rious search has been necessary, and has been performed), in doing which, they beg leave to state here, that they think they have adopted the most economical plan possible, so much so, that the annual appropriation will scarcely be felt after the receipts from the sale of the works are deducted.

The plan adopted by the Committee contemplates the publication of two works: 1st, the continuation of the Colonial Records, and 2d, the selection of the most valuable of the original papers, and their publication, under the title of "Pennsylvania Annals.' Both are to be published by contract, in which way it is believed that the price paid per volume will be very much less than that paid for the Colonial Records heretofore printed, while at the same time a proper fulfilment of the contract is carefully provided for. The edition of each work is directed to be the same as the number fixed in the Act of 1837, to wit: fifteen hundred copies, of which one thousand are to be sold, and five hundred distributed, as provided in the act. The price of the copies to be sold is reduced from one dollar and sixty cents to one dollar, which, in the opinion of the Committee, will ensure their sale, for the volumes of the Colonial Records already published, freely command one dollar and fifty cents per volume, and are not easily procurable even then; and of the immediate sale of the Annals no doubt can be entertained when the contents of those volumes are known. Their general interest throughout the country will be such that all persons will be desirous of possessing a copy. But, in affixing the price, the Committee were anxious to ensure as general a circulation as possible, by putting the works within the reach of all. The Colonial Records, as the Committee are informed, will probably make about eight additional volumes, of which two are directed to be published annually until the whole be completed, and the Annals will be embraced in not more than three volumes of the same size, which are to be published as soon as the selection and preparation is completed. The contract price, from the best information your Committee can procure, is estimated at from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars per volume, so that after deducting the estimated receipts, the nett cost of publication to the Commonwealth will be but a few hundred dollars per volume. For further details of the plan, the Senate is respectfully referred to the Act itself.

Your Committee now beg the indulgence of the Senate while endeavoring to give a brief sketch of the contents of the proposed works.

By the Acts of 4th April, 1837, and 14th April, 1838, the immediate publication of the Colonial Records was directed. Under the authority of those acts three volumes were published, when, owing to the monetary embarrassments of the Commonwealth, the publication was suspended. This, as an act of justice to the creditors of the State, was correct, but as our finances are now in a more flourishing condition than they have been for years, that reason can

prizes, has made most liberal provision for the preservation, collection, and publication of her early history, sending agents, at great expense, to England and Holland, to examine and extract from the records of those countries, all papers throwing light upon the early history of that State, copies of which have been made for her use. Other States have taken similar steps, and the expense of one such mission would probably exceed the entire appropriation asked for in the accompanying bill.

The Co

Nor are we without similar examples in the prior history of thi Commonwealth. In 1752, the Legislature of that year directed the publication of the Journals of the House, from 1684 to that time. which owing to the poverty of the colony, and the scarcity of print ing materials, had that far remained in manuscript. It was a bol and expensive undertaking for a poor and thinly-populated colony but it was accomplished, and to the wisdom and liberality of o!" ancestors, we owe the preservation of these journals, embraced i seven large folio volumes, and now in the State Library. lonial Records would doubtless have been published ere this, for the public men of those days had wise and enlightened views, but up to the Revolution they were looked upon in a great measure as Stat secrets, and their publication would not have been permitted. Bu the proceedings of the Council of Censors were published by the Legislature at a later period, and surely if, when this State was comparatively poor, it could afford to spend, what were to then large sums, in the preservation and publication of the Acts an Records of Government, it can now afford to expend an infinitely smaller sum, in proportion to resources and population, in carryin on a work of such importance.

In the opinion of the committee, Pennsylvania has lagged behin her sister States in the preservation and publication of the mat. rials for the true history of the United States sufficiently long, and is now time that she should perform her fair share. In addition this, the fact should be remembered, that Pennsylvania is one the oldest States in the Union-that her local history is not t least interesting, and that a proper sense of State pride, as Penns vanians, should induce us to make public the struggles and trials her early settlers, as well as the sacrifices and patriotism of her so during the Revolutionary contest, the notorious neglect of which, most of the published histories, should cause the check of eve true-hearted Pennsylvanian to blush, the more esp neglect has been in a great measure caused by the Legislature to make public and accessib

evidence of those services.

In conclusion, the Committee des nation of the plan which they h bill, for the publication of the Governor's message, and to ex of the said records and pap

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no longer be advanced. But the cessation of the work at that particular period was unfortunate, for the volumes published were the least interesting part of the whole series, as owing to the limited size of the infant colony, and the absence of any war or commotion, the whole attention of the government was confined to the domestic affairs of the settlements upon the Delaware. Afterwards, as the reader approaches nearer the French and Indian wars, the whole character of the work changes. It is no longer a dry record of the official proceedings of the Council upon matters of little general interest at this day, but is interspersed with letters from agents and officers, reporting Indian massacres on the frontiers, with the correspondence and requisitions of officers of the British forces, with journals of extensive journeys made through the untrodden wildernesses of the northern and western parts of what are now the State of Pennsylvania, with records of the raising and officering of Colonial regiments, and with minutes of the various Indian councils and treaties, in which the speeches of the chiefs, often highly eloquent, are reported at length. To specify all the contents of the later volumes would be impossible within the limits of this report, but in general it may be said, that with the wider sphere of action the general interest is proportionably increased, and that many matters of the highest local interest, now forgotten, will be again brought to light. The petitions, remonstrances, and sufferings of the early settlers will be there found, and as a matter of curiosity it may be mentioned that the original Indian names of tribes, towns, mountains, and rivers, now in many cases forgotten, are there, and there only preserved. In short, your Committee believe that the later volumes of the series will not only prove of general interest, but will be of such historical value, that some knowledge of their contents will be essential to every one professing to be conversant with the history of his native State.

It may also here be said, that the publication of this work would much foster and encourage the spirit of local inquiry now springing up throughout the State, as evidenced by the various county histories already published, and in this manner incidentally much valuble information may be preserved; and the encouragement of objects of this kind has ever been deemed a pleasing duty on the part of all liberal and enlightened governments.

As to the contents of the proposed Pennsylvania Annals, your Committee can scarcely find terms sufficiently strong to express their opinion of the value of those papers. Their other duties did not permit them to examine all the original documents in the Secretary's office, for that would be the labor of months; but many of the bundles were opened and their contents noted. Among the portion connected with the Revolutionary history of the Commonwealth, will be found many original letters from Generals Washington, Wayne, St. Clair, Sterling, Putnam, Arnold, La Fayette, Steuben, and others of the military chieftains of that day, from the Gover

nors and Committees of Safety of New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and other States, and from distinguished civilians, such as Franklin, Hancock, Clinton, Adams, and others of the same stamp. These were found in the bundles examined by the Committee; what may still remain in others, no one can tell without examination, for the papers are in such disorder that the endorsements only serve to mislead. Among the Washington letters are two of particular value, one written shortly after the battles of Trenton and Princeton, in which the prompt aid afforded by this State is said to have saved his army, and the other, covering twelve or fourteen pages of foolscap, in relation to the treason of General Arnold, then recently discovered. What seems to be the entire correspondence relative to St. Clair's expedition and defeat, is also among these papers.

Of papers referring to the Colonial and ante-revolutionary history of the Commonwealth, the collection is equally rich and rare. Your Committee found original letters to the Government of Pennsylvania from the great William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, the Dukes of Argyle and Newcastle, the Earls of Halifax, Loudon, and others, Lord Amherst, Gen. Abercrombie, Gen. Braddock, whose whole correspondence, from his landing to his defeat, seems to be preserved, Governor Shirley, Sir William Pepperel, relative to the capture of Louisburg, General Gage, Sir William Johnston, of Johnston Hall, the Governors Penn, the Governors of adjacent colonies, and many other persons of distinction, which doubtless contain important historical facts. Besides these, there are a large number of letters from officers of the colony, containing facts of more immediate importance to the history of Pennsylvania. Among these may be mentioned numerous letters from Colonels Conrad Weiser, Hugh Mercer (who was killed at Princeton), John and George Armstrong, George Croghan, Major James Burd, and many other officers, containing reports of skirmishes, expeditions, the state of the country, &c., &c. There are also a large number of papers relative to the Connecticut settlers at Wyoming, which controversy forms an interesting and very important portion of our Colonial history. Among the curiosities may be mentioned an autograph letter of Col. George Washington, enclosing the original summons and terms of capitulation in the affair at Fort Necessity. In addition to all these there are many journals of expeditions through the wilderness, as early as from 1730 to 1740, either to examine the country purchased, or about to be purchased from the Indians, to inspect the various forts. erected to protect the frontiers from Indian incursions, or to make treaties with the Indians. Some of these journeys were so extensive as to reach the Ohio, and others crossed the New York line, and they are filled with highly interesting sketches of the state of the country and manners of the Indian inhabitants.

In short, your Committee are of opinion, that the Pennsylvania Annals will prove one of the most interesting and valuable contributions to historical knowledge which has yet been given to the