sending Messages to the Indians contradictory to those sent by the Government; And that, therefore, having no Security that any Message from him would be faithfully delivered, he could by no means agree to send one to the Wighalousin Indians at this time, but had no objection to Papounan's Journey to the Indian Country, to acquaint his Friends of the kind treatment he and his Brethren have received from this Government while they remained under its Protection.

The Governor and Council being unanimously of opinion that all the Indians now in the Barracks of this City, should, as soon as possible, be removed, and sent into their own Country; and as they had been refused by the Governor of New York, a passage thro' that Province to Sir William Johnson's seat, The Council advised the Governor to write by Express to Sir William, as Superintendant of Indian Affairs, & desire his opinion as the most prudent and proper Expedient for the removal of the said Indians, and also to desire General Gage would be pleased to continue his protection of them by the Guard he has sent for that purpose, till an answer comes from Sr. Wm. Johnson.

The following Letter was accordingly sent to Sir W":

"Sir:

A Letter from the Governor to Sr. Wm. Johnson.

"PHILADELPHIA, 17 Febr", 1764.

"I had the pleasure to receive your favour of the 20th Ult and am now to acquaint you that the Indians who were refused a Passage through the Province of New York, returned safe to Philadelphia, under an Escort of a party of Royal Americans, by the order of General Gage, & have continued since in the Barracks here. It was very fortunate they were under the protection of that Guard, otherwise I fear they would have been all put to death by a very considerable number of armed men, who came last Week from the Frontiers, as far as Germantown, on that horrid design, but were, happily, diverted from putting it in Execution, in a great measure, by the opposition they apprehended from the Inhabitants of this City, as well as the King's Troops. It now seems more than ever necessary that all the Indians should be removed out of the Province, in order to put a stop to the present disturbances and murmurs of the People; and lest their Rage may not be restrained by any measures in the power of the Government, from venting itself still in the Destruction of these Indians. As I would take the most prudent and easy method of removing them into their own Country, and avoid any steps that might interfere with Indian Affairs in general, I must beg your opinion & advice on this head, whether it would be advisable to send them up by the shortest way under a Guard, to the Towns on the Susquehanna, or whether Governor Colden would not consent, upon an Application from you,

that they might pass up Hudson's River as far as Albany, in a Sloop, which might take them on board at Amboy; Or, if you think of any better expedient for their removal, I should be glad you would communicate it to me by the return of the Bearer, whom I send Express with this Letter.

"I have asked General Gage's further protection of the Indians here 'till I receive your answer.

"I am, Sir, Your most Obedient humble Servant,
"JOHN PENN.

"To Sir W. JOHNSON, Bart"

The Governor also laid before the Board the following Remonstrance from the Frontier Inhabitants, addressed to himself and the Assembly, setting forth their Grievances, and praying a redress of them, which was read and ordered to be carried by the Secretary to the House for their Consideration:

"To the Honourable JOHN PENN, Esquire, Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, & of the Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, and to the Representatives of the Freemen of the said Province, in General Assembly met:

"We, Matthew Smith and James Gibson, in behalf of ourselves. and His Majesty's faithful and loyal Subjects, the Inhabitants of the Frontier Counties of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, humbly beg leave to remonstrate & lay before you the following Grievances, which we submit to your Wisdom for Redress.

"First. We apprehend that as Freemen and English Subjects, we have an indisputable Title to the same Privileges & immunities with His Majesty's other Subjects who reside in the interior Counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, and therefore ought not to be excluded from an equal share with them in the very important Privilege of Legislation; nevertheless, contrary to the Proprietors Charter and the acknowledged principles of common Justice & Equity, our five Counties are restrained from electing more than ten Representatives, viz': four for Lancaster, two for York, two for Cumberland, one for Berks, and one for Northampton, while the three Counties and City of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, elect Twenty-Six. This we humbly conceive is oppressive, unequal, and unjust, the cause of many of our Grievances, and an infringement of our Natural privileges of Freedom & Equality; wherefore, we humbly pray that we may be no longer deprived of an equal number with the three aforesaid Counties, to represent us in Assembly. Secondly. We understand that a Bill is now before the House of Assembly, wherein it is provided that such Persons as shall be

charged with killing any Indians in Lancaster County, shall not be tried in the County where the Fact was committed, but in the Counties of Philadelphia, Chester or Bucks. This is manifestly to deprive British Subjects of their known Privileges, to cast an eternal Reproach upon whole Counties, as if they were unfit to serve their Country in the quality of Jurymen, and to contradict the well known Laws of the British Nation in a point whereon Life, Liberty and security essentially depend, namely, that of being tried by their equals in the neighborhood where their own, their Accusers, and the Witnesses' Character and Credit, with the Circumstances of the Fact, are best known, & instead thereof putting their Lives in the hands of Strangers, who may as justly be suspected of partiallity to as the Frontier Counties can be of prejudices against Indians; and this, too, in favour of Indians only, against His Majesty's faithful & loyal Subjects. Besides, it is well known that the design of it is to comprehend a Fact committed before such a Law was thought of. And if such practices were tolerated, no man could be secure in his most valuable Interest. We are also informed, to our great Surprize, that this Bill has actually received the assent of a Majority of the House, which we are persuaded could not have been the case, had our Frontier Counties been equally represented in Assembly. However, we hope that the Legislature of this Province will never enact a Law of so dangerous à tendency, or take away from his Majesty's good Subjects a privilege so long esteemed sacred by Englishmen.

"Thirdly. During the late and present Indian War, the Frontiers of this Province have been repeatedly attacked and ravaged by Skulking parties of the Indians, who have with the most Savage Cruelty murdered Men, Women and Children, without distinction, and have reduced near a thousand Families to the most extream distress. It grieves us to the very heart to see such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have escaped Savage Fury with the loss of their parents, their Children, their Wives or Relatives, left destitute by the public, and exposed to the most cruel Poverty and Wretchedness while upwards of an Hundred and twenty of these Savages, who are with great reason suspected of being guilty of these horrid Barbarities, under the Mask of Friendship, have procured themselves to be taken under the protection of the Government, with a view to elude the Fury of the brave Relatives of the murdered, and are now maintained at the public Expence. Some of these Indians now in the Barracks of Philadelphia, are confessedly a part of the Wyalousing Indians, which Tribe is now at War with us, and the others are the Moravian Indians, who, living with us under the Cloak of Friendship, carried on a Correspondence with our known Enemies on the Great Island. We cannot but observe, with sorrow & indignation, that some Persons in this Province are at pains to extenuate the barbarous Cruelties practiced by these Savages on our murdered Brethren & Relatives, which are shocking to human Nature, and must pierce every Heart, but that of the hardened per

petrators or their Abbettors; Nor is it less distressing to hear others pleading that, although the Wyalousing Tribe is at War with us, yet that part of it which is under the Protection of the Government, may be friendly to the English, and innocent. In what nation under the Sun was it ever the custom that when a neighboring Nation took up Arms, not an individual should be touched but only the Persons that offered Hostilities? Who ever proclaimed War with a part of a Nation, and not with the Whole? Had these Indians disapproved of the Perfidy of their Tribe, & been willing to cultivate and preserve Friendship with us, why did they not give notice of the War before it happened, as it is known to be the Result of long Deliberations, and a preconcerted Combination among them? Why did they not leave their Tribe immediately, and come among us before there was Ground to suspect them, or War was actually waged with their Tribe? No, they stayed amongst them, were privy to their murders & Ravages, until we had destroyed their Provisions, and when they could no longer subsist at home, they come, not as Deserters, but as Friends, to be maintained through the Winter, that they may be able to Scalp and butcher us in the Spring.

"And as to the Moravian Indians, there are strong Grounds at least to suspect their Friendship, as it is known they carried on a Correspondence with our Enemies on the Great Island. We killed three Indians going from Bethlehem to the Great Island with Blankets, Ammunition, & Provisions, which is an undeniable Proof that the Moravian Indians were in confederacy with our open Enemies; And we cannot but be filled with Indignation to hear this action of ours painted in the most odious and detestable Colors, as if we had inhumanly murdered our Guides, who preserved us from perishing in the Woods, when we only killed three of our known Enemies, who attempted to shoot us when we surprized them. And besides all this, we understand that one of these very Indians is proved by the oath of Stinton's Widow, to be the very Person that murdered her Husband. How then comes it to pass, that he alone, of all the Moravian Indians, should join with the enemy to murder that family? Or can it be supposed that any Enemy Indians, contrary to their known custom of making War, should penetrate into the Heart of a settled Country, to burn, plunder, and murder the Inhabitants, and not molest any Houses in their return, or ever be seen or heard of? Or how can we account for it, that no ravages have been committed in Northampton County, since the removal of the Moravian Indians, when the Great Cove has been struck since? These things put it beyond doubt with us that the Indians now at Philadelphia are His Majesty's Perfidious Enemies, & therefore to protect and maintain them at the Public Expence, while our suffering Brethren on the Frontiers are almost destitute of the necessaries of Life, and are neglected by the Public, is sufficient to make us mad with rage, and tempt us to do what nothing but the most violent necessity can

vindicate. We humbly and earnestly pray, therefore, that those Enemies of His Majesty may be removed as soon as possible out of the Province.

"Fourthly. We huinbly conceive that it is contrary to the maxims of good Policy, and extremely dangerous to our Frontiers, to suffer any Indians, of what tribe soever, to live within the Inhabited parts of this Province, while we are engaged in an Indian War, as Experience has taught us that they are all perfidious, & their Claim to Freedom & Independency, puts it in their power to act as Spies, to entertain & give intelligence to our Enemies, and to furnish them with Provisions and Warlike Stores. To this fatal intercourse, between our pretended Friends and open Enemies, we must ascribe the greatest of the Ravages and Murders that have been committed in the course of this and the last Indian War. We, therefore, pray that this grievance be taken under consideration and remedied."

Fifthly. We cannot help lamenting that no Provision has been hitherto made, that such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have been wounded in defence of the Province, their Lives and Liberties, may be taken care of, and cured of their Wounds at the publick Expence. We, therefore, pray that this Grievance may be redressed.

"Sixthly. In the late Indian War this Province, with others of His Majesty's Colonies, gave rewards for Indian Scalps, to encourage the seeking them in their own Country, as the most likely means of destroying or reducing them to reason, but no such Encouragement has been given in this War, which has damped the Spirits of many brave Men, who are willing to venture their Lives in parties against the Enemy. We, therefore, pray that public rewards may be proposed for Indian Scalps, which may be adequate to the Dangers attending Enterprizes of this nature.

"Seventhly. We daily lament that numbers of our nearest & dearest relatives are still in Captivity among the Savage Heathen, to be trained up in all their Ignorance & Barbarity, or to be tortured to death with all the contrivances of Indian Cruelty, for attempting to make their escape from Bondage; We see they pay no regard to the many solemn Promises which they have made to restore our Friends who are in Bondage amongst them. We, therefore, earnestly pray that no trade may hereafter be permitted to be carried on with them, until our Brethren and Relatives are brought home to us.

"Eighthly. We complain that a certain Society of People in this Province, in the late Indian War, & at several Treaties held by the King's representatives, openly loaded the Indians with Presents, and that J. P., a leader of the said Society, in Defiance of all Government, not only abetted our Indian Enemies, but kept up a private intelligence with them, and publickly received from them a Belt of Wampum, as if he had been our Governor, or authorized by the King to treat with his Enemies. By this means the Indians have been taught to despise us as a weak and disunited people, and