CHAPTER IX.

MARKHAM'S ADMINISTRATION AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES OF 1694 AND 1695.

After the close of the general sessions of 1693, Governor Fletcher returned to New York, leaving the government of Pennsylvania in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Markham, and did not again personally appear in the government until the middle of May in the following year.

Acting under instructions from his superior, Markham had convoked an Assembly to meet at Philadelphia on the 2d of April, 1694, and at that date, accordingly, the Assembly convened, the several counties being represented by the following members elect, the council remaining the same as last year:

David Lloyd, of the county of Chester, was chosen Speaker. During the interval between the two Assemblies, various causes for dissatisfaction had developed themselves among the people, which the Assembly of 1694 came prepared to present and have redressed. It was, therefore, with no small degree of chagrin that immediately upon their meeting, the Assembly found themselves precluded from the transaction of all business for the present, by a letter from Governor Fletcher, grounding apologies for not being able to meet them on the 10th of April, in the fact that he was compelled, at the last moment, to give his attendance to a conference with the Indians at Albany, relative to a treaty of peace. He therefore desired the Assembly to be adjourned until the first of the next month, May, when it was his purpose to meet them.

The Lieutenant Governor endeavored to convince the Assembly that the Governor's absence was compelled by imperative necessity. To this conclusion the Assembly rendered a tardy and, at best, ill-humored assent, desiring that they might not be adjourned at once, but might be permitted to await the arrival of their tardy members, and to have an opportunity of consulting among themselves. The Lieutenant Governor granted them time for consultation until three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, when he informed them they would be adjourned, to meet again on the 22d of May.

Of the time thus granted, the Assembly made good use, for when called before the Council on the next day to be adjourned, their Speaker, after expressing the disappointment of the House, that the Governor had failed to meet them, presented the following list of greivances, which the people, through their representatives, desired to have redressed:

1. That wee have not the Catalogue of the Laws, with the preamble to them, and the Governor's approbaon of ym, which wer declared by the petition of Right in the Assemblie Last year to be in force, that Justice may be administred according to the sd Laws in the Severall Courts of Justice in this province & Countrie.

2. That the Late Law for appealls, which gives Libertie to appeall both in Law & equitie, Wherby the Judges and Justices of y° peace have too great Libertie to destroy or make void the Verdicts of Juries, without due care be taken; Wherfore, wee desire that the Judges and Justices of ye peace may receive instructions & Caution from you not to decree anie thing in equitie that may make void the Verdicts of Juries, or Judgments before given in Law, in the same Cause.

3. That the power given by the Late Law for raising money by the Justices of the peace in their respective Counties, may not be made use of to the dissatisfaction of the Countrie, But that the Justices may be Cautioned that what monie is raised to defray the publick charge of the Countrie, may be done by the approbacon of the grand Jurie, or other Sufficient Inhabitants of the severall Counties, to assist in and approve the severall taxes to be raised, and to have the Hearing & examinacon of the accompts of the severall receits & disbursments.

4. That the omissions in the Late Laws by the Clark appointed to transcribe ym, may be Corrected, and the Laws, or such parts of the Laws as are Left outt, may be entred in the roll of Laws.

5. That the monie granted to be raised the Last Assemblie, for the support of this government, may be accordinglie Imployed to the use it was intended, & that an accompt thereof be given att the next Sitting of Assembly, according to the true intent of the said act and makers therof.

When this offer of the House had been read, the Lieutenant Governor requested the Speaker to withdraw it, and present it to the Governor at the next sitting of the Assembly. This the Speaker refused to do, declaring that his orders were to present the paper to the Lieutenant Governor, and that he had no instructions to receive it again.

The Assembly reconvened at the appointed time, and were met by Governor Fletcher, who, in his address, presented an apology for having disappointed them of his presence at their last meeting, laying before them a

statement of the entire matter with which he was at that time busied Into this statement he had skillfully interjected a pitiful tale of the condition of affairs about Albany, to prepare their minds, as it were, for the reception of his contemplated additional demands upon them for assistance. Knowing, as from his experience he well had reason to, that the religious proclivities of a majority of the Assembly would not permit them to levy money for war, the Governor, at this time, ventured to express nothing in regard to his future intentions, beyond the hope that they would not refuse "to feed the hungry and cloath the naked," or, in other words, supply the Indian nations with such necessaries as would influence their continued friendship towards their Majesties subjects.

In respect to any greivances which the Assembly might present, the Governor, in conclusion, expressed his willingness to redress them, so far as a just regard to liberty and property would permit.

As was natural, the Assembly were particularly desirous of knowing whether the Petition of Right and Laws, enacted at the last Assembly, had been confirmed in England, and one of their first acts was to inquire of the Governor what had been done in the premises. The reply was that their laws had been delivered to the King and Privy Council, and at last accounts were in the hands of the Attorney General, undergoing examination.

This information obtained, the next step taken by the Assembly was to secure from the Governor the confirmation of two of the old laws of the Province, namely: The law relative to Robbing and Stealing, and the law relative to Runaway Servants, which they claimed had, through the error of the Clerk who transcribed the Petition of Right, been omitted from that instrument.

To prevent uncertainty in the administration of justice, and that criminals might not go unpunished, the Governor, as will shortly appear, allowed the confirmation of these two laws, although he declared them to be "not consonant with the laws of England," at least in their present form. They were inserted in the Petition of Right, in their proper places. With Governor Fletcher, this year as last, the main question to be disposed of by the Assembly was, how money might be raised for the support of New York. At his instance, a committee of Council had examined into the manner in which the levy of last year had been made and collected, and were compelled to report that the entire sum assessed and collected under the act would not exceed five hundred pounds sterling. It was, therefore, apparent to the Governor, that if any aid for Albany was to be expected from Pennsylvania, a new and more specific revenue bill must be devised, and to the task of driving the Assembly to an acknowledgement of this fact, he addressed all his energies. Failing to convince them, that by acceding to his wishes, they would be performing a deed of Christian charity-feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked-he next took advantage of the neglect of the Assembly, last year, in not mentioning the

Queen's letter in connection with, and in the body of the bill of Supply. Ignoring that bill entirely, Fletcher now demanded of the Assembly, that they should take some action upon the Queen's letter.

Meanwhile, the Assembly were busy in the preparation of new bills to be passed into laws. Several had already been sent to the Governor and Council, for their consideratlon, when the Assembly, among other messages, received this peremptory request from the Governor :

"You have the Queen's Letter Commanding assistance to New York, which ought to have greater force than my arguments: I expected her Majesty's Commands would have so far prevailed. The original was shown to the Last Assembly, which I suppose may be entred in your books, or a Copy thereof upon file with your Clerk. I had no positive answer from them, and expect one from you."

In response to this demand, the Assembly, after some little delay, prepared and passed a measure similar to the supply bill of last year, but with this proviso added, that the revenue primarily should go to the payment of two hundred pounds each to William Markham and Thomas Lloyd, for their services as late Deputy Governors of the Province, and that the remaining part of the fund should be at the disposal of the Governor and Council, to meet "the charge that may hereafter happen, upon any necessary occasion in this Government."

This bill, and nine other new ones, were sent to the Governor, after they had received the requisite consideration by both Council and Assembly.

As soon as the money bill was read before the Governor, he at once declared that it could not become a law, and the Council acquiescing in his decision, the Speaker and Assembly were sent for, and the Governor thus addressed them:

You have mistaken the form of the bill. I can pass no bill to Leavie monie on their Maties Subjects for myself, or for the use of anie other person whatsoever. Their Maties, or their particular service, must be first regarded in all Leavies, and if you design a favor for Coll. Markham or Mr LLoyd, your method is to raise a fund answerable to the Queen's Letter and their Maties expectations for the securitie of the fronteers and assistance of Newyork, and then to pray their Maties wold be pleased to allow outt of that sum what you intend for these gentl. I find you goe about to appoint yo' owne Collector; as you cannot raise monie or give it to anie other but their Maties, So you Cannot appoint such an officer; Indeed it appears an Unmannerlie distrust of the person in that office alreadie Comissionated, and it Looks Like putting it outt of their Maties power (if you could) to disallow of yo' act. I shall suspend my determination as to the other bill till you Consider better of this, and doe again putt you in mind of a positive answer to their majesties Letter

The Assembly, after briefly asserting their right to appropriate money in all ways not inconsistent with their privileges, and the practice in England, here, and in neighboring colonies, withdrew, and shortly afterwards,

presented the following carefully prepared remonstrance against the Governor's action on the money bill:

That having read thy speech delivered us the 23d of the 3a mo., 1694, as also having Considered the message sent us from thee and the Councill on the first day of this M., with respect to the Queen's Letter, Wee find upon perusal of the minuts of Assembly held here about 12 M°. agoe, that the rate, or tax, then granted to the king and Queen, was in Complyance to the aforesaid Letter, so farr as the religious persuasion of the most part of that Assemblie could admitt, and although the said tax amounted to seven hundred and sixtie pounds, and the greatest part thereof paid in by the Countrie to the respective Collectors, and (as it seems) in great readiness to be received by the Treasurer, which wee looke upon to be a verie Considerable demonstraon of our realitie and affection towards the king and Queen, Considering the Circumstances and infancie of this place, and what our neighbouring provinces (who are of much more abilitie, but under no Less obligaon than wee are in that respect) have Contributed upon the Like occasion; Yet notwithstanding all wee have done, wee find that wee are not suteablie represented to the Indians in the Late treaties thou had with them att Albany; and not onlie soe, but wee perceive by thy speech that the five Indian nations (who till of Late have been faithfull to the Crown of England) are now drawen over to the french interest, and our Indians here Like to be Compelled to join in that fatall Confederacie, unles prevented through thy prudent management in returning the said five Nations to their former friendshipp with the English; for the accomplishment wherof, If what has been raised for support of governm (allowing a Competent Consideraon to the Leiv' Go for his Last year's service,) or in case anie thing that wee shall Contribute towards the Supplying of the Indians with necessaries for food and rayment, shall receive that Candor as to be accompted of assistance, In order to influence and gain them to a Continouance of their former amitie with these provinces, wee shall with all readiness acquiesce that a Suteable proportion of the monie raised, or intended to be raised & appropriated by us to that use, Shall be reputed and taken as a support to this governm. Therefore, wee desire that wee may be accordinglie Represented to the Indians, & not rekoned among those that refuse to Comply either with the Queen's Letter or thy Just Comands, which otherwise may prove of ill consequence to us.

This defiant reply so incensed the Governor, that he determined immediately to dissolve the Assembly. Accordingly, on the afternoon of this day, June 9, he demanded and secured the presence of the whole House of Representatives before him. When assembled, he upbraided them severely for wasting nineteen days of a session in searching for imaginary grievances, and during that time giving no consideration to measures for the security of the Province, as had been especially commanded by her Majesty the Queen.

Having thus addressed the Assembly, the Governor, preparatory to dissolving them, disposed of the pending legislation in these words:

You have Laid some bills before me. First, you desire me to give Sanction to two bills agt Robbing and Stealing, which tho' (as you word ym) they are not Consonant to the Laws of England, yett att yo' instance and request I doe allow of them, till their Maties pleasure be further