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Another on the Act for Intestates Estates, as follows:

"Gentlemen:

"Upon considering that part of the Bill relating to the distribution of Intestates Estates, &c., which concerns the Probate of Wills, & the Message I receiv'd from you on the Amendments by me propos'd, I find it a Matter of great Importance and attended with some difficulty. As to the other Parts of it I approve of them, & am ready to give my Assent for their being passed into a Law.

"If the Laws relating to the Probate of Wills shall be thought to want Amendment I shall always be ready to take into Consideration any Bill that shall be prepar'd for that purpose.

"February 3d, 1748."

"JAMES HAMILTON.

And the third on the Poor Bill, as follows: "Gentlemen:

"The Bill now before me for amending the Laws relating to the Poor, & for the better appointment of Overseers of the Poor within the City of Philad., being of considerable Length and of great consequence to the Publick, the necessary corrections & alterations will require time and deliberation; & as many of you have been long from your Families and are desirous to adjourn, I imagine it will be agreable to you to defer the further Consideration of them to another Session.

"February 4th, 1748."

"JAMES HAMILTON.

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Strettell were desir'd to compare such Bills as were assented to with the engross'd Copies, and on their reporting that they had done so in conjunction with a Committee of Assembly, the Governor order'd the attendance of the House in the Council Chamber at 12 o'Clock, in order to pass the Bills into Laws; and the Speaker accordingly attending with the whole House, he presented four Bills, praying the Governor wou'd enact them into Laws; each of which, on the Titles being read, was distinctly pass'd by the Governor, & then sign'd by his Honour & countersign'd by the Secretary, & delivered to a Committee to be carried to the Recorder's Office in order to be enroll'd. The Titles are as follows viz:

"AN ACT for the new Appointment of Trustees of the General Loan Office of Pennsylvania, and for the making current Five thousand Pounds in new Bills of Credit, to exchange such of those now by Law current as are torn and defaced."

"AN ACT to regulate Horse Jockeys and Dealers in Horses, & to prevent the bringing into this Province for Sale such as are small, unsizeable, or unsound."

"AN ACT to encourage the Killing of Squirrels within this Province."

"AN ACT for amending the Laws relating to the Partition and Distribution of Intestates Estates."

The Speaker then presented the Governor with an Order for £400, & inform'd his Honour that the House propos'd to adjourn to the Seventh of August, to which no objection was made; then the Speaker with the House withdrew.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Saturday, the 11th of March, 1748.

PRESENT:

The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov

ernor.

Samuel Hasell,

Robert Strettell,

Abraham Taylor,
Joseph Turner,

Esqrs.

Thomas Hopkinson,

The Minutes of the preceding Council were read & approv❜d. John Salkeld having complain'd to the Board that if the Highway leading from Philadelphia to New Castle shou'd be laid out so wide as sixty foot to the front of some Lands which he held on both sides the Road near Chester Bridge, according to the order of the late President & Council, it wou'd interfere with another Road laid out by the County Court and be an exceeding damage to him, & the Commissioners who laid out that Road having had notice to attend, both Parties were called in & examin'd, & it not appearing that John Salkeld had any just Cause of Complaint his Petition was dismiss'd.

The Governor laid before the Board a Letter from Mr. Ogle, dated at Annapolis the tenth of February, complaining of a breach of the Peace committed by one Samuel England & William Hay, Under Sheriff of Chester County, in serving a Writt on & dispossessing one of the Inhabitants of Maryland, together with sundry Depositions to prove the fact, which were read.

Order'd, That the Letter with the Depositions be copied & sent to the Persons complain'd of, & that they be required to attend the Governor & give him a full & true Account of the Affair that he may enabled to give a proper answer to the Letter.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Friday, 17th March, 1748.

PRESENT:

The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov

ernor.

Samuel Hasell,

Robert Strettell,

Abraham Taylor,
Joseph Turner,

Esqrs.

Thomas Hopkinson,

The Minutes of the preceeding Council were read & approv'd.

An Express arriv'd from Mr. Cookson, Prothonotary of Lancaster County, with a Letter that Adam Furney, of Conewago, over Sasquehanna, was shot dead by an Indian in Liquor as he stood at his own Door; that the Indian, was immediately seiz'd & carried before Justice Schwoop, at the town of York, & there detained by him 'till the Governor shou'd give Orders what shou'd be done with him. The Tract of Land where the fact was committed being (thro' to the Northward of the Temporary Line) held under a Maryland Patent by Mr. Diggs, & as such the Temporary Jurisdiction seeming by the Royal Order to be given to Maryland, whereupon the Secretary was examin'd, & it appearing by what he said that the very spot where Furney was kill'd was on a careful Survey made by the Deputy Surveyor of Lancaster County found to be within the Lines of Mr. Digges' Patent, on a complaint formerly made by the Governor of Maryland to Governor Thomas, the Royal Order was read; and tho' it appear'd plain enough to the Board that this Tract was within the words of the Royal Order, yet as it was an Affair of the utmost Consequence to the Inhabitants of Lancaster County & to the Rights of the Proprietaries, they determin'd to consult the Attorney General & to take his opinion as to the directions proper to be given by the Governor to Justice Schwoop.

MEM'N.

In another Letter receiv'd soon after from Mr. Cookson, the above Account was contradicted, Furney tho' shot recover'd, & so nothing further was done.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Wednesday, 22d March, 1748.

PRESENT:

The Honoble. JAMES HAMILTON, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov

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The Minutes of the preceding Council were read & approv'd.

Justice Ruston & Justice Emmet attending by appointment of the Governor to answer some Charges that were exhibited against them for male Administration in the Execution of their Office in several Petitions preferr'd to the Governor by the Inhabitants of Chester County, & the Petitioners likewise attending with their Evidences to make good their Accusations, the Parties were call'd in, & after a long Examination of the Witnesses on both sides, it appeared to the Board that Justice Ruston had acted an imprudent & unjustifiable Part, & that there were Parties subsisting among the Presbyterians in that part of the Country about Points of Religion which had but too much imbitter'd the Spirits of the Magistrates of that Persuasion.

At a Council held at Philadelphia, Saturday, 22d April, 1749.

PRESENT:

The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esq., Lieutenant Gov

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The Minutes of the preceding Council were read and approv❜d. The Governor observ'd to the Board that the Commissions of the Peace being only of force by virtue of his Proclamation, & as it was usual for Governors to renew them at or soon after their Accession to the Government, he proposed to issue new Commissions, & desir'd the favour of the Board to recommend proper Persons to be Magistrates for the several Counties, & particularly at this time for the County of Lancaster, that Court sitting next Week, whereupon the Board took this Affair into Consideration, & the following Persons were agreed to, viz.: Thomas Edwards, Edward Smout, Emanuel Carpenter, Conrad Weiser, Samuel Smith, John Kyle, James Galbreath, Thomas Cookson, James Whitehill, Edward Berwick, James Gillaspy, William Maxwell, Samuel Anderson, John Postlethwaite, George Swope, the Chief Burgess of the Borough of Lancaster for the time being, William Parsons, Bernard Vanleer, James Wright, James Webb, George Croghan, William Hartly, Thomas Foster, David McClure, James Smith, John Day, Robert Dunning, Robert Harris, Patrick Watson, Mathew Dill, & Jedediah Alexander.

At a Council held, at Philadelphia, Monday, 15th May, 1749.

PRESENT:

The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esqr., Lieutenant Gov

ernor.

Thomas Lawrence,

Robert Strettell,

Thomas Hopkinson,

Abraham Taylor,

Benjamin Shoemaker, Esqrs.
William Logan,

The Minutes of the preceding Council were read and approv'd. The Governor inform'd the Board that having while he was at New Castle receiv'd a Packet from His Grace the Duke of Bedford, dated at Whitehall the 6th of February, 1748, containing His Majestie's Proclamation of Peace and His Grace's Letter signifying His Majestie's Commands to have the same Published in all Places within His Government, he had accordingly issued a Proclamation at New Castle & propos'd to do the same here, & after reading the Letter and His Majestie's Proclamation, which are as follows:

"Sir:

"WHITEHALL, 6th February, 1748.

"A Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship having been concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle the 7th Day of October last by the Plenipotentiaries of His Majesty, the Most Christian King & the States General of the United Provinces, to which the Empress, Queen of Hungary, the Kings of Spain & Sardinia, the Duke of Modena, and the Republick of Genoa, having acceded, & the Ratifications thereof having been since exchanged, His Majesty has been pleased to command me to transmit to You the Proclamation which he has thought fit to issue on that occasion, & to signify His Pleasure to you that you cause the same to be published in all the proper Places in your Province, to the end that all His Subjects do take Notice of His Royal Will & Pleasure therein & conform themselves thereto accordingly. I am,

"Sir, Your most humble Servant,

"BEDFORD."

"By the KING.

"A PROCLAMATION.

"Whereas, A Definitive Treaty of Peace & Friendship between Us, the Most Christian King, & the States General of the United Provinces, hath been concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle the seventh Day of October last, to which the Empress, Queen of Hungary, the Kings of Spain & Sardinia, the Duke of Modena, & the Republick of Genoa, have acceded, & the Ratifications thereof have been since

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