USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VI > Part 55
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" May it therefore please your Honour in your great Wisdom and Goodness to Commiserate our unhappy case and strengthen our Hands with such a Quantity of Arms and Ammunition and upon such terms as your Honour see fit, and your Dependent Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever Pray.
" Dated August 1st, 1755."
The Governor acquainted the Council that Mr. Weiser, in con- junction with the Justices of the County of Berks, had presented to him a Representation setting forth an encrease of Roman Catho- licks in their County, & particularly in the neighbourhood of the Town of Reading, and the appehensions the People were under of some danger that might arise in this time of war, and praying that the same might be taken into Consideration in order to prevent any ill consequences ; that he had laid the same before the House, who
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had on the 8th instant sent him their Answer in the following verbal Message, namely : " The House have this afternoon examined Con- rad Weiser, and some of our Members have had an opportunity of speaking with another of the Justices of Berks County who signed the Letter, representing the state of the Roman Catholics in that Neighbourhood, from which, and what further enquiry we have made, we apprehend there is very little foundation for that repre- sentation. Nevertheless, if the Governor upon further Information should find any assistance of ours necessary, we shall always be willing to contribute what lies in our Power for the publick Tran- quility, and in the mean time we request his care to do therein what he shall think necessary and right, consistent with the Char- ters and Laws of this Province and the safety of the People."
The Governor further acquainted the Council that having thought it absolutely necessary at this time of danger to press the House to the immediate Consideration of a Militia Bill, he had on the 9th Instant, sent them a Message on that subject, which was read in these Words :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
" Your long Message of Yesterday is now under my Consider- ation, and I shall give you an Answer to it as soon as I have fully weighed the several parts of it. But in the mean time I think it my Duty to remind you that this Province is still without a Militia or the necessary means of Defence, though the present situation of our Affairs makes this more than ever necessary, as the Troops that his Majesty sent for the Protection of these Provinces have been defeated, and the French have now in America a large body of regu- lar Forces, without doubt to carry into Execution the Plan they have long since formed of subjecting this Continent to their Do- minion ; And the Inhabitants from several Counties having by Peti- tion represented to me the Dangers to which they stand exposed, and declared themselves willing and desirous to defend themselves, I do, therefore, in his Majesty's name call upon you, Gentlemen, to put this Province into a posture of Defence by establishing a Militia (in doing which you will have a due Regard to scrupulous Consciences), that this plentiful Country, situate in the Middle of the British Colonies, may no longer remain open to the Enemy, and therefore put it in their Power to make themselves Masters of the whole Continent.
" As I have frequently recommended this matter to you and have had no Answer from you, I must now desire you will give me an explicit answer upon the subject.
"ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS.
" Philadelphia, August 9th, 1755."
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The Governor likewise informed the Council that as there might be very soon a necessity for Quartering the King's Troops, he had on the 11th Instant sent to the House a Message thereupon, which was read in these words :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
" Colonel Dunbar, the now Commander of his Majesty's Forces to the Westward, by Letter of the sixteenth of July notified to me his intention to march those Troops to the City, desiring me to pro- vide Quarters for One hundred Officers and twelve hundred Men, and on the first instant informed me that he should begin his March from Fort Cumberland the next day, and hoped every thing would be ready here for the reception of the Troops. As it was quite un- certain what Effect my Letters to Colonel Dunbar to post his Troops on the Western Frontiers wou'd have, I wrote to the Mayor and Corporation of this City to provide the Quarters for the Men and Officers mention'd in the Colonel's Letter, to which they have an- swered that they know of no Law that Authorizes them to provide Quarters for those Troops, and, therefore, have it not in their power to comply with the Directions I had given. As these Troops are marching into this Province, and whether they are come quite to this City or not, there will be a necessity of Providing proper Quar- ters for them and the Officers that command them, I must recom- mend it to you by a Law to enable the Magistrates to Quarter such of his Majesty's Officers and Soldiers as they march through or be posted in any of the Counties or Districts within this Province.
"This will prevent all Contests between the Civil and Military Officers, between the Soldiers and People, and be a great means of preserving the internal peace of the Province.
"ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS.
" Philadelphia, August 11th, 1755."
" The Governor acquainted the Council that Mr. Weiser had on the 12th Instant, by his orders, sounded the Indians now in Town, and that he was well assured they were very hearty and might be persuaded to any measures that should be judged of use to his Ma- jestie's Service, and that the Owendats in particular might be wholy brought over to the King's interest, provided Messages of Encour- agement could be sent to their Nation by them. That Scarrooyady being very uneasy least we should miss this Opportunity came sev- eral times to him, and repeatedly declared that if these Messengers were suffered to go home without promises of being well supported, in case they and their Allies should declare for the English, they and all their friends wou'd go against us ; that it was to no Purpose to desire them to remain neuter, for tho' they might say they would, yet the French would not permit them nor no other Indians to do it.
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" The Governor added, that he desired Scarroyody and Mr. Wei- ser to go of themselves to the Speaker and acquaint hin with the dispositions of the Indians, together with the necessity of engaging them by presents to adhere to his Majesty's Interest, and then wrote the following Message to the Assembly, which was read in these Words :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
"I am importuned by the Indians to let them know what it is this Government has to impart to them. If they can be made hearty for us they may prevent a great deal of Mischief, engage other Indians in our favour, and be prepared for any other service that we may think proper to employ them in. To do this will re- quire great Skill and an open hand for presents they certainly ex- pect, and will not at this time be satisfied with small Ones.
" The Owendats came to our Invitation, and such terms must therefore be offered them as will effectually engage their Friendship. The matter cannot now be minced neither with them nor the other Nations, You will therefore please to consider this matter well, and give me your Sentiments & Council in this nice and critical Situa- tion of our Affairs.
"ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS.
" PHILADELPHIA, August 12th, 1755."
That he was in hopes the Assembly could have been induced to have enabled him to avail himself of this happy opportunity, but to liis great mortification he had on the same Day received from them the following Answer :
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
" May it please the Governor :
" The Secretary by a Verbal Message from the Governor of the twentyeth day of December last, acquainted the House that Scar- royady's Son-in-Law was charged with a Message from the Owen- dats to enquire what their Brethren the English designed to do in regard to the late Encroachments of the French, and having heard since he came to Town that the King of England intended to send over a number of Troops to assist in repelling those invaders, he was willing, if the Governor thought proper, to return to his Nation and acquaint them with the joyful news. The Governor, therefore, desired the opinion of the House whether it would be most advise- able for Scaroyady's Son-in-Law to return now to the Ohio or go to Onondago with Scarroyady. Whereupon the House gave for answer that it was their Opinion that it would be most proper for Scarro- yady's Son-in-Law to return to the Ohio as soon as he conveniently could. This is all the part our House have had in relation to
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the Owendats; neither did we know of the least intention of our inviting them or any others; so that as they are now come down without our knowledge or Request intirely upon the Governor's Invitation, it is some surprize to us to find the Indians should have reason to importune him, or that he should be at any Loss to know what it is he has to impart to them on this Occasion.
" Our conduct towards the Indians in our Alliance has been always candid and free from any Subterfuge whatever, so that we do not understand what the Governor would mean by telling us 'that the matter cannot be now minced neither with them nor the other Na- tions.' And we are likewise at a Loss to conceive why they should expect great Presents from us who are wholly ignorant of the inten- tion of their coming.
"The Governor has been pleased to refuse his Assent to our Bills which had provided for Indian & other Expences; and as our Trea- sury is exhausted by the very heavy charges for the King's Service, these Indians are come among us at a very unfortunate time when it is not in our power to supply them in the manner we are inclined to do; however, we will do all that can be reasonably expected from us, and must leave the rest to be supplied by the Proprietaries, whose interest is at least as much concerned as ours in engaging the Affections of the Indians at this time.
" Sign'd by Order of the House. . "ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker."
The Governor ordered the Secretary to read a Message which he had sent on the 12th Instant, to the Assembly in answer to theirs of the 8th Instant, together with a short one from the Assembly in relation thereto of the 13 Instant, and his final Answer of Yesterday, which were all read in these Words :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
"When I amended and sent down to you the Bill for raising Fifty thousand pounds for the King's Use, I expected you would have returned it to me with the Amendments and informed me which of them you agreed to, this being the common and ordinary Method in such cases; but you departed from this and desired to know whether I was restrained by the Proprietaries from taxing their Estate, and the reasons for my opinion as to that measure, and tho' this Application was Unparliamentary, and I believe unprecedented, yet upon this Occasion I indulged you therein, and gave my Rea- sons in the mildest Terms, on which, however, You have been pleased to treat both the Proprietaries and Myself in a very unbe- coming Manner.
"As you have returned me the Bill without the Amendments, and in your Message that accompanied it offer no reasons against
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any of them but such as relate to taxing the Proprietary Estate, I conclude you have agreed to the others. I shall, therefore, consider the several parts of your Message and make such Observations upon and Answer to it as I think it merits.
" Having told you that I had no power by my Commission to hurt or encumber the Proprietary Estate, you take Occasion in your Answer to play with the words hurt and encumber, and having viewed them in different Lights tell me 'that your Bill is intended to free the Proprietary Estate from Hurt and Encumberance by removing the French, and that you are as much bound not to hurt or encumber the Estates of your Consituents as I am with respect to the Proprietary Estate ;' and have shewn as you think that the Proviso in my Commission does not prohibit me in the present case ; you then proceed to reason upon the clause itself, and after pro- ducing a very good opinion of a former Council, Judge, and Secre- tary, as to a particular saying in the late Proprietary Commission, you very roundly pronounce that Proviso to be a Nullity and not at all binding on me.
"You must give me Leave to differ from you in Opinion as to the force of the words in that Clause, which, notwithstanding what you have said, have still the same plain and determined meaning they had before-every Tax in my mind being an Encumberance upon an Estate from which it cannot be cleared but by the pay- ment of a certain sum of Money ; and I being expressly restrained by my Commission from consenting to any Act that may encumber the Proprietary Estate, every unprejudiced person will see clearly that my Powers do not extend to the present case, and that if I acceeded to your Opinion I should be guilty of a manifest Breach of Trust.
" As to the validity of Prohibitory Clauses in the Proprietary Commissions, I am not fortunate enough to comprehend the Force of your Reasonings upon this Head, which are drawn from the fourth Section of the Royal Charter; for though by that Charter power is given to the Proprietarics, their Deputies and Lieutenants, to make Laws, yet it does not alter the Relation which by Law subsists between a principal and his Deputy-the Intention of the charter in that particular being no other than to impower Mr. Penn and his Heirs to administer the Government by his and their Lieutenant or Deputy, which being a Judicial Office he could not otherwise have done, and so far is the Charter by its general Tenor from making the Deputy equal to or independant of the prin- cipal that it makes the Proprietaries alone civilly answerable for what is done in the Province, whether by themselves or their Lieu- tenants, which would be unjust if the Lieutenant by the Charter was equal in power, independent of and uncontroulable by the person that appoints, & is answerable for his Behaviour. Tho' I allow the opinion produced to be good as to the point then under Considera-
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tion, yet it is not applicable to all cases, which your Arguments without any foundation suppose, and in the present one there is a wide difference, obvious to every one who considers them both with the least degree of Attention, because that saving was even reserving a power to the Proprietary in his own person to repeat a Law which he by his Lieutenant had consented to, whereas in the present case the restriction amounts to nothing more than a reasonable Prohibi- tion upon their Governors as such from passing Laws to injure their Estates.
" I cannot help observing that you formerly used these Arguments against the Validity of Royal Instructions, and using them now to destroy the Force of Proprietary Prohibitions you would, it should seem, be willing that the Lieutenant Governor should be indepen- dent of every Body but yourselves.
"You say ' That the same Proviso restrains me from letting or selling the Proprietary Lands, and yet I propose to give away six or seven hundred Thousand Acres upon the present Occasion, and seem vastly surprized that I should think myself restrained from incum- bering the Proprietary Lands by Act of Assembly and yet at Lib- erty to give them away, for if, say you, the grant of Lands con- trary to such Prohibition would be valid, why not the passing the Bill for a Tax ?' And this you call a question you cannot solve. It is something very extraordinary that the Representative Body of Pennsylvania should know so little of the Affairs of the Province as never to have been informed that the Governor grants the Pro- prietary Lands under a certain power of Attorney regularly proved and recorded, called a Commission of Property. That this power was formerly vested in private persons, but for some Ycars past has been given to the Governors, and being the foundation of property cannot be unknown to any the least acquainted with the Circum- stances of the Province. And to ask a Question or two in my turn, how could you think that the Lands in this Province were granted under the powers of a Commission that expressly prohibits the granting of any ? Or that the people would be so weak as to give Money for Lands and take Titles under such a defective power ? As to the proposal itself, it was made with a good intention, and as I am accountable to the Proprietaries for my conduct under that Com- mission of property, you may be assured I did not make it without proper Power to carry it into Execution, and had you raised Money for an Expedition to the Westward and for encouraging Settlers, I should then have made an Offer of the Lands by Proclamation, letting the Adventurers know that they were to have the choice of the Lands in preference to all others, with every thing else that could reduce the Offer to a certainty, which there was no necessity of doing in a Message to you, barely mentioning the thing and re- commending to you to grant an Aid to those that should become settlers after the French were removed.
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" But whatever comes from the Proprietaries, however just, how- ever favourable, must be wrong, and accordingly you are determined to represent in that Light a proposal generous in itself and intended to promote the publick Service and Safety, which may serve to show the temper of Mind you are in, but cannot answer no good purpose. You say Lands equally good may be had in Virginia for two Shillings Sterling Quit-Rent, and none to be paid in fifteen Years. It may be so, but how does it appear they are equally good ? It is plain they are not equally convenient, because of their greater distance from a Market. The Quit-Rent in Virginia, I suppose, was the same formerly that is now, and yet very great numbers have chosen to purchase Lands in this Province of the Proprietaries at the rate of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings per Cent., and of private Men at a much higher price, and in both cases under the Quit rent of Four Shillings and two pence Sterling, when they might have had them in Virginia for much less ; and the proposal ought not to be considered by comparing it with other Provinces, but with the Rate that Lands have for a number of Years past been sold at in this Province, some of them lately in the new purchase within few Miles of the Allegheny Mountains and others very remote, without any Road of Communication with this City, which is not the case as to the Lands proposed to be given, there being a very good Wag- gon Road thither ; And notwithstanding what you have said upon this Head, I am convinced that if you had enabled me in conjunc- tion with the neighbouring Governments to have sent a body of Troops into that Country, an offer of Lands upon the Terms above mentioned would have had very good Effects, and would have in- duced many to have gone and become Settlers there that would not otherwise have thought of doing either, and by that means have formed a Barrier for the Protection and Security of the Province, and, therefore, I cannot but be astonished that you should have taken so much pains to depreciate it.
" And now having effectually removed in your Judgement my greatest objection to passing your Bill, you proceed to consider my Reasons in their Order. And to the first, that Governors from the nature of their Offices are exempt from the paying of Taxes, You take a very nice Distinction between the Proprietary as owner of Land and the Proprietary as Chief Governor, and say ' you do not tax him as Governor but as a Land Holder and Fellow Subject." Though this is a Distinction that he has no Existence in Law or Reason, yet I shall for the present admit it and consider it accordingly. Have the Proprietaries a Right to Vote in the election of Repre- sentatives as Land Holders ? surely not, being hereditary Governors of the Province and having a Voice in the Legislature by their own particular Representative the Governor. How, then, came you by a right to tax them as fellow-Subjects and Land-Holders, seeing they had no Voice in chusing you, nor were entitled to any tho' owners of lands in every County ? From the very principles, there-
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fore, of the English Constitution, you have no right to tax them as Freeholders or Fellow-subjects as you call them. If, therefore, you tax them at all it must be as Proprietaries & Chief Governors, which is the only Capacity by which they are connected with or related to the Inhabitants of this Province, and under them in that Capa- city you deceive the power of acting as an Assembly. You cannot, therefore, without interverting the orders of things have a Power over those from whom you and every one else in the Province de- rive all the power they have. They hold the Government and Soil of this Province under the same grant, and the Title to both is centered in their persons and cannot be seperated or divided with- out destroying their Authority. It may be very true, as you say, " that the Proprietaries do not govern you," but that is not owing to any want of legal Authority in them, but from another cause that I need not mention here.
" "The support, as you call it, that is paid by the Province to a Lieutenant Governor is no other than the Fees of Office, and as such are due to any one that Administers the Government, and are not, what you would insinuate, given to the Lieutenant for doing the Duty of the principal; the Chief of them are publick house Licences which were originally granted by charter, not by any Con- cession of the People (tho' you from time to time have taken it for granted to be so), and in favour to them, as former Governors took much larger Sums for this Service, moderate Fees have been con- sented to be fixed by Law as Considerations for the business done, not as sufficient for the support of Government, all the Fees and perquisites whereof do not amount, communibus Annis, to more than a Thousand Pounds.
" As to the Land tax Acts of Parliament you refer to, they may be as you say with respect to the Crown's Fee Farm Rents, but I do not conceive they amount to a proof that the King pays Taxes, all taxes whatever being paid to him, and there seems to me an in- consistency in supposing he can both pay and receive; I take the Clause you mention to have no other meaning than to appropriate part of the Revenues of the Crown to one publick use which we before appropriated to another, For I must observe to you that the King can have no private estate, but from the Dignity of his Office holds his Lands in right of the Crown ; And another reason why a poundage is collected upon the Crown's Fee Farm Rents, may be that the Land tax should not fall heavier upon the other lands in the same Hundreds or Districts as the Quotas of each were long ago settled as they now stand in the King's Books, and cannot without confusion be altered upon the Crown's acquiring Lands in any of them.
" And upon this you break out into a lofty Exclamation, 'That this is not the first Instance by many in which Proprietaries and Governors of petty Colonies have assumed to themselves greater
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Powers, Privileges, Immunities, and Prerogatives than were ever claimed by their Royal Master on the imperial Throne of all his extensive Dominions.' I must acknowledge, Gentlemen, that these are sounding words ; but what Instances among the many can you give of that assuming Behaviour in your present Proprietaries ? Have they ever claimed any Rights or Prerogatives not granted to them by the Royal Charter, or reserved by that of their Father, under which you sit ? Can you lay to their Charge, during the course of a long Administration over you, one act of Injustice or Severity ? Have they even exercised all those powers which by the Royal Charter they might legally do, and to which that Charter requires the People to be obedient? On the contrary, have they not given up to the People many things they had a right to insist on, and indulged them in every thing that they judged for their benefit ? How just is it, therefore, gentlemen, to accuse them of assuming powers and prerogatives greater than their Royal Master ? Would you turn your Eyes towards your own conduct and apply some of these significant Words to yourselves, You would find them much more applicable than they are to the Proprietaries. The Charter under which you act gives you the powers and privileges of an Assembly according to the rights of the Free-born subjects of England, and as is usual in any of the King's Plantations in America. This, Gentlemen, is the foundation of your powers, which by the Royal Charter were to be consonant to the Laws and constitution of England. But instead of confining yourselves to that which your wise Ancestors thought fully sufficient to answer the Ends of good Government and secure the Liberties of the People, you have taken upon you great and mighty powers, Dis- pensed with positive Laws by the strength of your own Orders, claim a right to dispose of all publick Money and of keeping your proceedings a secret from the Crown, with many others unknown to an English Constitution, and never heard of in the other plantations in America. Who, therefore, can be so justly accused as yourselves of assuming unwarrantable Powers, greater than were ever claimed by a British House of Parliament, or to use your own Words, 'by your Royal Master on the Imperial Throne of all his extensive Dominions,' who pretends to no powers but what the Constitution gives him, and disclaims a Right of dispensing with Laws.
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