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"I must, therefore, recommend it to you, Gentlemen of the Corporation, & through you to the People of this City to be upon their Guard, and ready to take such measures for the safety of the City and Province as the motions of the Enemy may make necessary; And that you may be prepared not only to defend yourselves but to afford your assistance to such parts of the Country as may stand in need of it, I must desire that you, the Mayor, Recorder, and Alderman, will recommend to me proper persons to be appointed Officers upon the present occasion, To whom I will immediately issue Commissions. I am, Gentlemen,

"Your most Obed' humble Servant,

"ROBERT H. MORRIS."

At a Council held at Philad2 19th Nov, 1755, A. M.

PRESENT:

The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &c.

Robert Strettell,

Joseph Turner,

Richard Peters,

Thomas Cadwalader,
Lynford Lardner,

Esqrs.

The Assembly's Message to the Governor with the Bill for striking £60,000, & adhering to it and rejecting all the Governor's Amendments being read, and the Governor desiring the Council's opinion whether he should pass the Bill unamended.

The Council unanimously agreed that the Governor ought not to pass the Bill unamended, and gave several reasons which were inserted in a rough Draft of a Message proposed to be sent in answer thereto, but as there was not time to perfect it now the Gov" was desired to consider it fully, and finish it as soon as possible.

And the other Message relating to the enquiry desired by the Assembly to be made whether the Delawares and Shawanese having been alieniated in their Affections from this Government, is not owing to their not having received satisfaction from the Proprietaries for a large Tract of Land they purchased of them.

Referred to Mr. Strettel, Mr. Turner and Doctor Cadwalader, to enquire into that Affair and make report thereof to the Governor that he may be enabled to give the Assembly an answer to his Message.

A Letter of the 11th of August last from his Excellency Charles Lawrence, Esq Governor of Nova Scotia, accompanying one hun

dred and sixty-eight Men, Women and Children, of the Neutral French, imported here from Halifax, was read in these words:

A Letter from His Excellency Cha Lawrence, Esq" to Governor Morris.

"Sir:

"HALIFAX, in Nova Scotia, 11th Aug 1755.

"The success that has attended his Majesty's Arms in driving the French from the encroachments they had made in this Province, furnished me with a favourable opportunity of reducing the French Inhabitants of this Colony to a proper obedience to his Majesty's Government, or forcing them to quit the Country. These Inhabitant were permitted to remain in quiet possession of their Lands, upon Condition that they should take the Oath of Allegiance to the King within one Year after the Treaty of Utrecht, by which this Province was receded to Great Britain, with this Condition they have ever refused to comply, without having at the same time from the Governor an assurance in writing that they should not be called upon to bear Arms in the defence of the Province, and with this General Philipps did comply, of which step his Majesty had disapproved; and the Inhabitants pretending therefrom to be in a state of Neutrality between his Majesty and his Enemies, have continually furnished the French & Indians with Intelligence, Quarters, Provisions, and Assistance, in annoying the Government, and while one part have abetted the French encroachments by their treachery, the other have countenanced them by open rebellion, and three hundred of them were actually found in Arms in the french Fort at Beausejour when it surrendered.

"Notwithstanding all their former bad behaviour, as his Majesty was pleased to allow me to extend still further his Royal Grace to such as would return to their Duty, I offered such of them as had not been openly in Arms against us, a continuance of the possession of their Lands, if they would take the Oath of Allegiance unqualified with any Reservation whatsoever, but this they have most audaciously, as well as unanimously refused, and if they would presume to do this when there is a large Fleet of Ships of War in the Harbour, and a considerable Land force in the Province, what might not we expect from them when the approaching Winter deprives us of the former, & when the Troops which are only hired from New England occasionally and for a small time, have returned home?

"As by this behaviour the Inhabitants have forfeited all tittle to their Lands and any further favour from the Government, I called together his Majesty's Council, (at which the Hon'ble Vice Admiral Boscawen and Rear Admiral Mostyn assisted), to consider by what means we could with the greatest Security & effect rid our selves of a set of People who would forever have been an obstruc

tion to the intention of settling this Colony, and that it was now from their refusal of the Oath absolutely incumbent upon us to

remove.

"As their numbers amount to near Seven thousand Persons, the driving them off with leave to go whither they pleased would have doubtless strengthened Canada with so considerable a number of Inhabitants, & as they have no cleared Lands to give them at present, such as are able to bear Arms must have been immediately employed in annoying this and the neighboring Colonies. To prevent such an inconvenience it was judged a necessary and the only practicable measure to divide them among the Colonies, where they may be of some use, as most of them are healthy, strong People; and as they cannot easily collect themselves together again it will be out of their power to do any mischief, and they may become profitable, and, it is possible, in time faithful Subjects.

"As this step was indispensably necessary to the security of this Colony, upon whose preservation from French encroachments the prosperity of North America is esteemed in a great measure dependent, I have not the least reason to doubt of your Excellency's concurrence, & that you will receive the Inhabitants I now send & dispose of them in such manner as may best answer our design in preventing their Reunion.

"As the Vessels employed in this Service are upon monthly hire, I beg the favour of you to expedite as much as possible their discharge, & that they may be furnished with a certificate of the time thereof agreeable to the form enclosed.

"I am, Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant, "CHA LAWRENCE.

"To His Excellency Gov" MORRIS."

And then the Governor desired the opinion of the Council what should be done with the said Neutrals.

The Council are of opinion that application be made to the Commanding Officers recruiting here, immediately to send sufficient Sergeant's Guards on board the Vessels in which the said Neutrals are brought, who are to attend constantly on board to prevent their rising, and take care that they do not Land or get on shore till it shall be further considered and resolved how to dispose of them. That in the mean time fresh Provisions and Necessaries be immediately sent on board and continue to be sent to them till they shall be disposed of; And that the Governor send a Message to the Assembly to make proper provisions for defraying the Expence of subsisting & disposing of the said Neutrals and for the support of the Guards.

That a proper Person be sent on board to take account of the Numbers of the Neutrals and the Provisions on board, and how much has been expended in the Voyage, and to superintend the

Victualling them and their Guards; And Mr. Judah Toulke is recommended by the Mayor as a fit Person for that service, and a Warrant was issued to him for that purpose.

At a Council held at Philada., the 22nd of November, 1755.

PRESENT:

The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, Esqr., Lieutenant Governor, &

Robert Strettel,

Lynford Lardner,

Benjamin Chew,
Richard Peters,

Esquires.

A Message from the House delivered the 19th Inst' was read in these words:

"May it please the Governor :

"Our Treasury is quite exhausted by the heavy expences lately incurr'd, and we know of no way of raising Money so expeditious as that proposed by the Bill now before the Governor. It is true the Money intended to be struck may not be Current before the 31st of December; but as that is not more than six weeks, there is no Doubt but that Labour, Service, and any thing else that Money can purchase among us may be had on Credit for so short a time if the Bill passes; and in consideration of the necessity of affording timely assistance to the distressed Inhabitants in the Back Counties,' we sincerely hope and once more earnestly entreat that the Governor will no longer refuse or delay his assent to it. "The other part of the Governor's Message we have now under our serious Consideration, and as soon as we come to any resolution thereon, shall immediately communicate the same to the Governor. Signed by Order of the House. "ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.

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"Philada., Nov 19th, 1755."

The Governor having framed a Message to the House respecting the Bill for granting £60,000 to the King's use, agreeable to the Council's sentiments at their last meeting, and Extracts having been made out of the Council Books to shew that Money Bills have always been amended by the Governor & Council, the same were read and approved, and sent to the House:

A Message from the Governor to the Assembly.

"Gentlemen:

"I am no less astonished than grieved to find by your Message of the eighteenth Instant, that altho' I have even ventured to exceed what I judged to be the Powers of my Commission, in order,

if possible, to accommodate our unhappy Differences and afford the necessary Succor to our bleeding Country, yet still you adhere to your Bill & refuse to agree to the reasonable proposal I made of submitting to his Majesty the present dispute between us relating to the Proprietary Tax. My astonishment is still increased to find that your best argument for such an obstinate refusal is founded on a new and lofty claim of Priviledge never heard of in this Province till towards the Close of Mr. Hamilton's Administration and the beginning of the late French encroachments upon this Province. At that time the Assembly being pressed upon the subject of Defence first introduced, and have since occasionally continued this Claim of having their Money Bills passed as tendered, without any Amendments. And this appears to be done with a double view, to wit, either wholly to avoid giving Money for Warlike purposes, or by means of the Country's distress, to arrogate Powers which Assemblies here never were, and from the nature of our Constitution, never ought to be in possession of.

"In my Message of the 24th of September, I insisted that this Claim was neither warranted by Charter nor yet by usage; and it appears from the Minute of Council (some Extracts of which I have sent you) that the Governor's right of Amending Money Bills was never questioned by your Predecessors in Assembly; And yet, Gentlemen, they were men whose Probity and Fortune were at least equal to yours, and many of them were singularly remarkable for their superior Knowledge of the Constitution of their Country as well as an inviolable attachment to its true Interests.

"I have given this matter the Precedence, tho' it is in the last part of your Message, that it may appear on how slight a Claim you have founded your refusal to pass a Bill so very important at this Juncture. Your other Arguments relate chiefly to the Form of the proposed Amendments, to which I shall reply but briefly, as you seem determined against all Amendments that come from me, however reasonable and necessary they may otherwise be.

"You say there is no necessity in the method proposed, that the Crown should assent to some parts of the Act and reject others. It is not my business to determine what the Crown may account necessary in any of its Actions; but this I know, that is, is the established mode either to approve or reject the whole of any Law; And I presume every Legislative Body in these Colonies expect to have their Acts wholly rejected or wholly approved. You ought, therefore, previous to your risking the rejection of so important an Act on account of the Proprietary Exemption, to shew more than a bare probability that the Crown will adopt this unprecedented method by which a whole Law may be first approved, then a part of it suspended from taking effect and yet the whole is to remain all the while compleat and in Force. And all this you say by a very nice distinction is to be done by means of some wonderous Virtue

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