USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VI > Part 73
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79
" Signed by order of the House, "ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
"Philad a., November 18, 1755."
-
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
" May it please the Governor :
" We apprehend that our Message of the 5th Instant, requesting to be informed by what means the Delawares & Shawanese had been so alienated in their affections from this Province, was too slightly answered by the Governor, and we now hope it will not be taken amiss if we enquire more particularly, Whether the Chiefs of the Shawanese did not in 1753 complain to this Government, that satisfaction had not been made to them by the Proprietaries, for a large tract of Land, part of which was surveyed into the Proprietary Manor on Conedoguinet; & whether they were not then promised that application should be immediately made to the Proprietaries in their Behalf, to obtain the satisfaction they desired ? We hope if so, that the application has been accordingly made, and the satisfaction obtained and given. But we desire if the Gov- ernor pleases; to be informed of the particulars.
" Signed by order of the House.
" ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker. " Philada. Nov". 18th, 1755."
The Governor sent the following Letter to the Mayor & Corpora- tion of the City of Philada. :
" Gentlemen :
" I have received intelligence that the Indians have fallen upon the Settlements at Tulpehoccon, that they had slaughtered many of the Inhabitants & laid waste the Country, and were moving towards the Town of Reading, which is within about Sixty Miles of this City, and tho' I am in hopes their cruel progress will be stopped long before they can come hither, yet as I can get no certain In- telligence of their Strength or of the number of french men that are among them, I think it my duty to take every cautionary measure in my power for the preservation & Safety of the People & Province.
·
711
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
"I must, therefore, recommend it to you, Gentlemen of the Cor- poration, & through you to the People of this City to be upon their Guard, and ready to take such measures for the safety of the City and Province as the motions of the Enemy may make necessary ; And that you may be prepared not only to defend yourselves but to afford your assistance to such parts of the Country as may stand in need of it, I must desire that you, the Mayor, Recorder, and Alderman, will recommend to me proper persons to be appointed Officers upon the present occasion, To whom I will immediately issue Commissions. I am, Gentlemen,
" Your most Obedt humble Servant, "ROBERT H. MORRIS."
At a Council held at Philada 19th Nov., 1755, A. M.
PRESENT :
The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, Esquire, Lieu- tenant Governor, &ca.
Robert Strettell,
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
Thomas Cadwalader, Lynford Lardner, Esqrs.
The Assembly's Message to the Governor with the Bill for striking £60,000, &ca., adhering to it and rejecting all the Governor's Amendments being read, and the Governor desiring the Council's opinion whether he should pass the Bill unamended.
The Council unanimously agreed that the Governor ought not to pass the Bill unamended, and gave several reasons which were in- serted in a rough Draft of a Message proposed to be sent in answer thereto, but as there was not time to perfect it now the Gov". was desired to consider it fully, and finish it as soon as possible.
And the other Message relating to the enquiry desired by the Assembly to be made whether the Delawares and Shawanese having been alieniated in their Affections from this Government, is not owing to their not having received satisfaction from the Proprieta- ries for a large Tract of Land they purchased of them.
Referred to Mr. Strettel, Mr. Turner and Doctor Cadwalader, to enquire into that Affair and make report thereof to the Governor that he may be enabled to give the Assembly an answer to his Message.
A Letter of the 11th of August last from his Excellency Charles Lawrence, Esq'., Governor of Nova Scotia, accompanying one hun-
712
MINUTES OF THE
dred and sixty-eight Men, Women and Children, of the Neutral French, imported here from Halifax, was read in these words :
A Letter from His Excellency Chas. Lawrence, Esqr- to Governor Morris.
" HALIFAX, in Nova Scotia, 11th Augt, 1755.
“ Sir :
"The success that has attended his Majesty's Arms in driving the French from the encroachments they had made in this Pro- vince, furnished me with a favourable opportunity of reducing the . French Inhabitants of this Colony to a proper obedience to his Majesty's Government, or forcing them to quit the Country. These Inhabitant were permitted to remain in quiet possession of their Lands, upon Condition that they should take the Oath of Allegiance to the King within one Year after the Treaty of Utrecht, by which this Province was receded to Great Britain, with this Condition they have ever refused to comply, without having at the same time from the Governor an assurance in writing that they should not be called upon to bear Arms in the defence of the Province, and with this General Philipps did comply, of which step his Majesty had disapproved ; and the Inhabitants pretending therefrom to be in a state of Neutrality between his Majesty and his Enemies, have continually furnished the French & Indians with Intelligence, Quarters, Provisions, and Assistance, in annoying the Government, and while one part have abetted the French encroachments by their treachery, the other have countenanced them by open rebellion, and three hundred of them were actually found in Arms in the ffrench Fort at Beausejour when it surrendered.
"Notwithstanding all their former bad behaviour, as his Majesty was pleased to allow me to extend still further his Royal Grace to such as would return to their Duty, I offered such of them as had not been openly in Arms against us, a continuance of the posses- sion of their Lands, if they would take the Oath of Allegiance un- qualified with any Reservation whatsoever, but this they have most. audaciously, as well as unanimously refused, and if they would presume to do this when there is a large Fleet of Ships of War in the Harbour, and a considerable Land force in the Province, what might not we expect from them when the approaching Winter de- prives us of the former, & when the Troops which are only hired from New England occasionally and for a small time, have returned. home ?
" As by this behaviour the Inhabitants have forfeited all tittle to their Lands and any further favour from the Government, I called together his Majesty's Council, (at which the Hon'ble Vice Admi- ral Boscawen and Rear Admiral Mostyn assisted), to consider by what means we could with the greatest Security & effect rid our- selves of a set of People who would forever have been an obstruc-
713
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
tion to the intention of settling this Colony, and that it was now from their refusal of the Oath absolutely incumbent upon us to remove.
" As their numbers amount to near Seven thousand Persons, the driving them off with leave to go whither they pleased would have doubtless strengthened Canada with so considerable a number of Inhabitants, & as they have no cleared Lands to give them at present, such as are able to bear Arms must have been immediately employed in annoying this and the neighboring Colonies. To pre- vent such an inconvenience it was judged a necessary and the only practicable measure to divide them among the Colonies, where they may be of some use, as most of them are healthy, strong People; and as they cannot easily collect themselves together again it will be out of their power to do any mischief, and they may become profitable, and, it is possible, in time faithful Subjects.
" As this step was indispensably necessary to the security of this Colony, upon whose preservation from French encroachments the prosperity of North America is esteemed in a great measure de- pendent, I have not the least reason to doubt of your Excellency's concurrence, & that you will receive the Inhabitants I now send & dispose of them in such manner as may best answer our design in preventing their Reunion.
" As the Vessels employed in this Service are upon monthly hire, I beg the favour of you to expedite as much as possible their discharge, & that they may be furnished with a certificate of the time thereof agreeable to the form enclosed.
" I am, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant,
"CHAS. LAWRENCE.
" To His Excellency Gov". MORRIS."
And then the Governor desired the opinion of the Council what should be done with the said Neutrals.
The Council are of opinion that application be made to the Com- manding Officers recruiting here, immediately to send sufficient Ser- geant's Guards on board the Vessels in which the said Neutrals are brought, who are to attend constantly on board to prevent their rising, and take care that they do not Land or get on shore till it shall be further considered and resolved how to dispose of them. That in the mean time fresh Provisions and Necessaries be immedi- ately sent on board and continue to be sent to them till they shall be disposed of; And that the Governor send a Message to the Assem- bly to make proper provisions for defraying the Expence of subsisting & disposing of the said Neutrals and for the support of the Guards.
That a proper Person be sent on board to take account of the Numbers of the Neutrals and the Provisions on board, and how much has been expended in the Voyage, and to superintend the
714
MINUTES OF THE
Victualling them and their Guards; And Mr. Judah Toulke is recommended by the Mayor as a fit Person for that service, and a Warrant was issued to him for that purpose.
At a Council held at Philada., the 22nd of November, 1755. PRESENT :
The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, Esqr., Lieu- tenant Governor, &ca.
Robert Strettel,
Benjamin Chew, Esquires.
Lynford Lardner, Richard Peters,
A Message from the House delivered the 19th Instt, was read in these words :
" May it please the Governor :
"Our Treasury is quite exhausted by the heavy expences lately incurr'd, and we know of no way of raising Money so expeditious as that proposed by the Bill now before the Governor. It is true the Money intended to be struck may not be Current before the 31st of December; but as that is not more than six weeks, there. is no Doubt but that Labour, Service, and any thing else that Money can purchase among us may be had on Credit for so short a time if the Bill passes ; and in consideration of the necessity of ' affording timely assistance to the distressed Inhabitants in the Back Counties,' we sincerely hope and once more earnestly entreat that the Governor will no longer refuse or delay his assent to it.
"The other part of the Governor's Message we have now under our serious Consideration, and as soon as we come to any resolution thereon, shall immediately communicate the same to the Governor.
" Signed by Order of the House. "ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
" Philada., Novr., 19th, 1755."
The Governor having framed a Message to the House respecting the Bill for granting £60,000 to the King's use, agreeable to the Council's sentiments at their last meeting, and Extracts having been made out of the Council Books to shew that Money Bills have always been amended by the Governor & Council, the same were read and approved, and sent to the House :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
"I am no less astonished than grieved to find by your Message of the eighteenth Instant, that altho' I have even ventured to ex- ceed what I judged to be the Powers of my Commission, in order,
715
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
if possible, to accommodate our unhappy Differences and afford the necessary Succor to our bleeding Country, yet still you adhere to your Bill & refuse to agree to the reasonable proposal I made of submitting to his Majesty the present dispute between us relating to the Proprietary Tax. My astonishment is still increased to find that your best argument for such an obstinate refusal is founded on a new and lofty claim of Priviledge never heard of in this Province till towards the Close of Mr. Hamilton's Administration and the beginning of the late French encroachments upon this Province. At that time the Assembly being pressed upon the subject of De- fence first introduced, and have since occasionally continued this Claim of having their Money Bills passed as tendered, without any Amendments. And this appears to be done with a double view, to wit, either wholly to avoid giving Money for Warlike purposes, or by means of the Country's distress, to arrogate Powers which As- semblies here never were, and from the nature of our Constitution, never ought to be in possession of.
" In my Message of the 24th of September, I insisted that this Claim was neither warranted by Charter nor yet by usage; and it appears from the Minute of Council (some Extracts of which I have sent you) that the Governor's right of Amending Money Bills was never questioned by your Predecessors in Assembly ; And yet, Gentlemen, they were men whose Probity and Fortune were at least equal to yours, and many of them were singularly remarkable for their superior Knowledge of the Constitution of their Country as well as an inviolable attachment to its true Interests.
"I have given this matter the Precedence, tho' it is in the last part of your Message, that it may appear on how slight a Claim you have founded your refusal to pass a Bill so very important at this Juncture. Your other Arguments relate chiefly to the Form of the proposed Amendments, to which I shall reply but briefly, as you seem determined against all Amendments that come from me, however reasonable and necessary they may otherwise be.
"You say there is no necessity in the method proposed, that the Crown should assent to some parts of the Act and reject others. It is not my business to determine what the Crown may account ne- cessary in any of its Actions; but this I know, that is, is the es- tablished mode either to approve or reject the whole of any Law ; And I presume every Legislative Body in these Colonies expect to have their Acts wholly rejected or wholly approved. You ought, therefore, previous to your risking the rejection of so important an Act on account of the Proprietary Exemption, to show more than a bare probability that the Crown will adopt this unprecedented method by which a whole Law may be first approved, then a part of it suspended from taking effect and yet the whole is to remain all the while compleat and in Force. And all this you say by a very nice distinction is to be done by means of some wonderous Virtue
716
MINUTES OF THE
of the Law itself, and in execution of the Law, and yet that it is to Cost two distinct Acts of the Crown to do it.
"But was I to enquire into the reasons of this indirect and per- plexed method, scarce any other it 'should seem to me can be as- signed, but that it is your Sovereign pleasure to have it so, unless you are diffident of the Justice of your Cause and dare not trust it on its own Bottom, perhaps vainly imagining that if both the Taxes are blended together you have a better chance of being gratified in your ambitious view of getting your Chief Governor and his Estate subject to your Mercy than if the Bills are separated, in which case you probably fear that the Merits of the Cause alone might deter- mine it against you.
" For my part, I have such an implicit Confidence in the Royal Justice, that I am certain if the Proprietary Claim to an Exemption be just in itself, the present or any other Law by which they are taxed would be rejected in the Common Method, although the Crown should be thereby for a time deprived of the greatest sums. Wherefore as I foresaw the manifest inconveniences that might ensue from a total rejection of the present Law, I proposed a sepa- ration of the two parts of the Bill by which method the present Exigencies of the Province would be supplied whatever might be the Royal Determination with regard to the Proprietary Exemp- tion.
" But you tell me in the next place that my proposal also implies a contradiction, namely : to pass one Bill declaring positively that the Proprietary Estate shall not be taxed and another expressly to Tax it; and the good-natured Construction you put upon this is that I thereby aimed to secure an infallible Exemption of the Pro- prietaries from Taxation by leading you into an absurdity in the mode of taxing them. This I shall leave among the rest of your groundless Charges against me, and observe that the Bill as amended by me only excepts the Proprietary Estate in the Taxes to be laid by that Bill, but no where that I can find declares either positively or otherwise that it shall not be taxed by another Bill, so that the absurdity you mention does not appear to me. However, if what you are pleased to call the diametrical Contradiction of the two pro- posed Bills be really any objection with you, I shall very readily agree to one Amendment more, which will perfectly reconcile them by the addition of a very few Words to the Exemption Clause in the first Bill as follows : [The Estates of the Honourable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esquires, excepted, which shall be taxed in the manner directed by a particular Law passed (or to be passed) for that purpose]. Thus both Bills will declare positively that the Proprietaries are to be taxed if his Majesty shall so think fit.
" Your Extracts from the votes of the House of Commons prove nothing to the purpose for which you quote them; they only shew what nobody denies, that by the constitution of England the Com-
717
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
mons have long claimed the Priviledge of having their Supply Bills passed or rejected without Amendments, but are by no means ap- plicable to the Circumstances of this Province.
" The Constitution of England is of long standing, founded upon antient usage & ripencd by time & the wisdom of Ages to its pre- sent perfection. There the King, Lords and Commons make up the Supreme Power, to each of which the Constitution has assigned particular & peculiar prerogatives, Rights, & Privileges, in order to keep up a proper Ballance and make them (what for the benefit of the Nation they ought to be) a check upon each other.
"The Constitution of this Province is founded upon certain Royal & Proprietary Charters, being subordinate, and no way similar to that of England, nor composed of the like constituent parts. Here the whole power is lodged in the Governor & Assembly, who have all along exercised equal Legislative powers, each of them having a right to propose Laws and to amend what is proposed by the other.
" Till, therefore, you can shew that the Constitution of this Prov- ince is similar to that of England, composed of the like parts, and that each of them have the like or similar powers and privileges, you can found no claim upon the usage of Parliament for having your Money Bills passed without the Governor's Amendments, and therefore your Extracts from the Votes of the House of Commons were a very needless addition to your Message.
" You mention twenty Amendments offered by me to the Bill of last Assembly, & that you being a new body [composed almost wholly of the same Members], admitted every one of them that was of any Consequence into the present Bill, excepting that of exempt- ing the Proprietary Estate. But this one Amendment was of so material Consequence that your refusal to admit of it made the pro- posal of a separate Bill a necessary Expedient, and obliged me to make other Amendments, so that you had no reason for bursting out into such a lofty strain of Rhetoric, telling me that now I am for amending my own Amendments, altering my own Alterations, and adding to my own Additions; for had you agreed to my first Amendments, Alterations, and Additions, any future ones would have been needless.
" You speak of many Bills proposed in vain by you for the relief of your distressed Country. 'Tis true you have in all proposed to me five Money Bills, three of them rejected because contrary to Royal Instructions. The other two were rejected on account of the unjust method proposed for taxing the Proprietary Estate. If you are disposed to relieve your Country, you have many other ways of granting Money to which I shall have no objection.
" In this as well as in some other Messages, you affect to treat me as a Stranger, and tell me that it is at least probable you are
718
MINUTES OF THE
more deeply concerned for the Distresses of this Country than I am, because most of you are natives of it and have your Estates in it. I am surprized, Gentlemen, that you do not blush to have recourse to such weak and fallacious reasoning. Altho' I was not born within the Limits of this Province, I was born in its Neigh- bourhood. Nay, the Chief part of my Estate lies much nearer to this City than the Estates of some of you who sit in Assembly, and when your Estates are in danger I can by no means think mine safe. And here I would observe, that if the Consideration of being bred up among You and possessing large property in the Province could have secured your good Treatment of any Governor, my im- mediate Predecessor had the fairest Claim to such Treatment, & would have been exempted from those Manifold abuses which it has been his Lot as well as mine to receive at your hands. But I conceive, Gentlemen, that our Actions, not the place of our Estates or Nativity, are the best Test of our Affection for this Country. You will suffer me, therefore, briefly to review your Conduct and mine, and to leave them both to speak for themselves.
" And here was I inclined to go beyond my own times ; I might begin with reminds. You how contemptuously you treated the Pro- prietary offer of Four hundred Pounds for erecting a place of Strength on the Ohio, together with an offer of one hundred Pounds per annum towards its support, which offers were made at a time when your Concurrence would probably have prevented many of the Calamities we now groan under.
" I might also observe, that when Mr. Hamilton first called upon you persuant to his Majesty's orders, to grant such Supplies as would enable him to draw forth the Strength of the Province & to repel Force by Force, you would not admit that the French En- croachments and Fortifications on the Ohio were within our Limits, or his Majesty's Dominions, thereby seeking an excuse to avoid doing what was required of you ; And when after the loss of much time you thought fit to drop this dispute, you then entered upon a fresh one concerning the Legality of Royal Instructions in order still to gain more time & avoid doing what you judged inconsistent with your Principles ; nevertheless, it is clear, that if you had com- plied with Mr. Hamilton's request, and given Seasonably what Money the excise could raise in the Term he proposed, the French might have been prevented from strengthening themselves in their present unwarrantable Encroachments.
" On my accession to the Government you began upon the same Dispute and delay ; but as I am informed that there was a full and strong Representation, both of your Conduct & mine so far as re- lated to the Disputes in the beginning of my Administration, laid before his Majesty in a Report of the Lords Commissioners of Trade, upon your Address concerning Instructions, I shall go no farther back than December last.
A
719
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
" On the 19th of that Month I communicated to you a letter from Sir Thomas Robinson, notifying his Majesty's intentions of employing four Regiments for the defence & Security of these Col- onies to be raised and augmented in America, & requiring a sum of Money towards a general Fund, and to have Three thousand men in readiness with a proper quantity of Provisions &c. the whole to be under the direction of a General Officer of Character, who was to be sent as Commander-in-Chief of all his Majesty's Forces in these parts, but you did not think fit to raise a single man, or give one farthing of Money in Compliance with this request ; I did also at the same time recommend it to you, to prepare a Law for regulat- ing the Wages to be paid by such Tradesmen, Horses & Carriages, as it might be necessary to impress into his Majesty's Service ; To this you replied ' That you could not presume the Military Officers would, or ought to have any Power of impressing Tradesmen within this Province, & that the other parts of my Message might. re- main under Consideration without any considerable Inconvenience.'
" As soon as the General arrived I again recommended it to you to make an immediate Provision for raising the men & supplying the Money and other necessaries expected from this Province, and did throughout the whole Summer from time to time press you to grant your aid & assistance to the Expedition then on Foot, but you had one general answer for all, namely, That if some Bill which you had always ready to offer for striking a sum of money for the King's Use should once be passed it would answer all the purposes required of you, and yet every one of those Bills were all the while liable to one & the same objection, on the footing of the Royal Instructions. And, besides this, you never took the least notice of the Demand for a supply of men, which from this popu- lous Province was at least as material an Article as Money.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.