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trade had, in the course of the conferences, been made undeniably apparent, by the representations and complaints of the Indian chiefs.

And the reader will of himself be furnished with proper reflections on the Earl of Holdernesse's letters to the gover nors of the several provinces, imposing the double care upon them, of defending themselves against the encroachments of the enemy, and also against all objections at home, in case of doing it improperly. To say nothing of the peculiar difficulty laid both on the province and governor of Pennsylvania, where there never had been any armed force on a provincial establishment at all.

The assembly took the whole into immediate consideration, and agreed upon the following answer, which was sent up to the governor the same day. To wit.

"The distressed circumstances of the Indians, our allies, on the river Ohio, demand our closest attention, and we shall not fail to proceed in the matters contained in the governor's message with all the dispatch an affair of so much importance will admit of, in which we doubt not to comply with every thing that can be reasonably expected on our part.

'In the mean time, having some days since prepared a bill, which we conceive absolutely necessary, not only to the trade and welfare of this province, but to the support of go vernment, upon the success of which, our deliberations at this time must in a great measure depend'; we now lay it before him as a bill of the utmost importance, and to which we unanimously request he would be pleased to give his as

sent.

Four days the governor and his council employed in considering what return should be made to it; or, rather in searching out such an expedient as should force the province into the measures of the proprietaries, or else, by their refusal embroil them with the government. In his very first paragraph he gave an absolute negative to their bill. He told them, that the product of their present funds was greatly more than sufficient for the support of government; that he hoped to find them better subjects to his majesty, and greater

lovers to their country, than to make the issue of their bill, in which he and they had an equal right to judge for themselves, the rule of their conduct. If, however, (continued. he) you should be of opinion, that there will be a necessity to strike a farther sum in bills of credit, to defray the charges of raising supplies for his majesty's service in this time of imminent danger, and will create a proper fund or funds for sinking the same in a few years, I will concur with you in passing a law for that purpose, thinking myself sufficiently warranted so to do, in cases of real emergency.

'And now, gentlemen, I hope you will, upon due consideration, be of opinion with me, that the chief end of your bill will be hereby, in a great measure answered, as the sum to be struck and circulated upon this occasion, will be such an addition to your present currency, as probably may be thought sufficiently for some time.'

The assembly also, in their turn, took a sufficient time for deliberation, and having touched on the unusual manner in which the governor had been pleased to reject their bill, and assumed some merit to themselves, in not suffering any separate interests of their own to interfere with the common good, observed, there was some difference between the royal orders and the governor's manner of representing them; chose therefore to adhere to the former; availed themselves most prudently and sensibly of the cautions so circumstantially recommended and inforced in them, more especially concerning the undoubted limits, and the restrictions thereupon, that his majesty may not be rendered the aggressor; said it would be highly presumptuous in them to judge of those undoubted limits; that instead of being called upon to resist any hostile attempt made upon any part of Pennsylvania, they were called upon to grant such a supply as might enable the governor to raise forces to be ready to join those of Virginia; that therefore they hoped the governor, under these circumstances, would concur with them, that the most prudent part for them would be to wait the result of the government of Virginia, where no provision had as yet been made that they knew of, nor in any of the neighbouring co

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lonies, though the several governors, in pursuance of the king's command, had made the necessary requisitions of their several assemblies, and they were equally bound by all the ties of general interest. They also superadded the regard due to the scruples of those conscientiously principled against war, yet deeply sensible of the blessings they enjoyed, and willing to demonstrate their duty and loyalty, by giving such occasional sums of money for the king's use, as might be reasonably expected from so young a colony; took notice they had contracted a debt of fourteen hundred pounds for presents to the Indians, and other charges arising from the late treaty, which they should cheerfully dis-. charge, though their proprietaries had refused to contribute any part of their Indian expences; agreed to send commissioners to Albany, as required, though the place was so remote, and to defray the expence, &c.

The difficulty thus retorted on the governor, and his resentment it must be supposed quickened thereby, he takes up the minutes of the last day's sessions of the last assembly, and under the pretence of justifying his own character, revives the old controversy concerning the paper-money instructions, by a long and angry paper sent to the house March 1; and, forgetting what he had formerly said in the following paragraph, 'I do not blame you, gentlemen, for contending for what you are persuaded are your rights and privileges, and consequently can have no objection to your examining the validity of the king's instructions;' flames out as follows, Had I been an enemy to the liberties and privileges of the people, or been desirous of gratifying my own passions at their expence, it must be confessed you have furnished me with the fairest occasion a governor so disposed could possibly have wished for. For example, you have voted a clause, proposed to be added to your bill by his majesty's express direction, at the request of his two houses of parlia ment, to be destructive to the liberties of the people of this province, &c. and have even threatened to examine the validity of the king's instruction, if, by a perseverance in my opinion, I laid you under the necessity of doing it. What

is this less than declaring, that the lords and commons, and his majesty's privy council, consisting, among others, of the most eminent lawyers in Great Britain, have requested, and his majesty enjoined, an act directly contrary to law?'

And he concludes with making a merit to the province of the moderation he had shewn, in suppressing his sense of the provocations then offered to him, in hopes of a more dispassionate behaviour for the future.

The very next day this paper was followed by another more immediately in point: the governor, therein, undertaking first to defend his negative, and the use he had made of it; and, secondly, so to turn the tables on the assembly, that all the wrong should be on their side, and all the right

on his own.

The use made of the different language used by the secretary of state and him, he calls an evasion; and what they ought not, in point of duty, to have taken any advantage of. He then declares he has undoubted assurance, that part of his majesty's dominions, within his government was, at that time, invaded by the subjects of a foreign prince, who had erected forts within the same; and requires them to take notice, that he did then call upon them, pursuant to his ma jesty's orders, in the present emergency to grant such supplies as might enable him to draw forth the armed force of the province, &c. He then undertook to prove, that the place where the French had then their head-quarters was within the limits of the province; and tells them, that if he did not communicate materials before to assist their enquiries into this fact, so neither had they applied to him for them; that if they had enquired for themselves and suppressed the truth, it was extremely disingenuous; if not, their neglect could be imputed to no other cause than a desire to have a plausible excuse for not paying a proper regard to his majesty's commands; that even on account of the scruples urged, he had looked on governor Dinwiddie's requisition as a very lucky circumstance; seeing, that a requisition from himself would have set the province in the front of the opposition; and a refusal from them, would

have exposed it to the contempt and derision, as well of the French as our Indian allies; that as the French avow these hostilities, so the Indians, menaced by them, most earnestly besought us, to build places of refuge, to which their wives and children might repair for safety, and also to assist them against their enemies; that instead of being governed by the example of the neighbouring colonies, nothing remained but to give the necessary supplies, and thereby set the example to them, this province having been first invaded and consequently in the most immediate danger; that without this, they could neither keep their treaties with the Indians, nor demonstrate their duty and loyalty to his majesty; that having now done his duty, whatever ill consequences might happen, were to be laid at their door; that with regard to the refusal of the proprietaries, to contribute any part of their Indian expences, it was true, they had refused to do it in the manner expected, and they had given their reasons; but that the proposal made by him, the governor, by their order, in the year 1750 and 1751, in regard to the building a strong trading house near the place then invaded and possessed by the French, could not be forgot; which generous offers had the assembly thought fit to close with, it might, at a small expence, have prevented all the mischiefs impending, and secured a country to the English, which probably might not be recovered without a heavy charge, and the loss of many lives.

Whether the hostilities committed by the French were or were not committed within the bounds of Pennsylvania, became the great question. The assembly called for evidence; the governor imparted all he could collect; and, after a strict examination of the premises, the assembly chose only to glance at the inflammatories thrown in their way, and to profess their readiness to concur with the governor in whatever might preserve the harmony between the several branches of the legislature, so necessary at all times and especially at a

* See the assembly's answer to this charge hereafter, in the time of governor Morris,

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