shou'd have leave to bring up the said Ship to this Port of Philadelphia; and it is further Order'd, That Capt" Cox do not presume to unlade the Ballast of the said Ship within the limits of the City of Philadelphia. William Buckley, Esqr., produc'd to the Board an Indenture whereby it appears that he, the said William Buckley, was chosen Chief Burgess and Mathias Keen Second Burgess for the Borough of Bristol on the 8th day of Sept Instant, and one other Indenture, whereby it appears that John Priestly was on the same Day chosen High Constable for the said Borough according to Charter, and the Secretary being out of Town & having lock'd up the Book containing the Subscriptions of such as take the Oaths & Affirmations to to the Government, Order'd, That a Dedimus issue to Mr. Growden or some other Justice of Peace for the County of Bucks to tender Mr. Buckley the said Affirmations. At a Council held at Philadelphia, the 14th Sept 1747. PRESENT: The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., President. The Minutes of the two preceeding Councils were read and prov'd. ap The President & four Members of Council sign'd a Commission constituting Mr. John Lawrence Clerk of the Peace for the County of Philadelphia. Edward Stretcher, Captain of a small Sloop of about Ten Tons, made a proposal to carry the 13 Spanish Prisoners that are now in the Work House to the Havannah, if he might have a Flag of Truce & the Government wou'd furnish a necessary Quantity of Provisions to serve them in their Passage. The Captain of a Pilot Boat, Dispatch'd as an Express from Lewes Town last Saturday, delivered to the President this morning the following Letter directed to the President & Council: "Sir & Gentlemen: "On Tuesday last 2 Sloops went up the Bay with a Pilot Boat tending on each of them; on Wednesday evening they returned & anchored with the said boats in Lewes Road, which hath kept our Watch upon hard Duty Day and Night. One of the Said Vessels we imagine to be gone over to Cape May, the other took in our sight last Night a Ship outward Bound, and her Pilot Boat another Ship this Morning that was coming in, and is now in Chace of a third Ship, which we fear will fall into her hands in an hour or two. These Things we judg'd proper to immediately communicate, and hope the Merchants & Traders at Philadelphia will pay this Express £3, being the Sum agreed for to convey it. Tide calls upon Us to heartily conclude. "Sir & Gentlemen, Your obed hble. Serv, "Saturday Noon, Sept 12th, 1747. OCK, "R HOLT, "P. S.-We have ordered the Bearer to acquaint Capt Bowne of these Transactions, whom we expect down Daily." And on reading the same the Board are unanimously of Opinion that they shou'd thank the Gentlemen for their Care in giving such early intelligence, and in answer inform them that the Assembly having made no Provision when applied to very lately on a like occasion, they had nothing in their Power, & cou'd only lament their & the good People of Lewes Town's unhappiness in being thus remedilessly expos'd to any Attempts the Enemy shou'd please to make. Order'd, That the Secretary call on the Treasurer for Three Pounds to be paid for the Express, agreeable to the promise made in the above Letter. At a Council held at Philadelphia, the 21st Sept 1747. PRESENT: The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., President. Thomas Lawrence, Abraham Taylor, Joseph Turner, William Till, Esqrs. His Excellency Mr. Belcher, the Governor of New Jersey, being in Town, Mr. Lawrence & Mr. Taylor were desir'd to take an opportunity to inform him of the many mischevious consequences that arose from the Liberty Pilots took of going on board Vessells before they knew whether they were Friends or Enemies; and that as no measures to be taken by this Government or the Lower Counties wou'd avail, unless the same or as effectual ones were taken in Jersey, he wou'd be pleas'd immediately on his return to Burlington to take this important affair into his Consideration, & give the necessary Orders. Information being given that several Vessells belonging to this and other Ports were lately taken by a French Privateer off the Capes of Delaware, and that some of the Pilots & People who were on board at the time of Capture were in Town, they were sent for, and Mr. Kelly & Luke Shields, one of the Pilots who had the Charge of the Privateer, attending without, they were examin'd. Order'd, That Mr. Kelly's Examination be reduc'd to writing, & sworn to before a Magistrate in the presence of Luke Shields. The Brigantine Recovery, Joseph Greenaway, arriving on Saturday, the Members of Council issued an Order to Doctor Grome & Doctor Bond to visit the said Brig", & Captain Greenaway attending in order to produce the Doctor's Certificate, was call'd in, & it oppearing thereby that the Vessell was healthy & the Mariners in a good State of Health, the Captain was permitted to bring her to the Wharf. The Ship Lydia being this morning arrived from London with Palatines, Doctor Grome & Doctor Bond are Order'd to visit said Ship & report the state of Health of the People on board. At a Council held at Philada., 25th Sept., 1747. PRESENT: The Honoble. ANTHONY PALMER, Esqr., President. Thomas Lawrence, Robert Strettell, Thomas Hopkinson, Abraham Taylor, Benjamin Shoemaker, Esqrs. Mr. Lawrence & Mr. Taylor report, that agreeable to the Request of the Council they had waited on his Excellency the Governor of New Jersey, & endeavour'd to shew him how much the safety of both Governments depends on putting the Pilots under proper Restrictions; they inform'd his Excellency that a Proclamation had been already Published in this Province respecting Flaggs of Truce; that they Council had got a number Printed, & sent one of them to Mr. Reading, the late President, in a Letter on the Subject, that an Order had been made by the Magistrates of the Town of Lewes, which the had likewise caused to be publish'd in Franklyn's News Papers, but that notwithstanding these or any other Steps might be deem'd necessary to be taken, they wou'd all prove ineffectual unless the Jersey Pilots shou'd be likewise laid under the same or as effectual Restrictions. His Excellency was pleased to say that if the President & Council wou'd write to him on this Subject on his Return to Burlington, he wou'd then take it into Consideration & do the best he cou'd. Mr. Lawrence laid before the Board a Certificate Signed by Doctor Grome & Doctor Bond, purporting that in Complyance with the orders of the honoble. the Council they had carefully examin'd the State of Health of the Mariners & Passengers on board the Ship Lydia, Captain Tiffin, from London, and found none of them with any of the Symptoms of an infectious Disease; so that they are of opinion the Ship may be immediately admitted to come up to the Town, and thereupon the Ship was admitted to come up to the City. Mr. Lawrence moved the Board that there might be one or two Justices of the Peace appointed for that part of Bucks County which lies on the other side of the Blue Hills, and it appearing necessary on many Accounts, the Board agreed to grant separate Commissions to Mr. Daniel Broadhead & Mr. Moses Depue, which are to be prepared & signed by the President, with a Dedimus to the nearest Magistrate to administer the usual Oaths or Affirmations. Mr. Hopkinson inform'd the Council that Mr. William Kelly had made an Affidavit before him in the presence of the Pilot, Luke Shields, the 21st Instant, which was read & ordered to be enter'd. William Kelly, being sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposeth and saith, that he being a Passenger on board the Sloop Elizabeth, Pyramus Green Commander, bound from Providence to Philadelphia, on or about the Twenty-eight Day of August last he was taken off the Coast of North Carolina by a French Privateer Sloop called the Marthel Vodroit, Capt" Lehay Commander, belonging to Cape Francois, who had taken three English Prizes before as this Deponent was informed; that after they had taken the said Sloop Elizabeth they stood to the Northward, and on their Cruise took six more English Prizes, to wit, a Brigantine and two Ships off the Capes of Virginia, and a Sloop about fifteen Leagues off the Capes of Delaware, one Newbold Master, & two Ships in the Bay of Delaware, one of them called the Bolton, Oswald Eves Commander, and the other called the Delaware, Lake Commander, this Deponent being at the times of the taking the said Six Prizes, a Prisoner on board the said French Privateer. That the said French Privateer was a Vessel of about Ninety or one hundred Tons, and carried fourteen Carriage Guns, sixteen Swivels, and six Swivel Blunderbusses, and had when he left Cape Francois, as this Deponent was inform'd, about one hundred and seventy Men, but at the time of this Deponent's being taken, had but one hundred & thirty Men belonging to her. That this Deponent took some of the Privateer's Crew to be English, some Irish, and some Scotch, but the most part of them were Frenchmen & Spaniards. That the Commander was, as this Deponent beleives, a Frenchman. That the first Land they made off Delaware was Cape May; that the Privateer hoisting English Colours, one William Flower, a Pilot, came off from the said Cape and came on board the Privateer, that when the said William Flower came on board, the Commander of the Privateer, by a Linguist, order'd him to take Charge of the said Privateer & to carry the said Privateer where the Shipping lay; that the said William Flower at first misunderstanding the said Commander's Orders, as this Deponent imagines, VOL. V.-8. made answer that there was Water enough there, pointing towards the Sea, but upon his being told that was not what the Commander meant, he the said William Flower ask'd if they meant that he shou'd carry the said Privateer up the River, to which the sd Commander answer'd Yes, and then the said William Flower took Charge of the said Privateer and was carrying her round towards Cape Henlopen, when Luke Shields, another Pilot, came on board from Cape Henlopen, the said Privateer then being under English Colours; That the said Commander of the said Privateer was very Inquisitive concerning Philadelphia, and ask'd William Flower how Matters stood at Philadelphia, and what Shipping was coming down, that William Flower answered he could not tell for that he had not been at Philadelphia for seven or eight Days; That upon Luke Shields coming on board, the Commander of the Privateer asked him the like Questions, and Luke Shields answer'd that as he had not been at Philadelphia a great while he cou'd not tell, but that his Man had been there lately, And his Man being ask'd what he knew about it, answered that the Privateer Trembleur was then coming down, and that he believed the Pandour was fitting out. That after Shields coming on board the care of the Privateer was committed to him in conjunction with Flower, that this Deponent acquainted Shields that Flour had promised this Deponent to carry the Privateer within less than a Mile of Cape Henlopen, to the end this Deponent might swim on shore in the Night, which this Deponent had resolv'd to do in order to obtain his Liberty and inform the People of the said Privateer, and this Deponent made it his request to the said Shields that he wou'd assist this Deponent in his Design by bringing the said Privateer so near the shore that this Deponent might swim on shore with safety, but the said Shields refused to do it, & said he would carry the Privateer where she might meet with the most Prizes; upon this deponent asking him why he would do so, he answered that the Privateer came for Prizes and would not go away without them, and that by this Means he should the sooner get his Liberty; That the said Pilot brought the said Privateer to an Anchor somewhere about the Brown, but it blowing hard she afterwards came to an Anchor within two Leagues of the pitch of the Cape; That the Day after the taking of the last of the Prizes, the English Prisoners to the number of about seventy, according to the best of this Deponent's Judgment, were permitted to go on shore in three Pilot Boats which the Enemy had taken. And more this Deponent saith not. "WILLIAM KELLY. "Sworn the 21st Sept 1747, before me, "THOMAS HOPKINSON."* Order'd, That the several Affidavits relating to the Privateers See Minutes of ye 27th of July. |