The Speaker with the House wait upon the Governour

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A Message from his Excellency, by Mr. Deputy Secretary Pettit:

Mr. Speaker:

His Excellency is in the Council-Chamber, and requires the immediate attendance of the House.

Whereupon Mr. Speaker left the Chair, and with the House went to Wait upon his Excellency in the Council-Chamber, when he addressed the Governour in the words, or to the effect following:

"I am ordered by the House of Assembly to deliver to your Excellency their Address, which being different from my sentiments, I think it necessary thus publickly to declare it; a step I should not have taken, had I been permitted to enter my dissent on the Minutes of the House."

Having delivered the Address, and being returned, Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair, and reported that the House had waited on his Excellency with their Address, in these words, viz:

To his Excellency WILLIAM FRANKLIN, Esquire, Captain-General, Governour, and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty' s Colony of NOVA-CAESAREA, or NEW-JERSEY, and Territories thereon depending in AMERICA, Chancellor and Vice-Admiral in the same, &c.

The humble Address of the Representatives of the said Colony, in General Assembly convened:

May it please your Excellency:

We, His Majesty' s loyal and dutiful subjects, the Representatives of the Colony of New-Jersey, in General Assembly convened, have taken under our consideration your Excellency' s Speech at the opening of the session, together with the Resolution of the House of Commons accompanying the same, containing a proposition for accommodating of the unhappy differences at present subsisting between our Parent Country and the Colonies.

As the Continental Congress is now sitting to consider of the present critical situation of American affairs; and as this House has already appointed Delegates for that purpose, we should have been glad that your Excellency had postponed the present meeting until their opinion could be had upon the Resolution now offered for our consideration

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and to which we have no doubt that a proper attention will be paid; more especially as we cannot suppose you to entertain a suspicion that the present House has the least design to desert the common cause, in which all America appears to be both deeply interested and firmly united, so far as separately, and without the advice of a body in which all are represented, to adopt a measure of so much importance. Until this opinion is known, we can only give your Excellency our present sentiments, being fully of opinion that we shall pay all proper respect to, and abide by, the united voice of the Congress on the present occasion.

Your Excellency is pleased to tell us that this Resolution "has had a variety of interpretations put on it;" "that scarcely any have seen it in its proper light;" and you proceed to give us that explanation of the design and occasion, which you apprehend will enable us and our constituents to judge how far the plan it contains ought to be acquiesced in, and what steps it may be prudent to take in the present situation. We confess that your Excellency has put a construction on the proposition, which appears to us to be new; and if we, would be of the opinion that the Resolution "holds no proposition beyond the avowal of the justice, the equity, and the propriety of subjects of the same State contributing, according to their abilities and situation, to the publick burden," and did not convey to us the idea, of submitting the disposal 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 settling this unhappy dispute.

Most Assemblies on the Continent have, at various times, acknowledged and declared to the world their willingness not only to defray the charge of the administration of justice, 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 expense for the defence, protection, and security of the whole British Empire; and this Colony in particular hath always complied with his Majesty' s requisitions for those purposes. And we do now assure your Excellency that we shall always be ready, according to our abilities and to the utmost of our power, to maintain the interests, of His Majesty and of our Parent State. If, then, your Excellency' s construction 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, we have hopes that the declaration we now make will be looked on by His Majesty and his Ministers, not only to be similar to what is required from us, but also to be a "basis of a negotiation" on which the present differences 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 situation of affairs; but if we mistake not, this Resolution contains no new proposal. It appears to us to be the same with one made to the Colonies the year preceding the passing of the late Stamp Act; at least it is not materially different there from. America then did not comply with it; and though we are sincerely disposed to make use of all proper means to obtain the favour, of His Majesty and the Parliament of Great Britain, yet we cannot, in our present opinion, comply with a proposition which we really apprehend to give up the privileges of freemen; nor do we want any time to consider whether we shall submit to that which, in our apprehension, will reduce us and our constituents to a state little better than that of slavery.

By the Resolution now offered, if assented to, we think we shall be, to all intents and purposes, as fully and effectually, taxed by our fellow-subjects in Great Britain, where we have not any representation, as by any of the late Acts of the British 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 Acts put together. We cannot consent to subject the property of our constituents to be taken away for services and uses, of the propriety of which we have no right to judge, 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 ourselves; and we have always cheerfully yielded our assistance to His Majesty in that

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way; when the exigencies of affairs required us so to do, and he has condescended to ask it from us. It is the freedom of granting, as well as the mode of raising moneys, which this House cannot voluntarily part with, without betraying the just rights of the Constitution. The present Resolution seems to require us to raise a proportion 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 the Colony may be involved by our assent to a provision 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 sum is intended to be raised.

Upon the whole, though sincerely desirous to give every mark of duty and attachment to the King, and to show all due reverence to the Parliament of our Parent State, we cannot, consistent with our real sentiments, and the trust reposed in us, assent to a proposal big with consequences destructive to the publick welfare; and hope that the justice of our Parent Country will not permit us to be driven into a situation, the prospect of which fills us with anxiety and horrour.

There may be much truth in the observation, "that mankind generally act not according to right, but according to present interest, and most according to present passion," Yet we trust that our conduct on the present 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, and mean to throw of all dependance on Great Britain, and to get rid of every control of their Legislature."

We heartily pray that the supreme Disposer 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 effusion of the blood of the Colonists, who wish always to look upon their fellow-subjects in Great Britain as their brethren, and are really desirous to promote their interests and happiness upon any reasonable terms; and it will give us great pleasure to find your Excellency amongst those who, by just and proper representations of the dispositions of the inhabitants of these Colonies, shall assist in settling of the present unhappy differences. By order of the House:

CORTLAND SKINNER, Speaker.

House of Assembly, May 19, 1775.

The Speaker with the House wait upon the Governour in the Council Chamber with the Address, The Speaker declares his dissent to the Address, Address of the House to the Governour. [1775-05-19] New-Jersey, General Assembly; Skinner, Cortland. [S4-V2-p0599] [Document Details][Complete Volume]