Majesty our most hearty and sincere thanks, for your having, at Our earnest Petition, appointed a Person to govern this Province solely, a ffavour truly great! and which we recieve as a farther Testimony, that the remotest of your Majesties Subjects are equally the Objects of your Royal Care, protection and Benevolence. From hence We hope to see Trade and Commerce fflourish, and Justice more duly and Speedily Administered, among us, Blessings! which will make us happy, Encrease the Number of Your Majesties subjects here, and enable us from time to time honourably to Support the Government in all its parts. Permit us also most humbly to acknowledge our satisfaction in the Gentleman whom your Majesty has on this occasion appointed to Represent your Royal Person here His know [n] Justice, Integrity and Impartiallity in his several former Stations, has render'd him most acceptable to us, His perseverance therein and Our Loyalty and Gratitude to your Majesty, the best of Kings, will be the Inducements to continue your Royal Grace and Favour, both towards Him and us. That Your Majesty may long Live and Reign, Triumphant over all your Enemies, The darling and beloved Object, of all your Subjects Care and Veneration, and blessed in a numerous Offspring, is the Prayer of Divers of the Members of both Houses being of the People called Quakers do Agree to the matter and Substance of the above Address May it please Your Majesty By Order of the Councill JOHN HAMILTON Sp! JOSEPH BENNET [Bonnell?] Spea! but make some By Order of the House of Representatives Exception to Stile. Letter from Governor Morris to Sir Charles Wager,' First Lord Commiss" of the Treasury-relating to the affairs of New Jersey and New York, [From Original Letter-book, of Gov. Morris, in the New Jersey Historical Society Library.J Right honble AMBOY May 10th 1739. I acknowledge the hon' of yours of the 15th of Jan'y & 11th of december. I thank you for the favours Express'd in both of them, my poor daughter is under the greatest Obligation to you concerning her pension & if She recovers the great fatigue of attending a sick Husband (wch I am told kept her constantly out of bed (Except three nights) both during the Voyage and after it) She cannot faile of returning those gratefull Sentiments She is at present with So much reason possess'd of I thank you for ye favourable Sentiments you express of my Speech' I spoke my reall thoughts; & if a Judgment were to be form'd from the Assembly's address upon it (wch was long a comming) and from the addresses from all parts of the Province I had reason to Expect every thing I could fairly desire, but, I cannot as yet Say the Success has answer'd the Expec 1 SIR CHARLES WAGER-This Baronet, with whom Governor Morris formed an intimate acquaintance when in England, and for whom he cherished a sincere regard, stood high in his profession. He was made a Captain for his gallantry at the battle of La Hague. In 1707 he was sent with a command to the West Indies where he defeated fourteen Spanish galloons with only three ships. Queen Anne as a reward for his distinguished services, knighted him, and promoted him to be an admiral. His generosity was equal to his heroism. The riches he acquired were regarded by him only as the means of doing good both to his relatives and to persons in distress. He was chosen a member of Parliament for Portsmouth in 1709, and sat in every parliament there after until his death. He was placed at the head of the Navy Board in January, 1732.-See Collections New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. IV, p. 40.-ED. 2 See "Papers of Governor Lewis Morris," pp. 36-38.-ED. tation, & whether it will, or no, requires Some time to discover. There is So much Insincerity-and Ignorance-among the people and withall so rooted a Jealousy of their Governours, & so strong an Inclination in the meaniest of the people (who are the majority & whose Votes make the Assembly) to have the Sole direction of all the Affairs of the Government, & to make the Governour, and other officers Intirely dependant on themselves, that it requires much more temper, Skill, & constancy to overcome these difficulties than falls to every man's share & whether to be done most effectually by driving, or leading them, is difficult to determine. Each of these have been Successfull in their turns: & sometimes neither. The generallity of them Seem to have no very quick Sence of honour or of Shame & can beare with indifference enough the reproaches of departing from their words or Engagements whenever they think it Improper to comply with them; so that their addresses like many others are not much to be depended on being rather the sence of the drawers who furnish the words & Paragraphs & may be said to be as little understood as intruding by the greatest part of the Addressors; if their conduct afterwards be a reason Sufficient to forme A Judgment on; of this their adress to me (Inclos'd for your perusall) is a Sample & I should be glad I could truly Say that this bad made it good in any one point, & here I must not Omit doing the Justice to Say that A majority of the house profess'd to be my friends & I am willing to believe an Equallity of them were really Sincere & to them (who Spar'd no pains) is owing w has been done; tho many of their notions were too confin'd & narrow to do as much as might Otherwise have been Expected from them, had there been no greater obstacle y" this perhaps time and conversation might have remov'd it, but there grew So great a rancour among the members that they Shun'd the conver sation of Each other Out of the house, and could not preserve the rules of common decency in it descending to downright Scolding, giving the lye, threatning to Spit in the faces & were (as I am inform'd) often very nigh getting together by the Ears: & Seemingly or really so Irreconcileably divided that when any bill was proposed tho a good one by One part it was Oppos'd by the other purely for Oppositions Sake, this to Some Gover's might not have been a disadvantagious Scituation; but I did not think the Governing by parties Eligible till I could not avoid the doing so, & us'd the differences rather as matters of diversion than otherwise: Sometimes expressing a concerne that good men Should be So Angry wth each other. This was their conduct During most of the time of their Sitting which was very Long; but before the close of the Sessions there arose a difference between them & the Councill; & tho they were far from Agreeing Amongst themselves in other matters yet, the majority of them Seem'd to unite heartily against the Councill in this: wch appearing to me of Dangerous tendency I thought it necessaay to dissolve them; & not Suffer a controversy of that kind to go any further, Inclos'd you have my Speech to them on the dissolution: with Apparent reasons for the doing of it: but the true one. was for this their Extravagant & as I thought unwarrantable claim wch was the Cause of this difference, the case stands thus, There are two Acts pass'd in this Province to strike paper bills of credit: these two Acts have had the Royall assent, -the reasons assign'd in the preamble of these Acts are, for Encreasing the currency of this collony, for the better enabling the inhabitants to Support Government, discharge their Engagements & carry on their trade. In order to do those things this money is let out to Interest, and the Interest arising from it to be yearly paid in to the treasurers of the Province and by these Acts this Interest money so paid to the treasurers is to be dispos'd of to & for the Support of the Government in Such Sort, manner & forme, as by the Governour, Councill, & Generall Assembly, Shall be directed, -By these Acts the money arising by the Interest is given and Apply'd to the Support of the Government and to be dispos'd of for that purpose; but how & in what man'er that is (as I take it) how much to the Governour & how much to other officers, & for other Services is left to the direction of the Governour, Councill, & Assembly, for the time being to Agree upon; whether this was to be done by Agreement without an Act of Assembly; or by an Act? might admit of debate; but whether with, or without an Act; the Councill were of Opinion that both they and the Governour; had by virtue of these Acts as much right as the Assembly to direct how & in what manner money long since rais'd & paid into the hands of the treasurers for the Support of the Government Should be apply'd to that use, -the Assembly indeed when they rais'd any money by act have pretended a right not to admit the councill to amend a money bill & the Councill on the Other side have insisted on a right to amend any bill if they thought fit; tho they Often declin'd doing of it rather than hazzard the Support of ye government, but this they took to be a quite differant case because by the Express words of the Acts wch rais'd the money both governour and councill as well as assembly were Impowered, to direct in the disposition of it; however, to avoid as much as might be any dispute on that head, the Councill did proceed directly to make the Ammendments they thought necessary; but desired A conference with them on the Subject matter of the bill, the Assembly Naturally enough Concluding that the Council Intended by this conference to propose Some Ammendment to the bill then Sent up the Support of the gov |