"troops quartered within this Colony and for paying Captain Philip Martin1 the losses sustained "in the house of Major James on the first of November 1765.".

By this Act it is provided that the Treasurer of that Colony shall, out of certain funds therein mentioned, pay unto His Excellency Thomas Gage, Commander in Chief of your Majesty's Forces in North America or his order, or to Commander in Chief for the time being or order, the sum of three thousand pounds to be applied for furnishing necessaries for Your Majesty's Troops quartered within that Colony; and no mention whatever is made of the persons by whom or the mode in which the service shall be performed; nor is there any specification of the particular articles to be furnished to the barracks.

On the same day that this Act was passed, the General Assembly was prorogued, between which time and their meeting again in November, Your Majesty's Governor received the Act of Parliament, and on the lStb of November 1767. he communicated it to the Council and Assembly of New York, who in their address in answer to the speech made by him upon that occasion express their concern at having fallen under the displeasure of the British Parliament, and refer to what they had done in the preceeding Session, as such a compliance with the Act of Parliament as did in their opinion take away any scruple the Governor could have to concur in such things as the publick good of the Colony might require.

In this opinion Your Majesty's Governor appears to have acquiesced, and accordingly the General Assembly proceeded to business in the usual manner, and several laws were made and enacted; amongst which there is one for making a further provision of fifteen hundred pounds for furnishing your Majesty's troops quartered in that Colony with necessaries, and the sums requisite for quartering Your Majesty's troops are directed to be drawn out of the Treasury by warrant of the Governor and Council without any specification either of the manner in which the service shall be performed or of the articles which are to be furnished.

From these proceedings it evidently appears that the Legislature of Your Majesty's Province of New York have considered the Act passed by them in June 1767. as a full and complete obedience to and compliance with the Acts of Parliament above recited; and when we consider the nature and terms of the Act of Parliament of the 7th year of Your Majesty's reign, which in the enacting part is entirely silent as to the mode of providing the necessaries required by the former law, and compare that Act with the provisions of the law passed in New York in 1767. we cannot but be of opinion that the object & intention of it are thereby in effect answered and provided for.

But how far in the strict and legal construction of this law it is such a compliance can give validity to all Acts and Proceedings there, subsequent to the first of October 1767. is a question which it is our duty humbly to submit to Your Majesty's determination upon such an opinion and advice of the Law Officers as Your Majesty shall think fit to take thereupon. All which is most humbly submitted,

Clare

Soame Jenyns
J. Dyson

Whitehall

May 7. 1768.

Wm FITZHERBERT
THOMAS ROBINSON.

'PHILIP MARTIN was appointed 2d Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery 2d April, 1757, and 1st Lieutenant on 1st February, 1759; Captain-Lieutenant on the 7th December, 1763; Captain 1st January, 1771; Major 7th June, 1782, and LieutenantColonel on the 14th May, 1791. His name is dropped in 1796 from the Army Littt. —ED.

(N° 2.) My Lord,

Governor Moore to the Earl of Hillsborough.

[New York, CLX., A. 23. ]

Fort George, New York. May 7th 1768.

As I shall allways give the strictest obedience to all His Majesty's Orders which I shall have the honor of receiving, I shall be particularly attentive to what is directed in your Lordship's first letter to me concerning the communication of Occurrences that may happen, & a regular transmission of all Acts and proceedings of the Government and Legislature here- The Distresses of that part of the Country bordering on the Connecticut River were so great soon after the Repeal of the Act of Assembly which had erected it into a County, that it was apprehended many of the Inhabitants would be under a necessity of quitting it, for it was become an Asylum for persons guilty of all sorts of crimes, and a great number of wretches who had fled from justice not only in this but in the neighbouring Provinces of New Hampshire, Massachusets and Connecticut took up their quarters there, and committed all kinds of Disorders with impunity; In consequence of the sufferings of the People, who were constantly solliciting for some relief, His Majesty's Council here advis'd the erecting of those lands into a County by an Ordinance, which was accordingly done that they might be intitled to some Protection from the Laws of their Country; A Copy of the Ordinance is here inclos'd, and notwithstanding no particular priviledges are excepted in it, I shall not issue any writs for electing Members of Assembly in that County, (as His Majesty's Instructions forbid that the number of the Assembly should be encreas'd or diminish'd) 'til the increase of Inhabitants should make this measure necessary, and His Majesty's permission be obtain'd upon their Representation; At present they are far from wishing or desiring such a Priviledge, for the custom still prevails here of allowing a certain Salary to the Members of the Assembly during their Session, and this part of the Country is not at this time in a Condition to support such an Expence. I have the honor to be with the greatest respect.

I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship the Copy of a letter I wrote in the beginning

of the last year1 to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, in answer to a Letter

I received from their Lordships in consequence of the Address of the House of Commons to His Majesty concerning the Manufactures of this Country, dated March 27th 1766 Another Copy of this Address has been inclosed to me in your Lordships letter marked N° 3, to which I must make the same answer, as the progress of Manufactures in this part of the world by no means corresponds with the pompous accounts given of them in the public papers. The dearness of labour and the cheapness of Lands, are invincible obstructions to the progress of them, and more especially in a country where the genius of the people is so universally inclined to Agriculture. No mention is made in the former Letter of great quantities of leather being tanned in this Country, as this branch of business has been carried on for many years: the leather is greatly inferior in quality to that made in Europe; and they are not yet arrived to the perfection of making sole-leather. Your Lordship may be assured, that I shall from time to time, give every due information required in this Address, and be particularly attentive to any new establishments of which we have no instances since my last letter, except in the paper-mill begun to be erected within these few days, at a small distance from the town. I am &c. H. MOORE.

(No. 6.) My Lore.

Governor Moore to the Earl of Hillsborough.

[New York CLX., A. 26.]

Fort George, New York, May 9th 1768.

I am extremely sorry to hear that Mr Colden has been under a necessity of making applications to your Lordship, on the Subjects of his Salary, and the damages he receiv'd in the late Disorders here, & since that on Account of the Apprehensions he is under from the late Proceedings of the Assembly in regard to a Pamphlet said to be wrote by him in justification of his conduct. In obedience to His Majesty's Commands I have made the strictest Inquiries into this matter, and have now the honor to inform your Lordship, that on the 23d of December last some passages out of the abovemention'd Pamphlet having been read in the House of Assembly, a Committee was appointed to enquire into the Contents of it, & a Message sent to the Council desiring they would appoint a Committee from that Board to joyn with them in the intended Inquiry; This was done, and a Report made of the joynt proceedings on the 30th of December on which was founded the Resolutions herewith transmitted to your Lordship;—As the Assembly continued sitting after this Report was on made until the 6,h of February on which day they were dissolv'd, several Persons were examin'd before them concerning their knowledge of the Author or Publisher of the Pamphlet, and a great deal of pains seemingly taken to come at a discovery of what every body else but themselves appear'd to be well acquainted with; I am inform'd that a son in law of Mr Colden's on his examination declar'd that he believ'd his Father in Law to be the Author, and I told some of the Members myself that if they really wanted information, I was persuaded Mr Colden would upon their application to him ingenuously declare to them who the Author was, and save them the trouble of farther examinations, But this I apprehend was not the point

aim'd at, for on the discovery being made, their own inability to punish must have appear'd, whereas their method of proceeding and some Menaces occasionally hinted could not fail of giving uneasiness to Mr Colden & his Family; Your Lordship may very well imagine that if there had not been some material Business before them, I could not have suffer'd a Farce of this kind to be carried on for such a length of time, but as the Treasurer of the Province was lately dead, & considerably indebted to the Public, a great deal of time was employ'd in settling matters with his Family, and as soon as this business was done, I put an end to the Session. The inclosed paper was deliver'd to me on the Stair Case of the Town Hall as I was going up to the Council Chamber about ten minutes before the Assembly was dissolv'd, and as I have never heard the least mention of the matter in Question from that moment to this, I cannot but think it a little extraordinary that Mr Colden should trouble your Lordship on such a subject supposing any thing was really intended against him, before he had been disappointed in his expectation of the support he wanted here whereas no application was ever made on this head to me either by himself or family, and I never heard 'till I had the honor of receiving your Lordship's Letter that he was under the least dread of any disagreable consequences to himself from what had pass'd in the late Session. This is not the only point in which I have differ'd in opinion with Mr Colden in regard to the designs of the People here, and I am convinc'd that he has suffer'd his apprehension to carry him too great lengths and of course has been betray'd into a diffidence which I think had better been avoided. I hope I shall not be thought tedious in endeavouring to support what I have advanc'd here and beg leave to inform your Lordship, that on my arrival here I found Mr Colden so much alarm'd that he had thought it necessary to fortify himself in the Fort, and was actually under the daily apprehension of being attack'd; My landing was unexpected, and as I proceeded directly to the Fort was let in at the Wicket, Orders having been given for some time before to keep the gates shut & not to suffer any of the Townspeople to enter; As soon as my Commission was read at the Council Board and the power put into my hands I order'd the Fort Gates to be thrown open, contrary to Mr Colden's opinion, who endeavour'd to dissuade me from it, and express'd some uneasiness at the Concourse of People which was by this time assembled at the Fort Gate, To this I answer'd: that if any mischief was intended against him I assured him that I would share the same fate with him and sent the Constables out to let the People know that they might come into the Fort and hear his Majesty's Commission publish'd, the few troops we had here at that time which amounted to no more than 160 Men being drawn out on the parade; Great numbers crouded into the Fort upon this occasion, who behav'd with the greatest decency and standing uncover'd kept a profound silence during the whole time the Commission was reading. From the Fort we proceeded to the Town Hall, but Mr Colden was still apprehensive that some indignity would be offer'd to his person notwithstanding what he had so lately seen and desir'd I would excuse his attendance there, which I readily did, as I did not choose to press any thing which would give him pain, The Procession was made through a very great croud of People collected on this occasion, and the well tim'd confidence in them I had shew'd so Boon after my arrival had such an effect on the Inhabitants, that the Gloom which hung over them in the Morning was totally dispers'd in a few hours, and the evening concluded with Bonfires and Illuminations throughout the whole City. - The Complaint Mr Colden has made concerning his Salary and the recompense deny'd him for what he suffer'd in the late disorders here is but too well founded; Nothing can be said in justification of the Proceedings of the Assembly, and it has given me great concern that I have not had interest enough in that House

to prevent this manifest Act of Injustice; No pains have been spared by me to effect it, and the most sensible men among them were so fully persuaded of the improper measures which had been pursued on this occasion that they were ready to contribute with the greatest pleasure to remove this reproach which has fallen on the Province but they have been overpower'd by numbers. It is our misfortune here that the greatest part of the House of Assembly consists Men whose Education has been extremely confin'd, and the illiberal notions in which they have been brought up are not to be eradicated without the greatest difficulty. There can not be a more striking Instance of it than in the present case, where a pique against a Person in his Private capacity is to be resented by a Public collective Body, and a repaoach cast upon a whole Province to gratify the resentment of a few Individuals. I did, agreable to the directions in Mr Secretary Conway's Letter to me recommend this matter in my speech to the Assembly and have since endeavour'd by private applications to serve Mr Colden, but hitherto without effect; The Assembly having been lately dissolv'd and several new Members chosen in the late Elections, I may in all probability have better success in the next Session, and I beg your Lordship will be assur'd that nothing in my power shall be wanting either to procure the Satisfaction requir'd for Mr Colden or to defend him against any malicious attempts of his Enemies. I have the honor to be with the greatest Respect,

It would give me great pleasure if I could boldly assert that the inflammatory Publications in the printed News Papers here mention'd in your Lordship's letter had been treated with the contempt they really deserve, but I am afraid the bad effects of them are but too sensible already, and that the doctrine they would endeavour to establish is without the least reluctance adopted by all Ranks and conditions of People here; The Provinces of Massachusets and Pensylvania furnish us so plentifully with Papers of this kind that we have no occasion for any Writers of our own on the subjects they handle with so much freedom, and if the attempts to promote Sedition had been confin'd to the Limits of their particular Provinces I should not have thought it so much my duty to mention to your Lordship what would in the common course of Business have been communicated by the respective Governors of those Colonies but when they are extended so far as to endanger the tranquillity of the Province committed to my charge, I think I am particularly call'd upon to exert myself in opposition to measures which can only tend to make a breach between the Mother Country and the Colonies. The Inhabitants of Boston not satisfy'd with the Associations enter'd into among themselves, which