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420 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.
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Letter Bk. I.
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Magistrates) & that persons of the Roman Catholick persua-
sion are so far from being allowed any Liberties or Priviledges
in His Majesty's several Colonies that they are absolutely
excluded or daily persecuted, but this matter I submit entirely
to His Ldp's & your own Judgment & Determination with this
Remark only that if nothing had been at this time done for the
Security & Defence of the Frontier Inhabitants, the Value of
theirs as well as of all Estates in the Province would have sunk
more in two years than the Tax which is imposed on them
respectively will amount to in the five years for which the Act
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p. 205
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is made to endure. Concerning that Part of the Bill which
imposes the Land Tax I presume Colo Lloyd will write to you
very particularly as it is a matter which in some Sort relates to
himself & which as Agent he ought to be most intimately
acquainted with; I thought it highly necessary that he should
be present in the Upper House when the Affair came under
their consideration & therefore I writ to him & insisted on his
coming over before the Conference was begun or agreed to.
I submitted to the Council Extracts of the Letters in which I
mentioned to His Ldp or yourself the late Disputes between
Governor Morris & his Assembly & also your Answer thereto
in your Letter dated the 24th of Octr & desired they would
maturely consider the Affair & give me their Advice thereon.
Colo Lloyd enlarged on the Losses His Ldp suffered last year
on Account of these unhappy Disturbances & the distracted &
defenceless Condition of the Province & undertook to shew
that His Ldp's proportion of the Tax about to be imposed by
the Bill would be far short of the Interest of the Money that he
lost last year, if then said he nothing be done for the Security
of the Province (& that nothing would be done if the Bill had
been refused on Account of that Clause was evident) Pur-
chasers of Land will be much fewer this year than they were
last, & continue to decrease till effectual measures are taken
for our Defence; His Ldps Revenue from Lands will conse-
quently diminish in proportion, & so His Ldp will in effect be
a much greater Loser by the Bill's being rejected because it
imposes a Tax of perhaps £80 a year for five years on His
Ldps Lands, than if it was to pass & make His Ldp liable to
the payment of double the Sum: It was also argued that
such Lands as are held by Tenants under the Crown in Eng-
land are subjected to the poundage there, & that by inserting in
all the Leases as they come to be renewed a Clause to oblige
the Tenant to pay all Taxes &c the Burthen might in great
measure be taken from His Ldp. It was observed that the
matter under Consideration was by no means similar with the
late Cause of Dispute in Pensa for that the Pensa Assembly
insisted that all the Proprietaries real & personal Estate there
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