enriching and exalting them above all the nations of the world; who, I say, would have imagined that this very people should, by these their very brethren, be now reduced to so dreadful an alternative: yet, hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth, and bear witness, this is the return we have received for all our love, loyalty, industry, treasure and blood! Had we begun this quarrel, had we demanded some new privileges, unknown to the constitution, or some commercial licenses, incompatible with the general interest of the empire, had we presumed to legislate for Great Britain, or plotted with the Bourbon family, to reinstate the execrable race of the Stuarts, and fled to arms unprovoked to accomplish these designs, there would then be some plausible apology for the severest hostile treatment we have received. But what have we done? when alarmed, ere we had yet rested from the toils of the last war, by new unconstitutional demands of revenue, we asserted our rights and petitioned for justice. Was this a crime? as unconstitutional statutes of different forms were repeatedly enacted, we repeated our petitions for redress; was this a crime? we suffered ourselves to be insulted by the introduction of an armed force to dragoon us into obedience; we suffered them to take possession of our towns and fortifications, still waiting with decent and anxious expectation from the wonted justice, humanity, and generosity of Britons: was this a crime? disposed to try every pacific measure which might probably procure our relief, we agreed to withhold our commerce from them, in hopes that, feeling the effects of their injustice, they might see how ruinous their proceedings were to their own interests, and return in time to wisdom and peace was this a crime? nor did we once lift the sword even in our defence, until pro- | voked to it by a wanton commencement of hostilities on their part: what then have we done to merit such cruel proceedings? my friends, I am firmly persuaded, that no truth will appear in future history, with more glaring evidence, than that the whole mass of guilt contracted by this unnatural war lieth at the door of ; and so that, not only all future generations of men, but the Great Judge of all the earth, will finally condemn their measures as a scene of tyranny and murder. I therefore conceive myself as having taken up arms in defence of innocence, justice, truth, honesty, honor, liberty, property, and life; and in opposition to guilt, injustice, falsehood, dishonesty, ignominy, slavery, poverty, and death; not that I have any fondness for the bloody profession; not that I delight in the carnage of my species; or sigh for an occasion of proving my courage: Heaven and you are my witnesses, that my voice was some time, perhaps too long, and with too much earnestness, against any military preparations; but the times are altered; 'tis a dreadful necessity that calls me, and calls every man who can be spared from his other occupations. I will not however fight as one who beateth the air. I speak plainly; I consider this year as the grand and final period of British administration in this American world; I see no probability of their proffering such terms as we can accept of consistently with our safety, honor, and peace; nay, should they grant all that our public councils have heretofore claimed, we should still be in a most dangerous situation, liable to renewed encroachments and renewed hostilities. What else can be supposed from such a situation, and from the views, temper, and prejudices that must, and will, prevail in the British court and parliament: besides who in that case will reimburse our losses; or how shall our public debts be paid? I do solemnly declare, and that with respect to the best reconciliation that can reasonably be expected, with so corrupt, treacherous, and tyrannical an administration, that if I thought we should again revert to a dependence on Britain, I should, from this day, lay down my sword, and weep that I was born in America. But far other prospects are before us: glory, empire, liberty and peace, are, I am persuaded, unless we are lost to ourselves, very near at hand. And, on every consideration of the present state and progress of our public affairs, compared with the spirit of Britain, and the spirit, the interest, and the internal advantages of America, methinks, I hear a voice, as if an angel from Heaven should proclaim, come out from among them, and be ye separate from them. Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and ye receive not of her plagues." [The preceding is copied from Almon's Remembrancer; we do not presume to supply the blanks. Words were used-no doubt, which the editor of that work thought it dangerous to publish. The address appears to have been delivered in about May, 1776. It may be worthy of remark here, that the declaration of independence is published in the same work, with many such blanks.] DECLARATION OF THE DEPUties of PennSYLVANIA, MET Whereas George the third, king of Great Britain, etc., in violation of the principles of the British constitution, and of the laws of justice and humanity, hath by an accumulation of oppressions, unparalleled in history, excluded the inhabitants of this, with the other American colonies, from his protection; and whereas he hath paid no regard to any of our numerous and dutiful petitions for redress of our complicated grievances, but hath lately purchased world, to witness for us, that this declaration did not originate in ambition, or in an impatience of lawful authority, but that we were driven to it in obedience to the first principles of nature, by the oppressions and cruelties of the aforesaid king and parliament of Great Britain, as the only possible measure that was left us to preserve and establish our liberties, and to transmit them inviolate to posterity. Signed, by order of the conference, THOMAS M'KEAN, President. PATRIOTIC ADDRESS NIMOUSLY ADOPTED JUNE 25, 1776. Address to the people of Pennsylvania: "The only design of our meeting together was, to put an end to our own power, in the province, by fixing upon a plan for calling a convention, to form a government under the authority of the people. But the sudden and unexpected separation of the last assembly has compelled us to undertake the execution of a resolve of congress, for calling forth 4500 of the militia of the province, to join the militia of the neighboring colonies, to form a camp for our immediate protection. We presume only to recommend what we have formed to you; trusting that, in such a case of consequence, your love of virtue and zeal for liberty, will supply the want of authority delegated to us expressly for that purpose. foreign troops to assist in enslaving us, and | OF THE DEPUTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA, UNA- with the reflection that you are to risk your lives, or shed your blood for a British tyrant; or that your posterity will have your work to do over again.. You are about to contend for permanent freedom, to be supported by a selves, and which will have for its object not the emolument of one man, or one class of men, but the safety, liberty, and happiness of every individual in the community. "We call upon you, therefore, by the respect and obedience which is due to the United Colonies, to concur in this important measure. The present campaign will probably decide the fate of America. It is now in your power to immortalize your names by mingling your achievements with the events of the year 1776— a year which, we hope, will be sacred in the annals of history, to the end of time for establishing upon a lasting foundation, the liberties of one quarter of the globe. "Remember the honor of our colony is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have acquired by your former exertions of strength and virtue will be tarnished; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us, and blush to own themselves natives or inhabitants of Pennsylvania. But there are other motives before youyour houses-your fields-the legacies of your ancestors, or the dear bought fruits of your own industry, and your liberty, now urge you to the field these cannot plead with you in vain, or we might point out to you further, your wives, your children, your aged fathers and mothers, who now look up to you for protection, and hope for salvation, in this day of calamity, from the instrumentality of your swords. "Remember the name of Pennsylvania-think of your ancestors and posterity." PROCEEDINGS tled prices, first deducting the expenses incurred upon the sale. And whereas, it is but reasonable that every part of this extensive state should be accommodated, as nearly as may be, with their proportion of this article, so justly esteemed a necessary of life: Be it resolved, That the committee of Philadelphia are hereby farther directed to distribute the salt, that may, as aforesaid, come into their possession, in equal quantities in the several counties, having regard to the reputed number of the inhabitants contained in the said counties. Extract from the minutes, JOHN MORRIS, JUN. Sec. TREASON. An ordinance of the state of Pennsylvania, declaring what shall be treason, and for punishing the same, and other crimes and practices against the state. Whereas, government ought at all times, to take the most effectual measures for the safety and security of the state. Be it therefore ordained and declared, and it is hereby ordained and declared by the representatives of the freemen of the state of Pennsylvania, in general OF THE CONVENTION OF PENNSYLVANIA ON convention met. That all and every person THE MONOPOLY OF SALT. In convention for the state of Pennsylvania, Saturday, August 24, 1776. Whereas, it appears to this convention, upon due enquiry and information of the circumstances, that the salt now in this city, has been imported at low prices, and under moderate insurance. And whereas, divers persons, in contempt of the just and wholesome regulations of the committee, etc., of Philadelphia, under directions of congress, have continued to dispose of their salt at most exorbitant prices, to the great grievance and distress of their fellow subjects of this state: it is therefore resolved, That the said regulations be hereby confirmed, and all persons whatever, are hereby strictly enjoined to pay due obedience thereto. And the said committees are authorized and directed to seize, and take into their possession the salt belonging to such persons as have refused, or shall refuse, conformity to the regulations so established: or shall altogether withhold, or refuse to sell their salt during the continuance of such regulations, allowing to the said persons, upon the sale thereof, the fixed and set and persons, (except prisoners of war) now inhabiting or residing within the limits of the state of Pennsylvania, or that shall voluntarily come into the same hereafter, to inhabit or sojourn, do, and shall owe and pay allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania. And be it further ordained, by the authority aforesaid, That all and every such person and persons, so owing allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania, who from and after the publication hereof, shall levy war against the state. or be adherent to the king of Great Britain, or others or to the enemies of the United States of America, by giving him or them aid or assistance within the limits of this state, or elsewhere, and shall be thereof duly convicted in any court of oyer and terminer hereafter to be erected, according to law, shall be adjudged guilty of high treason, and forfeit his lands, tenements, goods and chattels, to the use of the state, and be imprisoned any term not exceeding the duration of the present war with Great Britain, at the discretion of the judge or judges. And be it farther ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, That any person or persons (except as before excepted) residing, inhabiting, or sojourning in this state, who shall hereafter know of such treason, and conceal the same, or that shall receive or assist such traitor, knowing him to be such, and shall be thereof duly convicted, as aforesaid, shall be adjudged guilty of misprision of treason, and suffer the forfeiture of one third of his goods and chattels, lands and tenements, to the use of the state, and be imprisoned any term not exceeding the duration of the present war with Great Britain, at the discretion of the judge or judges. And be it further ordained and declared, That in all convictions for high treason, the judge or judges, before whom the trial is had, may, out of the estate forfeited by virtue of this act, make such provision for the wife or children, if any, of the criminal, as he or they, in his or their discretion may deem necessary. And be it farther ordained and declared, That this ordinance shall be in force, till the end of the first session of the first assembly that shall meet under the new constitution of this state; and no longer. apprehend they proceed, and of claiming to ourselves the liberties and privileges to which we are entitled by the fundamental rules of justice by our birthright and inheritance, the laws of the land; and by the express provision of the present constitution, under which your board derive their power. We apprehend, that no man can lawfully be deprived of his liberty, without a warrant from some persons having competent authority, specifying an offence against the laws of the land, supported by oath or affirmation of the accuser, and limiting the time of his imprisonment, until he is heard, or legally discharged, unless the party be found in the actual perpetration of a crime. Natural justice, equally with law, declares that the party accused should know what he is to answer to, and have an opportunity of shewing his innocence-These principles are strongly enforced in the ninth and tenth sections of the declaration of rights, which form a fundamental and inviolable part of the constitution, from which you derive your power, wherein it is declared: IX. "That, in all prosecutions for criminal Passed in convention, September 5, 1776, offences, a man hath a right to be heard by and signed by their order. B. FRANKLIN, President. Attest, JOHN MORRIS. REMONSTRANCE OF CERTAIN CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, himself and his counsel, to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county; without the unanimous consent of which jury, he cannot be found guilty. Nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; nor can any man be justly deprived of his liberty, except by the laws of the land, or the judgment of his peers." X. "That the people have a right to hold themselves, their houses, papers and possessions, free from search or seizure, and therefore warrants without oaths or affirmations The remonstrance of the subscribers, free-first made, affording a sufficient foundation for men, and inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, now confined in the Free Mason's Lodge. SHEWETH-That the subscribers have been, by virtue of a warrant, signed in council by George Bryan, vice president, arrested in our houses, and on our lawful occasions, and conducted to this place, where we have been kept in close confinement, under a strong military guard, two or more days-that although divers of us demanded of the messengers, who arrested us, and insisted on having copies of the said warrant, yet we were not able to procure the same, till this present time, but have remained here unaccused and unheard. We now take the earliest opportunity of laying our grievances before your body, from whom we them, and whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search suspected places, or to seize any person or persons, his or their property not particularly described, are contrary to that right, and ought not to be granted. How far these principles have been adhered to, in the course of this business, we shall go on to shew. Upon the examination of the said warrant, we find it is, in all respects, inadequate to these descriptions, altogether unprecedented in this or any free country, both in its substance and the latitude given to the messengers who were to execute it, and wholly subversive of the very constitution you profess to support. The only charge on which it is founded, is a recommendation of congress to apprehend and secure all persons who, in their general conduct and conversation, have evidenced a disposition inimical to the cause of America, and particularly naming some of us—but not suggesting the least offence to have been committed by us. It authorizes the messengers to search all papers belonging to us, upon a bare possibility, that something political may be found, but without the least ground for a suspicion of the kind. It requires papers, relative to the sufferings of the people called Quakers, to be seized, without limiting the search to any house, or number of houses; under color of which, every house in this city, might be broken open. To the persons whom the congress have thought proper to select, the warrant adds a number of the inhabitants of the city, of whom some of us are part; without the least insinuation, that they are within the description given by the congress, in their recommendation. considered as the cause of a few.—It is the cause of every inhabitant, and may, if permitted to pass into a precedent, establish a system of arbitrary power unknown but in the inquisition, or the despotic courts of the East. What adds further to this alarming stretch of power is, that we are informed the vice president of the council, has declared to one of the magistrates of the city, who called on him to enquire into the cause of our confinement, that we were to be sent to Virginia UNHEARD. Scarcely could we believe such a declaration could have been made by a person who fills the second place in the government, till we were this day confirmed in the melancholy truth by three of the subscribers, whom you absolutely refused to hear in person, or by counsel.-We would remind you of the complaints urged by numbers of yourselves against the parliament of Great Britain, for condemning the town of Boston UNHEARD, and we call upon you to reconcile your PRESENT conduct with your THEN professions, or your repeated declarations in favor of general liberty. In the name, therefore, of the whole body of the freemen of Pennsylvania, whose liberties are radically struck at in this arbitrary imprisonment of us; their unoffending fellow-citizens —we demand an audience, that so our innocence may appear, and persecution give place to justice. But if, regardless of every sacred obligation by which men are bound to each other in society, and of that constitution by which you profess to govern, which you have so loudly magnified for the free spirit it breathes, you are still determined to proceed, be the ap It directs all these matters to be executed (though of the highest importance to the liberties of the people) at the discretion of a set of men, who are under no qualification for the due execution of the office, and are unaccustomed to the forms of executing civil process; from whence, probably, have proceeded the excesses and irregularities committed by some of them, in divers instances, by refusing to give copies of the process to the parties arrested, by denying to some of us, a reasonable time to consider of answers, and prepare for confinement. In the absence of others, by breaking our desks, and other private repositories-and by ran-peal to the Righteous Judge of all the earth sacking and carrying off domestic papers, printed books, and other matters not within the terms of the warrant. It limits no time for the duration of our imprisonment, nor points at any hearing, which is an absolute requisite to make a legal warrant ; but confounds in one warrant, the power to apprehend, and the authority to commit, without interposing a judicial officer between the parties and the messenger. for the integrity of our hearts, and the unparalleled tyranny of your measures James Pemberton, Thomas Wharton, Thos. Coombe, Edward Pennington, Henry Drinker, Phineas Bond, Thomas Gilpin, John Pemberton, Thomas Pike, Owen Jones, jun., Thomas Affleck, Charles Jervis, William Smith, broker, William Drewet Smith, Thomas Fisher, Miers Fisher, Charles Eddy, Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, Samuel Pleasants. Mason's Lodge, Philadelphia, Sept. 4, 1777. Upon the whole, we conceive this warrant, and the proceedings thereupon, to be far more dangerous in its tendency, and a more flagrant violation of every right which is dear to free-attended by some of those, who executed the men, than any that can be found in the records of the English constitution. But when we consider the use to which this general warrant has been applied, and the persons upon whom it has been executed, (who challenge the world to charge them with offence) it becomes of too great magnitude to be N. B. The three last subscribers were first general warrant; but after their remonstrance to the president and council, were arrested by LEWIS NICOLA, and conducted to the Lodge, by a special order to him. The foregoing remonstrance was delivered to Thomas Wharton, jun. president, etc., last evening, who promised to lay it before council, |