I was concerned to find by your letter of the 30th of April that you had been disappointed in your Expectations that the Assembly would make Provision for supplying the King's Troops with the necessaries required by Act of Parliament, and that the Arguments which you very properly urged to induce them to a Compliance, had an Effect so contrary to your Wishes. The King however approves of your Resolution to persevere in your Demand, and I shall be very glad to hear that it has been attended with the Success you say you have reason to hope for. Inclosed I send you two Orders of His Majesty in Council on the 7 instant, disallowing two Laws passed in New Jersey, the One in Nov! 1769, the Other in March 1770, and that you may know the Reasons which have induced such Disallowance, I send you inclosed, for your own Information, Copies of the Representations of the Board of Trade upon the said Laws. I am &ca Burlington Academy, founded in 1792.-Ib., 328-9, 332-3-4-5. He probably died in 1796, at Burlington. His wife was Martha They had children: 1, John, licensed as an attorney in 1789, and settled at Woodbury, New Jersey, where he enjoyed a large practice, and where he died. -Vroom's Sup. Ct. Rules, 95; Alden's Epitaphs, No. 583; Hist. Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland Counties, 131; Mickle's Gloucester, 2d ed., 71. 2, James, born at Burlington, October 1, 1781; baptized in St. Mary's Church, November 14, 1781; studied law 1784-6 with his brother John at Woodberry, in deference to his father's desire, and on the latter's decease entered the navy in 1796, winning in his chosen sphere an imperishable renown as one of the most gallant of naval heroes, even though cut off at the early age of 32 in his disastrous fight with the Cheaspeake against the British frigate Shannon.—Mickle, 71; Hist. Collections of New Jersey, 96; Alden, 583; Hills, 319. 3, A daughter of John Brown Lawrence married Michael Kearny (son of Philip Kearny, an eminent Perth Amboy Lawyer, by his wife Isabella, daughter of Chief-Justice Robert Lettis Hooper, of Trenton).-Whitehead's Perth Amboy, 91. This meagre sketch has been given with a view to distinguishing between the numerous John Lawrences who figure in the annals of New Jersey, 1775-83, to the great bewilderment of the student of that period in the history of the State. Upon the representation of the Board of Trade, June 27, 1771, Mr. Lawrence was appointed by order of the King in Council July 19, 1771, to be of the Council of New Jersey.-N. J. Analytical Index, 422-3. He sat with that body until its dissolution in November, 1775.-Minutes.-[W. N.] Letter from the Earl of Hillsborough to Gov. Franklin, relative to the complaint of Mr. Hatton, and to the obstinacy of the Assembly in still refusing to provide for the necessities of the King's troops. [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 176 (194).] WHITEHALL July 19th 1771. Sir, Gov! Franklin. I have received and laid before the King Your dispatches N 30. & 31. The Examination at the Council Board into the complaint exhibited by M Hatton appears to me to have been conducted with great Attention and Impartiality, and the inclosed Extract of M Pownall's letter to M Robinson of this day's date will inform you of the Communication I have made to the Treasury Board of the Minutes of that Council, and of the other Papers inclosed in your dispatch No 30. The Obstinacy of the Assembly, in persisting in their Refusal to provide the King's Troops with the Necessaries required by Act of Parliament, is matter of very serious Consideration; and their Conduct on this Occasion is the more reprehensible as it appears evidently from your Representation of the State of the Colony, and of its Finances, that there is not the least Colour for the Pretence on which they ground their Refusal. The Asserting therefore that the Colony is not of Ability to make any further Provision, is adding Mockery to Insult, and their refusal can be considered in no other light than that of a wilfull Contempt for the Authority of Parliament; You will doubtless therefore, at their next Meeting, renew your Endeavours to persuade them to recede from so unjustifiable a Disobedience to the Terms of the Mutiny Act, and should you not succeed, it will be my Duty to advise with the rest of The King's Servants upon the Measures it may be proper to pursue. The King approves of your Determination not to dissolve the Assembly upon this Occasion, & of your proroguing them in the manner you mention, in order to give them time for due Consideration of their Conduct, which will I hope induce them to correct it. I am &ca HILLSBOROUGH Letter from Mr. Pownall to John Robinson, relative to the Complaint of Mr. Hatton, Collector of the Customs at Salem. [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 257 (275).] WHITEHALL July 19th 1771 Sir, John Robinson Esq I am directed by the Earl of Hillsborough to transmit to you the inclosed papers by which the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury will be informed of the steps his Lordship has thought fit to take in consequence of your Letter to me of the 13th instant so far as the papers transmitted therewith relate to the case of the Naval Officer of Rhode Island & the Complaints made by the Officers of the Customs of the Ill-treatment and Obstruction they have met with in that Colony and at Philadelphia. With regard to the Complaint made by M Hatton Collector of the Customs at Salem in New Jersey his Lordship has not thought fit to take any Step thereupon, the whole of the Transaction of which M: Hatton complains, appearing to his Lordship by papers which have been received from the Governor of that Colony, & Copies of which I inclose, in a very different Light from that in which it is stated in the papers inclosed in your Letter to me. Lord Hillsborough however desires you will assure the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury that if they are not satisfied with the Result of the Examination at the Council Board of New Jersey into the Complaint exhibited by M Hatton against the Justices of the Peace, and with the Representation of this Matter in Governor Franklin's Letter to the Commissioners of the Customs at Boston of the 10th of April, & in the Attorney General's Letter of the 239 of February last, both which are very material, his Lordship will most readily concur with them in any further Measure they may recommend as necessary for enabling M Hatton to execute his Office. I am &c POWNALL Letter from Governor Franklin to the Earl of Hillsborough, relative to a dispute between the Governor and the Assembly, on the resignation of a member of the House (Mr. Ogden). My Lord, [From P. R. O. America and West Indies, Vol. 176 (194).] BURLINGTON, July 20th 1771 Since my last I have been honoured with your Lordships Letter of the 4th of May (N° 30).-It gives me Pleasure to find that His Majesty has been pleased to approve of M: Coxe for supplying one of the Vacancies in the Council of this Province, and I shall be happy to hear that M Lawrence is appointed to fill the other. Inclosed I send your Lordship a printed Copy of the Votes & Proceedings of the Assembly during the two last Meetings at Burlington. They contain nothing particular (besides the Messages I before transmitted relative to the Assembly's Refusal to grant Money for the Supply of the Troops) except three Messages which pass'd between us on the Subject of a Member having resign'd his Seat in the House on Account of his having become insolvent.' The House accepted his Resignation, and ordered their Speaker to issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown, to make out a Writ for a new Election which the Clerk accordingly did, and apply'd to me to have the Great Seal affixed to it as usual. But, as I had some Doubts of the Legality of such a Resignation, I consulted the Council upon it, who were of Opinion with me that it was by no means regular or constitutional. It appears to me, indeed, that if it was once admitted that the Assembly have an uncontroulable Right to permit the Members to resign whenever they think proper, it would be nearly the same Thing as allowing them the Power of dissolv ing themselves; as a Dissolution might by such Means be brought about at any Time when the House should incline to have one, though against the Inclination of the Governor. The Law of the Province which directs the Qualifications of Members, and gives the House a Right to judge of their Qualifications, is similar to that in England. I apprehend that when the Person elected is judged to be duely qualified and admitted to take his Seat, it cannot be vacated merely on Account of his afterwards becoming a Bankrupt or Insolvent; and, if I mistake not, there are more than one who 1 See Governor's Franklin's letter of April 6th, 1772; also the letter of the Earl of Hillsborough of August 7th, 1772. |