"No. 4. "To Andrew Hamilton and John Georges, Esqrs. : "I had great Pleasure in believing, as well by the Letter from the "Governor of Pennsylvania as by your Paper of the 22d Instant, "that you were invested with sufficient Powers to agree to any rea"sonable Proposals for the accommodating the present Disputes, & "preventing any of the like kind for the future, And upon this "Hope, I offered the particular Methods mentioned in mine of the "23d Instant, as very reasonable, & the most proper for those desir"able Ends. But since to my very great concern, I perceive by "your Paper of yesterday's date, delivered to me this day, that you "think yourselves not sufficiently authorized to joyn with me in my "just and reasonable Propositions, I can only hope, that on your "Return to Pennsylvania you will receive more ample Powers for "your Agreement with, "Gentlemen, "Your most humble Servant, "Annapolis, "25th May, 1734. E. "No. 5. "To His Excellency Samuel Ogle, Esqr., Lieutenant Governor of "the Province of Maryland: "Sir: "We had no reason to doubt but the Satisfaction we expressed in (( our Paper of the 24th Inst. at the Offers you were pleased to make "of joining with us in such Measures as might preserve the Peace amongst the Inhabitants living upon the Borders of the two Governments, must have convinced your Excellency that We conceived "ourselves fully authorized to do whatever might tend to the accom"plishing that necessary Work. For tho' we were, as we still are "of Opinion, that Measures might be taken for preventing any fur"ther Disturbances upon the Borders, without any Representation (( to His Majesty, and that it would be most proper for the Proprietors "of the Provinces of Maryland & Pennsylvania, or their Lieutenant "Governors, to join in such a Representation as they should agree ፡፡ upon; Yet rather than so good a Work as the restoring Peace to "the Inhabitants of the two Governments should be delayed, We are ready on the part of Pennsylvania, (at the same time that We agree upon some reasonable Boundaries for limiting the Jurisdic"tion of the two Governments,) to joyn with your Excellency in a "just Representation to His Majesty, of the Uncertainty of the pre"sent Boundaries between the two Governments, occasioned by "not executing the Articles of Agreement, solemnly Entered into & "concluded between the Right Honble the Lord Proprietor of Mary"land & the Honble the Proprietor of Pennsylvania & Counties of 66 "Newcastle, Kent & Sussex on Delaware, in May, 1732; And to "pray His Majesty, that He will be graciously pleased to interpose "& Enjoin the Execution of the said Agreement, according to the "true Intent and Meaning thereof, in such Manner as His Majesty "shall please to direct. In which Representation We hope your "Excellency will readily agree with, "Sir, "Most obedient humble Servants, "A. HAMILTON, "JOHN GEORGES. "Annapolis, "27th May, 1734." E. "No. 6. "To His Excellency Samuel Ogle, Esqr., Lieutenant Governor of "the Province of Maryland. "Sir: "It would be an unnecessary trouble again to repeat the several "Applications that have been made by us on the Part of the Go"vernmt. of Pennsylvania to your Excellency, for your Concurrence "in Measures to preserve the Peace amongst His Majesty's Subjects "living upon the Borders of Maryland & Pennsylvania, &c., & which "We conceived could best be done by agreeing upon some Bounds "for limiting the present Jurisdiction of both Governments, untill "His Majesty's Pleasure should be known therein, without prejudice "to the Right of the Proprietors thereof. "This will appear abundantly plain, by the Several written Rep"resentations which we have delivered to your Excellency since our "coming to this place, on the 20th Inst., and it will likewise appear "by the Several papers we have received from your Excellency, on "the Part of Maryland, in what manner you have answered our "Request. "Our Endeavours with your Excellency for discharging four of "the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania & Counties of Newcastle, Kent "& Sussex on Delaware, taken by Order of your Government from "their own Dwellings, within the Government of Pennsylvania, were "entirely disregarded, & we referred to the Courts of Law, where 6 you was pleased to say those Persons were under Prosecution, tho' "it is manifest that two of them, (vizt :) Thomas Rothwell, Junr., "& Jared Rothwell, have been settled upon Five hundred Acres of "Land granted under the Honble William Penn, Esqr., late Pro"prietor of the Province of Pennsylva., & the Counties aforesaid, by "his Commissioners of Property, about forty eight years ago, & pos"sessed under the said Government above twenty years, by the said "Rothwells & their Father, who have constantly done Suit & "Service to the County of Newcastle, & without Interruption from any Person, except by one James Heath, lately deceased, who laid "Claim to some Part of the said Lands by a very late Survey "made in Right of Maryland: And others of the said Persons, "(vizt :) John Hendricks & Joshua Minshall, are settled upon Lands "in Lancaster County, in the said Province of Pennsylvania, held "under the Proprietors thereof, at least eight Miles to the North"ward of Philadelphia, & twenty three to the Northward of the "Bounds agreed upon by the Lord Baltimore & the Proprietors of "Pennsylvania, in the year 1732. And that We might leave no "Means unattempted for the Relief of these injured Men, (who have "been most unwarrantably confined in a loathsome Goal above "three Months, from their own Houses, & in a strange Place, with"out any means to subsist on,) We applied to your Provincial Court, " & in order to induce that Court to discharge the Prisoners, We "shew'd, as we conceive, in the Clearest Manner, that the Lands 66 upon which these Men live & were taken, are not within the Pro"vince of Maryland. We made it manifest that in the year 1632, "(the time when Lord Baltimore obtained his Patent from the "Crown,) & long before the Dutch & Sweeds were possessed of all "that Tract of Land on the West side of Delaware Bay & River, "( now called the Counties of Newcastle, Kent & Sussex on Delawae And that the same Lands in 1664, were taken from the Dutch "by the English, & afterwards retaken from the English by the "Dutch, & in the year 1674, finally surrendered to the English; And "that Lord Baltimore never had possession of the said Tract of "Land to this day, but hath Subsisting against him, upon his two "several Petitions, two solemn Decisions, vizt : one made in Council "in the year 1685 by his Majesty, King James the 2d, & the other "by Her late Majesty, Queen Anne, in Council, in the year 1709, "by both which He stands excluded from any Pretence of Right to "the said three lower Counties. "It was further stated to the said Provincial Court, that Lord "Baltimore had, in the year 1683, taken upon him to determine the "Northern Bounds of his own Province, without the Consent of the "Proprietary of Pensylvania, by running a Line from the Mouth of "Octorara Creek, (which falls into the River Sasquehannah,) East"ward to the River Delaware, And that in the year 1742, by Ar"ticles of Agreement solemnly concluded between the Lord Propri"etary of Maryland & the Proprietaries of Pennsylva., the Bounds "of the two Governments were so certainly describ'd that the Southern Bounds of Pennsylvania, & consequently the Northern Bounds "of Maryland, cou'd be very nearly discovered, tho' the Lines were "not actually run; And that Joshua Minshall & John Hendricks 66 were arrested by the Officers of Maryland, at their own dwellings, "which is about twenty three Miles to the Northward of both the "Octorara Line, commonly called Lord Baltimore's Line, & the "Place where it is well known the East & West Line agreed upon "by the said articles, to be run at the distance of fifteen Miles South "of the City of Philadelphia, will fall. "This was represented with the greatest plainess, & that if neither "the Bounds which Lord Baltimore had set to Himself so long ago 66 as the year 1673, nor the Bounds so lately concluded upon by "both Proprietors, cou'd limit Lord Baltimore's Jurisdiction, then"it was plain there is no part of Pennsylvania, how remote or dis"tant soever the same may be from Maryland, but what is lyable to "be claimed by Lord Baltimore, & the Persons who have honestly "purchased Lands & improved the same, may, upon pretence of 66 some disregard shewn to Lord Baltimore's Character or Govern"ment, be forcibly taken from their Dwellings & imprisoned with "the greatest severity. But so it was, lest his Lordship's Claim to "the Lands upon which the aforesd. Hendricks, &c. lived, should be "thought to be given up by the discharge of the said Prisoners, they were denied to be relieved by the said Court, & now its required "they should plead to the Several Informations exhibited against "them, & submit to have it tried by a Jury of Maryland, whether "the Lands upon which they live lye within the Province of Penn"sylvania. 66 "Thus having, on the part of the Government of Pennsylvania, "tho' in vain, us'd all Means in our power to be in some measure "relieved from those Injuries & Violences done to its Inhabitants, "& to procure the Concurrence of the Government of Maryland in "Measures to preserve the Peace between His Majesty's Subjects "inhabiting near the Borders of the two Governments, untill the "lines should be actually run by the Proprietors themselves, or till "His Majesty's pleasure shall be known therein, yet being perswa"ded that such Proceedings by the Governt. of Maryland, which "is a dependant Government, as well as that of Pennsylvania, & "Equally accountable to His Majesty for its Conduct, are not only 66 contrary to that Faith & Duty we all owe to His said Majesty, but "even to the Laws of natural Equity, in taking upon them to judge "in their own Case, & by that means to determine the right of their "Neighbours, which manifestly tends to destroy that Peace which "ought to be preserved amongst His Majesty's Subjects, and to ren"der the Rights of the Inhabitants of the said Province of Pennsyl"vania & Counties aforesaid, as well as the safety of their Persons, "uncertain & precarious. "It is therefore hoped that none who entertain any just Notions "of the Rights of Mankind, will blame the Government of Pennsyl"vania, if they take proper Measures for Protecting his Majesty's "Subjects under their Jurisdiction, from the outrages so frequently "committed upon them by the People of Maryland, and by dutifull 66 Representation of their great patience under these publick Abuses, "implore His Majesty's most gracious Interposition. And if, in the "mean time, should the Government of Pennsylvania (whose principles are well known to be against all Force, & who next to His "Majesty's protection, have no means to defend themselves but the "Authority of the Civil Magistrate,) to be laid under a Necessity "for their own Safety, of doing what may be deemed unneighbourly, or to give trouble or uneasiness to His Majesty's Subjects pretending themselves to be under the Government of Maryland. We do "declare that it will be entirely owing to your Excellency's not "joyning with us in some reasonable & Equitable Measures for pre"serving the Peace amongst His Majesty's Subjects inhabiting near "the Borders of the two Governments, and the unreasonable Con"finement and Prosecution of our Inhabitants, who were without all "Question taken by your Officers within our Government of Penn"sylvania, & for that Reason, had they really been guilty of any "Offence, ought to have been discharged. We are, "Sir, "City of Annapolis, in the Province of Maryland, May 31st, "1734. "Then came before me James Holliday, Esquire, one of the "Judges of the Provincial Court of Maryland, John Georges of Philadelphia, Gent., and Andrew Hamilton, of the said City, "Junior, (being now at Annapolis, aforesaid,) and being sworn on "the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, did severally declare, And "the said John Georges doth declare, that he delivered this Day to "his Excellency Samuel Ogle, Esqr., Governor of Maryland, the "Original of the within Paper, signed Andrew Hamilton & John "Georges; and the said Andrew Hamilton, Junr., doth say, that he "wrote the Original of which the within is a true Copy, and was "present and saw John Georges deliver the said -Original Paper to "the said Samuel Ogle, Esquire, at his own House, at Annapolis, "the day and year abovesd. And further they say not. "this 31st. day of May, Anno Dom. 1734, before me. "JA. HOLLYDAY." Sworn E. At a Council held at Philadelphia, July 31st, 1734. The Minute of the preceeding Council being read and approved: The Consideration of what the Governor had then laid before the Board touching the Popish Chappell, was resumed, & the Charter of Privileges with the Law of this Province concerning Liberty, being |