Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

before them, and the exigencies of the government necessarily require; and to which the opportunity now presented to them ought to invite and encourage them." And this was the rejoinder of the Assembly. "TO JOHN EVANS, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, &c. "The Address of the Representatives, &c. "Humbly showeth,

"That we have taken into our serious consideration thy written message yesterday, relating to the bill for confirmation of the charter of privileges, &c.

"And since the points of dissolution and prorogation are by thee asserted, and the power of this assembly to sit upon their own adjournments, first brought into question by the council in October last, which occasioned us to proceed thus far in explaining and settling our constitution by charter, we conceive we cannot safely let it drop at this time (and remain disputable) without violation of, or injury to, our said present constitution; and consequently it will not be so proper to proceed to the despatch of other affairs of importance before us, whilst our foundation remains unsettled.

"That, allowing what one of the members of council who came with the message was pleased to observe to us, that the proprietary had not given away the power of dissolution, &c. by the charter [in ex press words], yet that it could not be intended to be reserved by him, seems evident to us for the following reasons;

"First, because it could at no time be put in practice, without frustrating the very design of the grant, that we should have an annual standing assembly.

"Secondly, that whenever a dissolution should hap pen, the governor not being capable to call a new one by writ, as the same member of council rightly

observed, the remaining part of that year the province must be destitute of an assembly, and the governor of power to call one, whatever commands from the crown or other extraordinary occasions may happen, unless (as the said member was pleased to observe) by some such means as would need the power of a subsequent assembly, to confirm all that they should have occasion to act or do.

"Thirdly, that the proprietary, in the preamble of this present charter, having been pleased to remember and acknowledge his promise made to the assembly upon the delivery of the former charter, that he would either restore us that or another better adapted to our circumstances; therefore, in assurance of his good and sincere intentions, this charter must be such a one.

"Fourthly, by the former constitution, it is very plain there could be no dissolution, because the same members of assembly, and no others, were liable to be called at any time within the year; and, in many years' experience, no inconveniency found to arise thereby; nor was that any controverted point between the proprietary and the people, for the rectifying whereof another charter was thought necessary, but other matters not unknown to some of the council.

"Fifthly, and lastly, as a clear proof that the proprietary never intended to reserve the power of dissolution, it may be remembered, that at the close of the sessions of assembly, in the year 1701, when the members, being then chosen by writs, requested a dissolution, the proprietary answered, he would not do it; nor could he answer it to the crown, to leave the province without a standing assembly.

"Upon the whole, we take leave to inform thee, that, since this assembly (having long waited in hopes of the passing of this, with other bills lying before thee,)

is much straitened in time, the season of the year urgently calling most of the members from their attendance, and considering the governor's great indisposition is an obstruction of business, and that another election is now near at hand; that it is the inclination and desire of this House, that all other business might be waived till the meeting of the next assembly, and that, in the mean time, the governor would be favorably pleased further to consider the aforesaid points."

Impelled also to discharge their minds in full to the proprietary himself, they agreed, nem. con., to nine several heads of complaint, which were entered in their minutes as follow, to wit;

"First, that the proprietary, at the first settling of this province, promised large privileges, and granted several charters to the people; but by his artifices brought them all at his will and pleasure to defeat.

"Secondly, that dissolution and prorogation, and calling assemblies by his writs, empowered by his commission to his present deputy, and his orders to his former deputies and commissioners of state, are contrary to the said charters.

"Thirdly, that he has had great sums of money last time he was here, for negotiating the confirmation of our laws, and for making good terms at home for the people of this province, and ease his friends here of oaths, &c.; but we find none of our laws are confirmed, nor any relief against oaths, but an order from the Queen to require oaths to be administered, whereby the Quakers are disabled to sit in courts.

"Fourthly, that there has been no surveyor-general since Edward Pennington died, but great abuses by surveyors, and great extortions by them and the other officers concerned in property, by reason of the proprietary's refusing to pass that law proposed by the assembly, in 1701, to regulate fees, &c.

"Fifthly, that we are like to be remediless in every thing that he hath not particularly granted, or made express provision for; because the present deputy calls it a great hardship upon him, and some of the council urge it as absurd and unreasonable to desire or expect any enlargement or explanation by him, of what the proprietary granted.

"Sixthly, that we are also left remediless in this, that, when we are wronged and oppressed about our civil rights by the proprietary, we cannot have justice done us; because the clerk of the court, being of his own putting in, refuses to make out any process; and the justices, by and before whom our causes against him should be tried, are of his own appointment, by means whereof he becomes judge in his own case, which is against natural equity.

"Seventhly, that sheriffs and other officers of the greatest trust in this government, which the proprietary hath commissionated, being men of no visible estates; and if any of them have given security, it was to himself; so that the people, whom these officers have abused and defrauded, can reap no benefit of such security.

"Eighthly, that although the commissioners of property have power by their commission to make satisfaction, where people have not their full quantity of land according to their purchase, yet they neglect and delay doing right in that behalf.

"Ninthly, that we charge the proprietary not to surrender the government, taking notice of the intimation he had given of making terms, &c., and let him understand how vice grows of late."

And they ordered a representation to be drawn up consequent thereto, and sent by the first opportunity. Parts of this are already before us; and, as a

suggestion was afterwards made, that it contained other matter than was comprehended in the articles, the remainder deserves to be inserted here.

"That, upon thy being restored to the government, thou required thy lieutenant to govern us according to charter, which, by reason of Fletcher's interruption, became impossible before thy orders reached us, and so the government fell under great confusion again. Nor was the administration of thy propriety much better managed, because thou put some in that commission with whom the rest would not act; and at last the office of property and surveyor-general came to be shut up, and thou kept them so whilst thou sold lands to the value of about two thousand pounds sterling, and gave thy warrants in England for surveying the said land, and also got great tracts of land laid out or secured for thyself and relations, besides several valuable parcels which should have been laid out for the purchase, but were reserved by thy surveyors, whether for thee or themselves we know not; however thou appropriated those lands to thyself, by the name of concealed lands, whereas in truth they were concealed from the purchasers, who were to have their lands laid out contiguous one to another, and no vacancies left between them; and thou wast to have only thy tenth, as it fell, according to the concessions thou made with thy first adventurers; and if thou took it not up so, it was thy own (not their) fault, but the other was a manifest injury to many of them, as above declared.

"That upon thy last arrival here, after all the hardships and disappointments we had labored under, we hoped to enjoy the fruits of thy former promises and engagements; but, instead of that, we found thee very full of resentment, and many of our applications and addresses, about our just rights and properties, were

« ZurückWeiter »