USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 24
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The Governor was pleased to assure the Merchants that he was & always would be disposed to encourage the Trading Interest, and support it on all Occasions, and would immediately Consider the Reasons they had offered against the Bill.
Then the Bill was read; and it was agreed, after Considering the Objections of the Merchants thereto, that a proper Message should be drawn and sent to the House with the Bill and Petitions of the Merchants.
MEMORANDUM :
In the evening, Two Members waited on the Governor from the House to know if his Honour had come to any determination on the Bill before him; to which his Honour was pleased to say that the House should receive a Message from him in the Morning.
And accordingly, on the Sixth, the Secretary delivered to the House the Bill Intituled " A Supplement to the Act intituled ' An Act for granting to his Majesty a Duty of Tonnage upon Ships and Vessels, and also certain Duties upon Wine, Rum, Brandy, and other Spirits, and a duty upon Sugar for supporting and maintaining . a Provincial Ship of War for protecting the Trade of this Province and other Purposes for his Majesty's Service,' " with Two Petitions;
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to his Honour from a Number of Merchants of the City, a paper referred to therein, and a Message in these Words :
" Gentlemen :
" I have ordered the Secretary to lay before you a Petition, pre- sented to me by a great Number of the Merchants of this City, remonstrating against the Bill intituled ' A Supplement to the Act intituled ' An Act for granting to his Majesty a Duty of Tonnage upon Ships and Vessels, and also certain Duties upon Wine, Rum, Brandy, and other Spirits, and a Duty upon Sugar, for supporting and Maintaining the Provincial Ship of War for Protecting the Trade of this Province and other Purposes for his Majesty's Service,'' as very injurious to the Trade of this Province in general, and partial and unequal in the mode of raising the Tax imposed for the Sup- port of the Province Ship of War. I must acknowledge that many of the Reasons assigned by them appear to me of great Weight ; and as a matter of this Importance, in which the well being of this Colony is so nearly concerned, cannot be too well deliberated upon, I return you the Bill, and desire you will take it again into your Serious Consideration, together with the Petition now laid before you. For my own Part, I assure you it will give me great Pleasure to contribute every thing I can towards the Protiction of the Trade of this Province, and you shall always find me ready to concur with you in such means of doing it as you who are better accquainted with the Circumstances of your Constituents shall, on reconsidering the Matter, judge most equal and impartial.
" WILLIAM DENNY.
" December the 6th, 1758."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Monday the 11th of Decem- ber, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esq"", Lieutenant Gov- crnor.
Robert Strettell,
Joseph Turner,
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Lynford Lardner,
Richard Peters,
Esquires. John Mifflin,
Thomas Cadwalader,
The Governor having received by Express a Letter from General Forbes, the same was read in these Words :
" FORT DUQUESNE, or now Pittsburg, the 26 Nov"", 1758. " Sir :
" I have the Pleasure and Honour of Acquainting you with the . Signal Success of his Majesty's Troops over all his Enemys on
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the Ohio, by having obliged them to Burn and abandon their Fort, Duquesne, which they effectuated upon the 24th Instant, And of which I took Possession with my little Army the next Day,-The Enemy, having made their escape down the River, part in Boats and part by Land, to their Forts, and Settlements on the Mississippi being abandoned, or at least not seconded by their Friends, the Indians, whom we had previously engaged to act a neutral part, And who now seem all willing and ready to Embrace His Majesty's Most gracious Protection.
· " So give me leave to congratulate you upon this publick event of having totally expelled the French from this Fort and this pro- digious tract of Country, and of having in a manner reconciled the various Tribes of Indians inhabiting it to His Majesty's Gov- ernment.
" I have not time to give you a detail of our proceedings and approaches towards the Enemy, or of the Hardships and Difficulties that we necessarily met with ; all that will soon come out, but I assure you, after receiving the Ground & Fort, I have great reason to be most thankful for the part that the French have acted.
" As the Conquest of this Country is of the greatest Conse- quence to the adjacent Provinces, by securing the Indians, our real Friends, for their own Advantage, I have therefore sent for their Head People to come to me, when I think in few Words and few Days to make every thing easy ; I shall then set out to kiss your Hands, if I have Strength enough left to carry me through the Journey.
" I shall be obliged to leave about Two Hundred Men of your Provincial Troops to join a proportion of Virginia and Maryland- ers, in order to protect this Country during Winter, by which Time I hope the Provinces will be so sensible of the great Benefit of this new Acquisition, as to enable me to fix this noble, fine Country, to all Perpetuity, under the Dominion of Great Britain.
"I beg the Barracks may be put 'in good repair, and proper Lodging for the Officers, and that you will send me, with the great- est Dispatch, your Opinion how I am to dispose of the rest of your Provincial Troops for the ease and Convenience of the Province and the Inhabitants.
" You must also remember that Colonel Montgomery's Battalion of Thirteen Hundred Men, and Four Companies of Royal Ameri- cans, are, after so long and tedious a Campaign, to be taken care of in some Comfortable Winter Quarters.
" I kiss all your Hands, and flatter myself that if I get to Phila- delphia, under your Cares and good Companys, I shall yet run a good Chance of re-establishing a Health that I run the risque of
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ruining to give your Province all the Satisfaction in the Power of my weak Abilities.
"I am, Sir, with great Esteem and regard, "Your most Obedient and Hume. Servant,
"JO. FORBES.
"P. S .- I-must beg that you will recommend to your Assembly the building of a Block House and Saw Mill upon the Kisskamini- ties, near Loyal Hannon, as a thing of the utmost Consequence to their Province, if they have any intention of profiting by this Ac- quisition.
" I send the New Levies to Carlisle, so beg you will loose no Time in sending up Mr. Young, the Commissary, to clear them."
Then was read a Letter from Colonal Burd in these Words :
" CAMP AT LOYAL HANNON, the 2nd of December, 1758. " Sir :
" I have the pleasure to inform you that on Friday last, our Army being within Ten Miles of Fort Duquesne, the Enemy thought proper to blow up the Fort, and went off Bodily in their Battoes. They intirely destroyed the Works and rendered every thing use- less.
"I shall be glad to receive your Instructions concerning the Re- cruiting my Battalion. I shall march down myself with the Gene- ral and Colonal Bouquet, and should be glad to hear from you upon my March that I might give the necessary orders; and beg that you will believe me with great Esteem,
" Your Honour's most Obedient & most Humle. Servant, "JAMES BURD."
The Council was of Opinion that the General's Letter contained such important Requests as made it necessary for the Governor to call the Assembly, who had adjourned to the Fifth of February ; and the Secretary was accordingly directed to issue Summons's for their meeting on the Twentieth Instant.
The Commissioners appointed by the Act for preventing abuses in the Indian Trade, &ca., recommended Robert Tuckness, Abel Janny, and Benedict Dorsey as Suitable Persons for Agents at Fort Allen. The first named Robert Tuckness was unanimously ap- proved.
A Letter from Don Francisco Caeriejas, Governor of Monto Cristo, dated the First of October, was read in these words :
" Sir :
" As Two Privateers from your Honour's Government, the One named the Spry, a Ship, Captain Spring, and the other a Schooner
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named the Knowles, Captain Turner, have had the Boldness, in Contempt of the Spanish Flag, to carry off a Snow from this Port named the Prussian Heroe, John Campbell, Master, whilst she was at Anchor, and consequently under the Protection of this Govern- ment; and as I have continually in my Government a Considerable Number of English Vessels, which the French, our near Neighbours, may come and carry off, encouraged by these Examples, I thought it necessary to advise your Honour of this Proceeding, requesting at the same Time you would be pleased to compel the above-named Privateers to restore the said Snow, as it is not permitted any Pri- vateers to search and examine into what passes in Spanish Harbours, especially considering the good Harmony and Correspondence which subsists between the two Crowns, and that your Honour would be pleased to Command the Captains of Privateers of your Govern- ment not to meddle with Traders in this Port, and to confine them- selves to those they met with at Sea, where they have a Right. I hope your Honour will consider the Contents of this my Letter, and be pleased to give Orders agreeable to my request, otherwise these Practical Proceedings are capable of breaking that good Harmony and Union which at present Subsists. I offer myself to the Dis- position of your Honour; you may command me and be assured of my Obedience.
"I kiss your Hands, and am your Honour's most affectionate Humble Servant,
" DON FRANCISCO CARILJAS.
" St. Ferdinand of Monto Cristo, the 1st of October, 1758."
The Secretary was directed to deliver a Copy of the said Letter to the Owners of the Spry, and of the Knowles, Privateers, in order that they might be able to draw up a state of the Case to be con- sidered by the Governor.
It being the unanimous opinion of the Governor and Council, that a Day should be appointed for a general Thanksgiving, it was recommended to the Secretary to prepare a Draught of a Proclama- tion, which was done and approved, and the Twenty-Eighth Instant fixed for the Day.
Ordered, That there be printed One hundred and fifty of the Proclamations, and that the same be dispersed among the Ministers of all Perswasions, English and Germans.
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At a Council held at Philadelphia, Thursday the 21st of Decem- ber, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- crnor.
Richard Peters,
John Mifflin, Esquires. Thomas Cadwalader,
General Forbes' Letter of the 20th of November was again read, and a Letter from General Amherst, in these words :
"NEW YORK, December the 13th, 1758. " Sir :
"The King having been pleased to appoint me Commander-in- Chief of all his Majesty's Forces in North America, and having at the same time signified to me his Royal Pleasure, that I should Correspond with and apply to all his Governors on the Continent for their Aid and Assistance in carrying on the Services pointed out to me, I am, in Obedience to those Commands, to acquaint you, that altho' I have not yet any particular Orders relative to the Operations of the Ensuing Campaign, I imagine they will require the same Number of Provincial Troops that were voted by the re- spective Provinces and Colonies this year; and it will likewise be necessary, in order to carry those Operations the more effectually into Execution, that those Troops should be at the place of Rendez- vous as early in the Spring as possible; I would therefore recom- mend.it to you, if the Troops raised by your Province for the Service of the last Campaign are not already disbanded, that you would move your Assembly to continue them in their Pay during the Winter, which will not only be a great Saving in Point of Time, but, by what I can understand, a great Saving of Expence to the Province ; Wherefore, I should hope you will the more easily suc- ceed in your Application. But if it should so happen, that before the receipt of this Letter, those Troops had already been disbanded, in that case, I must desire that you will lose no Time in using your Influence with your Assembly, to move them to order New Levies, and to cause these to be provided with the Usual Necessaries, and to be ready by the Time the Season will admit their taking the Field.
"Having also received His Majesty's Orders to recruit and com- pleat the Regiments now serving on the Continent, I am likewise to beg your Countenance and Protection to the Officers I shall have Occasion to send, as well as to those that have already been sent by my Predecessor on that Service ; and that you will be aiding and Assisting unto them in the execution thereof.
"I am, with great Regard, Sir, " Your most Obedt. Hume Servant, "JEFF. AMHERST,"
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The Draught of a Message to the Assembly on the said Letters was read and approved, and ordered to be wrote fair.
Last Night Two Members waited on the Governor, to acquaint him that the House were met agreeable to his Summons, and re- quested his Honour would be pleased to furnish the House with a Copy of the Writt by which they were called. And the Secretary was directed to carry to the House, the following Message, the Letters from General Forbes and General Amherst, with one of the Summons's :
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
" I have the Pleasure to Lay before you a Letter I lately received from Brigadier General Forbes, with the interesting and important Account of his Success in the Expedition against his Majesty's Enemies to the Westward, An Event which, it is true, has been purchased at a Considerable present Expence, but when the Con- sequences are cooly weighed and Considered, of suffering the French to lay the Foundation of our Future Slavery, by possessing themselves, and fortifying the back Parts of his Majesty's Colonies on this Continent, and to keep open a Communication between their Settlements from Canada to the Mississippi, I am perswaded every real Friend of Liberty will think this Conquest could not have been too dearly bought.
" Under Divine Providence, and the Courage, Prudence, and steady Conduct of the General, who is known, during the Cam- paign, to have struggled with and surmounted Difficulties almost insuperable, under the severest Indisposition of Body, the Success of this Expedition is owing to the good Effects of our Several Treaties and Negotiations with the Indians on the Ohio, who were determined, by the Messages sent them from the last Treaty at Easton, to withdraw themselves, and observe a Neutrality.
"The great Advantages that will attend this success of his Majesty's Arms, will be sensibly felt by all the British Colonies, but none so much as this Province, whose Inhabitants have been the most exposed to the Incursions and Cruelties of the French and their Allies from that Quarter. It is not, however, to be expected that our Vigilant and crafty Enemies will permit us long to remain in the quiet and undisturbed Possession of the Country, which they have been compelled to abandon to us. Common Prudence, there- fore, as well as a Sense of Duty to our Sovereign and ourselves, demand of us to lose no Time in preparing to repel any attempts they may make next Spring to retrieve their Losses. In the mean Time, also, it highly behooves us, by every probable Expedient, to confirm the Indians on the Ohio in their Present good Dispositions, and conciliate their Affections to His Majesty, His Subjects, and Government. To effect this, much remains to be done; Yet
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wavering in their Minds, & probably not unanimous in their Councils on this new Turn of Affairs, they will be liable to, be again poisoned and misled by the French, unless we speedily evince to them that a firm Reliance may be had on our Friendship, and that we are able and willing to protect them against the French.
" You will find by the General's Letter, dated at Fort Duquesne, that he had determined to leave Two Hundred of our Provincial Troops to join a proportionable Number of Virginians and Mary- landers to protect the Country, and he desires my advice how to dispose of the rest of the Provincials for the ease and Conve- niency of the Province and Inhabitants. It was not in my power to comply fully with the General's Request without previously knowing what Number of Troops you will agree to support the ensuing year ; I was therefore under the Necessity of convening you before the Time of your adjournment, to deliberate on this and the other important Matters I have above mentioned to you.
" General Forbes is of opinion that the Building of a Block House and Saw Mill upon the Kiskemontias, near Loyal Hannon, will be of the utmost Consequence to this Province; and, at this pressing Instance, I recommend it to you to make specdy Provi- sion for so necessary a Work.
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" I have appointed Indian Agents to reside at Fort Allen, and in any Place that shall be thought most proper over Susquehannah. And the Commissioners under the Act of Assembly for preventing Abuses in the Indian Trade, &ca., have, with my approbation, already sent up Quantities of Indian Goods, which will, I hope, have a very good Effect on our New Friends, and be a Means of disposing them to continue hearty in His Majesty's Interest.
" I must also inform you that I have very lately received a Letter from General Amherst, dated the Thirteenth Instant, which will be laid before you by the Secretary, wherein his Excellency informs me that though he has not as yet any particular Orders relative to the Operations of the ensuing Campaign, he imagines the same Number of Provincial Troops will be required that were voted by the respective Colonies this year ; and that it will like- wise be necessary, in order to carry those Operations the more effectually into Execution, that those Troops should be at the Place of Rendezvous as early in the Spring as possible. He there- fore recommends it to me, if the Troops raised by this Province for the Services of the last Campaign are not already disbanded, that I would move you to Continue them in their Pay during the Winter, which will not only be a great saving in point of Time, but, by what he can understand, a great Saving of Expence to the Province. But if it should so happen that the Troops should have been already disbanded, in that Case he desires I would lose no Time in using my Influence with you to order New Levies, and
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to cause them to be provided with the usual Necessaries, and to be ready by the Time the Season will admit their taking the Field.
" Before I received the General's Letter, I had given Orders for the Discharge of the Companies which were inlisted for the Cam- paign Only, and sent the Paymaster to adjust their Accounts, that every Man might receive, with the Discharge, a Certificate of the Sum due to him, on which he might, perhaps, obtain Credit for the purchase of Necessaries. The Paymaster is likewise directed to appoint some Proper Person to receive and take Care of the Arms, Accoutrements, and Blankets of every Soldier before he is dis- charged.
" The Reasons assigned by General Amherst, for keeping up the Provincials raised for the Service of the last Year, are so Cogent and judicious, that it would be vain for me to add anything in Sup- port of them. I hope, therefore, you will take his Excellency's Requisition into your Serious Consideration, and enable me to give him a Speedy Answer.
"Before I conclude, Gentlemen, I must remind you, that Large Arrears are due to the Troops in Pay of the Province, more than the last Sum raised for his Majesty's Use, will, as I am informed, be Sufficient to Discharge, and beg you will Consider that it is the Honour, as well as the Interest of this Province, that means should be found for the speedy Payment of this Debt.
"WILLIAM, DENNY.
"December the 21st, 1758."
An Address from the Meeting of Sufferings, dated the Fourteenth Instant, signed by their Clerk, James Pemberton, was read in these words :
" To WILLIAM DENNY, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the three Lower Counties of New- castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware,
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" The Address of the Meeting for Sufferings of the People called Quakers, for the said Province and New Jersey, met at Phila- delphia, the 14th of the 12th Month, 1758,
" Respectfully Sheweth :
" That we have been lately informed that a report of a Commit- tee of thy Council, appointed to enquire into the Complaints of the Indians at the Treaty of Easton, the 8th of November, 1756, hath been some Months past drawn up and laid before the Governor, and since transmitted to England, and that there are some Matters al- ledged therein, in which the Reputation and Interest of our reli- gious Society are immediately concerned. We, therefore, request
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the Governor would be pleased to order a true Copy thereof to be made out and communicated to us, in order that we may have an Opportunity of perusing the same, and be more perfectly acquainted with the Contents thereof.
"Signed in behalf and by appointment of our said Meeting, "JAMES PEMBERTON, Clk."
The Report of Council referred to in the said Address is a report made by the Council on the Sixth of January, 1758. After Con- sidering the Address and the manner in which the said Report was cited, a Draught was made of the Governor's Answer, and kept under Advisement for further Consideration.
MEMORANDUM.
On the Twenty-third a Verbal Message from the Governor was sent to the House by the Secretary, with a Letter from Colonel Peter Schuyler, inclosing a Demand of Sums expended by him in Canada on Prisoners belonging to Pennsylvania, and the Secretary was ordered by the Governor to request the House would repay that Gentleman. On the same Day, in the Afternoon, the Gov- ernor received a Verbal Message, by Two Members, that the House inclined to adjourn to the Fifth Day of February next, and at the same time they delivered a Message to the Governor in these words :
" May it please your Honour :
" The Advices of the Success of His Majesty's Forces employed in the Reduction of Fort Duquesne, which you have been pleased to lay before us in your Message of the Twenty-first Instant, are so interesting and important, as well to the Peace of this and the Neighbouring Provinces, as to the British Interest in General, that we shall not fail to do everything which can be reasonably expected from this young Colony, in frustrating the Ambitious Views of the French to destroy our Settlements, and extend their own from Canada to the River Mississippi ; and we hope the Success of our late Campaign under General Forbes will greatly contribute to this good End.
" This Happy Event, we agree with your Honour, under Divine Providence, and the Courage, Prudence, and steady Conduct of the General, is owing to the good Effects of the several Treaties held with the Indians at the Expence of this Province, and especially to the late negotiations and Messages with those on the Ohio, be- fore and since the last Treaty at Easton, by which they were in- duced to withdraw themselves from the French, and Observe a Neutrality ; in Consequence whereof the Enemy have been neces- sitated to abandon the Fort from whence they have so frequently
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distressed our Frontier Settlements, and those of the Neighbouring Colonies.
" The regaining the Indian Affections, from which we always ex- pected the most . natural Barrier and Security of the extended Western Boundary of this Colony, has been and will still continue the object of our Strictest Attention, and we shall, whenever we receive sufficient Information of the Disposition of the Indians on the Ohio, and the Treaty held with them by order of General Forbes, exert our best Abilities to render it their true Interest to join cordially with us, and by all means in our Power endeavour to receive & effectually Secure that Friendship which happily sub- sisted between them and us, will within these few years, from the first Settlement of this Province.
" In expictation of a vigorous effort to be made upon the Enemy in the next year, and at the Requisition of his Excellency, General Amherst, we shall continue the Fourteen Hundred Old Troops in the Pay of the Province till our next Meeting, at which Time we hope to receive further Information from our Most Gracious Sov- ereign of the intended Operations of the Ensuing Campaign.
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" Your Honour's Care to Discharge the New Levies in persuance of their Agreement, and the Method you have taken to grant them Certificates for their Arrears, are very agreeable to us, as thereby the public Faith will be preserved, should the last supplies fall short, till this Debt can be provided for in the Aids to be granted to His Majesty for Defraying the Expences of the ensuing Year.
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