could not be prevented; 2dly, that as it was in a better state of defence than that of any of the neighbouring colonies equally near the enemy, they could not but hope the inhabitants would be equally safe; and 3dly, that as great unanimity did prevail in their councils, they should, as far as lay in their power, consistent with their just rights, enable the governor to afford the people the continuance of that protection they so much stood in need of," &c.

They also accompanied the said address with the following message; which was obviously of the nature of a postscript, calculated to contain the business purposely omitted in the letter it belonged to.

'As soon as we heard and considered the governor's speech, and before we received his message with the letter from lord Loudon, we resolved to give a sum of money for his majesty's service; demonstrating, by that readiness, that we are not insensible of our duty to the best of kings, nor of the necessity of enabling the governor at this critical conjuncture to protect the people committed to his care.

'As former grants of this kind have been long delayed, or rendered ineffectual, by means of latent proprietary instructions, not communicated to us till we had spent much time in vain in forming our bills, we would now humbly request the governor to lay before us full copies of such of his instructions as relate to money-bills of any kind, with the preambles or other parts that contain the reasons of such instructions; that we may, if possible, avoid all occasions of delay in affairs so important, and that our judgments may be informed of the equity or necessity of rules to which a conformity is required.

'From the governor's candor, and sincere desire to facilitate and expedite, by every means in his power, what is necessary to the public welfare, as well as from the reasonableness of the thing in itself, we have no doubt that he will favor us in granting this request.'

The assembly was civil; the governor was artful. As he would not grant all that was asked, he resolved to be as for

ward as possible in performing as much as he designed. Thus, on the very day their request was made, he laid the instructions in question before them; being the eleventh, twelfth, and twenty-first articles of the proprietary instructions.

Of these, the first regards the interest money arising from the provincial bills of credit, and the money to be raised by excise; and having by advance asserted a joint intention in the said proprietaries, and the house of representatives, to have it applied for the public service, proceeds to ground upon that joint intention a title to an equal power over it; then forbids the governor to give his assent to any bill or act of assembly for emitting, re-emitting, or continuing any paper-currency, unless the whole of the interest money arising therefrom should be disposed of only to the very purposes to be specified in such act, or where that could not be conveniently done, by the joint concurrence of governor and assembly for the time being. And the same prohibition is also extended to all excise laws, except the disposition of the money to be raised by them is also appropriated in the

same manner.

The second, having admitted that a reasonable and moderate quantity of paper-money tended greatly to the benefit of theprovince, as well as to the trade of Great Britain, and that the dangers of depreciation arose only from an over great quantity, authorises and impowers the governor discretionally, on proper inquiry made, and proper assurance obtained of the real utility of such a measure, to make an addition to the present currency of forty thousand pounds more; provided strict regard was had to all the limitations specified in the instruction foregoing; and also, that effectual care was taken that all rents and quit-rents, due to the said proprietaries, should be always paid according to the rate of exchange at the times of payment between the cities of Philadelphia and London, by some sufficient provision in the very act itself, or some separate act, as was done in the 12th of the present king, when the farther sum of eleven thousand one hundred and ten pounds, five shillings was issued.

And the third related to the proprietary estate; concerning which it asserted and maintained, 1st, that the said estate never had been taxed; 2dly, that, over and above such exemption, several acts were passed, giving to the said proprietary a support by duties and other impositions; 3dly, that, since the expiration of those laws, no aid had been given to the proprietaries as such; notwithstanding which, they had on several occasions, shewn their regard to the public service, by voluntarily and cheerfully expending several considerable sums of their own money for the advancement thereof, although no provincial tax had been laid upon the people within their time, till the last year; so that, not having any reason to suspect, the assembly would deviate so much from the ancient usage, as to pretend, by any act of theirs, to charge their estate with the burden of any taxes, they had therefor given the preceding governor no particular instructions on that head; 4thly, that the assembly, taking occasion of the troubles of America, had represented them in a very untrue light, as unwilling to assist the public by contributing to the defence of the country, though no application had been made to either of them for that purpose; 5thly, that the bill they had prepared and sent up for raising fifty thousand pounds for the king's use, by a tax of twelve cents per pound, and twenty shillings per head, was a bill of a most unjust and extraordinary nature; in as much as the estates of the proprietaries were not accepted, but, on the contrary, the assessors were to acquaint themselves with, and procure the amount of their estate in quit-rents, and in the same manner as other estates were assessed and taxed in the respective counties, by virtue of the said bill; as the said twelve cents was laid on the whole value or fee-simple of every estate, which, supposing the same computed at twenty-five years purchase only, was a quarter part more than the whole gross rent, without allowing for any charges or repairs; as it was contrary to the royal charter, which required land-tax bills, as well as other bills, to be consonant to reason, the laws, statutes, and rights of the kingdom, &c. not repugnant to them; as so heavy a tax was not necessary to be laid for the raising such

a sum, which might have been raised many other ways; as calculated for the purpose of putting it in the power of persons wholly chosen by the people to tax their estates up to their full value, and to ease other persons, by taxing them so lightly, as only to make up what might afterwards be wanting to complete the said sum; as the taxing of unimproved lands, yielding no rent or profit to the owner, was highly unreasonable, and contrary both to the practice of Great Britain, and the laws and statutes thereof; as, according to the best inquiries they could make, neither the quit-rents reserved to the crown, or the proprietaries of any other colonies, had ever been taxed towards the raising any supplies granted in those colonies; quit-rents in general being indeed so small, that little or no land-tax would be payable out of them, even in Great Britain, where land-taxes are annual; and as the grantees and owners of such farms and plantations, out of which such very small acknowlegments were reserved to them, did, in case of a land-tax, pay for the value of such their said farms; 6thly, that though their deputy governor did refuse his assent to the bill, on the assembly's refusing to exempt their estates, they were so far from desiring not to contribute to the defence and support of his majesty's rights and dominions, that immediately on the first notice sent them of Braddock's defeat, they sent over an order to their receiver-general to pay out of the arrears of their quit-rents the sum of five thousand pounds, as a free gift towards the defence of the province, desiring all disputes might cease, and that the governor and assembly would join together in measures to oppose the common enemy; 7thly, that the said sum of five thousand pounds, so by them given, was, according to their belief, twenty times more than the tax upon all their estates there, if truly and proportionably rated, according to the value of all other estates, would have amounted to, for raising a sum of fifty thousand pounds; 8thly, that another bill of the same unjust nature, for raising fifty-five thousand pounds, by a tax of six pence in the pound on the clear value of all estates (theirs excepted in consideration of the said free-gift) their then lieutenant-governor not being provided

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with particular instructions with respect to such bill, and be cause the money was then requisite for the defence of the province, gave his assent to; 9thly, that they, tendering as they ought to do, the then exigency of affairs, and the necessity of a supply, did not make any application to his majesty for his royal disallowance of the said act, as at any other time they should have done; 10thly, that the assessors appointed by the assembly in both the said bills were few in number, chosen by the people only, and not one by them; and though incapable of knowing the true value of the several estates, so to be rated and taxed, were made final and absolute judges without appeal; 11thly, that by laying so great a tax to raise so small a sum, the said assessors had it in their power to commit great irregularities, in taxing some estates to their utmost value, and easing others, which would be unequal and unjust, and was so much the more to be feared, because they, the proprietaries, had been informed, that in assessing the ordinary county levies on the like plan, many persons, instead of being rated at their full worth, had not been rated at a fiftieth part of it.

All these several articles (here stated in their full force) are introduced with a Whereas at the head of each, and all implicated in one embarrassed immeasurable period; to which is tacked the instruction itself, with the following preamble:

'And whereas the said assembly appear to us to have been inclined not only to load and burden our estates with taxes by their authority, directly contrary to former usage, but even to charge the same disproportionably, and in an unequal manner, in order to ease the estates of others, which is a measure we are by no means willing to consent to; and as the present invasion of his majesty's American dominions, may make it necessary to raise further supplies for his service în our said province, the assembly may hereafter propose and offer bills or acts of assembly, to lay additional taxes on real estates there ;, you are, therefore, hereby required and directed, not to give your assent to any bill or act of assembly of that sort, unless the act be made to continue for one single year only, and no longer,' &c.