USA > Pennsylvania > History of the province of Pennsylvania > Part 10
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That to conclude what they conceived would be for his honor and the service of the country was that he would be ready to concur with them in passing such bills as might be truly for the good and benefit of the people under his care, especially that the current of justice might be opend by a proper and legal way, which at present seemed much obstructed, and that he would consider the said bill with the others already lying before him for that end, all wch they understood were prepared and presented by the last assembly, though they found no answer upon their minutes either to the said bills or their address about the New Castle imposition, and other abuses then complained of, and if he pleased to shew them his objections to any of the said bills, they should have their due weight, that had he favord them with an account of the time they should have met, they would have adjourned accordingly, but being uncer- tain how long affairs might detain him there, they had (unless he thought fit to convene them sooner) adjourned till the nineteenth of November next, and hoped and ex- pected a friendly meeting with him to proceed in the further consideration of the said bills, and such other matters as might occur.
They accordingly adjourned to the 19th November when they met again, and the governor, by two of his council, Thomas Story and William Trent, sent a message to them, the contents whereof, according to the assemblys appre- hension purporting a refusal to act or proceed in legislation with the house until he should receive the opinion of the
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lords of trade, especially in relation to setling the courts of indicature in direct opposition to his speech made to them at their first sitting, wherein they alledge he seemed earnestly to press the setling the said courts by a law, and further observing the said paper to contain very abusive and unjust calumnies and reflections against the house, having, as they said, a tendency to violate that part of the constitution of the government, whereby assemblies were to continue and sit, upon their own adjournments altho' the exception in that clause (whereby he would pretend to the power of prorogation) reserving a power to call the assem- bly again at pleasure, renders the whole pretence absurd, and repugnent to itself, and also alledging that altho' the said paper was said to be sent by the governor, yet it was neither signed by him nor directed to the assembly or the speaker.
Thereupon a debate arising among them whether the assembly should take any further notice thereof, it was resolved N. C. D. that for as much as the said paper is filled with bitter invectives, false charges, unjust calumnies, gross abuses, and base reflections against the representa- tives of the freemen of the province in assembly met, and that also by the said paper, attempts were made to violate that part of the constitution of the government, whereby assemblies were to continue and sit upon their own ad- journments, the better to introduce arbitrary power, and secing the same was neither signed nor directed to the assembly, that therefore the said paper should be rejected, as unbecoming the further notice of the house.
This concludes the business of that sitting, so that hay- ing only sat two days, they adjournd till the 18th of the month called May next year when they met again, but the governor being gone to New Castle, the house from his absence and uncertainty of the time of his return, adjourned till they were summoned to meet again.
CHAPTER XI.
GOVERNOR EVANS CALLS THE ASSEMBLY-STRENUOUSLY RECOMMENDS MEAS- URES OF DEFENCE-THE ASSEMBLY'S REASONS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE- THE GOVERNOR REPLIES BY TWO OF HIS COUNCIL-THE ASSEMBLY'S ANSWER.
1708. The second to the month call'd August this year, Evans summoned the assembly to meet in legislation.
The occasion, he says, of their being so unexpectedly called together was to lay before them the heavy pressures and grievances they at present laid under, the greatest that ever (he supposed) this province as yet had felt, in having their river and capes so beset with the enemy, that their navigation had been rendered almost entirely impracticable, and the losses that the trade (the only support) of the place had very lately sustained by the unhappy adventurers and traders being ravaged and plundered at their own door after the many risques abroad, and the real danger they daily lay exposed to, of suffering more from such an encroaching, and unresisted violence must sufficiently shew the necessity of taking measures to drive so destructive an enemy from that station, which they seemed to have taken up through an opinion that they could nowhere commit their spoils with so much safety.
That whatever was to be done on his part in order to this, he was ready and willing to perform, but as nothing of this nature could in his apprehension be carried on effectually, without some supply of money, and they at present made up that part of the governmt which was necessary to con- cur in the raising those supplies, he hoped he might with reason expect from their so unhappy a condition, that they would without any loss of time, fall upon such measures as might enable them to put a stop to so insupportable and he feared so growing an evil.
That the sole end and design of government was to main-
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tain justice, that is, to preserve to every man his right against all invaders, they had laws against thieves and robbers, and officers to put those laws in execution, if they resisted, they were taken by force, when occasion obliged them to submit to the last extremity, & without this, there would be no such thing as government. If then, they found it their duty in government to suppress a private or particular force, by all the means necessary to it, how much more incumbent was it upon them as a government to suppress that force which was destructive to the whole. That now, for aught he knew, might be the very time by a prudent discharge of their duty to prevent the utter ruin of the place, because unless a check was given to their boldness, to convince them they were not to be plundered with such ease and safety as they seemed to believe, they had very great reason to fear, they might and would visit them in their houses as they had done to some better defended colonies. That such without any aggravation was the pres- ent unhappy condition of the government, and that it loudly calld for the help of their representatives, and which he thought was in their power to give, without offering violence to any principles except such as are against answer- ing the end of government mentiond before.
That he deferrd calling them together during the necessary affairs of their harvest, that they might with more alacrity, enter upon the business proposed to them, and he hoped they would unanimously serve the country in so great an exigency.
The assembly replied that the account they had of the losses which the trade of the province had sustained, and the interruption of their passage in the bay and river was matter of great concern and trouble to them, though it was a calamity that befel the neighbouring colonies as well as the inhabitants here, but that an enemy should be sufferd so long to make their capes his station and no care taken (as they understood) to give notice thereof to the vice-
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admiral, until those great spoils were committed, had been such a neglect as administerd cause of dis-satisfaction and complaint, for they understood the queen out of her royal care to her subjects, and safeguard of the sea, had given the high admiral and his deputies ample authority to scour the coasts. of all such robbers and to secure the navigation of this as well as the rest of her colonies, and protect the merchants in their lawful trade.
That they know that the people of this province had not been wanting on their parts and according to their abilities and circumstances to raise supplies from time to time and granted to the proprietary eight hundred pounds out of the last land tax, together with half the impost and excise, and orderd the same to be paid to the lieutenant governor for the support of this government, and the administration thereof, & that they found that the governor had received the said eight hundred pounds, and that his part of the impost &c, already collected and secured amounted to above five hundred and fifty pounds more, which, with the fines, forfeitures, licences and other profits arising in casual & accidental ways, that had been taken by the governor or secretary in behalf of the proprietary ought (as they under- stood) to be applied towards answering the ends of govern- ment, which the queen they presumed expected from all that would undertake the administration thereof in any of her dominions.
That they knew that when this province was granted to the proprietary, he had power at his pleasure to convey any part or parts thereof, and to erect manors, and to reserve such rents, customs and services as he should think fit, in pursuance whereof he sold lands to a great value, and reserved rents sufficient in a moderate way to maintain him or his lieuten- ant answerable to their station, nevertheless, when his exigencies have been such as required a further supply as in the year 1700 the assembly assisted him by an impost for two years, which amounted as they were informed, to a
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very considerable sum of money, and a Tax of two thousand pounds besides, which tax and impost the then assembly appropriated to his own particular use, but the said eight hundred pounds & half the impost so granted as aforesaid, were appropriated for the support of government & the administration thereof, therefore they expected that the same had been or would be so employd and that the gov- ernor and council forthwith, according to the power given by the act would oblige the collectors of the tax to gather the arrears with all expedition, and if what was so appro- priated for the support of the administration of the govern- ment, would not be sufficient to answer the present occa- sions they should with all alacrity proceed to raise a new supply for the public service of the province.
For as they partook of the queens gracious protection to all her subjects so they held themselves obliged in duty to give supplies for supporting the government according to the powers granted by the royal charter, and altho' they did not pretend to direct the way and manner that the governor did or should dispose of those supplies, yet they conceived it their business to enquire, and did accordingly desire to know whether they were applied for the support of government, and they also requested an account of such late Indian treaties and messages with the charges thereof, as had not yet been laid before the assembly.
The governor replied by message by two of his council, William Trent & George Rock
That the distresses her majesty's subjects in this province lay under, and the plainness he had used in representing them, would now, if ever, have obliged them to treat so important a concern with the candor that became men of reason upon so pinching a necessity, that he could not but think it reasonable to expect that they would if possible come to some speedy resolutions to put a stop to the grow- iug mischief, and impending dangers with which they were daily threatned, or if they should find this (as he thought it not
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impracticable) that then they would propose such other methods as they should judge for all their safeties to he most advisable, adding that to have this affected was so highly incumbent on him in his station, that he must once more urge, and press the matter very earnestly and tho he was resolved to avoid spending of time as had too often been done in fruitless messages and returns to them, yet lest they should think what he had received from them ought to be taken as an answer to what he had laid before them, he should with the same plainness take notice of each particular of it, that upon maturer consideration, they might think themselves obliged to fall upon measures more becoming their station, and the weight of the business now before them.
That he was sensible the calamity he had inentioned, affected not this colony alone, all her majesty's dominions were by the same means (as it always happens in so pressing a war) in some measure sufferers with them, but that what distinguished them at this time was, that there was not one colony in America, that had so considerable a trade, by their own shipping, a town so inviting to an enemy as this; but what had some kind of provision made for a defence that might discourage an attack or invasion, while their nakedness seemd to be as well known to the enemy as their name, or at least their situation, and encouraged them to treat them accordingly.
That it would be happy for them, 'twas true, if they could reap such a benefit from the authority (as the house alledged) that her majesty in her royal care of her subjects, and the safeguard of the sea, had given the lord high admiral and his deputies such power as to have their coast here protected by that means, without any concurrence of their own, but that it was in vain, he doubted at present to expect it. That col. Seymour governor of Maryland was now vice- admiral of this province, and had his deputy in this place, but neither of them had any force at their command, that
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he could hear of, which they could (if willing) employ on this service; that to depend on such relief would be to amuse themselves in vain, of which he could not persuade himself that they could be insensible even at the time they thought fit to make that a part of their answer.
But if it was intended that he should have applied to the governor of New York, upon the first notice of their losses, for assistance, from thence, he must inform them, that be- sides that he had no right to crave it, further than what his goodness might have condescended to, together with the first account he received of their losses, he was also informed that both her majestys ships attending that government were then at sea, and one of them had spoke with the priva- teer, no longer than a day or two before he did the mischief, but was prevented by the weather from engaging, so that an express at that time could not (as it then appeared) have been at any service, and further he had so great hopes given him of putting something in execution so effectually them- selves, that such an application at that instant would have been needless, but this fell to the ground for no other cause, than the want of a fund to bear out the charge, all other necessaries offering at that time with more ease and in greater plenty than has been known in the place before.
That for his own part he was heartily zealous to do all that became his station, and if any step was omitted that they afterwards found might have proved of use to them, that being now past it might be lamented but could not be remedied, but what measures were, or were not then taken, was not the point now before them-the past losses were not their only grievances. That they lay disposed to suffer more, and without other measures as he had already told them, they were in danger of utter ruin and desolation, that to find proper means for preventing this, was the important business that most seriously concerned them all, that every- thing in this world that could be dear to them in a great measure depended on it, nor was it to them alone that they
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owed this duty; her majesty would expect it from them, lest by their failures so considerable a colony should be cut off from her dominions, and that this he had already told them could not be effected without some supplies of money, in which their immediate concurrence, was absolutely neces- sary, but instead of granting them tho' the occasion there was for them could admit of no dispute, he was most sur- prisingly turnd over to an account of what the proprietary had from the begining received by means of this province, without remembering any part of his expences upon the whole of which, notwithstanding, when taken altogether, he was at this instant, as he had great reason to believe, very much a loser, and had deeply sunk his other estate by it wch was clear before, but that forgetting all his expences, whatever had been paid was reckoned up as it were so much entirely gained, and being so were to be accounted no part of his own estate, but must be laid up in store for the use of the people, and their future exigencies here, that to men- tion this as the matter really was when divested of the glosses put upon it to serve another end, was sufficient to expose its extravagances, but that no shadow of a pretence for declining so necessary a Duty as was now under considera- tion, might be left unremoved, and to prevent the like on all future occasions, he should here take notice of all they had insisted on, and clearly shew them that not one par- ticular they had mentiond was to the purpose then in hand.
That it was very reasonable to believe that the pro- prietary having sold lands to a great value, received con- siderable sums for them, and they found he had reserved a quit rent on them all, but then upon enquiry he perceived, that in consideration of the money and those quit rents, the proprietary by firm but common deeds of sale, granted the purchasers a free estate of large tracts of land which they, or some in their behalf now enjoyd; and he was told that there was not in any of those deeds one warrantee to defend
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the possessors against hostile or invasive force, or one covenant that mentioned government or the support of it in any of them all, but that forty shillings down, and one shilling yearly was the consideration paid on the one hand for an hundred acres granted on the other-that he had been told of these quit rents once before to the great surprise of those that heard it, and knew much more of the matter than he could at that time, but upon a full scrutiny into the whole by some whom it concerned, be perceived there could not be one trace found of any such compact, but in the pre- tended memory of two or three persons, who were noted to have stronger prejudices than reason, and who in these points were not too much to be relied on, & he was informed that for many years before this government wanted supplies, this notion had never once been heard of, but was just then started, and perceived it to be greedily laid hold of partly by some whose narrowness made every pretence to save money very acceptable, and partly by others to whom any kind of handle to obstruct business was no less agreeable, but was entirely exploded by such as were much better judges from clearer reasons, and better opportunities of knowing, so that upon the whole he found the proprietary and those concerned for him, accounted that these quit- rents, and the government here, were no more related than his estate in Europe was to that of Great Britain, and there- fore it was impossible for him, the Lieutenant Governor, to come at one farthing of them to answer any of these ends now proposed, which he desired might be a perpetual answer from him upon this head.
That the next in course being two thousand pounds granted A. D. 1700, of which about one thousand six hun- dred pounds was to be paid by this province, was as far out of his reach, nor could he find by the act for raising it, that ever it could be strained to answer any of their present occasions, were it in bank at the time, for that it was al- ledged the proprietary paid very dear for it another way.
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That the impost (whether great or small he knew not) was then a yearly support so long as it lasted, tho' not for three years as they affirm; while it was paid it doubtless had its service but it had been expired this many years, with all its profits, and therefore now yielded not one penny.
That the next, and what came nearer was eight hundred pounds granted to himself, wych he had received, and five hun- dred and fifty pounds more as they said by the impost -- the first was true he acknowledged, and having now been in this government above four years and an half, and had received by that tax, by their computation, one thousand three hun- dred and fifty Pounds, which yet was not true, to which they might add if they pleased, one hundred a year more by per- quisites, which was also much more than they had amounted to, and thus they might make up the even sum of one thou- sand eight hundred pounds, or four hundred pounds a year since his arrival. That this at the current exchange was two hundred and fifty pounds sterling not paid in England where it would be of much greater value, but in Pennsylvania, where all European goods were sold at near a double advance. even in sterling-that he was not unwilling it should be believed (tho' not true) that he had received so much yearly for his support in the administration of this government, and yet had not one farthing to spare out of it for the defence of the place, or other exigencies more than any private man on the same score, which he assured them was the case; nor had he ever before heard it suggested that any part of these sums were designed for any other purpose than his own support, to which alone they had been converted, but much less that they were to defray the charge of such par- ticular exigencies, for which in all her majesties other domin- ions particular funds had constantly been allowed, and their purposes as particularly declared. That from what remained of that whole fund, they might very well know how it was appropriated, and what debts were to be dis- charged by it, which it was now found would, with the other
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great draughts that had been made on the treasurer, take up the whole were it all collected, but when this would be, was but too uncertain, the remissness of the collectors being greater than all the methods the council could use, had been hitherto able to remedy.
That he had more largely than at first intended, made it clear to them that of all the sums they had mentiond, there was not one penny to be had to answer the pressing occa- sion laid before them; it was therefore immediately incum- bent on thein, to resolve without delay, and let him in clear terms know what was to be expected, that he was not now asking anything for himself, it was for their own immediate service. It was they, and all her majestys subjects in the province, whose interest and estates lay at stake, who there- fore called on those in whom the power of government was lodged for a speedy and timely provision, that his willing- ness who was concerned in the administration, he had sufficiently expressed, it now lay upon them to advise and concur in what was necessary to be done, for without their assistance they well knew it was impossible for him to effect anything, that he should not direct them any further only they might assure themselves, that as this whole business was the most serious that could in this world be proposed to men, so it would be pursued accordingly, for give him leave to say, that tho' they were the present representatives, there were great numbers of others who, finding their all engaged. would conceive themselves at least, as deeply interested, and therefore would assuredly apply to other hands for what they failed of obtaining from theirs. He desired them to lay this with the rest seriously to heart, and consider that it was realities and not words that were wanted, and that they would give him their result in express terms as speedily as possible for after he had thus explained him- self, there should be no more time spent on messages on this head, nor should he be willing to receive any, but what were directly and immediately to the purpose.
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The assembly on this observed --
That as it imported matter of great moment to the in- habitants of the province, and divers of the members of assembly were absent from their service, they would adjourn for three or four days, to the end the respective members might confer with as many of the most principal freeholders and inhabitants of the province, as they could conveniently meet with (in the interval) upon the subject, as also to acquaint the absent members that the house expected their attendance at their next meeting, all excuses laid aside, and after making an order that the governors message should be the first thing read and procceded on at the next meeting, they adjourned for a few days; and when met again, divers of the members from the counties acquainted them they had conferred with their constituents. The House now by message acquainted the governor that as they esteemd his end in calling them at this time to be a matter of great importance, so they prefer'd the consideration of it before many grievances, pressures and distresses that lay heavy upon the province, while such as were deemed in great measure the occasion escaped unpunished indeed, that the torrent of debauchery seem'd to overflow the place with security; that the hands of those that would stop it were weakened under the present administration, and after this bold stroke, say they forebore to be more particular con- cerning those distempers of the state, yet conceived it their indispensible duty to mention them as matters of complaint, which if not remedied might prove the means of bringing some mark of the divine displeasure upon the province.
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