Spring, and in all probability this will be one as it lyes so convenient to Embark which I hope may be the Case that I may once more have the happiness to see America * * * * Dear Sir Your Most affectionate and Dutiful Son WM SKINNER License to Joseph Price as Branch Pilot. [From New York Colonial MSS., Vol. LXXXV, p. 47.] We the Subscribers appointed Master and Wardens of the Port of New York by Virtue of an Act of the Governor Councell and General Assembly of this Province lately made Entituled [An Act for regulating the Pilots and Establishing their Pilotage between Sandy Hook and the Port of New York and other purposes therein mentioned] Do hereby Certify that We having Examined Joseph Price of the Province of East New Jersey Boatman (According to the Directions of the said Act) do find him duly Qualified for the Office of a Branch Pilot-As Witness our Hands and Seals this Fourteenth Day of December In the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and fifty Seven. Warrant settling the Rank of Provincial Officers in North America. GEORGE R. [From New York Colonial MSS., fol. 60.] [L. S.] Whereas by our Warrant bearing date the twelfth day of November 1754 in the twenty-eighth year of our Reign We were pleased to declare, that all Troops serving by Commission signed by Us or by our General Commanding in chief in North America, shall take Rank before all Troops which may serve by Commission from any of the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors or Presidents for the time being of our Provinces in North America; and that the General and Field Officers of the Provincial Troops should have no Rank with the General and Field Officers, who serve by Commission from Us, But that all Captains and other Inferior Officers of Our Forces, who are or may be employed in North America, are on all Detachments, Courts Martial or other Duty, wherein they may be joined with officers Serving by Commission from the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors, or Presidents for the Time being of the said Provinces to Command and take Post of the said Provincial officers of the like Rank, tho' the Commission of the said Provincial Officers of the like Rank should be of Elder date. And Whereas by another Warrant bearing date the twelfth day of May 1756 in the Twenty ninth year of our Reign We were pleased, further to declare, that all General and Field Officers serving by Commission from the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors or Presidents of the Council for the Time being of our Provinces in North America should take Rank as eldest Captains on all Detachments, Courts Martial or other Duty, wherein the said General and Field Officers may be employed in North America, in Conjunction with our Regular Forces And Whereas notwithstanding the Regulations above recited, Difficulties have arisen with regard to the Rank of the Provincial Officers, when acting in Conjunction with our Regular Forces; AND WE being willing to give due Encouragement to Officers serving in Our Provincial Troops, are hereby pleased to declare, that it is our Will and Pleasure, that, for the future, all General Officers and Colonels serving by Commission from the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors or Presidents of the Council for the Time being of our Provinces and Colonies in North America shall on all Detachments, Courts Martial or other duty, wherein they may be employed in Conjunction with our Regular Forces take Rank next after all Colonels serving by Commissions Signed by Us, though the Commissions of such Provincial Generals and Colonels should be of elder date: And in like manner that all Lieutenants Colonels, Majors, Captains and other Inferior Officers serving by Commissions from the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors or Presidents of the Council for the time being of our said Provinces and Colonies in North America shall on all Detachments, Courts Martial or other duty, wherein they may be employed in Conjunction with our Regular Forces, have Rank next after all Officers of the like Rank serving by Commissions Signed by Us or by our General Commander in chief in North America, though the Commissions of such Provincial Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains and other Inferior Officers should be of elder date to those of like Rank signed by Us or by our said General. Given at our Court at St. James's the thirteenth day of December 1757 in the thirty first Year of our Reign. New York. By his Majesty's Command W. PITT A true Copy of the Original Exam by Order of His Majesty in Council approving a Representation of the Lords. of Trade, proposing Francis Bernard to be Governor of New Jersey and directing a Commission to be prepared. [From P. R. O. B. T., New Jersey, Vol. 8, I. 60.] AT THE COURT AT ST JAMES'S THE 27TH DAY OF L. S. JANUARY 1758 PRESENT THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL Upon reading this day at the Board, a Representation from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantation, dated the 26th of this Instant, Proposing that Francis Bernard Esq' may be appointed Captain General and Governor in Chief of the Province of New Jersey, in the room of Jonathan Belcher Esq' deceased. His Majesty in Council approving thereof, is pleased to Order, as it is hereby Ordered, that the said Francis Bernard Esq be constituted and appointed Captain Fra. Bemard was descended from a respectable family in Eng "His land, had been educated at Oxford, and was engaged in the profession of the Law at the time of his appointment, being a Proctor or Solicitor at Doctor's Commons in London. He landed at Perth Amboy Wednesday, June 14th, 1758, from Majesty's Ship the Terrible," on board of which he had come from England, having with him his wife and family, and the papers of the day furnish a very particular account of his reception in the Province. On the second day after his arrival, attended by the members of his Council, the Mayor and other authorities of the City, the Governor proceeded to the town hall and published his commission in the usual mode, by causing it to be read aloud in the presence and hearing of the assembled multitude. The ensuing day the Corporation of the City waited upon him, and, by Samuel Nevill, the Mayor, presented him with the usual complimentary address, and the Corporation of Elizabeth the same day went through the same ceremony. Burlington, sharing with Amboy the honors of government, it was necessary that his commission should also be proclaimed there. He started General and Governor in Chief of His Majesty's said Province of New Jersey, in the room of the said Jonathan Belcher Esq! deceased. And that the said Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, do prepare a Draught of a Commission, and Warrant for passing the same under the Great Seal, and also Draughts of Instructions for the said Francis Bernard, and lay the same before His Majesty at this Board for His Royal Approbation. W. BLAIR. therefore from Amboy on the 21st June, escorted by most of the inhabitants of note, and on his arrival at New Brunswick was received by the city authorities, James Hude, the Mayor, presenting their written address. The next morning he proceeded to Princeton, and the Trustees were prepared to introduce him into Nassau Hall. He was conducted through the building, shown the curiosities, and was then honored by an oration from one of the students in Latin, to which, we are told, "his Excellency returned an elegant and polite Latin answer extempore:" an undertaking which few, if any, of his predecessors or successors would have ventured upon. After receiving and replying to an address from the Trustees, the Governor proceeded on to Burlington, arriving there the same day, and again experienced the gratification of having "his knowledge in the law, justice and candor" eulogized by the Corporation, the minister and vestry of the Church adding their congratulations. Governor Bernard took up his residence in Perth Amboy, and merits a conspicuous niche in the gallery of New Jersey Governors, and greater consideration than he has hitherto received at the hands of historians. His character is thus summed up by Elliott in his Biographical Dictionary: "He was sober and temperate, and had fine talents for conversation if the subject pleased him. He had an extensive knowledge of books, and memory so strong as to be able to refer to particular passages with greater facility than most men of erudition. He would sometimes boast that he could repeat the whole of the plays of Shakespeare. He was a friend of literature, and interested himself greatly in favor of Harvard College, when Harvard Hall with the library and philosophic apparatus were destroyed by fire; after which he presented to it a considerable part of his own private library. The building which now bears the name of Harvard is a specimen of his taste in architecture. *** He was a believer in the principles of Christianity, the effect of study as well as of education, and was regular in his attendance upon public worship; attached to the Church of England, but no bigot, *** when in the country attending service at the nearest Congre gational Church." The Trustees of Princeton College in their address to Governor Boone, spoke of Bernard as having shown himself a friend of that institution, but in what way is not stated. He subsequently became Sir Francis Bernard, Baronet of Nettlehouse, in Lincolnshire.-Contributions to the Early History of Perth Amboy and adjoining country; Sabine's American Loyalists; Elliott's Biographical Dictionary. His career in Massachusetts presented a sorry contrast to his pleasant experience in New Jersey.-ED. Soon after his entering upon the duties of Governor of the former colony, the struggle between the friends and enemies of America became marked, and Gov ernor Bernard, naturally siding with the party that gave him office, became exceedingly obnoxious to the patriots, who assailed him in the Legislature and the |