their firm support in the prosecution of them, together with His Royal opinion of the great Advantages that will probably accrue from the concurrence of every branch of the Legislature in the Resolution of maintaining a due Execution of the Laws cannot fail to produce the most salutary effects.

From hence it will be understood that the whole Legislature concur in the opinion adopted by His Majesty's Servants, that no Measure ought to be taken which can any way derogate from the Legislative Authority of Great Britain over the Colonies; but I can take upon me to assure you, notwithstanding Insinuations to the Contrary from men with factious and Seditious views, that His Majesty's present Administration have [at] no time entertained a Design to propose to Parliament to lay any further Taxes upon America for the purpose of raising a Revenue, and that it is at present their Intention to propose in the next Session of Parliament to take off the Duties upon Glass, Paper & Colours, upon consideration of such Duties having been laid Contrary to the true principles of Commerce.

These have always been and still are the Sentiments of His Majesty's present Servants and [the Principles] by which their Conduct in respect to America has been governed, and His Majesty relies upon your prudence and fidelity for such an explanation of His Measures as may tend to remove the prejudices which have been excited by the misrepresentations of those who are enemies to the peace and prosperity of Great Britain and her Colonies, and to reestablish that mutual confidence and affection, upon which the Glory and Safety of the British Empire depend.

I am &c

HILLSBOROUGH.

Governor Franklin to Benjamin Frauklin-Captain Trent's Affairs-the Governor's farming operations - Secretary Morgan and Deputy Reed — Matters in New York and Massachussetts.

[From "Letters to Benjamin Franklin," p. 41.]

Hon'd Father:

BURLINGTON, May 11, 1769.

A few days after I was favoured with your Letter of the 20th of March by Capt. Creighton, the packet which left England the 7th of March is since arrived, but I had no letter by her from any one. I suppose (tho' you do not mention it) that you have wrote to me before relative to the letters I sent you by the January mail; perhaps by Sparks, who is not yet arrived. I wait impatiently for the arrival of the April packet, and do not think it proper to convene the Assembly till I have answers to some Letters I have wrote to the Ministry.

Mr. Galloway' has sent me (agreeably to your desire) copies of the clauses added to the last Mutiny Act.' I am very glad that they have passed, as I am convinced our Assembly would not have receded from the former mode of providing Necessaries for the Troops in quarters; and, consequently, altercation and confusion must have ensued.

'Joseph Galloway, the eminent lawyer, of Philadelphia, Speaker of the Penn. sylvania Assembly, 1765-74, member of the Continental Congress, 1774, up to which time he had been zealous in the popular cause. But in 1776 he joined the British, and in 1778 went to England, where he died in 1803. A full sketch of his life is given in Sabine's Loyalists, I., 453; a sketch is also given in Works of Benjamin Franklin, VII., 276.

2 The annual military appropriation bill passed by Parliament is called the "Mutiny Act."-May's Constitutional Hist. of England, II., 490.

I have wrote Col. Croghan' what you mention concerning his affair. I hope the application will be

attended with success.

Capt. Trent' met with some unexpected delays, but I suppose is by this time arrived in England. I hear that Sir Wm.' has a letter from Lord H.,' mentioning that his Maj'y entirely approves of all the Transactions

Col. George Croghan, an Irishman, was for many years a prominent figure on the frontiers, having great influence with the Indians. In 1763 he was sent to England by Sir William Johnson, to urge upon the Ministry the importance of settling the frontier boundary, and he was present at Fort Stanwix when that matter was arranged. At the same time and place he secured from the Indians a tract of 100,000 acres, and was a leading spirit in forming the Ohio Land Company, in which Governor Franklin, Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Wharton were deeply inter ested. He died at Pasayunk, Penn., in 1782.-N. Y. Col. Docs., VII., 982-3; Works of Franklin, IV., 233, 302; VII., 355; Hist. of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians of North America, London, 1794, III., 58, 60; Penn. Col. Records, and Penn. Archives, passim-[W. N.]

2 Captain William Trent was the youngest son of William Trent, Chief-Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, November 23, 1723-December 25, 1724. He was born in Lancaster, in 1715, and turned his attention to business in preference to books. He engaged in the Indian trade, learned the Indian language, and acquired over the dusky denizens of the frontiers a commanding influence, which he exercised for many years in the interest of peace. When Pennsylvania raised 400 men in 1746 for service in reducing Canada, the command of one of the four companies was given to William Trent, while William Franklin, then a lad of sixteen years, was ensign in another company. It was doubtless in this expedition that the two men formed or at least cemented a friendship which was to last for thirty years.-2 Penn. Archives, II., 489. Capt. Trent did gallant service in this expedition, and on his return in December, 1747, received the thanks of the Pennsylvania Assembly. During the next twenty years he was continually on duty on the frontiers, and in 1753 started a fort where Pittsburgh now is. Having become impoverished by frequent depredations of the Indians, the friendly chiefs of the Six Nations at the Treaty at Fort Stanwix, in 1768, granted to Trent and Samuel Wharton and their associates a tract of 3,500,000 acres of land. The King demurred to confirming the grant, and early in 1769, as above intimated by Governor Franklin, Trent sailed for England, and succeeded in getting the King's signature. The Ohio Company disputed the claims of the grantees to some of the lands, and the Revo. lution came on and extinguished the claims of both parties before their dispute was settled. Capt. Trent returned to America in the spring of 1775 (Hist. Mag., I., 85-6), and resumed his residence at Trenton, where he had lived before going to England, and where his family had dwelt during his long absence. In 1784 he returned to Philadelphia, where he resided until his death, in 1787. During all these years he was frequently on the frontier, engaged in treaty-making with the Indians, and in looking after the interests of his Indiana Company. Some of his descendants have occupied prominent positions in New Jersey.-Genealogy of Early Settlers of Trenton, by Rev. Eli F. Cooley, Trenton, 1883, 283-291; Penn. Col. Records and Penn. Archives, passim; Journal of Capt. Wm. Trent-[W. N.]

3 Sir William Johnson.

"Lord Hillsborough.

of the Treaty,' so that I imagine that Capt. Trent will meet with no difficulty in his application. Indeed, it is necessary to our friend W.'s' affairs that he should finish his Business in England in a short time, for those with whom he has left the care of his affairs find a good deal of difficulty in keeping matters quiet with some of his Creditors during his absence.

I have entered far into the spirit of Farming, and have lately made a considerable addition to my Farm on very reasonable terms. It is now altogether a very valuable and pleasant place. I must beg of you not to omit sending me the drain-plough I wrote to you for, invented and made by Wm. Knowles, at Newport, in the Isle of Wight. I observe by his Advertisement that he is to be heard of at Mr. Bailey's, Register of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. I likewise want a Rotheran or Patent Plough, as it is called. There is a draft of one in Mill's Husbandry and in the Select Transactions of the Edinburgh Society, but can't get our workmen here to make one by it. They understand the making of no other Ploughs but what are in common use here. I was thinking to request Knowles to make me one of this kind also (as he advertises making all sorts of Ploughs on the best mechanical Principles); but since I have learnt that he lives in the Isle of Wight, I am at a loss to know how it or the Drain-Plough can be sent without a great Expense, as I believe none of our Vessels in the time of peace touch at Portsmouth, and to send it to London (if by land) will make it come very dear. If, however, there are opportunities of sending them by water to London, or some other Seaport whence vessels sail to Philad❜a, the expence may not, perhaps, be worth minding.

I have not yet seen Mr. Caiger, who was recommended to you by Mr. Small and Mr. More, nor heard

of his arrival in America. Should it be in my power to serve him in what he requests, I shall readily do it. Mr. Morgan, our Secretary, is in Canada. I had a very polite letter from him last week, in which he mentions his intention of being here some time this month or the next. Mr. Reed, our Dep'y Sec'y, has, I understand, let his House in Trenton, and intends soon for England, to marry De Berdt's Daughter.' He has not, however, mentioned his intention to me, and perhaps will not think it necessary. He never comes here but at the time of the Courts, leaving his Business of Secretary entirely to Clerks, both here and at Amboy. Mr. Morgan intimates as if he had a design of chang ing his Deputy, but it is a matter I don't choose to interfere in; all that I shall desire is, that whoever he appoints may be obliged to reside here, and may be properly qualified to execute the Business.

Public Affairs remain much the same on this side of the water as when I wrote to you last. The Members of the New York Assembly are differing greatly among themselves. Col. Schuyler and Mr. Walton' went out to fight a Duel, but thought better of the matter when they got on the ground, and settled their differences amicably. Col. Lewis Morris is expelled for not being a Resident of the Borough of West Chester, for which he was elected, though he has a considerable Estate in the Borough. Mr. Livingston, their late Speaker, is like to be expelled on the same account. By the Resolves of the House, they allow non-residents have a right to elect, but not to be elected. Parties run very high among them.

The Boston Writers have attacked Gov'r Barnard on his Letters and on his being created a Baronet.'

See ante, p. 5. note.

"Query: Col. Philip Schuyler and Jacob Walton (?). Both were members of the New York Assembly in 1769.

3 See N. J. Archives, IX., 23, note.