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prietors, and to admonish the said Usurpers that they presume no more to usurpe your Majesty's Royal Authority of constituting Courts of Justice, and commissionating Judges, and the said pretended Judges no more to presume to Act as a Court of Justice, or otherwise to Order for your poor oppressed Petitioners relief, as to your Majesty in your Princely Wisdom and Goodness shall seem meet.

And your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever Pray, &c.

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Commission of Thomas Coker, to be Collector of the Customs at Perth Amboy.

[From P. R. O. B. T., of New York, Vol. 4, D. 33—4.]

Copy of Coker's Commission for Collector of Perth Amboy.1

TO ALL PEOPLE to whom these P'sents shall come; Wee the Comissioners for Managing and Causing to be levyed and Collected his Maj'ties Customs, subsidies and other Duties in this his Kingdom of England send Greeting. Know yee that wee the said Commissioners, have by virtue of an Act of Parliament made in the five and Twentieth yeare of the Reigne of King Charles the Second, Intiluted, An Act for Incouraging of the East land, and Greenland Trades; and for better securing the plantation trade, and in pursuance of the Authority and Direction to us given, by the Right Honble the Lords Comissioners of his Maj'ties Treasury Deputed and Impowered, and Doe hereby Depute and Impower, Thomas Coker Esq to be Collector of all the Rates, Duties, and Impositions, Arising and Growing Due unto his Maj'tie at Perth Amboy in East Jersey; by virtue of the said Act; whereby he hath power to enter into any ship, Bottom, Boats, or other place whatsoever into any Shop, house, Warehouse, Hostry, or other Vessell, as alsoe into any Shop house Warehouse Hostry, or other place whatsoever, to make Diligent search into, any Trunk, Chest, Pack, Cape, Trusse or any other parcell or package whatsoever for any Goods, Wares or Merchandizes prohibited to be Imported or Exported, and whereof the Custom or other Duties have not been Duely paid, and the same to seize to his maj'ties use, and alsoe putt in Execution all other the Lawfull powers

Produced by Mr. Bass, Gov'r of the Jersys to ye Council of New York the 23th July, 1698 in defence of a Port at Perth Amboy. Referred to in ye Earl of Bellomonts L're of ye 21th, Sept. 1698.

and 'Authorities, for the Better managing or Collecting the said Duties, in all things proceeding as the Law Directs, hereby praying and Requireing all and every his Maj'ties Officers and Ministers and all other whom it may Concern to be Aiding and Assisting to him in all things as Becometh GIVEN under our hands and Seales at the Custome house London this 21th day of November In the Eighth yeare of the Reigne of our Soveraign Lord King William the Third-Anno Dei 1696.

ROB CLAYON,

ROB SOUTHALL,

SAM: CLARKE,
WALTER YOUNG,
JA: CHADWICK.

Memorial of Edward Randolph to the Lords of Trade, desiring leave to prove the allegations in his former memorial.

[From P. R. O. B. T. Proprieties, Vol. 1, A 8.]

To the Right Honble the Lords Comms for Trade.

May it please y' LordsPs.

Understanding from my M | ?] the Comms of the Customs That my Memoriall concerning the Gous of the Proprietyes is referred to y' Lords" and in regard his Maties affairs relating to Trade do greately suffer in the plantations, thro' my absence, where my services is absolutely necessary to see, the Acts of Trade and Navigation, especially relating to the Scotch Act duely executed. I am humbly attending y' Lords" with my proofes to make out the particulars in my memoriall in order to have my dispatches compleated So that I may be in a readines (with the New Officers of the Customs) to take my passage upon the Shipps shortly bound to the plantations on the Continent of America:

All which is humbly submitted by [Dec. 9, 1696.]

ED RANDOLPH:

William Penn's Observations on the Proceedings of

At a Meeting

Governor Fletcher.

From N. Y. Col. Doc'ts., Vol. IV., p 247.]

WHITEHALL, December the 11th 1696

Meeting of His Majesty's Commissioners for
Trade and Plantations.

Present-EARL OF BRIDGEWATER

S PHILIP MEADOWS,

[Extract.]

MR BLATHWAYT.

MR POLLEXFEN.

As a Proprietor of East New Jersey, Mr. Penn complained also that the Governour of New Yorke obliged the ships that came thither with goods from England to pay New York Customs. To which he was answered that Colonel Fletcher was ordered by his instructions to do so: And the necessity of that practice was shown, by the neighbourhood of that Propriety to the King's Province of New York, which is such that if goods were received there custom free, they may be clandestinely transported into New Yorke to the defrauding of His Majesty's customs there.

He spoke also of the Quota required from the neighboring Colonies for the defence of New York And said that he conceived the best way of regulating it would be, by stated Deputies from each Province, to meet in one common Assembly: The effecting of which was observed to require one Captain General or Vice Roy to preside But upon these heads he was desired, and he promised to draw up a scheme more fully in writing,

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Memorial of the Proprietors of Several Provinces in America relating to Courts of Admiralty there.

[From P. R. O. B. T. Proprietors, Vol. 1. A 11.]

To The R Honble the Lords Commiss of Trade and Plantac'ons.

The Lords Proprietors Agents and others of the Provinces of Carolina Bohama Islands Pensilvania East and West Jersey and Conecticott in America.

Protesting their Loyalty and duty to His Majty and reserving the benefitt of being heard by themselves in Councill to their Right and Power of Erecting Courts of admiralty in the said Provinces do offer

That there are Severall Clauses in their Respective Grants and Charters which (as they are advised) Import and Imply a Grant of ye admirall Jurisdiction and power of Erecting the said Courts and Constituting Judges and Officers thereof in the said Provinces

That the reason why they have not hitherto Erected Such Courts or Constituted Such Officers is that all Suits or Informac'ons upon and for the breach of the acts of navigac'on may as appears by the s" acts and particulerly by the 15th of K Charls y 2 be brought and prosecuted in the Com'on Law Courts and y' the Erecting Courts of admiralty would have occasioned Sallaryes and other great and Expensive Charges

That they apprehended there was no necessity of Such Courts unless for the Condemnac'on of prises, few or none of which have bin brought into the said Provinces during this Warr in ord' to be there tried and Condemned.

That the s Propriet's are nevertheless willing and ready to Erect Such Courts and constitute such able

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