"Brother: "I desire you in my Name, to thank New-Comer for the Intelligence he has sent me in his Letter. You know, Brother, it was agreed between us and our Indian Brethren, from the Beginning, that whenever either should hear of any Mischief or Evil intended towards the other, that we should inform each other of it immediately. You may depend that I shall faithfully observe this on my Part, and I fully depend on all my Brethren, the Indians, giving me the like Information if they should hear of any Indians intending to strike me, or do me any Mischief, that I may be on my Guard. "Brother: "I have now finished my Answer to Your Speeches delivered to us in Council last Week. I observed when you came to Town you were almost destitute of good Cloaths, that you had worn them out in coming through the Bushes on your Journey. I therefore desire you will accept of this small Present of Cloathing which I have provided for you, as a mark of my good Will and Affection for You; and I also desire you will take into your Charge and Care these other Goods, and deliver them to our good old Brother, New-Comer, as a Testimony of my particular Regard and Friendship for him." "I now take my leave of you, as you desire to return home soon, and wish You a good Journey." It appearing by an authentic Copy of the last Will and Testament of the Honorable Richard Penn, Esquire, deceased, late one of the Proprietaries of this Province, transmitted from England, and received here last Week, that his Son, The Honorable John Penn, Esquire, succeeds to the Proprietorship of one fourth Part of the Province, the Board were of Opinion that an Alteration ought to be made in the Great and Lesser Seals; It is therefore ordered that the Name [Richard] which is engraven round the Circumference of each Seal, be erazed, and the Name [John] engraven in its stead. 1 ! At a Council held at New-Castle, on Wednesday the 5th day of June, 1771, for the Government of the Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware. PRESENT: The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, President of the Council of Pennsylvania. William Armstrong, Esquire, Speaker of the Assembly of the said Counties. Evan Rice, Esquire, President of the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, &ca., for the County of New Castle. Charles Ridgeley, Esquire, President of the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, &ca., for the County of Kent. By the Departure of the Honourable John Penn, Esquire, (late Lieutenant Governor) to Great Britain, the Administration of the Government of the three lower Counties being, by an Act of Assembly passed in the 9th Year of the Reign of Geo. 2d, devolved on and lodged in the President of the Council of Pennsylvania, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the said Counties, and the three Magistrates who preside, or are first nominated in the Commission of the Peace for the three Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. The Honourable James Hamilton, Esquire, President, arrived at this Place yesterday in order to confer with those Gentlemen respecting the Exercise of the Powers of Government, and the Assembly having met on the third Instant, pursuant to adjournment, did this day send a Message to the President by a Committee of three members, acquainting him that their Speaker, Mr. John Vining, being dead, they had proceeded to chuse another in his stead, and had elected Mr. William Armstrong to be their Speaker, and requested to know whether the President and the Gentlemen joined with him in the Administration, had any Business to recommend to their Consideration; to which the President replied that they had no Matter of a Public Nature to communicate to the House which required their attention at this time. The President and his Council taking into Consideration the steps proper to be taken by them in the Administration, thought it necessary as the first Act of Government, to issue a Proclamation for the continuance of all officers in their respective offices, which the Secretary immediately prepared, and the same being approved, was signed by the President and the Council, and a Warrant for affixing the Great Seal thereto was issued by the President, under his Seal at Arms. The Proclamation follows in these Words, viz: "Counties on Delaware: "By the Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, President of the Council of the Province of Pennsylvania, with the Advice and Consent of the Gentleman appointed by Act of Assembly for the Administration of the Government of the Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, pursuant to the Powers and Authority granted by the said Act. "A PROCLAMATION. "WHEREAS, The Honourable John Penn, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the said Counties, hath embarked for Great Britain, and by his Absence the Exercise of the Powers of Government, by virtue of an Act of Assembly passed in the ninth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty George the second, is devolved on and lodged in the said President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the aforesaid Counties, and the three Magistrates who preside or are first nominated in the Commission of the Peace for the said, three Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, (as by the said Act more fully appears). We have therefore thought fit to publish and declare, that all Persons whatsoever, who held or enjoyed any office of Trust or Profit in this Government by virtue of any Commissions in Force at the Time of the said Governor's Departure, and which Commissions have not since determined and expired, shall continue to hold and enjoy the same offices until they shall be determined by us, or some other sufficient Authority. And we do hereby command and require all Judges, Justices, and other officers whatsoever, in whom any Public Trust is reposed in this Government, that they diligently proceed in the Performance and Discharge of their respective Duties therein, for the Safety, Peace, and well being of the same. "Given at New Castle, under the Great Seal of the Counties aforesaid, the fifth day of June, in the eleventh year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy one. "JAMES HAMILTON, "CHARLES RIDGELEY. "By Order of the President and Council. "JOSEPH SHIPPEN, Jun'" Secretary. "GOD SAVE THE KING." It was then agreed that, for the greater Convenience and dispatch of the Common Business of the Government, the President should sign all Licences, Let Passes, and Registers, and such other Public Instruments and Papers as are to pass of Course. Eodem die, P. M. The President and his Council being again met, a Committee of Assembly waited on them, to acquaint them that as no Acts of Legislation could be passed, the House inclined to adjourn to the last day of September next, if the Board had no objection thereto; to which the President replied, in behalf of the Board, that the Adjournment the House proposed to make was very agreeable to them. At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Wednesday 19th June, The Secretary laid before the Board a Return and Draught of a Road laid out, Surveyed, and Returned into the Provincial Secretarie's Office, pursuant to an Order of Council of the 11th of December last, beginning in a Road leading from Wright's Town to Bibury, and to extend thence on a Line dividing the Counties of Philadelphia and Bucks, or as nearly so as may be, to the Macungy Road, and at the same Time, he acquainted the Board that Several Persons living on or near the said Line, having several Objections to the said Road, requested that the President and Council would give them an Opportunity of being heard before they should come to any Determination thereon; the Board, therefore, appointed Thursday the first day of August next, for the Consideration of this Matter, and directed the Secretary to give Notice thereof to some of the Petitioners for the Road, as well as to those who had requested an Opportunity of explaining their Objections to it. At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Monday 1st July, 1772. PRESENT: The Honorable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, President. Joseph Turner, Benjamin Chew, Edward Shippen, Junior, Esquires. The President laid before the Board the Transcript of two Records of Conviction, which being read, it appears by one of the said Records, that at a Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery, held at Lancaster, for the County of Lancaster, on the the 23d day of May last, before John Lawrence and Thomas Willing, Esquires, two of the Justices of the Supream Court and of the said Court of Oyer and Terminer, William Dickson and Mary Dickson were tried and convicted of a Felony and Murder, committed on the Body of a certain Allan Regan, and have received Sentence of Death for the same. And by the other of the said Records it appears that, at a Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal Delivery, held at Carlisle, for the County of Cumberland, on the fifth day of June last, before the said Justices, Edward O'Neal was tried and convicted of a Felony and Murder, committed on the Body of a certain James Crowley, and hath received Sentence of Death for the same. The said Records being taken into Consideration, and it appearing by the Report of the said Justices to be their Opinion, from the Evidence given on the Trial, that neither William Dickson nor his Wife, Mary Dickson, had any real Intention of committing the Murder of which they were convicted; It was, therefore, the unanimous opinion of the Board, that the Sentence of the Court awarded against the said William and Mary should be suspended until His Majesty's Gracious Pleasure be known; and they accordingly granted a Reprieve under the Great Seal, for the space of twelve Months. And the said Justices having reported no favourable Circumstances in behalf of the above named Edward O'Neal, but on the contrary, that it was fully proved on his Trial he had committed a Wilful and malicious Murder, The Board ordered a Warrant to be issued for his Execution on Wednesday the 24th of this Instant, July. At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Tuesday the 9th of July, 1771. A Member of Council acquainted the Board that Daniel Brodhead, Esquire, one of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Northampton, has lately removed into Berks County, and recommending him as a Man of good understanding and Character, and who had faithfully discharged his Duty as a Magistrate, requested that he might be put into the Commission of the Peace for the County where now resides. The Board approving of the said Recommendation, Ordered that a Special Commission be made out, appointing the said Daniel Brodhead a Justice of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace and of the County Court of Common Pleas for the said County of Berks. At a Council held at Philadelphia, on Wednesday the 10th of July, 1771. PRESENT: The Honorable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, President. Joseph Turner, Benjamin Chew, James Tilghman, Esquires. Mr. Tilghman laid before the Board several Letters which he had just received from Northampton County, informing him that a |