USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 33
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
" ' A Supplement to the Act entitled 'an Act for regulating and continuing the nightly Watch, and enlightening the Streets, Lanes, and Alleys of the City of Philadelphia, and for raising of money on the Inhabitants and Estates of the said City for defraying the neces- sary Expences thereof.''
" ' An act for binding out and settling such of the Inhabitants of Novia Scotia, imported into this Province, as are under Age, and for Maintaining the Aged, Sick, and Maimed, at the Charge of this Province.'
"' An act for the further Continuation of an act of General As- sembly of this Province, entituled ' an act for the more easy recov- ery of Legacies within this Province.''
" His Majesty this Day took the said Act into His Royal Con- sideration, and having received the Opinion of the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations, and also of a Committee of the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable privy Council thereupon, is hereby pleased to declare his approbation of the said Acts; And Pursuant to His Majesty's Royal Pleasure thereupon expressed, the said Acts are hereby Confirmed, finally enacted, and Ratified Accordingly; Whereof the Deputy Governor, Council, and Assem- bly of the said Province, for the time being, and all others whom it may concern, are to take notice, and Govern themselves accord- ingly.
"F. VERNON."
VOL. VIII .- 22.
322
MINUTES OF THE
The following Letter from General Amherst, of the Thirtieth of March, to the Governor, was read in these Words.
" NEW YORK, 30th March, 1759.
" SIR :
" Agreeable to my Letter of the Seventh, I then wrote to Sir John St. Clair, to call in all the outstanding Accounts of Expences in- curred last year in the Expedition against Fort Duquesne, which I find has beer. done, but that they are of so intricate and complicated a nature as to require a very narrow Inspection to set them in such a Light as will Warrant the payment of them, with Justice to the Crown and the Persons concerned therein ; for which purpose I am come to a Resolution to follow the Measure pursued in a similar Case, after the Demise of General Braddock, by appointing Com- missioners to inspect & settle the same ; and to prevent all partiality on either side, these Commissioners shall be two on the part of the Inhabitants, and two in Behalf of the Crown, who are to meet as often as possible, and with the utmost dispatch procced to the Ex- amination of all such accounts as shall be brought before them; and that no time may be lost nor no pains spared in the Careful Inspec- tion of those Accounts, Each Two Commissioners shall be allowed a Clerk to Transcribe or take down whatever may be necessary to be committed to writing, during such their Examination, after which they will digest the whole and Report, likewise in writing, their Sentiments thereupon, Setting forth the Validity or Invalidity of the respective Claims, what part thereof may have been paid, and finally to dermine what may be still justly due, in which they Will have a strict Regard to the Rules of Justice and Equity; then agreeably to Such Report, what part thereof I think myself Au- thorized to Discharge, I shall do it without Delay ; the remainder, if there should be any that I have reason to believe I cannot take upon me to acquit, I will readily transmit to the King's Ministers, for their decision. And this, I apprehend, you will own with me, is all I can do in a Transaction that happened before I was Hon- oured with the Command, to which, from the distance I have been at, I am an utter Stranger.
The Two Gentlemen I have named in behalf of the Crown are Sir John St. Clair, Deputy Quarter Master General, who, from his Station in the Army, and his having been an eye Witness to the Whole, must be throughly inform'd of every thing, and be a Com- petent Judge of what may be justly due (unless Brigadier Stanwix should think Sir John can be more usefull in giving those Lights by way of Information to the Commissioners, in which case he will appoint another in his stead.) The other is Mr. Barrow, the Deputy Paymaster General, who being an Accomptant, must give great Ease to all matters of Calculation. I do accordingly write to Briga- dier General Stanwix to appoint them for to act in Conjunction with Alexander Stedman, Esq'., of Philadelphia, George Stevenson,
323
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Esq"., Chief Magistrate & Proto-Notary in the County of York, or, Mr. John Inglis, likewise of Philadelphia, either two of which I must beg the favour of you to appoint in like Manner; and as this must for some time partly draw their Attention from their own Callings, which Merits Some Compensation, you may promise them such a reward as is usually given upon those Occasions, which I beg may be Lumped, and not at so much a Day, which would only tend to protract the Meetings. These Rewards will be paid by Brigadier Stanwix whom I have acquainted with the Whole, and have left it to him, if he knows of any other Gentlemen than the above named. Three that are more Equal to the Task, and whom. he shall chuse to Employ upon this Occasion, to name two such to you for your appointment, which you will please to Comply with ; and in that Choice to assist the Brigadier with your Advice.
"I am, with great Regard, Sir,
" Your Most Obedt. Hume Servt.,
"JEFF. AMHERST."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Tuesday the 10th of April, 1759.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esq"., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
Lynford Lardner, Esquires.
Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwalader,
The Governor informed the Council that the Supply Bill was sent to the House on the Seventh Instant, with the Amendments and Message agreed upon at the last Council, and that it was that same Day returned to him by the House with a written Message, which was read in these Words :
" May it please your Honour,
" On the Twenty-Fourth of March last we sent you a Bill for granting to his Majesty the sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds, for raising, paying and Cloathing Two Thousand Seven Hundred. Effective Men, to act in Conjunction with a Body of his Majesty's British Forces, and the Troops of Virginia, Maryland and the Lower Counties, in such offensive Operations as shall be carried on and prosecuted by His Majesty's Commander-in-Chief in these Parts during the Ensuing Campaign, to which your Honour refused your Assent.
" By your Message of the Twenty-Ninth of March you were pleased to inform the House that the Proprietaries were ready and Willing to contribute their full Proportions of the Sum granted, or to be.
1. y e
8
d
0 h
1 1
1
1
I a a
m
f
1
1
of
in
324
MINUTES OF THE
granted to his Majesty's use, if, upon a fair and equal Taxation of their Quit Rents and appropriated Tracts, their former Order for the Sum of Five Thousand Pounds shall be found to fall short of such Proportions ; we thereupon immediately formed a new Bill, and complied with your Request as far as we could Conceive it Con- sistent with that Justice we owe to the Country we represent, and sent this Bill to your Honour on the Fifth Instant, so that if the Time presses, or His Majesty's Service receives any Injury, the Delay must arise from the Instructions wherewith our Proprietaries have thought fit to restrict your Honour in this most Necessary Article of granting Supplies to his Majesty at this Critical Junc- ture.
"Your Honour has made no objection to our present Bill, except in that part only which regards the taxing the Proprietarics' Estate, which we have re-considered, and still think most equitable and Just, and have accordingly by an almost unanimous Vote of our House, adhered to the Bill, we do therefore once more send up this Bill for your Concurrence.
"Signed by order of the House, " ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker. " April 7th, 1759."
The Governor further informed the Council that General Am- herst being now in Town, he had made him acquainted with the Nature of the Supply Bill and the Proprietary Instructions, and the Strong Objections he had to the Bill, as well for that it was unjust in itself as Contrary to those Instructions, and had furnished him with the Messages that had passed on this Occasion between him & the Assembly. That the General had sent for the Speaker and some of the Members, and had used his best Endeavours with them to pass such a Bill as had been agreed to for some Years past, but that finding them Obstinate, he had by his Brother let them know that he would withdraw the King's Forces, in case they did not raise the same Number of Provincials as served last Campaign ; that this Afternoon he received a second Message from the House, mentioning this Resolution of the General's, and pressing him no longer to refuse his Assent to the Bill, since if he did, all these bad Consequences would lye at his door. Which Message was read in these words :
" May it please your Honour :
" The Bill for granting Supplies to His Majesty has now lain a Con- siderable Time before you for your Assent, and, as we are informed, General Amherst is obliged to return in a few Days, we hope you will give him the Satisfaction of seeing with what Chearfulness we have granted all his Demands from this Province, especially as we have reason to believe that if this Province does not furnish the same number of Troops as last Year, the General is of Opinion the
1
i
i
t
f
{ a
t a
t
325
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
intended Offensive Operations, and building a proper Fort, and making Posts, effectually to cover the Country, cannot be carried on without weakening the Army that is to act elsewhere too much, and that he is therefore determined, if this Province does not exert itself in raising the same Number of Men as last Year, and that immediately, to give over the thoughts of acting on this Side, which cannot be done, without raising those Troops, with any Prospect of Success ; and that he will reinforce the Army to the Eastward with the Troops he intended to have detached to have acted here.
" The Consequences of these Resolutions of General Amherst must unavoidably have great Weight with your Honour, and you will consider whether the Proprietary Instructions to refuse your assent to any Bill which shall Tax their Estates, except in the manner they have prescribed by a separate Bill, which we conceive is a mode unjust and unknown to a British Constitution, can vindi- cate your Conduct before our gracious Sovereign, and the Nation, who have granted such liberal Supplies for Support of their Colo- nies in America, which, if you continue to adhere to those Proprie- tary Instructions, rather than that the Estate of a Subject to the best of Kings shall be subjected to an equal Taxation, must fail as far as regards this Province.
"We therefore call upon you, as the Time for opening the Operations of this Campaign will not admit of any further Delay, as you regard your Duty to the King, and to the Province over which you have the Honour to preside, that you will no longer refuse your assent to the Bill now laid before you.
" Signed by order of the House, " ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
" April 10th, 1759."
The Governor addressing the Council expressed the great Diffi- culties he was under; if he broke the Proprietary Instructions he would incur their displeasure and Subject himself to the Penalties in his Bond of Performance. If be adhered to those Instructions there would be no Supplies raised, and in Consequence thereof there would be no Troops to defend the Province, by which means His Majesty's Subjects would be given up to be distressed as they had been in the beginning of the War, by the French and their Indians.
He then desired the Members would in their Turns, give their Opinions as to what he should do, beginning with the youngest, which they did. In delivering of their Opinions it was observed that there was nothing new at this time more than in former years, and was the Supposed Obstinacy of the Assembly here, yet it could not be thought Right to make a Sacrifice of the Proprietaries to their Obstinacy, as the Governor was well Satisfied that the Bill was unjust, and that as he had entered into the Strongest Engage- ment to perform what was given him in Instruction by the Proprie- taries, he could neither Answer it to his Conscience or Honour, or
1
326
MINUTES OF THE
to his Trust or Interest, to give his Assent to the Bill. That this Obstinacy in the Assembly was only Supposed, and indeed it did not appear to them that it was anything more than Artifice, because all the World would blame them if any ill Consequences attended the not raising Supplies, as the Governor offered to pass such a Bill as had been agreed to ever since the War Commenced, and for them not to Pass such a Bill now, would be too great a Risque to run, and what they would not do if the Governor would be steady.
That this Bill was infinitely worse than any that had been offered, since it Subjected the Proprietary Estate, Real and Personal, to all the Taxes which had been raised, from which they had been ex- empted in Former Acts, as well as to the present Tax, in Conse- quence of which they were to Pay more in One Year the Taxes of Four Years; and if these should be exorbitantly rated, it would not be in the Power of the Receiver General to raise the Money within the Time limited by the Act, and in that Case the Commis- sioners and Assessors might sell the Proprietaries' Lands, and so the Injury might become ten times heavier than the Exorbitancy of the Tax; indeed it could not be known to what Length matters might be carried, as they were chosen in a Time of Popular Rage and Fury and would Pride themselves in gratifying the Parties who were their Electors against the Proprietaries.
That this Bill deprived the Proprietaries of the Common Rights of Englishmen, which was to be taxed by their Peers, in which they were to have a Choice, whereas it is well known that the Pro- prietaries have not the least Choice, and being absent, they have even a Double Injustice done them, in that Let the iniquity be as great as possible, neither they nor any for them can appeal, as no such provision is made in the Bill.
That in all the Land Tax Acts made in Great Britain, Commis- sioners of good Estates and the best Credit are appointed, and all that the Proprietaries contend for is that the same Method should be observed in his Taxation.
That the act is not Capable of being understood, and has been variously interpreted in different Counties by the Assessors and Commissioners, who have declared they do not understand it in those Clauses where the very Tax itself is laid, by means whereof such a Latitude is taken, as that in some Counties a Twelve Penny Tax does not amount to more than a Six Penny Tax of the pre- coding year; and as to private people, some pay infinitely less, and some a great deal more than the Value of their Estates.
That their are References in this Act to the County Levy Act, and to all the Acts that have passed wherein any Provincial Tax has been laid, which Occasions the utmost Confusion.
That the Proprietaries have taken the Opinions of the attorney and Sollicitor General as to what part of their Estates is by Law Subject to be Taxed, and they are clear that no part of the Moneys due to them for the Consideration of Lands on the Warrants granted
327
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
in the Common Form ought to pay a Tax, from a known Maxim in Law, that the same Land cannot pay two Taxes, which would be the Case, as this Mony issues out of the Land that is Taxed in the Hands of the Debtor; and further, that unprofitable Lands and Lots ought not to be Subject to Taxation, and therefore as partizans have given out the several debts, and the Proprietary Lots and Lands, tho' they yield no profit, should be taxed here, would be another large Door open to injure the Proprietaries in a very Ex- traordinary Manner.
And further, that as the Proprietaries have laid their Governor under these Instructions, they will be answerable for all the Con- sequences arising from his Obedience to them; and therefore he cannot incur the Royal Displeasure, especially as there is reason to think that those Instructions were given with the privily and ap- probation of the King's Ministers, at a Time when the Publick Distress was greater than it is now. And it was unanimously agreed to press the Assembly once more, and to return the Bill with a Message now agreed upon.
MEMORANDUM.
On Thursday the Twelfth, the Supply Bill was returned to the House by the Secretary, with a Message in these Words:
" Gentlemen :
" Before I take Notice of your two last Messages, of the Seventh and Tenth Instant, give me Leave to remind you that many months before I received your first Bill for granting the Sum of One Hun- dred Thousand Pounds to His Majesty, I repeatedly called upon you to raise such new Supplies as might be necessary to discharge the large arrears due to the Provincial Forces for their Service the last Campaign, and to secure our late Acquisitions to the West- ward, and to carry into Execution the Vigorous Measures concerted by our gracious Sovereign for the Protection of his American Colonies. I could not, however, obtain a Bill from you till the twenty-fourth of last March. I was sincerely disposed to forward so necessary a Bill, and therefore waved may Objections, that might, with great Justice, have made against many material parts of it, particularly the Clause wherein it was declared that the last One Hundred Thousand Pounds was expended by my Consent, where in fact no accounts have ever been produced to me, and I was an utter Stranger to them. On the Twenty-Ninth of the same Month I returned you the same Bill with but two principal Amendments; one Calculated to explain, and set in clear and explicit Terms the mode of Taxing the yearly Income or Value of the Estates of the People, which, in that Bill and all the former Laws was obscure,
1
.
f 1
1
328
MINUTES OF THE
and liable to different Constructions and Interpretations, which must necessarily occasion Confusion, and the Taxes to be laid unequally.
"The other Amendment I proposed was the Exempting the Proprietary Estate in that Bill; but I at the same time acquainted you, by a written Message, that the Proprietaries were ready and desirous to Contribute their full proportion of the Sums already granted, or thereafter to be granted to his Majesty, if, on fair and equal Taxation of their Quit-Rents and appropriated Tracts, their former order of five Thousand Pounds should be found to fall short of such proportion, and offered to concur with you in a Separate Bill for that purpose. I had no other Motive in proposing a separate Bill and to expedite the supply Bill, which otherwise from such an Amendment as would include the Proprietaries Estate, and prescribe, the Mode of Taxation, must be retarded, greatly to the prejudice of the Kings's Service, and the Common Cause. On receiving the same Bill from you a Second Time, I informed you, by a verbal Message, that to put an End to all Disputes at so critical a Season, I was willing to Pass a Bill of the same Nature and Import with the late laws for granting Supplies, passed in this Province in the preceding Years ; to this I conceived you would have no just Cause of Exception, as you knew those Laws had received the Royal Assent, and that the Agents for this Province in England, were instructed to procure the Decision of our Superiors there, what Parts of the Proprietary Estate was legally Subject to Taxation, and Settle the Mode of doing it. You were pleased, however, to send me up a New Bill, subjecting the Proprietary Estate to be rated by Assessors, chosen by the People only, in Answer to which, in a Message of the Sev- enth Instant, I expressly told you, that I was restricted by my In- structions, from giving my Assent to a Bill for the Taxation of any Part of the Proprietary Estate unless Commissioners were therein appointed for that Purpose, notwithstanding which, to my great Astonishment, you have returned me the same Bill, intimating in your Messages that you will Suffer this Province to be exposed to all the Dreadful Train of Miseries and Calamities that must inev- itably attend it, in Case His Majesty's regular Troops are withdrawn from it and our own Forces disbanded, and the vigorous Plan of Operations concerted by our gracious Sovereign for our Protection, and reducing his Enemies to reasonable Terms of Accommodation, to be defeated, unless I will pass the Bill, contrary to my Duty, Power and the Trust reposed in me. How far such a Conduct will be a proof of your Zeal and Chearfulness to Comply with the De- mands of His Majesty, I must Leave to His determination, if you, by adhering to this Bill, put me under the disagreeable Necessity of laying the matter before him.
"In the present Critical Situation of Affairs, your resuming a Dispute which you have so often Waved in your former grants to the Crown, and which you know I have not Power to Settle with you on the Terms you insist upon, are but Weak Proofs of the Sin- scrity of your Professions.
329
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
"If the Proprietary Instruction is Injurious or Oppressive, can you be doubtful Gentlemen of Obtaining redress before his Majesty, by whom the Matter must be decided ? If you have no Such dis- trust, why do you unreasonably take this Occasion to obstruct the Passing so important a Bill? It is true, Gentlemen, I dread the Consequences of your persisting in your late Resolution ; I am sensible that if you will not grant the Supplies expected of you, we shall not only be compelled to abandon Pittsburgh and all the advanced Posts we gained in that Quarter, at a vast expence to the Crown, the last Campaign, but we shall lose all Credit with the In- dians, and our Frontiers must be again Naked and exposed to the Incursions and Ravages of our Enemies ; But if this unhappy Province must feel the Weight of these Miseries, I shall have the Satisfaction to Reflect, that I had done everything in my power for their protection, and that none of the Blood that may be spilt will Lie at my Door.
" Before I conclude, let me remind you, Gentlemen, that the Lives of your Constituents are now in your Hands, and depend upon your final Resolution with Regard to this Bill; that your Duty to his Majesty, yourselves, and your Country, demand of you, that the Supplies required of you be granted without further Delay, and that you ought no longer to insist on a Point which I have so fre- quently told you I have it not in my Power to comply with.
" WILLIAM DENNY.
" April 12th, 1759."
The Bill intituled "a Supplement to the Act intituled 'an Act for preventing Abuses in the Indian Trade, &ca.,'" was likewise Sent to the House by the Secretary, with one Amendment thereon, and a Verbal Message that his Honour was ready to pass the said Bill whenever presented to him for that purpose.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Friday the 13th of April, 1759, P. M.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esquire, Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
William Till,
Robert Strettell,
Benjamin Shoemaker,
Joseph Turner, Lynford Lardner,
Esquires.
Richard Peters,
Benjamin Chew,
Thomas Cadwalader,
-
The Governor laid before the Board the following address from the Assembly, presented to him on Wednesday by Two Members, which with the Affidavits, delivered therewith, were read.
330
MINUTES OF THE
A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
"May it please the Governor :
" A Continuance of the distressed Situation and Circumstances of the Inhabitants of the borough of Lancaster, calls on us, in the most earnest manner, again to remonstrate to your Honour.
" That in manifest Violations of the Sections of an Act of Par- liament, which have been extended here by an Act of General ' Assembly, and of other wholesome Laws, and the Civil Authority of the Government, the Military Officers have, by force, quartered a large number of Soldiers on the private Houses of that Burrough; committing great outrages upon the People, by Seizing and depri- ving of their Possessions and Property, assaulting their Persons (Magistrates not Excepted), in a Violent Manner, and by obliging them to Pay sums of Money for their Quarters, or to receive the Troops into their Private Families, Notwithstanding the Magistrates offered to Provide them convenient Houses for the Accommodation of the rest of the Troops, which were not billited on the Publick Houses.
"That this has been done in an unequal Manner to the great Terror of the Inhabitants, those whom the Officers have thought proper to favour have been favoured, and those whom they have thought proper to Distress have had a double Portion, tho' by no means so able to bear the Burthen as others who are exempted; that the Inhabitants still Continue under this grievous Load and Oppression.
" That there has not been the least Cause, or necessity, that we know of, to Justify these Arbitrary Measures ; a Commodious Set of Barracks being erected near the City of Philadelphia, capable of receiving all His Majesty's Troops in the Province ; that Build- ing them in that Place only was occasioned by the Officers refusing to Quarter them any where but in or near the said City, tho' for- merly warmly Solicited to Send a proportion of the Troops to Lan- caster in particular, and the Several other Towns in the Province; otherwise a Part of the Barracks would have been Built in that Burrough.
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.