That Mr Murray would gett the favour of M' Creyer to send a Coppy to one of his Correspondents in Jamaica

That Mr Murray would Gett the Like favour of Mr Robert Watts, as to Barbadoes,

That James Alexander do Send one Coppy to Coll: Thomas Lee, one of the Council of Virginia.

That James Alexander Gett the favour of John Provoost to Send a Coppy to Some Correspondent in South Carolina.

Address of the Council of New Jersey to Governor Belcher, December 5th, 1747.

[From Papers of James Alexander, Vol. I, No. 30, in Rutherfurd Collection.]

THE COUNCILS ADDRESS.

WE his Majesties Council for the province of New Jersey In General Assembly mett, beg Leave to Return your Exc' our Thanks for your favourable Speech to both houses delivered on the 19th of Last month, and to Assure your Excellency that we are Come together with hearty Inclinations to promote the welfare of the province, and Shall do every thing in our power to Give dispatch to those things that we Shall Judge Conducive to the publick advantage.

The Secretary agreeable to your Excellency's orders has laid before us Sundry petitions and other papers which we have now under our Consideration, and if upon a diligent Enquiry we Judge the Complainants Intituled to the aid of the Legislature-we Shall readily Join in the most Effectual measures for that purpose. It is with the utmost Concern we have heard of the many Insurrections that have happened in this province of Late years; those bold & daring Attempts to

throw off his Majesties Authority and their dependence on the Crown of Brittain; the Trampling (as they have done) the Laws of this Country under foot, and bidding open and publick defiance to the Government, must Soon bring upon the province the Calamities of a Civil war, if timely and Effectuall measures are not taken to put a Stop to its rapid Progress.

These Insurrections are managed by numbers of people in this province, who for the better Carrying on their wicked purposes Keep up a Correspondence as well by Letter as by the Communication of the persons Concerned; this Combination So dangerous to the peace and dependence of the province has too Long Subsisted, and is Supported by Such a number of Desprate people that all the Efforts of the Government to dissolve it and to bring the delinquents to Justice have been To no purpose, in Consequence of which the Course of Common Justice is at a Stand; his Majesties Liege Subjects are deprived of the Benefit of the Laws; their properties are no Longer protected and Great numbers of Men who Stand Indicted for high treason in Levying war against our Sovereign Lord the King and other Great Crimes have the boldness to brave the publick Justice of the province and to Travel openly about the Country in defiance of the Laws

We Cannot but observe to your Excellency that this Combination was Sett on foot and first Showed it Self by a Riot in Essex on the 29th of September 1745, a time when his Majesty, his Ministers and his forces were all busily Employed in prosecuting a Just and Necessary warr against two powerful nations, and in Quelling an unnatural Rebellion at that time Raging in Great Brittain; and their Choosing that time for the perpetration of this their wickedness Shows the design of throwing off their dependance on the Crown of Brittain was deeply Laid because at that time it was not possible for his Majesty to Spare any of his

forces to Give a Check to it, And this they buoy themselves up with, and publickly gave out.

To Render their work more Secure; to Establish themselves hereafter, and to Strengthen their hands for the better Execution of their Schemes they have publickly denied his Majesties Right to the Soil of His plantations, Avowing that his Grants thereof are Void; They have in Contempt of his Majesties orders and Contrary to the Express Laws of the Country made Large Purchases of Lands from the Indians without the Leave of the Government, and have Sett up Obsolete Indian Deeds Obtained in a Criminal and Clandestine manner, as the best and only Title to the Soil of America; And have drawn into their Confederacy Numbers of men Seated by Lease and otherwise on Lands to which they have not the Least pretence, to Support this their new Scheme of power

These proceedings may it please your Excellency have already brought things to this Crisis that his Majesties Authority is no Longer regarded; his Lawful Commands are treated with Contempt, his Known officers beat and abused in the Execution of their offices, his Goals in different Counties of this province Broke open and the prisoners therein detained Released from their Confinement, and Ruin and desolation threatned to his Majesties faithfull Subjects that Should oppose them in the Execution of their wicked practices.

To put an Effectual Stop to these dangerous Attempts We have from time to time done every thing in our power agreeable to our Inclinations and the trust reposed in us by his Majesty, and we wish we Could Say that the Desired Success had attended our Endeavours.

Your Excellencys happy Arrival among us, and your Strong Inclination to do Justice to the province and Re Establish his Majesties Authority and the Laws of

the Country, we Expected would have put a stop to their progress and Given a Check to their Insolent Behaviour But we find it had not that Effect; on the Contrary, they go on in the manner they used to do, and have Committed two Riots in the County of Morris and one in the County of Essex Since your Arrival. Had these people been denied the benefits of the Law, had there been any Tyrany whatsoever Exercised over them, there might have been Some pretence for their Actions in the manner they have done (tho' it be wrong and Irregular) but So far is it from any thing of that Kind that they have Lived under the protection of the Laws of England, the Mildest in the world, and Executed in the Mildest manner; Courts both of Law and Equity have been Constantly Subsisting in the province, and the Method of Appealing from one Court to another has been Long Settled, and the Course of Justice Known to the people of the province. And as your Excellency Justly observes had they been in any thing Aggrieved they might have Applyed themselves to his Majesties Courts of Judicature and from thence by Appeal to his Majesty in Council, who Could & Doubtless would have done them Justice, but they were & are above Asking redress of the Laws in the regular and Ordinary Course, or Submitting to any other determination than that of their own will and pleasure.

Your Excellency has a very Just Sence of the Consequences of these proceedings, and your duty and affection to the best of Kings who has trusted his Authority in this province in your hands; as well as your own Inclinations to Give peace and tranquility to a people Committed to your Charge we are well Assured will all Conspire to Induce your Excellency to Act with Vigour in an Affair where his Majesties Authority is at Stake, and where too much Lenity to Such Criminals, may be Cruelty to a Country.

Agreeable to your Excellencies advice we have Appointed a Committee to Join a Committee of the house of Assembly to Consider of the most Effectual means to put a Stop to those disturbances; upon this Committee we have named those of our members that have made the Law their Study, and are therefore best Acquainted with the nature of the offences Committed, and best able to Advise, as to the Remedies adequate to the Occasion,

We do assure your Excellency that none of the Members of our house are any otherwise Interested in this Affair than as they are freeholders in the province and faithfull Subjects to the King; and as Such we Consider Every freeholder and Good Subject in the province is Interested, and the Greater the freehold the Stronger the Interest to put an End to the disturbances and to Restore peace to the province, as the pretence and proceedings of These publick disturbers Strike at the foundation of property in Lands, at his Majesties Authority and the Laws of the Country.

As the Suppressing of These Riots is of the Greatest Consequence to the Safety of the province and its dependence on the Crown of Brittain, and As his Majesty's Authority in his plantations is Evidently Struck at, we Shall make it the principal object of our Care, and to the utmost of our power Shall afford your Excellency all possible Assistance in Restoring the peace of the province and the Establishing the Laws of the Community By order of the house JA: ALEXANDER Speaker.