Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1775-05-22 00:00:00, page 8

To His EXCELLENCY
WILLIAM FRANKLIN, Esquire,
Captain-Genera!, Governor and Commander in
Chief in and over Lis Majeffs Colony of No
va-C^farea or New-fer/cy, and territories'
thereon depending in America, Chancellor and
'IBe-Admiral in the fame, &c.
The Humble A DDRESS of the Repre
sentatives of the said Colony in General
Affembl? convened.
May it tleafe your Excellency,
"' "''Majeftv's loyal and dutiful
Vy fubjecb, the Representatives of the
colony of New-Jersey, in General Assembly
convened, have taken under our confederation
your Excellency's fpecch at the opening of
the feffiao, together vith the re foheion of
the Houle of Commons accompanying the
fume, containing a propofnion for accommo
dating of the unhappy differences at present
fjbfr!iing between our parent country and the
colonies,.
As the Continental Con-refs is now fitting
to collider of the prefect critical situation of
American affairs, and as this House has al
ready appointed Delegates for that purpose,
we should have been glad that your Excel
lency had postponed the present meeting until
^^rn^) Jbm efleem ?tmygr^fteft bappinffs to defend
Grid protect them againjl every species of violence and
oppregion. I am, Sir, &c.
TH 0. GAGE.
Hen. Governor Trumbull.
PHILADELPHIA, May 24.
His Excellency Governor Colden's ANSWER
to the ADDRESS publilhed in our lait. ,
Gentlemen,
THATEthe best authority to assure you, that our
' most gracious Sovereign, and both H.ufes oj Par
liament have declared their readiness to afford every
juftand reasonable indigence to the .Colonies, whenever^
they should make a proper application, on the ground op
any real grievances they may have to complain of
1 bis declaration has been followed by a resolution oj the
House of Commons, which it mas expected mould
have manifejied tbe juflice and moderation of Parlia
ment, and a disposition to comply with every wijb ,/
the fubjeAs in America. —They offer to forbear every
kind of taxation or assessment on America, except fuels
as are necefary for the regulation of commerce ; and
only require that the Colonies Jbould make profifon,
by fueb ways and means as are bes failed to their rej
je&i-ve circumffances, for contributing a proportion to
the. common defence of the empire, audjor the Jupport
if their own civil government and the adminiJlration
ofjufice. His Majeftfs minifers did not doubt this
temper in Parliament, would meet with fuel) a return
on the part of the Colonies, as woulddead to a happy
ifoe of tbe present dilutes, and to a re-eflabli^ment
of the public tranquilly, on grounds of equity, juflice,
and moderation. Is it not then to be lamented as the
mos unfortunate event, that the patience of the people
was exbaufled at the moment of this proftef of a peace
rable and happy accomplishment of all their wifoes ?
Will not those in whom they now confide, yet endea
vour to obtain it ? —Must this country, till now hap
py and flourishing beyond parallel, be involved in the
dreadful calamities ever attendant on civil war,
while there remains one poftble means, untried, by
which so great, so cruel an evil might be averted !—
You tell me, Gentlemen, that the people have loft all
confidence in the ordinary officers of government, and
that they have caff their eyes upon you for advice and
direction. I cannot dimefl myfelf of the mos affeflio,
ate concern for the welfare, the peace, and prosperity
ofthe people over whim I have so long prefixed as the
immediate Representative cf their augufl Sovereign—
with whom I have lived the term of a long life, and
among whom llave all that is dear and valuable to
me. lam impelled by my duty, and a mofl zealous at
tachment to the interest and fafety oj this people, to
exhortyou not to irritate the present enraged fate of
leer minds, nor fuffer them to plunge into labyrinths,
from whence they can neither advance nor retreat,
but through blood and deflation.
His Majeffsminders have, in the ftrengef terms,
exprefled the fatisJaMon with which the King re
ceived the afurance of the loyalty and affeHnx of bis
faithful fubjeAs inthis government, and of their ardent
defoefor a permanent reconciliation with the Mother
country.—lcannot then conceive upon what grounds a
fu/jicion is entertained, that the city of New-York is
to be reduced t> the prefect Situation cj Bflon. I
hive not bad the leaf intimation that any regular
Sroo/s were defined for this prov nee. It is proper
that General Gage fbould know your sentiments on this
jufeN, and Iftall embrace tbpfrf opportunity of com
municating your request to him. At the fame time, I
think there is reason to fufpefi that this report has
been invented to facilitate de introduction of an armed
force from Connecticut, which lam told is meditated.
ATlnot the apprebenjionof fueb a design rouge you,
Gentlemen, amlevery virtuous citizen, to avert, by
every means in your power, a measure so degrading,
f> dangerous to the honour, the fafety, and freedom of
this colony.
I have beheld with inexprefible anxiety thefate of
tumult and fifader which raged in the metropolis of
this [ rovince ; and I am forr, that a recent inflance
fare your appointment, revives the threatening prof
pefof infecurit,. to which the inhabitants are restated.
I exhortyou to carry into effect the afurantes you give
me, that,on are determined to improve that confidence
with ,bicb ibejcf'e have honoured you, in frogtb-
CeiA the bands of the civil magifrates. Let this be
clone in nediatety, and with impartialfrmnefs on eve
ry occasion, that the houses, persons, and property of
yourJel^w citizens may n t be attacked n^d infa ted
with impunity, and every degree of domeflic security
and ka,p icefsfared to the foundation.
CADWALLADER COLDLN.
M^y S 3, ] 775-
their opinion could be had upon the fcfoluti
on now offered for our confederation, and to
which we have no doubt that ^proper atten
tion will be paid; more especially as we can
not suppose you to entertain a suspicion that
the present House has the least defigh to de
sert the common cause, iri which all Ameri
ca appears to be both deeply interefled and
firmly united, so far as separately and with
out the advice of a body in which all arc re
presented, to adopt a measure of io much im
portance. Until this opinion is known, we
can only give your Excellency our present
sentiments, being fully of opinion that we
Shall pay all proper refpecf to, and abide by,
the united voice of the Congress on the pre
sent occasion.
Your Excellency is plcafed to tell us, that
this refolutien " has bad a variety of inter
pretations put on it" —" that scarcely any
have fcen it in its proper light" —and you
proceed to give us that explanation of the de
sign and occasion which jou apprehend will
enable us and our constituents to judge how
far the plan it contains ought to be acquiefeed
in, and what steps it may be prudent to take
in the present situation. We confefs that
your Excellency has put a conftru&ion on
the proposition which appears to us to be new,
and if we could be of the opinion that the re
solution “ holds no proposition beyond the
avowal of the justice, the equity and the pro
priety of fdbjeas of the fame slate," contri
buting according to their abilities and situa
tion to the public burden," and did not con
vey to us the idea of submitting the ddpolal
of all our property to others in whom we
have no choice, it is more than probable that
we Should gladly embrace the opportunity of
fettling this unhappy dispute,
Tvloft Assemblies on the Continent have, at
various times, acknowledged and declared to
the world their willingness, not only to de
fray the charge of the administration ofjuftfce
and the support of the civil government, but
also to contribute, as they have hitherto done,
when constitutionally called upon, to every
reasonable and necessary expence for the de
fence, proteaion and security of the whole
British empire; and this colony in particular
hath always complied with his Majesty's re
quisitions for those purposes: And we do
now assure your Excellency that we Shall al
ways be ready, according to our abilities, and
to the ptmoft of our power, to maintain the
interests of his Majesty and of our parent Slate.
If then yout Excellency's conftru&ion be
right, and if a proposal " of this nature" will,
as you are pleased to inform us, be received
by his Majesty with every possible indulgence,
Ue have hopes that the declaration we now
make will be looked on by his Majesty and
his Miniflers not only to be similar to what
is required from us, but also to be a " basis
of a negotiation" on which the present dif
ferences may be accommodated—An event
which we most ardently wiSh for.
We have considered the resolution of the
House of Commons—We would not wish to
come to a determination that might be justly
called precipitate in the present alarming situ
ation of affairs' —But, if we miflake not, this
resolution contains no new proposal: It ap
pears to us to be the fame with one made to
the colonies the year preceding the passing
of the late Stamp A&; at least it is not ma
terially different therefrom. America then
did not comply with it, and though we arc
sincerely disposed to make use of all proper
means to obtain the favour of his Majesty and
the Parliament of Great- Britain, yet we can
not, in our present opinion, comply with a
proposition which we reallyapprehend to give
up the privileges of freemen; nor do we want
any time to confider whether we Shall Submit
to that which, in our apprehenfron, will re
duce us and our constituents to a slate little
better than that offlavcry.
, By the refclution now offered, if assented
to, we think ue Shall be to all intents and
purposes as fully and effectually taxed by our
fellow fubjefts in (Leat-Britain, u here wo
have not any representation, as by any of the
late acts of the Ihihfh Parliament, under
which we have been aggrieved—of which we
have complained —and from which we have
prayed to be relieved, and that too in a much
greater degree, perhaps, than by all those
adts put together. We cannot confers to
Subject the property of our constituents to
be taken away for Services and uSes, of the
propriety cf which we have no right to jud_e,
while to us are only left the ways and means
of raising the money. We have always
thought and contended that we had a right to
dispose of our property ourfelyes, and we
have always chterfu'ly yielded our affiance
So his Majesty in that way, when the exh
gencies of affairs required u$ so to do and he
has coridefcended to ask it from us. It is the
freedom of granting, as well as the mode of
railing monies which this House cannot vo
luntarily part with without betraying thejufc
rights of the constitution. The present lefo
lution seems to require us to raise a propor=
tion which a Parliament of Great-Britain
may at any time think fit to grant. At this
time we cannot form any judgment, either
of the extent of the proposition, or of the
consequences in which the good people of tire
colony may be involved by our assent to a
provilion so indeterminate ; for it appears to
us to be impossible to judge what proportion
or Share the people can bear until we know
what situation they will be in when any fu m
is intended to be raised.—Upon the whole,
though sincerely desirous to give every mark
of duty and attachment to the King, and to
Shew all due reverence to the Parliament of
our parent state, we cannot, confident with
our real sentiments, and the trust reposed in
us, assent to a proposal big with consequences
deflru&ive to the public welfare; and hope
that the justice of our parent country will not
permit us to be driven into a situation the
profped of which fills us with anxiety and
horror.
There may be much truth in the observa
tion " that mankind generally ad, not ac.
cording to right, but according to present in
terest, and most according to present paffion:''
Yet we trust that our condud, on the pre
sent occasion, is neither influenced by the
one nor the other ; and we persuade ourselves
that your Excellency is so well acquainted
with the people you govern, that it is quite
unnecessary for us to make use of any means
to convince you of the injustice of the charge
'' that the Americans have deeper views, arid
mean to throw off all dependance on Gieat-
Britain, and to get rid of every controul of
their legislature."
We heartily pray that the Supreme difpoftr
of events, in whose hands are the hearts of
all men, may avert the calamities impending
over us, and influence our Sovereign, his
Ministry and the Parliament, so as to induce
them to put a stop to the effufion of the blood
of the Colonists, who wish always to look
upon their fellow fubje&s in Britain as their
brethren, and are really desirous to promote
their interest and happiness upon any reason
able terms; and it will give us great pleasure
to find your Excellency amongst those who,
by just and proper representations of the dif
pofitrons of the inhabitants of these Colonies,
Shall assist in fettling of the present unhappy
differences. By order of the House,
CORTLAND SKINNER, Speaker.
Ilouje cf ffembly. May ig, 1775.
His Excellency's A NSWER.
Gentlemen,
fH AEE done my duty. I left no time in hyi/up
before you the propositions J had received for an
amicable accommodation cf the present unhappy dif
ferences, l gaze you as fu'l and candid an expla
nation cf them as I was autkorifed or enabled to do.
Ekether those proportions, or my explanation of them,
did or did not contain any thing new is but little to
the purpose. The question is, Dhether they ought or
ought not to be approved, either in whole or in part, or
he m.de the ground of a negotiation ; and whether,
in the latter case, every /ffembly on the continent
ought not to take feme afiive measures to effeßan end
so defrabie. In fating the matter to you, I could
have no suspicion that you did not think yourfe zes
competent totke bujinefs, and were neceforily to wait
the determination of another body. It was but the lafl
session that you assured me that you would net " fuffer
any of the rights vefed in you by the corfitution to be
wrefed out of your bands by any person or persons
whatsoever." Ifoall forbear to point out the incon
fftency of this address with that declaration. Nor
Jha I I aim to convince you of the wrong ideas you
have formed of those proportions. Ifere they ever so
rightly underflcod, or ever so wed approved by you,
yet, to judge byyour own declarations, it could he of
no avail. The times are indeed great, altered. 1
fbali be happy tofee fane proper attempts to mendthem.
My rep'fntations and endeavours from the firfl
commencement of Ibis unnatural dijputeto this day,
have not been, nor foall they ever be wanting towards
efndihg a reconciliation. lam persuaded that if a
difrftion of this fort is manifefed, and the proper
fe/s are pursued by those, who have it in their power
to take the lead in this important affair on the
part of America, it may be e ft) accomplished to
mutual fatisfaclion. Ibis Maj fly, 1 amfare, would
wife to avoid the fedthng of the Hood of bis Ame
rican, as much, as that of his British Jubjecis.—.
They rufl be all equally dear to him, if they are
equally dutiful. Ihe Americans jn general have
been, and 1 hope wfl ever prove as well disposed
to bis Mojefy and bis family, as fee ffjefs of
any ether pert of the dominions.