the Petitioner was a proper object of Com- passion, the following Pardon was Sign'd with a Warrant to affix the Great Seal thereto, & the Secretary was order'd to expedite the Seal so as that the Pardon might be deliver'd during the Sitting of the Court.

" To the Honourable the President & Council of the Province of Pennsylvania.

" The Petition of John King of the City of Philada, Mariner, " Most humbly Shewith :

"That your Petitioner is a Poor Orphan & Mariner on board Captain Mesnard's Ship from London; that about three Weeks since your Petitioner & one of his Brother Mariners, named Joseph Seal, had a difference on board the said Ship; that the said Joseph Seal Challenged Your Petitioner to leave the Ship & go on the Wharf to fight; that they went on Shore, & the said Seal first struck your Petitioner, & in the Combat the said Seal fell to the Ground & re- ceived by the fall a mortal Wound in his Head, of which he In- stantly Dyed, & now your Petitioner stands indicted for Man-

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slaughter, to which he has pleaded Guilty. Altho' your Petitioner never designed more Injury to the said Joseph Seal than to Com- bat with him, & that owing to the Challenge, & in some sort force, of the said Joseph Seal.

" Wherefore your Petitioner humbly implores Your Honours' Mercy & Compassion, that in Consideration of his tender Years, & intending no such Injury to the deceas'd, your Honours will be pleased to pardon this offence & prevent your Petitioner's being stigmatized & branded.

" And your Petitioner will ever Pray, &ca. " JOHN KING. " Philada., Sept. 27th, 1748.

"We think the Petitioner an object worthy your Compassion, & as such We recommend him.

" JOHN KINSEY, " THOMAS GRÆME, "WM. TILL.

"To the honoble. the President & Council.

"Sept". 27th, 1748."

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Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. V, Part 34

Author: Publication date: 1838 Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State Number of Pages: 808

Author:
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: [Harrisburg] : By the State
Number of Pages: 808