USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 22
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* August.
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use of the crown, by their agent at London, into the exche- quer.
The crowded state of the passenger ships from Ireland and Germany, sometimes engendering pestilential fevers, had early invited the attention of the legislature. The landing of infected passengers in the city was forbidden; but ample provision was not made for the sickly emigrants. Governor Thomas had frequently recommended to the assembly to build a lazaretto, but they had hitherto pleaded their poverty. Dr. Græme, the port-physician, whose duty it was to visit all un- healthy vessels, having resigned his office, in consequence of the refusal of the assembly to pay his account, was succeeded by Dr. Zacharry Lloyd, by the appointment of the assembly. A virulent dispute was engendered by the governor's denial of the right of the house to appoint this officer; and, during the contest, the duties of the place being neglected, a conta- gious distemper, attended by great mortality, was introduced into the city, from some vessels having German passengers on board. This afflicting dispensation was charitably ascribed by the governor and assembly each to the other, by having suspended or impeded the duties of the port-physician. Both parties made the dispute a mean for flattering the Germans, whom they proclaimed to be an honest and valuable portion of the population: all fears of foreigners had faded away; and each charged the other with the hostility which both had dis- played against foreigners generally. The Germans now formed a large proportion of the landholders of the province; and, what was at present more to the purpose, a large propor- tion of the voters, who must determine the character of the next assembly. From this dispute grew the determination of the house to establish a lazaretto. An island, subsequently called Province island, a valuable tract of three hundred and forty-two acres, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dela- ware and Schuylkill, was purchased. The property was vested in trustees, who were created a board of health, with the necessary powers to prevent the approach of sickly ves- sels to the town, and to retain diseased passengers until con- valescent. The expense incurred was chargeable on the im-
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porter, to whom recourse was given against the effects of the passengers.
The quarrel between the governor and assembly became uncontrollable, either by official forms or a sense of public decorum. Charges of untruth, imposture, hypocrisy, tyranny, and faction, disgraced the addresses of the one, and the re- plies of the other. The governor, having lost all hope of convincing the house, or reforming its conduct, wrote mes- sages only to open the eyes of its deluded constituents; whilst the house charged him with the design of subverting the liberties of the people. They found evidence in support of this allegation, in his correspondence with the ministry; co- pies of which had been procured and transmitted by the pro- vincial agent. To obtain favour with the crown, and to pro- tect himself against the remonstrance of the assembly, the governor had represented it as vain to hope for military aid from Pennsylvania, whilst the Quakers had the right of sit- ting in the assembly, and that body was empowered to dispose of the public money, and to meet and adjourn at pleasure. These privileges, he earnestly recommended, should be sup- pressed. He represented, that the Quakers, by the direction of the yearly meeting, had been unusually active in procuring seats in the assembly; and that, of thirty members, three only were not of that sect. That they had abused the confidence of the Germans; had prejudiced them against the govern- ment, by inducing them to believe, that a mild militia law would reduce them to slavery, such as they had suffered under the German princes; that they would be impoverished by the expense, would be dragged from their farms, and compelled to build forts, in return for their admission into the province. He stated the province to be rapidly increasing in population, and its wealth to be ten thousand pounds in bank, and an an- nual income of seven thousand five hundred pounds, from the loan-office and excise. He portrayed the conduct of the assembly in the darkest colours, and expressed a wish to re- sign as soon as he could safely transport himself and family to England .*
* Governor Thomas's letter, Oct. 20, 1740.
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To these offences, the governor added, an unseasonable at- tention to the jealous inquiries of the mother country into the laws, manufactures, and trade, of the provinces, which might, in any way, affect herself; and informed the ministry, that the colonists, by means of their imported servants, who were chiefly tradesmen, were enabled to conduct many spe- cies of manufactures at cheap rates, interfering directly with the trade of England.
Party contentions effectually impeded the public business. The governor's salary remained unpaid until its arrears amounted to fifteen hundred pounds ; and no law had been sanctioned by the governor, since the refusal of the assembly to provide funds for the West India expedition. And, though the house offered " so far to overlook the asperity of his last message, and the repeated indignities thrown upon them, as to make further provision for his support," on condition that he gave his assent to their bills, yet the governor declined to consider them until he should be released from all undue in- fluence, by the payment of the customary allowance. The house, refusing to confide in him, adjourned without day. Among the measures, to sustain himself and party, now re- sorted to by the governor, was the removal from office of such persons as were opposed to his views : a precedent too closely followed by the governors of Pennsylvania under every con- stitution; and which, in too many instances, has sacrificed all sense of meritorious service, ability, and purity of character, to the miserable cravings of needy partisans. In a popular government, offices are created for the public benefit; the incumbents are the mere instruments, by which the body po- litic operates. To reward party services by the appointment to office, is to incite men to form parties for the sake of office only. And the choice of the executive, having power to re- move his opponents from office, and to appoint his friends, must always be questionable as to its purity and propriety.
Among the victims of governor Thomas' intolerance, was John Wright, of the county of Lancaster, distinguished by his good sense, and the mildness but firmness of his temper. He had been many years a member of the assembly, was a
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justice of the peace, and president of the common pleas. Having learned the intention of the governor to remove him, he attended the May session of the court, and before the pub- lication of the new commissions, delivered his charge to the grand jury, in which he remarked, "I was always a friend to power, well knowing that good and wholesome laws, duly executed, are so far from being a restraint upon true liberty, that they are only as regulating springs to the passions, and productive of it. And our worthy founder and first proprie- tary tells us, that he composed his frame of government with a view to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the people from the abuse of power; and these two are generally seen to attend each other, as causes and effects. And a noted professor of the law* in this province some years ago, when he espoused the cause of liberty, and, loaded with age and infirmities, took a long journey in defence of it, has these words on power: ' It may justly be compared to a great river, which, while kept within due bounds, is both beautiful and useful; but, when it overflows its banks, is then too im- petuous to be stemmed, it bears down all before it, and brings destruction and desolation where it comes.'
" If, then, these are the ill effects of lawless power, every wise man ought to be on his guard to prevent them, by keep- ing up the banks of liberty and common right, the only bul- wark against it.
"It was in defence and support of this great bulwark, against the attempts of power, under a pretence of serving his majesty, but done in such a manner as, I apprehend, can- not be supposed ever intended or expected by our most gra- cious sovereign, whose distinguishing character is to protect, and not to oppress ; and whatever burden the necessity of the times requires to be laid upon the subjects under his imme- diate and just administration, is laid equally and impartially : I say it was to the opposition given by the house of repre- sentatives to the manner in which these attempts were made, - and the just concern and dislike showed thereto, that we may impute the late changes made in the commissions of the peace,
* Andrew Hamilton, on the trial of Zengar, at New York.
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throughout the province, whatever other pretences they may be glossed with.
"For this cause, my friends and countrymen, for the cause of English liberty, for the standing in the civil defence of right and property, are we dismissed; and I rejoice, and am heartily glad, that I have been one of those who are thought worthy of displeasure."
" And now to conclude, I take my leave in the words of a judge in Israel. 'Here I am, witness against me; whom have I defrauded; whom have I oppressed; or, of whose hands have I received any bribe to blind my eyes withal ? and I will restore it.' "
The zeal and labours of the two parties were quite equal to the theatre on which they acted, and to the importance of the subjects contested. Both looked with anxiety and hope to the approaching election, and engaged earnestly in the' preparatory canvass. The Quaker, or country party, had their chief strength in the counties, whilst the gentlemen's or governor's party mustered theirs from the city. The leaders of the former were the members of assembly and principal Quakers. Among them we discover the names of Kinsey, the speaker, Roberts, Lloyd, Preston, the treasurer; Wharton, Pemberton, Lownes, Meredith, Norris, Hudson, Fisher, Evans, Mifflin, Griffits, and Warder. On the adverse party were ranged the governor, Clement Plumstead, the mayor, William Allen, the recorder, Tench Francis, the attorney-general, Turner, and most of the city aldermen, and magistrates of the county. The greatest interest was excited in the county of Philadelphia, where the strength of the parties was more equally divided.
The votes of the whole county of Philadelphia were given at the court house, in Market street; and on the morning of the first of October it was requisite that the inspectors of the general election should be chosen by acclamation. The country party collected their friends, and especially the Ger- mans, to the number of a thousand, on the eve of the election day; and their leaders convened at the house of Hugh Mere- dith, to nominate their candidates for inspectors. The go-
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vernor's party proposed to this convention, an equal division of the inspectors, but this offer was refused on the supposition that it was dictated by weakness, and the country party could not discover that they possessed the right to dispose of the votes of the people. But as they had ascertained that the "gentlemen" dreaded the violence of the Germans, many of whom, being aliens, might be irritated by their rejection at the hustings, they resolved, in order to prevent tumult, that every appearance of force should be forbidden, and that even those of their friends who wore canes should leave them at home. Early on the morning of the election day a party of sailors, about seventy in number, strangers, from on board the ships in the harbour, marched through the streets in a riotous manner. Many of the inhabitants, apprehensive that these sailors would disturb the peace at the election, applied to the magistrates to take:precautionary measures. But their suggestions were coldly received, and the presence of the sailors on the election ground was affirmed to be as justifiable as that of the alien Germans; and the recorder intimated that the country party might condemn themselves for any violence that might occur as consequential to their refusal to compro- mise the election of inspectors. The electors having assem- bled, proceeded to choose the inspector. William Allen was first proposed, and rejected; and Isaac Norris was elected. At this moment the sailors, headed by captains Mitchell and Redmond, marched up through the Jersey market, and as- saulted the freeholders with bludgeons, knocking down all who stopped their way, not sparing the magistrates, who endeavoured to check their progress. Having cleared the ground, they retired. But when the poll was opened for the general election they returned, forcibly possessed themselves of the stairs leading to the hustings, beating and wounding those of the country party who withstood them. The for- bearance of this party being at length overcome, they seized the first weapons at hand, drove the sailors to their ships, capturing about fifty of them, who, with the leaders, Mitchell and Redmond, were committed to prison. The election, which was not further interrupted, terminated in the triumph of the
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country party, who returned the members of the former house without exception .*
Upon an investigation before the assembly into the cir- cumstances of this riot, there arose violent presumptions, that it was excited by the " gentlemen's party." The threats of their active partizans before the affray began; the indifference of the mayor and recorder, aldermen and magistrates, who were of their party, to the conduct of the sailors in the morn- ing, and upon the election ground; the fact that some unknown persons had, the night preceding, engaged the sailors to ap- pear at the hustings against the Quakers ; the well accredited reports, that money had been promised them, and had been advanced to them in the prison, with other circumstances, impressed the assembly with the conviction that these strangers had been engaged by the governor's party. An address was sent up to governor Thomas, praying him to charge the su- preme court with the trial of the mayor, recorder, and other city officers, who would, otherwise, in the usual course, be brought before the mayor's court, of which they were mem- bers. The governor refused, under the pretence that the latter had exclusive jurisdiction of offences committed in the city of Philadelphia. The assembly referred the question of jurisdiction to their speaker, whose opinion that the power of the two courts was concurrent, they adopted, and embodied in a resolution, censuring the chief officers of the police for gross neglect of duty: being as far as the direct evidence before the house would warrant them to proceed.
Both parties at length grew weary of an unprofitable con- test, and the governor, who daily felt more sensibly the withholding of his salary, made advances towards reconcilia- tion, and expressed his wish that the house would deserve the name which the hopes of all good men had given it, of the healing assembly. His ready sanction of several bills sent up was followed by an appropriation of fifteen hundred pounds for hisuse; and thus was terminated a long and acrimo- nious dispute. The triumph of the assembly was complete.
Votes.
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They had taken no step of a military character, nor made any gift of money inconsistent with their principles. They had preserved the reputation of loyalty by paying to masters of enlisted servants a compensation for their loss, and by liberal donations to the crown, amounting, together, to near six thousand pounds; and, though in the protracted discussion of the governor's measures, they had entered more minutely into the consideration of the number of troops demandable from the province, than was consistent with their pacific principles, and at times were disposed to trust more to their Focal situation than to their faith, against the ravages of war; yet these views may be ascribed more to the ardour of debate, than to doubts of the effects of their creed, or their wishes to propitiate their constituents. If the members of assembly were conscientiously scrupulous against'yielding military aid, they were alike scrupulous not to check the efforts of others. The exertions of the province were conclusive upon this sub- ject. She had raised eight full companies of men, and had furnished transports and provisions in abundance; and though the governor might complain of the assembly, he had no cause to reproach the indifference of the people; their efforts gave full effect to his wishes, and placed him as high in the esteem of the ministry as he had reason to anticipate.
A masked and indirect war had been, for some time, car- ried on between France and Great Britain; and hostilities were openly declared, by the former on the twentieth, and by the latter on the thirty-first of March. This event re- quired new military energies from governor Thomas. But, instructed by experience, he conducted himself temperately toward the assembly, and no longer sought to bear down their opinions by heat and arrogance, but laboured to supply those things which their religious opinions forbade them to furnish. He commanded, by proclamation, all the able-bodied inhabitants to prepare arms, and commissioned officers, and appointed days for training. In these matters he was unin- terrupted by the house; which, satisfied with being permitted to act consistently with their sense of duty, were not disposed to inquire with unnecessary strictness into the manner in which he performed his.
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The exertions of Franklin, on this occasion, contributed greatly to the security of the province, and to the preserva- tion of harmony between the executive and assembly. He published a pamphlet, entitled " Plain Truth," exhibiting in strong lights the helpless state of the province, and the ne- cessity of union and discipline. Calling a meeting of the citizens, he laid before them a plan for a military association : twelve hundred signatures were immediately procured,"and the volunteers soon amounted to ten thousand, armed at their own expense, and officered by their own choice. Franklin was chosen colonel of the Philadelphia regiment; but, de- clining the service, alderman Lawrence was elected on his recommendation. By Franklin's means, also, a battery was erected below the city, from funds raised by lottery, in which Logan and many other Quakers were adventurers. Logan, who was not scrupulous in relation to defensive war, directed what ever prizes he might draw should be applied to the service of the battery .*
These military preparations were necessary to intimidate a foreign enemy, and to curb the hostile disposition of the In- dians, which had been awakened by several unpleasant rencon- tres with the whites.
In 1742, a party of Indians, consisting of twenty-one Onon- dagoes, and seven Oneidas, under the command of a captain of the former nation, made an excursion against the Talla- poosas, resident in Virginia. They left their canoes at Har- , ris's landing, on the Susquehannah river, and, procuring a pass or letter of protection, from a magistrate of Lancaster county, travelled peaceably through the province, obtaining supplies of provisions from the inhabitants. They were di- rected to obtain a renewal of their pass from the civil authori- ties in Virginia, after they should cross the Potomac, but this they found impossible, being unable to make themselves un- derstood. The country through which they travelled, afforded little game, and the inhabitants refused them the means of sus- tenance, yet they pursued their way in despite of their suf-
· Franklin Mem.
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ferings from hunger, and the interruptions of the whites, who were jealous of their intentions. At length, near James river, a considerable number of English, having ascertained their force from a hunter, who had approached them in the woods, pursued and fired upon two boys, who brought up the Indian rear. The Indian chief, desirous of a parley, forbade the return of the fire. But, receiving a second round from the whites, which killed two and wounded several of their num- ber, the Indians threw down their bundles, fired their muskets, and rushed upon their assailants, killed ten of them, and put the remainder to flight. The slaughter would have been greater, had not the chief checked the pursuit. From the diminution their force had sustained, the Indians deemed it prudent to abandon their enterprise. They returned by a different route, having despatched a messenger to Onondago, to relate the news, and to charge their nation not to revenge their loss, unless they should themselves be attacked .*
This affair caused great alarm in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. On the eve of a war with France, the aliena- tion of the Indians was greatly to be dreaded; and their proneness to revenge scarce left a hope that they would re- main quiet under so fatal an insult. Governor Thomas de- spatched a messenger to Conrad Weiser, the provincial inter- preter, commanding him to proceed to Shamokin, to renew the assurances of friendship, and to propose his mediation between the Indians and the government of Virginia. Hap- pily this attention induced them to hold a treaty the ensuing spring, and to refrain from hostility in the meantime.t
In the interval, new causes of uneasiness arose, in which the province was more specially concerned. John Armstrong, a noted Indian trader, and his two servants, were murdered by an Indian of the Delaware tribe. The murderer was de- livered up by his nation, and imprisoned at Lancaster, whence he was removed to Philadelphia, lest he should escape, or his trial and execution should produce an unfavourable impression on his countrymen about to assemble, for a conference with
* Gazette. Votes. + Ibid.
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the whites, at the former place. The governor also required that the property of the deceased should be returned to his family; and he invited a deputation to attend the trial of the Indian, and his execution, should he be found guilty.
The conference at Lancaster was attended by the governor himself, in person, and by the agents of Virginia and Mary- land. All matters of dispute between the parties were satis- factorily settled. The Indians engaged to prevent the French, and the Indians in their alliance, from marching through their country to attack the English settlements; and that they would give the earliest information they received of the enemy's designs; and, in consideration of four hundred pounds, they recognised the title of the king to the colony of Virginia, as it was then, or should be, afterwards, bounded. The favour of the Indians was not obtained gratuitously. Pennsylvania presented them with three hundred pounds currency; Mary- land, one hundred pounds; and Virginia, two hundred pounds, with the addition of a promise to recommend the Six nations to the consideration of his majesty. But this conference did not remove causes of future disquiet. These lay in the en- croachments of the settlers, and in the conduct of the traders; who, in defiance of the laws, carried spirituous liquors to the Indian wigwams; and, taking advantage of the inordinate passion of the savage for this poison, cheated them of their skins, and their wampum, and debauched their wives. " Is it to be wondered at, then," said governor Thomas, "if, when the Indians recover from their drunken fit, they should take severe revenge?" Or would it have been a matter of surprise, had they charged on the whites, in the aggregate, the vices of individuals, and sought vengeance on the nations whose citizens daily assumed their soil, and destroyed the best of their people.
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, having conceived the design of attacking the French settlements at Cape Breton, and the conquest of Louisburg, its capital, endeavoured to enlist the other colonies in the enterprise. The capture of this place was an object of the first importance. It was the largest and most commodious position of the French in Ame-
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rica, affording safe harbourage for their largest vessels, and a place of rendezvous for their numerous privateers, now in- festing the western shores of the Atlantic. As the design originated with the people of New England, and had not been sanctioned by the crown, commodore Warren, the English commandant on the American station, declined to join Shir- ley in the attack. And the assembly of Pennsylvania also refused their assistance, alleging that the other colonies had not been consulted upon the design, or the manner of its exe- cution: that, in case of success, the honour would be chiefly ascribed to Massachusetts, whilst the shame of defeat might be more equally distributed. They urged, also, the uncer- tainty of the aid or approbation of the crown, and the possi- bility that the enterprise would interfere with the views of the British ministry.
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