frequently called upon, could not be brought to pass the bill for regulating the Indian trade; the house, therefore, thought proper to press him with such a message, as should, by explaining the nature of the bill, not only indicate the nature of the abuses it was calculated to correct, but also oblige him, if possible, to account for his delay; and the message agreed upon was as follows, viz.

'As the bill for regulating the Indian trade, by employing sober and discreet persons to reside among those nations that remain friends to this province, for the purpose of furnishing them with the necessary goods in exchange for their peltry, at easy and reasonable rates, on account of the public, and thereby securing them to our interest, seems to us a bill of great importance at this juncture, we are very desirous of bringing it to a conclusion as soon as possible; and therefore once more earnestly request the governor would be pleased to let us know his sentiments upon it, and communicate the amendments he is pleased to say he thinks needful, that we may consider them. The bill has already lain before him above two weeks; and we fear, if something of the kind is not immediately gone into, we shall lose our few remaining Indians on Susquehanna; for as none of our traders now go among them, and they dare not come down to our settlements to buy what they want, for fear of being mistaken for enemies, there seems to be the greatest danger of their being necessarily driven into the arms of the French, to be provided with the means of subsistence.'

To which the governor was pleased to return the following evasive answer:

'Gentlemen,

"Since your bill for regulating the Indian trade has been before me, my time has been so much taken up with the variety of business that the circumstances of this province made. necessary to be dispatched without delay, that I have not been able to give it the consideration a bill of that nature requires, nor to examine the laws of the neighbouring provinces upon. that subject. But as the Indian trade is now at a stand, I

cannot conceive that it will be at all dangerous to the public to defer the completing of this act till the next sitting; especially as it will be necessary to call in and confine our friendly Indians to certain limits, to prevent their being mistaken for, and killed as enemies, where they must be subsisted. This will hinder them from hunting, so that they will have no skins to trade with.'

And now, after having so often treated the assembly as a body fitter to be prescribed to, than consulted with, he took it into his head to apply to them for advice; on what account it is reasonable his own message should explain.

'Gentlemen,

General Shirley, pursuant to his majesty's orders for that purpose, has requested me to meet him at New York,. in a congress he has there appointed, as you will observe by the extract of a letter from him upon that subject, which the secretary will lay before you. At that meeting, business of the greatest consequence to his majesty's service and the safety of these colonies will be considered and concluded, and the success of the next year's operations may in a great measure depend on the timely resolutions of that council.

'I have lately received such intelligence as to the state of Indian affairs, as will make it necessary for the colonies to join in some general treaty with those people, as well to the southward as the northward, which can no way so well be resolved on as at the congress now already met.

And on the other hand, the late incursions of the enemy, and the necessity there is of putting this province into a posture of defence, as well as carrying into execution the several matters now in agitation, call for my presence, and the authority of the government. Under these difficulties I find myself at a loss which service to prefer, and desire you will give me your sentiments on this momentous and pressing occasion.'

Now this congress was in fact, to be a council of war; and the instructions the general had received, according to his own account, was to summon such of the governors on the continent, as far westward as Virginia, as could, to attend it.

Governor Morris, therefore, would have been under no great difficulty on this head, if the circumstances of his province had been really such as he had been always fond of setting them forth.

But his purpose was to go; and he wanted the countenance of the assembly to concur with his inclinations, that he might not be charged with inconsistency, either by stimulating them with false alarms, or deserting them in real dangers.

The assembly, however, chose to leave the difficulty upon himself, as he alone was acquainted with the necessity of his attending the said congress; but then they left him at no loss concerning their opinion; for they admitted the present circumstances did call strongly for his presence at home, and for the whole authority of government; and they also offered to be at the expence of sending commissioners to New York, to supply his place, either in concluding on the matters proposed by the crown, or concerting measures for a general treaty with the Indians. 'For, said they, as this province always has been, so we still are ready to join with the neighbouring colonies in any treaty with the Indians, that may conduce to the general advantage of the British interest, as well as, at our own charge, to make such as tend particularly to our own peace and security.'

A noble declaration! what is alone sufficient to silence all the invectives which have been so liberally bestowed on this province! and what, in modern proprietary documents and the speeches and messages of deputy-governors, it would be very hard to match.

Of the stress in this message, however, laid on the present state of Indian affairs, the house took the advantage to recollect what had passed between them and the governor in relation to the Shawanese complaint; and with an equal regard to truth and candor, took occasion in a message to the governor, to express themselves upon it as follows, viz.

'May it please the Governor,

"We have considered the report of the committee of the governor's council, to which he is pleased to refer us for an answer to our enquiry, relating to a claim of the Shawanese

Indians, on the lands near Conedoguinet. We are far from desiring to justify those Indians in their late outrages and murders, committed against the people of this province, in violation of the most solemn treaties. We believe that great care has generally been taken to do the Indians justice by the proprietaries in the purchases made of them, and in all our other public transactions with them; and as they have not the same ideas of legal property in lands that we have, and sometimes think they have right, when in law they have none, but yet are cheaply satisfied for their supposed as well as real rights, we think our proprietaries have done wisely, not only to purchase their lands, but to "purchase them more than once," as the governor says they have done, rather than have any difference with them on that head, or give any handle to the enemies of the province to exasperate those people against us. It appears indeed, from the report, that they could have but a slender foundation for a claim of satisfaction for thoselands; we are however convinced, by original minutes taken by one of the commissioners at the treaty of Carlisle, now lying before us, that the Shawanese chiefs mentioned that claim of theirs to the lands in question at that time, and were promised that the matter should be laid before the proprietaries. It was after the public general business of the treaty was over, and was not inserted in the printed account of the treaty, perhaps because it was thought to relate more particularly to the proprietary than to the province; and one of the commissioners being himself concerned in the proprietaries. affairs, there was reason to believe he would take care to get it settled; and doubtless he would have done so, had he not, as appears by the report, entirely forgot the whole transaction. We are sorry it was not done, though probably the instigations, present situation, and power of the French, might have been sufficient nevertheless to have engaged those Indians in the war against us.'

They also took into consideration the governor's answers to their several messages in relation to the bill for regulating the Indian trade; and resolved thereon, "That it was their opinion, the governor had evaded giving any answer, or of

fering any amendments to it, that it might be transcribed and sent over to the proprietaries for their opinion or assent; that the said bill was of great importance in the present critical situation of affairs; that the delay or refusal of entering into the consideration thereof at that time, might be attended with very ill consequences; and that those consequences would not lie at their door."

And having before resolved to adjourn till the first of March ensuing, they moreover took upon them to provide for the subsistence of certain friendly Indians, settled near their frontiers, in the mean while.

Nor was this all: for the incidents of the session having shewn, that it was high time for the assembly to assert their own authority, as far forth at least, as the factions and intrigues of the province at that time subsisting would permit, they called for the report of their committee appointed to sit on the several irregular and improper applications which had been made to them during the session; and having duly considered it, ordered it to be entered on the minutes of the house.

Every body knows, that the reports of committees can consist of opinions only; and these gentlemen give it as theirs, "that though it was the undoubted right of the freemen of the province, not only to petition, but even to advise their representatives on suitable occasions, yet all applications whatever to the house, ought to be respectful, decent, pertinent, and founded in truth."

"That the petition of Moore and his thirty-five followers, concerning unnecessary disputes with the governor, when no disputes had been begun; and insinuating, that the house had neglected the security of the province from conscientious scruples, was founded on mistakes and misapprehensions of facts and circumstances." [They might have said much more if they had thought proper.]

"That the petition intitled, an address of certain people called Quakers in behalf of themselves and others, (signed by Anthony Morris and twenty-two others) so far as it engaged for any more than themselves, and insinuated