all

between the Proprietary and his Sub-Adventurers, poffible Care had been taken, That no Cause of Complaint fhould be administered to them: In Trade they were not to be over-reached or impofed upon: In their Perfons they were not to be infulted or abused: And, in Cafe of any Complaint on either Side, the Subject-Matter was to be heard by the Magiftrates in Concert with the Indian Chief, and decided by a mixed Jury of Indians and Planters:

The fame Regard to Confcience which led into this Wilderness adhered to them afterwards; and having thus refolved and provided, never to be Aggreffors, and not being Sovereigns, they left the Reft to Providence.

Governed by Principle in all Things, and behieving the Ufe of Arms to be unlawful, the Cafe of Defence by Arms could not come within their Plan...

But then as their Community was left open to Christians of all Perfuafions, and the Conditions of Union could be abhorrent to none, They might well prefume on being joined by Numbers, which has fince happened accordingly, who, being void of fuch Scruples, might be easily induced, for proper Confiderations, to take that Difficulty out of their Hands.

Andy as to military Service, under all English Tepures whatsoever, no Man could be compelled to forve in Perfon, who made it his Choice to ferve by . Proxy.& 16's A. Is Goggui zav.tw bodolog

Add to all this: That William Penn himself does not appear to have been under the Dominion of these Scruples; he having taken Care in his Charter from the Crown (Sett. 16.) to be invefted with all the Powers ever beftowed on a Captain-General (which were alfo to defcend to his Heirs and Affigns) to levy, muster, and train all Sorts of Men of what Condition foever or wherefoever born, and to make War and to purfue fuch Enemies as fhould make Incurfions ⚫ into the Province, as well by Sea as Land, even without the Limits of the faid Province, and, by

• God's

God's Affiftance, to vanquish and take them, &c.

And, laftly, if ever involved in the Quarrels of the Mother-Country, and obliged to take their Share of the common Duty and the common Danger, They might reasonably hope for all the Protection from thence they might ftand in need of, on the Condition of contributing all that was in their Power, confiftent with their Principles, towards it.

This they have occafionally done from Colonel Fletcher's Time downwards; and They would have done more, if the Proprietary Calls and those of their Deputies had not put it out of their Power..

Allowing, therefore, That this unrefifting Principle would have been a Solecifm in the Construction of an independent State, it was not, provincially speaking, deftitute of proper Palliatives.

At leaft, Scruple of Confcience is at all Times, and in all Cafes, lefs blameable than the wanton Experiments tried upon the Province even by the Proprietary's own Agents: Firft to fcatter Terrors among the peaceable Inhabitants, and then to plead the Neceffity of a military Force from the Effects of their own wicked Devices.

Of this Nature was the falfe Alarm raised in the Queen's Time by Evans and Logan. A Fact which ftands charged against them, in the Records of the Affembly, at this very Day, and which, as often as recollected, will ever fuggeft a Fear, That a Measure, fo unwarrantably contended for, would, if obtained, be as unwarrantably made Ufe of ot

101

We have now fuch a Summary of the State of Penfylvania from its Origin, before us, as may render every Branch of the Controverfy ftill depending, familiar to us: And, as Facts are beft feen and underftood in Order of Time as they occurred, we shall do our beft to follow the Thread as it lies.

In April, 1740, when the Paper Currency of the Province had been juft encreased, as above fpecified, to 80,000 Pounds, and established for fixteen Years,

the

the Merchants trading to the Eastern Colonies of America, took Occafion to complain to the House of -༤༩,-9 Commons of the Inconveniences and Difcouragements brought on the Commerce of Great Britain in thofe Parts, by the exceffive Quantities of Paper Money there iffued, and the depreciated Condition thereof, for Want, of proper Funds to fupport its Credit. The Houfe, by Way of Palliative, addreffed the Throne to put a temporary Stop to the Evil, by inftructing the feveral Governors, not to give their Affent to any farther Laws of that Nature, without an exprefs Provifo, That they fhould not take Effect, till his Majefty's Approbation had been firft obtained..

Such Instructions were accordingly fent: and thofe to the Governor of Penfylvania were dated August 21, 1740. Notwithstanding all which, the Lords of Trade and Plantations (having already in their Hands a full and clear Account of the Currency as eftablished by the 80,000 Pounds Act, as alfo of the Rates of Gold and Silver, from the Year 1700 to the Year 1739; and having been moreover convinced, by the Merchants trading to that Province, that fuch a Sum was not only reasonable but neceffary for carrying on the Commerce of the Country) thought fit to recommend the faid Act, to the Royal Acceptance and Ratification; and ten Days afterwards the Lords Juftices paffed it into a Law.

Here the Affair flept for feveral Years, except that the Affembly, in Conformity to an Order, which accompanied the Inftructions juft mentioned, caufed a fecond State of their Currency to be tranfmitted the following Year to the Lords of Trade; And before it was again refumed in Parliament, the feveral incidents, next to be recited, took Place.. vildu er.

When the Attempt upon Carthagena was under Confideration, the Northern Colonies were called upon to furnish Soldiers for that Service, and Pensylvania among the Reft. The Affembly was at that Time compofed as it had hitherto generally been confequently

quently this Demand could not but be productive of Scruples and Difficulties in Point of Confcience: That, however, they might difcharge all Obligations at once, they voted 4000 Pounds for the King's Use, and the Governor took upon himself to raise the Soldiers.

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This was a Duty of Office; and, if he had dif charged it properly, what would have given univerfal Satisfaction. The Labour of the Plantations is performed chiefly by indented Servants, brought from Great Britain, Ireland and Germany; nor, because of the high Price it bears, can it be performed any other Way. Thefe Servants are purchased of the Captains who bring them; the Purchafer, by-a politive Law, has a legal Property in them during the Term they are bound for; can fell or bequeath them; and, like other Chattels, they are liable to be feized for Debts. Out of these, neverthelefs, did the Governor make his Levies. A Ferment enfued: The Owners were tenacious of their Rights: The Governor ftood upon Prerogative as Paramount to all The Difpute was brought into the Courts; and fuch was the Terror of Power, that the Aggrieved were forced to repair to New-York for Advocates! Bud 26.3

The Affembly, feeing no other Remedy, thought themselves bound to defend the Rights of their Conftituents; and did defend them accordingly, by refufing to part with their Supply, unless the Servants fo unjustly taken from their Mafters were reftored. The Governor was obftinate, and fo the Money was, at laft, applied, as it ought, to indemnify them for "the Injury they had fuftained. 15) 51136 0001 510 That, however, they might not be mifreprefented mifunderflood at Home, as deficient in Zeal for the Public, or backward to contribute to the Service, they came the next Year to the following Vote: Po wit, op Houle, taking into Confideration the many Taxes their Fellow-Subjects in Great Britain are obliged to pay towards fupporting the Dignity of the Crown and defraying the neceffary and contingent

7

tingent Charges of Government, and willing to de• monstrate the Fidelity, Loyalty and Affection of the • Inhabitants of this Province to our gracious Sovereign, by bearing a Share of the Burden of our Fellow-Subjects, proportionable to our Circumftances, do, therefore, cheerfully and unanimously Refolve, That 3,000 Pounds be paid for the Ufe of the King, ⚫his Heirs and Succeffors, to be applied to fuch Ufes as he, in his Royal Wisdom, shall think fit to direct "and appoint." And the faid 3000 Pounds was afterwards paid into his Majefty's Exchequer by the Agent of the Province accordingly. A Free Gift, if ever there was one, from Subject to Sovereign; and, however small, a fufficient Voucher for the good Intentions of thofe who made it!

In the Beginning of the Year 1745, the Project against Louisburgh, having been carried in the Affembly of New England by a fingle Vote only, was imparted to the Affembly of Penfylvania by Governor Shirley, with a Defire, That they would contribute thereto But though they could not be prevailed upon to take any Part in an Enterprize which to them appeared so desperate, they voted 4000 Pounds in Provifions for the Refreshment and Support of the brave Troops who had taken the Place, as foon as it was known they were in Poffeffion of it, and that fuch Supples were wanting.

In the Beginning of the Year 1746, the Minifters affected to entertain a Project for the Reduction of Canada By Letters from the Secretary's Office dated April 6, the Northern Colonies were feverally called upon to contribute their refpective Quotas towards it; which they cheerfully concurred in doing, feduced by their interefts and their Inclinations into a Belief, that into b the whole Line of our Colonies would not be thus agitated, nor their Indian Allies induced to take up the Hatchet in Conjunction with them, merely by Way of Feint to facilitate a Peace. muoto

Forces were every where raised by the feveral Governors, and the Affembly of Penfylvania voted 5000

Pounds