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The bill of supply already before the house, was, in the next place resumed: and to clear the way as they went, a new message was sent to the governor to know, whether he had come to any resolution on the excise and Indian trade bills? to which, in effect, he answered, that, as to the latter, he thought his amendments to it so just and reasonable, that he could not, therefore, recede from them; and as to the former, that he had added a clause by which the money to arise by it, was to be disposed of in such a manner as the governor and commander in chief, and in case of his death or absence, the president of the council and the assembly should direct; adding, 'this manner of disposing of the public money appears to me most conducive to the general interest, and you will observe by an article in the proprietary instructions to me, which I send you herewith, that I am restrained from passing any bill of that nature without such an appropriating clause.'

And this instruction was delivered in the terms following, to wit:

"You shall not give your assent to any law for prolonging the present excise, or laying any other excise, or raising any money on the inhabitants of the said province of Pennsylvania, unless there be an enacting clause, that all money arising from the said excise, or other duties, shall be disposed of only as we or either of us, exercising the office of governor, or the lieutenant-governor, or, in case of his death or absence, the president of the council, and the house of representatives, for the time being, shall direct; and not otherwise.'

Thus the great proprietary secret, so long suspected, so long and so cautiously preserved, and which had operated so mischievously and dangerously, not only to the province of Pennsylvania but all the provinces adjoining, was at last acknowledged; and it thereby became undeniable, that, under such a commission, inforced by a penal bond upon the holder of it, neither the province could be protected, the king served, or the interest of the community maintained, unless the freemen parted with their birth-rights, and the special confirmations of them contained in their charter.

And it is equally to be wondered, that any two subjects in the king's dominions, should presume to exact such concessions from their fellow-subjects as his majesty himself neither has, or makes any claim to; and that any gentleman should submit to serve them on such equally tyrannical and servile

terms.

The resolutions of the house hereon were worthy of the occasion, and as such are equally worthy of having a place in this work.

'Resolved, that it is the opinion of this house, that the said proprietary instruction was the principal, if not the only, obstruction to the passing the several bills offered to the governor by the last assembly for granting money for the king's

use.

'That the act for laying an excise on wine, rum, brandy, and other spirits, passed in the year 1744; and the act granting five thousand pounds for the king's use, passed the 24th of June, 1746, by which the said act for laying an excise on wine, rum, brandy, and other spirits, was continued for ten years next after the first day of June, 1746, have received the royal approbation.

"That acts laying an excise on spirituous liquors have been found necessary for defraying the charges of government, and have been continued within this province for more than thirty years; and that the governor's not passing the bill presented to him for continuing the excise, upon the terms of all our former acts, repeatedly approved of by the crown, from an apprehension that he is restrained by the said proprietary instruction, is evasive and frivolous, and an infringement of our just rights; and, that, as deputy-governor of this province, he has, or ought to have, full powers to give his assent to all such bills as we have an undoubted right to offer.

'That the said instruction "is not calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of this province, and is inconsistent with the prerogative of the crown, and the liberties of the people ;" and that all proprietary instructions, not warranted by the laws of Great Britain, are illegal and void in

themselves; nevertheless, if the governor should apprehend himself bound by such proprietary instructions, they may prove ruinous to the province, and of dangerous consequence to the British interests in America.

'That the house do adhere to the bill for continuing the act for laying an excise on wine, rum, brandy, and other spirits, as it now stands, without admitting the governor's proposed amendments thereto.'.

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It now also became apparent to the province, that even the boasted free-gift of the proprietaries of five thousand pounds, was not to be obtained but as it could be collected out of the arrears of their quit-rents; and that it being impracticable to collect such a sum fast enough to answer the public demands, the deficiency could no otherwise be made good than by act of assembly for striking the sum of four thousand pounds, remaining due on the proprietary-order, in bills of credit, to be sunk out of the growing payments as they should come in. This, in short, was the favor applied for on their behalf by their receiver-general, who declared, at the same time, that he had consulted the governor on this head, who had expressed his readiness to concur with the house in a reasonable bill for that purpose; not directly to the assembly, however, was this favor applied for; nor as a favor to the proprietaries; that would have been beneath the proprietary dignity; but by the interposition of the commissioners of the sixty thousand pounds act. The assembly nevertheless gave way to the expedient; the receiver-general had leave to bring in a bill for the purpose; and the same, with a different preamble, was passed and sent up to the governor. The difference is this. In the first, the reason assigned for the bill was to this effect; "whereas the proprie taries have been pleased to make a free-gift of the sum of five thousand pounds towards the public charge, &c. whereof their receiver-general had as yet been able to pay but one thousand pounds to the end, therefore, that the good intentions of the proprietaries in the said gift may be fully answered, and the public may receive the immediate benefit thereof, Be it enacted, &c.-In the second, care was taken to

specify, that the said sum was to be applied towards the public charge, and was given in consideration of their [the proprietaries] being exempted from the payment of their taxes towards raising the sum of sixty thousand pounds.

On the same day that the bill was thus sent up, namely, the seventh after their meeting, they also sent up a money-bill, for granting the sum of forty thousand pounds for the king's use, and for striking the said sum in bills of credit, and to provide a fund for sinking the same; and, upon the receipt of the said bill, the governor was pleased to say, "That he would give it all the dispatch in his power, but that he could not say when the house might expect to know his result thereupon, as he was that day going to Newcastle, in order to meet the assembly of the three lower counties.”

Notwithstanding which, the two members to whom he thus expressed himself, were no sooner withdrawn, than he sent after them another message to the house, signifying, “That by intelligence he had received from two Indians, two days before, the western Indians were forming themselves into a body in order to attack the province about the time of harvest, &c." adding, 'If upon consideration of this matter, any other measures are necessary for the public safety, you will enable me to take them.'

Thus, harlequin like, he could play contrary parts in the same interlude. If a supply was not given without delay, the troops were to be disbanded, the forts destroyed, and the frontier consequently laid open; and yet, with a supply in his hand, he could deliberately go upon another service; at the same time he could also communicate intelligence of additional dangers: and yet with the same supply in his hand, he could insinuate want of ability to withstand them.

The assembly, in fact, told him in reply to this message, that in case he passed their bill, he would find himself sufficiently enabled to take every measure that might be neces

sary.

What is farther remarkable, a merchant of Philadelphia, who had supplied the garrisons in Newfoundland with proyisions for six years, and who had now a vessel in the port

freighted with the same, could not obtain a clearance; the governor and council being unanimously of opinion, that, because of the late act to prevent exportations, no such clearance could be granted. A member of the house, who, by order from the navy-contractor at Jamaica had, in like manner, freighted a ship, met with the same difficulty under the same pretence. Both made application to the house for relief: and it was not only resolved, that the said act was of the same tenor with that of New York, and never intended in any wise to restrain the exportation of provisions for his majesty's navy and garrisons, nor could, in their opinion be so understood, except by the most forced construction thereof; but also, that to prevent any ill consequences which might arise from such interpretation, a bill should be immediately prepared at the table for expressly permitting such exportations.

This bill, when finished, was sent up to the governor, who promised to give it all the dispatch in his power; and was followed by another for a longer continuance of the embargo act, with a similar clause of explanation; upon the presenting of which, the governor being asked, by order of the house, whether he had come to any determination upon the former? answered, "that he had read but not considered it." And being farther pressed on the necessities of the service, according to the allegations above specified, said, “that, in case the legislature of the three lower counties did not continue the embargo, the same would expire in a few days, and then there would be no necessity of the said supplementary act; and if the embargo act of the three lower counties should be continued, he would have it in his power to permit vessels laden with provisions or stores for his majesty's service to sail at any time, by the bill the house had sent him for that purpose."

Thus the two ships were to be continued in port, to wait the good pleasure of another, government; and the interval was to be lost to the service, unless the owners found ways and means to accommodate matters with the governor.

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