Ingaged on my account, And that the Custome of Goods Imported here from thence Directly amounting from £1500 Since my arrival to £10000 per Annum to the Queen and by Circulation of our Trade by the hands in their Commodities hither to not less than as much more; which before it was mine never returned any thing. I hope it will not be thought hard that I ask Thirty thousand pounds paid, and one half the penny per pound upon Tobacco in the Country, as well of what sume or sumes the People shall give and grant the Governor for the time being for his Salary by my assistance. 5th. Having so great a Stake there and the inhabitants thereof, and to distinguish my Self and Family as the founders of the Country, That I and my Heirs Shall have power to present as often as a Governor is wanting Two or more persons to the Queen or King for the time being Qualified for that Station, for Her or Him to appoint and Commission one of them to be a Governor and vice adm" thereof. 6th. That no appeals shall Lye to the Queen in personall actions where the Cause of action is of Less value than £200. 7th. That all Rights privileges Jurisdictions, Power and preheminence Granted unto me and my heirs by Patent of Lord of the Soile & waters proprietor of the Country with all incident Courts and offices thereunto belonging, be in the amplest maner reserved and Confirmed, And that all such further priviledges Franchizes and Liberties as upon consideration shall be found necessary to the good and prosperity of the said province &c, and in augmenting the Trade and further peopleing thereof, may be granted and Confirmed to me and my posterity which is submitted Wm. Penn Mr. Penn by these proposalls demanding not only a great sume of money, but in effect much Larger powers from Her majesty than what he offers to yeild, and lykewise a new and positive Grant of the three Lower Countys called Newcastle, Kent and Sussex, To which we do not find he has any good title, tho he has a long time Exercised the same authority there as in the province of Pennsylvania, We have esteemed such proposals very unreasonable, and thereupon pressed him to come to more moderate Terms. The uniting of this Colony lending very much to a due regulation of Trade and Settleing a method of common defence in this time of War. But in relation to the Exercise of his authority or of those deputed by him, in which respect all Proprietary Governors did for some time refuse to give that Security for their deputys which was required from them pursuant to the act of the 7th and 8th of his late majesty ffor preventing ffrauds and Regulating abuses in the Plantation Trade, and to the adress of your Lordships thereupon, We have prevailed with him to give the Security required and a declaration under his hand that Her Majesties approbation should not be construed in any maner to diminish or Set a Syde Her Majesties Claime of Right to the three Lower Counties: Whereupon Her majesty was accordingly pleased to approve of Mr. John Evans nominated by him as Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania and the said Counties. The lyke security has been required and taken for Sir Nathaniel Johnson Deputy Governor of Carolina, and for Mr. Edward Birtch Deputy Governor of the Bahama Islands which Colonys lye so very much exposed to the French and Spaniards, That without a due Regulation of Government under Her majesty and proper means of defence, We cannot but apprehend a sudden Loss of one or both of those Colonies, which would be in the highest maner detrimental to the Trade of this Kingdom. In relation to the State of defence and Trade of Virginia and Maryland, haveing received an account from Colonel Nicholson Governor of Virginia, That the militia there was in a very ill Condition, as to arms and stores of War necessary for their defence, The particulars whereof he Represented The Horse 2143 Dragoons 1985 Foot 4971 In all. 9099 That there wanted for the Horse and Dragoons... 3000 cases of pistolls And for Ditto 3500 Carabines For the Foot 5000 Firelocks For the horse Dragoons & foot 5000 Swords, besides pouder and Shell; which particulars the Country ought to provyde at their oun charge, But in regaurd of the great importance of that Colony to Her Majestys Revenue and the Trade of this Kingdom, and in consideration of the present conjuncture, and that such arms and stores Cannot be provyded in America, We humbly offered to Her Majesty that She would be pleased to order a sufficient quantity of arms and pouder to be sent to the Governor and that he might be directed to require the assembly to reimburse the charge thereof and not to deliver any of them out, but upon absolute necessity: whereupon Her majesty was pleased to order that a Quantity of the said arms to the value of £3388 Should be sent, and that the said Sume should be repaid to the office of the ordinance out of the Quit Rents of that province. Directions were lykewise [given] to the Governor to take Care that Such of Said arms, as Should be Delyvered to the Inhabitants there, for the ordinary Service of the militia should be paid for, by the persons who received the same, and whereas the assembly had raised the sume of ¿420 Sterling for defraying the charge of takeing a pirate Ship, which was an Eminent and Extraordinary Service. We humbly Represented that Her majesty would be pleased to gratifie them in alloweing the deduction of that Sume out of the Reimbursement they were required to make as aforsaid Unto which we further added that it would very much conduce to Her majesty's Service if a Store Keeper were sent to that Colony, who might be accountable for such arms and ammunition, as Her majesty should think fitt to send from time to time and upon consideration of the forsaid ill state of the militia, We advised the Governour to Endeavour to get an act past there to oblidge all masters to furnish their men servants with a Gun of 20 shillings value at the expiration of their terme of Servitude as was practised in the nighbouring province of Mary Land where the Governor of that province had informed us that the militia was well regulated and armed, magazines built for stores, and places for Rendezvvous appointed for any occasion. In relation to Convoys for those important Trades, We have several times heard the Tradeing thither, as lykewise divers planters and others who had been Inhabitants of those Colonies and settled the times most proper for their Convoys, And being informed by the said merchts that at least 80 ships were then (vizt in december 1702) lyeing in the Rivers of Virginia & Maryland; and that the lyke number would be ready to go out from the severall parts of this Kingdom in January following with the manufactures of England, for the present supply of those Colonys; We offered it as highly necessary that a Convoy of good Strength Should be appointed to Sail from the Downs by the End of January aforsaid, with directions that they should Call at the cheif ports between the Isle of Wight and the Lands End, for the merchants Ships bound to Virginia and Maryland, and that the said Convoy should be ordered to return from the Capes of Virginia by the 1st or 30th day of July at the furthest, bringing with them such merchant ships as should be then ready to sailer Whereupon it haveing been ordered that the Said Ships be Convoyed by two fourth Rates to be Joyned by two others from Vice admiral Bembows [sic] squadron then in the west Indies part of that fleet being lately arrived in the ports of England, We have understood that the Quantity of Tobacco then Imported into the ports of London from September 1702 to november 1703 amounted to 59036 hhds since which Another fleet being allso arrived, We are informed that the Quantity therein Shipt from Virginia and Mary Land for the port of London is 11440 hhds. But the quantitys arrived this year or yet expected at Whytehaven, Leverpool, Bristol, Briddiford, and other out ports, We have not receaved a particular account. Upon a general Calculation we esteem it may amount to one third of what we have mentioned to be imported into the port of London, so that the whole quantity may be about 93968 hhds. It haveing been Represented to us by some merchants of London as necessary that another Convoy of good force should be sent to those parts about the beginning of July following with a fleet of Merchants Ships intended to Saile at that time, for the further supplyeing of those Colonies with those necessaries and bringing from thence the product of the year, We lykewise humbly reported such a Convoy to be requisite to saile at that time, or at the latest about the beginning of august and to return from thence the beginning of aprile nixt, which Convoy might have directions either to remain in the Rivers of Virginia and Mary Land, or to be ordered to Cruise dureing the winter Season, off of Barbadoes and the Leward Islands, or else where within the Tropicks, for the Security of the Trade of those parts; and accordingly 2 fourth Rate ffrigats were appointed for that Service. We have further Represented the necessity of a due care in makeing the lyke seasonable provision of Convoys for furnishing those Colonies with the manufactures of England and bringing away the product of those parts which without such encouragement for the safety of their Trade might be necessitated during the War to turn their industry from the planting of Tobacco (so beneficial to England) to the producing European manufactures. Upon information that all the Ships of War which last sailed from Virginia, are ordered to come away with the Trade and none other appointed for that Station, We humbly offered that one of those intended thither should Remain there as a winter Guard, whatever Service the other might be ordered upon till the return of the fleet. And in further relation to Convoys for those parts, haveing considered the ill consequences of ships comeing away from thence without Convoy Dureing this time of War, whereby many of them have been taken and other wayes exposed to great hazards, We humbly offered to Her majesty the draught of letters to the Governor of Virginia, and to the president and Council of Maryland, in the absence of the Governor strictly requireing them to take especial care that dureing this time of War no Ships do Saile from those Colonys otherwise than with Convoy, such only excepted as shall have particular Licence from Her maty or from His Royal highness the Lord high admiral to that effect. And whereas the Government of Maryland became vacant by the return of Colonel Blakiston from thence, We prepared a Commission and Instructions for Colonel John Seymour appointed by Her Majesty to be Governor of that province, inserting therein such clauses as were proper for the Conjuncture who availed himself of the opportunity of those Convoys for the Transporting himself and family to that province. We add upon this head, that some defects haveing been found in divers acts transmitted from Mary-Land relateing to the establishment of Religion and maintainance of ministers in that province, We prepared a new draught of a bill on that Subject in which we had the assistance of his Grace the Lord Arch Bishop of Canterbury, The Lord Bishop of London and their principal officers of the Crown, and accordingly Laid the said draught before his late Majestic who was graciously pleased, after haveing heard the Quakers in Behalf of their brethern in that province against the draught of the said Bill, as lykewise the reasons offered for the passing it, to Direct by Order of Council, that we should transmitt the Said draught to the Governor and Council of Maryland to be by them offered to the General assembly, In order to the passing it Into an act in the usual maner, which act haveing been accordingly passed there, and receaved her majestys Royal approbation, was again transmitted to Mary Land, and has had as we are assured those good effects, which were proposed, and designed by that Law. In Relation to Neu York we Lay before your Lordships, that the Lord Cornbury the present Governor has at Several times informed us as to the state of defence of the said province. That the effort of the City of New York is in a very ill condition nothing haveing been Laid out upon it since Colonel ffletcher came from thence, The parapet being of sod worke is fallen down in many places most of the platforms and carriages decayed and useless, many of the Guns dismounted and Some of them honey comb'd so that they cannot be safely fired. That the forts at Albany, Schenctad Canesligione and another upon Hudsons River called the Half-Moon were lykewise in a ruinous Condition. His Lordship is therefor Building a new fort at Albany and designs ta put the other forts into a better state of repair, which we hope is now done. That very few of the Stores which he found at New Yorke and at Albany were fitt for Service. His Lordship desyred that the 4 foot Company in that province which ought to Consist of 400 private Soldiers besides Officers may be recruited, those Companys wanting many of their Complement. That musquets, Bayonets, Swords, and other accoutrements should be sent them, without which those Companies were not fitt for Service. That the militia of the province was in a very ill state, haveing not been drawn out or Exercised for many years Last past. That in consideration of the great Charge necessary for Carrying on the fortifications, and the province being much in debt; His Lordship further prayed that Her majesty would be pleased to direct, that he might have some assistance from home for the performance of that Service, He lykewise transmitted to us a List of great Guns, smal arms and Stores, which he thought requisite for the defence of the province. As for the State of the Civil Government, His Lordship informed us, that he found things in great disorder, The animosities between parties were very high, and at the time of his arrival the administration of the Government being cheifly in the hands of unfitt and mean persons they had oppressed the cheif and most wealthy Inhabitants and brought all to great Extremities which appeared by many addresses presented to his Lordship from all parts in this his Government for releif, and by the Condemnation of two considerable merchants there Sentenced to be Execute as guilty of high Treason, whereas their Crimes only appeared to be that they had prepared a petition to the late King, The parliament of England, and the Lord Cornbury, Setting furth the greivances they had Lain under. In reference to the five nations of Indians bordering upon New York, His Lopp gave us ane account of a Conference he has had with their cheif Sachems at Albany, where he made them presents as usual in order to |