the King's Ufe, and that the fame be made conform• able to the faid Inftructions.'

By this new Bill, both the Sum and the Time was reduced one Half: That is to fay, the Sum to 30,000l. and the Time for raifing it, by Excife, to Ten Years. The Bill was immediately prepared and read, and the next Day was fent up to the Governor, who, on the 20th, condescended to fignify, That he was ready to pafs the fame into a Law, provided, a Clause therein relating to the Fines and Forfeitures, being paid into the Treasury, was firft ftruck out; which, on Account of the prefent Exigency of Affairs, having been alfo agreed to by the Houfe, the faid Bill was, on the 21ft of September, paffed accordingly into a Law.

Under thefe Circumstances, in this Manner, and for these Confiderations, had Governor Denny the Honour to extort this Proprietary-Sacrifice from thefe honest, confiderate, able, fpirited Men, who had ftood in the Gap for fo many Years, and who had never been driven out of it, if it had been poffible for them to have faved their Country and its Confti

tution too.

To the Cruelty of the Conjuncture alone they gave Way: Not to any Superiority of Reason in their Adverfaries, nor through any Failure of Integrity or Fortitude in themselves.

Of this, a fufficient Teftimonial remains still to be given out of their Minutes; wherein are to be found (and it is to be hoped will for ever remain) the Remarks of the Committee, by Order of the Houfe, on the Proprietaries Inftructions already before the Reader, which contain as full a Vindication of themfelves and their Conduct, as is in the Power of Thoughts and Words to exprefs; and confequently as full an Expofition of the Claims and Demands brought againft them.

Too long, however, is this Performance to be given in the Entire; more efpecially in the Close of fo long a Narration; and too fignificant is it to admit

of any Abridgment: To the Appendix, therefore, the Reader must be referred, if he has a Curiofity to fee it; where it is lodged, as a Requifite, without which neither his Entertainment nor his Information could be complete.

It will fuffice to fay in this Place, That it was unanimously approved of and agreed to by the House: And that the Houfe was unanimous alfo in Refolving "That it was highly neceffary, a Remonstrance should be drawn up and fent Home, fetting forth, the true State of Penfylvania, and reprefenting the pernicious Confequences to the BRITISH Intereft, and to the Inhabitants of that Province, if contrary to their Charters and Laws, they were to be governed by Proprietary Inftructions."

The true State of Penfylvania is now before us.-It is apparent the Affemblies of that Province have acted from the Beginning on the defenfive only:-The Defensive is what every Man, by the Right and Law of Nature is intitled to.-Jealousy is the firft Principle of Defence: If Men were not to fufpect, they would rarely, if ever, be upon their Guard.-Magna Charta is apparently founded upon this Principle; nay, provides, That Oppofition fhould be always at Hand to confront and obviate Danger.-Penn, the Founder of the Colony, founded it upon Magna Charta: And, as we have feen, the Birthrights of his Followers were rather enlarged than diminished by his Inftitutions. That the latter Part of his active Life, therefore, was employed in undermining his own Foundations, only ferves to excite our Concern, That fo few fhould be of a Piece with themselves; and to make him answerable in Part for the Trefpaffes of his Heirs.

Fatally verified, however, we fee, both there and every where elfe, the Fable of the Ax, which having been gratified with as much Wood only as would ferve it for a Handle, became immediately the Inftrument to hew down the Foreft, Root and Branch, from whence it was taken.

It is as apparent, on the other Hand, That thefe Proprietaries have acted an offenfive Part; have fet up unwarrantable Claims; have adhered to them by Instructions yet more unwarrantable; have availed themfelves of the Dangers and Diftreffes of the Province, and made it their Bufinefs (at least their Deputies have) to increase the Terrors of the Times, purpofely to unhinge the prefent Syftem; and, by the Dint of Affumptions, Snares, Menaces, Afperfions, Tumults, and every other unfair Practice whatsoever, would have either bullied or wheadled the Inhabitants out of the Privileges they were born to: Nay, they have actually avowed this perfidious Purpose, by avowing and difperfing thofe Pamphlets in which the faid Privileges are infolently, wickedly and foolishly pronounced repugnant to Government, the Sources of Confufion; and fuch as, having anfwered the great End of caufing an expeditious Settlement, for which alone they were granted, might be refumed at Pleafure, as incompatible with the Dictatorial Power, they now challenge, and would fain exercise.

And This being the Truth, the plain Truth, and nothing but the Truth, there is no need to direct the Cenfures of the Public; which, on proper Information, are always fure to fall in the right Place.

1

The Parties before them are the Two Proprietaries of a Province and the Province itself.-And Who or What are thefe Proprietaries? In the Province, unfizeable Subjects and unfufficient Lords. At Home, Gentlemen, 'tis true, but Gentlemen so very private, that in the Herd of Gentry they are hardly to be found:Not in Court; not in Office; not in Parliament.

And which is of moft Confequence to the Community; Whether their private Eftate fhall be taxed, or the Province fhall be faved?

Whether thefe Two private Gentlemen, in Virtue of their abfolute Proprietaryship, fhall convert fo many Fellow-Subjects, born as free as themfelves, into Vaf Cals? Or, Whether fo noble and useful a Province,

fhall

shall for ever remain an Afylum for all that wish to remain as free as the Inhabitants of it have, hitherto, made a Shift to preferve themselves?

Sub Judice Lis eft.

What Part the Offices here at Home have taken in this Controverfy, it will be Time enough to fpecify when 'tis over: And Appeals refpectfully made argue a Prefumption, That Right will be done.

But one Circumftance more, therefore, remains to be added in Behalf of this perfecuted Province, which is, the Testimonial of Commodore Spry, contained in the following Extracts from Two of his Letters to one Mr. Lovel, a Gentleman of Philadelphia, and by him communicated to the Speaker of the Affembly. To wit.

<

August 5, 1756,

'Tis impoffible to conceive how much I am obliged to the Gentlemen of Pennsylvania for their ready Concurrence in fupplying his Majefty's Ships. • in North-America with fuch a Number of Seamen, ⚫ at their Government's Expence; and I must entreat you to make my moft grateful Acknowledgments to your Speaker, and the reft of the Gentlemen concerned in it.'

August 7, 1756.

I have joined Mr. Holmes, and we are now under Sail, with a fair Wind, for Louifbourg. Laft Night a Ship luckily arrived with Twenty-nine Seamen more from the People of your good Province: God bless them! I fhall ever gratefully remember and acknowledge it. I have the Seamen all on board my own Ship, except four that are fick at the Hofpital.'

APPEN.

Containing fundry Original Papers, relative to the feveral Points of Controverfy between the Governors and Affemblies of Penfylvania.

To the Honourable THOMAS PENN, and RICHARD PENN, Proprie taries of the Province of Pennfylvania, &c.

The REPRESENTATION of the GENERAL-ASSEMBLY of the faid Province, met at Philadelphia, the Twenty-third Day of the Sixth Month, 1751.

May it please the PROPRIETARIES,

HE firft Settlers of this Province unanimously concurred with your worthy Fa

to foundation of Settlements, in doing to Native

Indians, by coming among them as Friends, upon an equitable Purchase only: This foon appeared to be the best and safest Way to begin the Infant Settlement, by the Veneration and Love it procured from thofe People, who kindly fupplied the Wants of many, then deftitute of the Neceffaries of Life; and, as the Settlements increased, retired to make Room for their new Guefts, ftill preferving that Efteem and Veneration. which had been fo ftrongly impreffed upon their Minds. By this voluntary Retreat, all were satisfied, for there was Room enough for all; and the good Faith fo carefully kept with those who were neareft, gave the more diftant Indian Nations that favour able Opinion of us, which our continuing to act on the fame Principles of Juftice hath fupported to this Day: They entered freely into our Alliance; they became the Guards of our Frontiers against the French, and French Indians, by obliging them to obferve a Neutrality towards us, as we experienced during the Courfe of the laft War; and we have Realon to think we now fhare largely in their Affections. But this beneficial Friendship hath neither been procured nor continued without a very great Expence to the People of this Province, especially for fome Years paft, wherein we find the Affemblies opened their Hands liberally to all the Purposes of Peace, among those who could beft, under God, preferve our diftant Settlements againit the Depredations of an active and powerful Enemy; without frictly enquiring at that Time, how far the People alone ought to bear the Burden of those Expences. But as that Burden became yearly more and more heavy, the Assemblies were naturally led to request the Affiftance of the Proprietaries, and we hoped an Application fo apparently reasonable might have their Approbation. We are therefore much concern'd to receive an Anfwer fo different from our Expectations, in which the Proprietaries are pleased to say, That they do not conceive themfelves under any Obligation to contribute to Indian or any other publick Expences, even tho' Taxes were laid on the People for the Charges of Government: But as there is not One Shilling levied on the People for that Service, there is the lefs Reafon for afking any Thing of them. Notwithstanding which, they have charged themfelves with paying to the Interpreter, much more than could be due to him on any Treaties for Land, and are at this Time at the Expence of maintaining his Son, with a Tutor, in the 'Indian Country, to learn their Language and Cuftoms for the Service of the Province, as well as of fundry other Charges on Indian Affairs. That they have been at confiderable Expence for the Service of the Province both in England and here; that they purchase the Land from the Indians, and pay them for it; and that they ace under no greater Obligation to contribute to the Publick Charges than any other Chief Governor of any of the other Colonies."

Upon