continued. At length, when the news came of the defeat of General Braddock, the assembly voted an aid of fifty thousand pounds to be raised by a tax on all real and personal estates; but this moneybill was returned by the governor with an amendment exempting the whole of the proprietary estate from any part of that impost; but the proprietaries afterwards having submitted voluntarily to the payment of five thousand pounds towards the public burthen, another money-bill was passed, exempting their estate from taxation for that time.

New differences, however, arose between the governors and the assembly. The French and the Indians gained ground. Supplies for the defence of the province were of course demanded; but the money-bills framed for that purpose were rejected, as contrary to the instructions which the governors had received from the proprietaries in England, prohibiting their assent to such bills unless the money arising from the excise should be placed at the disposal of his majesty, in such way as the governor should direct. The assembly, on the other hand, insisted, that all instructions of the proprietaries, not warranted by the laws of Great Britain, were illegal and void of themselves; and that these instructions in particular were both arbitrary and unjust, an infraction of the charter, a total subversion of the constitution of the province, and an open violation of their rights as British subjects.

Having passed these and some other warm reso

lutions, the assembly came to the following determination," that the house, reserving their rights in their full extent on all future occasions, do, never, theless, in duty to the king and compassion for the suffering inhabitants of their distressed country, and in humble but full confidence of the justice of his majesty and a British parliament, wave their rights on this present occasion only; and do further resolve, that a new bill be brought in for granting a sum of money to the king's use, and that the same be made conformable to the said instructions."

Such was the state of Pennsylvania at the time when this luminous exposition of its history and grievances was published, the conclusion of which is so nervous, eloquent, and characteristic of the mind and pen of Franklin, that the reader of his memoirs will more than excuse the insertion of it in this place.

"The true state of Pennsylvania is now before us. It is apparent the assemblies of that province have acted from the beginning on the defensive only. The defensive is what every man, by the right and law of nature, is entitled to. Jealousy is the first principle of defence; if men were not to sus pect, they would rarely, if ever, be upon their guard. MAGNA CHARTA is apparently founded upon this principle; nay, provides, that opposition should be always at hand to confront and obviate danger. PENN, the founder of the colony, founded it upon MAGNA CHARTA: and, as we have seen, the birth

rights of his followers were rather enlarged than diminished by his institutions. That the latter part of his active life, therefore, was employed in undermining his own foundations, only serves to excite our concern, that so few should be of a piece with themselves; and to make him answerable in part for the trespasses of his heirs. Fatally verified, however, we see, both there and everywhere else, the fable of the axe, which having been gratified with as much wood only as would serve it for a handle, became immediately the instrument to hew down the forest, root and branch, whence it was taken. It is as apparent, on the other hand, that these proprietaries have acted an offensive part; have set up unwarrantable claims; have adhered to them by instructions yet more unwarrantable; have availed themselves of the dangers and distresses of the province, and made it their business (at least their deputies have) to increase the terrors of the times, purposely to unhinge the present system, and by the dint of assumptions, snares, menaces, aspersions, tumults, and every other unfair practice whatsoever, would have either bullied or wheedled the inhabitants out of the privileges they were born to; nay, they have actually avowed this perfidious purpose, by avowing and dispersing those pamphlets in which the said privileges are insolently, wickedly, and foolishly pronounced repugnant to government, the sources of confusion, and such as, having answered the great end of causing an expeditious

settlement, for which alone they were granted, might be resumed at pleasure, as incompatible with the dictatorial power they now challenge, and would fain exercise.

"And this being the truth, the plain truth, and nothing but the truth, there is no need to direct the censures of the public, which, on proper information, are always sure to fall in the right place. The parties before them are the two proprietaries of a province and the province itself. And who or what are these proprietaries? In the province, unsizeable subjects and insufficient lords. At home, gentlemen, it is true, but gentlemen so very private, that in the herd of gentry they are hardly to be found; not in court; not in office; not in parlia

ment.

"And which is of most consequence to the community; whether their private estate shall be taxed, or the province shall be saved? Whether these two private gentlemen, in virtue of their absolute proprietaryship, shall convert so many fellow-subjects, born as free as themselves, into vassals; or, whether so noble and useful a province shall for ever remain an asylum for all that wish to remain as free as the inhabitants of it have hitherto made a shift to preserve themselves?

SUB JUDICE LIS EST.

"This Review" (says a respectable editor of a late reprint of it in Philadelphia)" attracted much attention, and made a very deep impression in fa

vor of the Pennsylvanians, against whom many prejudices had been previously excited. Much asperity followed against its author, who, though he did not absolutely disavow it, thought it preferable to enjoy the secret satisfaction arising from its beneficial effects, than to claim the literary honor that might attach to it."

A writer also who was a cotemporary, speaking of this "Review," says, "Pennsylvania had in our author a most zealous and able advocate. His sentiments are manly, liberal, and spirited; his style close, nervous, and rhetorical. By a forcible display of the oppressions of his clients, he inclines the reader to pity their condition, and by an enumeration of their virtues he endeavors to remove the idea, which many entertained, of their unimportance; and that, abstracted from their consideration in a political light, they claim our regard by reason of their own personal merits.”

The publication in question, though anonymous, undoubtedly produced a considerable effect; and by bringing the grievances of the colonists closely under the consideration of the British public, tended materially to facilitate the object of the author, and even to enlarge his views with regard to the inconvenience of the proprietary government. Finding that the family of the founder would not relax in their demands, and that the publication of this explicit statement had exasperated them in no ordinary degree, the agent for the province brought