Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

to Servants, &c., by John Harrison, Francis Whitewell, Christopher Taylor, John Hilliard and John Moll.

Of so much importance, in the eyes of the Governor, was that provision of the charter which required that all the laws passed by the General Assembly, should be signed by the Clerk of the Council and the Speaker of the House, and be sealed with the great seal of the Province, that he considered it necessary at this time to call the special attention of the Assembly to the matter, by having that portion of the charter read to them, and a debate arising in the House on the subject, a rule was adopted carrying into effect the above provision of the charter, and it was definitely decided that all laws should be passed under the great seal of the Province, and be indorsed by the Clerk of the Council, as "passed in the Council,” and by the Speaker of the House, as "passed in the Assembly." If, therefore, the laws of this and subsequent Assemblies were afterwards declared null and void, because they had not been passed under the great seal of the Province, it does not seem that ignorance of the chartered requirement in the premises can be pleaded in extenuation.

This session of the General Assembly adjourned on the 3d day of April, and the last recorded business of the House was the fining of four of its members for non-attendance upon the sessions of the Assembly. :

Shortly after the adjournment of the Assembly, a proposition was made in Council to have an attested copy of the laws printed, but after considerable debate, it was determined that they should not be printed,' although a law, passed the previous year, distinctly provided that the laws should be "published and printed, that every person may have a knowledge thereof."

In lieu of printed publication, it was ordered that an attested copy, under the hand of the Secretary, should be transmitted to the President and Clerk of each respective county (Court?) for the people to have recourse to for their information, and that any body desiring the same, could have 66 copies of that copy," attested by two Justices of the Peace.

At a meeting of the Provincial Council, held on the 22d of August, 1683, it was decided that a special session of the General Assembly should be called, and a proclamation issued for the meeting of the same at Philadelphia on the 24th of October.

1 Votes, Vol. 1, p. 21. 2 Col. Rec., Vol. I, p. 74. 3 Laws of 1682, p. 123, ante. 4 Under the charter the Governor had the right to prorogue the Assembly at will, the following is the form of a proclamation issued in 1700:

By the Proprietary and Governour of the Province of Pensilvania and Territories thereunto belonging, with the advice of the Council thereof.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas at the rising of the General Assembly of this Province & Territories held at Newcastle in the Eighth & ninth months last I saw cause to prorogue the same to the first day of the second month ensuing; To the end that if any emergency should arise within the year there might be an Assembly ready to meet without the trouble or loss of time that a new election would occasion; For the same reason I have now

Accordingly on the day appointed, the Assembly met and organized, by the appointment of John Songhurst Speaker pro tem., in the absence of Thomas Winn, Speaker.

This special session of the Assembly was a short one, and unimportant outside of the passage of eleven bills, which had been prepared and promulgated by the Council.1 The session lasted one day.

thought fit further to prorogue it but no longer time than the first day of the fourth month next following, and it is hereby prorogued to the sd time, Given under my hand and Great Seal at Philadelphia the sixth day of the fifth month in the Thirteenth Year of the Reign of King William and the Twenty first of my Government Annoq Domini 1709

[merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small]

CHAPTER III.

THE COUNCILS AND ASSEMBLIES OF 1684 AND 1685.

Penn's Return to England.

Under the provisions of the new Charter just adopted, the original executive powers of the Provincial Council were not materially restricted, and the right of preparing all bills which were to be proposed to the consideration of the General Assembly, still remained as one of its prerogatives. The Council of 1684 met at the time fixed by law, namely, the 20th day of the first month, March, and in complete organization stood as follows:

William Penn, Prop'r. and Governor.

William Welch, New Castle,
Francis Whitewell, Kent,
Luke Watson, Sussex,
William Southersby, Kent,
Christopher Taylor, Chester,
William Haige, Philadelphia,

Edward Southrin, Sussex,
Thos. Lord, Philadelphia,
John Hilliard, Kent,

William Clayton, Chester,
Edmund Cantwell, New Castle,

James Harrison, Bucks.

William Woods, Bucks,
John Symcock, Chester,

Thomas Janney, Bucks,

Thomas Holmes, Philadelphia,

John Cann, New Castle,

William Clark, Sussex.

Having, as its first business, decided upon New Castle as the place meeting of the next Assembly, the Council forthwith proceeded to the preparation of legislative work for the approaching session. Councillors Holmes, Welch, and Lloyd were appointed a committee, with instructions, carefully to review the subject matter of the old laws, passed at preceeding sessions of Assembly, and to inspect the marginal notes of the same. This committee was also empowered to prepare, under instructions of the Council, such new legislation as was deemed necessary.1

An important measure, proposed by the committee on the preparation of bills, was that "constituting another Council for State matters."

What the exact import of this measure was, cannot be determined from the records. It is evident, however, that it met with more opposition than favor in Council, where, upon its consideration, "a great debate" arose, and “at last it fell." A bill was, however, afterwards agreed upon by the

1 Col. Rec., Vol. I, pp. 97 and 99.

Council, and passed into a law by the Assembly, requiring at least one member of the Provincial Council' from each county to be in constant attendance upon the Governor.

Another, and perhaps the most important bill prepared by Council at this sitting, and afterwards passed into a law by the Assembly, was that establishing a Provincial Court, consisting of five Judges, for the trial of all criminals and titles of land, with the additional powers of a Court of Equity, to decide all differences upon appeals from the county courts. The Assembly of '84 met at New Castle, on the 10th of May. This was the first meeting of Assembly under the provisions of the new charter. By the Sheriffs' returns, the following named persons were declared to be the duly elected members:

[blocks in formation]

The first choice of the Assembly for Speaker was Francis Fincher, of Philadelphia. That gentleman, however, refused the honor, and declined the office, "in a modest way." In a contest for the position, between Nicholas More and Joseph Growden, both also from Philadelphia, the first mentioned was elected. There is no reason assigned, in the meager records, for the refusal of Francis Fincher to serve as Speaker; but at a later day, there is evidence of a bitterness of feeling existing between Fincher and Growden upon the one hand, and Nicholas More on the other, when the fortunes of the latter were on the wane.

In a session of eighteen days' considerable routine work was performed by the Assembly of '84, but nothing worthy of special mention transpired.

The bills, twenty in number, promulgated by the Council, were passed into laws substantially as proposed, and were so declared in a joint session of the two Houses, on the 19th of May.

These laws do not seem to have given universal satisfaction—and what

1 Vide page 166.

laws do? On the contrary, some high in authority were greatly dissatisfied with them, notably Nicholas More, Speaker of the Assembly, who was proven guilty, in Council, from the mouths of several most reputable witnesses, of having indulged in outspoken denunciation of the proposed measures, when they were read over "at Mr. White's," and on another occasion. At Mr. White's, he is charged, by Joseph Growden and Francis Fincher, with having remarked, "hang it, damn them all!" and on the other occasion, in the presence of John Songhurst and John Hart, he declared, that "the proposed laws were cursed laws." Notwithstanding these ebullient signs of a hasty temper and an arbitrary disposition, More stood high in favor with the Government, and secured for himself the first appointment as Chief Justice of the Province. Subsequently, however, as will appear, disgrace, if not punishment, followed his malfeasance in the high office with which he had been entrusted.2

Unfortunately for the "nursling colony" of Pennsylvania, the Proprietary was this year compelled to return to England. His dispute with Lord Baltimore, in regard to the title to the lands comprised within the "three lower counties," had assumed such proportions, that it became necessary for Penn himself to give his personal attention to the prosecution of his claim at court. He presided in Council, for the last time before his departure, on the 14th of August. At a meeting of the Council, held on the 18th of August, "a commission from the Governor was read, impowering the Provincial Council to act in the Government in his stead, Thomas Lloyd being President of the same.' Thomas Lloyd was also commissioned to keep the great seal.

113

The first General Assembly, after Penn's departure, met at Philadelphia, on the 11th of May, 1685, and was constituted as follows:

[blocks in formation]

2 The judges of the first Provincial Court were Nicholas More, William Welch, William Wood, Robert Turner, and John Eckley.

3 Col. Rec., Vol. I, p. 119 et seq.

« AnteriorContinuar »