"The Governor by his former Message on this Bill observed, that a proper Regulation for Rangers & Strays was wanted, no other being in force in this Province besides that of the 10th of the late King, which is conceived in so indecent & indigested a manner in the two last Paragraph's but one, that it cannot be to the Honour of any Government to have it numbred amongst its Laws. But as the present Bill may be of Service to the Country, the Governor is willing to assent to it, provided that the Words referring to that act be left out & only the word Rangers retained.

"Amendments proposed by the Governor in Council to the Bill Entituled An act for ascertaining the Manner for the future erecting of Ferries within this Province.

"Insert this Clause' And that between the Establishment of such Ferry in the manner aforesaid, & such time as the Legislature can take into Consideration the Rates proper to be sett for the same, It shall and may be lawful for the Person or Persons so nominated or appointed for keeping the said Ferry, to take & receive such Rates as are by Law allowed to be taken at the nearest Ferry to the same in this Province over the same River or Creeks.'

"Leave out from the Word Law the three last Lines in this Page, & the first Word in the next, and in Lieu thereof say than such Rates & allowances as now are or hereafter shall be from time to time sett & established by the Legislature of this Province.

"The Reason for this last amendment is this, That by the Clause, as it stands in the Bill, it may be construed, that when the time for which the Rates are sett is expired, no Ferriage at all must be taken, and consequently no attendance will be given, till a new Regulation is made by the Legislature. Now it is possible that several accidents may happen to render the obtaining of such a Regulation at that time impracticable, such as the Death of a Governor during the time of a Session, or on divers other Occurrences that may intervene."

All which being agreed to by the Board were ordered to be signed by the Secretary and sent down to the House with the Bills. Then were read the two following bills:

AN ACT for vesting the State house & other public Buildings with the Lott of Land whereon the same are erected in Trustees for the Use of this Province.

AN ACT for regulating Retailers of Liquors near the Iron works. Both which were agreed to without amendment, & ordered to be returned.

The Members of Council having met by themselves, & on mature & deliberate Consideration approved of a Report drawn up by Mr. Logan, touching the Establishment of the Court of Chancery in this Province, the same was now laid before the Governor, & being

read, His Honour expressed his very great Satisfaction in seeing the whole matter so truly & justly represented, & thanked the Gentlemen of the Council for the Trouble they had taken on this Occasion to do justice to him as well as themselves, Which Report follows in these Words:

"To the Honourable PATRICK GORDON, Esqr., Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, &c.

"In compliance with the Governors Desire, that we the Members of Council for this Province should take into our Consideration a certain Resolve of the present House of Representatives, which is found printed in their Votes of the 27th of last Month, and is read in these words:

"Resolved upon the Question,

"That the Court of Chancery, as it is at present established, is contrary to the Charter of Priviledges granted to the Freemen of this Province.

"For that the Governor conceives it is intended by the said Resolve, and so he finds it is understood to be the Meaning of the House, That the Court of Chancery which was established in the Governor and Council in the year 1720, and has to this time so continued, there being no other Court here that bears that Name, is contrary to, and consequently, as often as it is held, a Violation of the Privileges granted by our late Honourable Proprietor the first Founder of this Province, to the Freemen of the same, from whence it follows, that in their Sense, not only the Governors, but all the Members of this Board, who, in pursuance of the first Establishment of the said Court, have assisted, or do assist, in holding the same, are in every such act guilty of a Violation of the Charter, and as this heavy charge, by being published to the whole Country must necessarily engage all those who by the authority of that Resolve of their Representatives may be led into the same Opinion, to consider the Governor & Council as Violators of their Rights, it must therefore nearly concern us all very seriously to weigh & examine what Foundation there is for such a Charge; and if none in Truth & Reality can be found, as he hopes there will not, it will be incumbent on us to justify both the Governor & ourselves to the World from so harsh an Imputation.

"Accordingly, may it please the Governor, we have very seriously considered the said Resolve, and say, That it gives us a real Grief, and very deeply affects us, to find that our Representatives (on whose tender Regard and Concern for the Honour Reputation & Tranquility of the whole Government, & for the Peace & Security of all its Inhabitants, there ought always to be a very great Dependance) should now at this time, when there was not to our Knowledge the least Occasion given for it, strike so unexpected, as well as unmerited, a Blow at so very considerable a Part of the Govern

ment, as all Men must own the Governor to be, if there were no Regard or Consideration to be had for us, who being as deeply interested by our Families & Estates in the Welfare of the Publick as any others, and from some Opinion (tho' perhaps undeserved) of our Qualifications, have had the Burthen thrown on us of assisting the Governor in important affairs with our advice, to the loss of our own Time, and without any Consideration or advantage to ourselves whatsoever.

"But waving all Complaints, and putting up with what Degree of Regard those Gentlemen are pleased to extend to us, we shall proceed to consider the matter itself; In order to which we first observe, that the late King in Council having in the year 1719 repealed the Law by which our Courts were then held, Colonel Keith, afterwards Sr. William Keith (who was then our Governor, to prevent the countrys suffering as it had done a very few years before, by having for many successive Terms no Courts at all except the City Quarter Sessions held in the Province), thought fit (by virtue of the Powers granted by the Royal Charter to the Proprietor by himself or his Lieutenants or Deputies to establish all Courts whatsoever necessary for the administration of Justice) immediately & without loss of time to erect & appoint by his Commsssions all those for Law, both Superior and Inferior. But for several Months after these were so erected, there being no Court of Equity of any kind in the Government, and yet without some such Court all Governments must be defective, he was so cautious, as it appears, in this point, that he made no Step therein till he had first advised with the Assembly at their Meeting in May following in 1720. It appears also that he took the best Advice he could procure of Persons skill'd in the Law, & particularly (as he ought of course) that of our then Attorney General, Andw. Hamilton, Esq., who was esteemed & allowed to be as able in that Profession as any on the Continent of America, and universally it appears to have been the Opinion at that time, That the Proprietor & his Lieutenants being then as at first vested, with the sole Powers of erecting Courts, and as it was the Practice, as far as could be known, of every one of the British Colonies, both Proprietary Governments, & others for the Governors, some with, and others without, the Assistance of the Council, to hold Courts of Equity, the same might as properly be put in Practice here, and accordingly the Assembly then sitting passed the Resolve the 4th Day of May 1720, as it is now printed in the present Assembly's Minutes (viz.:)

"Resolved, That considering the present Circumstances of this Province, this House is of Opinion, that for the present the Governor be desired to open & hold a Court of Equity for this Province, with the assistance of such of his Council, as he shall think fitt, except such as have heard the Cause in any inferior Court."

"It further appears, that the Governor was so far from hurrying

on the Establishmt. of such a Court, that he laid not this Resolve before the Council till more than a Month after, and longer time being taken to deliberate on it as an Affair of Importance, no further Steps were made therein, till a few Days before the meeting of the same Assembly in August, when a Council was called on the sixth of that Month, where the Speaker of the House with three other Members were present, and in this Council the preceeding Resolve is said to have been an unanimous Resolution of the House, and a Proclamation being agreed on for establishing a Court of Chancery the same was laid before the House and read there the sixteenth of the said Month, as it appears by their Minutes, whose Address carried up by Isaac Norris and Clement Plumsted Esqrs., on their breaking up two Days afterwards, further shews their approbation of the several Steps that had been made herein; So that these Premises considered, there appears no room for the least Shadow of Blame to be thrown either on the Governor at that time, or the Council in this Proceeding, for the Power was in the Governor, the ablest & all the Lawyers advised to it, the Assembly desired it, and it was the Practice & still is, as for as we know, of all other British Governments in America.

"But we find it is now alledged there is a Clause in the Charter of Priviledges repugnant to the Governor & Council's holding such a Court in this Province, and it is said to be the sixth article which is in these Words That no Person or Persons shall or may at any time hereafter be obliged to answer any Complaint Matter or Thing whatsoever relating to Property before the Governor & Council, or in any other Place, but in the ordinary Course of Justice, unless Appeals thereunto shall be hereafter by law appointed.' But the holding such a Court by the Governor & Council, they say, may oblige People to answer Complaints in Matters relating to Property before them: Upon which we must observe, that the Charter of Priviledges is dated the latter End of October 1701, and the Resolve of the Assembly being but about eighteen years & and a half after, there were then divers persons of Figure & Consideration not only then living, but Members of that House, who not only could well remember the Grant of the Charter, but if we greatly mistake not, some of that House of 1720 were Members also of the Assembly in 1701 who accepted of the said Charter, and therefore none could be thought more capable of judging of the true Intent and Meaning of that Clause, nor are we to suppose that such a House of Representatives could be ignorant of it or overlook it, for that Charter having been highly esteemed & justly held dear by all the People, such a Neglect or Failure cannot with any Colour of Reason be suspected, as that, while every House of Representatives consider themselves, as their Constituents do, to be the Guardians of the Rights & Priviledges of the People, and obliged most carefully to watch over them, there should not be one Member of the House to put the rest in mind of such a Repugnancy. It cannot

therefore be supposed an Inadvertency, or that the whole Assembly were ignorant of such a Clause, but rather that they not only well knew the Clause itself, but also knew that there was no Repugnancy in any Clause or Words of it to the Court they then desired might be erected.

"But to proceed. The several Courts of Law having been held from the year 1719 to 1722 by Commissions only, the Assembly for that last year prepared a General Bill for all the Courts of Law, which was passed by the Governor, yet tho' in the Resolve of May 1720 it is said to be the House's Opinion, that the Governor should for the present be desired to hold a Court & from which Words some have imagined that a further Consideration was intended, yet there was not the least alteration made or offered that we know of in Relation to the Court of Chancery, but while all the others were established by Law, that alone continued as at first erected. And to take of all Suspicions that these two Assemblies might possibly be so inadvertent (which as has already been remarked cannot rationally be conceived) as not at all to consider the aforesaid sixth Clause in the Charter, we must further observe, that the Assembly that sate in 1724-5, having by a singular management of Sr William Keith been put upon considering the Charter thorowly, upon which Occasion it was printed that it might come to the Hands & Knowledge of all the People, it does not appear that any Repugnancy was then found or taken notice of between the Charter & Chancery in any respect: And yet further, if it should be alledged that this Establishment & Continuance of the Court was owing to the Influence or Art of the then Governor it is to be rembred, that since the Governor's Accession, who has ever been above every Practice of that kind, the Assembly for the year 1727, who were then under no Restraint, but as much at Liberty as the present, seeing Occasion to alter and re-enact the Law for Courts, accordingly did alter & with the Governor's Concurrence re-enact it, but never offered at any alteration in the Court of Chancery more than the others had done before them: And thus, as it was first erected at the Desire of an Assembly, and the Proclamation for its Establishment publickly read in the House, and has on the same Foot been continued in the times of fourteen several Assemblies, all on new Elections before the present which is the fifteenth, there must be something very uncommon & extraordinary to make that now a Repugnancy to the Charter which does not appear to have been discovered by any other to be such before, and this with what we have here offered we hope will be abundantly sufficient to take off all manner of Imputation from the Governor & Council, for continuing to hold a Court so solemnly & deliberately erected, & makes it clearly evident that the present House have not duly considered the several Assemblies that have gone before them, and those three particularly, the first which in 1720 pass'd the Resolve for it, and the other two in 1722 & 1727, who pass'd the Laws for all the other