My Lords

Having Called the Assembly to meet here upon his Majesty's orders Communicated by Mr. Secry Pitt's letter, to Pass an Aid Bill with the Utmost Dispatch upon this Important Crisis; And also to pass and amend the Repealed Bills, they met in pursuance of the Proclamation on the 22d. of April, but no sufficient number of the Council being met, to Constitute a Quorum, there being only seven in the Province; the late President Rowan dying the day he proposed to set out, So that after waiting two Days, I was obliged to Swear in Mr. Maurice Moore a Gentleman of Good Fortune and Abilitys into the Council, in order to dispatch bussiness, but after a tedious delay with many Altercations, Addresses, and Messages, for above thirty days, without passing an Aid Bill, I was under a necessity of Proroguing the Assembly for a Day, to reconsider the Bill for Superior Courts which I had Rejected; (and which they endeavoured to force me to pass before they woud Grant an aid Bill) as being Contrary to his Majesty's Instructions, And a Violent Infringment of his Prerogative. 

As I Cant yet after so long and Extraordinary a Session lay the Whole Proceedings before your Lordship, I must beg leave to give you a Narrative of the Proceedings and Schemes laid here by Mr. Child Attorney General, altho' it may seem Tedious to you, and shall send you as soon as Possible proper Papers to Justifie my Proceedings in support of his Majesty's Instructions, and Just prerogative; And with this shall send what Papers Addresses Messages and Answers can be ready to send by this Conveyance. 

Some time after Mr. Child the Attorney General came to this Province, he sent me a Message by Mr. Hasell the late Chief Justice, that As I had wrote to Lord Granville that Mr. Corbin wou'd have been Suspended from the Council for his behaviour and prevarications in the Council, but out of Difference to his Lordship, as he was his Agent, I did not do it; he therefore desired him to Inform me that my Lord having discharged him from his Service, I might now suspend him; and when he left him, he Again Desired him to get me to suspend him, and accordingly, upon his non attendance in the Assembly for two Sessions, he was Suspended by the Unanimous advice of the Council, upon Acct. of non Attendance tho' Summoned, and his frequent Prevarications in Council, upon which I swore in Chief Justice Berry of the Council of which I informed your Lordships. 

Child's Intention in having him Suspended was to get him to Join him to stand, with others of his Junta, as Candidates for Chowan County. And Accordingly upon the Dissolution he by his publick Declamations, and by his Emissarys, as Agent for Lord Granville, said that the Province woud be undone if any Person who was a Friend to the Governor, or had Joined him in raising taxes upon the People, or supported his Administration shou'd be Elected; for there was a Scheme laid to Deprive the Assembly of their rights and Priviledges by the Governor and Council, and nothing cou'd save them but Choosing Lawyers to support their Rights; And Great Promises were made by the Attorney to his Junto, when he had Gained his end, and procured my being recalled; with that View he shewed my letters wrote to him in friendship to his Junto, and others he cou'd Influence and his artfull answer and Declarations against me, and extracts of my letters to your Lordships Board, having brought over Copy's which he had got from one of the Clerks; wherein I complained of the Proceedings of the Junto, and the Treasurers behaviour, by being Appointed for life, in order to raise a Flame and their Resentment against me—

When the Assembly met the first step he took was to secure the late Speaker Mr. Swann, who had not then thoroughly imbarked with him, that he might gain all the Lawyers who spoke in the House of his Side, promising that he shoud be one of the Assistant Judges, and upon Gaining him Joined in making him again Speaker without opposition— 

Child the Attorney, at the only time I went to see him, exclaimed against his Majesty's right in making out Charters for Counties, that his Majesty was Imposed upon and the Instruction I had was Illegal for that each district had a right to send members without the Kings Writ and without Charters. And as a Precedent. The first thing the Assembly did as founded upon the Law that each Town which shoud have Sixty Families, shou’d have a right to send one Member to the Assembly; Upon this Law the Town of Halifax lately erected had an Election at Halifax, and without any Writt, returned a Member to the Assembly, and upon the Sheriffs return that there were Sixty Families in Hallifax, the Assembly admitted the Person Elected without the Kings Writt; and had him sworn in the House; this was done to secure the Person Elected; who is an Eminent Lawyer, and hoped thus to engage him; but he knowing it was Illegal applyed to me for a Charter, which I Granted, and Issued a Writt upon it and he was then duly Elected; this I Chose to Do rather than make any Difference, upon the Assembly's attack of his Majesty's Prerogative, at this Important Crisis, They next chose a Committee's of Elections and Grievances those Committees were chosen by the Junto's Influence and Confined to a Small number of the Junto and their Friends, to which a few more were added to save Appearances, and when, The Committee of Grievances met, no days afterwards were appointed, and none were ever Summoned to Join the Committee; and whatever was done in the Committee of Grievances by the Junto was kept secret, and nobody heard before it so that none were admitted in their own Defense, Setting up an inquisition, so that Persons were admitted to Throw Dirt upon those who were obnoxious to the Junto, or Triumvirate, without any things Transpiring to give the accused an opportunity to Defend themselves, and one Person was drawn in to Sign a Petition against Mr. Hasell late Chief Justice, grounded upon Facts which were false, which he cou'd not Support, and upon hearing the same read he dashed out his Name, and withdrew the Petition. They next, to shew their Power, expelled a Member who had been Expelled in a former Assembly and who was now Elected for a Different County under pretence that he had sworn rashly in a former Committee (tho' this was a new Assembly) the Chairman of which tho' no Magistrate Having Illegally taken upon him to administer an oath: But the true Reason was, his having brought in a Bill to Lessen the Lawyers Exorbitant Fees, some of whom were so avaritious as to take a Fee of Ten pounds, where only Thirty Shillings were due by Law. 

They Then Framed a Superior Court Bill, and Carryed Appointments for three Associate Judges, at £400 ⅌ Ann each; in this they in a great measure deprived the Crown of the Nomination, by Confining it to Attorneys of Seven years Practice in this, or the Adjoining Colonys, who had been one year Resident in this Province, excluding all others who were not outer Barristers of five years Standing in England whom they presumed would not come over, so that all his Majesty's Subjects of Great Britain or Ireland tho' never so well Qualify'd cou'd not be Nominated by his Majesty to be Assistant Judges, and this was to be Continued to them Quam Diu se bene Gesserint, tho' the Present Chief Justice Berry was not a Barrister, and holds his place only During Pleasure; This Child did with a View to get me to break my Instructions, and also to lessen his Majesty's Prerogative; And to Oblige me to Choose three of his Junto Vizt. Saml. Swann the Speakr. who had taken up the Practice of the Law as an Attorney of himself, by getting a Licence to plead, Thos. Barker who from an Hackney Clerk got a licence, to be an Attorney, and has now by his Management got himself made a Treasurer for life; And is now made by Child Receiver to Lord Granville; and Robt. Jones who was bred a Weaver, and procured a Licence to plead as an Attorney, and these three men I was to be Limitted to, not having above three men of Learning and Abilities to Nominate besides them, who have been Resident and of that Standing here, and this was to be forced upon me by Postponing the Aid Bill for above a month, and Strong addresses made to me to pass the Superior and the County Court Bills, previous to their proceeding upon the money Bill, which was Brought in under great restrictions without Raising a Tax to sink the Bills of Credit, which were to be Issued; Calculated to Give money to those who were to sign the Notes, and to the Treasurers, And this Crude Bill they woud not even read a Second Time, but by the Attorney Generals Management, a motion was made and Seconded by him, that they woud proceed to no Business until I shoud pass these Bills, and Child in his Speech cast Reflections upon such members of the Council as Supported the Prerogative of the Crown, and my Instructions, Calling them Pimps, and Hanger’s on the Governor, but praising the other Councillors who passed the Bill with those exceptionable Clauses; I then in Council Demanded the Chief Justice and Attorney Generals opinion and Advice, whether I shou'd disobey my Instructions and Pass the Bill, and thus give up the Prerogative of the Crown, and laid three Articles of my Instructions before them; and they signed their opinion and Advise that I shoud, alledging that I had private Instructions to Disobey them upon Emergency's, And they and the Assembly set forth that the whole Province was filled with Riotts, Conspericies, and even Rebellion, by setting open Prisons And all for want of this Law, tho' not one instance cou'd be given since the Repeal of the Laws, but Breaking open one Prison occasiond by a Riot upon Corbins Maladministration as Lord Granvilles Agent, and tho' Robt. Jones then Attorney General lived near the place, yet he neither had Examinations taken, nor did he prosecute them for the Riot, nor did any regular complaint come before me in Council, but flying Reports and Child obliged Corbin not to prosecute the People, saying that it was by his fault that the Spirit was raised against him. 

Upon my not Complying with the Chief Justice and Attorney Generals advice, to break thro' my Instructions, I was obliged to reply to the Assembly's Repeated Messages as herewith Enclosed, that I Cou'd not pass the Superior Court Bill without Expunging those exceptionable Clauses, or by making it temporary for two years, until his Majesty's pleasure was further Known and then proposed to pass what other Bills were ready and Close the Session by proroguing the Assembly for One Day, that they might in a new Session Reconsider the Bill, and if they Expunged the Clauses, or made it Temporary, as a Suspending Clause could not answer the purpose, I wou'd then pass the Bill; and laid the blame fully upon Mr. Child the Attorney, for having misled the Assembly, this Reply they took Two Days to Consider of, not in the House but by the Junto, & to prepare an Answer, and to fix upon resolutions and prepare an Address to be laid before his Majesty against my Administration, and having delayed meeting until Twelve OClock the Third day; upon their meeting I sent a message to require their attendance to pass the Bills when they saw the Messenger comming they Immeadiatly Resolved themselves into a Committee of the whole House, and put Mr. Dewey an Eminent Lawyer in the Chair who was not of their Cabal and who was the only person who cou'd speak and oppose their Resolutions, And then the Messenger was told the House was in a Committee and that he Cou'd not be admitted and they ordered the Doors to be locked and put all the Members under a Tye of Secrecy not to Divulge what was done in the House under the penalty of being expelled and never to have a Seat in that House, During this time Mr. Child was not in the House, so as not to appear to be concerned in these Resolutions, tho' he was privy to all, and Probably the Contriver of most of them; out of the House, and then came into Several Resolutions against me, and the Secretary which are yet kept Secret (tho' the Session is over and I have Demanded a Sight of their Journals) as is their Address to his Majesty, which is to be sent over to Anthony Bacon Lord Granvilles Agent or Remitter of his Rents, with Letters to Lords Granville, and Hallifax, and Mr. Pitt, Child Informing his Triumvirate that Lord Granville will have it laid before the King, and that his Majesty in a heat, may order me to be dismissed or Recalled without an hearing. 

After five hours setting they sent me a message that they were ready to receive my Message, They then attended; and I passed such Bills as I coud properly pass and told them I wou'd prorogue them that Night Friday, until munday, to give them time to Reconsider the Bill upon which they returned to their House and sent for Mr. Child and returned him thanks for his Supporting these Bills against his Majesty's Instructions. 

I then on Munday morning before the meeting of the Assembly applyed to the Speaker for a Copy or Perusal of the Resolutions, and address of the Assembly, but was refused them tho' the Sessions was over under pretence they were not fairly Copied, and cou'd not do it without leave of the House, this was with a View that I shou'd not have the Power of Replying to them or Answering them in England that they might have their letters sent over, before I can know the Contents of them, as they are supported by no enquiry, or proper Proof, and which if Produced to me I cou'd answer each, and give full proof now of their falsity or ill grounded Insinuations, and which may hereafter take time to Collect, when the Proofs are to be made out by Persons Scattered thorough the Province—

Upon their meeting on Munday the 26th, they very gladly (to have the Bill passed) came in to have the Temporary Clause for Two years Inserted, and it was three times read and Passed the Two Houses in a few Hours; which had been litigated before for a month, And they then when too late, brought in the Aid Bill Guide and indigested, and it was read twice in the Two Houses but cou'd not be of any use to his Majesty or the Province and was only Calculated to oblige me to Issue Twelve thousand pounds in Notes without any tax to sink the Notes, and without any troops to be Employed by his Majesty to Assist his measures except on the Continent; but only to defend the Province and Act against the Cherokees, £8000, of which was to go to pay and raise the Troops for that Service, with only Twenty Shillings Bounty money, and I was only to Give Warrants to raise men, and whoever was to raise the most in forty days, I was then to Commission, and give Rank to accordingly, so that no Commissions were To be given til the middle of July, before which time the Cherokee war will be over, nor are we provided with Arms for the 370 men Granted, and if the War was over I was then to Disband them; and the money raised was to go to future Contingency’s, not to be disposed of but by the General Assembly, So that probably they woud get the disposal of near 10000£ without any tax upon the Publick to the future discredit of our Currency; and those with a View to put money into the Pockets of the Treasurers, and Issuers of the Notes, Samuel Swann Thomas Barker, and John Starkey, I was to break thro' my Instructions by Issuing Notes, because I had informed them if they raised Troops in pursuance of Mr. Secretary Pitts Letter to assist in the Grand operations; designed, upon this Important Crisis I woud Venture, to answer so great an end, to break so far thorough my Instructions as to Issue Noes: And further to Answer their other Purposes, and lavish away the money, they added a foreign Clause to this Aid Bill to give a great reward (Five Hundred pounds Sterlg) to a Gentleman of the Law Robert Jones, who had been most active in Lessening his Majesty's Prerogative to be employed in England, over and above an Agent appointed by a seperate Bill to oblige the Council to agree to their nomination or put them under the Difficulty of rejecting the Bill in case it had been of any service, which is the method they have taken to Support those who oppose the Administration. The Council some of whom are Timerous of Disoblidging the Assembly Passed the Bill, tho' they threw out the Agent's Bill, upon Account of the Assembly's having appointed an Improper Person, Anthony Bacon, who had been Recommended to Lord Granville by Mr. Child to be his Agent in England, and who was to have a very beneficial bargain of £170 this Currency for 90£ Sterlg. which is above £50 ⅌ Ct. higher than the Parr of 133 ⅓ and in this great gain against his Lordship, I suppose Mr. Child was to Divide stakes, And thus had continued it in the Bill that the Notes paid off by the Specie shou'd be at £133 ⅓ and they were to buy up the paper money at the discount of near 90 ⅌ Cent so that the Remitters and Treasurers wou'd gain above 50 ⅌ Cent from the Publick besides their Fees Charge of Insurance Commissions &c. The labouring Oar Therefore was laid upon me by the Council of Rejecting the Bill for the reasons mention'd in my Speech to them and herewith sent to your Lordships And in order to force me to pass the Bill in this Indigested form which shall be sent by the first opportunity they refused to Continue the Militia Bill until next Sessions tho' a motion was made to shew the Necessity of it, using all their Arts and Influence in the Assembly to gain their ends. 

This is the Treatment Governors are to have if they adhere to his Majesty's Instructions and support his Prerogative and there must be an end of their Dependancy on Britain if Governors are not Supported when they do their Duty; as to their Secret Resolutions, Petition, and Letters, which tho' the Session is over, is denyed to be shewn to me, under pretence that they are not in form, and must be put in another Dress by the Junto than they were in when they passed the House, I Value them not when produced as upon a fair hearing, which I am sure of having, not withstanding all their schemes to prevent it, by Mr. Childs vain opinion that Lord Granville will support him in his measures against his Majesty's Prerogative and Instructions, under the false dress he will put them in; I shall fully answer to your Lordships Satisfaction but when his Scene of Iniquity is laid open, he will appear in a Different light to his Lordships. 

The moment before I sent to them to Attend with their Bills and put an end to this Second Session, upon Rejecting the Agents Bill by the Council, They Resolved by their own right that Anthony Bacon shou'd be appointed their Agent & that £200 ⅌ Ann. shou'd be Granted to him during his Agency, So that by their Plan, the Governor and Council are to be Useless and no part of their Constitution. Therefore hope your Lordships will consider the Consequence if his Majesty shou'd Comply with their request and Continue the Bill with the foregoing Clauses, Contrary to my Instructions, and limiting his Majestys Right of Appointing the Assistant Judges; that it will encourage the Assembly to force the Governor and Council, to encroach further on his Majesty's Prerogative And as to the Attachment of some of the Council to concur in every thing With the Assembly. Your Lordships will find it Necessary to fill up the present Vacancy's in the Council in case the present suspension is Confirmed by his Majesty, And therefore to Strengthen my hands must again beg leave to recommend Mr. Alexander McCulloch and Mr. John Sampson to fill up these Vacancy's And in Case I find those Councellors who yield in everything to the Assembly to Continue to Act against the Prerogative of the Crown that you wou'd Approve of my suspending them; for as the former Suspension is not yet Confirmed, it will be highly Improper in me to suspend any more and name others in their place without your Lordships approbation. 

I shall send over the Acts, Journals, &c as Soon as the Clerks can Copy them, And I can get a Conveyance; And as I shall always to the Utmost of my Power preserve his Majesty's Prerogative and obey his Instructions, and shall fully answer all objections and false Insinuations made against my Administration to his Majesty's Satisfaction when they Come to my knowledge, as will also the Secretary my Nephew; whom they also strike at to Wound me, because he steadily adheres in supporting his Majesty's prerogative, I don't doubt but your Lordship's will recommend it to his Majesty to strengthen my Hands and prevent the rising Spirit of Independancy Stealing into this Colony.

I am with Great Regard

My Lords

Your Lordships

Most Obedt. and

Most Humble Servant