USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 9
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PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Time the Dispute hath been permitted to sleep, and a supply Bill passed by the Legislature, wherein the Proprietary Estate hath been altogether exempted. This being the Case, I was not a little surprized to find a Foundation laid for new Debates by a clause in- serted in the above Bill for taxing the Proprietaries, and that too at a Time when Unanimity and Vigor in our Councils are so ab- solutely necessary. Permit me to remind you, Gentlemen, that our indispensable Duty to the best of Kings, a regard to our own Interest, and every Motive that can actuate British Subjects and Lovers of their Country, demand it of us on the present Occasion, to bury or at least Suspend all former Heats, and to guard against every thing that can possibly impede the vigorous Efforts His Majesty is de- termined to make against His Enemies the Ensuing Campaign, on the Success of which the very being of this Province may depend. That nothing might be wanting on my part, I have offered every thing in my power consistent with my Duty. So far from being desirous to exempt the Proprietary Estate from bearing a Share in the Publick Burthen, I proposed to you in my last Message to concur with you in taxing all the located and appropriated Tracts, provided Commissioners were appointed in the Bill for that pur- pose, such as should be approved of by both of us; and I intended if any Difficulties should arise about the Commissioners further to propose that an equal Number should be nominated by you and me. This was a proposal so equitable that I did not doubt your Ac- ceptance of it; and I am at a loss to know what reasons could move you to reject it. I once more make you the like offer, and hope on Considering the Matter you will either concur with me in it or suffer the Bill to pass as others of the like Kind heretofore have, exempting the Proprietary Estate till the point is settled and ad- journed on the other side of the Water. It would be very disa- greeable to me to enumerate the Reasons I gave you in my former Message for Objecting to five of the Persons named in the Bill for provincial Commissioners ; they are so strong and full that it is unnecessary to say any thing in Support of them. I cannot help Lamenting it, however, as a Publick Misfortune, that you did not turn your Attention to the raising Supplies for the Service of the current year before the Season was so far advanced. You must do me the Justice to acknowledge that I have not failed frequently to put you in mind of the necessity of making such timely Provision. I pressed you on this Subject in my Message to you of the Seven- teenth of October last, at your first Meeting, and at your next meet- ing, in My Messages of the Third, the Thirteenth, and Twenty- fourth of January, and Eighth of March, when I laid before you the Letter I received from His Majesty's principal Secretary of State. It may not yet be too late to exert ourselves and do every thing incumbent on us to comply with His Majesty's just and rea- sonable Demands. But if any charge of Delay should be imputed
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to this Province it is a great Satisfaction to me that no part of the Censure can justly lie at my Door.
"WILLIAM DENNY. " April 7th, 1758."
At a Council held at the State House, Saturday the 8th Day of April, 1758, P. M.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esqr-, Lieutenant Gover- nor.
Robert Strettell,
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
Lynford Lardner, S Esquires.
Three Bills were compared by Mr. Peters and Two Members of Assembly, and found to agree, Vizt : "An Act for regulating the Hire of Carriages to be employed in His Majesty's Service;" "An Act for regulating the Officers and Soldiers Commissionated and raised by the Governor for the Defence of this Province ;" and " An Act Entituled ' An Act for Preventing Abuses in the Indian Trade, for supplying the Indians, Friends and Allies of Great Bri- tain, with Goods at more easy Rates, and for securing and strength- ening the Peace and Friendship lately concluded with the Indians inhabiting the Northern and Western Frontiers of this Province.'"
The Governor having this morning received a Remonstrance from the House with the Supply Bill, the same was read and ordered to be entered as follows :
" May it Please your Honour :
" We, His Majesty's most Dutiful, faithful, and Loyal Subjects, the Representatives of the People of this Province, in General As- sembly met, do hereby earnestly remonstrate to your Honour,
"That on the Eighteenth of March your Honour laid before us a Letter from General Abercrombie, containing the first Notice we had of the Number of Troops that was expected from these Colo- nies, and in a few Days after we resolved to furnish and Pay as large a proportion of Men as this Province could possibly Supply, Thir- teen Hundred whereof are now ready to Join the King's Forces, and on the Twenty-ninth of the same Month we presented to your Honour a Bill granting One Hundred Thousand Pounds to the King's Use for this Purpose, which you have thought proper twice to reject, notwithstanding the Season for Military Operations is so far advanced that His Majesty's Service must be greatly injured and retarded thereby.
"That the mode proposed by your Honour of taxing the Proprie- tary Estate is without Precedent in our Mother Country, anti-con-
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stitutional, and inconsistent with the Rights of the people; That His Majesty and the Peers of the Realm of Great Britain do not insist upon a Right of appointing Commissioners with the other Branch of the Legislature for taxing their Estates, but, on the Con- trary, have wholly left to the Commons the Right of nominating Commissioners in their Supply Bills, which admit of no Amend- ments, and, therefore, we can only Look on this proposal as calcu- lated to exempt the Proprietary Estate from bearing an equal and Just proportion of the Necessary Taxes at this critical and important Juncture, contrary to Justice and Equity.
" That we have, from a spirit of Loyalty and Gratitude to the best of Sovereigns, in Pursuance of his most gracious and paternal Requisition, at a Time when the People are labouring under an heavy Burthen of Taxes, agreed to furnish and pay Two Thousand Seven Hundred Men, in order to assist his Majesty's regular Troops in the Offensive Operations He is resolved to prosecute for the Defence of this and his other Colonies; and to enable your Honour to discharge your Duty herein to the Crown, we have presented a Bill, granting One Hundred Thousand Pounds to his Majesty's Use, for this purpose.
" That the Right of granting Supplies to the Crown is in the Representatives of the People alone, as an essential part of our Constitution, and that the Bill is framed agreeable to Justice and Equity in all its Parts, as well with respect to the Proprietaries as other, and not repugnent to the Laws of our Mother Country, but as nearly agreeable thereto as our different Circumstances will admit.
." That as the Bill presented to your Honour was a free gift of the People of this Province to the Crown, at the Special Request of His Majesty, for the General- Defence of America, we appre- hend that the Governor's refusing to permit us thereby to grant Supplies for the Defence and protection of the Colonies, unless we exompt the Proprietary Estate from paying its just proportion, is inconsistent with his Duty to the Crown, the Height of Injustice, Ingratitude to the best of Kings, and an arbitrary invasion of the Rights of the People.
" The House is resolved to adhere to the Bill, and preserve their own and the Rights of their . Constituents, and therefore they once more present this Bill to your Honour, for your assent ; and, in the name of our most gracious Sovereign, and the Distressed and Oppressed People we Represent, we insist that your Honour accept of the Number of Men granted, and the Supplies offered to the Crown for raising and paying them, and give your assent to the Bill we now present, as you shall answer the rejecting so considerable an Aid, in the present important Operations, to His Majesty and His Parliament.
"Signed by Order of the House.
"THOMAS LEECH, Speaker. " April 8th, 1758."
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The Secretary was sent to the House with the Supply Bill, and the following verbal Message to the House that " the Governor re- turns the Bill, intituled ' An act for granting to His Majesty the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds, and for striking the same in Bills of Credit in the Manner herein after directed, and for providing a Fund for sinking the said Bills of Credit, by a Tax on all the Estates, real and personal, and taxables within this Pro- vince ; ' and Commands me to acquaint the House, that he will not pass it, for the reasons given in his Messages; but adheres to his Amendments, with the unanimous Advice of his Council, and that he will transmit to His Majesty a Copy of the Bill, with his Rea- sons for rejecting it."
The Bill Entituled " An Act extending the several Sections of the Act of Parliament for Punishing Mutiny and Desertion," having been laid before Colonel Haldiman and Sir John St. Clair yester- day, and they were desired to Visit the Barracks and give their opinion if they could hold Twelve Men in each Barracks. Colonel Haldiman and Sir John St. Clair with Colonel Fletcher waited on the Governor, and Colonel Haldiman delivered the Governor a Letter wherein he set forth that no more than Eight Men could con- veniently be put into one Room in the Barracks. And the Bill when sent up again to the Governor was altered, the Word Twelve being interlined in the Eleventh Line of the Fourth Page, and likewise the Words Each of Seven in the next line; whereupon the Governor yesterday sent to the House Colonel Haldiman's Letter with the following verbal Message : "that the Governor returns the Bill Entituled ' An Act for extending several Sections of an Act of Parliament passed in the Thirtieth Year of the present Reign, entituled ' An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better payment of the Army and their Quarters,'' and observes that it is not the same which was presented to him at first, and will pass it if the Word [Eight] be inserted instead of the Word [Twelve] in Page 4, Line 11, as Colonel Haldiman has declared to his Honour that no more can conveniently be put into one Room without endangering the Health of the Soldiers."
The Bill was returned the same Day by the House with a Verbal Message that the House desired of the Governor that Ten might be inserted instead of Eight for each Room ; whereupon his Honour sent the Request to Colonel Haldiman, and received a Letter in- sisting that the Rooms in the Barracks will not accomodate more than Eight in each without endangering the Lives of the King's Troops. Which Letter was sent to the House with the Bill and a verbal Message that the Governor adhered to his Amendments.
The Assembly having sent a Message to the Governor that the Bills to which he had given his Assent would be engrossed and ready to be passed at Four o'Clock this afternoon, the Secretary was directed to acquaint the House that the Governor required the At-
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PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
tendance of the Speaker and the House in the Council Chamber, and the Speaker, with the House attending, Three Bills, One En- tituled " An Act for preventing Abuses in the Indian Trade, for supplying the Indians, Friends and Allies of Great Britain, with Goods at more easy Rates, and for securing and Strengthening the Peace lately concluded with the Indians Inhabiting the Northern and Western Frontiers of this Province ;" another entituled " An Act for regulating the Hire of Carriage to be employed in his Ma- jesty's Service ;" And the other, entituled " An Act for regulating the Officers and Soldiers Commissionated and raised by the Governor for the Defence of this Province," were enacted into Laws, and Mr. Lardner was appointed to see the Great Seal Affixed to the Laws, and deposited in the Roll's Office with Two Members of the House.
Mr. William Coleman having been recommended by the Chief Justice and several other Gentlemen to supply the place of Third Judge, in the Room of Caleb Cowpland, Esquire, deceased, he was unanimously approved, and his Commission ordered to be prepared.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Sunday the 16th of April, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esq"., Lieutenant Gover- nor.
Joseph Turner, Richard Peters,
Robert Strettell, r Esquires.
Thomas Cadwalader, S
The Governor having received, by Express from Lieutenant Colo- nel Armstrong, an Account of the Arrival of Forty Cherokees at Fort Loudoun, in Cumberland County, with an earnest request that as they were come naked and without Arms, Matchcoats and Fuzees might be brought up immediately for them ; he desired the Council to consider what step could be taken to provide and send up what was wanted.
The Secretary had, by order of the Governor, communicated the Letters to ST. John St. Clair, and desired to know if he would order these Indians should be furnished with Guns and Matchcoats, and a little Leather to make Moccasins. ST. John answered that the Assembly and People of this Province had such singular and un- reasonable Nations of Indians, and particularly the Cherokees, that he would not have any thing to do with them, nor order the Indians the things wanted.
Mr. Hockley was applied to and desired to Furnish the Commis- sioners with Two or three Hundred Pounds, which Might be laid out on this Occasion. But he absolutely refused, saying he had no
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nd re- he he nd
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money of the Proprietors on the Quit-Rent Fund in his Hands, and that the annual Payments did not amount to Forty Pounds in the Counties of Chester, Bucks, and Lancaster, and that scarce any One paid their Quit-Rents.
A Letter from General Abercrombie came to the Governor in Council, and was read in these Words :
"NEW YORK, April 13th, 1758.
" Sir :
"I shall, for the present, only acknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 9th, without entering into a Detail of the Particu- lars; which, from the disagreeable Circumstances you Labour under, thro' the Obstinacy and perverseness of the Assembly, require some further Deliberations. I shall accordingly consult with Brigadier General Forbes, whom I propose to send to Phila- delphia, so that he may be there on or before the 18th Instant, which I see is the Day appointed for the Assembly to meet again ; by which Time I hope they will be convinced of their Error, and come prepared to raise all difficulties that may retard or obstruct the Operations of the Ensuing Campaign. Should I be deceived in my Expectations, Brigadier Forbes will advise with you in what is proper to be done to prevent the fatal Consequences that must ensue from so glaring an Inactivity, in which should they persist, I shall not fail to represent it to the King, that His Majesty may be acquainted with their Dilatoriness in the present Critical Crisis, that requires the utmost Vigor, Dispatch, and Unanimity.
"I am, with great Regard, Sir, "Your most Obedient Hume· Serv'.,
"JAMES ABERCROMBIE."
It was recommended to the Governor to send Copies of the Let- ters to General Abercrombie, and to represent the Necessity of the Crown's making immediate Provision for the Cherokees, wherever they should arrive.
A Petition of Francis Ingliss, who has been kept in Jayl above a year, was read, and the Council unanimously agreed that he should be discharged on giving Security for his good behaviour and working in the City.
The following Message to the Assembly was agreed to, ordered to be entered, and the Secretary directed to deliver it to the House, on their Meeting upon the Eighteenth, with Copies of Colonel Armstrong's and Mr. Thompson's Letters to the Governor:
A' Message from the Governor to the Assembly.
" Gentlemen :
: "Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong has informed me by express, of the arrival of Forty Cherokees at Fort Loudoun, and that more are
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daily expected, and desires he may receive my immediate Directions in what manner they are to be treated and supplied, as they are come without Arms or Cloths. The Commander-in-Chief is made acquainted with their Arrival, and. I have requested, that as these Indians come for the General Service of the Colonies, his Excellency would be pleased to order Provision to be made for them; but there not being Time to wait the General's Answer, without running too great a risque of disgusting these Friendly Warriors, I earnestly desire you would enable me forthwith to send them the Necessaries mentioned in the Letter now laid before you.
"WILLIAM DENNY.
" April 18th, 1758."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Thursday the 20th of April, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
John Mifflin,
Thomas Cadwalader, Esquires.
The Governor having received a Letter from Brigadier General Forbes, the same was read in these Words :
" PHILADELPHIA, April 20th, 1758.
" Sir :
" As the Situation of these Provinces is such at this Critical Juncture as requires all possible Means to be exerted to clear this Province of the Enemy who have at this Time invaded it, and as there is a great Scarcity of Arms for that purpose, I am under the necessity of requiring of your Honour that you will give orders for delivering to me Two Hundred and Eighteen Light Fuzees, which are in your Store, as likewise as many of the 165 Arms as are found to be serviceable after they are Surveyed.
"There will remain in your Store more Arms than will Compleat the Forces proposed to be raised by this Province, besides 2,000 Arms, which I have an Account of being embarked for the Service of this Expedition. I am, with the greatest regard,
"Your Honour's most Obedient and most Humble Servant,
"JO. FFORBES."
And by Advice of Council an order was signed by the Governor to Thomas Janvier for the Two Hundred and Eighteen light Fuzees, in these Words :
" To Thomas Janvier, Provincial Armourer :
"You are hereby directed to deliver to Brigadier General Forbes
1
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or his Order, for his Majesty's Use, Two Hundred and Eighteen light Fuzees, which are in the Provincial Magazine. Dated at Phila- delphia, this Twentieth Day of April, in the Year 1758. "WILLIAM DENNY."
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Friday the 21st of April, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esquire, Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
Lynford Lardner,
Benjamin Chew, Esquires.
John Mifflin,
Thomas Cadwalader,
The Minutes of the preceding Councils were read and approved.
A Bill presented yesterday to the Governor by two Members for his Concurrence entituled "An Act for granting the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds to His Majesty's Use, and for striking the same in Bills of Credit, and for continuing the several Acts of Assembly of this Province hereinafter mentioned for sinking the Bills of Credit so to be struck at the Times and in the manner herein after directed and appointed," was read. It was observed that the Bill where the taxation was mentioned was extremely ob- scure; that there were many References to former Acts, a new Clause respecting the taxation of located unimproved Lots in the City and other Boroughs and Towns; that there were Clauses in which the Governor was made to say that the Hundred Thousand Pounds was expended with his Consent, and that the same Com- missioners were appointed, and that not by Name, but a Reference to former Acts, and that Certificates from the former Commiss"s only were to be given, by which it should what Contracts were made and debts incurred chargeable on the Publick. In all which Par- ticulars it was agreed the Bill ought to be amended. Mr. Chew was asked if the Clause respecting located unimproved Lots in City and Towns did not Subject the Proprietor's Estate by the Non Obstante; he said it did not, or if it did in strictness it was too mean & low to be admitted in any Court of Law. Mr. Peters, Mr. Lardner, & Mr. Chew were appointed a Committee to make Amendments to the Bill and draw up a Message ..
MEMORANDUM.
In the afternoon the Governor sent the Secretary to the House with the following Amendments to the supply Bill, and a Verbal
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PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
Message that the Governor returns the Bill Entituled " An Act for granting the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds to his Ma- jesty's Use," &ca., with Amendments, and Commands me to acquaint the House that he has received from Mr. Lardner an account of the Sum of Two Thousand Pounds, expended by him for the use of the Provincial Frigate ; but has not received from Mr. Fox and Mr. Baynton, their Accounts of the Sum of Five thousand, Three Thousand Seven Hundred, and Eight Thousand Pounds, paid into their Hands in Virtue of Orders drawn on the Trustees of the Loan Office.
The Governor desires the House will furnish him with a List of the Orders mention'd in the Bill to be drawn on the Provincial Treasurer.
At a Council held at Philadelphia, Saturday the 22nd of April, 1758.
PRESENT :
The Honourable WILLIAM DENNY, Esq"., Lieutenant Gov- ernor.
Robert Strettell,
Joseph Turner,
Richard Peters,
Lynford Lardner, Esquires.
John Mifflin,
Thomas Cadwalader, S
The Governor informed the Council that the Bill was returned to him last Night in an Hour after it was sent, with a Message that the House adhered to it, and desired he would pass it as it stood. The Matter was seriously deliberated upon, and in the Conclusion it was the unanimous Opinion Of the Governor and Council that it should be passed, and a Message drawn, setting forth the Reasons at large for doing so, which was prepared, and sent along with the Bill to the House.
A Message from the Governor to the Assembly. " Gentlemen :
"During the Course of your late Sessions, I have had too fre- quent Occasions to lament the Melancholy State of this distressed Country-the unseasonable Animosities wherein you have been en- gaged-your particular ill treatment of myself, and your unaccount- able Delays-to turn your Attention to the important Concerns of this present Campaign, till it is almost too late to be of any real use.
" You have now been sitting near four Months, with an inter- mission only of Ten Days; during which Space you have been repeatedly called upon for the necessary Supplies of the Current Year. You have had the Secretary of State's Letter on that and other important Subjects laid before you; you have seen the Assemblies of the Provinces around you meeting, and with exem- VOL. VIII .- 6.
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plary Zeal and Dispatch furnishing their respective Contingencies, and returned to their Several Homes, while your part, to the un- speakable Detriment of the General Service, remains yet undeter- mined and unsettled. It is true, you have not been wanting in Professions of Loyalty, Duty, and Zeal; and if these could pass for real Merit, you have suffered none to excel you. But actions speak louder than words; and how far your Actions and Profes- sions have corresponded, need hardly be shewn.
"Three Months of your sitting were expired before I received any Money Bill from you, and the first you sent me was so framed that you knew I could not pass it, being only calculated to keep up Disputes, altho' the Season was too far advanced to admit of that Delay, and the Operations of the Campaign in these parts in a great Measure suspended on our Account.
" My principal Objections to that Bill, as appears from my Mes- sages of the Third and Seventh Instant, were two. The first re- lated to the unjust Method proposed for taxing the Proprietary Estate ; and the Second to the Appointment of the Provincial Com- missioners from among the Members of your own House, account- able only to yourselves a Practice liable to so many glaring Excep- tions, that it must require an extraordinary Degree of Hardiness even to propose it.
" The Former of these points you have given up in the present Bill, which I received the Twentieth Instant, having totally ex- empted the Proprietary Estate, and chusing rather to deprive your Constituents entirely of the Benefit that would arise from an equal Taxation of that Estate, than not Subject it intirely to your own Mercy in the Mode you propose.
" As to the Latter point, although I refused your Bill yesterday on that Score, yet you adhere to it, and seem determined to see the Province brought to the utmost Destruction, and all the Measures concerted by our gracious Sovereign, for our Relief, defeated, rather than the Fingering the Publick Money should not be in a few lead- ing Men of your House, who, in various Instances have abused their former Trust, disregarded me and acted in open contempt of Law.
"These are hard Charges, Gentlemen, but I have made them publickly, and if these Men regarded their own Characters, or if you had that regard which might have been expected for the Honour of your House, you would either have Obliged them to exhibit their Accounts, when required, or you would have left them out of the present Bill, and inserted some other unexceptionable Men in their Stead ; But all this you have still declined to do, and what renders the matter still more Suspicious, is your inserting a Clause in the Bill, notwithstanding my repeated Protestations and Objections to the Contrary, intimating, that they have, with my Consent, already expended the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds.
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