turn this our Commission together with all your proceedings thereto annexed attested by five or more of you to us in Council. And Lastly our Will is that the Charge of this Commission and of Carrying it into Execution and of You our Commissioners Your Clerks Surveyors and Officers be born and paid in equal Moieties by each of our said Colonies as in the aforementioned Acts of their respective General Assemblies is Stipulated to be done and performed In Witness whereof We have caused these our Letters to be made patent Letter from Secretary Shelburne to Governor Franklin, conveying the King's displeasure with the Assembly of New Jersey for avoiding complete obedience to an Act of Parliament in regard to punishing mutiny and desertion. [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 172 (190).] Gov! Franklin, WHITEHALL 18th July 1767. Sir, I have had the honour to lay before the King your Letters of the 18th Dec 1766, from which it appears that the Assembly of New Jersey have avoided a complete Obedience to an Act of the British Parliament for rendering more effectual in America, an Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion The singular Decency and good Order of that Province amidst the Disturbances occasioned by the late Act. imposing Stamp Duties in America, has made this Instance of Disobedience the more to be regretted, whilst it has probably had the Effect of delaying any Marks of Parliamentary Displeasure in the reasonable Expectation that the same just Spirit of Constitutional Acquiescence would soon induce that Assembly to return to a proper Sence of its Duty. I have in Command from His Majesty to acquaint you of the displeasure he has unavoidably conceiv'd at the improper Conduct, in a Province, of whose Behaviour he had formed so favourable an Opinion, and that He expects and requires that the Assembly of New Jersey will render an exact and complete Obedience to the Mutiny Act. You will therefore, Sir, in His Majesty's Name require of the Assembly that they will make those Provisions for the Supply of the Kings Troops, which, by that Act they are directed to do; & I cannot entertain a Doubt but that that Assembly will, upon due Consideration discover a just and proper Sense of their Duty to His Majesty: and of their Obedience to Parliament, who cannot ultimately suffer its Legislative Power over any Part of His Majestys' Subjects to be questioned or disobeyed. I am &c SHELBURNE. Draft of an instruction to the Governors in North America, forbidding any alteration in the number of the Assembly. [From New York Colonial Documents, Vol. VII., p. 946.] ST JAMES 24, July 1767. To Our trusty and Wellbeloved [naming the Governors of the Several Colonies and Plantations] Whereas Laws have at several times been passed in many of Our Colonies and Plantations in America, by which certain Parishes and Districts have been Em powered and Authorized to send Representatives to the General Assemblies of the respective Colonies in which the said Parishes and Districts lie, and Sundry other Regulations have been introduced by those Laws relative to the said Assemblies; It is our Will and Pleasure, and We do hereby require and Command that you do not upon any pretence whatever give your assent to any Law or Laws to be passed in ourunder your Government, by which the number of the Assembly shall be enlarged or diminished the duration of it ascertained, the qualification of the Electors, or the Elected, fixed or altered or by which any Regulations shall be established with respect thereto, inconsistent with Our Instructions to you Our Governor, as prejudicial to that Right or Authority which you desire from us by virtue of Our Royal Commission and Instructions. Order in Council, approving the draft of an additional instruction for the Governor of New Jersey, requiring him not to give his assent to any law touching the number, duration, etc., of the Assembly. L. S. [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 106.] AT THE COURT AT ST. JAMES'S, THE 26TH PRESENT, The King's most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas there was this day read at the Board a Report from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations dated the 24th of last Month together with 'Colony, Province, Island. a Draught of an additional Instruction prepared by them in pursuance of His Majesty's Order in Council of the 26th of June last for the Governor of South Carolina requiring him not to give his Assent to any Law or Laws to be passed in the said province by which the Number of the Assembly shall be enlarged or Diminished, the Duration of it ascertained the Qualifications of the Electors or the Elected fixed or altered or by which any Regulations shall be established with respect thereto inconsistent with his Majesty's Instructions to the said Governor, as prejudicial to that Right or Authority which the said Governor derives from His Majesty in virtue of his Royal Commission and Instructions And Whereas there was also read at the Board Draughts of a like circular Additional Instruction to the Governors of the following provinces and Islands in America, they not having as yet received such an Instruction Viz Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, West Florida, Jamaica, Grenada, Bermudas, Leeward Islands Barbadoes, and the Bahama Islands, - His Majesty taking the said Report and Draughts of Additional Instructions into Consideration was pleased with the Advice of his Privy Council to approve of the said Draughts of Additional Instructions (which are hereunto annexed) and to order as it is hereby ordered, that the Right Honourable the Earl of Shelburne, one of His Majesty's Principal Secretarys of State do cause the same to be prepared for His Majesty's Royal Signature W. BLAIR. Letter from Governor Franklin to Secretary Shelburne, acknowledging receipt of the Act for granting certain duties in the British Colonies, and the new Seal of New Jersey. [From P. R. O., America and West Indies, Vol. 172 (190).] BURLINGTON, New Jersey, Oct: 6. 1767 The Rt Hon ble Earl of Shelburne My Lord Your Lordship's Letter of the 11th of July, enclosing a Copy of the Act for granting certain Duties in the British Colonies, &c. came duely to Hand, as did also the New Seal for the Colony of New-Jersey with His Majesty's Warrant for using the same, I herewith return the old One, agreeable to His Majesty's Commands and am, with the greatest Respect, My Lord, Your Lordships most obedient & most humble Servant W FRANKLIN Letter from Governor Franklin to Benjamin Franklin, in relation to Rumors of an attempt to have the Governor Removed. [From "Letters to Benjamin Franklin," pp. 38-40.] Hon'd Father: BURLINGTON, Oct. 239 1767, Friday * * I send you enclosed a copy of a letter Mrs. Franklin received last night from Parson Brown' of Newark, in which he gives some dark hints of an attempt to have me removed. But I have not the least suspicion of what he alludes to, as no Gov'r ever stood The Rev. Isaac Brown, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church at Newark, 1745-76 an ardent Loyalist, who was compelled by the "rebels" to flee to New York in the winter of 1776-7, and at the close of the war to Nova Scotia, where he died 1787.The Days of Old, a Centennial Discourse, delivered in Trinity Church, Newark, N J., February 22, 1846, by the author, H. Henderson, A. M., Rector; New York, 1846, 18-36. |