protection of our allies, and of the inhabitants of the province. As captain-general, he has, by the royal charter, full authority to raise men; and the bill now in his hands, granting sixty thousand pounds, will enable him to pay the expenses. We grant the money cheerfully, though the tax to sink it will be a heavy one; and we hope the bill will receive his assent immediately."

With both, a bill was sent up for supplying the western and northern Indians, friends and allies of Great Britain, with goods at more easy rates, supporting an agent or agents among them, and preventing abuses in the Indian trade, to which the governor's assent was desired.

The governor's answer was, "that he would take the same into consideration, and give it all the despatch in his power." But whatever he was pleased to say, both his head and his heart were at this time taken up with other purposes; how just in themselves, how agreeable to his commission, and how salutary to the province, the sequel will most properly explain.

CHAPTER XIII.

A Demand on the Assembly to constitute a Militia. A Petition of Quakers for peaceable Measures. Message from the Governor concerning another Indian Massacre. A Militia Bill. A Discussion of Indian Affairs. A Remonstrance from the Mayor of Philadelphia. The Assembly's Reply to the Governor's Invective. Parley between the Speaker and twenty-nine Petitioners. Unanimous Resolutions concerning the Right of granting Supplies to the Crown.

In the course of this long and manifold controversy, the proceedings of Parliament had been frequently referred to; and the rights of the House of Commons as frequently urged, by way of sanction for the claims of the assembly. And now the proprietary party, or governor's men, (for wherever there is influence, there such creatures will always be found,) being desirous also in their turn to avail themselves of their reading, had recourse, it may be presumed, to the famous Kentish petition in the year 1701, as a proper precedent for them to proceed upon, in hectoring the assembly into such measures as they could not be prevailed upon to adopt by any other means.

Willing, however, to give their copy the air of an original, they chose to represent to their representatives, rather than to petition; and whereas the Kentish petition humbly implored, these came with a positive and immediate demand.

The mayor of Philadelphia took the lead in this turbulent transaction, and found one hundred and thirtythree inconsiderates to follow him, under the name of several of the principal inhabitants of that city.

To the assembly it was presented, the very day after the two messages, just recited, were left with the governor. "At a time when a bold and barbarous enemy

has advanced within about one hundred miles of this metropolis, [the governor had said eighty,] carrying murder and desolation along with them," (thus pompously it began,) "we should think ourselves greatly wanting, &c., if we did not thus publicly join our names to the number of those who are requesting you to pass a law in order to put the province into a posture of defence," &c.

A militia by law is the measure they afterwards contend for; and to show how men differ from themselves according to circumstances and situations, the government doctrine here was, "that the proper and natural force of every country was its militia, without which no government could ever subsist itself; that no sums of money, however great, could answer the purposes of defence without such a law," &c.

And it was in these very words, they had the temerity to enforce their point.

"We hope we shall always be enabled to preserve that respect to you, which we would willingly pay to those who are the faithful representatives of the freemen of this province. But, on the present occasion, you will forgive us, Gentlemen, if we assume characters something higher than that of humble suitors, praying for the defence of our lives and properties, as a matter of grace and favor on your side; you will permit us to make a positive and immediate demand of it, as a matter of perfect and unalienable right on our own parts, both by the laws of God and man."

As also again afterwards.

"Upon the whole, Gentlemen, we must be permitted to repeat our demand, that you will immediately frame and offer a law for the defence of the province, in such a manner as the present exigency requires. The time does not permit many hands to be put to this repre

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sentation; but, if numbers are necessary, we trust we shall neither want a sufficient number of hands nor hearts to support and second us, till we finally obtain such a reasonable demand.”

To a committee it was referred, together with the address from certain of the people called Quakers, (recommending peaceable measures, and insinuating, that otherwise many as well as themselves would be under a necessity to suffer rather than to pay,) and that concerning unnecessary disputes with the governor, as containing sundry matters of an extraordinary nature, for consideration; and, in the mean time, the House plied the governor with message after message, concerning the bill for regulating their Indian trade, and that for the supply. Both parties apparently wanted to gain time. It was equally dangerous for the assembly to provoke or parley with a multitude; and nothing but new matter from the frontier could give the governor any new advantage over them.

His answer to the assembly on the 14th of November was, "that he had given the bill relating to the Indian trade to his clerk to transcribe;" and that, as to the other, "he was then reconsidering it, according to the request of the House; and when he came to any resolution upon it, the House might expect his final answer; but he did not know when that would be."

At last, on the 17th, that is to say, after having been again quickened by another message, he sent down the latter, with a paper of amendments and a written message, different both in matter and manner from, but altogether as illusory as the former. For, having maintained, as before, that he was not authorized by his commission to pass such a bill, and yet agreed with the assembly, that their dispute must, in the end, be

determined by his Majesty, he changed his objection from the thing to the mode, which he argued was unprecedented, and, in effect, impracticable; "For," he said, "the King could not properly give his assent to some parts of an act and reject others;" and he then suggested another expedient, namely, for the House to adopt his own amendments sent down with the bill, by which the proprietary estate was entirely exempted; and to prepare and pass another bill, whereby the said estate was to be taxed in the same proportion with every other estate, only not by assessors chosen by the people, but by commissioners reciprocally chosen by himself and the assembly, and also named in the bill; together with a suspending clause, that the same should not take effect till it had received his Majesty's approbation. All was closed with a sort of protestation, "that nothing but an implicit confidence in his Majesty's goodness and justice, that he would disapprove it if it was wrong, and his own most sincere and ardent desire of doing every thing in his power for the good and security of the people committed to his care, could have induced him to pass a law in any shape for taxing the said estate ;" and a predecision, "that, if they were equally sincere and equally affected with the distresses and miseries of their bleeding country, they could have no objection to this method of affording immediate succour and relief."

What the doctrine was, established in the province, concerning suspending clauses, is already before the reader, and consequently the inference, in case the assembly had been weak enough to swallow the bait thus hung out for them. But they were neither to be so amused by him, nor so terrified by his allies without doors, as either to forego the use of their understandings, or to act with their eyes open as if they had no

eyes at all.